afternoon at second peninsula park

Good Friday Mornin' to yeh!
Yes, after preparing all these photos of our trip to Second Peninsula Park, I'm a little potty from reliving the experience, not to mention computer weary. But it is so worth it.
I hope you enjoy the ride.

Starting with this funky sign, we  knew we had gone too far.

Lunenburg is only 10 kilometres (that's 6 miles) from Mahone Bay and the road we were looking for is not signed on the Mahone Bay side from which we'd come- just to make life interesting.

So we turned around and soon found First Peninsula Road that let us know Second Peninsula would soon show up. We made our turn and followed a winding road along this peaceful inlet.

This shoreline was so much like our old haunts in Muskoka, Ontario,

a somewhat tamed wild beauty we'd come to love.

I asked Wally to turn around so that I could capture this Raven in a quintessentially northern setting.

There was a LOT of loud screaming going on between it and another one or two hidden from sight,

not far from someone's home. Yikes! That'll spoil the mood.

We carried on around quiet bays

Though many water-edged properties are owned by wealthy people,

it charms me to see these humble old time properties.

another private dock and the road continues its scenic curves

a moored sailboat

Though this is a saltwater inlet, it' rolling hills, spruce, birch and white pine

truly reminds me of Muskoka or Haliburton at least.

a peaceful scene across the water

driving around another little bay

coming into the manicured park, discreetly signed park

With sentimental memories, we find our picnic bench of two years ago,

unoccupied at the end of the steep trail down to the shore

We have a neighbour this time, ensconced in her book, so we speak in hushed tones.

Beyond is a small Inukshuk, the appropriated (and ironic) Inuit message "we were here".

Beyond that, someone swimming, and then the sailboats.

Thankfully there was only one motorboat that went by. When I remarked on how quiet it was, Wally explained to me that it had an inboard motor unlike the outboard motorboats that spoiled so many visits to the lakes years past in Muskoka. (Those days had passed by the time we left five years ago due to a failing economy and higher taxes for those living on the lakes.)

It was, in fact, exquisitely quiet where we planted ourselves and we had our lunch. Wally thought to bring an organic apple/cranberry juice to mix with Perrier which was deliciously decadent.

Afterwards we took out our watercolour pads and palettes and set to work playing,

with this exquisite scene to rest our eyes on

.

This is the life

for some people

Two Ships in the Night

Oops, I mean

Two Boats in the Light

closer

We watched a sailboat motor in to its little motorboat, the second mate reaching for its line.

They took the little boat to the public dock where their truck was waiting. That's 3 motors for their afternoon holiday. That struck me as odd somehow.

Look what I found in the woods behind us! An honest to goodness Toadstool!

Mr. Snail close by

one of a few clamshells left behind by a seagull I'm guessing

over my shoulder the rock and windblown trees

down the Shore with the ocean proper not nearly in sight

the dock beyond where those sailboaters left from

two moss adorned trees, spruce I think, a little worse for wear.

Wally informs me it is lichen that hangs from the branches, not moss.

Their roots exposed where the soil has eroded, they stretch out for yards on either side.

more roots amid the growth of sea plants

With the tide out, little seaweeds cling to their moorings.

The tide gently laps its way out

so gently that you can see a good way into the clear water

As it comes in, it gently ripples, swaying the hinged seaweed with it.

It's good to see Wally unwind, here with his watercolour seascape that he splashed with seawater to see if the salt would make a difference. (It didn't.)

Squinting in the sun, I didn't wander too far from our "home base" as the shore was so rocky and I have a huge respect for rock against bone.

squinty, happy me

While still holding the camera, Wally took his traditional One Shot a Year.

Come Again

sometime

And just because...

I could have shown you earlier as they were made a week ago when I was still floundering.

I figured I owed myself a play date.

I brushed some of my new Jane Davenport acrylic paints into sections on the page and filled each coloured box with a different something or other.

It really amounts to doodling with paint. A matte acrylic is very compatible with paint pens and ink as you can see.

I learned from my squirrel picture, that I showed you yesterday, 

that a little white paint pen can take a picture out of the doldrums.

Thanks again for coming along with me. My day trip pictures will need one more installment.

But I think, for now, we've earned a rest.

kindness first

flowers and noisy neighbours

Greetings dear ones at this lovely week's end.
It has been a quiet week for me, a busy one for Wally. And the Raven?

Well, what a time he is having with the crows as they gang up on him.

Still he manages to come over to his favoured feeding ground behind our house

and duck the crows as they aerial raid him.

The amount of dive bombing was becoming obsessive so I went out to investigate

and the crows scattered.

With the drama apparently over, I amused myself in the garden for a while,

here with the peach blossoms, Forget-Me-Not Cabin in the background

A berry bush, possibly blueberry, is blooming

The Cherry Tree is having a riot of blossoms

so fabulous up close

The Harelson Apple tree is budding

In the lawn, raspberries have seeded themselves

and what this mystery plant is in the lawn I don't know

though I do recognize the wild sorrel and plantain that have crowded out our grass

Every year a few wild roses grow in the lawn despite our mowing them,

such thorny things with the tiniest unscented rose flowers you ever saw

The Rhubarb is coming along in the far corner of the cabin

and out back of the cabin, the giant wild rose threatens to take over.

This is where I photographed the song sparrow the other day.

I went back indoors when I noticed more kafuffle with the crows

and returned to sit out back of the cabin and record what was going on.

But as you can see by that lone dot in the sky it was too far to capture any detail 

That wasn't the end of it, however, as this crow grew tired of the altercation

and came back across the field to rest in this tree behind the big wild rose

This unhappy bird with the hollow warble surprised me when I enlarge my photographs turning out to be a blue jay, our screechers!

It was every bit as upset with the crow as the crows are with the raven

and did its best to harass this crow that was too indifferent to join its mates across the field

harassing the raven.

The blue jay would fly at the crow

and then rest in the tree behind him, making that hollow warbling sound

a tight turn

then back again

too close for comfort this time

I have to admit the opportunity to photograph all these flight formations

is partly why I'm showing you so many pictures

Eventually its mate gave the little guy on the right a break and tried her had at this, for them,

serious game

Finally the crow flew off and all I got was this "adieu" from the jay

So now I could look around me: Creeping Charlie everywhere. It's ruining our grass.

It's gorgeous violet colour you can see in the last photo of today's post, but for some reason, my camera hates violet up close.

The pretty forget-me-nots spread right into the field

I love their old fashioned simplicity

And what's this? Pink ones! Up close of course.

In reality a blossom is smaller than the size of a petal in this enlargement

I'll leave you here. Wally is home for a few days and has started his holiday with a cold, poor guy.

He's nursing a ginger, honey and lemon tea for his sore throat as I write this, so I'll carry on with my duties. A pleasant weekend to you.

kindness first