A December to Remember

Ever the optimist, I tried playing pickleball last night with predictable results. Too much, too soon. After a few games my elbow area was letting me know that it was not ready for even the slightest strain. So, instead of playing this morning, I sat at my computer deleting photographs, a task I find laborious, but in the interest of my hard drives, necessary. Somehow I ended up on the month of December, 2017. Perhaps you might remember that we were living in beautiful Vancouver at the time? I thought you would. As you might imagine, I took a lot of photographs that month, but that number is now 826 less than it was before. As I was going through them one by one, I found some good stuff I'd forgotten about, so because the job is not much further along, I decided it could be fun to look back. I hope you agree.

But first, I am loving the shininess of the new tile which, of course, will look better once the grout is applied. 

It took most of yesterday for Daniel to tile the arch, as well as some of today, but now it looks like this:

He is very methodical, taking his time to get it right. Small tiles at the ceiling line and he is almost done with the walls!! The countertop with sinks arrive Monday, and we have the bathtub painting scheduled for the following Monday. Marching closer every day!

While I won't bore you with all that transpired in December, I will be sharing a bunch. 

Make of it what you will.

Countless times I've mentioned how we kept our tiny tree up from the middle of November to the end of March to help keep the gloom away. Here is the baby tree with the ornaments still on and our darling Baxter who was weeks away from being too sick to keep going. (Only the lights remained for most of the time) This was taken during a fog white out, something that came as quite the surprise to a Floridian.

I was so intrigued that I went walking to Stanley Park where I got lost in the fog, but not before being amazed. Friendly people helped me find my way.One night in December, we went to our first hockey game which turned out to be a lot of fun.

On our walk home from church one Sunday, we found a spot to watch the Christmas parade on Howe Street. The Chinese influence is everywhere, including many of the floats.

The morning of the day that Matt and Tom were to arrive from London, I saw what I imagined were tiny snowflakes outside the window. At twenty stories up, they were very tiny, but I was sure that is what they must be. Before long this was confirmed by looking at the grass in the park below.

This view is walking out of the building. From what I've been told, that site across the street has now been developed.

Snow, snow, snow, snow...let it snow....lyrics from one of my favorite songs.

Tire tracks on the bike lane (l) and strollers taking a stroll.

We did all sorts of things during their stay, including taking a bus to Whistler for the day. For those who have done the same, you will recall how scenic the Sea to Sky highway is. Going through my photos, I was reminded of what we were sure was a wolf along the side of the road which was very thrilling. The snow in the city melted fairly quickly, but on Whistler Mountain there was plenty. The gondola ride up was a wee bit scary, especially when it stopped for a bit, but what did I expect? 

Did I add that we were not wearing nearly enough clothes? I should have. Tom looks as if he is feeling the cold through his shoes. Matt took this of his parents.

Oh my, how I love the mountains.

We decided to ride the above gondola, what is called the Peak 2 Peak and talk about scary!

I finagled my way onto a window seat at the front of the car for the best views. We are almost there!

Once over to Blackcomb Mountain, we didn't stay long as we were freezing, freezing, freezing. Gathering our nerve, we re-boarded for the journey back to Whistler Mountain. Down the mountain and into the town, we warmed up with tea at earls.

Speaking of "earls", the company is the reason we were blessed to live in Vancouver for a year. We could not have asked for a more good and generous employer and that's a fact. 

The town of Whistler is full of charm and occasional whimsy.

Another trip we took, this time traveling south almost to the border, to White Rock in order to visit with a long lost cousin of Toms. That would be Mount Baker, near Seattle in the distance as seen from the White Rock pier.

The last time they'd seen each other was more than twenty years ago in England, so you would think it would have been difficult to figure out who was who, but really, in spite of loads of others on the pier, it took no time at all. We enjoyed a lovely lunch together at a local pub.

I was anxious to show them Queen Elizabeth park because I'd enjoyed so many visits there. This time though it was far colder than was super comfortable. Nonetheless, we carried on.

Fun decorations were to be found all around the park. Rarely does anyone take my photograph, that is unless Matthew is around.

I can't remember if I'm wearing blush or just plain cold! I'd purchased tickets beforehand to the light show at the nearby Van Dusen garden.  Having no idea what to expect, aside from the fact that it was crazy cold, well, you decide for yourself what you think.

