Scare

One of a few gems I picked up from working at the costume shop.

Halloween

I was little red riding hood.

Dia De Los Muertos

I made these :)

Ti amo

This picture is my new favorite thing in the world. Thanks Caleb :)

Coco

Raime and Phil bought a puppy! I've spent the afternoon taking things out of her mouth, making sure she doesn't pee on me, and letting her fall asleep on my stomach. It's been a very cute afternoon. And of course, Connor is terrified of her.

Slowly but Surely

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We took care of our roommate's dogs for a couple days. This is Chaz, he was a big puppy sweetheart. He made me want to get a big dog someday. But he was also trouble, because he was tall enough to reach up on the counter and get things.

This is Teddy, she was a bit older and just wanted to cuddle and have her belly rubbed.

Caleb and Chaz became good friends :)

There were a lot of cookies made on this trip. I think Chaz might have eaten half of this batch.

Just before we left our flowers bloomed!

We had a picnic on the beach with the Murray family on our last night in town.


Valerie Murray and Brian Murray behind her. The food was amazing! Of course :)

Caleb looking adorable and enjoying Valerie's amazing brownies.

Chinatown.


This was on the way home, we stayed with Caleb's friend Anthony.

Ciao a Tutti

We leave to Vegas tomorrow. More pictures from the trip soon! Here we go on a 23 hour drive...

Gary and Harmon's House

Caleb and I were invited over to Gary and Harmon's house for the Karr Camp get together. They are kind enough to let the students come over for Sunday dinner and a concert. They are so much fun to watch, and at the end they played the organ to see if the dogs would sing along. I should have got a picture of the dogs they are so cute! They have a nice little garden in the backyard, and Gary has an entire room just for his train collection! They are great hosts and I always have a fun evening there.

Kalix

Tonight Caleb and I rode back to Glencoe Cove Park and this time we didn't see any river otters but we did see a crane standing on the beach fishing. When it flew away we started walking down a path surrounded by tall grass. I heard a tinkling behind me and I turned around expecting to see a dog but it was this beautiful little white cat. It was running towards us like it was saying "hey wait for me!" I'm used to seeing cats always look so nonchalant but he meant business. I watched him for awhile while he look for field mice. It was great the way he crouched down and stuck his head in the grass. I left him there to find Caleb who had climbed some rocks to get a better view of the ocean. We stayed for awhile and I was thinking about the cat when we heard it again, and I saw it gracefully maneuvering it's way over the rocks and towards us. It started munching on the crab bones that cover the tops of the rocks. Maybe he liked the salty flavor. He followed us all the way back to our bikes. I don't usually like cats but he was pretty cool. His name was Kalix.

Caleb and I came home from the school and as we pulled up to the house we saw a duck and her ducklings crossing through our yard. Only in Canada. We followed them for a little bit, it was hard for us to take our eyes off of them because the babies were just so cute, following their mom in a little line or huddling under her when she stopped. When we were following them there was this short step that separated one yard from another and the mom hopped up on it with ease but the little group (or peloton as I liked to call it) of chicks was thrown into chaos when they couldn't reach her. Running around and chirping. She eventually gave up and hopped back down to find another route. That was when we lost them but I thought about them all day and how lucky we were to see them! Caleb and I see deer nearly every day when we ride our bikes but it never gets old to me.

Bambi

So Caleb and I were riding along on our bikes and we usually see deer if we ride at a certain time of day and this time we were climbing a hill in a residential area around dusk. I looked to my right and as I slowly passed this little house I saw the best thing. It looked kind of like this:

Except that the deer really looked like this:

It was standing square in the middle of a yard that looked way too small around it, with a big truck and a cat and a man with a big beer belly standing there looking away as if he was saying "hey honey come look at this" it was just too perfect. I thought it would make a good drawing or painting but this was the quick sketch I did just to remember what it looked like.

