Hedges

Oh man, the smell in the air this morning was incredible.  Layer woodsmoke and windfall apples, add in a touch of leaf mulch, the tang of the ocean just a couple of blocks away and top it off with the crispness of a Fall morning.  My nose was all a-tingle as I took in Harpooner Place today.

Across the street, an older gentleman pottered around in his garage ... he obviously cared a great deal about his yard.  He made sure to give me the eyeball, as I was an intruder in his area, so I felt like I had to surreptitiously get this photo.  I loved the hedge and I laughed, thinking about Bruce and how he hated the hedges of his teens.  Betcha, if a realtor had lined up this house to show us a few years ago, he wouldn't even have got out of the car.

Oh man, imagine the work necessary to keep this trimmed properly

Not a half hour later, I chanced upon another well-manicured hedge that caught my eye. 

Admit it.  You also thought "Hobbits!!"

Across from all that summer greenery was evidence of Autum.

Days like this make me wish I had a dog to go walk with .. or a pony to ride.  Or maybe a Shetland pony to take for a walk.

Shangri-La

Today's post found me off wandering into Lantzville, which is a small town on the northern edge of Nanaimo that gradually found itself surrounded by city on its landward side.  If our realtor had shown us places in Lantzville when we moved to the coast six years ago, I'm pretty sure we'd be living there today instead of the city proper.  Maybe we'd be living on Shangri-La Road.

And what's does Shangri-la look like?  Trees of spun gold, certainly. 

But mostly, it's a comfortable, quiet street where everyone knows each other and your pets, which is necessary when they wander off to snooze under the old vehicle parked in your yard, or in the cedar hedge.

This last has actually happened to us.  While they lived next door, our neighbors had a wonderful fluffy grey and white cat that adored our garden.  He liked people and would come up to the window to talk to us or Murray and Mr.  Tippy.  Strangely, the pair of our cats weren't all that territorial when it came to Fluffy.

During the summer, our neighbors moved and Fluffy disappeared from our lives.  We've recently found him back here though, sleeping in the sunshine below our cedar hedge, perhaps dreaming of the squadron of birds who land on our lawn to peck at the seeds and bugs. 

Bruce ran into our old neighbors the other day to find that they are now living only a few blocks away.  Turns out Fluffy is a bit of a traveller, having covered large distances to get back here.  Apparently, he likes the neighborhood.

An old shed at the corner of Shangri-La and Lantzville.

Across the road, the view is more rural than urban

Lost Lake

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.

Divot Drive

We know the Nanaimo city planners had a wacky sense of humour ... if you need more proof, here it is.  Divot Drive intersects with Country Club Road.  I have yet to find a Golf Cart Way, but maybe I just haven't looked hard enough.

Well tended flower beds below the Divot Drive Signpost

Hitting the Heights

I laughed so hard today as we took a walk up Nottingham Drive.  These two streets are kitty corner from each other ...

The view from Arrow Way is really stunning.   This is shot from the driveway of the first house on the road, looking across Jessie Island which is out in the bay.  Bruce's Huligans quite often paddle out and around Jessie and have made friends ... okay, I mock .. with a dog Bruce has named Shep.  The dog follows them around the island barking the entire time and races down to the dock you see just to the right of the power pole in the foreground .. heaven help you should you want to set foot on Shep's docks.  Rawr!

 Just up Nottingham Drive a few more feet is Castle way, which comes with its own views of Newcastle Channel, right down to Cameron Island, which houses the taller building you see in the back.  In December, every apartment in that complex has a display of Christmas lights and the scene is spectacular seen from the water.

A bit farther up the road, we followed the driveway of a house that was torn down at some point long in the past .. tulips and daffodils have naturalized and tiny vibrant muscari pop up through the moss to sing their spring arias.   We had a good look down the hill to Prince John Way and ran into a postal carrier who had been following our progress and had some local pathways to share with us.  As we drove home, we took a peek at his suggestion from the road and will be following up tomorrow.

This first picture gives you a sense of the heights that Sherwood Forest sits upon.  This shot is very jigaw puzzle worthy.

I have no idea what these particular flowers are .. there were varieties of them in gardens up and down the road, most often in shades of lime green.  This was a fairly impressive bed on Crossbow.

The hazards of gardening in Nanaimo include the usual pestilences and herbaceous diseases .. but the number one problem out here can be seen quite clearly below.  This is part of a family of four that were happily grazing on newly budded branches and flowers.

