Catching up!!

Shire horse with a long forelock

It has been sometime since I last posted.  Life has been busy!!  Anyway, thinking back to early September, on the suggestion of a friend, I went to the Saanich Fall which is held every Labour Day.  This fair has the claim of being the longest continuous running fair in Western Canada.   The day was hot and I treated myself to an ice cream cone which I ate as I wandered around.   There were sheep and llama's being walked around on halters; miniature horses, light horses and large draft horses showing off their stuff; goats, rabbits, hens, chickens, donkeys, food stalls, and barns full of produce and crafts with prize ribbons attached to the lucky winners.  I watched a cup cake eating contest with the winner taking home the $25 prize and saw and heard young children enjoying the midway rides.  I will definitely go again.

Went to Oak Bay with family in mid-September and my sister captured a couple of paddle boarders in the bay.  I hadn't seen this sport before but understand that it is quite popular.  We ate at the cafe and on our way in were entertained by a young child throwing food to a harbour seal.  I am still enamoured of the scenery and sealife on the island.








There have been a Y walks, of course.  Last week we walked around the Willow Beach area in Oak Bay.  We passed a house where the owner was creatively using golf clubs and tea cup and saucer sets stuck on stakes to tie up the dahlias, and using the cups and saucers for a hickory dickory clock.   We were told that the owner is an elderly woman who does all the work herself.  I didn't have my camera and decided to return another day to take pictures.
















The same day I returned to take the dalia pictures I had a successful geocache (with the aid of the hint!!) at Cattle Point. I needed the hint as it was one of those micro caches that I usually do not find.  The red arrow marks the spot of the cache.  The container for this micro cache was a tiny plastic tube that with a tiny roll of paper on which to write the date of the find.  There was just enough room for me to add my information.

I returned to the car via the beach. The tide had come in bringing with it a lovely deep green seaweed which was being gathered by a family.  I wish I had gone over and asked why she was gathering it.  I know seaweed used as fertilizer in gardens, as a beauty aids and used in cooking.

Dogs are everywhere.  These are not strays but well loved and catered to animals.  Most of them are friendly and will come up asking for a pat or attention.  Often they are like children playing in the sand or in the water.   I was particulaly amused by a golden retriever who waded out up to its belly and just stood looking down into the water.  It would come out, shake the excess water from its coat and wade back in again.  In the meantime, its owner lounged on the beach reading her book and keeping an occasional eye on her pet.