Kootenay photos

We're having an amazing Indian summer here in the Kootenays.
Since it's a busy time for many of us, I'm just going to post some photos I've taken recently, 

enjoy.

My squirrel photo has become a Cover Squirrel for our  MAKE Team's FB page.
Nov2/12

     Red squirrels... cute but noisey (and nosey).

Kokanee spawning in Kokanee Creek

Clean dog.

Dirty dog... yup, rolled in the dirt right after his bath.

Cruising down the West Arm.

Johnson's landing from across Kootenay Lake.

Swimming in Kootenay lake.

Awesome views on Kootenay Lake.

Kokanee Creek Park.

Feathered visitors.

Osprey Ferry.

Beach day at Queens Bay.

One of our small Kootenay towns was featured on Global News:

Silverton... 

A quiet Easter weekend

These are the 1st spring flowers, growing at the base of our walnut tree.

This beetle was crawling up my pantleg...on the inside! EWWW!

Had me doing the funky chicken and yanking all my clothes off

in the living room. Thank goodness I wasn't on Skype!

On the bright side, this little bird (pine siskin?) posed on one

of my big garden pots. (No, I didn't make it, but am resisting the urge to paint it.)

I did a bisque firing, and these are all the items I fired.

I can't wait to paint them. (some of the small weird items

are actually press moulds I'm experimenting with).

These 3 birds were in that load, and are ready to paint. The big one is my 2nd big bird, and he's the same, (or slightly bigger) than the 1st one. I haven't decided on what colours to paint him.
Any suggestions??

I started painting the bear and the medium bird, starting with a base-coat.

I hate waiting for paint to dry, so we went to the beach
 to enjoy the sun, the birds and watched the ferry cruise by.

A relaxing Kootenay day...

Dave & I ventured up to a local beach, to enjoy a bit of the sunshine before the clouds cover it up.

The lake level is very high right now, with the spring run-off, so there isn't much of a beach and some of the trees are standing in water. There's lots of snow, up top, that's still melting and the creeks are running full-tilt. Lots of logs and stuff are floating around on the lake and shores, but the fishing seems to be pretty good in some (secret) places, and the golf courses are looking great too.

I like watching the ferry, and thought I'd point out that we have the longest free ferry ride in the world, here on Kootenay Lake. Right now they're on the winter schedule (just one ferry- the Osprey, it's the big one, with a coffee shop, observation area and even wireless internet!)

June 14/11, they'll add a 2nd smaller ferry- the MV Balfour, until Sept 5 2011... here's the schedule.

MY SHAMELESS PLUG: "Buy my buttons"! If you're fortunate enough to take a ride on the Osprey ferry, be sure to stop in at the Coffee shop and buy a coffee and one of my "Catch that ferry" buttons, that have the schedule on them, or at least say you saw their shop on my blog.

When we got home, I took some pictures of the garden in Spike's pen.

My perennials are well established and could use some thinning, while the lemon mint should be perfect to start harvesting…there's always something to do outside.

Right now my little azalea, columbine, lilacs, irises and windflowers are in full bloom, while the bumblebees and friends are enjoying them. I saw my 1st tiger swallowtail butterfly last week,! To me it's the true harbinger of summer, like the 1st robin, 1st swallow, the 1st tiger swallowtail butterfly is a sign of the season's progress.

I hope you enjoy my photos and the links I've chosen.

Please leave a comment, don't be shy... I'd love to hear from you :)