It seemed kind of showy walking towards the entrance and our initial impression held true. Seriously, there were lights everywhere!

Having visited throughout the fall, I'd seen workers stringing lights in the trees, but never imagined it would look quite like this.

If you could physically hang lights on it, they did so, and then some! Very crowded and very cold, we made our way through and back to the warmth of the car and condo. 

For a Christmas gift, I bought tickets to the Cirque de Soleil show in town, made even better because it was within walking distance. A first for us, it was both strange and captivating.

Another night, walking home from the Christmas market at Canada Place, we moseyed through downtown past the skating rink at Robson Square.

So we did all sorts of fun stuff, but we also did stuff like head to the grocery store for Christmas dinner ingredients, walking there along the seawall. Matt is pulling my shopping cart, something that saved me on many occasions.

You cannot visit Vancouver without spending some time in Stanley Park where the Black Capped Chickadees are very friendly.

Dreary when we started our drive, it began snowing while we were visiting the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, where there are tremendous displays of Indigenous art and culture. 

After they left, there was still my birthday to think about. Bruce was thrilled to drive us to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary as a gift in nearby Delta, where there are beautiful mountain views.

Along the way...oh my, a field of hundreds of Snow Geese!

Did I mention it was crazy cold? Oh yes, not by Canadian standards, but most certainly by a Florida couple's standards. A pair of Great Horned Owls was one of the highlights.

If you didn't know better, you would think you were looking at a cat's face, don't you think? The chickadees were friendly there as well.

And here is the last photo I took in December 2017, probably on my way home from shopping. What a joy and privilege it was to live on the twentieth floor of this lovely building.

Which one, you ask? That would be our corner balcony in the building on the right.

Well, that was a trip down memory lane. Our friends Pam and Glen spent only about six months living in New Zealand, probably twenty or more years ago, but, just like Vancouver, it was a glorious place to live and one that will never be forgotten. They still reminisce about how much they loved living there.

Those who are loyal readers may have seen some of this before, and then again, maybe not. I choose photos on the fly, so maybe some of these will be new. For those who are new to this space, perhaps it will inspire you to visit Vancouver in the future. It is a glorious city to visit, and even more so to live there, if only for a year!

Daniel and Herbert will be back on Monday so, until then, we wait.

your friend,

Gail

Never a Dull Moment

You might be tempted to think that I would be bored in Vancouver by now, what with knowing almost no one and spending so much time alone. The truth is, there is never a dull moment here so I am doing just fine. Great, actually.

So, something funny happened on Friday. Driving home from Abbotsford along 1st Street, I noticed some neighborhoods with such amazing Cherry tree canopies, I vowed to find a way to go there on my own. Using my handy app, Citymapper, I discovered I could take the bus from Granville and Drake, only about a ten minute walk away. 31 stops later, I exited the bus on Nanimo and 1st and began walking to Templeton Street. Oh what a sight it was!

As far as I could see, the trees were so full of blooms it was magical. Naturally, my camera was out, HOWEVER, after taking two photographs, the battery died. The crazy thing was that before leaving I put my other battery on the charger, thinking the one in my bag was get-to-go. Shows you what I know. That said, it was delightful walking under the canopy, camera, or no camera. About ten or so blocks later, I walked back over to Nanimo to catch the bus home. One thing that I find so neat about the neighborhoods is that almost no two homes are the same. How that is, I've no idea, but it makes for an entertaining walk.

Before leaving, I was oh so happy that, after weeks of delays, the window washers came.

You've got to imagine that those fellows have no shortage of work around these parts!

After living with bare trees for what seemed like forever, the sight of all of the vibrant green of new leaves is nothing short of glorious. The brightness against one of my favorite buildings along Seymour Street.

I can't remember where I was returning from Friday afternoon, which is irrelevant anyway, I walked into the condo and immediately noticed there was no traffic on the Granville Bridge. What's that all about? The last time there was no traffic was when they were filming that Deadpool chase scene last September.

From my balcony perch, I noticed people looking upward, so back down again to investigate and here's what it was all about.

