Blackberries, Books, Beaches and Blogs

Blogging has been at the top of my daily "to do" list for the past two weeks.  I have at least a dozen hikes to blog about - many of them new hikes to me and therefore to the blog -  and I have hundreds of photos to edit.  But instead, life intervenes and sitting at the computer takes a low priority.

For one thing, it's blackberry season!  Ever since I was a little girl picking blackberries from the bushes around town with my mom, I have loved blackberries.  Not those perfectly-formed, totally tasteless commercial ones you buy in a store at $5.00 for about a cup of about-to-go-moldy berries -- I'm talking about wild blackberries for which your arms and legs get scratched, your clothes get snagged, and your fingers get stained.  My neighbour and I found acres of them, free for the taking, just a few minutes from home.

So, of course, in addition to downing a big bowl of fresh blackberries with frozen yogurt, I then made blackberry muffins and blackberry scones, and spread the rest of the berries on a cookie sheet to freeze prior to bagging them for used later.

Blackberry lemon streusel  muffins

All that blackberry work left me too tired to blog, so I sat in my favourite chair and picked up a book.  A few days ago I called our local independent new-and-used bookstore in search of a second-hand copy of a hiking book I wanted.  They had it.  I arranged to pick it up from their shop which follows strict covid protocol. It was $7.00.  Of course, while there they invited me to look around and soon I had four more books that I just HAD to purchase - a mix of new and used.

Our library had been closed due to  Covid, and while it had recently partially re-opened for take-out service from a table outdoors, I'm more of a browser-through-the-stacks which isn't yet an option.  But as fate would have it, the day after I bought five books, the library emailed to let me know that two items I had requested back in the pre-covid days were now available and waiting for me to pick up. I stayed up very late last night reading "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek".  I highly recommend it!

And then there is our usual Parksville pleasure - wading in the water along miles of sandy shores.  That certainly takes priority to sitting at a computer.  We're very fortunate that even during tourist time there are areas of beach that never get crowded.  Mags and I can always find somewhere to go when the tide is low.

And who wouldn't want to spend time on the beach, among herons and eagles and gulls, I munching my blackberry muffin and them munching their.....seafood?

We stroll through the surf and tidal pools, admiring seastars and crabs and shellfish.  A clam on its side, half buried in the sand, wrapped in a string of seaweed reminds me of a locket I once owned.

I watch some  kayakers paddling with the geese,

and gaze meditatively out to sea,  past fishing boats and hazy islands to the mountains beyond.

I love the reflections in pools of still water,

and Maggie, of course, is in her element, climbing every large rock to claim her turf - just look how happy and proud she is!

I think this seagull is mimicking her.

And the heron may be mimicking me:

Waves lapping, tides ebb and flow,  rippling the sand beneath to create a beautiful quilt-like image.  Nature is such a wonderful artist:

So, no, I'm not sitting at the computer for more than a few minutes a day.  I'm not editing photos when I could be at the beach...or reading on the patio....or picking and eating blackberries....or exploring new trails.   But I'll be back again soon. If life doesn't intervene.

Now it's time to grab another blackberry muffin and my book and a certain sheltie and head to the beach.  Us gals just wanna have fun.

Good Friends, Good Reads

I have blogged before about the amazing number of writers in my circle of friends and the books they have published - some, such as Lorelei Rondeau's "The Gutsy Cookbook" now in its second printing - and today I'm excited to tell you about two more books written by two more friends.

Liz Maxwell Forbes was one of the very first friends I made upon moving to the island.  We were not only in the same writing group, proofread each other's stories, and for nearly five years co-authored a regular column for a local paper, but we have also hiked together, looked after each other's dogs, and shared endless cups of coffee and delicious chats. She holds a very special place in my heart.

And so I'm delighted that she and her partner, Grant Evans, have launched their own website, Osborne Bay Books, and that Grant's first book View from the Tower will be out just before Christmas.  It's an interesting and often amusing story of his days as an air traffic controller in the 1960s,  in Port Hardy on the Vancouver Island. Anyone who loves BC history, aviation, and/or personal memoirs will enjoy View from the Tower.  

Liz's  first full-length book (she has published several short stories) will be ready for publication in the new year. Growing Up Weird tells the story of her childhood in Oak Bay, Vancouver Island.  I love Liz's storytelling, in which characters of her past come to life, everyday events evoke memories of my own childhood, and humor blends with pathos and brutal honesty. I'm so looking forward to the release of Growing Up Weird.

You can read excerpts of both View from the Tower and Growing Up Weird on their website:  www.osbornebaybooks.com.

Both Grant and Liz are already at work on their next publications, and Liz documents their journey in her new blog, which can also be found via their website. Check it out and follow along!

PS:  You just might recognize the photo in the header on their website......  

What to do on a cold winter's day?

Why, curl up with a good book and a few good dogs, of course!  Or with a good dog and a few good books. It's the perfect way to spend this eleventh day of Christmas.

Around here, I have multiples of both - good dogs and good books.  Not only do I have lots of books, I have a whole shelf  full of books that have been written by my friends, or to which my friends have contributed a story and/or a series of illustrations.  Memoirs,  novels, recipe books, children's books, and - yes - books about animals.  

