OUR NICE WEATHER ENDS FOR AWHILE

Salal leaves and flowers

Fungi on a log in the campsite

Close up of one of the above

Sunset from the campsite

Coal Harbour wharf - 3 different exposures blended together in Photomatix

The mouth of the Tsulquate River - again 3 images in Photomatix

The conveyor loading sand or gravel in the larger freighter - Photomatix again

Mitzy in foreground, Aileen on left, her sister Anne and husband John with their Bud peeking out between their legs - a straight shot merely sharpened

We had a lazy start to Sunday. The sun came out for awhile so we sat out and enjoyed it. About 11, we went to town. Put Sophie’s quilt in the wash (she’d been sick on it) at Anne’s then went to Timberland Sports to peek around and visit April at work. From there we went to the hotel for lunch. Aileen and I both had cod and chips and, while fairly tasty, they weren’t nearly as good as the pier at Campbell River.

Back to the house again to put the quilt in the dryer, then we went up to watch (great niece) Nikki’s soccer game. Picked up the quilt then we headed back to the campsite. It started raining just before the game ended and it rained nearly back to the campsite. We held off supper til nearly 7 expecting John but it was 8:30 or later when he arrived. The sun came out again for awhile after we ate and was nice. The ladies started a fire and later, John and I had a wiener cooked over it. It was about 10 when John and Anne headed homeward. John was very tired after riding his Harley from Cache Creek today.

On Monday morning, Aileen jumped into bread making right after breakfast then cut my hair. I took Mitzy for a walk out to the point til lunch time. Anne came shortly after and had my new Visa card which I activated while the ladies and dogs went for a walk.

I used awning cleaner and did both sides of the awning which had quite a bit of mould growing on it and just plain dirty as well. It was hard work but it came pretty clean so it looks much better. I washed the front, back and right side of the trailer as well. When I checked the email later, the awaited contract offer for the house had finally arrived. All the proper signatures are in place and the subjects still come off on June 15^th and the closing is still June 29^th. Only 20 more days of holding our breath!

Anne took some laundry home with her when Aileen went in for her nap. She brought the laundry and John back for supper. Anne had brought out some moose hamburger this afternoon which Aileen made into a nice meatloaf. I went for a walk out to the highway, across the bridge and up a logging road. Not too much for pictures though.

We went for a walk out to the point later in the evening then came back to sit around the fire. The sunset started looking good so I grabbed my gear and hustled over to the beach and took a bunch of shots, mostly HDR setups. John and Anne are staying nights in their trailer right across from us but have to be up and gone about 4:30 AM each morning as Anne starts work at the Post Office at 5:45.

On Tuesday, we had a slow start to the day. I took Mitzy for her pre breakfast stroll then computed for awhile. Later, we went off for a drive to Coal Harbour. We wandered down on the dock for some pictures then headed back out to Port Hardy. I took some mini waterfall pictures at one of the creeks on the way back.

Aileen mailed her letter to her New Zealand pen pal, Deanna then we went to Malone’s for lunch. I think both our lunches were pretty good. Aileen had veggie stir fry on noodles and I had a calamari salad which was excellent. We wandered back through Port Hardy after lunch and I took a few shots at the mouth of the Tsulquate River. We didn’t visit anyone as Aileen was pooped so we zipped home for her to have a nap. I downloaded pictures but since I was out at the picnic table I wasn’t able to do any editing as I could barely make the images out.

We saw a large ship (CSL Acadian) come by and found it was going to load gravel from Orca Sand and Gravel’s long conveyor belt, so after supper we drove down for a closer look. I took a few more pictures. I downloaded them when we returned and Photomatixed a few and Photoshopped them and a couple more. John had brought more wood and built a large fire again which we stood around til past 10. The weather is supposed to be wet for the next week at least but the sky was beautiful last night with all shades of maroon. I should have gone and taken pictures but couldn’t motivate myself as I had shot a bunch the night before and I was too busy on the computer sitting at the fire.

The forecast doesn’t look very nice until next Tuesday at the earliest with mostly clouds and some heavy rain thrown in. We’ve had several days of off and on nice weather with a few showers so I guess we shouldn’t complain. Some of my better images were taken in the absence of sunshine and its higher contrast.