As one of the major thoroughfares in Vancouver, closing the bridge on a Friday afternoon, well, you can imagine what that does for the rest of the bridges. Talking to some folks, it turns out the same fellow hung from the Burrard bridge the day before, however, they were able to talk him back on. Not so easy this time as the ordeal ended up lasting nearly twelve hours! Or so I read somewhere, however, information was hard to find as they do not report it in the regular media for fear of copycats. All they will publish is that there is an "incident". Bruce woke in the middle of the night and saw the police still gathered. What patience!

Meanwhile the evening light was so beautiful. Again, after so much time under gray skies, it's hard to get enough of this view.

Saturday Bruce went to the office while I did my Saturday chores. That beautiful view from the evening before was no more with rain steadily falling. Because I don't want to miss a thing, after I was done I took a little walk around the neighborhood, wearing my hood and camera under my rain jacket. The extreme red tulips are nearing their end.

Here is where the hair story comes in. Even though I walk this little route most days, Saturday was the first I noticed an Aveda hair salon, that apparently, I'd passed multiple times. Anyway, I stuck my head in the door and long story short, Brent said he could fit me in within the half hour. Slightly nervous having someone new highlight my hair, the woman in the chair piped up, "he's been doing my hair for 25 years so you should do it!" Sold! It actually turned out to be quite entertaining with him juggling about four clients at once, including one older woman who came in for a blow dry. She has him fix her hair when she is in town, living much of the year in London where she has it cut. I learned she used to be a band manager for the likes of Queen and Elton John.  See, I told you it was entertaining. Plus, it turned out very nice.

Look what I see from the balcony--yup Dogwoods.

Sunday was also rainy, and Monday began under very cloudy skies, the perfect time for me to walk to SP. Before I did, however, the bridge provided more entertainment.

This protest was for clean water which I assumed all along that we already had. While this protest seemed relatively mild, apparently hordes of people blocked the doors to City Hall yesterday, demanding affordable housing.  It's hard to argue with their demands when housing costs are so astronomical here.

Back to more lighthearted fare---

The Handkerchief tree is blooming! We are so, so lucky to have three parks within blocks of our place and one of them has what I've just read here, is also called a Ghost tree. When I met the gardeners a few weeks ago, Dale told me to be on the look out as it would be happening soon. Seemingly overnight, these two, very large trees, were covered in both leaves and this cool "handkerchief."

I know you assume I am exaggerating but the flowers here defy imagination. At least mine anyway. If only our azaleas bloomed like the pink ball you see. Should you be wondering, there are leaves on that plant.

Even Bruce noticed the proliferation of blooms, stopping to photograph a red one on his way to work and sending it to me. I'm pretty confidant that this is the only flower photograph on his phone! And oh my goodness, the green of the trees is well, I sound like a broken record don't I?

Even the rocks are turning green!

Green or the Japanese Maple tree? You decide which is more dramatic.

Now I am in the park, with my head bobbing to and fro, in utter amazement over what I am seeing. A smorgasbord for your eyes!

Plus, everything is so big, as I suppose is to be expected in a rain forest climate, but still amazes me. I came across a HUGE Cherry tree with the most unusual color of blooms, that a nearby gardener explained is quite a rare specimen and people are coming from all over to take photographs.

If only there were time and space for you to see what I saw. Alas, both of us would be worn out should I do so, however, I must show you the Anemones that I'm afraid are nearing their season's end.

For the second time, in as many months, the water in the building was turned off from 9-5, leaving me in no rush to return, spending a crazy amount of time walking, and taking it all in. I was thrilled that, once again, I crossed paths with a Northern Flicker, who was, oh so busy digging and digging.

And in a first since coming to Vancouver, I saw a cat and not just any cat, one with super cool markings.

How can you not just gasp with joy when there are these kind of sights to behold?

Unreal, isn't it? Autumn was amazing, however, Spring is pretty darn good. Continuing the same color way, as my friend Irene would call it, here's an interesting tulip I came across.

Growing amongst, what I think are called Bluebells. Looks like this tulip was snatched from the jaws of a paper shredder!

Right about now you are probably agreeing with me that there is never a dull moment here, aren't you? Especially if you are from Florida. Guess what? Continuing that theme, I'm now ready to take the train to Metrotown to see this which should be quite the spectacle, or so I hope! I'll let you know.

yours truly,

Gail