| nom-nom-nom |
[May. 12th, 2008|23:41] |
walklog:
05-12 walley creek 3.42km 1:41 252m. this is a wide, paved, multiuse trail for about 1 km, which is quite boring for the first section. but fortunately one can veer off into the bush now and then where it's more interesting. for the second part of the trail there's wetland to the right and left -- and while nanaimo's powers that be seem usually pretty adept about building good trails, this is not so good -- the trail is asphalt (which oozes crap into the water). and it bisects the wetland, with a high chainlink fence on one side -- which makes it hard for even waterfowl to cross, because the space on one side is quite narrow, and take-off isn't going to be easy. this design is asinine.
i walked back through the quiet neighbourhood: vista view (who named this?), williamson, fillinger, entwistle. saw 5 deer resting in an empty lot, one of whom partook of some fresh new tree leaves. |
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| sandstone lace |
[May. 11th, 2008|23:35] |
walklog:
05-11 jack point 5.63 km 2:53 altitude gain 403m. the tide was way, way out, so we wandered around on the ocean floor for a while, peeking into every pool and under some rocks. there was a whole bunch of little crabs and hermit crabs trapped in an old tire, just falling over each other. one little red crab (about 2 cm large) ran out from under a rock and challenged me. i threw the fight.
saw common mergansers and several great blue herons fishing. the camas are in full bloom now. saw my first ever death camas (zigadenus venenosus), and checker/chocolate/rice root lilies / mission bells (fritillaria affinis)!
ETA: what i call "sandstone lace" is generally called tafoni, though i've also seen terms like alveoles, fretwork, gnammas, honeycomb. tafoni.com has some interesting information, including pictures of such structures from around the world. |
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| out of hungary |
[May. 10th, 2008|22:19] |
walklog:
diver lake 2.41 km 1:04. dunno why it's called diver lake, it looks rather too weedy for that -- nice spot for waterfowl though, and apparently for fishing; i am glad despite all the development around here they left a largish chunk of wetland alone. short loop which we extended a little by walking along streets even though it was coldish and drizzly. good thing to get out of the house after being lazy for a couple of days. |
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| eye of the tiger |
[May. 9th, 2008|23:01] |
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viola x williamsii 'eye of the tiger' |
when i saw it, i knew what it had to be called. :) burpee has seeds for this lovely viola hybrid.
no walking today either because i am lazy mcbum, lying on the couch all day and reading kirby crow's scarlet & the white wolf trilogy (which is rather better than the title led me to believe, and a heck of a lot less smutty). the lack of smut doesn't even bother me; who would have expected such a good story in this genre? it sucked me in with the first volume and i cannot stop reading it. in fact i think this trilogy could easily live in the fantasy genre instead of in homoerotic romance. i should write a review (yeah yeah, i should write about 2-300 manga reviews too). |
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| chocolate and vanilla |
[May. 8th, 2008|23:22] |
butchart gardens isn't limited to native plants, nor does it label them (i shall have to ask next time; they do have a plant identification service). the fact that there are white look-alikes growing right amongst them makes me think this is (fritillaria meleagris). still cool, even if not native -- fritillarias rock.
no walk today; the paramour's plane back from AZ was late and so the connecting flight left paramourless, and then it was unsure when a later flight would have a seat. oh well, i was feeling tired from yesterday's outing anyway. and doing some chores around the house was good for the house. |
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| EXTREMELY RARE |
[May. 8th, 2008|15:57] |
i didn't post a picture on tuesday because i crashed early; around 19:00, and slept all evening, night, and even some of the next morning away. so this counts as tuesday's picture.
this picture is mainly to make the *poing* grin.
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miners lettuce (claytonia perfoliata) |
and no, it is not actually extremely rare, it's terribly common. but for some reason until this spring i used to think it was rare because i had only seen it a couple of times (i think because i've tended to hibernate past its prime time). since i went all excited over this rare find in the *poing*'s presence, we started seeing it everywhere we went, and i mean everyFUCKINGwhere. so then of course i didn't hear the end of it. :)
it's yummy -- the leaves taste just like your average lettuce, and the stems are crunchy (but soft), juicy, and a little sweet -- very nice. |
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| choice paralysis |
[May. 7th, 2008|23:54] |
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i shot 366 pictures, and i cannot pick "the best" or "the most interesting". so this is just the very first one i took. |
walklog:
butchart gardens, victoria 2.92 km 3:12. OMG, beautiful. i'm too tired to write anything now, but i want to put a bunch of these pictures up. i bought an annual pass (simple math: single entry $25, unlimited visits for 1 year: $49). it's a 2 hour trip one way, but it's a lovely drive, and if it gets too much i can always stay over night in victoria and visit a museum the next day. |
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| no sweat, man |
[May. 5th, 2008|23:31] |
walklog:
05-05: cable bay trail 6.33 km 2:22, 698m altitude loss/gain (i prefer to do my uphill sweating on the way out, not on the way back, but i did pretty well, considering).
