Skywatch Friday #33

Shades up on the deck of the Surf Lodge.

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My Left Hand

I've been working on the Musician's Hands series for months and it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't photographed my own. So I grabbed my trusty 12-fret slothead, found some sweet light on the porch and here ya go.

A note to guitarists: I tried quite a few chords including Bmaj7 and several versions of a diminished but none of them looked good from this camera angle so I made one up. The notes from low to high are C F# G D# E. Ouch! Looks good, sounds awful.

ABC Wednesday > B is for Bounty

The spaghetti squash, potatoes, zucchini, strawberries and basil are from my garden and the beans, onions and cucumber were gifts from neighbours. Gabriola provides.

The other ABC participants are here

Flaming Arbutus

An arbutus tree illuminated by a particularly fiery sunset

Portrait of a Clown

She studied in France and performs with the New Old Time Chautauqua circus which was here last week. Onstage, she wore the typical clown's red rubber ball nose. This image was shot from the hip (24mm lens on a Canon 40D) after the show while the troupe was dancing with the audience.

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Sunday Signage > Your Message Here

Chautauqua's bass drum on the march

Rock 'n' Roll

Cousin Harley is western Canada's go-to band for rockabilly/roots music and they tore down the house last night with a sweaty, high-octane performance that kept the dance floor full. The Community Hall gig was part of the Dancing Man Festival which continues through tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Dancing With The Circus Lady

Here's another picture from Tuesday's circus. After the last act was done, the band struck up Down By The Riverside and the whole troupe came out and danced with the audience. I had a 24mm lens on my DSLR but wasn't even putting the camera up to my eye because I was also singing and dancing at the same time I was snapping. Believe it or not, I got several keepers but this is my favourite as it really captures the spirit of the event.

Poppies

For the record, these are not being grown for medicinal purposes.

ABC Wednesday > A is for Acrobats

The New Old-Time Chautauqua Circus played to a sold out house on the lawn at The Commons last night and it was the most fun I've had since...well, since last weekend's barn dance. I guess everybody has their heroes and mine are mostly entertainers. It's a hard life. I know. I've done it, traveling all the time, modest pay, dicey food. There were plenty of young people in the troupe but a lot of graybeards too and you've really got to love show business to keep doing it well into your middle years. Believe you me, the Chautauqua crew loves what they do. What they do is make people happy and thanks to them, a lot of Gabriolans went to sleep with smiles on their faces last night.

The trapeze artists, Shannon and Islando, were working with their backs to the remains of the day which made for a nice silhouette. I tweaked the image a bit in post to make it pop. More circus photos here

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Circus!

The circus is in town and along with the clowns, acrobats and jugglers, they brought a full marching band. This guy plays all the high notes.

Iris

I have often made mention of vegetable gardeners here on Gabriola but there are plenty of ornamental gardens too.

For more B&W, visit the Monochrome Monday Maniacs

Sunday Signage > Dancing Man

The 11th annual Dancing Man Festival is this week. Five days of peace, love and music Gabriola-style.

Garlic

Lots of Gabriolans grow their own garlic. This particular patch is at The Commons.

Skywatch Friday #32

Either/Or: Scarecrow as art or art as scarecrow? Rick Cranston made it so I guess you'll have to ask him. It's in his allotment plot at The Commons.

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Summer Scenic

Late afternoon light on the cliffs at Malaspina

ABC Wednesday > Z is for Zero Mile Diet

It seems like everyone on Gabriola is growing food this year. There have been sustainability workshops and there's a palpable spirit of self-sufficiency in the air. Today's photo was taken in the senior's garden at The Commons. Last spring it was mostly rock and bare dirt. But just 15 months later, it's a cornucopia of organic vegetables planted, tended and harvested by a group of senior citizens who call themselves The Dragons. The plants are mostly in raised beds that were built (by volunteers with donated timber) tall enough to be wheelchair accessible and the variety is astounding, from Italian broccoli to quinoa.

Find out more about the global ABC photos here

Achtung!

This little 3-wheeled beauty definitely got my attention today at Folklife Village. It's a 1956 Messerschmitt KR200 and you can find out more about it here. The passenger rides behind the driver like a trainer aircraft and the cockpit and controls are more like a plane than a car too. You just don't see one of these every day, that's for sure.

The Haints

You've seen the dancers at Friday night's hoedown. This is the band that made the music: The Haints

The Monochrome Monday Maniacs are here

Sunday Signage > Vision Limited

I'm thinking maybe I need glasses...

Locals, the sign is on Taylor Bay Road. Does it look this fuzzy to you?

The Last Waltz

Last night was the kick-off event for the 11th annual Dancing Man Music Festival. It was an old-fashioned barn dance at the community hall featuring live music by BC's premier old-time stringband The Haints who brought a terrific dance caller all the way from California. There were a lot of smiles in the room and it was truly a family affair: The couple in the center of the frame have been married most of their adult lives and the blurry couple on the left are brother and sister. In typical Gabriola fashion, the whole shebang was organized and run by volunteers. I love this place.

Note: Be sure to click on this image and view it enlarged. It's much sharper and clearer than it appears on the blog. That's actually true of all the photos here but it's particularly true of this one.

Skywatch Friday #31

The lights of Nanaimo seen from Brickyard Beach

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Himalayan Festival 09

The annual Himalayan Festival was this evening at the Community Hall. I'm proud to say that Gabriola supports a medical clinic, Citta Hospital, in a remote and roadless area of Nepal. The Himalayan Festival is the annual fundraiser and it was very successful this year.

Wooden Eye

Another piece of local artwork photographed TTV-style.

Food Porn

These raspberries are perhaps the most beautiful I've ever seen. They were hand-picked about an hour ago. The taste? Orgasmic.

Sunday Signage > No Smoking

It's that time of year again...dry,dry,dry.

97

It's been awhile since I posted a street number. This one's down at the end of Wild Cherry.

Flag Man

Ken Capon raising the flag over Folklife Village on Canada Day

Visiting from Alberta

Looks like a 1959 Chevy but I don't think that's a factory colour. What a face!

Canada Day

Everyone's taking the day off. See y'all at Brickyard Beach for cake and potato cannons.

Socks by Cherryl Reed