Fourth

We walked up to the top of Mt. Tolmie (which is more like a big hill than a mountain) and we watched the sun set, then we looked for fireworks that were going off on the U.S. shore across the water. They were tiny and silent but it was still nice. There was a big show going on in what we think was Seattle, but it was hidden behind a low range of mountains. We could see the glow coming from it, and it was surreal because it looked like a sunrise.

Anton

I had a dream that Anton Chigurh from the movie "No Country For Old Men" was deciding whether he was going to kill me. Yikes! But for the record, he's a lot nicer in person. I think he was gonna let me go.

Glencoe Cove Park

I can't wait to go back to this spot, there are endless trails and cliffs to explore. It was already getting dark when I got there, so I couldn't stay long. In fact, I hardly had a chance to look around at all because the first cliff that I got to I saw what I thought was the Lochness Monster, or a giant sea snake, or a GIANT bit of kelp, turned out to be a seal! I was ecstatic. I watched it for about half an hour, and climbed over rocks and timbers trying to get a better view. It would pop it's head up and look around for a minute before diving back under water.





On my way home I was lucky enough to spot a deer having a late dinner in someone's front yard, and so I stood and watched it for a little while. As I was about to leave ( I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes) another little deer arrived. I kept watching as a baby fawn appeared as well, and then another fawn, and then ANOTHER fawn! Can you believe it? Five deer all hanging out just a few yards in front of me! They kept sniffing in my direction but it was dusk so everything was very gray and fuzzy (and I was holding very still) so I'm not sure if they didn't see me or if they just didn't care. They played with each other and jumped over bushes and then eventually ran off except for the biggest deer which kept eating this tree right by the road. I went and stood right in front of it and it didn't even care. I didn't want to stop looking at it because it was so beautiful.

Here is the picture of the seal, trust me, it's there!

Canada Day 2009

Yesterday was Canada Day, and we celebrated by going downtown and walking around, eating pizza, watching the crowd, and at the end of the night we saw the fireworks. Everyone was dressed up in red and white clothes, and a lot of people wore Canadian flags on their backs or wore them as dresses. It was a pretty rowdy bunch but it was all in good fun. Lots of yelling and singing and honking of horns. Much crazier than any Fourth of July I've been to!

Arbutus Cove

I went alone last night to explore a beach I had seen on a map. This is what I saw.









The ride home is all downhill so I was taking it easy, having a good time when I screeched to a halt and there I saw a deer in front of me! Just hanging out on the sidewalk. It was getting really dark so I quickly snapped some pictures. She was so pretty.
I also met a little white terrier named Lucy that was ticklish.

Sunday

I gave Caleb a haircut.

Crab Cove

Max pointed us in the direction of another little spot for Caleb and I to check out. This one he had named "crab cove" when he was younger, because of the abundance of crabs one can find in this area. And he was right! But mostly we just saw crab shells. Lots of little baby crabs too which I failed to get a picture of.
While we were looking out at the mountains in the distance (which are actually in Washington, the ones that are all hazy in the distance, that gives you an idea of how big those mountains are) when an older couple came paddling along in some kayaks and said hello to us, but with the echo of the cove their voices were amplified and startles Caleb so badly he nearly fell off the rock!

UVIC

The University of Victoria has a problem with bunnies. They are EVERYWHERE. They have taken over the school. With cuteness.









This man and woman were feeding the rabbits a loaf of bread. I've never seen so many huddled around in one spot. They said they come here every Sunday to feed them, and she said it makes great therapy for her cancer.

The Murray House

This is our friend Max's parent's house. Modest from the outside, but the interior is really amazing. The best of 60's architecture and design. (Chaunte' would love it!) The photos don't do it justice, but it can give you some idea. I don't know how many years it took them to collect all of the odd and marvelous things, but every corner is home to a lovely little still-life, waiting to be painted.








Every time they invite s over for dinner it is always a memorable meal, Valerie and Bryan are both excellent cooks. The food is so fresh and the flavors are always new. The strawberries here are tiny compared to the ones in Las Vegas but they have twice as much flavor. And the salmon we had last night was red! I couldn't believe it. I'll definitely miss our evenings here.