by Marja-Leena 
More photos from that lovely day at English Bay….
Wishing all my readers a Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Friendship Day as celebrated in Finland.
Addendum: The other photos in this series:
English Bay: trees
English Bay: reflections
English Bay: sky
by Marja-Leena 
art found in the kitchen…
by Marja-Leena 
One lovely and warm spring-like day last week, we went out for a walk in the late afternoon along Vancouver’s famous English Bay at Stanley Park. Camera happy that day, I captured an amazing number of beautiful images (braggart!) from which I have a hard time selecting only a few, so I’ve decided to do a short series here. First are these trees against a constantly changing sky. Enjoy!
Edited later: My English readers, Barrett and Joe, have read my mind (see comments). In searching for a good link on English Bay I was disappointed to not find a word about the name. Vancouver historian Chuck Davis’ ever-growing site did not yield the answer. Finally I found this tidbit at City by Cycle:
English Bay beach, which was termed ‘Ayyulshun’ by the Indians meaning ‘soft under feet,’ was established in 1893 with a few beach shacks built there. The name ‘English Bay’ commemorates the meeting of the British Captain Vancouver and Spanish captains Valdes and Galiano, in 1792. This is the event that also resulted in Spanish Banks’ name.
I wish the city had kept the native name. And now I also know where the name of the southwest shore of English Bay, Spanish Banks, came from. That is the shore you see in the background in these photos.
Addendum: The other photos in this series:
English Bay: beach
English Bay: reflections
English Bay: sky
by Marja-Leena 
yesterday: rain, melting snow, flooded streets
this morning, sunshine; this afternoon, more rain?
heavy clumps of snow falling off trees and roof edges
still deep white yards, snowbanks, tracks on roads
tilting snowmen, carrot noses pointed to sky
broken tree branches, twisted half-buried shrubs
I stay home and enjoy the light and beauty
by Marja-Leena 
windswept rain-washed leaves, stuck on skylights
by Marja-Leena 
If you can look into the seeds of time…
– Wm. Shakespeare: Macbeth)
An hour’s study of nature is a year’s worth of prayer.
– Prophet Mohammed
by Marja-Leena
Delighting in the colours and patterns of tiny found leaves, I’ve been playing with them on the scanner. How thrilling to see the fine veins and hairs in the huge enlargements on the monitor, and how very disappointing to not be able to share them here in that size and resolution.
by Marja-Leena 
On a recent walk around our neighbourhood, we spotted this brilliantly coloured BIG caterpillar moving slowly along the street. We’d never seen one like it. Husband picked it up gently with a leaf while I found a discarded takeout cup in which to carry it home, showing it off to some young children we passed by. At home, husband took many photos and I googled for its name.
It looks like it may be a Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar – Antheraea polyphemus, which transforms into a giant tan colored silk moth with an average wingspan of 6 inches (15 cm)!
Oh, and what happened to our captive? Husband put it back in the cup with leaves and a blackberry and placed it under the brambles just outside the corner of our yard. The next morning, the leaf and the caterpillar were gone. We hope it survived and metamorphosed into that lovely moth. I would have liked to have seen that moth.
