long weekends

Friday started with a sighting of the pileated woodpecker that lives in the area. He (I've confirmed he is a "he" by the markings) parked himself high up in a tree just outside our fence. Fortunately I've got an amazing zoom and could capture a few shots of him preening. I think he's actually doing his prehistoric call in this shot.







It hasn't been an entirely a long weekend so far since I did work my first day at Karmavore on Saturday, but I only worked for 4 hours so it's hardly a shift. The time flew by even though it was relatively quiet. It's a nice store that is trying to bring in vegan products that you can't find anywhere else. The marshmallows seem to be very popular. They're more like gourmet marshmallows since some of them are flavoured (strawberry, cinnamon, and coconut). I tried the raw tiramisu. They received a selection of raw dessert pies in individual servings. It's a nice treat. I also bought the locally made vegan (do I even need to say that anymore?) Nanaimo bars. I'll let you know how they are.

As for the rest of the long weekend...

db and I kicked off the end of our Saturday (he went into work to do a few chores while I was working) with margueritas and were planning on a lazy evening at home until my friend RB called. He doesn't live far from here and I've been wanting to take pictures of his garden so off we went. We were greeted with more margueritas (it's the heat. It just calls for margueritas). RB's garden is full of lilies. It's his favorite flower and the garden is a show of lilies right now.




When you walk into the backyard you see the raised beds first that were once full of foxgloves and delphiniums but are now full of liatris (sorry no close ups of that flower) and lilies. There is always a lily in bloom.

His workshop/garden shed is in the corner of the garden. All along the fence is greenery and mostly many varieties of clematis. He has over 30 varieties (I think. He's lost count).












He is a bit of a bad influence and inspiration at the same time. Because he has all of these beautiful tall heathly looking lilies everywhere, I want to get more lilies. While it is nice to get new plants I don't really have the money for them. I'll wait until we own our own place before I go nuts, but then we really won't have any money for plants.















Along the back fence is a huge maple, but the plants seem to get enough light to produce five foot lilies and the black-eyed susans aren't complaining either.








RB had some beautiful photos from the morning when the sun was rising and casting a glow over the garden. We were late in the day, but I did manage to capture the sun set light on this lily.

The skies are quite orange in the evening. I can't say it's a good thing since the air quality is so poor right now. I can't remember the last time we had a day of rain. That along with all of the wildfires not too far away creates a strange looking sky.

It's difficult to see the mountains. Usually you can see for mile after mile after mile, but now the view is limited.


Tomorrow we're planning a hike. We wanted to go to Joffre Lakes, but because of its proximity to Lilooet and the Pemberton valley that's not a great area to be in right now. We're going to try something a little closer to home. I'm afraid the views won't be as spectacular, but it's always nice to get out for a hike.

Right now I think we're headed to Ambleside park for the craft market that's on this weekend. Again I have no money, but it's fun to look at the one-of-a-kind crafts.