Birds and a Squirrel

 We usually take down our bird feeder in the summer, thinking that there's plenty of food for them in the summer.  I really wanted to see if we could attract some gold finches though and after doing some research, Ken discovered that to attract gold finches, you need a different kind of seed and feeder.  We got some of both and proceeded to wait to see if any would come to the feeder.  It took a week for them to discover the feeder, but finally yesterday evening, we spotted this couple enjoying some seeds.

 Then this one was at the feeder this morning, followed by...

 ...a squirrel!  We never see squirrels in our yard!  We did have something eating the seeds in the other feeder for a while during the winter, but then they stopped and we didn't ever see any thing getting the seed except for the birds, although for a while the seed was disappearing so fast we knew something else was getting it.

The squirrel climbed out to the net feeder, but couldn't get anything, so he took off again.  (I was afraid that it would chew a hole in the net to get to the seeds!)  Hopefully more gold finches will show up now that the feeder has been discovered!

43rd Anniversary Trip - Part 2

 This was the view of the beach outside our B&B.

 Ken is standing outside the door to our room at the B&B.

 One of our first stops was a place where a guy made things out of glass.  He also had a collection of insulators that he was very proud of and insisted on showing them to us. There are little artists studios/shops all over the island.

 Several of the roads that we explored turned into dirt roads after traveling on them for awhile.

 This stop was at a rocky beach...

 ...in a pretty cove...

 ...with interesting shapes in the rocks.  We couldn't figure out what caused the holes in the rocks.

 This is our B&B from a path we took a walk on on the other side of the bay.

 Another artist studio made some really fun looking insects.

 Another stop we made was at a goat cheese factory.  They had a bunch of cheese samples for us to try, along with some jams and crackers.

 Some of the pretty types of cheeses.  We also had some really yummy goat milk gelato here.

 We saw this house with some plant growing over a fairly large part of the roof as we left a park that we had walked around in.  I don't understand why someone would let a plant grow like that on their roof!

 Another thing that we saw all over the island was produce stands. Everything from an elaborate stand like this one to...

 ...small, simple honor-system ones like this one.

 This is a church made out of pretty rocks, that we saw on our way back to Ganges, the main town on the island.

 This is Mt. Maxwell from the other side of it.

 On our last day, we visited a place with a model railroad.  The owner, who is peeking out behind Ken, is from England and had an English accent.  He was excited to have us visit his set up...

 ...and part of his presentation is letting people drive his trains, but you have to wear his train hat also.  It reminded Ken a lot of the train system that his Dad had when he was young.

 Airplanes waiting at the pier to take us back to the mainland.

43rd Anniversary Trip - Part 1

 For our anniversary this year, we planned a trip to one of the islands in British Columbia, called Salt Spring Island.  I thought we were going to ride the ferry, but Ken surprised me with arranging for us to go on a float plane instead.  At one point there were 5 float planes lined up waiting to get loaded, so they could take off.

 Getting ready to get on the float plane.

 I was amazed at  quickly they lift off and how smoothly they land.

 It was fun seeing things from the air that you wouldn't see if you were on a boat.

 A ferry passed under us at one point.

 This is a view of part of Salt Spring Island.

 After arriving on the island, we had lunch, then our waitress recommended that we drive up to the lookout on Mt. Maxwell since it was such a nice day.  This is a view of the valley we drove through to get to Mt. Maxwell.

 The view of the islands to the southeast of Salt Spring Island.  Looking at the Gulf Islands with some of the San Juan Islands in the background that we thought we could see.

 A ferry making its way through the Gulf Islands.

After dinner we took a walk and found a nice little garden with a welcome sign to the main city on Salt Spring Island, Ganges.