It's Plum Season

The branches of our Italian prune plum tree have been weighted down this summer from a record number of plums.  The tree is loaded, despite having dropped an equal amount of smaller, weaker fruit the past month or so.  Survival of the fitness, even with fruit trees.  We have to assume the wet spring and the dry hot heat of summer set the right conditions for such a bumper crop. We certainly never water this tree.   Chris is already picking and eating them but they are still crunchy which I don't like.   I'll wait a week or two until they are deliciously ripe.

 

Ajax in the Hazey Smoke

Not only is the smokey air impacting humans, it takes its toll on all animals and birds of nature, including our dear pets.  Ajax has become very lethargic and staying in the house.  With this smokey air I am only taking him out once a day in early morning before it gets too hot and too hard to breathe.  He's gone from 3 hikes a day to only 1 short one under an hour.  Here are some morning shots of the pup in the haze. Some look like evening shots but its morning.

 

 

Too Much Smoke in the Air

The smoke continues, but I think its worse.   There are now close to 555 wildfires burning in our province, and this week the wind has shifted blowing even more smokey air to the coast.  This means we continue to experience the fires second hand as the heavier, misty choking haze blows in.  It's like what you see in photos of  Beijing pollution. Air quality advisories are on and its taking its toll on our eyes, noses and lungs.  Despite the tragedy of these fires, I continue to find photo opportunities unique to this environmental situation.

Our Beach Raft in the Smoke

 BC Ferries Ghost Ship

 Blue Heron in the Morning Haze

 Sunrise

 

 Sunrise

 This Morning's Sunrise Reflections

This Morning's Hike with Ajax with the Sun Coming Over the Bluff at 8:am

Canine Sex Ed ?

Ajax went back to the breeder last week for some fun.  She wanted to breed him to one of her young females in heat at the time.

 For the first day they got to smell and get to know each other through these 2 side by side pens.

Then they were introduced and I'm told he was a slow learner for his first time, and they had to do a bit of sex education and help him a bit to make sure the tie happened.  Apparently success on three separate days.  Now we wait to see if she's pregnant and what he produces. 

2 Years Old Now

Ajax of course. And still so much like a puppy. Another year maybe and he will show more brain maturity. I can only hope.

 I continue to take my camera on our hikes because he is so photogenic and its great practice for me.

What About the Sad Looking Pond?

What can I say other than this drought has practically dried up half the pond.  One side has about a inch of water, and we keep digging out mud to try to get some depth.

The other side of the pond has about 8 inches simply because it is deeper at that end and gets shade first. This spring and up until last week, we have not had a single heron visit the pond.  In addition to our 3 large koi we had about 13 goldfish and surprisingly at least 3 baby koi!!!   And then last Monday the heron arrived to the pond mudflats and we have not seen a goldfish or baby koi since.  The big koi are fine, but swimming with their dorsal fins out of the water.   I had to build a makeshift enclosure for them to keep the heron out of that deep end which I now call the safe zone.  It really is tragic.  The fountain is now sitting on mud in order to get it below the water line, and this means I have to clean and unclog it everyday - but I don't mind as the koi need some movement and aeration. 

Photos of the Week

I have some favourite photos from last week.

 

On the pier looking out into Snug Cove and  across Howe Sound

  On the pier looking into Snug Cove and Bowen Island

 A smokey morning on the dock

 Seagull soaring above.

A doe in my neighbour's garden

Life is a Beach

At the beach, by the sea, what a wonderful place to be!   Living on the west coast lends itself to so many opportunities, and living on Bowen Island, just steps away from our secluded neighbourhood beach is an amazing gift.
I find the sea an excellent form of relaxation and visual meditation. It’s one of the few things that gets more interesting the longer you stare at it. The ocean is constantly changing! 
Waves lap to the shore and wash the sand back and forth.  Seagulls and Oyster Catchers and many unidentified bird calls can be heard. Seals pop their heads up, and kayakers paddle by giving  the whole thing a nice nautical feel.
Oh sure, the beach has many faces, and here I am describing a sunny  beach where soft white clouds decorate a bright blue sky and the ocean sparkles in the sunlight.  But sometimes the beach is stormy with waves crashing against the shore; sometimes it is cloudy and cool and you don't want to swim.  Sometimes it is a sunset beach.with the sun slowing sinking into the western sky.
 My usual spot on a sunny warm beach day.  The water has been so warm for swimming this summer.

 

   Calm waters, blue sky and kayakers.

 Gentle waves that carry sea life and shells onto the sand. 

Looking west over the beach rocks to little Onion Islet and beyond that to Keats Island.

Sunset beach on a cloudy but warm evening with my friends Grampa Mark, Clayton and baby Nate.

Tough Flowers

In order to beat the heat in the garden and manage to still have some blooms when you are in a long drought, you need to plant good drought resistant plants that are tough and can survive the dry spells.  It's been a real battle this summer, but at least we have some colour in the garden.

Agastache (Hyssop) is one of the hardiest, and blooms July and August.

 Globe Thistle - the bees loves it, and they also make great cut flowers.

 Bears Breeches - long lasting flowers with nasty thorns on the spikes.

Fireweed - requires zero watering, can grow to 5 or 6 feet tall and looks stunning along the fence line.

 Rudbeckia - Black Eyed Susan's, always bright and cheerful.

Scalped

Hate my new haircut - but I know it will grow! 

The upside is that it is so hot that it's great having less hair!

Jogger Once More

Well I finally got to the point where I can jog the 4 miles from our house to the cove (cross island).  I can do it in 45 minutes so I'm pleased with myself.  And, I can happily say I have now lost 40lbs - my goal is achieved.  Yay!!

Growing Veggies in a Drought - NOT

Gardening in a drought is a challenge, for one obvious reason: Plants, like people, can’t survive without water. This year has been a disaster, but we have also had some successes with those fruits and veggies that don't seem to need the water that some others do.  Why don;t we water or put irrigation in? Simple answer is that we are on a shared well and we don't want to waste water. The past couple years have been almost as challenging as this one, which makes one think we really need to think about how we can put in irrigation of some sort - or - just grow what works in a drought.  Here is what we have managed to grow successfully this year with little watering, and what we may only plant next year:

Beans, Beet Root, Figs, Garlic, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Raspberries and Swiss Chard.  That's it.  

Those which do not grow well without water, as we have come to know, are: 

Cucumbers, Lettuce, Rhubarb, Strawberries, and Tomatoes.  

That said, all 4 of our apple trees and our Italian plum tree are doing amazingly well and have never been watered. And of course the blackberries this year are prolific!  Here are some photos of this years harvest.  The blackberries I might add are a bowl every few days.

ONIONS

 Beet Root

 Scarlet Runner Beans

Blackberries, Beets and Beans (french style cut by Chris)

 Liberty Apples

 Fig Tree and Figs

Lovely Mornings in the Apocalypse

This past week you'd think you had woken up in a nuclear wasteland, where the sky is an eerie orange hue due to thick interior wildfire smoke that has drifted to the coast.
The entire province of BC is under both an extreme fire hazard and an air quality advisory.
 That said, I can't help but take advantage of the photo opportunities of some amazing morning skies.  Here are some of my favourites:

From the Pier at Snug Cove

 

 

Cape Roger Curtis

 

 

Howe Sound and North Shore Mountains in the Hazey Distance

 Paddle Boarders in the Cove in the Smokey Haze with North Shore Mountains Barely Visible

  And Just for Equal Opportunity, we have a Sunset from Sunset Road.