Never mind that 10 year Katrina/flood anniversary thingy. We had our OWN 10 year celebration recently: the Ball&Chain and I married shortly after the flood. For OUR 10 year commemoration, we decided to leave the Big Easy, and frolic in my mother country. One of the most beautiful places on the planet is Canada’s west coast, and I am particularly smitten with the western edge of Vancouver Island. It is wild, pristine and breathtaking.

Western Shore of Vancouver Island

Western Shore of Vancouver Island

Beach With Driftwood & The Ball&Chain

Beach With Driftwood & The Ball&Chain

The area is also a rain forest. Here’s the stairway to heaven in one of the old growth forests!

Stairway To Heaven

Stairway To Heaven

Just before our trip, the Ball&Chain picked up a copy of National Geographic at the news stand, in it was a very interesting article about a creature I’d never heard of: the sea wolf. Sea wolves only live on Canada’s west coast islands and Alaska. These wolves swim! They eat seafood and barnacles! And guess what? On our bear watching tour, we not only got to see a mama bear with her two cubs, but we also got to see not one, but TWO elusive sea wolves! Even the tour guide was shocked and started snapping photos. Here’s one of my lame shots of the pair:

2 Sea Wolves

Elusive Sea Wolves: The black one is the female.

Check out this link to the article with way better photographs:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/sea-wolves/mcgrath-text

Enough about me. This is October, and that means tourmalines! I managed to create a couple of pieces before our little holiday.

Rose Cut Pink Tourmaline Pendant Necklace On Labradorite

Rose Cut Pink Tourmaline Pendant Necklace On Labradorite

Carved Pink Tourmaline Flower Necklace With Australian Opals On Apatite Strand

Carved Pink Tourmaline Flower Necklace With Australian Opal Centers On Apatite Strand

Rubelite (Pink Tourmaline) Earrings With Pink Watermelon Tourmaline Drops

Rubelite (Pink Tourmaline) Earrings With Pink Watermelon Tourmaline Drops

Want more? Here’s an encore presentation of some of my favorite tourmaline earrings in the shop (click on the photos for more details):

Watermelon Tourmaline Double Drop Miss Matched Earrings With Peridot Briolettes

Watermelon Tourmaline Double Drop Miss Matched Earrings With Peridot Briolettes

Rose Cut Tourmaline & Watermelon Tourmaline Triple Drop "Miss Matched" Earrings

Rose Cut Green Tourmaline & Watermelon Tourmaline Triple Drop “Miss Matched” Earrings

PinkWaterTourmEarrings4

Rubelite Crystal Earrings With Raw Watermelon Tourmaline Slice Drops

Rubelite Crystal Earrings With Raw Watermelon Tourmaline Slice Drops