We picked up our new truck on Saturday. It is a 2016 Toyota Tacoma.
Grand Slam of Curling
Gillian and I headed down to Maple Leaf Gardens to watch the 11th and 12th draws of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Players Championship. First up were the mens draw.
Glenn Howard was playing in the feature game on Sheet C against Reid Carruthers and won 7-2.
Brad Jacobs lost 5-2 to Charley Thomas.
Mike McEwen beat John Shuster 6-3.
Brad Jacobs.
The women were up in Draw 12. Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew.
Jennifer Jones was the feature game against Val Sweeting.
Rachel Homan.
Jennifer Jones taking a commercial break.
Rachel Homan was playing Silvana Tirinzoni from Switzerland.
This was the second time in a row Gillian and I have watched Homan lose in person. They fell 6-2 after Tirinzoni stole 5 points over the last four ends.
Crazy beard guy rooting for Team Paetz. This is Hans Madsen who is from Yorkton, SK and is at a lot of curling events with his beard dyed in different colours.
Backyard Birding
A couple of the birds that were in the backyard this morning. A Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinals) in our tree.
A Slate Coloured Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) taking off from the fence post.
Onigiri Rice Ball
I bought some rice balls at J-Town. This was the plum version.
You open it up and the nori and it is separated from the rice.
If you pull down on a strip it open right up and you can fold the rice ball into it.
It has a little bit of plum, but it could use more. Each one cost $1.50.
Ice Storm Aftermath
Some of trees, a little confused by the crazy weather we have had in recent weeks. Here are some of the early buds encased in ice from the storm on the 24th.
Happy Birthday Angela!
Angela hit a milestone birthday this year. She can vote and buy lottery tickets!
Happy Birthday G-ma and G-pa!
We had Grandma and Grandpa out for dinner and cake to celebrate their birthdays. Here they are blowing out the candles.
Saturna Island
Work had me out to British Columbia this past week. A colleague and I had to get some of the equipment back up and running after some recent problems. We lucked out with the weather, there was some rain when we were crossing on the ferry Monday and a little bit early Tuesday morning, but the rest of the week was mostly sunny.
Shanna had some time off and was planning to go to Abbotsford, so when she heard I was coming, she planned her route via Saturna Island. It was good to see her.
This is the Four Winds B&B that we were staying at, it sits right on the water.
Before we headed to dinner on Wednesday we took in East Point. The island in the middle of the photo is a hangout for sea lions, seals, and bald eagles. It is about 200m offshore. This is an old fog alarm building.
Here are some of the sea lions (Otariinae), the grey mounds in the foreground are the seals. (Click on photo to enlarge)
There were two bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on the island as well. (Click on photo to enlarge)
With the tide out there were lots of purple sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus).
Some of the seals (Phoca vitulina) in the water.
There was a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) sitting on the building.
As we got closer to the hawk on the building, it took off and landed in a nearby tree.
These were Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula).
We just missed the sunset by the time we got to the pub for dinner.
The next morning was clear so there was a nice sunrise.
The sun rising over Tumbo Island with Mt Baker in the background.
Waiting for the ferry back to Swartz Bay.
The ferry from Saturna Island to Mayne Island wasn’t that busy.
Leaving Saturna Island behind, the last time I was there was 4 years ago, hopefully it isn’t as long until the next trip.
We had to transfer at Mayne Island.
We got back to Vancouver Island and had dinner in Sidney at Shabai Thai, it was delicious. Shanna stayed with me in Sidney before catching an early ferry back to the main land Friday morning. I had an early flight back to Toronto.
Sourest Food Challenge: Umeboshi
Found this video on YouTube of two guys eating a umeboshi for the first time. I laugh everytime I watch it.
Angela is off to OFSAA
Congratulations to Angela, her Senior Girls curling team won the ROPSSAA Curling finals last Monday. Here is a photo of Angela with Jordyn (they were at the same babysitter and went to St Richard’s) who was on the other team. Due to some fortunate reason, both teams in the ROPSSAA finals were going to OFSAA.
Angela left this morning until Thursday. The OFSAA finals are in North Bay this year. Good luck to Angela and her team!
