Harry

This is the guardian of the feeder, we have called him Harry, or Harold when he is being naughty and chasing off the other hummingbirds. The thing is, we're not quite sure if Harry is male or female, so Karen has stated that Harry could also be short for Harriet.

Crooks and Nannies

It would not be Christmas without Skyping across vast distances. Technology has made a Christmas chat easy and fun, plus we gave Pat and Allan a walk around the house to show them all the nooks and crannies.

Warning, graphic image to follow...

A Proud Idiot

Yes, I ams whats I am.

Boxing Day

A big walk yesterday and the weather was excellent, down to Sooke river where we found a trail, a walk around the new building site where the single level retirement homes are starting plus an encounter with a bunch of friendly chickens at Cast Iron Farm. A lovely day.

What is Whiffin Spit?

Just so you know where we are when we say we were down on the spit, here is a rather lovely view from above, taken near Sooke Point.

Gull force winds

A couple of spectators looking out on the Juan de Fuca down at Whiffin Spit on a cool and windy December afternoon. I think they were watching a pair of paddle boarders brave the chilly Pacific, well, that's all well and good, we applauded their bravery and went off for a happy hour pint and some food at the warm West Coast Grill.

Checking In

Everyone feels the need to check in nowadays, on facebook, twitter, instagram, what have you. So, just checking in this morning from the front porch, here we are, just in case you want to send a cruise missile our way.

Sunrise

We will say that we have caught up somewhat today, normal blog service will now resume over the coming months.

Here is a sunrise from our house, once again, welcome to Sooke Nature Watch.

Dear Deer

Yes, we have deer, in fact, it seems like more deer than in Gibsons.

They travel past our house, in groups of seven or more, from the land at the creek to the ALR land over the road.

Karen should be able to plant hostas next year though, in the fenced back yard, but not at the front of the house, because that would just be a lovely buffet for these guys.

Jigsaw Table

It has long been Karen's wish that she have a bright, warm area to do jigsaws, somewhere to ponder over the 1000 piece (or more) puzzles and be able to leave them without having to put them away or cover them.

A thrift store desk with a couple of pieces of Home Depot pine boarding, some stain and some wax and a handy little nook on the landing, flooded with light and warm.

Perfect.

Hot Tub

One unwelcome item from the home purchase was a modern hot tub, but Karen and myself have never been hot tub people, never felt comfortable bathing with friends, or each other for that matter.

Minestrone soup.

On the 18th November, we were very happy when a group of nice men came and took it away.

The Bedroom Window

A few weeks in and the view from our bedroom window, some building still going on up the hill and a lovely rainbow to welcome us to the neighbourhood.

The piece of property at the right is ALR (agricultural land reserve) and it is our understanding that when it is developed it will be a farm of some sort, perhaps a winery, hopefully a beer farm like Persephone back in Gibsons.

The New House

A more modern house built in 2005, better heating, better windows, better everything actually and it has to be that way as we start moving into old biddy territory.

The old house was around 2200 sqft and this one is around 1800. The previous twelve months or more of our lives were spent decluttering and downsizing, and it still felt like we had too much stuff when it was all packed into the moving van.

The first week was exciting and confusing, lots to learn in the new place, lots to set up, but to compound the difficulty, we did not have our internet or phone installed for over a week. It was a case of doing most of our online research in the local coffe shop.

Rewind a bit

We've been in the new house for almost two months now, and things have been rather hectic and we think that "just in time for Christmas" our lives have returned to some sort of normal. The plan is that they will not actually return to normal, as we wish to mix things up a bit, and have new adventures here on Vancouver Island.

We have moved to the Sunriver estate in Sooke, and to begin the blog properly, I suppose we should rewind eight weeks or so and catch up a bit.

We moved from Gibsons to Sooke, on the 21st October, we took the grey route shown below, a ferry from Langdale, through Vancouver and another ferry from Tsawwassen.

Whiffin Spit

It was an amazing day today down at Whiffin Spit, the Pacific was in fine form as the water roared in from the Juan de Fuca. We stayed for an hour or more, just watching the wildlife, the people and the dogs having a fine old day.

Welcome

Welcome to our Sooke Nature Watch Blog. 

The Town of Sooke is on the South-West tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia and we moved here in October 2016 after living in Gibsons for nine years. We thought we'd continue the blog (from the previous Gibsons Nature Watch blog) and let the world know about the adventures we are having, the animals and sights we see, the pubs and places we visit.

It might also be a good forum to occasionally waffle about, life, the universe and everything......