My friends thought the woodpecker parents were pileated woodpeckers, but they are not, the one parent, the male obviously has a very red head, and after some research, i believe them to be sapsuckers, but that still might not be right, tell me what you think!!

ocean swell rolling in,down below the bank
blowing a NW er, hard,a cold wind
but we have the fire going ,the four of us
moods are mellow,life is good.
wildflowers are abundant,giant Cow Parsnip
its huge white flowers unfolding as if coming out of a package
the big flowers made up of a multitude
of little white ones
underneath on the forest floor
hundreds of tiny daisies,opening to the sun
then closing again at night
i wake up in the morning,at first dawn to the songs of the robins
then the chicadees and wrens follow
soon the eagles cry out to each other
hunting for their young ones,crows call last,
mischief coming for sure
but oh so very smart and cunning,
they find their way,having fun while doing it..
across the campsite
a dead maple, just its trunk standing,
bird holes all the way up and down
second hole from the top houses a family of
woodpeckers, mom and dad flying in and out,

this goes on all day
little green hummingbird finds my feeder
but sees me hovering nearby with my camera
she comes back, over and over again,
until she forgets about me,
and i can take some shots….

To take a break from all the work to be done, we went camping with our family/friends Roel and Ineke, to French beach.
Its beautiful out there, to get there you drive past Sooke, then you pass Shirley Delicious, a wonderful little coffee shop , with incredible, gluten free goodies, and the government campsite is just a bit further down the road, right at the ocean.
We took two spot next to each other, the weather was clear, but oh boy, was it ever cold!!! A NW wind blew right off the water, and we didnt bring big sweaters, but Roel made some very nice camp fires, and the four of us huddled around it, till evening and then played our favourite card game,”skip boo”

Bert and Roel collected round ,small rocks off the beach, to play the game of Bocce ball, after a few tries, as rocks were flying around the camp site and i was hiding behind the Westy,they became quite good at it, and it was safe to sit in the chair to watch them!!!

It is almost June 1st.and the weather just keeps on being beautiful, its hot today, and i have to water my tree and other greens twice a day. My little bonsai tree is thriving, it is so beautiful, full of little perfect green leaves, it is a Japanese Hornbeam, 68 years old and has lived on the boat for 13 years. It has moss growing on its soil, and usually i keep it in the cockpit, out of the sun, and away from wind. Every year i grow little violets too, in honor of my mom, who loved these little flowers, she always said that they had little faces, looking right at you!! Then i again this year ,grow my micro veggies, mainly lettuce, spinach and peas, we snip them off once they are 4 inches tall, the peas keep right on growing again, for a second crop. A friend of mine gave me some beans too, i think they are heirloom, all six of them are poking their heads out of the soil now, but….they grow very tall she says, so i am not too sure, she suggested to let them grow right up the mast but i think Bert will think differently about that…… We have been cleaning, scrubbing, right now Bert is waxing the hull, i scrubbed the cockpit and the wheel, which is cotton wrapped ,with fancy knots but does get very dirty, i cleaned it as best as i could, cannot put it to soak in a bucket…….. Bert ran the water maker yesterday , checked the batteries, and lowered the dinghy into the water. So, we are slowly getting ready, ready for some cruising.

Ode to Brentwood bay

on the boat
the smell of fresh picked basil
oat cakes baking in the oven
sky the color of lead
rain coming
ferry noises have stopped
for a while…..
the quiet is amazing
no cars,no lineups
but the business and hustle
of the little ferry
makes this a special place
she is getting overhauled
and we will welcome her back
along the water,past the ferry dock
a small walkway winds around,
past the boatyard,past the other marina,
older homes on the right
with beautiful,well established gardens
Rhododendrons reaching for the sky
some well over twenty feet high
pink,red,orange and white
a pallet of colors.
the little book house is waiting
waiting for new titles
the little house is small ,holds all but twenty books or so
but it is well stocked at all times
gorgeous wooden boats waiting at the boat yard,
waiting for new wood,new brass, new paint
they are all a work of art
the walkway continues past large fir and arbutus
ivy climbing their trunks
golden rain hangs down next to purple wisteria
an eighty foot fir is adorned ,all the way to the top
with white wisteria ,flowers two feet long
eagles are calling from the trees,
they have their babies now
this is Brentwood, a gem on the coast of Saanich inlet