Images from the Islands

I spent this past Thanksgiving weekend on Vancouver Island, counting my blessings with my best friend. What a weekend! I have too many pictures, but here are a few that encapsulate what I saw in five days. They can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have so much time walking and talking with Cathy and her hubby Jim, but they'll give you a taste of autumn glory on the West Coast...

Even the parking lot at Butchart Gardens is gorgeous!

The dahlias were unbelievable (my dahlia tubers are in my root cellar already)!

A little God-light near Clover Point...

Entertainers on guitar and washtub at Ganges Farmer's Market on Saltspring Island...

Leaf-strewn paths at Ruckle Provincial Park... huge maple leaves!
As Jim was always reminding me, "things are bigger on the Island"...

There are otters out there, playing in the water...

Boats above and below the water in the marina at Cowichan Bay...

The view from Maple Mountain...

A very non-traditional (but extremely local) Thanksgiving feast --
B.C. coast halibut with Portuguese tomato sauce, leek cakes
and butternut squash with rosemary, all vegetables from Cathy's back yard...
YUMMMM!

Maple Bay...

A purple "Ochre Sea Star"...

I never imagined the ocean full of autumn leaves...

A pretty evening in the Garry Oaks Protected Area near Somenos Lake...

I really hope developers never get their hands on this land...

The Empress of Victoria puts on her red dress...

A lovely day in the harbour...

All's quiet at the Legislature...

It was a really gorgeous extra-long weekend, and I have almost 300 pictures to prove it! Many thanks to Cathy and Jim for their hospitality and cozy guest room -- I was so happy to have five perfect autumn days in paradise with friends!