Thursday, August 18, 2016

Catching Up, Moving On

Reflections at Maple Bay marina

My regular readers will note I've been more and more lax about maintaining the blog.  I post photos and adventures fairly regularly on facebook, but don't seem to make it here (where posting takes much longer and is more tedious as I have to do more work to prepare the photos).  So I've been waffling about blogging at all.  But I know some of my very long term followers aren't on facebook, and I love staying connected with them by sharing my beautiful island and critters this way.  So every now and then I do a post.

Kingfisher at dusk

However, I am about to make The Big Switch to Windows 10 (from Windows XP) and to a much newer version of Microsoft Word, so I have no idea how this will impact my ability to do anything bloggish.  I do know that my best friend on my old computer, The Wizard which makes downloading and filing my photos so easy, has been killed off in the newer versions - and that makes me very nervous.  But I'm hopeful that after the initial painful adjustment, I may find some things easier to do.  Like using Blogger.  So the decision to continue or not continue is still in limbo.  I will be taking a course on Windows 10 starting next week, and hope to have a better idea by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try to get caught up a bit with some photos I really want to share here - of hikes and dogs and farm rescue and nature. I have managed to damage my knee, so I'm not doing much outdoor stuff at the moment, which should be the perfect opportunity to go through photo files from the past four months and choose some of the best before I possibly disappear from the blogosphere forever.

Sailboats and quad rowers in Maple Bay

Today's photos are some I posted on facebook last night after spending a wonderful day with my nephew and his family who were moored at the nearby Maple Bay Marina for a couple of days.

We started the day with lunch at the Shipyard Restaurant at the marina - I always enjoy a good meal there! - before heading over by car to Cowichan Bay for some sightseeing and shopping.

Picturesque Cowichan Bay
and
the world's best bakery

Then to Duncan for more shopping (so my nephew's family could restock provisions for the rest of their cruise), back to my place for a while to check on Ms. Mitzi (who is doing AMAZINGLY well at the moment, at age fifteen and a half), then back to the boat for a wonderful dinner while we watched sailboats and quad rowers, herons and kingfishers, as the sun set and the full moon rose.

Maple Bay
View from the boat in the marina

Same view as above,
but at dusk

A heron on the dock

Quad rowers practicing

View from the back of the boat. 

Maple Bay Marina at sunset

Sunset in Maple Bay

A light appears high on a hill.....

It is the rising of the full moon

Full moon arisen over Maple Bay.
Time to head home at the end of a wonderful day. 

That's it for today....keep checking back as I hope to get at least a half dozen more posts up in the coming two weeks. :)