Friday, August 31, 2012

This, That and the Other

A Friday Medley of totally unrelated pictures!

The thermostat went down a few days ago, shocking after seeing 82 degrees!  If it were Winter or Spring, the heat would be turned on, instead we revelled in it!

A Cops for Cancer auction at our friendly local Credit Union.

My pretty wallet from one of my dear daughters!

A lazy offering on this last day of August, 2012!

I sure hope you have a lovely, lazy, interesting weekend ahead.  I know My Beloved and I will.  There will be no labouring.

Happy Friday!


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Summertime Skies

The skies during the last few days of August have been putting on a spectacular show.  Giant white fluffies, black, threatening skies, horsetails and mackrel skies.  So beautiful. 

I snapped these with my iPod.










I hope you take a few minutes tomorrow and the next day and the next, to find your own jet planes, and bunnies and babies, oh my!

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I'm Never Going to Make It!

We/I, listen mainly to CBC Radio, and often at the end of an interview they will  ask the guest, "What are you reading this Summer?"  They give some interesting answers, and if I'm driving in the car, or worse, driving the car, if the book premise sounds good, I'm bound and determined to remember the title, or the author, but sadly often do not!  Which is probably just as well as I usually have a stack of "Summer Reads" at the ready. 

Heck, even worse than the stack, is the list I carry with me on my iPod, or on notes tucked in my wallet.  They often come from book reviews, ripped  out of magazines or newspapers.  To make matters worse, when my Cousin Mel came for a visit this past Summer, we talked about reading.  Big mistake.  She gave me this awesome list of potentials and promised to bring me a stack of reads next Summer.  Can't wait! 

When my husband asks, "do you want to go to Chapters?", I cringe.  Cringe because I can never leave that story (did you see what I just typed--story--not store, Freudian slip??) empty handed.  I'm obsessed with books.  Looking for them, wandering among the shelves, plucking, reading, deciding, buying--stock piling!  Just you wait Munroes, best book store ever, in Victoria, I'm coming for a visit soon!

I blame my Mom, who is also an avid reader.  We used to trade books all the time, but she's slowed down on her Summer Reading a little, so I usually just lend them to her without returns, returns as in another one to add to my stack! 

I think my reading obsession started when my Mom and Dad bought this lovely old house in Kelowna.  The previous owners left a ton of Reader's Digest Condensed books behind, and while I couldn't read most of them, I tried.  I'd pick out a story that I thought I could tackle, I was only 9 or 10 at the time, and tried to read it, to make sense of the story.  Curses on you former owners.  That's what started it.  Stacks of books!  Books!  Books!  Books!

This morning as I was listening to the Early Edition, Rick Cluff, said that Summer is ending in 25 days.

25 Days?

Gosh, I'm not going to make it with My Summer Reads!  I have only just finished Canada, a Novel by Richard Ford, and three others before that.  I just cracked open a book about the Mormons, Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer.   I still have this stack of books to be gotten through, to be enjoyed, to be explored, be illuminated by, to have adventures with.



Forget the housework,
forget the gardening,
forget everything.
Stop the presses,
Autum is coming,
and I've got me some reading to do.
Gotta go!   

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Passing By

Today we walked on a lovely pathway going eastbound, on a pathway I haven't been able to walk on for months and months.  The last time we walked it was Winter with just a touch of Spring in the air.  Today nearing the end of Summer the route has changed so much.  For one thing it came to life!

The City has been hacking away at all of the bramble bushes, which is a good thing because as wide as the pathway is, those prickly brambles were starting to lay their vines over the pathway.

Another thing we noticed was this magnificent Oak Tree.  Last time we saw it, it was just trunk and branches.  Today, luxurious shade!

Another interesting thing we noticed, are the individual gardens that people plant on the Green space between their homes and the walkway.  They go to so much care and trouble and quite frankly, I'm shocked that they are not destroyed by those that get a charge out of such things.  Corn and beans and everything else grows abundantly and undisturbed.  It's really quite wonderful.

I took some pictures of one of these gardens to share with you.






These flower petals were so soft, you could barely tell you were touching them.  Amazingly different from the prickly leaves of the plant.

If it grows outside of its' fence is it fair picking?


 Next Summer I want to plant this vine beside our back deck!

These flowers reminded me of my Dad.  We always received the most beautiful bouquets from him at this time of year.  I miss Dad and these flowers even more than ever now!

