Jack’s Walk

Jack and I went to a place called Belle Anse today, but we usually call the place Glass Beach because there’s always a lot of seaglass to be found among the stones. The secret to all the seaglass here is that a friend of mine feeds the beach. Every autumn she takes buckets of broken up bottles and coloured glass and tosses them into the surf. It only takes a few days for the sharp edges to round off and by spring all that broken up trash has become treasure. My friend is a stained glass artist and she uses the seaglass to make all sorts of beautiful things. Jack doesn’t care about any of that, though. He just thinks it’s another fine place to frolic in the surf.

Wednesday Wings

Hello and Welcome to Wednesday Wings, one of the new features replacing the Daily Bird. Today’s gorgeous pics are from David in NZ, who writes the following:

This is Manu, he puts on a show for the crowd, flying from one keeper to another, untethered and outside a cage. He did go for a “holiday” for 3 days last year.

Cheers

David

I know that the birds of prey ion our local zoo tend to go on holidays as well, but generally return because hunting is too much work.

A Living Remembrance

Nightjar has sent us photos of a Barberry shrub that she planted in remembrance of Caine. She says:

Here are the photos of the shrub I planted in her memory, it was in such a small pot and badly in need of being planted. The colour red, thorns and berries that attract birds are all things Caine loved, and that’s what made me pick this shrub.

That’s a beautiful way to remember someone, Nightjar. I know Caine would approve. Thanks for sharing.

Jack’s Walk

This is Smuggler’s Cove, one of our favourite beaches. It’s a bit out of the way and the road in isn’t well-marked, but that just means we usually have the place to ourselves. The cliffs here show off the mixed rock that is typical of this area and the colours change as the light moves across the sky. At low tide you can walk along the base of the cliffs and if you’re lucky you’ll find a fossil or an agate. I often also find sea urchins and sand dollars here. It’s one of my best places to beach-comb.

Tree Tuesday

This week rq has sent us gorgeous photos of a majestic oak tree that looks straight out of a fairytale. rq says:

This oak is 800 years old or thereabouts and has earned the title of dižozols, which means ‘Grand/Great Oak’. If a tree adheres to specific criteria regarding trunk diameter and height and other things, it can also aspire to dižkoks status and people can send in submissions to the registry. They get marked on a map as objects of tourist interest, and also go down for preservation measures if anything happens or threatens their surroundings.

This one! Is the second tallest Great Oak in the country at 23m in height, with a trunk circumference of 7.1m or so. It is well and alive, and hosts a large number of birds in its branches, including being permanent home to an owl. It is also hollow inside, home to an unidentified bird, possibly a dove or wood pigeon or some such (see final photo, it’s dim, but there was definitely a bird hissing at me when I peeked in).

I visited at sunset, it sits above a winding creek and overlooks some farmland and marshes.

rq thanks so much. 800 years seems like an impossibly long time for a tree to live, but there it is. This is definitely a tree that I would like to see in person. There are several photos (all of them beautiful) and the rest are below the fold. [Read more…]

Yet Another Sunflower Resident.

Some species of shield bug. It was very shy and kept hiding.

Jack’s Walk

When most people think about the east coast of Canada they think about the ocean, but because of the beautiful Chic Choc Mountains we have here there are also lots of fresh water rivers and streams. This is the Portage River which flows into the Malbaie Salt Marsh before finding the sea. It’s a great place to canoe or fish and just happens to be behind Jack’s favourite ocean beach, Coin de Banc, making it a great place to rinse saltwater off a tired soggy dog. I’ll spare you another photo of an all wet Jack frolicking in the water.

TNET 24: Surf

Samsung VR – Surf with Ian Walsh on Vimeo

Open thread, if I can make it work. As always, the rules apply. Be respectful.

Previous thread

Monday Mercurial

Hello and welcome to Monday Mercurial, a regular feature for all the critters out there. Sadly we won’t be able to keep up the Daily Bird, but we will replace it with three regular features throughout the week for the winged and furred inhabitants of planet Earth.

This is a young magpie that kept begging for food, even though it was already old enough to get over to the bowl of dogfood some campers had forgotten outside.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I are still on the east coast of Quebec in our little village called Perce. There are so many beautiful vistas here that it’s hard to choose, but today I’ll share the Chic Choc (pronounced Shick Shock) mountains. They’re the Canadian part of the Appalachian mountain range and are among the oldest mountains in the world. I love the soft rounded peaks that roll one into the other in a long unbroken chain. I’ll be sharing more photos of certain places in the mountains, but this is the long view to whet your appetite.

After today, Jack’s Walk will be here Monday to Friday only.

A change for Submissions

Giliell’s post of earlier today noted that we want Affinity to continue being a community gathering place and that your submissions are an important part of this blog. We want to see your photos and artwork, hear your stories and share what matters to you so we have set up a new mailbox and are ready to receive whatever you want to send. Charly, Giliell and I will be sharing this mailbox so it would be helpful if you could tag your submissions with a topic such as trees, birds, flora, recipes or Tummy Thursday. If your submission doesn’t fit one of those categories be creative with your tags and we’ll figure out where it goes. The new email is:

affinitysubmissions@gmail.com

and it has been linked in the sidebar. I’ve tested it out and it’s working for me, but if you have any difficulties with the link please let us know. We’re looking forward to seeing what you have for us.

Remembering Caine

In April of last year Caine blogged about the creation of this painting, Descent of Night. I fell in love with it instantly and wrote Caine to tell her how much it reminded me of shooting off fireworks at a place called Corner of the Beach. My husband and I do this every year on our anniversary and the colours Caine chose are the colours of the cliffs surrounding the beach. The rich reds and oranges with browns and touches of green. And all those stars are so full of energy, just like fireworks in motion. I asked Caine if it would be possible to get a good quality photograph of the piece and she said yes with no hesitation.

Imagine my surprise when I received a package that was not a photograph, but rather the painting itself. I was dumbstruck. Caine only knew me at that time through a few photo submissions and some comments I’d made on the blog. I was essentially a stranger to her and here she had sent me this incredible piece of art. Imagine! The painting is now a cherished possession of mine. It not only reminds me of fireworks, but also of the kindness and generosity of a stranger who became a treasured friend.

I know many of you also have stories or thoughts about our beloved Caine so we’ve created this thread for you to share them. It will be left open and once I can figure a few things out it will be linked in the sidebar. The rules that Caine put in place still apply. Anything disrespectful will be immediately removed and don’t be an asshole.

Affinity

Art, Fun, & Nonsense.

May the Fourth proven false by a religious twit!

Do your partner’s religious beliefs differ from yours? (Plus “Smile” and “Cock and Petals”)

May Flowers - Red and Orange

Silly songs

Circuitous

What's the right way to protest Israel?

Origami: Coffee

Social Media and Me

The Saber-toothed Salmon: When Fact Is Goofier Than Fiction

Jack’s Walk

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Wednesday Wings

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A Living Remembrance

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Jack’s Walk

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Tree Tuesday

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Yet Another Sunflower Resident.

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Jack’s Walk

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Monday Mercurial

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Jack’s Walk

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A change for Submissions

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Remembering Caine

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