Last weekend I headed out to Tofino, to stay at Green Point Campground at Pacific Rim National Park. My friend and blogging buddy, Donna, had booked a site and let me know there was at least one other site available, and would I be interested in joining them? WOULD I???? In a hot minute, I had my site booked too. Then, in the most incredible coincidence imaginable, another friend and blogging buddy Erica/Erika let us know that she and her husband were staying there too. And their site turned out to be the one RIGHT BESIDE MINE. If we had tried to scheme and plan and pull this off, it would be next to impossible as this campsite is harder to get into than it was to score tickets to The Tragically Hip’s final show.
My home for 3 nightsHammock set up, with Erica and Chuck’s campsite in the background. Note kindly left on the picnic table by Erica, letting me know they were down on the beach. Tent interior. Due to the campsite’s BARE policy, all food had to be locked up in your vehicle or a food locker (provided every few campsites). I decided not to hook my car up to the tent, and instead use it as my food locker. So my memory foam bed ended up in the tent instead of the back of my car, due to space considerations. View from “indoors”
After meeting Donna and Richard at Tacofino for lunch, and setting up and settling in at camp, it was time to hit the beach!
We found Chuck and Erica!The sky, sand, and water combo was stunning.
The next day was a bit drizzly and Donna and I went into Ucluelet to check out the downtown and the Ucluelet Aquarium. Amazing place!
Mr. Giant Pacific Octopus put on quite the show for us.We also stopped at a delicious local bakery (Zoe’s, to fuel up for our next adventure), that had this sign posted outside. Cute Schitt’s Creek reference!And here’s why. Within seconds of us vacating this area, they descended upon it. Looking for crumbs.
Speaking of birds stealing your food: Donna, Richard and I had to defend ourselves from some very aggressive sparrows outside of Rhino Coffee, in Tofino. I had my doughnut in my hand ($4 for a doughnut??? But man, it was good!), turned my head for one second and felt something pulling at my treat. It was an asshole sparrow, grabbing a chunk of doughnut in midflight, and then retreating a few feet away to gobble it down enjoy it.
You can bet I kept my eye on these cheeky assholes Steller’s Jays, once back at the campsite.The evening ended over at Chuck and Erica’s for one of our delicious, communal camp meals.
The next day was spent beach walking and exploring.
Donna, the intrepid beach walking buddy.Remains of a tree, washed up on shore.There are always surfers to be found on Tofino beaches. Year round. Donna and I played around with taking simultaneous selfies. Like a simultaneous orgasm, but waaay less work. 😉We eventually met up with everybody else and went off to explore the rocks exposed by low tide.Nature is a talented gardener. Gorgeousness.
Ever since I was a little girl reading picture books, I have been captivated by the idea of walking the shore and exploring tidal pools in search of marine life. But in my land-locked former home, there was no opportunity…until this trip! At almost 62 years of age, I finally got to live my childhood dream.
Giant Green AnemoneRed sea stars and goose barnacles and clams and mussels (and probably a whole buncha other things too).
After returning to camp for another delicious communal meal (Chuck’s homecooked BBQ ribs were amazing!), it was back down to the beach for another sunset.
Filled with peace, gratitude and wonder in heart and soul…
Sadly the next day it was time to go home. It was another gorgeous day, and the drive home was filled with spectacular views, like this one.
Kennedy Lake reflection. What a beautiful island I live on!Colour me windblown, wind burnt, and completely happy with this adventure!
This was my home last weekend. Donna and Richard’s vehicle and set-up are behind me. My living room.My cozy bedroom.Miracle BeachMy stand-up board, “Nauti”…in kayak mode.My first time, kayaking in the ocean.My camp coffee makerIt makes damn fine coffee.Donna and I split up the meal duties. This was breakfast the morning I was in charge: baked oatmeal and crispy bacon. Made only AFTER watching the sunrise on the beach, of course!And what a wonderful sunrise it was. After breakfast it was time to go back to the beach, for a beautiful walk. Sand dollars (living and dead) can be found all over the beach. RIP, Sand Dollar. Time was carved out for a visit to Hammockville. Trying out one of my homemade fire starters.It worked very well. This was the start of a beautiful fire. The morning we left was cloudy but dawn was still gorgeous.These assholes sea lions woke me up with their barking at 4 am. A deer couple came down to the shore to check out the assholes sea lions too.Mergansers also wondering what the assholes sea lions are barking about.Asshole sea lions aside, it was a fabulous weekend at Miracle Beach Provincial Park. I’ll be back!
