Quatsino slumber

 

We waved goodbye to Brad and his mom Wendy yesterday. She is heading back to Okotoks for about 10 days. As they headed out on the boat I kept hoping that they would discover decent road conditions starting out from Coal Harbour. There has been so much rain that authorities were not recommending travel on the west side of the island. 

My routine on these early mornings is pretty baked in. First, I stoke the fire, or in the case this morning: relight the fire. It had gone out at some point last night. Then I boil water and get the coffee started. The boiled water is primarily for Coco's food. He needs it softened up after having had many of his teeth removed last year. I write while enjoying my two or three small cups of coffee before thinking about doing anything else. Food comes later.

The rain, which neighbour Mike said is the most they've seen since 2008, let up for part of the day which allowed us to go exploring. We crawled through fallen trees and traversed over submerged rocks trying our best not to get our feet wet.

My taller boots allowed me to keep dry. Heather was not so fortunate. The dogs were very impressive navigating these high tide conditions.

Both Coco and Shay went in the water, despite its frigidness. They didn't seem to mind at all.

Heather went a couple of rounds with her painting while I jumped in on a painting of a black bear walking the rocky shore here at Quatsino.

This will be a rare two-day project as the rocks require a lot of attention and time. 

We cleaned up some leftovers for dinner and then settled in to some reading time before watching one of the Academy Award nominated films: Begonia. It was a little weird; I'm not going to lie. 

Our time at TGO (The Great Outdoors) Quatsino is winding down. It's Wednesday. Two days from now we'll be loading up the boat and heading back to Coal Harbour. We'll be back at the studio in High River by late Sunday afternoon. 

You might be wondering what animals and birds we've seen so far. The front lawn had about 16 robins on it yesterday, enjoying a worm feast. One was a leucistic robin, with a striking white tail. There are also plentiful bald eagles and a grey heron that likes to hang out on the docks. We also had a belted kingfisher making his presence known down by the water. Up in the pine trees we saw (and heard) a cast of Stellar's Jays. Sea Otters have been spotted on our three boat trips, usually floating on their backs, chilling out. That's about it so far. Mike and Peggy, the neighbours, were sharing that we could see a yearling black bear if we're lucky. He has spent the winter a little out of sorts, separated from its mother, unsure of what to do. Without that guidance and mentorship, he could have a tough go of things.