Terrace Avenue

This is one of my favorite little streets in Victoria. It runs between Oak Bay Avenue and Rockland Avenue. It's very narrow and has many twists and turns between huge oak trees and beautiful old homes, making it easy to forget you're 5 minutes from downtown Victoria. - Fern

Time Marches On

This old corner store is at the corner of Pandora and Camosun. Everytime I pass by I wonder how much longer it will be around. So many of us made our first forays into independence by going to the corner store, usually for bread or milk and when we were lucky, candy! However, with so many convenience stores now, many of these are closing down. - Fern

Post Production Fun

I use Picassa to edit photos and they have just added a bunch of new effects. This in one I really like, called "neon" although for this photo it works best in black and white, funnily enough. - Fern

The Vancouver Island School of Art

This old building, which used to be part of the public school system, is now a private art school. It's on Quadra Street, part of the revitalized 'Quadra Village.' I've been taking classes here on and off over the years and it's a great addition to the art scene in Victoria, with it's own gallery and regular events for all to attend. For anyone interested in making art or learning about art, this is the place to be! Their website is here and here is "random observations of an art school director who walks everywhere" a really interesting blog which is another viewpoint on Victoria, and art and all sorts of interesting things. - Fern

Natures Ever Changing Canvas

The sky is so often an amazing collage of colour and form. This is Banfield Park in Vic West where we like to go for walks, and I love this stand of shaggy cedars, they represent quintessential 'west coast' to me. - Fern

Mexico Monday

Lets pretend it's not raining and cold outside, how about instead we grab our surfboards and head down to the beach? - Fern

Another sure sign of spring

We are having a beautiful weekend with lots of warm sunshine but I am sadly holed up with a flu bug. As a compromise I snuck out into the yard and picked a few of these beautiful daffodils and they have been a good subject for an indoor photo shoot. - Fern

Oh Mighty Oak

While the plum and cherry trees are blooming, the oak tress are still lovely in their unadorned state. - Fern

Fernwood

All over Fernwood the community has gotten together to paint many of the telephone poles and it is so fun to walk around this neighborhood and find them. Find out more about this great project here. - Fern

More Blossoms

Can you ever have enough blossoms? I can't at this time of year. This was taken in one of my favorite neighborhoods, Fernwood. - Fern

Blossom Time!

The sun is shining and the blossoms are blossoming!

Sparkles

This is another one from our hike in Thetis Lake Park. I particularly like it because the light coming off the water silhouettes my daughter perfectly. - Fern

Dusk at Ogden Point

I wish I could tell you why this ship was docked at Ogden Point or where it was going. Whatever the reason, it looks like open seas and faraway ports to me. - Fern

Look Up 2

On a lovely afternoon hike around Thetis Lake, I once again couldn't help but point my camera skyward. - Fern

Look Up

After many days of crazy weather, the sun came out yesterday and it was WARM. On a bike ride around town I couldn't help but point my camera skywards at the lovely blueness. I also like the contrast between the organic shape of the tree branches and the cold geometry of the building. - Fern

Junkyard

This is one of my favorite views; Victoria's metal recycling depot, Ellice Recycle, just past the Bay Street Bridge along the Gorge Waterway. Here's another view to get a better idea of it's location.

Storm Warning

Victoria has been buffeted by some pretty big windstorms of late and yesterday was no exception. This was taken by Oak Bay Marina where I quickly got out of the car and even more quickly got soaked by the wind blown spray. - Fern

An Age Old Occupation

The world is changing but kids are still kids and build forts. - Fern

Moon Rising

If you have a camera in your hand and the moon is in sight can you resist taking a few shots? I can't. - Fern

Sitka - Surf, Skate, and Apparel

On a rainy afternoon recently a friend and I stopped to have a coffee at the Sitka Cafe on lower Yates Street. As well being a shopping destination, they have an excellent coffee bar. Perfect afternoon of browsing and delectable treats in a beautiful room. - Fern

Rowing on the Gorge

This is as sure a sign of spring as the daffodils. Every year the Gorge Waterway is full of rowers, from singles to dragon boat teams. It looks like a fabulous way to enjoy a spring evening. - Fern

Happy 4th Birthday to Victoria Daily Photo!!

For the past four years the amazing Benjamin Madison has faithfully posted an interesting photograph and a thoughtful write-up everyday here on VDP. My congratulations to you sir! I have been a very part-time contributor and have enjoyed the challenge of taking photos with the blog in mind. I have also enjoyed the many other blogs in this community and so a big thank you to you all as well. This picture, taken of Victoria from Mt. Tolmie will have to stand in for our birthday candles. Cheers! - Fern Long

Head, Hands, & Feet

As well as playing a dozen musical instruments and singing the blues, iconic Victoria musician and entertainer Dave Harris has recently added another string to his bow. He has completed a monumental work, a veritable encyclopedia of One Man Bands, entitled, "Head, Hands, & Feet: A Book of One Man Bands." I am pleased to present a short review of this book by ricky JaK, local music journalist.

