Rainy Highlight

vine trying to grow

The photoclub has been a little quiet lately, and that has been my fault. The last shoot was at Craigflower park, and after arriving, I was less that inspired. I didn’t really feel like taking pictures, so we all agreed to call it quits early.

Two weeks ago was supposed to be the last shoot, but I was on Hornby, and neglected to set something up for the rest of the gang.

Tonight was the latest shoot. It was rainy all day long, and it wasn’t looking good. When I got home I noticed the sun was trying to come out, and sure enough it did. The shoot was at Esquimalt Memorial Park, and when I got to the park, only Barry showed up after me. That was alright though, I think I got some nice shots. I love photos of freshly fallen rain. It is extra nice when the sun is out to highlight the rain.

Here are my shots.

Willful Burn

happy doggy

happy doggy

Another fun walk with Yoshi at Macaulay Point Park today. The sun was shining, the sailboats were out in full force, and there were lots of other dogs at the park. We were there for close to an hour I think, and Yoshi had a fun walk, followed by some retrieving in the water. Good times, good times.

wet doggy

At one point I came across a sign that someone had been using for target practice. Not cool. There are houses behind it. What is the point behind such willful destruction?

I hope this was a pellet gun

Along the way home we passed this oak tree whose leaves are starting to turn. I thought it was interesting that they look like they are starting to burn.

Oak Tree leaves starting to turn

Trackside Festivities

TAG in both senses

Saturday night Suede and I joined K and JJ for dinner at Spinnakers, then headed over to the Trackside Art Gallery (TAG) for the unveiling of a bunch more paintings.

The unveiling was quite a big event, withh food, music, firedancing, and the big reveal to top it off. Although we missed most of the festivities, we did catch the important part. It was a very fun evening. The Rock Solid foundation has a very positive effect on the community, and has the backing of a lot of high profile businesses in the area.

The paintings revealed were from people of many age groups, and experience. It was quite impressive to see the paintings of a young child right next to a painting by Robert Bateman.

After all the new paintings were revealed, the four of use headed back to Spinnakers for dessert and another drink. Yum.

Dog Ahead

Yesterday morning I was lounging around trying to wake up. I knew that unless I got going, I would end up spending most of the day on the couch. I thought a dog walk was in order, so I called up Coreman to see what he was up to. Turned out he and Justine were thinking the same thing.

I got changed, grabbed the dog stuff, and the dog, and met up with Coreman, Justine, and OTP. We headed out to Matheson Lake. I had never been there before, so it was a real treat. The trail itself was great, and the views stunning. As the trail makes its way around the lake, it intersects the Galloping Goose a couple times. There are some rather steep sections to tackle, that were simple for the pups, but required a little effort on my part.

Speaking of the pups, OTP and Yoshi got along famously. Yoshi was full of beans, and ran around lots. OTP kept up to him as much as he could. Usually Yoshi will run ahead a bit, then run back to check up. Yesterday he was further ahead than normal, and would stop and wait for us to catch up to him! Silly pup.

After the walk the three of us refuled at My Chosen Café while the pups rested in the truck.

Great wallk. Very enjoyable, and a good kickstart to my day.

Expectations Planned

piggy in the middle

Last Monday Suede and I headed out for our second annual trip to the Saanich Fair. Last year we had a great time, so we had high expectations for this year. Checking the schedule, there were a few things we wanted to see, so me made plans, and headed out there.

Turns out the fair is pretty much the same from year to year (many of the same exhibits in the same locations). 🙁 We caught the BMX stunt show, which was interesting, but a little slow! We wandered ’round, checked out the animals, and I took a few pictures. We just weren’t feeling into this year, so we ended up leaving before seeing everything we had originally planned on. Too bad.

My pics are here.

Wedding Pancakes

Bill and Anna

Things have been a little quiet here at muddylaces, and mainly that has been because Suede and I were on vacation last week. We were up on Hornby Island celebrating the wedding of Bill and Anna. The wedding was on Wednesday, but we ended up going for a whole week. We had an excellent time relaxing there. Hornby holds a special place in my heart from road trips gone by, but this trip was also very special.

We did lots while there, and this included walking the dogs on the beach every day. The cabin we stayed in was right on the ocean, which made for a spectacular sunsets. We also walked Yoshi at Big Tribune bay, Whaling Station Bay, Helliwel Park, and Little Tribune bay. All were very different, but very beautiful beaches. All of them had huge reddy brown colored jelly fish washed up on the sand too.

The ceremony was very nice, and since it was a civil ceremony, it didn’t have many references to God or religious intonations. Bill and Anna each wrote their own vows, and the wedding itself was held at Anna’s mom’s house, where Anna was born. The grounds are a nursery, so there were nice flower beds all over, and everything was lush and green. The reception afterwards was really fun as well. The dinner was very yummy, and featured many locally produced foods. The band that played was from Denman Island, just a short boat ride away. In all it was a vey perfect West Coast wedding, that included a small rain shower right at the end of the ceremony.

