Beach Finds

I love to go to our beaches, and recently we spent some time at a beach we had never been before. It's a good beach to go to with small children since the edge is not very deep as at many other beaches here and the waves are not quite as high. It also means that you can walk at the edge of the water without always looking for higher ground when the big waves crash onshore.

Walking along the beach I usually look for treasures - shells, driftwood, small rocks. There are many things to find.

Broken sanddollars,

empty crabs and feathers - the seagulls probably had a feast here!

There are sanddollars buried in the sand

and also tiny, perfect sanddollars.

The seagulls leave their little footprints everywhere.

And sometimes you can also find huge seastars made out of sand.

These are my Friday Finds for this week.

Be True to You

This was the theme of week 4 at Life Book 2014. We were asked to pick three things we really like, that we are drawn to.

Well, that has to be the ocean for me. I just LOVE everything ocean - seashells, starfish, driftwood, lighthouses, waves, mermaids, seals and sea lions, whales... seagulls.

So this is what I created:

The colors in the background are teal, red oxide and raw sienna, three colors I like very much. However, I thought they were a little too powerful, so I used Titan Buff to tone it down a bit. Titan Buff is my first choice for toning something down, it works really well for me.

The seashells were stamped on tissue paper. I love how the tissue paper almost disappears when glued down. I love that effect. "Near the sea we forget to count the days" - now, isn't that true?

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday - my favorite party on Friday, and really, I am not a party girl. Except for this one!

Seagulls

When we went to the beach for the coastal clean up a few weeks ago, there were, of course, a lot of seagulls. They have quite different personalities - some of them watch you from a safe distance, others completely ignore you and some are quite bold and come rather close, probably in the hope for some food.

They are such common birds (at least at the ocean...), but somehow I do like them, their noisy and sassy behavior. Some of them are real bullies, whereas others seem to display some kind of humor. It's quite interesting to watch.

I loved to see this one taking off - can you see the little footprints in the sand? Ah, to be able to spread your wings and sail above the waves of the ocean!

Along the Sunshine Coast

Let's travel along the Sunshine Coast - we can take the Water Taxi if you like!

The Sunshine Coast - somehow sunshine is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of British Columbia. In some areas, though, they have more sunshine than in others, and the Sunshine Coast is one of those areas. Since it is on the mainland it is rather protected from all the bad weather by the many islands that you find in the straits, especially Vancouver Island that separates this part of British Columbia from the open ocean.

We took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Gibsons which is the first small town you get into when you have left the ferry. They greet you really nicely here:

It's mainly a fisher town with its own marina (more on that in a later post). I especially loved the signs in this town - signs of direction and the name of one of their fish and chips places.

The view over the strait from here is beautiful. It's pretty quiet as well, just add the sound of the ever hungry seagulls.

We spent the night in a campground nearby and went to the beach the next morning. It's a rocky beach here and rather "rustic".

Driving up the Sunshine Coast, you pass several inlets, all of them beautiful with a big sense of calm - quite what I like.

And watch out for those turtles!!!

When you're half way up the Sunshine Coast, the road ends in Earl Cove and you have to take the next ferry for a 75 minutes ride to Saltery Bay. While waiting for the ferry, you can take in the fabulous view - I would have liked to take the canoe and paddle out onto the water.

Instead, we boarded the ferry and enjoyed one of these peaceful, quiet boat rides that you get up here. It's a little bit like being in a different world - it smells of salty water and old forests.

We passed several smaller islands where people live in wonderful solitude while we listened to some violin music.

We arrived in Saltery Bay in the evening and immediately went to the campground nearby. It was a beautiful campground right in the woods. Unfortunately it was also infested with annoying mosquitoes, so we took our cooking stuff down to the strait's water to cook dinner. We had the place almost to ourselves.

This place was called Mermaid Cove. From here we could see the fisher boats come home and enjoy a beautiful sunset.

There were signs warning us that recently a bear was seen here, but on this evening the bear didn't "lust" for the mermaids.

