Opening to the Sky 2015

From where the earth looks up and sighs,
Autumns canopy from the fallen hush of silence,
Brings in and lets down,
The subtle light to dream all below away,
Winged adventurers manoeuver,
Down, down, into our world to reach back high,
The winter songbirds shift about away from our reach,
Yet thrilling us to follow them to their hidden places,
While more cascading leaves glissade,
Like a ballet dancer on this earthly stage,
And stained with the faded orange-reds of winters brown haste,
At Goldstream Park seems to tear,
But it is the deluge of rain that appears,
Too remind us all that what is near.

The Falling Lights of Cypress Bowl 2015

The falling lights shade so bright,
As the labyrinth of colours set the mood just right,
It feels like an autumn life but so still,
With all those leaves in mosaic shades that fill,
This forest is cool now in our wake,
Too move about so free as like the flow of that distant lake,
Oh, for those sweet wild birds of song,
They'll fly and visit this forest and for not too long,
For our summer was strong and captured our thoughts,
It's solstice still leaves,
Many hues of greens amongst the trees,
So this autumnal equinox of pale golden casts,
Could set the scene for this gentle October breeze to last.

Labour Day in Creston, B.C. 2015

On this Labour Day weekend we visited our friends in Creston, B.C.  The drive was quite long but enjoyable and the weather was much cooler.  We noticed many of the trees are in their fall colours now, more than likely due too the lack of rain this summer.  Our friends have a small farm with an apple orchard, that their great-grandparents lovingly planted back in 1902.  We painted them during our stay; since they made a wonderful subject and the colours of them captured the sunlight.  Later, we ate them and they were delicious, our friends have been making apple pies with them, from an old recipe handed down.  They preserve quite well and they'll have them throughout the winter, preserving them in jars for the winter.  We helped them harvest these apples too and left with a gift of apples which we're enjoying.

The Wild Strawberries of our North 2015.

We got back a few days ago from a one week trip to Prince Rupert visiting some friends of ours.  Their house has a nice scenic view of the harbor.  We went many times to Diana Lake Provincial Park which isn't too long a drive from where they live.  We had our lunch near the lake and later hiked along the trails.  We painted and found lots of edible wild strawberries.  The weather up north is warm but more comfortable due to that lovely breeze coming in from the waters of the sound.

The Wild Roses of a Romantic Land 2015

Just got back home from a lovely day at the beach.  We've had no precipitation on the West Coast for almost three months and the drought like conditions are quite unusual for this region.  Finally, last Friday the rainshowers arrived and what a lovely blessing.  Early this morning it began again and we all still left to the river-marshlands.  A break came almost around noon time and we resumed our paintings but without the portable covers.  As we were about to leave late in the day, another deluge poured and left this area so shiny and new in appearance.  This Nootka rosebush always sits so pretty with the river closely supplying it with a wonderful drink.

Canada Day Island Retreat 2015

We left so early this morning and the ferry ride was so beautiful along those Gulf Islands.  We're staying at a very nice hotel in Victoria and quickly drove up the Malahat towards Parksville.  Lots of our friends live there; so we arrived in the late morning at Rathtrevor Beach which was enjoyable.  We ate our lunch alfresco in the open air and painted the same way with that gorgeous view of the sea.  The weathers warm today and a little on the humid side.  Our large beach umbrellas shaded us from the hot afternoon sun and thankfully the sea breeze wasn't to strong.  Our umbrellas just moved like the boughs on the large spruce and cedar trees growing in the forest behind us.  Tomorrow we'll be on the early morning sailing back to the mainland to finish off the work week.  I hope you're all enjoying this Canada Day too!