Author: Mark

Me on the new deck

Me on the new deck Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. some more progress

Read More

Barney & Sam

Barney & Sam & Snow in JulyOriginally uploaded by thesnodgrass. We went camping with Amber & Ryan at Miracle Beach and lost the camera somewhere in our enormous tent, so didn’t take enough pictures.This is one of the few which was taken after spending the morning on the Beach. I have said it before but…

Read More

Grand Poobah of the leopard lodge

Grand Poobah of the leopard lodge Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Whilst camping for the long weekend at Miracle Beach we went to the Campbell River Canada Day parade.

Read More

Two naughty deer in the garden

2 deer in the garden Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. these blighters have eaten all the flowers off the plants Wendy was growing. They even chewed the chilli peppers which were supposed to be deer proof.

Read More

There was an earthquake today. I was sat at my desk and felt it quite distinctly.More on the news storyhttp://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/07/04/bc-quake.html

Read More

Barney smashing a boulder wears the correct safety gear

Barney smashing a boulder wears the correct safety gear Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. This was taken yesterday. Today it is so hot Barney has filled his welly boots with water to keep cool. Smart eh?

Read More

My view from the car on the way into Victoria each day makes the journey worthwhile.

My view from the car on the way into Victoria each day makes the journey worthwhile. Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

the deck progresses

the deck progresses Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

works golf day

works golf day Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Simon, Sofia and Jackie

IMG_1024 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. click on the picture to link to a slideshow of picture from their visit.

Read More

Long Beach, Ucluelet

IMG_0929 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Cedar plank cooked salmon

PICT0095 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Cooking for Jackie & Simon in the local tradition, on a cedar plank that has been soaked for a couple of hours in water. It was delicious.

Read More

Bit odd this

IMGP2301Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. I was looking at a new website of maps that anyone can edit, called wikimapia when I saw that somoene called Matt had added a note about their house to it, only 20 hours ago. They live just down the road. I thought I would try to freak them out by…

Read More

Luxton Rodeo

Luxton Rodeo Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Barney & I went to Luxton Rodeo for some redneck action. Yee haw.Actually it was very good.

Read More

Captain Underpants

IMGP2273 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Me on the deck in Ucluelet

IMGP2262 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. We went to Ucluelet & Tofino with Simon, Jackie & Sofia who are on a visit from the UK.We stayed in the Captains Quarters and had a deck overlooking Terrace Beach.

Read More

Mayhem in Sooke caused by this truck crash which blocked the only entrance to the town for 7 hours. The alternative route was a 160 Km 4 hour detour, much of which was on logging roads.

Read More

This is the website I have been doing for Trevor from next door but one, for his new fishing charter business. www.silversprayfishingcharters.com

Read More

platform takes shape

April 007 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. this will be the platform to which the steps will go.

Read More

Snow but sunny

April 006 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. How mad is it to be able to go to the beach, get sun burnt, yet there is a snowy mountain always in view?

Read More

Progress

April 010 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. What a beautiful day. I made some small progress on the deck then sat atop the rock drinking beer.

Read More

Busted

April 004 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

This is a website I have been making to return Trevor’s help with the deck project.www.silversprayfishingcharters.comThe concrete was poured today so we are well on the way.

Read More

Easter Baskets

Easter Baskets Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

The deck build is postponed for a weekend when we went skiing at Mount Washington which is about 3-4 hours drive North, but still on Vancouver Island. Here are the skiing photos on Flickr On Saturday there were small carnival type floats slipped down the ski hill over a jump and smashed to oblivion. It…

Read More

Deck Build 002

Deck Build 002 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Mark digging

Mark digging Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. The newest project is to build some steps up the side of this rock. From the top of the rock you can see over the roof of the house to the sea. Im digging the foundations for some concrete pads to build upon. My next door neighbour-but one, Trevor,…

Read More

Malley Canada

Malley Canada 340 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Lucy, Jack, Barnaby and Sam.

Read More

Malley Canada

Malley Canada 357 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Mexican vampire sea weed

Malley Canada 309 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Ends in wet leg tradegy.

Malley Canada 247 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

This tree was floating

Malley Canada 245 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. A father and son dare to walk to the end of this floating log on the beach at Whiffen Spit.

Read More

Driftwood scrap Xmas tree

Malley Canada 217 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Father Christmas (and his husky)

Malley Canada 180 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Dave and I both both got hip flasks for Xmas.

Malley Canada 199 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Fishermans Wharf

Malley Canada 117 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. If you jump on the wharf a seal pops up in case you have any fish for him. He wasnt playing today though.

Read More

Monkey puzzle tree

Malley Canada 174 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Handsome chaps

Malley Canada 107 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Whale watching (without whales)

Malley Canada 089 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. They went whale watching and saw seals, eagles and sea weed. But no whales.

Read More

Ginger Cake

Ginger Cake Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. the kids made a ginger bread house.

Read More

Malley visit Canada

Malley Canada 357 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. The Malleys came to stay for Xmas and we had tropical weather, and a great time.

