Saturday, June 25, 2011

St John

We have just finished celebrating the Summer Solstice, an anniversary associated with St John. Several other bloggers have included this event in their recent posts. The associations are sometimes quite bizarre. In Denmark they burn an effigy of a witch. It is supposed to get rid of all bad things for the coming year, and ensure a good harvest. These first two photos represent the event as it takes place on Vancouver Island each year in Ladysmith, one we attended many times.


Burning the Witch, Transfer Beach, Ladysmith, Sankt Hans Aften.
Almost Done
Jytte's Birthday Cake!
The third picture is of one of our old friends, a real Danish witch, being feted (appropriately with flames) at her birthday party in Nanaimo. She is a real witch because she is the 13th child in her family, and she was born on Sankt Hans Eve.

In Malaga, Spain, they have fireworks, a bonfire, and jump through the flames to cleanse themselves from all evil. In addition, they use the bonfire "To get rid of unwanted things". This is the part that caught my eye. How wonderful! We are all members of a consumer society. We all buy too much stuff. What a great ritual to get rid of our excessive possessions! We hope St. John would approve. Not sure though!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Keeping it Cool

Today I decided to try writing backwards.
It seems we can all so easily get in a rut, doing the same things in the same way every day
Summer is finally here, so it is time to try and keep cool.
These llamas do it by digging a hole to sit in. The dipper does it by hunting in a cool stream for food.
The girl is cool playing Sudoku and checking out a map of the Fraser Canyon in the woods
Then I started thinking about billions.
Nowadays a billion is a thousand million. Somewhere in the world there is a lady walking about carrying the world's seven billionth citizen in her tummy, to be born in the autumn.
If you put all those people on the Equator they would fit once around,175 deep, or about half a kilometer deep. That would not be cool as the temperature there hovers around 30 degrees Celsius...
Each year about 50 million are injured in traffic collisions; and interestingly about the same number (three and a half thousand) are killed per day in the world as per year in the UK
Car collisions cost the world over $5 billion a year
. The UN has decided to do something about reducing all this
On a different note, a lady called Huguette Clark just died in Mahattan leaving a half a billion dollars, mostly to Art galleries. She was 104. Her father was 67 when she was born in Paris, her mother 28.
Llamas keeping Cool

A Dipper looking for his next meal

Girl Keeping Cool in the Woods
PS this is not poetry, just looks like it! Tomorrow I will write rite? wright? the right way don't worry....

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Weather Report

Yes Des, just like in Capetown, it rained here today. In fact, a thunderclap awoke me, with a flash of more lightning to follow. The photo is of the view outside our big house.
Thunderstorm at Athens Creek

Hanne and Michael ( in wooden effigy ) looking out at the newly trimmed bushes
But later the sun came out, and we had a visit from our personal topiarist. The second photo shows his artistry, just outside our bedroom window...
Hanne went to Spanish Conversation Class and brought me back a nice sprig of Itea ilifolica. It smells real nice!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Community

Today's post is at:- http://michaelhanne.ca  because of technical problems downloading photos at blogspot today. Here is a link to Christiania which is a community being now sold to developers in Copenhagen... Hope things work better tomorrow!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Some Views for our Visitor from Denmark

From See Ya Later Ranch Winery

Osoyoos( ="The Land Between" ) Population 5000; from Highway Three

Mountain Ladyslipper
Here are some views our visitor from Denmark was impressed with. The first one looking from the winery towards Skaha Lake, Penticton, and the distant Okanagan Lake, is one of our favorites. The second one is from halfway up a long climbing hill on the West of Osoyoos, looking back, and is a famous viewpoint in the area. The last photo is of a pretty plant Hanne discovered whilst we were walking in Lee Creek Park, Naramata. Apparently if you try and grow this yourself, it takes fifteen years to produce a flower!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Thorkild's Visit


Hanne with Thorkild in Mahoney Lake Woods. They first met when he was 4 and Hanne 14.

Poppies by Skaha Lake. Linden Gardens, Kaleden.

Buying Fresh Rhubarb at Penticton's Farmers' Market
Man Sleeping. Maybe they had a Grad Party last night. There is also a girl at the other end!
Thorkild's three-day visit is over. Thorkild is Hanne's Danish cousin visiting Canada for the first time since he lived in Lloydminster for a year about 37 years ago. Today he is on his way to Lake Louise, and on to visit his old Canadian friends in Alberta. We had a great time showing him around. Here are a few images of what he saw...

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Linden Gardens

A Linden Rose
Yesterday we returned to our favorite garden for a contemplative walk, this time accompanied by Hanne's cousin Thorkild, fresh out of Denmark on holiday in Canada for a few weeks. This photo was one of the outcomes.