I hope the waining days of August are being kind to you.

Happy Monday!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sweet Rides

I spotted this car and wished that the driver would take me for a spin, with the top down of course!  It's a beauty.

While I was waiting for My Beloved, up pulled this old pick-up.  The creaky door as the driver opened and closed it reminded me of our '53 Chevy.  They don't make creaky doors like that anymore.  Funny thing is, I didn't mind hearing it again.  Sure beats when someone puts their aftermarket security system on just as you are passing!  Beep Beep--How rude.

Happy Sunday!




Saturday, August 25, 2012

"Rook"-ies

Today these two guys went head-to-head and ended up being so worn out when it was over, but it was worth the effort.

Cameron and his Papa played chess


 The strategists!
 
Trying to outplay each other!
\Someone is smiling!

Guess who won!

Well played Grandson, but fairwarning, Papa will live to fight another day!

I hope your day played out well too.

Happy Saturday!


Friday, August 24, 2012

Which Way You Goin' Billy?

These past weeks we've been "revisiting" some of our local, but farther away pathways. 

This one, is off the very busy 88th Street and HWY 1 in The Grove, cutting south.  It's kind of like being in Stanley Park.  You see all sorts of flora and fauna, as well as  Old growth trees, nursemaid trees, hangey-down moss, and the like.  It's really quite beautiful. (I know, I know, no townhouses in Stanley Park, but you get the idea.)  To the right of this pathway is the ravine, with a trickle of a stream visible in places along route.  It's a nice little getaway and on extremely sunny days, shady.


You go left, I'll go right.  Meet you on the other side!

 A friendly traffic director I met along the way!


You are a cute one Mr. A., meet you on the other side for sure!

Wherever your path leads you today, I hope it was good.

Happy Friday! 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

For Old Time's Sake

Yesterday My Beloved and I took 2 of our Granddaughters, Caroline and Catie, to a 1920s, Heritage Village www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca in Burnaby.  What a wonderful place to wile away the hours. We  hadn't been there for over 30 years, which was when our kids were young, and it didn't disappoint.  I believe it has aged better than we have too.

We visited the ice cream parlour, the restored tram, the blacksmith, the farmhouse, the schoolhouse, the church, the general store, the bakery, the bank and the log cabin as well as Tom Irvine's bachelor house built in 1911. 

Sadly the lovely little steam train no longer chugs along there, but . . . there's the beautifully restored Carousel.  In fact it is celebrating its' 100th year.  That was the highlight of the visit to Heritage Village. That and the ice cream cones, one chocolate mint, the other bubblegum.  It was a fun day with two fun little girls.

  
 Two little beauties eager for their adventure!

 The magnificent "topiary" that were so huge and cool to look at!

 This tram station was restored in 2008.  It was built in 1911.

Waiting" for the Tram to arrive at the Vorce Tram Station

Sitting on the tram.  I remember taking the tram with my Granny, down Hastings Street, to see my Mom who was working at Woodwards at the time.  Did you know that the Conductor had to buy his own uniform?  Wow, BC Electric had it their own way back then.

 Catie with her bubblegum icecream cone.

 Caroline with her cone of the day!

Before we left for our adventure, the kids didn't know where we were going.  They guessed a movie.  Well they were partially right, this is inside the Central Park Theatre where a Charlie Chaplin movie was playing.  They were fascinated by it and we stayed for the remainder of the movie.  (The flash of course made everything thing light up.)  In 1920 it would have cost us 10 cents a child, but for us, it was free!

Two little lovlies by their chosen horses!  Caroline picked the spotted pony, Catie the one with roses.

 The beautiful stained glass window in the Church.

The Blacksmith demonstrating how to make a coat hook.  Somehow, his glove caught on fire, he flipped it off and it went flying through the aire so quickly, that it made us laugh.  He got a bit of a burn on his arm, not laughing about that.  But first, he finished his demo, and told us to pass the hook around and he took off to have it tended to.

This dining room reminded us of our Daughter and Son-in-law's heritage home in Vancouver.

Sitting on the comfortable chairs, and looking very much at home, outside on the patio at Elworth house.

 Fishing on the patio at the Jesse Love Farmhouse

I heard that if you visit the farmhouse in the Winter, on a Saturday, they bake cookies and share them with the guests.   Hmmm, repeat visit in our future perhaps?

We had a wonderful day with our two little flowers.

