The Forgotten Roll of Film

Long before digital photography and editing took over, I used to shoot black & white film quite a bit. I always liked to have one camera loaded with it when I was on vacations in case I saw some interesting masonry or ironwork that'd look good in B&W.  Unfortunately as I began to shoot more and more in digital, my film endeavors fell by the wayside.  I had a roll in one of my cameras for a couple of years and I forgot what was even on it.  In the spring of 2012, I decided to shoot what was left on the roll, although I neglected to notice that it was black & white film.  I truly thought it was a roll of colour.  So almost all the pictures I shot were of flowers.  Imagine my surprise when I popped the cartridge out and discovered it was black & white!

So I took the roll to CVS and sent it away.  A few days later they called me to say that the roll was rejected because their processor couldn't do that particular kind of film.  The roll languished in my purse for a few more years, until early in 2015 when my friend Alicia, a film student in Spokane, said that she could process it for me at the school.

She was busy with classes of course, first, so she was finally able to get the negatives and pics sent to me in mid December.  It was pretty cool to see what was on it!  Most of the pics are flowers so I didn't bother taking pics of the pics.  But here are some of the others.

Pepper, spring 2012

Sagan, spring 2012.  This was a few months after I flew him east.

Trounce Alley in Victoria, BC, October 2010

Beach logs at Kalaloch, Washington, March 2010

Kalaloch, March 2010

The Pergola in Seattle, July 2010

Seattle, 2010

And my sweetheart, Spring 2012.  I love, love, love this picture (and this man!).

A huge thank you, again, to Alicia Dunavan for processing these for me after all these years!!!

Victoria BC: My Fave Place

My regular readers have lived my various and sundry adventures to Vancouver Island and my fave city, Victoria, BC.  Search the word "Victoria" on this blog and tons and tons of posts and photos will pop up, should you wish to view photos of this beautiful Garden City.

I love to shop, and I have come home from each trip to Vic with tons of souvenirs, mostly made in China - a resin box, a waterglobe, keychains, a toy doubledecker bus, antique beaded purses, etc. etc.  However, I always made sure to also purchase arts and crafts made by local artisans.  Here are some pictures of some pieces I've picked up in Victoria.

This orca whale pendant was made on Vancouver Island.  It was sold on a black cord but I made a necklace for it.

This notecard of the BC Legislative Buildings is called "Night Light" by Blaine Jackson.  I have another of his notecards featuring the Empress Hotel.  I looked him up online and found out that he passed away at age 44, in 1999.  

Another notecard of Parliament, also called "Night Lights" by artist Grant Fuller.  I have a second one of his of Butchart Gardens.

I fell in love with these paint splattered and beaded notecards and bought one, or more, on every trip to Victoria.  They are made by a First Nations Artist on Vancouver Island, but I was unable to locate her name in my scrapbooks.  

This was the last one I was able to purchase, in late 2010 on what would be my last trip to Vic.  The owner of the store that sold them, Instinct Art & Gifts, told me that she was no longer making the cards, they had been unable to get ahold of her for many months, and this was the last one they had. 

This gorgeous beaded purse is by Liane Mann at Amulet Art.  She had the most amazing selection of amulet bags that she'd made and was selling at the Bastion Square Festival of the Arts.  It was hard to choose just one!!  Sadly, I never saw her there again and her website is gone.  I am so grateful to have purchased one of her beautiful bags.

An amazing painting by the brothers at SprayBombs.  I highly recommend checking out the link and watching the time elapsed video of how they create a painting.  These young men have been painting on the Inner Harbour Causeway in the summer for years.  Just like with the amulet bags, I had a hard time choosing one, and decided to go with this orca whale, to commemorate the whale watch I'd gone on a day or so before.

Finally, I was able to find a souvenir t-shirt, actually made in Canada, with a design by Keith Tait, of the Gitksan Carrier Band First Nations of Northern BC.

I don't know when I will get back to Victoria.  I hope to.....someday.

Quiche and Kitsch

Marsha and I went to Cafe' Chew for lunch several weeks ago. It was my first time there and their menu is amazing.  I was having a hard time choosing, then Marsha pointed out the specials board and I spied asparagus & swiss cheese quiche with a salad and that decided it for me.  I love quiche. It was very tasty, as was the salad, which I believe used pico de gallo and shelled pumpkin seeds in it.  I assume the flower was edible but it was way too pretty to eat!  

