An underwater ballet...

Before the shark incident of 2010 (not really an incident but I love the drama of saying I swam with sharks!), I got to witness one of nature's most beautiful and mesmerizing underwater ballets!
Having baby sea-lions swim and play safely with us in the water was soul-tickling but witnessing the moving and graceful dance of this sea-lion with a school of silver fish almost took my breath away (insert snorkel here).
It was a truly magical performance. It couldn't have been lit more perfectly by the sun gleaming down through the water and the fish glistening as the sea-lion broke through the group - dipping and swaying as if listening to their own classical ballad. Our private show went on for several minutes and it was nature's perfection. Who knew these creatures could be so graceful?
The performance may have ended with a few of those fish ending up in the sea-lion's belly and they might not have so joyfully called it a 'dance' but that's all part of the circle of life.

The Time, It is Flying!

I'm not making apologies anymore about my lack of blogging frequency. Typically it means that I'm busy enjoying my life so I'll catch up when I can, ok? Geez, I don't know why you have to give me such a hard time! :) Oh right, that's just me giving me a hard time.

I hope you all enjoyed the sun as much as I did this past weekend! It was so healing and warm. One of G. and my favourite things to do on a weekend without houseguests (and sometimes with houseguests) is to go on driving adventures. Yesterday we hit another jackpot. I still can't believe all of this beauty is right at my doorstep!

We drove down to Robert's Creek and picked up a couple of peanut butter balls and drinks at the Gumboot Cafe and then walked down to the water. Instead of just going to the end of the road like we usually do, we went down the side path and onto the rocky ocean front. The tide was quite a ways out so we just walked and walked - through what seemed like acres of seaweed and kelp beds which led to hundreds of brilliant purple starfish basking in the hot sun. They were absolutely everywhere! A local expert joined us on our journey - we named him Simon. He lost interest when we didn't share our peanut butter balls and wandered back home.

Of course, there were also heron, seagulls and eagles to keep us company.

G. spotted this baby wolf eel and carefully carried it to safety.

Driving further down the lower road, we next discovered Robert's Creek Provincial Park. Who knew!?!

As our stomachs were starting to grumble and G. was itching to get back to his new bbq, we finally found someone to fill our propane tank on a Sunday and headed home to enjoy our yard and the view. (The cruise ships are now part of the 7pm-ish show)
...and on a quick side note - Barbie took me for my birthday lunch last week (I love celebrating my birthday whenever I can!) at an amazing new French restaurant on Cambie called Pied-a-Terre. If you have an opportunity to splurge anytime soon, you must try it. They have a set menu for lunch which was reasonably priced and the food? Well, we couldn't stop ooh-ing and aah-ing the whole meal. Soooo good! Here's a glimpse of our dessert.yummmm!

Skookum Day!

Every once in a while the universe blesses or gifts you with a day that reminds you that magic exists. A day that makes you fall in love with the world, your honey and yourself all over again. Today was my day! We drove up to Skookumchuck Narrows where Jervis and Sechelt inlet meet. There's an easy 50 minute hike from the parking lot to the narrows that takes you through a mossy forest and past a beautifully calm, pristine lake.

We watched the sea lions surfing the waves and saw pinky purple starfish and anemones tucked into the rocks. We sat and canoodled with the sun on our backs. We drank beer and ate burgers at the pub while watching the hummingbirds battle it out for their chance at the feeders. We sang at the top of our lungs to Cat Stevens on the windy car ride home.

Happy Easter weekend to you, my bloggy friends. I wish you magic filled days and nights!

more pix from my flickr page...