THE SALISH SEA

The 'Strait of Georgia' is the body of water which has, on three of its sides (in a counter-clockwise direction), Vancouver Island, Puget Sound, and the 'mainland' of the province of British Columbia. The northern end of it, beyond Canada's Gulf Islands, becomes the 'Inside Passage' to Alaska.

Here's a pretty good map/diagram of the area. (The dotted line, by the way, is the border between the USA and Canada, and the red outline is the watershed systems that feed into the sea).

Lime Kiln Park on San Juan Island overlooks the southern end of it...


Many, many folks already refer to this body of water as the Salish Sea -- and there's an article in my local paper today explaining why, and suggesting that there may be an official move to change the name. I'd sure support that whole-heartedly! Since it was the Salish Sea for thousands of years, and only the Strait of Georgia for about 150, it makes sense to me...

SAME GREAT LIFE, DIFFERENT BEACHES

Our trip to Parksville was lovely ... we really enjoy these little road trips. We always meander our way up the Island ... stop for gas just south of Duncan (because it's usually about 5 cents a litre cheaper than here in Victoria), stop at the veggie market, and in addition to much veggies, we often pick up deli items to have a picnic at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith ...

The view to the left...

The view to the right over the amphitheatre and the 'logger sports' pole...

Then we checked out a couple of our favorite second-hand shops between Ladysmith and Qualicum Beach, and ended up at one of our favorite beach-watching spots, right beside the Tourist Info place in Qualicum. To our left, that's Denman and Hornby Islands in the distance...

And right across the Strait of Georgia and to our right is Lasqueti Island (and beyond that is Texada) ...

We spent the night at our friends (and got soundly trounced in euchre, as always, lol) and then took the beach blanket to my sister Julie. It looks great as a cover for her daybed!

Sunday we meandered our way back down the Island to Victoria, and caught this beautiful sunset from Saxe Point Park before we drove home to the marina. . .


Much knitting took place, as always, and I don't have a thing to show for it -- I'll post pics of the two shawls I'm working on soon, I swear!

HAPPY 2008 TO EVERYONE

My New Year's resolutions include:

1. Getting back to the gym. I've had a membership at the 'Y' all year ... and only went occasionally. :-(

2. Being more conscientious about the financial reports for the marina owners (we are the managers here). I always get them done, but often late in the month and then I'm sometimes slow in sending the back-up materials away to them. I'd just feel better if I 'tightened up' the process, and I know the owners would like that, too.

3. Biting my tongue more when I'm about to say something critical or negative ... especially to my kids (who are all grown ups! why DO we mothers do that??)

Knitting-related resolutions include:

1. Learning to knit SOCKS. I've said that every year for the past three, and I'm still hopeful....

2. Knitting at least three more sweaters for myself ... I already have the yarn and the patterns, so I just need to make the time. In general, I'm resolved to giving equal time this year to knitting for charity, knitting for others and knitting for me (that's always been heavily weighted toward mostly knitting for charity, then knitting for others, and 'occasionally' knitting for me).

3. And speaking of time, I'm resolved NOT to leave all the Christmas charity-related knitting until September. I'll do a few things each month and just store things until fall.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: This is a shot of the Chrome Island Lighthouse(off the southern tip of Denman Island) with the harvest moon rising over the Strait of Georgia in the background).

Finally, here's my wish for you for 2008 - I've Googled for the author of this little ditty, and can't find any information, so I'm hoping that I'm not infringing anyone's copyright. It's from a screen saver my son had on his computer for a long time, and I hope I'm remembering it correctly.

Walk soft,
Let go,
Be brave,
Sing low.
Plan bold,
Dream far,
Feel loved,
YOU ARE!

ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU from Michael and I both!

IT'S OFFICIALLY THE SEASON

Last night I took River to the annual Truck Parade on Dallas Road -- I think this was the 9th annual, and I've taken my grandson for the past 4 years. We try to get down to the water no later than 4 pm to get a good spot near Ogden Point where the trucks assemble. Last night we drove in the snow, which made it extra-Christmasy (in River's words!) and it was nearly dark when we found our 'perfect' spot to park, and found the Mustard Seed volunteers to give them our $20 donation. The whole event is a fund-raiser for the local food bank coordinated by The Island Equipment Owners Association, and it's the BEST 'Season Opener' I've ever experienced!

None of the pictures I took along Dallas Road turned out, but it's okay because we get to see the parade twice! After it goes by us at the water, the tradition is that we cut across Cook Street to River's place -- and he just happens to live on the 9th floor of an apartment building that the parade goes right past. So these pics are taken from the balcony ...



The whole thing only lasts about half an hour (there are only 80 trucks allowed), but these trucks are amazing -- I'm pretty sure that whole families spend the entire day decorating them.

To see some REALLY nice pics, check out the Times Colonist's gallery .

PHOTO OF THE DAY: This is 'Boom Bay' on Jedediah Island, a beautiful huge marine park in the Strait of Georgia behind Lasqueti Island. There are rings in the rocks here for anchored boats to 'stern tie' to.

Out of Hand Craft Show

Today my daughter Mischa and I went to the Out of Hand Christmas Craft Show at the Victoria Convention Centre. It was fun, but tiring, and I didn't buy much. After I dropped her off at home I went down to the waterfront again for my daily meditative knitting, but it got dark before I got much done.

ON THE NEEDLES:
Currently working on scarves for the Extreme Outreach ministry (they need 300 total scarves and touques for Christmas presents, and so far a few of us have created just over 200, so we'll probably reach the goal!) .... and I finished the little yoga bag too, but it's too dark to take a decent pic.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: This is a picture of a beautiful little secluded beach on Ballenas Island in the Strait of Georgia. We used to anchor here as often as possible when we lived up that way...