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Tour deFootpath

It has been well documented on my Blog about My Beloved and his awesome bicycle abilities,  but have you ever wondered about mine?

Well, the truth is, as a kid I used to ride my bike all over the place.  When we lived in Kelowna, miles away from the school, would you believe that even in the snow we rode our bikes!  Yup, true fact.  My dear Brother got the idea of wrapping chains on our front tires.  We did that, tried it out, it worked, we rode them!

Even getting knocked off my bike by a car who was parked head in and backing out onto the main street, while I was riding by in beautiful downtown Kelowna, didn't stop me.  I got up and got right back on it and went to City Park for a swim, no sweat!

When we moved to Vancouver, I used to walk my bike up the huge Ontario Street hill to Sexsmith Elementary, eagerly looking forward to the ride home.  It was a blast, flying downhill, with nary a concern for my life for the cars darting off the side streets to greet me.

When I went to Churchill, if I wasn't busing, or being driven by My Beloved, I'd sometimes take my bike.  As happens in such a big school however, it wasn't terribly cool to be a biking student.  I quickly learned that and soon gave it up and walked, bused or if lucky enough got a ride.  In other words, worked at being cool, when in fact, it was dang inconvenient and I never did get "cool" status anyway.

When the kids were babies, I used to have a bike carrier on the front and back of my brand, spanking new, Simpson Sears catalogue ordered bike.  Our middle daughter April still remembers being strapped into the seat behind me while I drove her to Merry King Nursery School.  No doubt I terrorized her each time we got up to Number 1 Road after making a left turn off of Williams.  You see, just after we turned left, there were ditches on our right hand side, the side we were on (before dedicated bike lanes).  Each time we passed it, I'd warn her, "don't jiggle April, we don't want to fall into the ditch!"  Probably the first dozen times I said that, I meant it.  The remainder of the year, it was more of a habit, because that sweet little blondie didn't move a muscle.  In fact, if I could have turned around to see her, (and wiggled the bike), she probably didn't even dare to blink!  Believe me, she still remembers being on that bike.

I'm fairly certain you've probably heard the expression, it's like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it.  Wrong, buffalo breath.  Bike riding is an activity that you can actually forget how to do.  I am living proof of that.

For years, the poor old bike got jammed into the garage, and was left to collect cob-webs until one day My Beloved basically said, use it or lose it, but in a much nicer way.  So, on I got.  I rode the bike to the end of the cul-de-sac, made a very slow turn onto Cabot (a fairly busy street), was going way too slow, utterly forgot that I could put my feet on the ground,  and promptly did a slow-moe fall right into a rose bush. Sheesh!

A smiliar "threat" happened out here in The Grove.  Again, I tried it, I liked it, but the bike had an issue, so back up on the wall it went.  That is, until this year, when My Beloved asked ever so sweetly, "should we get rid of the bike?", naw, let's try it again.  So he walked it to the closest bike shop, got it fixed, put air in the tires and I tried it again last night.

It was an auspiscious start. My Beloved offered to turn the bike around for me, I said, no it's okay, I can do it, and promptly knocked over the planter on the sidewalk!  Nervously laughing, I walked it out to the street did the first pedal and my knee hurt like H-E-double hockey sticks!  The seat was  way too low because that was an issue for me last year, so I had to stop before I got 2 pedals in.  Back to the house, readjusted the seat, which made me nervous, because I want to be able to stand up and hit the ground with my feet pronto.  Of course My Beloved was right, he raised the seat and voila, no knee pain!  I was just about to start up the road--again, but noticed that 2 beautiful Labs were running loose on their front yard.  I am not ready for swaying past any moving thing, so off I chugged up the Footpath beside our house to practice. 

BLISS, ABSOLUTE BLISS, riding that old bike once again. I rode that thing back and forth, forth and back.  Then when the Labs went inside, I rode it up and back on the street and did a few wide turns on the cul-de-sac.   I've still got some work to do on making wide turns but I feel ever so confident that I can do it and am looking forward to challenging the cul-de-sacs that abound in our neighbourhood.  So look out!

Thanks Mr. D. for all of your encouragement.  I'll never be anywhere as good as you are, but I'll have fun trying with you rolling by my side!


 Look Ma-riding with one hand!




(Our kids coined this bike the "suicide bike" mean little spirits that they are.)  Here it hangs waiting for another venture around The Grove.  Wish me luck!

I sure hope everything is rolling along smoothly for you.

Happy Tuesday!