The day was not one of those gorgeous August days that you think of as 'golden.' It was 'nice,' a day for getting outdoors and doing things without the worry of SPF factors. Cécile and I both took our cameras along and ventured down Lost Lake Road. Oh come on ... with a name like that, it just begs to be discovered.
Lost Lake Road starts out as Vandernoek, which is an endless source of amusement for Cécile and Richard because it translates rather naughtily into Dutch. So she was quite happy to see what was down the street when we first turned onto it. A bit further down, it turned into Lost Lake Road .. and quiiiiiite a ways after that, we found the tiny overgrown parking lot for Lost Lake. At least, I think this is Lost Lake; it would stand to make sense, right?
The lake itself is quite small .. we tramped around it three times in an hour, stopping for photographs and once for Céc to chat with some birders who, it turns out, she knew quite well.
Overhanging the edge of the lake at the one end was an arbutus tree, its newly denuded bough etching a beautiful contrast against the greens of the surrounding cedar.
These trees are quite unique, as Canada's only broadleaf deciduous evergreen. They shed their bark each year to reveal glossy cinnamon or green branches that are reported to be used for fine woodworking. The Arbutus is a protected tree in Victoria once its reached a 50cm height, so there is a misconception that it is a protected species around the province.
This is a closer look at the peeling process on a smaller tree. Some gardeners love them for their look and evergreen leaves, others find them just too messy. The shapes of the trees are always unusual .. you rarely see a straight tree, although you may occasionally see a straight-ish one. We have an arbutus at the back of our property, but its behind our cedar hedge, so the neighbors enjoy it more than we.
Here's another example of the terrific nature of street names in Nanaimo. Big Whale Lookout .. you know, I'm not exactly sure they can see the water from there. Here's the view from the corner of Big Whale and Lost Lake.
While poking around, we ran across a wee street whose discovery delighted us ... Porpoise Place.
At the end of the street was a public access to something .. we didn't travel down it too far since I hadn't locked the car, but while we were on it, I snapped a shot of the house it travels past, simply because this is so West Coast Lifestyle.
This picture has it all .... deer fence to protect the shrubs, a riotous and freeflowing display of flowers and shrubs, a balcony rail (we love our balconies here) and a kayak.
Of course, there's no place like home. Here is a collage of shots of my front step.
Lost Lake Road starts out as Vandernoek, which is an endless source of amusement for Cécile and Richard because it translates rather naughtily into Dutch. So she was quite happy to see what was down the street when we first turned onto it. A bit further down, it turned into Lost Lake Road .. and quiiiiiite a ways after that, we found the tiny overgrown parking lot for Lost Lake. At least, I think this is Lost Lake; it would stand to make sense, right?
The lake itself is quite small .. we tramped around it three times in an hour, stopping for photographs and once for Céc to chat with some birders who, it turns out, she knew quite well.
Overhanging the edge of the lake at the one end was an arbutus tree, its newly denuded bough etching a beautiful contrast against the greens of the surrounding cedar.
These trees are quite unique, as Canada's only broadleaf deciduous evergreen. They shed their bark each year to reveal glossy cinnamon or green branches that are reported to be used for fine woodworking. The Arbutus is a protected tree in Victoria once its reached a 50cm height, so there is a misconception that it is a protected species around the province.
This is a closer look at the peeling process on a smaller tree. Some gardeners love them for their look and evergreen leaves, others find them just too messy. The shapes of the trees are always unusual .. you rarely see a straight tree, although you may occasionally see a straight-ish one. We have an arbutus at the back of our property, but its behind our cedar hedge, so the neighbors enjoy it more than we.
Here's another example of the terrific nature of street names in Nanaimo. Big Whale Lookout .. you know, I'm not exactly sure they can see the water from there. Here's the view from the corner of Big Whale and Lost Lake.
While poking around, we ran across a wee street whose discovery delighted us ... Porpoise Place.
At the end of the street was a public access to something .. we didn't travel down it too far since I hadn't locked the car, but while we were on it, I snapped a shot of the house it travels past, simply because this is so West Coast Lifestyle.
This picture has it all .... deer fence to protect the shrubs, a riotous and freeflowing display of flowers and shrubs, a balcony rail (we love our balconies here) and a kayak.
Of course, there's no place like home. Here is a collage of shots of my front step.
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