Fellow eclectic blogger Ally Bean of The Spectacled Bean fame put out a bunch of questions to the Blogoverse a short while ago, and I thought it might be a good idea to try and answer them. Ye Olde Blogging Well has run a bit dry of late, and I could use some prodding, to get more…ahem…product out, you know? Here are Ms. Bean’s questions, and here goes nothing…
Q1 – What’s your favorite favourite movie?
A1 – It used to be Moonstruck, but I guess I snapped out of it (see what I did there?). The last movie I fell in love with was Rocketman…I saw it 3 times at the theatre and I bought the DVD. I think that makes it my new favourite!
Q2 – When trying to buy shoes, what’s your biggest problem?
A2 – Dealing with the guilt of buying yet another pair. It doesn’t stop me from buying them; just that now I have to bring home some guilt along with the footwear… 🙂
Q3 – Ice cream cone or cupcake?
A3 – Ice cream cone, definitely! Cupcakes are pretty, but I find them to be kinda dry and boring. And the frosting is usually a disappointment too. Good quality ice cream almost never lets me down.
Q4 – What’s one good thing you have learned about yourself during this pandemic?
A4 – I unintentionally timed my retirement from working to basically coincide with the beginning of the pandemic so I got a “crash course” in slowing my life waaaay down, which was and continues to be a good and necessary thing. I learned that I like living this way.
Q5 – Any eccentric people in your family? Discuss.
A5 – My paternal grandmother was a warm and wonderful woman who had some…um…peculiarities. Oma told me she couldn’t wear nail polish because it made her finger tips feel too heavy. And speaking of heavy, she liked to have a heavy purse on her arm. So much so, that if she felt her purse wasn’t heavy enough, she would add a few stones from the garden (washed, of course) to her bag to help with its weight. There were probably more eccentricities, but those were the only ones I remember from my childhood. Apparently I am the spitting image of her. It must be true because lately I keep seeing her face looking back at me when I catch myself in a mirror!
When not running down the hill to the beach like a mad fool in the wee hours in order to catch the fleeting sunrise (see above photo), I am spending a lot of time getting covered in paint, in my spare room/studio space. I’ve been taking a couple of online art courses and feeling inspired, after a long dry spell. And I actually did an underpainting. The old WB would never have taken the time to make an underpainting. You mean I have to paint a painting to go under my painting?!?! Who’s got time for that?!?
See how much I’ve been able to slow down? 😉
Underpainting based on a photo of the dawn taken in Bowser, BC in 2019.
Well, friends – do you feel inspired to answer any of Ally’s questions on your own blogs or in the Comments below? Has March and the spring equinox brought any more energy, creative or otherwise into your life?
Better late than never, they say…whoever “they are. At any rate, here I am with my offering for this month’s Virtual Tea Party, held by our ever gracious hosts Su and Del (go check out their blogs, please!) A day (or two) late, and a dollar short, through no fault of my own! This week marked the end (at least I hope so) of a long story for me involving esophageal spasms, acid reflux, gastritis, the reveal of a hiatal hernia, and not one but two gastroscopies. Let’s blame it all on the hospital-administered sedation! Anyhoodle, here I am: hale and hearty (and sober) again and wanting to share with you a delicious, substantial blueberry lemon oatmeal muffin cup recipe, from the Clean and Delicious blog site.
This recipe rings all the bells for me. Easy to whip up, contains my favourite flavours, powers me through to lunch, easy to sub in other things if need be, and contains no wheat (a trigger for my acid reflux). I need a quick and easy brekkie these days as I find myself running down to the beach while it is still dark if there is even a hint of a pretty sunrise to come. And those runs sometimes pay off. Behold:
By the time the sun has fully risen and I’ve made my way back to my place, I can just about chew my arm off. My poor stomach thinks my throat has been cut. My belly button can touch my backbone. Cue all the hunger idioms you can think of….I need victuals, STAT! These muffin cups come to my rescue so I make sure to always have some in the freezer.
Fresh out of the oven. Good with Greek yogurt and raspberries.Also with cottage cheese and blueberries.Cinnamon on top is a nice addition.
These would make a fine addition to any tea table, in my decidedly-biased opinion. 😉
Do you have a go-to quick breakfast? Do tell, and…
Plenty of bird action, and the sea lions were in fine voice this morning…Sky colours reflected in the sea.One of the big boats I saw in the distance. Interesting clouds.Sun just peeking over the land.Sun fully up.Look to the sky! Look to the sky!Uh oh. And just like that, the clouds roll in…
If you came to my house in February for “tea”, I probably wouldn’t have many baked goods to share. I tend to do the majority of my baking fails around Christmas time, like so many people. However, fear not! You will be fed! I will have plenty of comfort foods to share with you, along with a lovely cuppa.
