Ms. Gluskin's Blog

Brentwood Bay

By Ms. G, July 31, 2018 6:00 pm

About half an hour outside of Victoria can be found Victoria Butterfly Gardens and The Butchart Gardens. Both are incredible places.

First we went to see the butterflies in their indoor tropical playground. Then we were equally wowed by the beauty of Butchart Gardens.

: The foliage is as sensational as the butterflies.

: Texture galore in tropical leaves.

: This was one of the most popular plants amongst the butterflies.

: Someone stood still.

: They have animal life as well, including birds, turtles, flamingos and lizards.

: You can almost feel the smoothness of the petals.

: Yum, nectar.

: Just resting on a leaf.

: Tropical plants have very intriguing features.

: Leaves overlap in beautiful ways.

: Like a spiral staircase down.

: It was rare to see the blue inside this type of butterfly's wings.

: The stunning view from atop the sunken garden, built in a former quarry.

: Hungry bird at dusk.

: We went through the sunken garden twice, once later near dusk, because it was so spectacular.

: I love seeing this little sign all over the garden.

: The foliage combinations just weave into each other.

: Stunning greens.

: Hummie at dusk.

: They have many varieties of hydrangeas - these pink ones are so pretty.

: Interesting usage of old quarry equipment.

: Stairs to views.

: Incredible layers of green.

: The golden hour didn't quite hit this garden but it found that one tree.

: The Japanese garden had an intriguing little scene every direction you looked.

: Cute little bamboo fences like this were all over the Japanese garden.

: Bridge to green.

: Even the garbage cans are beautiful.

: Bamboo gateway.

: One of many ponds in the Japanese garden.

photography

Victoria

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By Ms. G, July 30, 2018 9:28 pm

We just returned from an amazing holiday in BC. It started with our first ever trip to Victoria. What took us so long? It’s a beautiful, friendly city.

: Beacon Hill is a beautiful park full of ponds home to friendly ducks.

: Moon over BC legislature.

: BC legislature carriage house at night.

: Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown was adorable but closed early at night and not very Chinese.

: I love cargo ships - seeing this one off Ogden Point was good luck.

: Indigenous mural at Ogden Point breakwater.

: Working boats at Fisherman's Wharf.

: One lone seal.

: Aptly said at the end of a row of floating houses at Fisherman's Wharf.

: Japanese school boys at Mount Doug.

: Val found this tiny pocket beach at Cattle Point. A family came to swim at it.

: The view from the summit of Mount Doug.

: Market Square where there is an entirely VEGAN restaurant.

: Victoria is very proud of its naval history.

photography

Human-made March Break

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By Ms. G, March 16, 2016 9:41 am

I usually take a few pictures of whatever looks pseudo-alive on our visit to the cottage at March Break. This year I went in the opposite direction, searching out macro snapshots of manufactured items. See if you can identify the following:

reflectors, fence measurements, road safety sign, fence label, pattern on telephone box, wire coil, fence hinge, community mailboxes.

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

: SONY DSC

photography

Brown and Grey

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By Ms. G, March 17, 2015 10:40 am

Even a nice sunny day at the cottage did not reveal very much colour.

: Bubble in pot hole - photographer in bubble

: Captivated as usual by weeds on the side of the road

: No wonder I can never get rid of these - those tiny seeds

: Evergreen

: Last ice crystals clinging to life

: Colour!

: Pond scum in a ditch

: Pot hole

: Colour!

: Ground into the road

: Iris seed pod

: Storm drain

: Hanging on

: "X" marks the spot where I notice anything!

: "Y" appeared next

: Stylized "y"? Or am I just losing it?

cottage, photography

Together

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By Ms. G, December 28, 2014 12:21 pm

As many of the readers of this blog know, Bailey is incredibly shy. A few days ago he was lying on a pile of blankets in the hall when Fletch came right up to him and give him a little kiss. They then sat together for a few minutes, just long enough for me to grab the camera. Soon after, Bailey ran away, apparently in terror.

photography

San Francisco

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By Ms. G, October 5, 2014 11:43 am

We had one day in San Francisco and decided to go to Telegraph Hill. We didn’t have time to go inside Coit Tower but we certainly did enjoy the views from nearby.

: San Francisco Bay has its dangers, as we saw from this sign in Emeryville, across the bay near Oakland.

: I asked Val to take this picture of a sign when we were at the BART station going from Oakland to San Francisco. Vegan heaven.

: Val and I with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. This is one of the many spectacular sights from atop Telegraph Hill.

: Descending one of the many staircases from Telegraph Hill.

: Looking out on North Beach and Russian Hill.

: Thank goodness for stairs.

: I had to document at least one cable car.

: Val walking up to the top of Nob Hill.

photography

Random NY Architecture

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By Ms. G, March 16, 2014 9:48 am

On our first day in New York, temperature just above zero, we walked from 53rd St. to 4th St. Though our feet were tired we took in a lot of interesting architecture.

: New York Public Library view onto Fifth Avenue.

: Old and new.

: Interesting intersections.

: One Madison Avenue.

: Taken from just outside the Flatiron Building.

: Stopping at a cafe in the bottom of the New York Times building.

photography

Relatives and relativity at the American Museum of Natural History

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By Ms. G, March 15, 2014 3:32 pm

First time at the American Museum of Natural History! We met many relatives, from Lucy to cousin Neanderthal to butterflies! At the Hayden Planetarium, a glass cube with a giant sphere inside, we could visualize the relative size of everything in the universe. Okay, not everything.

: Start with big things: Jupiter and Saturn.

: Jupiter on the Upper West Side.

: Ah Lucy. It is so nice to meet you in person.

: I have no trouble saying this guy was a cousin.

: The family tree.

: End with small things: butterflies.

: The humidity was high in the conservatory.

: Pink on pink.

: I only saw a few like this one.

: Up close and personal, though no one landed on me.

photography

The Transit Museum

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By Ms. G, March 15, 2014 1:12 pm

On a brutally cold and windy day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Transit Museum. To our surprise it was located in an unused subway station. Apart from the informative displays we enjoyed the kid-friendly activities. Photos courtesy of Val Dodge.