One of my adventures planned for 2024 is to take part in two major running events, the Times Colonist 10k in April and the Victoria Half Marathon in October. I ran both in 2022, but missed last year because of injury and lack of opportunities for training because of my involvement in our house renovations…
Author: ralphmills
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More detail… Old widows and doors will feature in blog entries of their own!
Empty notebooks
I collect notebooks, with the intention of filling them with wonderful words and artwork. But they remain unsullied, virginal, especially the “nice” notebooks with decorated covers and fine paper. I also collect pens, many of which I’ve had so long that their ink has dried up, and pencils of all hardnesses. This obsession with pens,…
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I guess it is my archaeologist’s eye that makes me revel in detail, and the found art that is created by old wood and metal . While I appreciate wider views, I tend to look closer, and this is the result; lots of rust and weathered timber!
Fungi and flowerless plants
I’ve always been attracted by fungi and flowerless plants, and over the years have photographed a few, the results depending on the level of sophistication of the camera I possessed at the time. Vancouver Island, where I live now, being on the west coast of Canada and blessed with significant rainfall and plenty of forests, is…
Memories
These short days and long nights tend to encourage mulling over one’s own past. My earliest memory is of falling over and being helped up by my uncle Rex. I still bear the scar on my knee! The tumble must have been on the driveway to Ospringe Place, on the outskirts of Faversham, the town…
The houses of Saanich
Although Saanich is a recent development in archaeological timescales (if you ignore the fact that the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples lived here for millennia) having been incorporated in 1906, it nevertheless features a variety of domestic buildings. Those I record here are pretty well just those I come across in my wanderings and photograph simply because I…
The joy of small stuff, episode 1001!
Every Tuesday morning I join an eclectic bunch of energetic volunteers who are dedicated to rescuing/restoring/maintaining the habitats that make up Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary. Varying from freshwater lake through soggy wetland to bare hilltop rocks and boulders, the sanctuary is just a 25 minute walk from my Saanich home. Yesterday “The Tuesday…
Sweeping away the broom
The views from Millhill Regional Park on Vancouver Island are fantastic, well worth puffing up the steep trail to the top. It’s a journey I’ve made lots of times with fellow volunteers, heading for an area known as the east meadow. For, despite having more rare plants than any other Regional Park, Millhill is at…