And lastly .. this is for my constructiony type brothers who quite obviously need schooling in roofing.  This is a lesson in accessorizing ... now you can match your roof to your Dalmatian dog.  That's how we do it on the island. Eat your heart out.  :D

A Moment of His Own

A town with Maureen Way would just not be complete without Bruce Avenue too, amirite?

Other than a super cool name, this street is urban and industrial with nothing of interest to show except trucks trundling up and down the avenue.

Out and About

If you've been following the last few posts, you'll likely have seen a lot of photographs of various areas around Nanaimo.  This is because my friend Bev and I are getting out and about, in an attempt to instill a bit of healthy living into an otherwise sedentary life (for my part) and for hers, well, its about getting out and sharing some quality time with her son and a friend.  Today, she grabbed her glam sunglasses and we headed out to Diver's Lake for a tramp around the marshy area.

Situated a the end of Black Frank's Drive .. and various other streets, if the truth be told, but that's the fun one to mention ... the walk straddles urban and natural areas.  We meandered past tennis courts and homes, spoke to a fisherman who'd just caught a fat rainbow trout for dinner, slushed through an off-leash area and inspected leaf casings and catkins in an attempt to call up hazy botanical classes.

Keep in mind that these pictures show an area very much inside the city proper.  All of them open up to a slightly larger version if you click on them.  Enjoy!

Black Frank

I believe you've heard me talk about Frank Ney, Nanaimo's longtime mayor and colorful character.   If you don't recall, hit the link in his name.  Well, Frank has .. surprise, surprise ... a street named after him.  It's not a long or particularly ostentatious street, its' just normal except for Diver's Lake being at the end of it.

Forest News

It's Springtime in Sherwood  Forest ... the trees are absolutely bursting to show off their finery ...

They're putting on such a good show, I thought I'd share it with you.  =D

Fool's Day

Today finds me playing the part of the fool.  Not only did I think that the date was the 30th of March, but I had to be convinced it was April 1st by going online and checking the date.  I've been scrambling to get my  other site updated since a lot of folks see it daily, so I'll change up this one tomorrow once I've had a chance to work with some of the photos I took on my walk today.

It wasn't pouring today, but it was more than misty wet, kind of like a steady drip.  Still, it didn't deter us from tramping up and down the streets of Sherwood Forest.  Nothing like walking around the streets of an area to uncover the 'feel' of the neighborhood.  Keith was a bit grumpy today, but I managed to tickle a smile out of him before we started off, and about 10 minutes later, he was nodding off in Bev's backpack carrier.

Here's where we went today ...

It struck me as a tad humourous that Robin Hood meets up with King Richard since that is the beginning and end of the story.

 

While we were wandering along, Bev and I discussed both the tales of Robin Hood .. she's not read the original, but has seen a variation or two that I have missed .. and of Sherlock Holmes.  We're both fans.  In turn, it lead us to discussions of our favorite Holmesian actors .. the Neuman house favours Jeremy Brett.  

I think Mr. Ney may have been a fan of the stories of Robin Hood, but may have been a tad confused on stories since these next streets have generously been added to the Nanaimo Sherwood Forest lore via their inclusion in the neighbourhood.

While we were on Jester Way, I shot a picture of the cul de sac so you could see more than just the signposts, fun as those are. 

And while I was doing that, these lovely women (we ran into them again later and chatted for a but) popped around the corner and I giggled about their adorable dogs, thinking that my brother Jamie would have a word to two to say about dogs wearing matching rain jackets.  Yes, Jamie, this is how it's done in the city.

After getting back to the car and toodling off homeward along a road I've never taken before, I came across this road and knew I had to share it with you, along with a view of the house across from this sign, which seems somehow like it 'just belongs.'

And lastly, happy birthday to my brother Ian.  Hope your day was filled with sunshine and the promise of great golfing to come!

Little Nottingham

Across the busy road from the swanky homes that sit on the hill overlooking Departure Bay with nothing but ocean view in front .. is the community that Frank Ney and his town council buddies gave the affectionate name "Sherwood Forest."  To be fair, there are some swanky homes on the rocky slopes of Sherwood Forest, but there are some pretty normal places not surrounded by woods in shades of lincoln green.  Still .. it would totally delight me to have any of these names on a return address:

 

There are many more streets in this area, and I expect I'll be including them as I stroll in  Sherwood Forest.  I think I passed Prince John today and I know Marion is represented as well .. not so sure about Will Scarlet. 

And in case you, like me, now have a yen for some music to go along with these pictures ...