Tomatoes

The tomatoes I planted from seed back in March, flowered in June, and started producing tiny green tomatoes in early July. Over the rest of the summer more appeared and they grew larger. Unfortunately, they never turned red until September. They never did ripen on the vine. So we picked them and put them in a brown paper bag with a banana. That did the trick.

Tomatoes and small bell pepper from the patio garden.

Our garden was in planter pots on the deck -- well out of reach of the deer. Unfortunately, the garden only receives about four hours of sunlight a day before it turns to shade. Not ideal growing conditions for the pepper plants, or tomatoes. We ended up with two small green peppers though and a huge crop of green tomatoes.

Fresh salsa using our tomatoes.

So what do you do with tomatoes? Make salsa, of course. Aside from the chopping it is easy to make. The basic ingredients are lots of tomatoes, peppers (hot or mild), onion, cilantro, lime juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Very simple and very good. We've already made one batch and I'll be making another tonight.

Mountains of Victoria, Part 2: Anderson Hill Park

Main entrance to Anderson Hill Park

Anderson Hill Park, in Oak Bay, is another place I didn't know about. It features a wide open hill with views of McNeill Bay and the Trial Islands.  I found my way in from Transit Road though there is a main entrance on Island road. As far as I can tell you can only park on Transit Road or Beach Drive.

Panorama from the top 

It is a short hike through sometimes overgrown trails along backyard fences. There are good views from the lookout along the way. The real payoff is at the top though. Plenty of benches to sit down on and enjoy the views of the Trial Islands and beyond. There are also views east to Discovery Island but the benches don't face that way.

View Anderson Hill Park in a larger map

Mountains of Victoria, Part1: Moss Rock Park

Ok, so I learned something new about Victoria. We were walking along Dallas Road on May 1, a surprisingly warm day amongst the cold ones we've been having, and I noticed this bump through the rooftops. I didn't know there was a small mountain in amongst the houses in Fairfield. Apparently, there is. Though, we didn't investigate further.

What is that bump, seen from Dallas Road?

Once home, I found Moss Rock Park on Google maps where it looks pretty flat:

View Larger Map

The following weekend, May 7, another reasonable day with hints of sun, I set out to discover this hill for myself. Turning off of Fairfield road onto Masters road leads to the dirt track beside the hill seen in the second picture below. However, there is no parking, so turn around and park find your way to May Street. There is no official steps or trail into the park from May Street, but there are a few beaten paths through the bushes and up the rocks.

Moss Rock Park -- looking south, over Fairfield towards Clover Point.

It's a bit of a scramble up the rock, but the views are great.

Moss Rock Park -- Looking northwest towards downtown Victoria.

Every neighbourhood needs a small mountain viewpoint in the middle, and this is Fairfield's hill.

Moss Rock Park -- looking east towards Gonzales Hill and the Trial Islands.

Optical phenomena

Look to the skies! A second sun has appeared overhead. Or is it just some optical effect? According to Wikipedia it is a Halo, so, nothing to get worried about. You can almost see the ring around the sun. Another reflection is off to the right, outside the cameras view. These halo's are due to ice crystals in the atmosphere. It wasn't a summer day, but it wasn't really cold down here.

There was also a rainbow halo around the sun and a reflection above that. Apparently, this is called a Circumzenithal Arc and appears due to refraction of light through ice crystals.

Very strange. Not something you see every day. Well worth a picture -- and a blog post -- on a very inactive blog.

Snow In Esquimalt

I had no idea this was coming. As soon as the radio said snow I was up and peering out the window, like a child again. It was quite a bit too, about 24cm. I took a walk over to Saxe Point and Macauley Point Parks hoping to take a few photos.

The Cairn Park

The Cairn Park appears deserted. People are still digging through garages looking for their magic carpets. The Cairn is too rocky to slide on anyway.

Fisgard Lighthouse

Saxe Point was deserted too. Fisgard Lighthouse (the first lighthouse in Western Canada) can be seen off in the distance from Saxe Point park.

Macaulay Point used to be a military defence position and is now a park. The bunkers and gun emplacements are still there.

It was starting to snow harder so I left for home. My camera was getting damp. I spotted this sign on the way home. I'm not sure it was really necessary.

Fleming Beach Climbing Wall

There's nobody on the Fleming Beach climbing wall on a rainy Sunday afternoon in February ( map ). It's a different scene in the middle of summer. According to the Climbers Access Society there is a $10 fee for an annual pass in order to be able to climb here. Any climber looking at the following photo will notice the chalk marks and immediately plan their route to the top. I wonder if anyone has made a climbing video at Fleming Beach. I suspect not -- there's no 5.13 routes here.

Additional hazards to climbing outdoors here appear to be the small presents left by dogs whose owners do not pick up after them. The bicycle in the photo is not a hazard. It has been removed by its owner.

E & N Rail Trail

Work has begun on the E & N Rail Trail. Another multi-use trail for the Victoria area. When completed it will run from Johnson street bridge out to Colwood along the E & N railway.

Before construction of the Esquimalt length of the trail began it seemed like there would not be enough room beside the tracks to put a trail. After clearing away the blackberry bushes and moving a few fences, there appears to be plenty of room.

From the intersection of Admirals and Colville looking East.

No construction has started on the other side of the Admirals/Colville intersection yet. Not sure why. There's a bit of rock that may need to be blasted.

Looking West from Hutchinson Road towards Admirals Road.

Notice the wide path where cyclists will have plenty of room to weave amongst the pedestrians. This section of the trail should be finished soon.

Colville and Admirals

How does one begin ... at the start. At one time their were no lights at the intersection of Colville and Admirals. If you wanted to go, you went. Now there seem to be lights everywhere. The intersection was completed in Winter of 2009 or so. In fact, the pavement was torn up when the Olympic torch runners came through the base and into the intersection before heading west along Admirals.

Heading into Esquimalt.
Colville on the left, the Graving Dock on the right.

So, there's a left turn light onto Colville while Naden is completely blocked. Off in the distance is a new blue building being constructed where the Navy's hotel turned abandoned lot used to be.

Looking west through the intersection along the E & N railway.
The cyling lanes are an easy to see green.

There's even a cycling lane that hugs the curb for the length of the intersection before disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

Heading west along Admirals, it's decision time!

Heading west along Admirals you've got to keep to the right to make sure you avoid the left turn into the docks and base.