Read More

Fun at beach

Fun at beach Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Monty had a play date with a friends retriever, Journey and they went mad on the beach. Journey can swim out in the sea but Monty is too nervous so far to go beyond paddling.

Read More

Wendy and the Monster

Wendy Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Silver Spray East Sooke

Silver Spray East Sooke Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Michael, Wendy’s second cousin at Silver Spray right on the tip of the island.

Read More

Double dared.

Double dared. Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. The kids double dared me to jump on this tree trunk from the beach. What i didnt realise was that it was still floating so I quickly had to jump back using another piece of driftwood as a stepping stone. Phew only just made it.

Read More

Wendy and I

IMG_0433 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Wendy and I with Monty taken by Michael, Wendy’s second cousin who visited last weekend.

Read More

Salmon running

PICT0043 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. At the Sooke potholes salmon are returning upriver to spawn in the hundreds. They take up to 12 days to swim upstream, find somewhere to lay their eggs and then die. There are dozens of rotting salmon floating downstream where seagulls await a free meal.

Read More

Wrinklies visit

PICT0033b Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. My Mum and Dad have been visiting for the past 2 weeks which has coincided nicely with a 2 week teachers strike. The kids went back to school on monday and the wrinklies departed by float plane yesterday.We have been all over the island with them, and as far North…

Read More

On Sunday we set off to walk Monty and came across an enormous black bear at the end of our road. This isnt the actual bear and I didnt take this picture but this is what our bear looked like. Luckily it was running away from us down the middle of the road past the…

Read More

Chicken Shed

IMGP2049 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. It took 2 days to make and I am very proud.

Read More

Chicken Shed

IMGP2051 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. There is a perch, a box to lay eggs in and a ramp which can be retracted by a rope mechanism to keep them safe. The danger around here is raccoons which will kill a chicken. Ours we intend to be free range and we will need to round them…

Read More

Chicken Shed

IMGP2055 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. The hinged roof demonstrated by my glamorous assistant.

Read More

Chicken shed to be.

IMGP2048 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. I bought a dog kennel from the lumber yard and some extra wood and plywood sheets to make a chicken shed.

Read More

Bez lives in Sooke

IMGP2023 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. spotted by a paparazzi this candid pic of Bez was taken as he emerged from a Sooke nightspot.

Read More

Wendy and Monty

IMGP2030 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Training is going well, when he isnt biting us. He can sit if bribed with a treat, and Mark can get him to sit and stay for about 3 seconds.

Read More

Tiring being a kid

IMGP2021 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Ship Ahoy

IMGP2038 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Canoe or Kayak?

IMGP2036 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. It isnt a Canoe but it isnt a normal Kayak either as you cannot put a spraydeck on it and it carries 3 people if they aren’t too big. We call it a Kanayak.

Read More

Matheson Lake

IMGP2031 Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Aaah what a beautiful lake, before we wrecked the peace with our first canoe/kayak trip. We were the only people there for quite a while.

Read More

Monty and Sam

Monty and Sam Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Monty and Barney

Monty and Barney Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Monty, Barney and Sam on the phone to Nana

Monty, Barney and Sam on the phone to Nana Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Monty, Barney and Sam

Monty, Barney and Sam Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

3rd Prize for my pickled onions

3rd Prize for my pickled onions Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. In the Sooke Fall Fair I won third prize, $1, for these hot and spicy pickled onions. (Before you ask, yes there were more than three entries – six actually).The vinegar was cloudy because I added horseradish to pep them up but I wouldn’t bother…

Read More

Big Hayes Little Hayes

Big Hayes Little Hayes Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass.

Read More

Derek’s eagle tattoo

Derek’s eagle tattoo Originally uploaded by thesnodgrass. Derek has this tattoo of an eagle on his right forearm. The other day we were in East Sooke regional park and a bald eagle circled above us. It was curious to think that this was the first bald eagle he had ever seen, yet he had carried…

Read More

Orcas Today we were playing on the deserted beach, swinging the kids on a tyre tied on a long rope to the top of a tree, when Derek said he would love to see a killer whale before he went home. About 10 minutes later a pod of 6 orca swam into the inlet and…

Read More

Mixing with the Oi Poloi Last night we were bussed from the fire hall near where we live, to an old resort about 6km further around the edge of the basin. It is called the Grouse Nest and is a little rundown, but in its heyday in the 1950’s it was the place for swingers…

Read More

Goldpanning in Leechtown

Craig and I hiked for 18Km into the hills looking for Gold. we explored an abandoned gold rush town called Leechtown, where the hut foundations and machinery lie rotting in the forest. Of course we found loads of gold but you know how heavy it is? so could not carry it out.

