Fences, Lost Lagoon and a Visit with Tupper

The first 11 photos here were taken with TexWisGirl's Good Fences meme in mind.  Many thanks to her for hosting.

Caffé Cittadella's heritage house location makes it an especially lovely place to go for lattés and treats (vegan and sugar-free but so-o-o delicious!).  My 300 mm lens had to do the..

balcony in two stages to show the wonderful details above and below.

I love their front gate..

 and trestle arbor. 

 We were there twice this past week;  there's Bill and Black Jack with our bikes behind them.

 Here are the banister railings, caught as I peeked through the front door. 

 The design of this bridge (we explored under it a few days ago) in Olympic Village Park is..

unique, although impractical in that we can't ride our bikes on it and I carry Black Jack as she finds the grating uncomfortable under her feet.  (There's another way around just to the side, so it seems to have been put there mostly for pedestrians.)  You can see the Olympic Stadium roof in the background.  Now there's a fence I need to highlight soon :)

And that takes you to our day yesterday, with the three fence-shots at the beginning.  Our walk around Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon took us by the Nature House.  It is a bit unique in that there is a fence in front of it, and one over it as well.

 This wonderful stone wall is just to the left of Nature House.

 This little bridge is one that we often walk over.  There are usually racoons under it, so I have to be pretty careful with Black Jack. 

 THE REST OF OUR DAY

In the morning, we saw Tupper on her lamppost outside our balcony.  Every visit is special, since she can disappear for many days at a time.

 I went outside, hoping to give her a few treats.  She came eagerly toward me, 

 but this seagull (below) chased her away.  I missed the shot, but he flew after her, biting at her tail feathers.  Tupper left without getting her treats but returned a few hours later as Bill and I were getting ready to go out on our bikes.  I was able to give her a small feed then  (healthy salmon treats meant for dogs, but I hope they are nourishing for Tupper too).  I can't tell if the other seagull is a hopeful suitor.  I'm thinking it may be more of a territorial dispute, with the male realizing that Bill and I are a good food source.  We know we shouldn't be feeding wildlife, and have decided to restrict ourselves to Tupper and one crow.  That's not fair, but bringing large flocks of birds around would only cause fighting and other problems for those who live in the area.  Our excuse was that Tupper had gone lame a few months ago so we wanted to give her a helping hand.  She is perfectly fine now, so we can no longer use that excuse.

Here's the crow.  S/he visited yesterday as well.  We're still trying to come up with a gender-neutral name that would suit him/her.  S/he is very quiet, flying in silently and never asking for food but just hanging out nonchalently and accepting any offers gratefully.  I think :)

 There are many of these small, creamy-white butterflies around lately.

 I think they may be known as Small Cabbage Whites.  I enjoyed watching a few of them flitting about in the flowers yesterday.  The antennae in this one are not easy to see, but I loved that the little brown tips showed up against the flower petals.

We rode our bikes to Stanley Park in the afternoon and then walked around Lost Lagoon, taking photos as we went.  Looking over a small bridge, we could see a young couple feeding the geese, ducks..

 and a couple of racoons.  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.  Though we feed Tupper, I really hate to see people feeding the racoons.  

 I do understand the temptation to get photos like this.  In fact, deep down, I was secretly excited to take these shots from the bridge.  But, there are two problems with the feeding.  First, it has been shown in a study that the racoons suffer the same diseases humans get (heart issues and tooth decay to name two) because of the white bread, sweets, chips and other junk food they are given and also find on the ground and in the garbage.  

Secondly, the feeding causes them to become aggressive with each other and with humans.  Racoons have very sharp and dangerous teeth.  Though Bill and I will continue to feed Tupper, and I have therefore little right to offer advice, I would suggest that any decision to feed wildlife be thought about long and carefully.  End of lecture :)  

 We continued on, loving the reflections,

the wood ducks and..

 the swans (though that's another story I won't bring up today).

 The water and the reflections..

 brought out some interesting..

 shapes and patterns.  

 Anyone see a key-ring above?

 We came across several herons by the edge of the pond.

 Across Lost Lagoon, a tree seemed to have taken on Autumn colours (yikes!)..

 and the fountain was lovely in front of it.

We were happy to see a couple of turtles..

 basking in the sun.

 I took a couple of zoomed-in shots..

 trying to show the beautiful details in their faces.

 There were many smaller birds, but this lone chick-a-dee was my only capture.

 There was lovely play of light and shadow over the dandelions..

and Bill noticed this bird shape in the algae.

 Some white roses..

a rocking horse :) in the pond,

 and two varieties of..

 hydrangeas were just a few of the sights that beautified the surroundings.

 This shot is not cropped!  The herons go about their hunting, seemingly oblivious to..

cameras, humans and small dogs (on leash).  I love to watch the super-slow movement..

 of their feet..

 as they prepare..

 to pounce on prey.

 Whenever Black Jack became a little too interested in her surroundings, Bill would pick her up for a little settle-down time.  Look at those eyes and her left hind foot :)

 In the evening after supper, Tupper paid us another visit. 

 Good dog, Black Jack!

 I could make many jokes about these next two photos, but I will just say that..

 I hope Tupper understood the monumental honour bestowed upon her.  (I couldn't fit her into the shot but she is just inches away from Bill's hand.)

 She followed us across the street, walking.  I'll never understood why she does that rather than fly.  It's a very quiet street, and there's a pedestrian crossing but she took her time.  A kind motorist watched her follow us and smiled as we tried nervously to encourage her to speed up a little.  On the other side, we sat on this garden wall,  

 enjoying a lovely time..

 with her.  Bill had turned his hat around to get the photos.  I have to say I think he's adorable.

 After we had given her as much food as we thought was good for her, 

 we sat, talking and enjoying the beautiful evening.  Joe, one of our favourite neighbours, joined us (sorry, no photo) with his little dog, Jimmy.  Tupper waited just behind us, listening to our conversation.  You know how neighbours used to sit outside their homes on hot summer evenings, talking and enjoying the cool breeze?  Well, that's how I felt.  Bill, Black Jack, Joe, Jimmy..  and Tupper.  What a wonderfully contented feeling I had.  Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share it.  Don't forget to stop by Theresa's fence meme.  Have a wonderful Thursday!