Sadly I don't know what kind of barnacle this is but it made for a wonderful sketch.

 We found a youngster rock pigeon roosting on our front steps near the welcome mat ( ummm not that welcome Freddie) and eventually took him to the wild animal rehab station in Burnaby. The girl there said that he had injured his wings and couldn't fly, save for a few feet and would have eventually become cat food.
At first we thought he was just being a dorky fledgling taking a break on the steps. After some hours had passed he had not moved that much and seemed dis-inclined to fly. He stayed there all night not eating or drinking water (it was very hot so we put some out) and in the morning we awoke to his piteous cries for his parents. They flew down and stayed near him and kept the very interested crow away. After keeping an eye on him all day, my hubby decided enough was enough and didn't want to listen to an animal suffering and decided to drive him to the rehab clinic. There was a rather humorous game of gently chase Freddie around the very prickly holly bush ( no dummy this pigeon) but we managed to catch him and popped him into a ventilated box.
When my hubby asked what was the most common animal brought into the clinic, the girl replied, "pigeons."
Figures.

My husband spotted this bird's skull next to the front hedge the other evening after our walk. A puzzling find as there were no other bones about and the skull is really picked clean, so obviously has been in that state for a good amount of time. We wondered if it had been dropped by a crow, playing about, you know how they do.

Over the years certain plants have become favourites, and it has become a pleasure watching them emerge ion the spring. Although not yet out, the Vanilla Leaf is one of those plants as it is distinctive for its unusual leaf shape; a plant palmately divided into 3 wavy leaflets. It spreads by rhizomes to carpet the understory in a sea of foamy green, holding aloft flowers of creamy spikes. The vanilla scent only emerges when a large clump of leaves have been dried and crushed and in a pinch, hikers plagued by mosquitoes, have used the leaves to deter biting insects.

I became a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society today and feel much more happier for it. I came across their website which is devoted to people besotted by clouds. How can you ignore that? I also came across their book in my local, independent bookstore. You bet I bought it!

WE BELIEVE that clouds are unjustly maligned
and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.

We think that they are Nature’s poetry,

and the most egalitarian of her displays, since 
everyone can have a fantastic view of them.

We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it. 
Life would be dull if we had to look up at

cloudless monotony day after day.

We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the 
atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of 
a person’s countenance.

Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked. 
They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. 
Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save 
on psychoanalysis bills.

And so we say to all who’ll listen:
Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!

There is a conservatory in Vancouver that is home to tropical, subtropical and desert plants all under its freestanding glass dome. It is both humid and lightly breezy as the air is circulated by large fans located, hidden from view, around the perimeter of the dome. The conservatory features unusual plants and everything has a sign for the curious.  What doesn't have a sign is the myriad of tropical birds flying within.  The conservatory has over 70 species of birds from all over the world and the abundance of colour is lovely to see. We spent a few hours sketching, sheltered from the rain in this breezy, green paradise.

Went for a walkies with Maggie down around the creeks. Yes, even in winter here we have green plant life and yes it is getting chillier but nothing like the snowstorms in the middle of the province that block the main highway to the rest of Canada. You see, where I live, the area is really moderated by being on the coast so the coldest we usually get is around -10 degrees celsius. If you drive east into the middle of the province and away from the coastline, you get the true Canadian winters. So technically, right now in the province, we have green grass AND snow. Of course, there is also snow on the mountains behind our neighbourhood, due to the higher elevation, all this damn rain falls as snow. So you can walk in the winter rain in the green ivy or go up the mountain and play in the snow. Anyway, in a round about way, there you go, now you know about rain and snow in my area. Hey, YOU brought it up.

Well, we turned the clocks back last night. It was the usual dithering of which way they were supposed to go and chanting the litany of, "Spring ahead, fall back" as we went about changing clocks in case our hands sabotaged our deed and put the hours ahead by two or subtracted them by four. Is it just me, or do other people spend an extra half an hour researching to make sure you've got it right? The Daylight Savings Paranoia is what it is. In any case, it means walking the dog after work in the dark which isn't so bad except Maggie gets all on guard at night and it makes for a slow walk as she stares into every dark bush.