Read More

The film is called Dungeon Siege and the executive producer and director is a German chap called Uwe Boll, whose career in films so far has not been, shall we say, well received? Here is a link to the reviews of his previous films. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/p/uwe_boll/

Read More

Barney as a body double

Barney was supposed to be a body double for the character of Zeph and therefore had to have his hair cut and highlights put in to match the actor’s. In this picture he has the actors top on but could not get the trousers to fit so the 3rd assistant director decided he need not…

Read More

Krug heads

These rubber masks are for the baddies in the film, the Krugs who attack the poor villagers. Sam was scared of the actors dressed up in the suits.see more pics at….http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivebranch/

Read More

Clifftop village

What a great place for a filmset !It was really hot and the kids only worked for 8 hours and had to leave the set cos that is the legal limit. They also miss the battle scenes where the Krugs attack as they are not allowed on set when there is dangerous sword wielding monsters…

Read More

Barney on set

Barney has been asked to be a body double for one of the child actors and so he has to go back tomorrow for more filming and will get paid a stack more.

Read More

Extras on Dungeon Siege

Wendy, Barney and Sam trying on their costumes for the filming tomorrow. This fitting took place in the centre of Sooke near the offices of the Sooke Mirror News, so I went in to see the editor to ask if he wanted a story about the filming from an extras point of view? He thought…

Read More

So we went for haircuts yesterday, as the film company have not been in touch for 3 weeks so it is probably safe that they dont want us. Sam wanted a buzz cut with spikey bits and Barney wanted nothing to do with it and was forced into the shop. Sam ended up with a…

Read More

Monty and his mum

We are buying a puppy. This is the litter, at 3 days old. We pick him up in 7 weeks and he is going to be called Monty, probably.

Read More

Dungeon Siege They are making a movie based on the computer game Dungeon Siege in East Sooke, on an Indian reserve, about 4 miles from us. We have auditioned to be in it as they were looking for tall hairy people (Wendy) and muscular fit people (me). They particularly liked Barney’s hair and asked him…

Read More

The car we bought

This is the Geo tracker car we bought for $1800 or 850 quid. In the background you can see the whiffen spit peninsula which is a thin piece of land which separates the Pacific ocean from the Sooke basin.

Read More

It has been hot for the last few days, Summer has really arrived at last. It amuses to see though, from downtown Victoria it is possible to see snowcapped mountains, not too far away. They are the Olympic Range in Washington state USA.

Read More

Sam Rock Star

Sam says he wants to be a rock star boxer when he grows up, which I can actually envisage.

Read More

East Sooke Park

We live about 5KM from a regional park with a view across the sea to washington state, USA.

Read More

fresh homemade bread

I made 4 loaves of bread for the first time from scratch and it wasnt too bad at all. I gave the prettiest loaf to the neighbours to say thanks for the moose mince and they gave me a big moose roast right back :o)Nice people here.

Read More

Tonight we ate moose burgers, which Wendy made from some mince the next door neighbours gave us. It was damn fine and a lot like beef but a bit drier in texture, so a big success. The neighbours, Merl and Juanita, are in their seventies and have almost completed building their own house on the…

Read More

We have moved in but dont have a telephone yet. When we do the number will be (250) 483-9255 when it is switched on – I am going to try voip and if it is crap I’ll swallow my pride and get telus.The address is1610 Covey RunSookeV0S 1N0 The motorhome malarkey has been an adventure…

Read More

The house we are buying

We have had an offer for this house accepted so we will be putting down roots here, if all goes well. It is in East Sooke which is a very rural area, so although we have 1 acre of land it is wooded and on a steep hillside. We expect to see racoons, eagles, deer,…

Read More

Barney waterfall

Near Sooke there is a gorge that runs for 6 or 7 miles into the hills. At the far end is an old gold prospecting camp, and the walking trail follows along the way of a river. There are plenty of spots to jump in from the banks, some really deep parts and others for…

Read More

Barney is brave

The water was absolutely feckin freezin but Barney was brave. I swam as well and did precisely 9 strokes before getting out. see the video of me here (1MB)

Read More

Oompaloompa

The magical waters of Sooke potholes shrank Barneys legs tragically.

Read More

Snake charmers

The kids caught a snake and kept it in a box of grass for a while. When they let it go Sam cried cos he missed it.

Read More

Lost disc I forgot to mention in the previous post that I bought a disc golf frisbee in Victoria for $16 and lost it within 30 minutes of playing with it. I was trying to hit Barny with it but missed and it sank in a lagoon.

Read More

Pender Bender We were invited to Darrens birthday weekend event on the Island of Pender, which is one of the Gulf islands between Vancouver island and the mainland. Darren is married to Kim and they are friends of Sara and Craig. We had an absolutely fabulous time and yet again Canada gets better and better.The…

Read More

Barney in Safety Gear

I havent posted much recently, sorry. This picture is of Barney geared up for sitting by a camp fire in pyjamas. He wasnt coughing nor did his eyes stream from the smoke but ours did, the crafy blighter. We travelled on a logging road from Port Renfrew right across vancouver Island to Cowichan Lake where…

Read More

Sara

My cousin Sara. She and Craig came around to the motorhome, parked in west Bay Victoria for a curry night. She looks goofy in that hat but she insists on wearing all the time everywhere she goes. what a loony ! ;o)

Read More

Sara’s husband Craig

Craig eats for Canada and drinks in their Olympic team. I went out with him once to play pool and still had a hangover 3 days later.

Read More