THE RIVER…FROM CORA’S POINT OF VIEW

Many of you have met Cora, the wonderful woman 

who innsits for us when we travel and keeps 
everything in order when we're home.

We often joke that without Cora there would be no Duck Inn!

Here she is, being Aunty Cora to her niece and nephew.

Cora takes great pictures of the river… I used to think 
that she just had a better camera, but the truth is, 
she also has a better eye!
She always tries to capture reflections in her favourite views from the Duck Inn and loves photographing the same spot 
in different seasons.

 

This misty morning view has a watercolour feel to it.

I never have my camera out when this paddle wheeler goes by,

 but Cora got a perfect shot of it.

 

She has more patience than I do when it comes to 

waiting for just the right pose from our resident birds.
 

It’s hard to believe that this mallard is real!

Eagles come and go from the islands in front of the Duck Inn. 

Their nests are especially visible in the winter.

There's always at least one heron nearby....usually on top of a piling,

but occasionally one lands on the Duck Inn railing!

 Every summer, hummingbirds come to our garden; some years, we are fortunate to have a pair build a nest and lay eggs. Here’s a mama and her two babies from Cora’s collection.

One of the many resident swans swims by just in time for Cora to capture it.

When Cora is not at the Duck Inn, she loves to travel.

She takes advantage of her dual citizenship to spend time

 in Europe, often combining work and pleasure.

Closer to home, she does a lot of camping.

  On a trip to Yellowstone, she woke up one morning to find this elk trying to 

get into her tent! She managed to get several pictures before it moved on.

There will be more of Cora's photographs in future posts.    

         Look for her around the Duck Inn if you visit.  www.duckinn.net

 

AUGUST HEAT

We’re having an unusual summer here on the river. 

In fact, we’re in the middle of what passes for a

 heat wave in the Vancouver Area. 

Any time the temperature rises over 

24 Celsius (75 Fahrenheit), panic sets in!
Here is this week in Ladner in both systems.

The weather is causing some strange growth in our garden.
Our Sweet Peas usually keep producing until the end of September

 and add their bewitching fragrance to Duck Inn Bouquets.

These ones, on the shady side of the house, still have lots of life left and 

are climbing into the hanging baskets and other plants. 

But alas, the main bed in the cutting garden has already bolted and gone to seed. 

Kelly is not very happy to be pulling the plants out this early.

And the lilies are blooming all at once instead of rewarding 

us with 3 or 4 fragrant blooms at a time.

 This Stargazer is climbing all over the Greedy Cat.

August Bouquets will have more lilies than usual!

The Supertunias have spilled out of their baskets 

all over the ivy on the Willow Cottage staircase.

Allen chomps on one while trying to keep up with their demand for water.

While some flowers are dying early, other plants are experiencing uncharacteristic growth.
Our Magnolia Tree normally bursts into glorious  bloom in the spring 

and then sits back and does nothing until the following year. 

Not this summer! Here it is, putting out a second batch of purple tulip shaped flowers.

 These Lanterns, which we count on for our Thanksgiving 

and Halloween displays, are already turning orange!

And on the river, this year’s cygnets, which were tiny puffballs in June,

  are almost as big as Mom now.

 Here they are in a feeding frenzy as our guests toss food to them. 

ART IN THE GARDEN

Those of you who have seen our garden and met Allen will understand that he occasionally throws up his hands and says, “There’s no more room!” when Jill and Kelly try to find space for the latest must-have plant from the local nurseries.
Perhaps in retaliation, he has been carving pieces of driftwood into works of art for the garden.

A favourite prehistoric looking log laid around the property for years until Allen turned it into the carving below.

She has her own spot in the lawn, with a circle of cotoneaster around her.

And we fondly refer to her as the "Big Bottomed Girl"

This Eagle lived in our house for many years until we took a tree out of the garden

Now he greets guests as they walk by on their way to the cottages.

Many of our garden sculptures came from Andy, who made creatures out of stone and garden tools and sold them at the Ladner Village Market on summer Sundays.

 This Octopus stands guard at the top of the ramp

 While the Greedy Cat waits under the Willow Tree for wayward birds.

 And we bought this Shovel Cat for Willow.

 We have several of Andy's stone fish...this one is on the top deck

 And these are in the pond on our front dock.

 The turtle lives in the garden and is surrounded by tulips in the spring.

 At the foot of the ramp, guests are greeted by Henry....

 ....and this Heron.

And given a further Welcome from these Little Guys.