Last views of Victoria

I met Liz and Ross for a walk and lunch today and in a few minutes I will go upstairs for dinner with Barbara and Terry. Tomorrow, if the ferries run and no accidents block the highways east, I will drive to Vernon, ready to return to Jay, friends and the patterns of daily life there after a good visit with friends I don't see often.






All that remains of what was the blue bridge beside the new bridge across the mouth of The Gorge.





The little gnome outside the suite who watches me every morning as I do stretches.





The beautiful sight of a yacht from the Swiftsure Race crossing the finish line off Ogden Point.





Barbara and Terry and their new fence and gate. It's a very pleasant sight to see as I walk out of the suite.

7:00pm Sunday and still sunny

I'm tired and my cheeks still feel warm after a long day of biking,at my very relaxed pace. But it was windy, and I walked quite a bit too. After getting up early on Saturday to bike to Clover Point to watch all the yachts in the Swiftsure regatta start, I wanted to at least see one of them finish. And I did. My first stop this morning was Ogden Point. I had to walk my bike out it to see one of the boats in the long part of the race, some boats did shorter courses and finished yesterday, cross the finish line which was just beyond the point. The rest of the day I just biked around; there was no construction on Dallas Road, so it was possible to go all along the shore. Of course I had to walk the bike up a couple of the hills.

On Friday I had coffee,as usual, with Barbara and Terry and then they took me to the exhibit, "Egypt, The Time of the Pharaohs", that just opened at the Victoria Museum. It was well worth visiting. The exhibits were mostly of real things, not reproductions, and, as I was once before at an exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts, I was impressed by the fineness of the work. Afterwards, we had a left over lunch of all the food we had brought home from lunch at a restaurant the day before. That day we drove to Sooke to pick up a book of Latin phrases translated into English that had been Terry's father's. Terry had had it rebound by a woman who is a real crafts person. She did a very good job. It was fun to see her workshop because some of her equipment is beautiful, hand made in wood by a craftsman like her.

Earlier in the week I met Ross and Elizabeth for a walk in Oak Bay. Ross had to go right home for a conference call, but Liz and I had a good old coffee and chat after. Last night I went to their place for a Thunder Bay dinner. There were seven of us, five from TB and even more precisely, Loon Lake. The food was delicious,we had a lot of laughs and I learned news about people I've hardly seen since high school.
























A mummified cat. Glad to see it's organic. Good enough to eat?





Two of my favourite exhibits, one from each of the places that contributed artifacts.






My favourite name of all the yachts that were moored in the Inner Harbour on Friday night before the Swiftsure race.





The 'Simpsons' banner near the top of one of the stays on Panic.





The start of the third set of yachts. I was surprised by all the black sails. I went on line when I got home and discovered by reading a wonderful article on a sailing sight that black is the new white in the world of sailing. The author, Bill Schanen, said that the reason is partly technical and partly sartorial. The best and most expensive sails now are made with carbon fibre but even some that are good but not made of carbon fibre are black. The visual effect is foreboding, more an armada than a fleet.





Number 1717, Blue, crossing the finish line off Ogden Point this morning.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

The weather in Victoria has been perfect by my standards, low 20s with sun and cloud, mostly sun. Barbara and Terry and I watched most of the Victoria Day Parade from a good curb side spot near its starting point. We've had long chats and coffee every morning,and I joined them for another dinner; Barbara made a delicious penne and pork tenderloin.

I've spent more time looking at ebikes than I've ever spent shopping for anything. I test rode one the other day, but have finally decided not to pull the trigger yet. I want to wait and buy it in Vernon after consulting with more friends. This will involve opening my wallet really wide, and I'll need help for that.

Today I took the kayak out again, and with more success because I calmed down, took my time and aimed higher. Some women I met on the Wells Gray hike trip told me about the rule of 80%. You can make it if you try; but to get through the last 20% takes supreme effort. I realized that I often settle for less than 80%. I'm impatient. But today I tried. It took a while, but I was proud to see how good she looked pumped up properly. I was getting in off a dock in the Gorge near Barbara and Terry's this time, so was not about to drop into a kayak that looked like a withered old birthday balloon. All went well. And it was much easier to paddle properly inflated. I had a great time going along the Gorge and around the Inner Harbour. I thought of getting out at Fisherman's Wharf for lunch but as I didn't have a rope to attach to the dock, I couldn't, in spite of the fact that a young couple tried to help me by looking for a rope. At the end of the paddle I was happy to see that a young man was on the dock where I had to get out. That was more difficult than getting in. He didn't do anything, but I was glad that someone strong was watching me struggle just in case I fell in.








