Good morning dear reader, after a long delay I sit in front of the screen, gathering my notes and thoughts to share from SeaRose Studio. Once again autumn embraces us and notable events are illuminated by the memories of summer sun, of which we had plenty this year. Summer visitors came and went bringing new friends and sharing their adventures. Neil Frazer of Hawaii and Salmon Coast Field Station returned thinner and browner but in one intact piece from a solo voyage out the long, long string of Aleutian Islands. Our granddaughter Josie stayed for ten precious days and we did those usual grandmother/granddaughter things…made raspberry jam, puttered in the garden, went fishing with Billy and to Echo Bay for talks about Humpback whales by Jackie Hildering and “stalking” by Nikki Van Schyndel. We traveled (in pajamas) with a pod of seven Biggs orca into Viner River estuary and watched the group feed on dolphins…maybe not so usual…
I was not able to spend as many Saturdays helping Billy out at his Museum and Gift Store due to the damage my knees have sustained over the years. August 31 I went for double knee joint replacement surgery at Campbell River Hospital. If you find you need surgery yourself ask for Doctor Deke Botsford, he’s the best! My sincere thanks to the surgeon, surgical staff, nursing and physio staff at Campbell River Hospital. And heartfelt thanks too, to Vicki and Jamie, Roger and Jane, Patricia and Brian, and to Helen, all of whom gave us a home away from home and tender loving care…I am so grateful to have such good, kind, generous friends. My thanks and love to my dear husband who was with me every step of the way, tended to my every need and barely left my side for the better part of two months.
Because I must sit around and rest, ice and heal, I have no excuse to further procrastinate on this update….
So - locally, we are devastated to note the complete disappearance of the sunflower stars and other starfish, due to starfish wasting syndrome. As well the anemones that once bloomed like exotic flowers on the chains and float logs have disappeared. It is hard to know what other sea creatures are being affected, however there are reports of tiny baby starfish showing up here and there and we have ourselves seen a few sunflower stars way down deep (50 fathoms) which came up in a prawn trap. You can find out more about the extent of this problem at www.pacificrockyintertidal.org
I went with Bill Proctor and Megan Adams who is working on her doctoral thesis, to Deep Harbour in the midst of a westerly deluge and right underneath a thunder and lightning storm (the second in the space of a week, very atypical) –(and why in a rainstorm? Why would we let that stop us?). The rain passed as we drifted among hundreds of thousands of moon jellies near the shallow northern end of the harbor. So many questions come to mind…why are some of them neon violet or orange in hue and some not? Which are male and which female and how do they multiply? How long do they live? I found answers to these and other questions and some other interesting info at www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/moon-jelly
New topic, last June I was sitting in my studio happily painting and listening to gardening guru Brian Minter offer his advice to radio callers, caught his news about a garden contest. All you had to do was take a picture of your garden, send in your photo and tell Brian what your garden means to you. I’m thinking, I can do that….didn’t even know what the prize was but off I went at magic hour to shoot a few dreamy pictures and think “what does my garden meant to me”? Everywhere I looked the plants and flowers reminded me of someone I love or once loved, so that is what I wrote to Brian. Driving down the highway a couple weeks later, we were about Eve River when Brian was on again so I did not hear who had won until we got into cell service, where I had three emails congratulating me. For what?? Found out the prize was a generous ONE THOUSAND dollar gift certificate to spend at his Chilliwack Minter Garden Center. Thank you, Brian! You can find him at www.mintergardens.com
I have made some purchases and still have several hundred dollars left to spend and plans to re-arrange the front of the garden below the studios…it will be dramatic.
Bill and I will be touring our new book around for a week in November, thanks to Albert chauffeuring us, and more dear friends feeding and housing us. Once that is over Albert and I plan to stay home and …stay home! He is installing French doors, (which my son Logan found for us) one off the pool table room to the front deck and one off the bedroom. Three more windows to do and the doors and windows will (finally) be complete. We have met someone we hope will come and help us install the last set of “good” stairs, I am going to dig into my trunkful of fabric and sew some things before the moths ingest all the fabric.
