Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Thanksgiving Their Way

Before we get into how some Canadians, in Vancouver at least, celebrate Thanksgiving, let's do some fall color, shall we?
Looking down from the balcony the trees are in various stages of change.
Speaking of the balcony, how about this for a sunrise?
Whew...can you stand all this color? There is a wonderful stretch on Hornby that I am in love with.
I was on my way to order new eyeglasses for the two of us at Clearly on Robson Street. Unlike the clerks at the place in Yaletown where Bruce had his eyes examined, Jen seemed delightful to work with us, even if we are old.
The good news is we were able to purchase our glasses at Clearly for about half of what we would have paid at Costco.  The longer we are here, the wiser we are becoming about shopping. From there I went over to Hudson's Bay on Georgia, a department store that is totally working for me.  Carrying all price ranges for goods makes for some excellent choices. Leaving the store, I got a kick out of this Little Pony shirt as high fashion. I think the lady who wandered into my photo thought as much.
I'm not sure how I have missed this awesome alleyway, adjacent to the Orpheum Theater, in my previous walks but ooh la la...what great color, especially on a dreary day such as this morning.
Next door to the dry cleaners is a little florist shop that oftentimes has some cute outdoor displays.
On the home front, the buttons are all sewn on, the pjs washed, and I am wearing them as I type.
Little bird eggs for the win! Today's high will be 52 degrees with a low of 43.

Saturday afternoon I walked, once again, to DressSew, this time for a zipper as I wanted to make some zipper pouches as hostess gifts. Along the way I couldn't help but notice how the leaves almost perfectly matched the building color. So pretty in person!
Wendy, the head of design at Earls invited us, along with Claudia from the office (I've forgotten what she does), to dinner at their lovely home in North Vancouver. It was decided that the three of us would share a cab so no one would have to drive home after a few drinks. Isn't Claudia lovely?
Wendy and Marty are both Vancouver natives, Wendy having grown up close to where they live now with their 13 year old son. The meal was just wonderful. During our conversation I learned that they were skipping Thanksgiving, aside from brunch with their family on Sunday. Seriously?
Honestly, we had such a good time, and of course, I was loving the fact that they are real Canadians as I've actually met so few. A 20 year Vancouverite, Claudia emigrated from South Africa. Interesting to note that not all cab rides are equal...the first leg of our trip cost $10 more as the driver went a different route. Also of note...Uber is banned here, or at least for now. On the other hand, marijuana is pretty prevalent.

So, thinking about Wendy and Marty Sunday morning, I should not have been surprised when Bruce said we were going to Zarita's in the afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner. Although the actual date is Monday, it seems as if people are prone to do what works for them. So, the pouch I was going to make had to get done ASAP before church. In spite of making some stupid mistakes, I managed to recover.
Walking to church, the trees look as if they are on fire along Burrard Street.
In Florida we may not have red trees, but the brilliant yellows and pinks of our Tabebuia trees are pretty great too.

The church was decorated with loving care.
Have you ever seen anyone use an empty pumpkin as a vase before?
We drove to Burnaby to join Zarita, Gregg, and some of their family for dinner. Burnaby is pretty darn big, according to this, the third largest city in British Columbia. It really is just an extension of Vancouver.

Gregg is from a large farm in Manitoba and Zarita is from Calgary. This is one of Gregg's brothers with their darling little boy who looks so much like my Bruce when he was this age.
Wasn't it wonderful of them to invite us to share in their Thanksgiving feast?
Following dinner we made our way back into downtown to attend to Baxter, although he, more than likely, slept during our absence. Mr. Baxter is showing his age more and more, not just with the potty training business, but I believe he's losing both his eyesight and his hearing. I can call him from across the room and he barely turns around. Further, sometimes he wanders around like he doesn't know where to go. It is pretty sad to witness. On the other hand, his new wrap is working well, so that is a positive.

The sun rose on the actual Thanksgiving day, and we took off for an adventure, seeing a run, perhaps a Turkey Trot like they hold in Orlando, along our way.
As this post has gone on for a while, I'll save the adventure for next time. I will say it was pretty darn beautiful.

yours truly,

Gail

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