Photo of a Crab in Port Renfrew and Election Thinking

As some of you might have already figured out by my presence at the Duncan Farmers' Market today, the hike was cancelled. It is treacherous, challenging and no-turning-back type of country in all weather and the latest high seas (8metres for anyone who understands such measurements) and 300mm of rain the few days before we were to start made things much worse. Add to that people getting part way out and then deciding to turn back and hike out for safety which all added up to it not being feasible for a school group.

So, i was back to work and threw some of those endlessly functional pouring bowls that everyone likes and then went on a 20+km hike with the school group as a sort of consolation hike with an overnight. I was a little shocked at the silly-pants nature of some of the kids and i saw a few nasty blisters at the close of the day. Two of the students also left their hikers out of cover and would have found a boot full of rain had the precipitation arrived a few hours earlier. It was a lot of fun and a great eye opener that there are still sweet kids in the world who look you in the eye and say thank you and listen to adults talk.

I have been doing a lot of blanching and freezing, picking and drying, and trading what i have a lot of (like rhubarb) with others who have extra too.

I have been chatting with a lot of locals who are interested in electing me to the Council for North Cowichan. It would seem that people who know me think that i would be a good person to look at the decisions that are made for our Valley and help steer things towards green and socially considered directions. Reading a wide variety of documents carefully and thinking about what is being proposed would fit in well with the long hours of wedging clay and working on the wheel. There would be a lot of hours spent in meetings and it may cut into the time i have to volounteer on the Board of the DFM but the leadership and steadiness that has been cultivated over the past 4 years on that Board would serve me well.

The pouring bowls are calling me and the holiday shows are leering at me from the calendar on my fridge, so much work to do and so little time, also the rainy season has started which really slows down my ability to dry the fresh work in the damp cupboard so it is "cheese hard" to trim. It lengthens the time that work has to sit out on the "dry" shelves waiting for a kiln load of pots to be ready not to mention the constant rotation of work to make up for the newly uneven drying due to someone turning on the furnace. (love you honey ;~)

Thanks for reading and talk soon. hh