She got the crock of chili with corn muffin.  We both scarfed down every last bit of food!!!

When I got home, the mail arrived with the kitschy Victoria BC mug that I got off ebay, shortly after the holidays.  In all the times I went up there, which was 5 in 9 years (plus once to Vancouver), I never bought a souvenir mug.  I started looking online for one, and found this listed on ebay.  I don't know how old it is.  There is a reference to a Fable Estate Cottage, which I never heard of.  Further research shows it was dismantled and moved to one of the islands years ago.  My fave part of this mug is Queen Victoria's "We are not amuzed" quote.  That really tipped the scales when it came to purchasing this.

I think it's too cool to use, and risk breaking, so it'll become part of my kitsch collection.

Sealand is also advertised and research reveals that it closed around 1991, so this mug must be from the 1980s.

How I Make A Travel Album

I was bound and determined to finish the Victoria album, and I worked on it all New Years weekend.  Sorry about the crappy photo quality!  This is a small sampling of the finished product.  

I was about halfway through it when I realized:  HORROR OF HORRORS!!!   I completely forgot to type up all of the different place captions, that I always do for all photo albums!!!!  How could I forget??  Fer cryin' out loud I've been doing it since the 80's, when I used to have to use a typewriter!!  I nearly brought this entire project to a screeching halt to do them.  I agonized, and I admit to much hand-wringing, internal conflict and debate with myself, but then decided that it was going to take way, way too long.  And besides, I know where I was, I know what are in the pictures and where they were taken...there's really no need to caption them.  

I knew I'd finally find good use for this Canadian flag paper!  I stuck it to the cover of the album.

51 pages, front and back (102 pages!!!!) and 4" thick.  If I had a scale I'd weigh it, b/c it's wicked heavy.

Inside the front cover, I used a piece of glittery paper that says "Off On An Adventure", then stuck my leftover Canadian coins on the cover along with some felt fall leaves and other Canadian-themed stickers.

First page, features my boarding pass, along with the note I left Brian on the kitchen table that morning when I left before he got up. He wrote "Wah!" under it after I left. lol

I like to use travel-themed ephemera on my pages, in addition to stickers and cut up bits of travel brochures.

The hotel brochure on the left is actually stuck onto the outside of the page....

.....so that I can open it up and read what's inside.

Page layout showing some cropped pictures and stickers.

I saved the 2 Woofles doggie treats bags after they were empty, cut them up and put them on the Market Square page.  I also used the map portion of a Market Square brochure.

These are the receipts of my souvenirs, organized by time-stamp.

When I got to the Craigdarroch Castle pics, I cut up the self-guided tour brochure about all of the different rooms and used them alongside the photos of those rooms.

Here's the last page of the album, with my return trip boarding pass, and the note from Brian that I found on the kitchen table when I got home late that night!

One of my travel ephemera bits had a Top Ten Moments list.  It was hard to pare it down to just 10.

I had the back side of the last page to fill up so I used a postcard of Clipper IV and a couple more Canada stickers to complete the album.

A Quick Trip Through the BC Legislative Buildings

I am not sure, but I don't think people are allowed to wander into American federal buildings and start shooting photos. Maybe if you are on a guided tour, but not self-guided tours.  I could be wrong.  See how little I know about my own country?

Anywho, when in Victoria, it's well worth a quick stop inside Parliament to check out the area that's open to tourists.  It's never crowded.  There are hourly tours, but if you are pressed for time, you can just go inside and wander around and take photos.  The stained glass is amazing, but the windows have been placed where they are in both bright light and dark shadow from the tiny courtyards and light spaces behind the windows.  It's a massive building to walk around from the outside too.  

Craigdarroch Castle

This place is just gorgeous.  It's the former home of the Dunsmuir Family, although Mr. Dunsmuir died before the house was finished!  The woodwork inside is amazing and warm. I also want all of the stained glass and there's a jewelry box I simply must have!!  It's also haunted.

Scenic Dallas Drive and Willows Beach

What an amazing sunrise!

I started at Mile 0 of the Transcanada Highway, on Dallas Drive.

A memorial to Terry Fox.

I am standing on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, looking south across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, at Washington.

Willows Beach.  I never thought a narrow strip of sand in a suburban neighbourhood could yield so much beachcombing treasure!!

Chatham Islands

Those are the Olympic Mountains in Washington.