i want to go back now that i have the GPS toy and see whether i can go straight up from joan point and hit the first cross logging road and then take that up. it was too late in the day this time. though that's a plan for a weekend, since they're now developing there and using the logging roads for construction equipment. i'm afraid when that project is done, this trail will no longer be as much fun, not as quiet. also, i hate golf course resorts. they look green, but tend to be ecological nightmares. |
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| PSA: LJ advisory board |
[May. 5th, 2008|14:48] |
nominations for the user-representative positions to LJ's advisory board are now open. each nominee must get at least 100 supportive comments in order to get on the ballot for the actual vote.
if you care about this, go have a look at the candidates and voice your support. or, if you feel motivated, add your own nomination. everything you need to know is described or linked to in this post.
the nominations are open until may 15th. |
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| and a salmon in a plum tree |
[May. 4th, 2008|23:03] |
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coho salmon fry
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walklog:
nanaimo fish hatchery 1.72 km 0:35 and chase river estuary 2.07 km 1:05.
once a year i go to the hatchery for their fundraiser and to look at salmon babies (i got quite attached to salmon when we were working on aquaculture software). the hatchery got some spanky new equipment (an egg chiller and sorter), so that was exciting (even though we didn't see it in action since this isn't the time for it). i got to feed some pre-smolt (the lifestages for most pacific salmon are egg, embryo, alevin, fry, smolt and adult; smolt are the young fish that undergo physiological changes in order to migrate into saltwater -- fish are released from this hatchery just when that's supposed to happen).
after walking along the release stream it was still early, and i wanted to walk more. but first i stopped at kleijn nursery and was delighted to see that they were growing paulownia tomentosa and they _are_ apparently hardy. first time i've seen them in the area! i guess i know what i want in front of the house now. though she also recommended an ornamental plum, prunus cerasifera 'pissardii' -- she says it's lovely; it's hard to tell in this state. i am not sure its growth habit will please me. i'm also thinking about a red horse chestnut. and i am still dithering about whether to get a native tree instead. but since this isn't my land, and the landlord will cut the tree down anyway, it doesn't so much matter (i wouldn't mind getting the wood from the paulownia though).
then i went to the chase river estuary, which has two short trails -- nice, but really too short. i wonder whether i could extend that trip by walking along the railroad. |
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| do the shuffle |
[May. 3rd, 2008|23:27] |
the paramour went to a developers conference in arizona today. ah, freedom to play LOUD music while cleaning. :)
walklog:
05-03 beach estates ravine 3.62 km 2:09, 495m elevation loss (and gain, since what goes down must come up)(that doesn't sound so good while eating). why didn't i remember how nice this trip is? i didn't even remember the two falls. but maybe there were no falls when we last walked here, if we did so in summer. northfield creek looks seasonal to me. also, i remember us walking uphill and i was in bad shape then, and the ravine is quite steep, and i was in huff'n puff'n land, so maybe i just didn't notice. i came back via the ferry terminal and side roads to brechin. next time i want to walk along the shore to the west and come back via battersea -> balmoral -> lynburn -> windsor.
they're quite busy expanding the roads and parking around the departure bay ferry terminal -- getting in shape for the 2010 olympics. |
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| dodecatheon hendersonii |
[May. 2nd, 2008|23:32] |
two for the price of one because i love showing off native plants.
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| meadow of shooting stars. gazillions! |
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| closeup |
walklog:
05-02 yellow point park 3.11 km 1:46 -- the trails i didn't walk yesterday due to some injudicious (ha!) bush whacking. it was raining, not too bad when i set out, but of course it got heavier once i was out there. undeterred, however. everything looks so beautifully saturated in the rain (not as in "wet", you peanuts; the colours!). also, the smell. mmmh. (well, minus the areas with the skunk cabbages.) |
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| flexing my green thumbs |
[May. 2nd, 2008|01:28] |
plant haul from hazelwood herb farm:
- angelica angelica archangelica. this gets HUGE, and i'll put it behind the figwort (which is also big, but not quite _as_ big). that's not the best place because there's not enough shade, but who knows, i might yet buy a tree for the front. i just wanted a ginormous plant, and i love its smell.