You see, it’s been that kind of vibe around here lately. The days are kinda gloomy and damp…and we finally even got a significant dump of snow recently – a first for me in my new Island home.
February had started off great, with a lovely trip to the west coast of the island, and some hometown views like this:
Sunset view from the pier at Nanaimo’s seawallHellebores blooming in Mafeo Sutton Park
And then last weekend, this happened:
February 13 view of my balcony. Pretty sure the fern will survive. They’re mighty tough.
Is it any wonder that I turned to comfort foods? First up, old-fashioned rice pudding made in my new-fashioned rice cooker. I won’t share the recipe because it came out of a fairly new cookbook (you know – copyright and all that), but there are plenty to be found online. I used arborio rice, and maple syrup instead of sugar.
Overseen by You-Know-WhoThe hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the rice to cook in the milk. Porridge setting takes a good long while. Seashell Jesus agrees. I’m singing: “An-ti-ci-pation, it’s makin’ me late, keepin’ me waitin’.” 8 minutes to go…Rice finally done, and ready to stir in tempered maple syrup and beaten egg, to finish off the pudding. Everybody say “Love!” There’s a big ole bowl of Valentines comfort, right there.
Next up in the comfort food February hit parade, let me present a viral recipe my daughter was raving about: Baked Feta Pasta.
Super simple recipe with easy-to-source ingredientsHot out of the ovenSmoosh it all together, and get ready to add cooked pasta, garlic – and in my case, due to lack of fresh basil – pesto!David: What does that mean? Moira: You smoosh it all together, just like the Widow Badass said. David: But I don’t know what to do. Moira: David, I cannot show you everything. (Apologies to Schitt’s Creek 😉 )Cooked pasta (gluten free) smooshed in and looking good!And tasting better. Take that, wintry weather! Holly bush at the side of my balcony is looking even more spectacular than usual, thanks to the snow. The best part – lots of leftovers! I added a couple of sliced cooked chicken breasts to the bowl later, along with more pesto. Yum yum. I expect more modifications as I play with this recipe.
And last but not least, in honour of Fat Tuesday: my mother’s Dutch pancakes (she only made the sweet kind). And here’s her recipe as given to me many years ago:
Mix together flour and milk, throw in an egg (or two), a pinch of salt, some sugar, and some vanilla. Add more ingredients until the correct consistency is achieved. You’ll know you’re done when it smells right.
Smells right?! SMELLS RIGHT!?! How am I supposed to work with this??? WHERE. ARE. THE. MEASUREMENTS. WTF.
Gentle reader, after more than a few attempts I figured it out. Here’s how I make them.
Start out with 1 cup of milk and beat an egg into it. Add a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of sugar (optional for sweet pancakes…not critical or necessary). Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla (only for sweet pancakes), to start. Whisk in 1 cup of flour. I usually start adding more milk at this point because I like to be able to create thinner pancakes. On this particular day 1/4 cup more milk was needed to achieve the batter consistency I wanted.
Then I smell the batter.
Needs more vanilla, which I added. Thanks, Mom!
This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled…whatever your pancake lovin’ dreams call for. The pan temperature and preheating is critical. Find the setting that works and commit it to memory. I prefer making my pancakes in butter but have used oil in the past and it works too. Don’t rush your first pancake as the pan will probably not be hot enough. You want the temperature to be hot enough to create the golden lacy effect, which will never happen if the pan is too cold.
Unfortunately you have to figure this out as everyone’s cooktop is different.
Fortunately you can eat your mistake(s) as you wait for the pan to come to the correct temperature. 🙂 I prefer to call it my…ahem…”trial” pancake, when it happens more often than not.
Leftovers (if any) can be stored covered, at room temperature for ease in grab n’ go snack-ability.
Pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes) can be made sweet (plain or with apples or raisins cooked right in) or savoury (with added bacon, ham, cheese etc.) They are not eaten for breakfast usually, but are a meal in themselves. Mom used to make them to stretch out a meal of leftovers. And she would make so many, there WERE pancake leftovers (unbelievable as it sounds) that disappeared the next day as breakfast or “snacks”: delicious rolled up and eaten out-of-hand, plain and at room temperature…yum!
