Cassia in a Box

 

She loves this game...

 

Hornby Island

 Spent some time mountain biking and beach combing on Hornby this summer.

 

Crab hunting.

 

She doesn't always smile for the camera.

 Hornby's Elementary School

 Awesome community centre entrance.

 Exploring the sandstone down at Ford's Cove.

 Adorable and tame (unless you have a garden on Hornby).

 Bikes at the recycling depot/free store.

Our old sailboat! We sold this very boat after a spring and a summer adventure back in 2009. We knew it might be somewhere on Denman Island and then spotted it right at the ferry terminal. Happy to see that it is in great shape and looking ready for an adventure.

Gulf Islands

We went cycle touring! Like, way back in August or something. 

Luckily Meghan actually updates her blog promptly and with words and stuff.

Sunshine and muscles

East Point on Saturna Island.

Organized hitch hiking - gotta love the Gulf Islands.

Harvest

Thai curry ingredients (except the tomatoes).

C chowing down on a 'mato'.

California Poppies

My fave flower in the garden this year is the California poppies. Latin name is Eschscholzia 

californica - I had no idea you could put two 'sch's in a row.

Botany BC

Botany BC was held in Revelstoke this year, so I finally got to attend. This was  a seriously fun group of people to totally nerd out with. Large hats are mandatory.

Canby's lovage (Ligusticum canbyi)

 Fairy puke lichen (Icmadophila ericitorum).
Not only does this lichen have a super common name, it also seems to parasitize the bryophytes it grows on or near.

Epilobium hybrid.

This plant was the end destination of our hike in Glacier National Park. And here I can't even remember its full name. I was too busy checking out the lichens - is my excuse.

A fun Cladonia spp. with teeny-tiny cups growing out of just-plain-tiny cups.

A Huperzia species. Closely related to the club mosses (Lycopodium spp.) but these guys have their pollen sacs between their leaves (the yellow sacs visible in this image), rather than in a cone-like structure at the tip of a shoot. I learned so much at Botany BC.

My guess is that this is green paw (Nephroma arcticum), but I couldn't confirm it as there were no apothecia (fruiting bodies). The apothecia are found on the under the tips of the 'leaves' and are 1-3cm across. Hope I get to see such large apothecia sometime soon.

2 years old

 

The birthday girls.

James' new career may be as a cake artist.

Demolition

 We bought the trailer - or more accurately - the property next door.
Here's a last view of the trailer before the digger gets it.

 Tearing down the addition.

 Half way there.

We watched from the driveway for a bit, but if I tried to put my hands down, they were promptly returned to C's ears. Eventually we moved inside and watched the show from the upstairs window, but the window had to be closed.

Tadpoles

 Tad poles at Echo lake.

This one has rear legs coming in.

Almost frogs!

In the Garden

Cozy Cabin and our lovely garden.

 Calendula

 Broccoli

 Court jester

 Carrots

 The zucchinis started out with some promised, but they have become rather high maintenance. In past years I've stuck two plants in the ground, and then struggled to keep up with the zuke output. This year they turned yellow and demanded more nitrogen. Then got covered in white powder mold which has now spread to my cucumbers and butternut squash. The flowers don't seem to be opening and so they aren't getting fertilized unless I pry them open and put pollen right onto the pistil. Unpollinated zukes grow for a few inches and then wither and die. I guess it's just not a zucchini year.

 The chard was hidden between the garlic and potatoes. Now that I've harvested both of those tall crops, it is happy as can be.

 Calendula with morning dew.

Dew drops on a nasturtium leaf.