- arugula eruca vesicaria sativa.
- dill, 3 kinds: anethum graveolens bouquet, hercules, and tetra.
- hummingbird sage salvia guarnatica.
- lemon thyme thymus citriodorus variegata, since mine died last year.
- ricola mint mentha x piperita 'swiss'.
- shiso perilla frutescens. i'm going japanese. :) it's eaten with sashimi, and used in making umeboshi (pickled plum).
- wasabi wasabia japonica !!!!! did i mention how excited i am about this? they will get their own little spot in the back under the apple tree in some new soil i'll buy, because they like it rich (and the entire backyard (minus my small beds) has no real topsoil), and they like it very shady. that's not the ideal growing condition, for that i'd need a gravel stream, but this is the next best thing.
it was hard to stop because this early in the year they have lots of stuff i would like to buy, but i promised myself that i'd not buy more than i can plant, and the landlord's missile silo building has destroyed one of my beds already (though any day now i'll shovel that clear again. ghods, i am not looking forward to that what with the soil being clayey and heavy. i'm thinking of getting a truckload of good soil and covering the entire area around the back fence (using the fence itself to grow cucumbers and sweat peas. that's probably gonna remain a dream because it involves a lot of physical labour since that's not accessible other than by wheelbarrow.
what i really, really want is to make a pond in the back yard. *sigh*. |
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| fear overcome |
[May. 1st, 2008|23:03] |
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ye olde logge
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i took such cool pictures today, i don't know which to post. first i went to hazelwood herb farm, and i have wasabi plants! the real thing! i am so excited about that. also, i saw an entire meadow of shooting stars, which was just amazing.
but what i give you instead is "fear overcome".
as i mentioned before i am a bit phobic of falling. i don't have the greatest balance to start with (i might fail that drunk driving test where one has to walk in a straight line). i could never ever do the balance beam in school gymnastics. and i don't cross creeks on slippery logs.
well, today i crossed a swamp on a moss-covered log. mind, i didn't walk on it, i went on my hands and knees. but i did it, 15 meters of near-terror.
it's all the fault of my GPS toy -- it gets me to go off the beaten path and makes me venture into places where, once there, i'll be darned if i simply backtrack, no, i go whacking through the bush in the direction of my start point (which always gives me renewed respect for the natives and pioneers who came through here originally without any paths). except this time i knew there was water between me and that start point, since i had crossed said water over a beaver dam (also a bit precarious, but hey, i am daring these days). i was hoping for another beaver dam, or some narrow, shallow crossing where maybe i could throw rocks in to cross.
no such luck. it got swampier and swampier. also later and later, so backtracking became less of an option because the light would be failing me. so i eyed -- with misgivings -- the trees that had fallen across the water/swamp, and picked one. which, even though it crossed at more of an angle and with an upslope, seemed the sturdiest of the lot. i considered walking across for about 3 seconds and gave up on that idea. so down on hands and knees i went and carefully made my way across. halfway my kneecaps claimed they wanted to fall off, but i talked them out of it. and (since i am here to tell of it) i made it, despite the far shore trying to prevent me from landing by being extremely steep.
the picture was taken before clambering off the log and onto the shore, while i glommed onto a sturdy branch of a shore tree with one hand, and sorta aimed the camera backwards, releasing the shutter without seeing the picture. the tilt makes it look about as dangerous as it felt to me, even though in actuality of course the world did not tilt over. :)
walklog:
05-01 yellow point park, ladysmith bog eco preserve, 5.03 km 3:01. shooting stars! gazillions of them! also the first camas of the season. |
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| memories of 1870 |
[Apr. 30th, 2008|23:18] |
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butter church, comiaken hill, cowichan bay
the photo is processed. :) black and white looks much more "right" for how the place felt. it's desolate. |
this stone church was built 1870 by a father rondeault. it was financed by the sale of butter from the church dairy herd which the good father allegedly churned himself, and it's therefore known as "the butter church". church politics lead to the abandonment of the building in favour of nearby st. ann’s -- i am curious what those politics were because st. ann's is really close, and it makes no sense to me to build another church this close when people from as far as shawnigan came to worship here.
