Weeda Stamps: News


FOX TALES ON STAMPS Edition #503 Friday, August 20, 2010
Summer on Vancouver Island
	A popular family vacation spot on Vancouver Island is Parksville. Easy to get to from both Victoria and Vancouver, this part of the world is also a destination for retirees. Parksville and its neighbour, Qualicum Beach, have the oldest average population in the country, according to Stats Canada. The luxury timeshares you see to the left in this photograph are a very new development in this seaside paradise. We stayed at the Sea Edge Motel, a family oriented, old fashioned beach resort in a suite adjacent to our friend Sabine and her two teenage boys, Rhys and Kai. It goes without saying that we couldn't visit Parksville without seeing our good friend and trusty accountant, Laurel, seen here in this picture. On the menu were sausage and sockeye salmon, all prepared under the supervision of Rhys, shown here holding the tongs while Andrew offers him BBQ advice. Needless to say, Malcolm, Rhys and Kai, as lean, lanky and affable teenagers, were an instant hit with the more numerous younger folk at the resort. An all-out water fight eventually involved every single person under 20 on the grounds of the Sea Edge Motel. The no holds barred aqueous battle evolved to the point where Rhys employed buckets of mass destruction, seen here engulfing a hapless six-year-old on the wrong team. The smooth sand and gentle slope of Parksville's main beach is an ideal place to skimboard in the shallows. Here Malcolm and Kai test their skills. Here Malcolm shows us why sand is often employed as a common abrasive. It is said that if you remember the 1960s you weren't really there. If you haven't played mini golf in Parksville, you can't claim to have actually been there either. As a matter of fact, the surrealistic landscape and multicoloured lights of the golf course invoke a certain 1960s feeling. Focussed on my task, I sink my putt for par. Unfortunately I trailed the pack at the final tally. One of our favourite Parksville area spots, Englishman River Falls Provincial Park is a great place for a hike and a dip on a hot summer's day. Here the boys are doing the standard "hold up the tree" routine as practiced by so many other park visitors. The deep emerald pools below the falls are a popular if frigid swimming spot. There are a number of places from which one can cliff dive safely. Here is Rhys plunging in from one of the more reasonable spots. After a couple of restful days at Parksville, it was home to Victoria, back to work and back to check the garden. It's been a good year for our apples. A bit of extra watering during late July and early August really helped the fruit. Our tomatoes, after a slow start, are now going gangbusters (if a bit late in season). We grow our hot peppers in containers on the back driveway. This is the only way they can get the heat they need. In the foreground you can see our winter vegetables, presently under protective cover. We planted kale, leeks and turnips. In the background you can see our zucchini, pole beans, blueberries and tomatoes. We've already harvested our garlic, potatoes and peas. As you can see, our beans are also a bit behind the curve due to the cold early summer. Here's a picture of our cat, Mila, playing dead, trying to attract local crows and vultures. She hasn't caught a vulture yet. While we haven't had a bumper crop of figs, we've had a steady supply of fresh ripe fruit for the past few weeks. Wild blackberries grow in abundance all over British Columbia. This year's crop, due to dry conditions, are a bit small but intensely flavourful. We live in the Gordon Head area of Victoria. Gordon Head was at one time world renowned for the local strawberry and fruit crops. One of the old untended orchards is a great place to take our neighbour's dogs (Darwin the beagle and Bella the German Shepherd puppy) out for a walk.
The Salvation Army Quiz
	We show you a minute portion of the design of a postage stamp. You have to determine which stamp it is. Send us an email with your answer. We hold a contest every newsletter. For every correct answer we will donate $1.00 to our favourite charity, the Salvation Army. Click here to go to the The Salvation Army International Home Page to see what services they offer to communities around the world.
Answer to Last Week's Salvation Army Quiz
	We received ten correct answers to last week's identification quiz. That means a $10.00 donation to Salvation Army. Here's the famous person we asked you to identify Here's the answer - Philippe Pétain. For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain .