BLACKBERRY JAM PRODUCTION

We moved up to Charlie and Sheila’s on Wednesday as planned.  We stayed out of the house as much as possible until yesterday as Sheila had some type of bug that we didn’t want.  Aileen went to her favourite hairdresser in Qualicum Beach for a much needed haircut on Thursday. 

I’ve been purging my photo files again and have deleted about 16,000 images in the past week.  I have my photos saved in multiple locations so this is basically a cleanup project because I don’t need two copies of every single image I have saved.  I like to save a folder of the images I edited and the originals together on my current laptop so I can access them if required, such as needing to make a larger file for printing.  Still have lots more to go through so there will be another large purge coming up.

My brother in law, John R, and I took our RZR 570s out for a ride on Saturday and poked around up the Cook Creek Forest Access Road.  John took some time out to pick some wild blackberries.  I found a neat trail that needs further exploration to see how far up to the alpine we can ride.  Looking online, it seems like an interesting area to hike up to and explore.  It is definitely too far for me to try and walk all the way up from where you can leave a car.

Yesterday, Aileen and I took the Honda CRV up the Cook Creek Road and picked wild blackberries for a couple hours.  Aileen had found a local patch on her morning walk and gone back with a container to pick them.    It is pretty grueling work as the berries are usually low on the ground and the thorns are nasty.  The berries are mostly very small so it takes a long while to accumulate much volume.  Today, we made nine pints of blackberry jam.  These are a native species along the coast of BC and Washington and Vancouver Island and not to be confused with the much larger Himalayan Blackberry that covers large areas.  Their flavor is unique and well worth the effort required to procure.

We had planned on moving along this week but as is usually the case, we have had several things come up that are best done by staying put longer. 

This male California Quail was standing guard on the woodpile at Neil and Carol's

And this is part of his flock

House Sparrow

Song Sparrow

A training ship based in Victoria that I converted to B&W

Ross Bay, Victoria

Oak Bay, Victoria

Some deer in Oak Bay

Spotted this old Chevy in the parking lot at Englishman River Falls Park

A peekaboo shot of part of Englishman River Falls

Woodland Penstemon

Siberian Miner's Lettuce in C&S's bush

Self Heal in C&S's bush

Yellow Monkey Flower in C&S's bush

Striped Coral Root on a trail John R and I walked up on the mountain Saturday

Nearly next to it was this Spotted Coral Root

Also up on the same trail were these squiggly Western Red Cedar trees

Pinesap

Sickletop Lousewort

Another Woodland Penstemon

Looking out over Deep Bay on Vancouver Island to Denman Island with Chrome Island Lighthouse off to the right and then Hornby Island.   Beyond Hornby is Texada Island then the mainland of BC in the faint blue background.

A little mountain stream where we were ATVing Saturday

Wild mushrooms

Someone's work of art in an old meadow on a short side road.  It is at least twelve feet high.

This buck was right beside the work of art

Swainson's Thrush, I believe.  First photo I have taken of one of these, I think.  About 75 feet distant on our walk last night.