Spring Break (Photo of the Week)

We had spring break last week, and although we spent the time at home, it was very relaxing. The Geek took the week off as well and we had some really good time together. None of us sat at the computer very much which was a wonderful change.

The Geek and I took a lovely walk at our laguna where there are old trees in the vineyards on the way to the water.

The hawks were circling over this area, but they were quite far off to capture them on camera.

Kaefer had one project to do for school, and for this we had to go to the beach at sunset. The first time we went the sun was pretty absent... it was very windy and cold, and we didn't stay long.

The problem is that we can never tell what the weather is like at the ocean when we're still home. Only a few miles closer to the coast everything can change and you go from sunny and warm to foggy and cold.

We spent a day in San Francisco to see the famous Terracotta warriors of China's first emperor. I had seen them years ago in Hildesheim, Germany, but it was just as  fascinating as back then. If you ever have the chance to see them, go. You won't regret it.

Photo of the Week

The exhibition displays eight of the warriors and two horses - out of a complete army. It's unbelievable to imagine this work at 200 BC! It was more than inspiring.

We actually looked at all the exhibitions at the Asian Art Museum - it really makes you tired after a certain time. So we thought it would be nice to have a good meal and went to Suppenküche, a German restaurant in the city, and had a wonderful cooling glass of beer (Hefeweizen).

Gosh, that was good. The food was fabulous as well and very authentic. We sure weren't there for the last time. The restaurant is relatively small and reminds me of a German Bierstube. You sit at big wooden tables, and if all the tables are occupied you will share it with strangers, just scoop together and leave more space for other people (NOT for a romantic dinner!). This is the way we do it in Germany in many places, and you can actually make wonderful friends this way. If you have ever been to a German Biergarten you know what I'm talking about!

After a day of rain we tried the beach again for Kaefer's project. We first had a bowl of clam chowder at our favorite restaurant in Bodega Bay, the Sandpiper, and found out that they are under new management, and I'm not quite sure that this change did the restaurant any good. We will see. At the beach it was windy and cold again, but there was the sun and we could actually enjoy a beautiful sunset.

While Kaefer was working on her project and the Geek was helping her, I took pictures - what else?

Since the weather was so nice (except for the one day of rain, but I actually liked that since we still need quite some more rain) I worked in the garden - I laid a new path in the flower beds in front of the house, planted some more flowers and got my olive tree, that had lived in a pot, into the ground. It is often hard physical work, but envisioning my garden kept me doing it - a good thing.

waiting to get into the ground

And yes, there was also some resting, reading and just relaxing - it was time to get out the hammock!

It was a wonderful week, spent with my family and sometimes a few friends. I am quite surprised how relaxing it was and how good I feel right now.

I hope all of you are doing well and can enjoy some spring if you're in the Northern hemisphere.

A Photo a Day

For this year I had planned to take a photo a day - at least one photo each day of the year, no matter what it is. I even joined some groups on flickr for this purpose because I thought that would keep me motivated.

Well - seven weeks later I have to say that I haven't quite followed through. At the beginning I did take at least one photo each day, but as the year progressed I couldn't catch up anymore. Instead of feeling guilty, however, I did give myself permission to take it easy and that it is perfectly okay if I have only three or four photos for an entire week. Although the challenge of taking a photo each day was interesting and, yes, a real challenge, it took out the fun of photography for me - and that is simply too high a price.

What I will do, however, show you my favorite photo of each week on Sundays - starting today with my favorites of the first seven weeks.

Week 1 - the magnolia in my neighbor's front yard, shot on January 2nd.

Week 2 - yummy red wine

Week 3 - pink waves at the Northern California coast near Jenner (Goat Rock State Beach)

Week 4 - California Towhee

Week 5 - tree trunks

Week 6 - planting pots in my garden, drying out

Week 7 - a detail on one of the bunkers along Conzelman Road on the Marin Headlands, just north of the Golden Gate

Are you taking any photo challenges this year?