With Barbara and Terry watching the Victoria Day Parade






The Port Hope dock yards near B and T's, as seen from the kayak. The yards have been here a long time but most of the tall apartments and the town houses behind it in Vic West have been built since I started coming to visit.






The interesting ship of this kayak trip. I have had fun finding out about it. It's named Scout 11. All luxury yachts like it can be traced on line, up to a point. I was even able to get the longitude and latitude of its location on May 22, and when I looked it up it is Victoria.








It's flying the flag of the Marshall Islands so is probably owned by an American.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

As I went to bed last night I thought that if I was wakened by my bladder in the early morning I would answer the call and turn on the tv. I was and I did, at about 4:10am, I think, just as Prince Harry was making his vows. I'm glad I did. There's something about that man that I've always liked, from the sad little 12 year old following his mum's coffin to the enthusiastic young man who founded the Invictus Games for fellow soldiers who suffer mentally and physically following their military service. After about an hour I had had enough.


I read for a while, had a bath and breakfast and joined Barbara and Terry for our daily morning coffee. We've also gone to Russel's Books together and I joined them for dinner on Thursday. I was here in time to see the College Pro girls finish painting the last side of the house. The new fence at the back is almost finished and looks very good. I've seen quite a few changes here over the years. The visit is going well,as always.

I've seen Liz and Ross twice. Last night they invited me to a family dinner. We had Indian food, thanks to Jill and Dennis. I saw their children again and met Dennis' parents. I'm very happy to be able to keep connected to their family. The day before I went on a walk with Liz in an area around U. Vic. where I had never been, Finerty Gardens and The Mystic Vale. The former was a bright pallet of some of the most spectacular rhododendrons I've ever seen and the latter had a Hobbity atmosphere. All the ferns in the vale also reminded me of walks I took in Hawaii when I was there in the winter of 2011.

As I was feeling dull after getting up so early, I decided to take my kayak to Willows Beach and try using it for the first time this year. No matter how alert I am, I fumble around on the first run, so I might as well start out half asleep. This was my reasoning, and I proved to know myself well. I had to assure a man I passed as I approached the Oak Bay Marina that in spite of the fact that the kayak was unevenly inflated it was fine, safe as churches as Glover would say. I had the most leisurely inaugural float I've ever enjoyed but ended it none-the-less with a great feeling of accomplishment. I'm easily pleased, especially with myself and when I'm half asleep.

Now I'm trying to keep myself awake until I can watch 'Inspector Morse' at 9:30. If I stay awake through that, I'll go to bed just before 11:00 pm and rise at a reasonable time tomorrow morning.

Some pictures I took of the wedding.









This picture reminds me of the worried young boy who was following his mom's coffin.








This is the brute squad, only joking, but they do look severe.








Ah! that's better.








My kayak approaching the boat with the most interesting name in the Oak Bay Marina.

Summer Heat

The sky is blue, the sun brilliant, the temperature 30c and I am sitting in the comfy chair pushing the hair off my forehead so the sweat will have a chance to dry. I've just come in from doing the last of the work in the yard before driving to Victoria tomorrow to visit with Barbara and Terry and Liz and Ross. I look forward to seeing them again. It's becoming a tradition. In the cool of the evening I'll give the yard a last watering, show Jay how that system works and be ready to leave our house in his hands. He's not finding it easy to live without May, and even the chaos of the girls seems less overwhelming at a distance of thousands of miles and 15 hours. But he still has work and a lot of practical jobs to do. He's getting things done. And his iPhone jingles a tune at all hours as the communication continues.

I led the VOC Mothers' Day hike up Sugarloaf last Sunday. I was nervous because I'm not a leader, an animator perhaps, but my sense of direction is undeveloped. I always drive to the trailhead with someone else and talk all the way so don't remember the route. I even felt unsure of the turnoff to Sugarloaf and I'd been there checking out the trail the Sunday before. I also feared that my pace might be too slow because my breathing is not great. But all went well. There are some steep bits but nobody was in a rush, and the view of Lake Okanagan from the top made it all worth while. It was so clear that the snow capped Monashees were bright white in the distance. I was so relieved to have done it I practically ran back down to the parking area after lunch.





The view down Lake Okanagan. The Monashees are in the other direction but did not show clearly in the picture I took of them.



Tulips in the front yard