A few of the books my friends have
written or to which they have contributed

Some of the titles have been self-published, some have been selected and published by companies that choose manuscripts from among the thousands that are submitted to them every month.  Some - such as Tillie and Maude by Sylvia Holt, or Journey by Carol Anne Lawry , or any of the Chicken Soup books - are available on Amazon.  Others are not, and are sold through websites or word of mouth or at local craft fairs and flea markets.

Robyn Gerland and Sylvia Holt
selling their books in Chemainus

Liz Maxwell Forbes at a book signing in Crofton,
autographing  a Chicken Soup book
in which she is piublished

Some books are small enough to fit in your purse, others are heavy enough to need some muscle to hold it up while reading. The majority are very light reading, perfect for a rainy day when your energy level is low and concentration isn't your strong suit.  They may not be modern renditions of War and Peace, but they all are pleasant reads.

The newest of the batch is a recipe book by my friend Lorelei Rondeau .  Called The Gutsy Cookbook:  Recipes for digestive health, it was released just before Christmas, and will soon be available through a website which is currently under development.  The recipes, developed by Lorelei after ulcerative colitis led her to modify family favourites,  look and sound tasty and down-to-earth.  Having eaten at her place on several occasions, and having been the recipient of many of the healthy treats she has baked, I just know this is one recipe book that I will enjoy.

Yum!

And then there is one book that will be of particular interest to those who come to my blog to read about animals:   In the Company of Animals:  Stories of Extraordinary Encounters, edited by Pam Chamberlain and published by Nimbus Publishing. It is an anthology of true stories about animals, written by Canadian authors, including Farley Mowat, Anny Scoones, David Adams Richards, Linda Johns, and....oh yes....yours truly. You may recall I was being interviewed on CBC Radio recently about my story in this book (you'll find the link for the podcast of that interview in this blog post ).

  You'll find my story right at the beginning of the book - the first one.

And, yes, the book is available on Amazon as well as in many bookstores across the country.  Go buy it - you'll be glad you did!

Misty Morning, Pleasant Prose

Field in Fog
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

The other morning, the fog hung low over the island, but above it the sun was bright, creating surreal, almost ghostly, images for my camera.

Field in Fog (2)
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

The Ghost Tree
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Yesterday, the fog rolled in heavier, and the day was dark.  It was a good day to cocoon.  I have been reading an absolutely delicious book, The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg.  There’s something yummy about reading a book where every few pages a turn of phrase, a metaphor, a creative description makes me want to grab the highlighter or write the phrase in a notebook so I don’t forget it.  But I can’t put the book down long enough to do either and soon another twist of words brings another intake of breath and a smile to my face.  I read the words over again, savoring them like the finest of chocolate on the tip of the tongue, against the roof of the mouth, back to the tip.  Heaven.

The Year of Pleasures brought me a day of pleasure – and will remain on my bookshelf to be picked up, browsed in search of those delightful phrases, enjoyed in full again on a  foggy winter’s day.  It is to books what a good dessert is to dinner – sweet,  light, surprising, delightful, comforting. 

I highly recommend it. 

The almost dogless days of summer

Sunflowers welcome visitors to the Crofton Sea Walk

It's hot.  It's summer's peak - the most popular week in the year for Canadians to take their summer vacations, the most reliable for dry, sunny weather.

Eddie doesn't like the heat and neither do I.  We have our morning walk, water the garden, and then lie about in the house as much as possible until late evening when we take our evening walk.  On days like this, I am glad I am down to one dog and a reasonably able-bodied one at that.  I've removed most of the rugs from the house, and most of the dog beds (Eddie doesn't like dog beds or furniture or carpets - he's strictly a 'sleep-on-the-cool-floor' kinda guy.  Somehow the house feels cooler and cleaner with less bodies and less 'stuff'.  I may be almost dogless, but on days like this I'm happy to have fewer dogs to walk, less jumping up and down letting dogs in and out, less dog fur to brush or to vacuum.

Flowers on my side patio need watering daily

It's a simple life with time to read.  I am currently on the last of The Hunger Games trilogy - I don't usually care for science fiction,  but this trilogy grabbed me from the first chapter and has kept my heart pumping hard for all three books.  Probably has something to do with the fact it is meant for young adults and therefore an easy, fast-paced read.  It certainly stimulates thought about the future, environmental destruction, survival, and most of all, power.

Cats rule!
(And even The Hunger Games acknowledges their importance)

After a six week hiatus from all volunteer work and all other commitments except my newspaper column, I'm gradually getting involved again, with several shifts at Chemainus Theatre Festival  where the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is playing, as well as a play called Animal Tales for young children.  Both are great entertainment;  'Joseph' is proving to be the theatre's most popular production ever.  The theatre is also celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, with special events planned for later this month.  Check out their website if you're planning a trip to the area. Tickets for Joseph are going fast, with many performances sold out. It runs until September 8th.

Last year I mentioned that one of my short stories had been accepted for publication in an upcoming Canadian anthology.  The edits are now complete, and the manuscript will soon be in the hands of  publishers.  Pamela Chamberlain, the editor, has a proven track record with her previous book "Country Roads" - a great read about rural life in Canada.  This new book will, I think,  be called "Animal Kin", and you can find her facebook page for it here.

As for the Great Canadian Kitchen Reno, it has been on hold while we located the missing roofer.  Work is schedule to resume August 20th, and should be finished by the end of that week.  I do have a functioning kitchen now, just no range hood or dryer, and a few little things that need fixing.  When it is finally complete, I'll post pics.

Flowers on Osborne Bay
Much prettier than kitchen renovations