the windows and doors of the butter church were taken to saltspring island were they remain in st. paul’s church -- i gotta go check that out. there were no wooden pews, the congregation sat on mats on the floor back then.
walklog:
04-30 somenos marsh, somenos garry oak preserve; butter church 2.57 km 1:32. the garry oak preserve is gorgeous. so small, but beautiful. must write a separate post on it. |
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| ravine walk |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|23:41] |
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bigleaf maple in carrington ravine. |
walklog:
04-29 carrington - rutherford ravine 2.66 km 1:05 -- i read somewhere that the city is improving and making official a trail through a ravine kids used for years as a shortcut to school. i knew approximately where it should be from looking at google maps, and today i set out to find it, despite rain showers (what's a little rain to a BC resident, eh).
for the first bit the trail is freshly improved -- the creekbed has been stabilized, the trail is wide enough for 2 people, there's gravel on the trail, and a little bridge to cross the creek. after a steep set of stairs goes off to the right that's it for improvement, and the trail becomes single-file and in parts slippery. but hey, contrary to the lower end there was water in the creek!
it's lovely; moss, fern, old bigleaf maples, and the creek -- which needs to be crossed now and then, but there are big stones, and logs to facilitate that. i love these spots of wild nature in between developments. the trail ends at rutherford after about 1 km and an elevation gain of 420m, and one can double back, or turn right onto the paved path that leads to nelson. which one can take to carlton from where one can descend down into the ravine over the previously mentioned stairs, or follow it back to carrington -- it's a quiet little loop.
i went on via turner and butcher because i wanted to wander around that neighbourhood and get some more walking in. |
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| wormy doodles |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|23:32] |
too rainy to walk. must use recumbent bike instead, which has new batteries because i rocked and remembered to buy rechargeables. |
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| state of the fishie health |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|00:38] |
i sorta fell of the "being good" wagon while the *poing* was here. not totally, i was hanging on by my fingertips -- we walked just about every day, and it was really cool that zie came with me despite me being too damn slow -- but we also ate out almost every day. so my blood glucose levels were steadily above 6.0mmol. but still under 7.0, so i am not lambasting myself too much for it.
my blood pressure also went up again during this time (140/80 ballpark in the mornings), and i returned to taking a second metoprolol before going to sleep. it's been going down again now, and i am hoping i can drop that second one again. i need to tighten up the "diet" a bit more; i've gotten sloppy. need to figure out some nicely balanced recipes of stuff i like that comes in low on the glycemic index.
ticker is doing good, only one set of weird palpitations (couple seconds) in the last two weeks. the walking is doing me much good; it lifts me up to be outside, and i am slowly developing better stamina.
state of mental health remain so-la-la; good enough to get some stuff done, get my butt outside to walk nearly every day, not good enough for government work. i continue to put off talking with dr P about this. i did not up the celexa dosage myself because ... oh, let's not go there. *sigh*, do let's go there: the pharmacy guy was really busy and gave me only enough pills for a month instead of 3 months, and when i noticed, he was all apologetic, but i was tired and didn't want to wait another 30 min for him to redo it all, and went home instead. not thinking about how that's how it's in their damn computer now, and so monthly it stays until i get a new prescription. this is like the Nth time this pharmacy has made an error with my prescriptions and they're always real sorry, but i am just tired of it. there's a brand new one across the street, and i will just take my next prescription there. possibly i'll even bring it up with dr P again, since now all the other stuff is broadly under control and maybe he can find it in his heart to LISTEN TO ME about it.
must remain careful about getting too involved in depressing discussions.
the paramour is headbanging and subvocalizing to pandora while programming. too cute. :) |
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| a rose by any other name |
[Apr. 27th, 2008|22:54] |
i saw this rose at the grocery store of all places. unfortunately it was in a bouquet and there's no chance i could find out the cultivar. i am not usually crazy about roses, but i really like the colour combination of light chartreuse and blush/cerise of this one, and i wouldn't mind growing it. guess a visit to a nursery is in my near future (oh what a hardship).
no walking today. it was raining, and i got bills together so the paramour could do taxes, and after that i mostly wanted to vegetate. aside from reading more interesting discussion from smart people about things set in motion by ferrett-the-boob (but leaving that particular idiocy far behind). |
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