Heads, Hands, & Feet by Dave Harris OMG someone has finally compiled a book on OMB. In today’s modern world I frequently browse the internet for interesting music. Recently I discovered a video of 5 people playing one guitar, amazing it is but something I have never thought of checking out is OMB. WTF is OMB you are probably thinking. OMB means “One Man Band.” Recently this heavy book was placed on my kitchen table on just this genre of playing music. I have to say my own personal experience of seeing a one man band is the bearded hippy guy that plays his one man band in the inner harbor of my hometown Victoria…. and oddly enough this very one man band is Dave Harris the author of this book! Dave has been playing in our harbor for as long as I can remember. Dave researched this OMB hardcover book that clocks in at over 400 pages of text and photos. The book starts with some history dating back to the 1700’s, it then flows into a visual of instruments a one man band would use. Apparatus, back rigs, foot drums, guitars, harmonicas, horns, washboards and kazoos are all shown. Then the book takes you on a worldwide journey from the USA to the UK. The book also takes you from the Blues, Folk, Country, to Punk. No stone is left unturned and this book is hard to digest in just one sitting, it will supply days of reading. One downside of this book does not come with a LP record or a CD, but what it does come with is most of the websites of every performer. This means I just spent my afternoon listening to Jesse Fuller, DR Ross, Hasil Adkins, Bob Log III, to Joe Buck Yourself. Even a few OWBs “One Woman Bands” are represented as well as hundreds of other OMBs from all over. Amazing it is and if you’re a music fan and have never ventured into the world of OMB, this book is your gateway to hours of absolute one man music. -ricky JaK (journalist for Absolute Underground, Offbeat, Journal of Madness, Verbal Abuse, Zort, and one of the compilers of the Monday Magazine award winning book “All Your Ears Can Hear” Victoria Underground Music 1977- 1984.) shameless plugs.

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Head, Hands, & Feet is available in Victoria from Ditch Records, Fort Street at Blanshard, and from Turntable Records in Fan Tan Alley (Chinatown). Online it can be bought through the One Man Band Book blog at http://onemanbandbook.blogspot.com.

Bye Bye Blue Bridge

Looking a little lost and displaced, the center section of the Johnson Street rail bridge sits in a parking lot at the edge of the Gorge with the Bay Street Bridge in the background. It was cut loose and lifted onto a barge by the enormous marine crane that can be seen to the left. It now sits on a part of the Point Hope shipyard and I suspect it will be cut into smaller pieces there. A new bridge is to be erected adjacent to the site of the old bridge, which is still being used for car traffic.

Spring is Coming

We've had some bright, sunshiny days lately though they have generally been accompanied by a cold wind. Here's another of my favourite heralds of spring, this old tree that flowers beside the derelict Janion Hotel on Store Street. Often this is one of the first to bloom in the city because of the extra warmth it gets from the Janion's aged bricks soaking up the sunshine.

Crocuses

Another favourite harbinger of spring, these crocuses are popping up in gardens all over the city. Their brilliant yellows and purples always remind me of Easter and I wonder if the association of those colours with Easter is because of the flowers or for some other reason.

Mexico Monday

Aaaahhhhh, can you feel the warm breeze and taste the margaritas? It was a lovely evening in Puerto Vallarta when I snapped this picture. - Fern Long

p.s. Thank you to everyone who leaves such kind comments, I am terrible about responding to them all but I really do appreciate them so much. Especially to JoJo, you're the best!

Windy Day

The wind blew the clouds away yesterday and we enjoyed some blue skies and cold sunshine. The seagulls however, were not enjoying the high winds and were playing it safe on the ground, except for a few daring souls. - Fern Long

More Early Blossoms

More spring colors! I don't know what these are called. They look like some kind of miniature Iris.

Douglas Sreet

Here's another look at downtown Victoria. This is the "main" street, Douglas Street, looking northwards from the corner of Fort and Douglas Streets. On the far right side can be seen Victoria's City Hall with its red tower. The large tan building on the left is the facade of the Bay Centre, our downtown mall.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

The Chestnut-backed Chickadee pictured last week was nicely perched on the branch of a tree since that is where they are usually seen. Today's bird is on the walkway since these birds, the Dark-eyed Juncos, prefer to forage on the ground. Apparently ornithologists are still sorting out bird taxonomy and though I have formerly identified these local residents as Oregon Juncos, it seems that the latter refers to a sub-species and our local birds may or may not be members of that sub-species since there is a great deal of variation within the genus. In any case I always like to see these neat, busy little birds no matter what they are called.