Last word, yesterday we bottled the raspberry wine, I can hardly wait until my first taste of that summer wine…February….So that’s it for now…come by anytime, we love to welcome visitors to SeaRose Studio….and if you read this and quote it back to me, I am offering a 20% Christmas sale discount on original painting purchases from this website, this could be your moment to acquire original Canadian art!! Chat ya soon, Y
I was not able to spend as many Saturdays helping Billy out at his Museum and Gift Store due to the damage my knees have sustained over the years. August 31 I went for double knee joint replacement surgery at Campbell River Hospital. If you find you need surgery yourself ask for Doctor Deke Botsford, he’s the best! My sincere thanks to the surgeon, surgical staff, nursing and physio staff at Campbell River Hospital. And heartfelt thanks too, to Vicki and Jamie, Roger and Jane, Patricia and Brian, and to Helen, all of whom gave us a home away from home and tender loving care…I am so grateful to have such good, kind, generous friends. My thanks and love to my dear husband who was with me every step of the way, tended to my every need and barely left my side for the better part of two months.
Because I must sit around and rest, ice and heal, I have no excuse to further procrastinate on this update….
So - locally, we are devastated to note the complete disappearance of the sunflower stars and other starfish, due to starfish wasting syndrome. As well the anemones that once bloomed like exotic flowers on the chains and float logs have disappeared. It is hard to know what other sea creatures are being affected, however there are reports of tiny baby starfish showing up here and there and we have ourselves seen a few sunflower stars way down deep (50 fathoms) which came up in a prawn trap. You can find out more about the extent of this problem at www.pacificrockyintertidal.org
I went with Bill Proctor and Megan Adams who is working on her doctoral thesis, to Deep Harbour in the midst of a westerly deluge and right underneath a thunder and lightning storm (the second in the space of a week, very atypical) –(and why in a rainstorm? Why would we let that stop us?). The rain passed as we drifted among hundreds of thousands of moon jellies near the shallow northern end of the harbor. So many questions come to mind…why are some of them neon violet or orange in hue and some not? Which are male and which female and how do they multiply? How long do they live? I found answers to these and other questions and some other interesting info at www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/moon-jelly
New topic, last June I was sitting in my studio happily painting and listening to gardening guru Brian Minter offer his advice to radio callers, caught his news about a garden contest. All you had to do was take a picture of your garden, send in your photo and tell Brian what your garden means to you. I’m thinking, I can do that….didn’t even know what the prize was but off I went at magic hour to shoot a few dreamy pictures and think “what does my garden meant to me”? Everywhere I looked the plants and flowers reminded me of someone I love or once loved, so that is what I wrote to Brian. Driving down the highway a couple weeks later, we were about Eve River when Brian was on again so I did not hear who had won until we got into cell service, where I had three emails congratulating me. For what?? Found out the prize was a generous ONE THOUSAND dollar gift certificate to spend at his Chilliwack Minter Garden Center. Thank you, Brian! You can find him at www.mintergardens.com
I have made some purchases and still have several hundred dollars left to spend and plans to re-arrange the front of the garden below the studios…it will be dramatic.
Bill and I will be touring our new book around for a week in November, thanks to Albert chauffeuring us, and more dear friends feeding and housing us. Once that is over Albert and I plan to stay home and …stay home! He is installing French doors, (which my son Logan found for us) one off the pool table room to the front deck and one off the bedroom. Three more windows to do and the doors and windows will (finally) be complete. We have met someone we hope will come and help us install the last set of “good” stairs, I am going to dig into my trunkful of fabric and sew some things before the moths ingest all the fabric.
Last word, yesterday we bottled the raspberry wine, I can hardly wait until my first taste of that summer wine…February….So that’s it for now…come by anytime, we love to welcome visitors to SeaRose Studio….and if you read this and quote it back to me, I am offering a 20% Christmas sale discount on original painting purchases from this website, this could be your moment to acquire original Canadian art!! Chat ya soon, Y
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