It's Our Time!

June 1st, 2011.

Let the Stanley Cup Finals Begin!!!!

Go Canucks Go!!!!!

Kanaka Bridge

The

foot bridge over Kanaka Creek.

Canadian Pastime!

This is the latest fashion trend around town. Crazy hockey fans can be seen all over this region.

This is my hubby after the Vancouver Canucks won the Western Conference finals and now head into the Stanley Cup Finals. We will be Playing the Boston Bruins. The Best is the West versus the Best in the East.

WE ARE ALL CANUCKS!!!!!!!!!

Shipping Out.

Canoeing is a traditionally Canadian pastime.

Local boys strap the old canoes on and get set for a long weekend of paddling. This past week end, was Victoria Day in British Columbia.

Sewer improvements

This is my house last summer. I took this to show off the new path that we had laboured over to install with our own hands! Later we installed the 4x4 ties around the garden beds to finish it off. It was sooo pretty with the nice new grass sod.
Today, this is what it looks like.

The reason for all this is that our neighbourhood, including the closest 4 streets was flooded. We have been battling near misses for years. When we get the Monsoons that we are prone to, all the neighbours are out with pumps and gumboots working hard not to allow the water into their homes.

One of our neighbours sons is an engineer and he found out that we only had 7 inch storm drains which were far too little capacity for the rain we get here. When we get a good downpour, the drains back up, then the road becomes a river and then the homes on the north side of the road have runoff coming down their driveways. The water going down the downspouts has nowhere to go so it backs up around the foundations.
Click here to see THIS POST last year to see what we did to improve our drainage. It worked too, we havent had a problem on our property since we did THIS.

The last bit of the path got unpaved and the corners of the ties had to be pulled up. We had to lift these out because we were worried that the workers would just bulldoze over it.

When they dug up the road, they blocked the drain near us. That night, we had a huge rainfall and all that water ran into my next door neighbours house, flooding her basement yet again!!! She called the citys emergency line but nobody came to help her because there was a hockey game on! Keith and I had gone to that game. By the time we got home from Vancouver 90 minutes later, the rain had stopped and the crew still had not shown up to assist her. Dont you love how they chuck their pipes into my flower bed? Well, if it fixes the problem for the neighbourhood, I suppose it is worth it!

Blue Heron Loop

Winter blueberry fields.

Little Donkey

Little donkey grazing on a local farm.

This was taken January 8th.

Maple Ridge Park

Picking wildflowers in Maple Ridge Park. What a contrast.... this relatively new being meets an extremely well aged life form.

Sea of Gold

It's a good job these aren't poppies or else all of Maple Ridge would be asleep! Buttercups fill this field like this every year.

A Row of Red

A row of red stables make an interesting contrast amongst the greenery. The clouds begin to gather over the Golden ears Mountains, making for a gorgeous sky.

Golden Ears Eagles

Our new bridge is graced with incredible sculptures of golden eagles.

Some are mounted on top of the bridge and fool the unsuspecting eye into believing they are actual raptors at first glance.

This particular sculpture is on the south side of the bridge, on the Langley approach to the Golden Ears.

I'd say it may have a wingspan of about 10 feet, maybe more..

Eagles, both golden and bald are common sights in this area, making the name of this bridge a most suitable one.

Alouette Lake

Barn in the gloom.

Earlier in the day, the clouds lifted to reveal fresh snow on the hills. Now, they are once again, draped in mist and cloud.

Night Light

Driving home a couple of days ago along Old Dewdney, this farm house was just glowing.

White on Top

Snow Capped

Morning Glory

The Golden Ears Mountains, taken from my kitchen window in East Maple Ridge. These are the same peaks pictured in the Header at the top of the page, which was shot from Pitt meadows, just West of Maple Ridge. These hills really do live up to their name and glow golden and often pink when the sun hits them just right.
When the clouds lift after days of rain down here, we are treated to a light dusting of snow. This time last year... there was much heavier snow right down in the foothills.

Volcano in the Mist

Mount Baker in the distance. A tug tows a barge eastward along the Fraser River.

Private Lake

This small lake is just east of Maple Ridge, enroute to Mission. With all the mist and barbed wire, I doubt anyone would be tempted to tresspass at this time of year. In summer , however, it is likely a huge temptation to some!

Mossy Maple

Growing in a valley, amongst the shade of very mature evergreens, this maple is covered in heavy moss.

Alouette Alit

My first

post of 2010. Taken at Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Park, yesterday.