Eagles and ducks

February 20, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Today, the 19th of February, we were in Green Timbers Park, North Surrey. The weather is a bit brisk – cool, but sunny. As we were wandering around this large urban forest, we arrived at the duck pond. It’s a man made lake stocked with rainbow trout for the local fisherman.

Lots of birds hang around the lake including ducks, herons, and eagles. We got to see two majestic looking eagles, perched in a tree hanging over the edge of the lake, no doubt staring at the nearby food source! The lower eagle has his head twisted right around facing us. Now that’s flexible!

Bailey sure found the whole experience a little exciting. She just can’t resist going after the ducks, and trying to jump into the lake after them. Pam had a heck of a time trying to convince her that that wasn’t the thing to do!

Here’s a little movie showing her prancing around trying to get at all the ducks taunting her.

Something About Us

Some fun pictures

February 19, 2014 Maurice 3 Comments

Recently I’ve been doing some work on the blog, most notably improving the pictures that are here. Some of the pictures were from scans I had done many years ago when we still used dialup. So the pictures weren’t very large, and quite grainy. I’ve re-scanned them and inserted them into the various posts throughout the blog. This one is of the whales that used to be in Stanley Park.

While I was searching through our old pictures I found a lot of fun pictures and I thought I’d put a couple up here for you to see. This one of Pam was taken in about 1982, several years after we got married. Pam doesn’t even remember them being taken – a sure sign of age, right? But her brother Peter says that he took them while in his last year of high school. The dogs are her much loved Tobey and Duke.

And this one was taken in 1999 in Toronto. I had ridden my bike, a BMW R1007, to a Microsoft Gaming Zone Bridge convention. Our friend Joy, who lives in Ohio, but had come up to Toronto for the bridge, is seen testing out the bike for size!

And here is one of my parents. I realized there are very few pictures of them up here, and obviously that’s my bad! There is no date on the photo, but I’d estimate it was taken about ten years ago.

About Bailey, Surrey Parks

Crescent Beach

February 18, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Crescent Beach was created in 1909 when the railway came through the area. Dikes were installed allowing for development of housing, and the dikes form the basis of the walking paths that surround the area.

It was pretty windy out there on the ocean’s edge today, but Bailey and Pam and I had a nice walk up and down the beach. Bailey got to chase the seagulls and run through the ocean’s water. She didn’t go splashing in, though – too cold I’m sure!

While we were walking back towards the car after our walk, Bailey got to meet Cooper, a three year old spaniel. They decided to have a bit of a play and Pam got a couple pictures of Cooper that were quite fun! His long ears give him a startled aspect here. But check out that featured picture! Cooper’s eyes are priceless are they not? Really cute.

Here’s a brief movie of Bailey running along the shore.

About Bailey, Surrey Parks

In the Watershed

February 17, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Bailey and I had a nice walk in the Delta Watershed Park. It was a nice day, sunny and warm as we entered the park via the upper entrance. There were a number of other dogs there, and Bailey had no problems with the various meet and greets.

The sun was glinting through the trees, so I had to take a picture like Pam loves so much.

It’s really a great park. Lots of wonderfully big trees, with a lush undergrowth of ferns and other small bushes. There are paths snaking all over the park, up and down the side of a large slope. You can make the walk as tough or as gentle as you like. We took it slow and easy. Bailey found something to sniff or chase nearly every step!

Something About Us

Peacocks redux

January 31, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Nearly three years ago, we went and visited some peacocks that were in our community. Now these birds are not just in a zoo or aviary or hothouse, no no no – these birds live in “the wild!” They wander around the neighbourhood injecting a wild splash of color.

Today we decided to see how they were doing and headed back to the neighbourhood. We had learned about them from a newspaper article focusing on how unhappy some of the people were that these large birds were making a mess, being too loud, and generally being disruptive.

While there, we chatted with a couple of people and they talked about how the article made the community rally around the birds. Now it’s become a family thing – people bring them food, and generally look out for them. I think it’s a wonderful story. The birds are colorful, friendly and VERY big.

One of the homeowners brought out his young son and some bread and proceeded to feed them. The peacocks hopped off the fences, off the porches and came over for the handout. They allowed us to be within a couple inches of them. It was a lot of fun!

Here’s a brief compilation of a couple of movies we took.

About Bailey, Surrey Parks

Into the fog

January 17, 2014 Maurice 2 Comments

It’s been a trying time for us lately. Health issues for both of us are taking up so much of our time. It’s been a drag. And we’re getting to know too many doctors! lol Bailey has been good, but I kind of feel for her because we haven’t been able to get her the exercise she really deserves.

So, today Bailey and I headed out to Crescent Park for a short walk. It’s really foggy in Vancouver, and apparently will be for the next few days. We took a walk up to the duck pond and Bailey was fascinated by them. They would tease her by coming quite close to the shore and then sort of fade back into the middle. You can see the fog in the background of the bigger picture, too.

It was nice to get out and walk around in the park. It was basically deserted. We only met one other person, and she had a nice dog. She and Bailey had a good meeting, lots of tail wagging and play stances. A great sign that she’s not forgotten how to socialize.

Aruba, Vacations

Last day in Aruba

December 29, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

Our last full day in Aruba was on Friday. We had a late start, slept in and took it easy. We got to the beach about noon, and it was super calm. The visibility was very good, and we went turtle hunting. We quickly found four, while dodging about ten boats. The waters close to shore have become quite dangerous in Aruba. This recent development is quite disturbing. There are several speed boats towing these inflatable couches, with four or five people on them. They zip up and down the heavily populated beaches, with little regard for snorkelers. But the problem is not just limited to the speed boats. The big snorkeling tour operators are bringing their huge catamarans and pirate ships so close to the beaches, that it is shocking. It was not fun!

After our turtle sightings, we had a leisurely swim among the fishes.It’s always tough doing that last swim. We never want to get out, but the time always comes when it’s inevitable. We had a great time this year, with lots of firsts. And lots of old favorites seen, and enjoyed.

For our last night here, we decided to go out to dinner. We drove around, with no location in mind, and we drifted all over town. We finally wound up about three blocks from our resort, at a Dutch restaurant called Bingo! It’s a fun place, with lots of nice dishes and a nice selection of beer and drinks. Our dinner was very nice, and we had a couple drinks. Service was fun, friendly and efficient.