Pancake factory, in action. Mom used to have 2 cast-iron skillets going at once. Now that’s talent! (And an arm workout.)To get nice thin pancakes, it’s all in the wrist action.I’m going for a simple pancake meal. Dressed only in fresh raspberries and maple syrup. Note desired golden lacy effect.Dutch Pancake Perfection. Don’t call me a crepe!
Well, there you have it. Not exactly tea fare in the traditional sense. Unless perhaps you are using it in British sense: “tea” meaning the evening meal. Perhaps I should start my own monthly challenge…something like “What’s for Dinner?” or “What’s on Your Plate?”. Hmmmm. Would anyone be interested? (It’s quite possible that something like this already exists in the blogosphere, and I am not aware of it.) Gawd knows I need inspiration to cook myself a decent meal these days. Let me know in the Comments, below.
Thank you for reading this far (it was a looong one, sorry)…and for joining me in this month’s Virtual Tea Party – hosted by Del and Su. Click on their links to go see them and the lovely things they made!
In lieu of the annual blog posts on Barbados that occur at this time every year, (there’s a global pandemic on, don’t you know) Widow Badass Industries brings you instead some views of the west coast of our local island paradise. Specifically: Ucluelet and Tofino. My daughter and I spent a couple of days there recently. And here’s what we saw and did.
Morning view of Tofino Inlet from Tofino Resort and Marina (highly recommend staying here).We headed to Ucluelet first. My first visit. Won’t be my last! We decided to experience the Lighthouse Trail.BC trees are like none I have ever seen in Canada. On the Lighthouse Trail.The views were incredible.Sea Foam – sign of a healthy ocean.Pardon my shadow.Rock formations and islands in the misty distance.Wild Ucluelet views.
On the way to Ucluelet, we passed a sign in Pacific Rim National Park that said “Rainforest Trail”. That was our next destination.
The Rainforest Trail did not disappoint.When not staring at the trees, the chevron pattern on this platform caught my eye.Tried to capture the sun rays in the woods.This giant is over 800 years old.
After the Rainforest Trail, we had worked up an appetite so it was off to our favourite Tofino eating establishment, to refuel before our next adventure.
Tacofino!A little pandemic humour.Every day is (Taco) Tuesday in Tofino, as far as I’m concerned.
After lunch, it was time to check out our favourite beach (Chesterman) and soak up the delicious sunshine we had been blessed with.
Pinch me. Is it really February…in Canada???It was lovely to just sit in the sun and watch the surfers (and parasailers and windsurfers) enjoying the beautiful day and high waves.Checking out the waves (and other surfers).There he goes!
It was so pleasant out, we stayed there all afternoon and waited on the sunset. It did not disappoint.
Nope, it certainly did not disappoint!Two surfers left; packing it in for the day.And finally, the last of this day’s glorious light.
It wasn’t Barbados, but it was pretty damn fine all the same.
Rock on,
The WB
P.S. I posted multiple videos of this adventure on Instagram. Why not head over there and check them out? (Sound on!)
Some pictures telling the story of my first January on my new island home…
Love these lines and shadows. On the beach at Parksville.Shadows on the sand, Parksville.Bridge in Nanoose BayDonna setting up to shoot me.View from Parksville BeachLooking towards ParksvilleForest bathing.More forest bathing. Photo by Donna ConnollyDonna on my favourite Departure Bay Log.Geese, awaiting the dawn.Dawn on Departure BayOutgoing Ferry, heading for Horseshoe Bay.Incoming, heading for the Departure Bay Terminal.Snowdrops blooming.Have never seen a kayak with an outrigger until now. Mainland mountains in January.Enjoying a London Fog on the patio at Drip Social. Resting my soaking feet, after an adventurous walk along the shore at high tide. 🙂New year; new hair. I had all my bleached locks cut off. Selfie taken in the bathroom.And I got one of those fancy ring lights, for Zooming and FaceTiming and such. For such remains the reality of life. See the blurring magicfakery trickery difference good lighting makes? I need to carry one around and shine it on me, always. Ah, zee glah-mour! 😉
In case it makes my friends back in Ontario feel any better, snow is in the forecast for this coming Sunday and Monday.
Rocks and trees and water. What more do you need?As close as I dare get to this drop.Sea birds and mainland mountains.November shoreline.Inscribed stone.A burst of colour framing the cove.Stairway down.iNaturalist says these are Harlequin ducks.Always remember to look up.Famous Neck Point Park fairy housesPeople Fairies leave treasures inside.Another fabulous fairy house.A fairy house for dinosaur aficionados.Living my best November pandemic life…
