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“Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”

Samuel Johnson

A couple of days back The Girl and I drove up island to the small but quaint town of Ladysmith – to luncheon with The Girl’s mother. It was a splendidly sunny day and we had a really good time on the Mill Bay ferry, cruising up the Trans-Canada Highway and enjoying a very agreeable lunch in a somewhat unexpected ‘English’ pub called the Fox and Hounds, the which is in the middle of Ladysmith.

It will probably come as little surprise to anyone who knows where we live that ‘authentic’ UK and Irish pubs can be located quite readily on the island – and they do tend to be pretty good facsimiles of those across the pond. This one offered home-made steak and kidney pies (long time since I indulged!) which were more than satisfactory. They also did a really rather splendid sticky toffee pudding (particularly excellent when they acceded to our request for additional toffee sauce)!

Yum!

On the way back to the ferry we saw on the road something that I have never seen before. A dude passed us on the highway on a big bike – and on the pillion seat there sat a big dog! The dog was wearing some sort of harness – though I couldn’t make out the details – and had his front paws on the dude’s shoulders so that he could see the road ahead…

…and ‘Yes!’ – the dog was wearing goggles!

I would love to have been able to take a photo, but neither dude nor dog where hanging around – and we had a ferry to narrowly miss (though we did have a most pleasant wait in the sun for the next crossing).

When I got home I leapt upon the InterWebNet to see if I could locate a suitable image to head up this post. What I found was – of course – that our sighting was by no means a rarity and that dogs on bikes are quite a thing.

Who knew?

Any road – here are a few snaps taken in Mill Bay whilst we lounged about waiting for the ferry.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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“Time says hush: by the gong of time you live. Listen and you hear time saying you were silent long before you came to life and you will again be silent long after you leave it, why not be a little silent now? Hush yourself, noisy little man. Time hushes all: the gong of time rang for you to come out of the hush and you were born. The gong of time will ring for you to go back to the same hush you came from. Winners and losers, the weak and the strong, those who say little and try to say it well, and those who babble and prattle their lives away, time hushes all”.

Carl Sandburg

This is my very favourite time of the year. I love how verdant are the woods – how lush is the undergrowth and how still are the trees once the winter winds have abated. These images from Centennial Park in Saanichton here on the peninsula.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidI love that someone took the time to turn this fallen tree into a little piece of art. I love that they did so again when the first version slowly decayed and returned to nature.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

Audrey Hepburn

Well – we didn’t plant this one, though we have been responsible for nurturing it for nearly a decade now.

As to the now…this does feel like an important moment to be believing in tomorrow – no matter how tough it may be so to be doing, given the shape of the world right now.

The Girl and I have been suffering brutal colds this two weeks passed. We have, however, been afflicted by very few such since moving to Canada so we can’t really complain – even though these particular ones have been vicious. We are – it seems – finally on the mend now though…

…just in time to vote carefully in the Canadian Federal election on Monday. We are, surely, all to be held responsible for keeping the bad guys out of office in this good country; this being a vital bulwark against other nations where the same has, sadly, not been the case.

The garden – meanwhile – continues to flourish ‘irregardless’!

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

 

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“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”

Leonard Cohen

One of the great pleasures of living on the coast  – particularly somewhere with the sort of big skies that we have here on the peninsula above the Victoria – is that we get to enjoy the constantly evolving panorama outwith our residence that is created and illuminated by the ever-changing light. Regular readers of these musings will be familiar with such images, since I cannot resist grabbing the camera (or mobile phone, these days) and taking endless snaps of the continually unfolding vista.

Here are some more:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidOK – I cheated. That last one was in Mexico, from our recent sojourn in Puerto Vallarta.

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A final batch of photos from our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta.

We admired this Gaudi-esque public space which puts one in mind of the Parc Guell in Barcelona – though, naturally, on a somewhat smaller scale.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

Our all-inclusive resort was – unlike many others in PV – not directly on the sea front. It did, however, own a beach resort a mere five minutes away by car, the which included a very decent restaurant to which we repaired several times for our evening repast. As you might expect the sunset vied with the fare to provide the greater attraction.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

When we returned to Victoria from Puerto Vallarte The Girl and I were accompanied by a new member of our entourage. Gentle reader – meet Coyote:

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Coyote is an Alebrije from Oaxaca. The Mexican art site – Viva Mexico – has the following:

Alebrijes are creatures carved out of wood and painted with Zapotec patterns and fantastic designs from the artists own imagination. These colorful one-of-a-kind carvings are handmade using wood of the copal tree which is grown in the surrounding fields of the towns and is considered a sacred tree which only grows in the region of Oaxaca. This wood is sustainably sourced from the branches of the tree in order to preserve the life of the tree and ensure a continued source of wood for the future. Alebrijes are traditionally made in Oaxaca in the towns of San Martin Tilcajete as well as San Antonio Arrazola. These beautiful works of art have become very popular over the years among art collectors worldwide and are highly sought after. Add a splash of color to your home with one of our unique wood carvings by Oaxacas best artists!

He is – of course – a trickster, but he is also gorgeous… so he gets away with it!

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Here on Vancouver Island it is raining. No surprise there of course, though it is also true that temperatures are beginning to creep into double figures and Mother Nature is clearly signaling her intention of getting cracking on spring without further delay.

Why do I mention this? Well – The Girl and I are still in that state of travel denial that causes us to check over-frequently the current temperatures in Puerto Vallarte (as much or more than we do those in Victoria). Sadly we are just missing the warm sun on our shoulders!

Anyway – here are some more random photos from our recent trip to the land of our fellow recipients of the tangerine one’s tariffs (bah!)…

These pictures were taken around our resort:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid
This chap was pretty impressive too – and, as far as one could ascertain – harmless!

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid
None too shabby – I hope you will agree. Not our usual sort of establishment, in many ways. We (by which I mean The Girl, of course) normally prefer to find places to stay that enable us to cater for ourselves should we so prefer. This resort was all inclusive – which on this occasion suited us fine.


Photo by Andy Dawson Reid
This was one of a number of plaster masks that were mounted above the bed-head in our room. Spooky – some might think – but actually rather lovely.

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Guess where we are!

Yes! As trailed but a few short weeks ago in an earlier post we are taking a brief restorative break in Mexico; in Puerto Vallarta to be precise.

There will be more time for the writing of words shortly, but I thought you might care to peruse some images of what it is like to be here in the warmth of the Mexican spring.

Jolly lovely it is!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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…with friends – on a cold but sunny day at Island View Beach.

Enjoy!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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…to friends, acquaintances and gentle readers…

…from the Kickass Canada Girl and the Imperceptible Immigrant…

we wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas and a Happy Hogmany!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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(See what I did there?….)

Having a vista from one’s windows is a huge bonus and a blessing. Some folk prefer to live in the valleys (for protection one assumes) – other folk like to live on the hill (and thus be able to identify approaching threats). Of course, the latter option does also provide the dreamers amongst us with plenty of food for thought!

‘Anywho’ – (defined by the Urban Dictionary as: “An extremely annoying misuse of the word ‘anyhow’. Generally used by people who think they’re being clever“. Naturally, that just makes me want to use it!!) – this is simply a preamble to sharing some recent vistas as viewed from our casements.

You might want to double-click on these to get the full effect…

Enjoy:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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