Everyday Stuff

While talking to my sister Maureen Sunday afternoon, she was asking me questions about our life here and I explained that we are doing everyday stuff a good amount of our time. Some of it feels as if we are newlyweds again, what with me making his lunch many days, few kitchen supplies and a lot of time, doing things together. As the days pass there are often just ordinary things that need our attention, like new eyeglasses, teeth cleaning, a haircut for me, that sort of thing. None of those things are all that easy to accomplish when you are new to a city. Anywhere, I suspect.

Tackling the eye situation first, I took a walk to Costco the other day and, of course, along the way my camera emerged from my backpack.

Obviously a bright sunny day making the fall colors really pop. A crazy familiar sight all around downtown are these blue signs designating proposed changes.

Not pictured was a tent to the right of this sign. Most days there is mention in the local media about the lack of affordable housing in the metro Vancouver area with viable solutions hard to come by.

Along Beatty Street, a block-long colorful mural, painted on the embankment adjacent to a parking lot that also will see redevelopment as a new art gallery space.

Previously I'd gotten cash from the ATM at Costco, thinking it would be a good deal.  This time I carefully followed the instructions, and when I saw the exchange rate was 88 cents to the dollar, I realized perhaps it wasn't such a good deal at all because the loonie is currently 80 cents to the USD. That sounds great and all until you find out from this super great lady that your glasses cost, you guessed it, twice as much as in Florida.

I'd been lucky because when I asked about an appt. the fellow told me if I waited half an hour I could get right in. Sold! Just as I suspected, my eyes have changed pretty dramatically, thus if I post photos that just aren't quite right, we'll blame it on my eyes until I get new glasses. She'd talked me into the round glasses in front of her hand, however, I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger, instead opting to wait until Bruce had his exam. While talking to some of the ladies at work, Bruce got  a few ideas about other places to check out. Hard to beat Costco but we'll see.

I don't know how many folks walk down Robson Street each day, a bunch, that for sure, and yet, I've never seen anyone stopping to read these cool little squares placed around the trees near the library.

One of the reasons I wanted to make this temporary move was to witness real seasonal change, having never done so in my life. You can bet I am loving watching the leaves change, as well as the temperature drop. (Talk to me in two months time!)

Just as the heat feels different in Florida, the cooler temperatures do as well. The highs this week are in the low 60's, with nighttime lows in the middle 40's. As I type it is 46 degrees, according to my phone, yet it feels nothing like Florida in the 40's. In fact, we still have several windows open! When the sun is abundant, as it was for most of last week, a light sweater is sufficient.

It probably won't be long before a scene such as this won't be around as they are now considering a ban on balloons in public places. I've read a nickname for Vancouver--Bancouver.

Not nearly as abundant as a month ago, some of the flowers remain.

I'm not even sure what these streetside utility boxes do, but some of them are cleverly painted, including this one near the West End.

I was walking to one of the alternate eyeglass places as recommended, enthralled with the seasonal changes.

Steps strewn with fallen leaves--what's not to like about that?

You've got to wonder who dropped such a tiny lock. :)

Back on the home front for a moment where Bruce is applying dark shoe polish to his new "steel-toed" boots, a requirement here for anyone on a construction site.

By this time Friday evening, the earlier rain had passed.

I spent the rainy day cutting out a pair of pajamas and another blouse. For anyone who sews that comes across this blog, I want to point out how great the Kwik Sew paper is--white, and does not tear easily. I'd never used one before, but if the blouse pattern is any indication, they fit quite well.

You may be wondering why I would make pajamas, and the truth is, not only that I can, but finding affordable, simple stuff like that is not nearly as easy as making my own. Plus I found a cute baby blue fabric with bird eggs on it!

Oh gosh...another super sunset,

taken just before we began walking to a new restaurant that I'd seen, thinking it was a pub, only to discover they serve Italian food.

At the corner of Smithe and Homer, we now know it is fantastic! My pizza was delicious, even if I did have to cut it myself. Clever.

Our mission on Saturday was to visit an upcoming location for Earls in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver. Because it was comfy in the condo, neither of us were all that prepared for how chilly it was when we arrived. Rainy and cold, a harbinger of things to come. Anyway, wearing his new boots that he made look worn with the shoe polish, he talked his way onto the job site, while I roamed around in a few of the stores. The development is called Station Square, adjacent to Metropolis at Metrotown, the largest mall in Western Canada. After Bruce did his business, we jumped back in the car, driving back towards something so cute I'd seen along the way.

Oh my gosh...can you stand it??

Bruce held the umbrella while I took these because I'm not sure when I'll be back out that way. I, of course, was dying!!

Bruce thought they were pretty cute as well, including the nearby bees.

Remember when I took the train to go to a fabric store called Fabricland on Marine Drive, turning back when I discovered it was just too far to walk? Thank God I did because I would have been very disappointed had I walked five miles for what turned out to be, in Bruce's words, an assault to your senses. The outside pretty much sums it up.

I laughed so hard when I uploaded the photos to my computer because neither of us even noticed the subtitle to the place as we walked in the door. Nightmare on Fabric Street pretty much sums it up. In fact it was so ugly that Bruce felt compelled to leave a Google review! Crazy ugly fabrics, albeit wildly expensive,  and sold out of the one pattern I wanted, yikes!! Unfriendly staff....check! We did, however, manage to purchase the supplies needed to make another "elder wrap" for Baxter, as we can't seem to find a good one. Although there is a PetSmart here, they do not carry the one that works the best, and the US stores won't ship to Canada. Thus, I gave it a go, lining it with what I hope is waterproof fabric.

I put the velcro on the wrong side, made it too short, but after modifying and correcting all of my mistakes, now all seems to be good as he wore it last night, and didn't even try to rub it off.

Following the hideous fabric store experience we washed that all away at a place called Craft that Bruce had seen in one of the tourism books. Imagine our surprise when one of the junior designers from Earls was our server!

When he'd seen the photographs in the book he thought it looked a little like the South Beach Yardhouse restaurant, the last one he built as a Darden employee. A little bit inside was similiar (overhead beer lines), not so much on the outside, as this building was a salt warehouse for about fifty years before having a new life as the Canada House during the Olympics. The place where the athletes partied. And now it is a really yummy restaurant, or at least the stuff we got was.

So, you see, really we are just doing somewhat the same stuff as at home...sewing, cooking, medical stuff, Bruce working, and taking little excursions together. Only in a brand new environment.

Finally, my friend Renee from the quilt guild asked if I would agree to be the featured bio in the monthly newsletter. Sure. Except, when I went to find photos of my work, I discovered that my photo library has gone absolutely haywire! Oh, how I don't fancy hours and hours on the phone with Apple Care. Of course, there it is....everyday stuff, just in the Pacific Northwest. :)

yours truly,

Gail