Monday, May 2, 2011

Flying, Frocks and Fishies.....

this past week has been a busy busy one, not much gardening was done... it's still chilly and very unwelcoming to my peppers and tomatoes and down right killing to the 2 little cucumber plants that i bought... AND all are in my greenhouse with heat pads and lights... i can 'feel' them shivering in their pots... i managed to build a few barriers from Digger Dora and maybe even the bunnies and occasional deer that might wander closer to the house....

last Friday daughter and i got to go to a lecture for Autism and anxiety...Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children with High-Functioning Autism,  it was an an 8 hour day presentation for parents and professionals and then on saturday another 8 hour day for professionals only, put on by ACT ( Autism Community Training)  and the host speaker was Dr. Judy Reaven from the University of Colorado.. Dr. Reaven is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics,  Anschutz Medical Campus, School of Medicine and is the Director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic of JFK Partners...some of the methods of dealing with anxiety are in the video on this link  it will give you an idea of some of the lecture... daughter bought the book set Facing Your Fears which includes a therapist manual, child's workbook and parents workbook... one of the first things we are going to work on... bees and wasps!!!
i'm glad i was invited along, was well worth it...

before getting the lecture we got to fly to Vancouver... on a small plane, a bit lumpy but fun...here's a view as we were leaving Nanaimo Harbour...

crossing Georgia Strait

Vancouver Harbour

the size plane we flew in

 on the return trip we took the ferry and i got some rather 'chilly' shots of some of the coastal mountains by Horseshoe Bay... rather reminds me of the Fiords of Norway perhaps... and yes.. unusual at this time of the year...

Vancouver Skyline

bye bye Vancouver..... i'm so not a city gal.....

well that was Friday... Saturday was a fun day.... eldest granddaughter's prom day.... so old... just seems like yesterday she was a baby toddling about.....


what fun... down to the waterfront pictures galore... sushi for dinner,  then off to the dance... then after parties....
ahhh to be young!!

Sunday..... new day to do things..... the weather was stellar still and so the other two grandkids and i went to the beach.....


i loaned them my camera and they took some great pictures
of one of the eels they found


they had great fun... the eldest found a bucket and they wandered the beach looking for critter treasures... rocks and shells overturned, crabs a plenty, some bullheads (sculpin) and a few starfish...
and this dead fish below... which we think is a Pacific Needlefish, scanning the internet i came up blank.. anyways if you know what it is.. please let me know... 


and now you know why so little gardening this week....

p.s.  thanks to queen of string who knew who this little guy is...   http://www.elasmodiver.com/Bay_Pipefish_Pictures.htm

10 comments:

queen of string said...

You're brave on those little planes! I love the ferries across to the island, such a scenic way to travel, if a little chilly sometimes. The lecture sounds fascinating, and useful to so many. I was a registered ( licensed) nurse for people with learning disabilities in the UK ( it's not recognised here). I meet so many people whose life struggles seem to fit the autistic spectrum, especially people who are high functioning. It seems to be something that has been so under recognised historically.

My garden is shivering like yours, everything growing so slowly and looking so miserable. I didn't have the opportunity to find any fantastic eels, but I have been foraging fiddleheads, which was just as exciting for me!

queen of string said...

ps is this the fish? http://www.pnwscuba.com/critterwatchers/pnwmarinelife2010.htm

Roasted Garlicious said...

thanks Queen of string.. that definately looks like a pipefish!!
i found this site that has some good pics of it.. we did think it might be related to the seahorse... and very cute.... so sad it was already dead.. but great leasson for the kids... what a pity that your licence isn't recognized here :( there are many folks who fall in the autism spectrum who get no help, we're hoping to ward off some of the issues before they become worse.. thank goodness for the information world that allows us to find lectures an conferences..

Out on the prairie said...

I have worked with children affected withthis. Many of the classes I have taken are filled with educators and parents loking for some new ideas.Lovely shots takemn, I had a frost warning last night but it failed to happen.Putting in my first corn today.

Mrs. Mac said...

Nice to read about your week. How great that more and more information and help is available to parents, caretakers, and people with autism. My youngest has Down Syndrome .. and some autistic traits .. we've had GREAT success with a therapist that visits three times a week working on IBI (intensive behavior intervention) therapy. More progress in the past year that prior 14 years. Today my garden calls from under a perfect cloudless blue sky :)

Roasted Garlicious said...

granddaughter has intervention once a week and the school has a swimming program once a week.. so those help too... she's aspergers so high functioning but such anxiety and poor social skills...
as for the sun... whats that!!! another grey drizzling morning!!

Wendy said...

pretty scenes - looks like a great time!

Mr. H. said...

Your braver than me...something about those little planes, beautiful pictures though. So we went for a run along the river last night and my wife came home covered in ticks...we found 6 of them on her and her clothing. Guess they will be bad in our area this year too.

Ruth Trowbridge said...

missing you . . . peace

janel raelyn said...

This are a lovely view! It seems your really have a great time...