A new tenant in a tidy little condo

I know this is a poor quality picture, but I had to share because I was so excited when I was told about the nest.  My neighbour is a hummingbird lover and has a website called Hummingbirds up close.com. He has been documenting our local hummingbirds. Anna's hummingbirds are indigenous to Vancouver Island and don't migrate over winter.   

These little creatures are amazing, very curious, very tenacious and beautiful.  Every time I go out in the yard you can here them trilling and the hum sound of their wings as they swoop around my yard.  The nest is about as big as a Canadian tooney or a US silver dollar, teeny tiny little nests.  The hummers  use spiderweb silk to create the nest and the little bits of twigs to camouflage it.  The eggs are as small as my pinky nail or beanie baby jelly bean.  I think she has two eggs in the nest.  I am hoping to catch a glimpse of her in the nest on a sunny day to capture a better picture to post.  If you are having trouble she is right in the centre and is looking up. 

Close up of the nest, they are really hard to see because they are well camouflaged.

Just to give you perspective on size of the nest it's the size of the toonie on the left on the right is a quarter.

The nest webcam is installed and should be up and running hummingbirds up close.com

First weekend of spring 2014

Swallows Landing looking out in Esquimalt, BC, in the distance you can see the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.

Well the first weekend of spring 2014 was a bit of a mixed bag of sun, cloud, cold, warmth, and a wee bit of rain.  Friday dawned sunny and warmish, it was so nice we had coffee outside.  We lingered over coffee because it felt so nice to feel the warmth of sun on my face.  We set our plans for the day and decided to take the dog for a good long walk at Langford Lake.  Afterwards I sat in a lawnchair soaking up more sun while my hubs helped the neighbour tinker with his new to him vintage 350.  It is quite pleasant snoozing in the sun and then hearing a motorcycle roar to life.  It prompted me to pay a long overdue visit to my garage and start Scarlet.  I haven't ventured out there since I parked her last October, Motorcycle Man has been doing that all winter.  Listening to the engine sing to life has definitely stirred my motorcycle adventure feelings.  

Wooden bridge walking path over the boggy beginnings of the trail walk at Langford Lake.  It was a perfect walk.

Langford Lake Trail

Today (Sunday) was another stunning spring day, much warmer than Saturday which was overcast and rainy, which made it a stay at home hide kind of day.  So again Poocha and I went for a walk.  We stopped at a new friend's lovely boutique shop and kayak rental touring company.  Poocha has a lnew friend named Sawyer and the puppies were playing and enjoying a walk together.  

After the puppies played, my friend and I took the dogs for a walk down the West Song walkway.  It was a stunning day, spring has taken hold and trees are bursting into bloom everywhere.  It is truly heartwarming to know Old Man Winter is well and truly on the run, at least here in Victoria.

My favorite magnolia tree is in full bloom now.  I could stand and stare at this tree all day, it is truly that beautiful.

We stopped at the look-out and it was breathtaking!  This overlooks West Bay, this was where my float home was moored when we lived aboard.  In the distance you can see the Olympic Mountain range, it was so clear you could see for miles.  

Sorry about the blurry image, but I was tussling with my Poocha and trying yo snap a puck.  I believe this is a Trout Lilly ( THANK YOU MARTHA!) it was nestled in amongst vines on a hillside.  Not bad for pics taken on an iPhone.  Hope you all are getting a little spring where you are and if not, I hope it comes your way soon.

Richard's new waterlogue app - cool

Richard's Page

Richard of Richard's Page blog found a cool app - Waterlogue. I decided to give it a whirl, here's my results.

I love this pic, it's my all time favorite motorcycle pic.

It does a good job at hiding middle age wrinkles ;)

I may enlarge some of these and print them off & frame them.

Last post officially of winter 2013/14

 

Stunningly beautiful day on Monday, however the winds must gave been between 70 to 90km/hour.  It was a fun dog walk, I was a little worried Poocha may become airborne and we would have had a dog kite.  

Daffodils grow like weeds on the island and are pretty much everywhere the eye looks.  These were tucked back in the bush sheltered from the wind.  

Our walk is one of the most popular in Victoria, Dallas Road.  Young and old alike end up wandering down here, it's spectacular .  

The wind was just screaming through here and there must have 15 to 20 kite boarders out in the surf, in fact there were so many that I couldn't fit them in.  Not bad pic though for the iPhone.  

It was amazing watching them dance upon the waves and it is awe inspiring just thinking of the athleticism required for this sport.  

We walked for over an hour and it is almost as if everyone has come out of hibernation and our city is coming alive again.  It does my soul good to see daylight past 7:00pm and definite warmth to the sun.  

The wind was gusting so hard that we kept up top on the sea wall because of the spray up.  

It was the perfect day for a very windy walk and I am starting to believe it's almost motorcycle time.

So Goodbye Old Man Winter don't let the door hit you on the behind on the way out!  

Happy spring equinox and I am ardently wishing for my friends still covered under the white stuff that you get a reprieve sometime soon!

2014 Honda Integra 750cc maxi scoot

We all know that I have scootering roots and there are definitely times I miss the twist'n'go  of my little vino.  I have looked at Maxi scoots in the past and unfortunately due to my current state of under-tallness, they are just too wide and too bulky for me to manage.  I tried a Burgman - too big, too wide and too heavy, and it was the same was with the Suzuki.  I was on the twitter sphere the other night when I came across a tweet from visordown.com  about a new Honda 750cc maxi scoot, which I think is only available in Europe at this point.  It has the styling of a motorcycle and 17inch motorcycle tires with only the barest whisper of a step through - which there really isn't.  It is narrower than most maxis and handles more like a motorcycle,  see  the review on http://www.visordown.com/road-tests-first-rides/first-ride-2014-honda-integra-750-review/24475.html (the link may not work as I was doing this on the iPad)

 I think I would be extremely interested in giving this bad boy a try and I do know a lot of scooterati who are looking for more of a motorcycle styled scoot - Calling Deb of Ruckus Scooter Love blog! There is something appealing to me about this scoot. I think I would like the extra leg room that it would provide your leg is more extended on the scoot vs a motorcycle peg.  At times I find shifting bothers my arthritic ankle - geez I sound like a creaky old thing.  What do you think?

This is the one I'd go for!  

Spring on the Island

Spring has hit the island full force, it was gorgeous and warm.  Poocha and I went for a lovely stroll and I couldn't believe the change in the greenery over the course of 1 week. Today was also one of those rare pampering days, my daughter and I went to the spa, it was amazing.  

Hope you enjoy the little snippet of spring.

This Magnolia tree is simply beautiful when it is in full bloom, it is actually breathtaking and I can hardly wait to share more pictures in the coming days.

Watermarking photos

So dear blogger friends I have been thinking a lot about photos I post and share on the internet mainly through blogging and other social media sites and would like your opinion of watermarking photos? In today's internet world some of us have had content taken from blogs and no doubt our photos. So what do you think? Is it worth it to watermark? Or is it just a waste of time?  Every once in awhile I snap a great photo and don't want anyone else taking cred for my pic and the moment I captured.  Thoughts?