Palm Sunday in Victoria

Yes we do have palm trees in Victoria. The city enjoys a somewhat Mediterranean climate which suits these hardy "Windmill" palm trees very well.

The city has planted palms (typically Trachycarpus Wagnerianus) in various locations in Victoria in the belief that it is nice for tourists that, when they are taking pictures of Victoria, there is 
some kind of exotic plant around. That way they could say: "I was in Victoria and look, it's so warm here 
that they have palm trees."

But no everyone is happy about promoting the city that way. Many residents feel that it would be better if people 
could appreciate and enjoy our own, wonderful, native species rather than try to bring other 
peoples' backyards to our region.

A house of colours

If you can't decide on what colour to paint your house...well, maybe it's best to just ask a young child how it should be painted!

In Uplands Park

A fire hydrant's sense of humour is not always subtle.

Blooming Victoria BC

Victoria has always been quite smug about having the best weather in Canada. However this year, Nature has outdone itself. Record-breaking weather conditions in early 2010 have produced a record for the 34th Annual Victoria Flower Count.
According to flower count spokesperson Graham Bell, there were 21,691,666,716 blooms counted in Greater Victoria between Feb. 25 and March 4. That number smashes the old record of 8.5 billion blooms set in 2002. It also means that there are enough flowers to give every man, woman, and child in Canada a bouquet of 650 flowers.
The annual flower count is seen as a fun way to promote tourism in this "City of Gardens."

The tipping point

No, this is not a special effects photo:
What's happened is that the ground gave way under a truck that was pumping concrete into the foundations of a new bay-side house.

The Cavalry is called in the form of two heavy-lift crane trucks from L.B.Crane Rentals.At about $250 an hour each this problem is going to be very expensive to fix. The crane cables are attachedand ever so gently the truck is brought back to an upright position.
Finally the truck folds up its extensions and prepares to leave the scene.

The Divine Lady

Spring has been in full bloom for the past three weeks here in Victoria as beautifully evidenced by the pink and green palette of the house known famously as "The Divine Lady."

I'll meet you half way

If, while walking south on Monterey Ave. towards McNeill Bay, you're very observant, you may notice an interesting feature on one of the telephone poles on the street's east side:On closer examination you'll see that it informs you that you have reached the "Half Way" point:As you continue south you'll encounter another announcement - that you've reached the three-quarter point:While we're not sure to where, at least there appears to be some progress on the journey. Continuing south, at last, is the final sign:An enigmatic mathematical formula.

There are no signs before the "Half Way" sign. The ending mathematical formula remains a mystery. But the journey is clear:

A celebration along Dallas Road

Just across the road from the shingled beach along Dallas Road stands what appears at first to be just a pile of stones and concrete slabs.A closer view reveals it to be a small monument that celebrates many of the things that make living here so special.This is the handiwork of Ivan, who was so impressed by the signage he saw during a trip to Leavenworth, a Bavarian getaway in the heart of Washington State, that he decided to learn how to etch his own celebratory graphics in stone.
After two years of work he's already created 11 stone pieces. But realizes there's still room for more on his monument along Dallas Road.

Dog of the Day

It was a chilly 8°C (46°F) on Cook Street, but this little guy was prepared with his stylish wrap:

Mind the trees

Trees, and their preservation, are a matter of great concern to Victoria residents. As a result, it's not unusual to see sidewalks snaking their way around, rather than cutting a straight line through, the trees that stand beside our roads .Arborphiles share their passion by spotlighting their favourite city trees, contributing information, questions, and photos on the Tree Watch Victoria blog HERE.

At rest in the Place of the Cradles

The establishment of Fort Victoria in 1843 may have marked European settlement on this southern tip of Vancouver Island but Aboriginals have inhabited this area for thousands of years. South-eastern Vancouver Island, where the capital city of Victoria is located, was the home of the Northern Straits Salish peoples and in what is now the greater Victoria area were 12 interlinked Songhee villages.

From time to time, during road works or housing development, an aboriginal grave may be unearthed. Once evidence of an ancient burial site is found, all work is immediately stopped and First Nations community representatives are called in.

In this case, on August 27, 2009, the excavation of a sewer trench along Dallas Road disturbed the remains of a young First Nations woman, “SLENI”, originally buried over 300 years ago. Following consultations with archeologists and First Nations Elders, a determination was reached to hold a reburial service close to the site of the discovery and a marker was placed to identify the spot.

SLENI's marker was placed along Dallas Road beside another one identifying the location of the unearthing in 1995 of the remains of another First Nations individual "HIWET."

The location of this site, now called "Camel Point," was originally called "Lekwammen" which means “the place of the Cradles.”

Snowdrops are in full bloom!

While much of Canada is in full winter, here in Victoria the snowdrops are in full bloom. We've also seen Rhododendrons in bloom but since we don't like Rhodos we chose to ignore them.

The house of stories

Some houses just have many stories to tell - like this one at 937 Caledonia Street.The first thing you notice as you approach it from the west is this wonderful bottle-based public rest chair.Then as you continue to walk past the house you see this structure:A pyramid of twigs and branches resembling a medieval shrine:Which on closer examination reveals itself to be a crèche dedicated to Sponge Bob Square Pants:

Free-range chicken - in the city

Walking up Cook Street from Dallas Road I noticed a dark form moving in the driveway of this heritage building...Yes, a free-range chicken giving me a wary "evil" eye.
Quite surprising to see it walking about so freely because there are still a number of eagles and hawks living in the city that would likely enjoy this fellow for a dinner meal.
Other city chickens that we've seen in the city are more cooped up like the ones in this earlier post HERE

Shingle Beach

The logging industry is a major part of Vancouver Island's economy. Logs that are floated down rivers and estuaries sometimes break free and end up on the shores around Victoria.The mature Western Cedar's soft red-brown timber is valued for its distinct appearance, aroma, and its high natural resistance to decay. It is extensively used for outdoor construction in the form of posts, decking, shingles and siding.Patrick is taking advantage of these wayward logs to shingle the roof of his house.He first uses a small chainsaw to cut the logs down to shingle size and then creates each shingle using a froe to cleave the wood by splitting it along the grain. He has so far cut 8,000 of the 10,000 shingles he needs.

A pole becomes a Totem

Over the holidays someone feathered this telephone pole turning into a strange Totem Pole.

The Mighty Coho turns the big Five-Oh!

Living on an island one becomes quite enamored of the ferries that link us to the mainland. The M.V. Coho, filled with 1950s character, not only provides a link between Victoria B.C. and Port Angeles, Washington but also provides a link to the past.The Coho was built in Seattle at a cost of $3 million - privately financed by Black Ball Transport.Since 1959, the Coho has transported 21 million passengers and five million vehicles over the 22.59 nautical miles between Victoria's inner harbour and downtown Port Angeles.A 2006 study showed the Coho, which can accommodate 1,000 passengers and 120 vehicles on any one sailing, ferried more than 205,000 return passengers and brought $123.7 million into the Victoria economy.And as a a deckhand explained to us before boarding on a very stormy day, "Oh, yes we're sailing. There's no seas rough enough or waves high enough to stop this ship."