It is "baby seal left alone on the beach" season again here on Bowen Island.

Every summer, mother seals give birth and then put their babies on beaches while they go fishing. Baby seals don't have much stamina, so they rest and wait for mom to come back and nurse them. While they are waiting they kind of loll around alot and sleep. It seems that every year, a seal gets left on a public beach where it naturally attracts the interest of humans, some of whome think the lolling around and sleeping part means the seal is dying.

Baby seals left alone on beaches are generally just fine. If you see one LEAVE IT ALONE. If you are wondering what else to do call 604-258-SEAL for instructions. That is the number for the Vancouver Aquarium. Unless a seal is bleeding, it is fine. Even if it is making little "pleading" mewling sounds, it is fine. If it closes its eyes it is not dying. It is sleeping. If you remove it from the beach and the mother returns, you will orphan it. If their babies are gone, mother seals will not go looking for them. They will simply disappear and get on with their lives. Removing a baby seal from the beach will certainly orphan it and will likely kill it.

So here's the drill: if you find a seal on a beach leave the seal alone, keep dogs and well meaning humans away from it and call the Aqaurium, CAWES or the vet before you do anything else.

Just trolling around the BC Ferries website this afternoon and discovered a humorous little page of strange but true ferry stories.

Six years of blogging here at Bowen Island Journal. Thanks for reading along.

It has been a great long weekend here on the island. Yesterday had a great Canada Day celebration at the picnic field, with authentic Tex-Mex music (alright, wtf?) and the traditional kids vs. adults tug of war which I am pleased to say the adults won after getting our asses spanked the last two years by the little rug rats.

Summer. Awesome.

We've been at the mercy of rain showers, the odd thunderclap and sunny stretches in between. What is decidedly mixed weather. It's clear that the summer high is trying to build, but it's not coming in very strong.

A nice full day on the island today, out an about. Finn and I went berry picking by Grafton Lake and harvested another batch of salmonberries. We have more than enough for another full case of jam, and this time I'm going to try making it mostly yellow and see what happens. The huckleberries are starting to ripen and we picked a few of those, experimenting with a scraper, to try to harvest them more efficiently. They aren't exactly dripping off the bushes this year, and the best patches were still just a touch underripe.

We returned to the Cove for some lunch: a veggie burger at Paradise Grill and some tacos at Nancy's taco stand on the pier. Then, to top it off, up to Artisan Square for an espresso and a "perfect marriage" (milk chocolate with cranberries) at Cocoa West. And to my surprise, owner Carlos invited me to look around the corner at a space they have been renovating, and low and behold I stuck my head into Canada's first ever boutique Bed and Breakfast suite focusing on the finest chocolate imaginable. The suite is right at artisan square, is fully appointed, and comes with very fine chocolates and all the hospitality that Joanne and Carlos can muster. And it's a beautiful little space, all done up in chocolate tones. It opens this weekend, and is yet another creative offering from these two.

After we were amazed by that, Finn and I took off across the island again to beachcomb for campfire firewood at Bowen Bay beach and to pick up our weekly dose of pyrogy from Ruta Yawney. I think we must be faithful regulars of hers, as we have been consuming this Ukranian soul food every Friday night for the past several months, since she started offering it. If you're on island, head down to the market this weekend where she will be selling some Saturday and Sunday.

And here's a perfect way to spend a decadent car free weekend on Bowen Island: book into Carlos and Joanne's Bed and Chocolate suite on Friday night, call George and get him to pick up and order of Ruta's food for you, kick back with a movie, brunch at Tuscany, spend Saturday hiking the island by day and kayaking with Martin in the evening, and retire to Blue Eyed Mary's for supper. One more night at the suite, book a massage with on Sunday with Jackie at Artisan Square, brunch at The Galley and tootle around the Cove during the early afternoon. Grab a latte to go and catch an afternoon ferry home.

By the way, yesterday marked six years we've been on this rock. The blog turns six on July 2. Thanks for reading along.

It poured rain last night, bringing some beautiful fresh green to the world this morning. We had a bunch of guys scheduled to come help lift the hot tub in place but it was still pissing at 9:30 so we cancelled. At 10:00 however, the sky cleared and we called everyone back. They all returned and in less than 20 minutes we had the beast lifted and skidded on improvised 2x8 rails up the stairs and into place. We are just awaiting the electrician to hook it up and we're soaking.

We've moved out on to the deck to sleep full time now. It's so beautiful out there. Last night the barred owls we're hooting their "who-cooks-for-you" call through the sounds of falling rain

Claudia Schaefer has just posted a lovely set of photos from last weekend's nature dive led by Adam Taylor. Every year during the low tides in June, Adam leads a dive at Mount Gardiner to bring up the sea life that lives around our island so kids and adults alike can have a peek at it all. In the slide show, you'll see a variety of sea stars (vermillion, ochre, sunflower among others), different crabs, sea cucumbers and a bay pipefish which is an elusive relation of the seahorse. I've been lucky enough to see one of these in the wild at Bowen Bay last summer while I was snorkelling.

What you don't see in the slide show is an octopus, but there are many living in the area where these animals were found. North Pacific giant octopii grow to huge proportions (up to 14 feet across) and are both common and gentle creatures and highly intelligent. I can't wait to get the snorkel gear out. Won't be long now.

Summer solstice came and went at 6:00am this morning. Up at Rivendell, Marks McAvity reports that the labyrinth is officially done and was opened at that moment.

The weather is changeable, very humid, but mostly sunny with the odd rain shower precipitating when the air gets too soggy. Mornings are cloudy, evenings are clear and the ballgame last night (in which the Celtics achieved a huge triumph over the Firemen) had players trying to hit pitches that were coming right out of the midsummer sun.

Last night, at 3:00am a big wind came up and blew for the next three hours. I was out of the house at 6am and off to catch a ferry to town and floatplane to Victoria. I've left the family dealing with a bevy of helpers: Jeremy, who is rebuilding the front deck and building a much needed support wall and foundation on the open side of the house; the Bowen Freight guys who are delivering a hot tub; and an Israeli electrician from town who is wiring it up for us. We've been in the house six years now and it's time for some big upgrades. Our friend Julie has also been at the garden and has brought it back to life as well.

The supporting wall has to do with the fact that, despite having survived for 15 years, the pilings supporting our house are not as strong as they coupld be. We have a huge open space under the south side of the house where we store our wood and it could use more support. So instead of putting in more piles, we are building a foundation along the south side and two supporting walls to rest on it. This will substantially cut down the sway in the house when the wind blows or the dryer turns, or the kids come stomping in. It will also make the place a little more earthquake proof.

Once Jeremy finishes that, he's going to reattach the front deck, or more precisely, rebuild it. We are going to change it around as well and put in some more garden space at the front of the house. This will open up the front of our property which could be lovely if it were a little more accessible.

As for the hot tub...that's just gravy. Once we manhandle it to the top deck that is. Bowen Frieght will only deliver it to the top of our driveway. That is seventeen steps and twenty meters of distance away from where it needs to go. Anyone showing up on Sunday to help us move it gets the first soak in it once the electrician hooks us up.