The next morning there was a pancake breakfast for everyone. They were the most amazing pancakes I have ever had in mylife. I don’t really consider yself a pancake connosiuer, but these were the perfect thickness, were very light and fluffy, spaked up the butter and syrop splendidly, were the right size, and were cooked just right (in butter I think since the edges had a slight crispiness to them). These were buttermilk pancakes with a twist. I learned the secret ingredient was vanilla. Even thinking about them now makes my mouth water. Also, they had numerous toppings for them. Butter, maple syrop, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and yoghurt were all available. Mmmm mmmm good!

I also got to go mountain biking while I was there. Twice actually. Biking was the reason I ever went to Hornby in the first place. The trails there are just about perfection when it comes to XC riding. There are longish uphills, but the trails are so smooth, fast, twisty and fun they need to be seen to be believed. The only downfall was Graeme. He came on the second ride with Sue and I, and on the last trail (No Horses), just a few turns from the truck, he took a fall and wrenched his knee. It was sore for a couple days, but by the time he was getting ready to go home, he was able to walk on it gingerly. Hopefully it wasn’t anything serious.

Yoshi was such an amazing dog the whole weekend. He had to spend an inordinate amount of time in the truck due to various circumstances. He adapted very well, and wasn’t too much of a bother (until he rolled in something stinky that he found near a log). What did he get for his troubles? Fleas. Poor guy. We stopped at the vet on the way home and picked up some Advantage to clear him up.

The only other bad note for the weekend was that our cabin had the most stinky water I have ever experienced. I learned that the water had a high sulfur content due to a very low water table. Eeew. Showering in it was very disgusting.

In all everything went smoothly for our trip, and Suede, Yoshi and I all had a great time. Yoshi got so much exercise last week that he is still tired from it all today!

sunset on an awesome weekend

Snaggin Legends

Ahh, Tea Party. One of my most favorite Canadian Rock groups. I can’t get enough of their music I love it so much. I have seen them in concert at least 4 times now, and every single one of those concerts have been amazing.

This last concert was Thursday night. It started with me picking Erin from the ferry. What a joke the walk on area in Victoria is. They have a row of parking stalls for drop off only. Most of those spots were people waiting to pick someone up. The rest of the parking lot is pay use only. So, if you are going to be at the terminal for anything under 30 seconds, you are expected to buy a parking pass. How ridiculous. Also, they are charging $1 for a half hour of parking. That is more than the city parkades in downtown Victoria! That is more than most of the meters in downtown as well. Stupid. Most people just waited by their cars instead of meeting someone inside. But I digress.

After snagging Erin, we headed into town to grab some dinner at the Old Bailey. Sue joined us, and all of us were extremely hungry. After ordering our waitress tells us that the kitchen is a little backed up right now. Aaaaargh! We just wanted something to eat, and quickly. After what seemed like an eternity, the appy arrived. In all the food was excellent, and the beer delicious, but we were sooo hungry, it would been perfect if the food arrived sooner.

After dinner Erin and I wandered down to Legends to see when Tea Party would be on. The Bouncers told us Tea Party around 11, and the openers on around 10. The opening band was the Years I think. Noone we were interested in seeing. Instead we went back to my place, and got caught up. We got back to the club right as the opening band finished. We grabbed a drink, and just as we finished that, the lights dimmed, and the crowd got riled up.

The concert started off with a hit. The River is an awesome song, and really good for opening with. They mixed in it a couple cover tunes as well. The next song was a new one called Overload. Almost all the way through this one something went wrong, and Jeff Martin’s guitar went silent. They had to eventually leave the stage so it could get fixed. Upon returning to the stage, they jumped right back in where they left off, and played an awesome concert.

Their current release, Writing’s on the Wall, was very wicked. It was a little heavier than the record version, and was perfect for near the end of the concert.

The gripe I have with that concert is the fact that I had heard most of it before. I managed to get some MP3’s from the last Tea Party concert I went to, and the two shows had a lot in common. I still enjoyed myself, but I couldn’t help but wonder why when starting a new tour in support of a new album, they couldn’t come up with some new material. Also, they only played 2 songs off the new album, and I really would have liked to hear more. When I am a rich and famous singer/songwriter, I will do everything perfectly so everybody is happy. (that was sarcasm folks).

The last note for that night was a funny occurance on my way out the door. As I climbed the stairs out of Legends I took out my earplugs. As I was walking out the main door, I was putting them back into a small plastic bag. One of the bouncers called out to me, and came after me to ask me “what do you have there?”. Laughingly I showed him the bag and said “earplugs”. He returned to my post, and I chuckled to myself. I guess he thought it was a baggie of drugs, but even if it was, I was already on the sidewalk outside the club, where he could not do a thing. Too funny. That reminds me. The bouncers were pretty cool about people smoking up during the show. They merely requested the participants to stop, and not eject them like I have seen so many other times. Fun.

I finally got into bed sometime around 1:15 am, so when my alarm went off at 5:45, I was hurting pretty bad. Erin had to be on the 7am ferry, so I rolled out of bed, woke Erin up, then headed out. Work was a little painful Friday, but it was worth it!