Repairs to the Foresail
Tansy, who has learned a great deal about sewing at home, put those skills to good use by helping the Passing Cloud’s Captain Matt with some sail repairs on a day with no passengers on board. The sail is scheduled for replacement in an upcoming refit, but until then a few weak areas needed reinforcement. (more…)
Pear and Pecan Jam
Deer oh Dear
There are quite a few deer roaming about the city, and normally we try and ignore them even though they impact the gardens in various ways. A few days ago the Block twins discovered that while nipping off the lower leaves of our pear tree, the deer had yanked a branch right off the tree!
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A Bear
Bear
At the South end of Dolomite Narrows, Tansy saw a bear meandering along the edge of the shore turning over rocks looking for eels and crabs, (click here for a map of the location).
Invertebrates of Dolomite Narrows
Liam and Sea Star
The passengers on the schooner Passing Cloud were treated to a close-up view of some of the invertebrates of Dolomite Narrows (click here for a map of the location). First Mate Liam went snorkeling, and brought up specimens, which were put into a bucket on the zodiac.
Blackberries!
Summer Meadow
Gilly and I walked through the meadow to our favourite Himalayan Blackberry patch.
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Tansy Visits Sea Lions
Tansy was fascinated by the Stellers sea lions that she saw from the schooner Passing Cloud several times on her recent voyages around Gwaii Haanas in Haida Gwaii.
These ones were seen on Garcin Rocks, a rookery off the east side of Benjamin Point, at the south end of Moresby Island (this link goes to a map, which you can zoom out on to see where it is).
There were quite a few pups on the rocks, and the alpha males were defending their harems from wannabee alphas. There seems to be a constant commotion at this rookery.
Figs!
Baby Figs
This has been an amazing year for our Fig tree! A fig tree continuously produces wee little nubs at the base of the leaves, which are actually inverted flowers. A particular kind of wasp lays its eggs inside the nub, and the larval stages are spent right inside the fruit. The male hatchlings fertilise the females and then crawl out of the fruit. The females crawl out the hole left by the males, and find another baby fig to pollinate!
The littlest girl in the cupboard hopped up into the tree to inspect the fascinating baby figs…are there any wasps in there?
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Seeking Tufted Puffins
Flatrock Island
Tansy was eager to see puffins while sailing aboard the schooner Passing Cloud earlier this month.
She had helped to rescue a rare puffin-in-the-shape-of-a-muffin once (click here for that story) and had listened avidly to Constance’s stories of the Atlantic Puffins she saw in Iceland (here).
From these encounters Tansy had developed a strong urge to see Tufted Puffins in the wild and up close. Last summer she had spotted them at a distance while motoring along the west side of Gwaii Haanas, but they were too far away to appear much more than small dark seabirds.
The first stop on the puffin search was Flatrock Island near the mouth of Louscoone Inlet. A few puffins nest there, and Tansy did see them, but not close enough for her liking.
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