On a May Long Weekend

We took a quick trip to the mainland. My parents recently moved from their home with a garden to maintain to a townhouse where someone else takes care of it. They didn't move far, from Chilliwack to Abbotsford, and now they are living where they first met, probably 65 years ago, or more. 

We spent Friday night with them, and Saturday, seeing where they volunteer at MCC (Mom with quilting and Dad with the thrift store). On Saturday night, after a good dinner cooked by Mom, we drove to Vancouver to spend the night and following day with Ashley and Owen, our Vancouver kids. 

Following church on Sunday we drove to Deep Cove and enjoyed a yummy brunch at The Village Table. Ashley and I had Eggs Benedict, with spinach, tomato and avocado - and we ate all of our platefuls. Tim and Owen had the Village Hash, also good. 

The weather vacillated between sun and clouds, warmth and a bit chilly from the wind. We warmed up considerably during a hike to Quarry Rock. Up through the forest, past trickling streams, catching glimpses of the waters of Indian Arm through the trees. 

The trail is a popular one, too popular, perhaps. I've never been on such a crowded hiking trail. Unfortunately, a few hikers seemed to be unaware of hiking etiquette - some didn't know to stay to one side of the trail, or to stop and let others pass in narrow spots. Worst of all were the ones who carried personal speakers blaring out their choice of music whether one wanted to hear it or not. Hello people, wear earbuds!  

Once we arrived at Quarry Rock, there were fewer people (and no music), and we watched a couple dozen kayaks going to and fro, with a few power boats zooming by occasionally. Sitting on the sun-warmed rock was very pleasant.

Another hiker took this photo of the four of us. The descent took much less time than going up. That evening Tim and I caught the 9 pm ferry home and were tucked up sound asleep by 11:30 or so. 

We've had a lovely Victoria Day Monday at home, puttering in the garden and kitchen, and getting ready for another week of work. It's short one! As you can see, the chives are in full bloom and oh, how the bees love those flowers. Have a wonderful new week!

New Westminster's Waterfront

Last weekend, before the anniversary party, we spent a day in New Westminster, part of Greater Vancouver, BC. The town stretches along the Fraser River, and continues to be an important shipping port. The north side of the riverfront has been revitalized; a long walkway extends beside the water, with pretty housing, flower beds and baskets, and lots of bird life.

Above you can see a heron, the walkway, a CPR train (we had to cross the tracks to get from our hotel to the town), a tea shop in River Market, and a fence of lovers' locks. 
  

A very tall tin soldier stands guard over the children's play area. 
In 1859, New Westminster became the capital of British Columbia, a short-lived honour once the Island joined the province and the capital moved to Victoria. The city was named by Queen Victoria for her favourite part of London - Westminster. 

One of the gardens planted along the walkway, with the river in the background. 

I recently discovered a Canadian connection to Highclere Castle, the film location of Downton Abbey. The 4th Earl of Carnarvon served Queen Victoria as Colonial Secretary and aided in the passing of the British North America Act in 1867 that created the country of Canada. In helping construct the Act, Lord Carnarvon wanted to see the Senate have a limited tenure, in place of the "for life" status others argued for. I wish he had persevered. 

Our first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, was a guest at Highclere and wrote that it was "one of the swellest places in England." 

So it tickled my fancy to find a street in New Westminster named Carnarvon, named for the Lord of Highclere Castle. Some of this information I discovered on Lady Carnarvon's blog, and more from history sites. 

Linking with Mosaic Monday (on hiatus until September after this week), hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life. 

A Weekend in Vancouver

Cherry trees arch across the street where our youngest daughter and her husband live in Vancouver. The trees are some of those donated in 1958 by the Japanese Consul, Muneo Tanabe, as "an eternal memory of good friendship between our two nations." 

The trees are aging. Ashley told us of a neighbour who, as she parked her car on the street, heard a crashing sound behind her and saw that a tree limb large enough to span the road, had fallen just behind her car. 

These days, traffic on these streets is busier as many people come to photograph the trees. They bloom all over the city, but the ones in this area are a bit later and attract those who just can't get enough of the Prunus genus. I know I was out there with my camera snapping away. 

The City regulations allow for backyard chickens. We got to meet Gala, Fuji (rather feisty), McIntosh, and Granny Smith. They live in a large and airy coop in the back garden. I helped Ashley do some weeding on Saturday morning and we were sure to save the good weed greens, such as dandelions and chickweed) as a treat for the hens.

The hens lay around 5 eggs per week each. Each hen's eggs are a slightly different colour. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of fresh eggs, bacon, pastries from a local bakery, and sliced tomatoes.

A weekend goes by so very fast. While Ashley and I weeded, Owen and Tim went to the lumber yard for supplies to repair the deck. We walked, just a few blocks, to Le Marché St. George for a lunch of crepes and/or quiche, and the spiciest chai tea I've ever tasted. It was too spicy for me, so Tim got to drink two bowls. The tiny restaurant was jam-packed, so, in spite of the chilly rain, we ate outdoors, on the sidewalk, à la française. Cozy blankets and pillows provided by the restaurant kept us warm.

We crossed on the ferry Sunday afternoon, in time for dinner with the families who live on this side of the water. 

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life.  

Mosaic Monday: Vancouver Weekend

Friday afternoon: I left school as quickly as possible, met up with my eldest daughter and daughter-in-law, and together we caught the 5 pm ferry to Vancouver. My younger daughter met us on the other side for a girls' weekend. We stayed at Ashley's home in the Mount Pleasant area of the city, where trees planted long ago now arch over the narrow streets. 

It was a weekend of good food, laughter, and fun to celebrate my birthday. Ashley prepared a Turkish inspired breakfast on Saturday morning of poached eggs in ramekins with cream, herbs, and harissa oil, along with fresh bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. She used her beautiful Lomonosov china and I'm sure that made the tea taste better. It was delicious to the eyes and taste buds. 

For several hours, we played with Shibori techniques of fabric dyeing. Ashley got her vat of indigo dye working and we tied, scrunched, stitched, and dipped. I'll do another post later on the fun we had and show the beautiful results.

We later wandered through stores we don't have here on the Island - Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, and more. We looked, were inspired, and purchased little. On the way back to the car I spied a clothing store and the girls helped me choose a couple of things for myself. 

On Saturday evening we went to Grub, an unassuming name for a small restaurant that served a most wonderful dinner. I had a roasted vegetable salad, then the most tender gnocchi ever, followed by roast duck, and a Mexican chocolate pie that hinted at cinnamon, served with a pear compote. As we rolled out of the restaurant, we noticed a used bookstore still open and wandered in for a pleasant half hour or so of browsing through stacks of books. We each purchased a few. 

This morning we went to Slickity Jim's for brunch. The menu had such inventive names - my poached eggs with caramelized onions, gorgonzola sauce and spinach on English muffins was called "The Breakfast of Broken Dreams" - others were "Tip toe through the Tulips," "To Mock a Killing Bird," and so on. 

After a rain-filled day on Saturday, Sunday was gloriously sunny and the mountains visible as we drove down Main Street. 

Thank you for your kind birthday wishes from my last post. We caught the ferry home this afternoon and Tim and I spent a quiet evening at home. I feel well celebrated! 

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life. 

City Life

Last Wednesday this school teacher hopped a big, yellow school bus for a trip to the big city. 5100 teachers met for a conference for independent schools. The conference was both inspiring and overwhelming. So many ideas. Too many ideas. 

North Vancouver seen from the Conference Centre

Many people confuse the city of Vancouver with Vancouver Island. They are not the same place. Vancouver (the city) is on the North American Continent. Vancouver Island is roughly 100 kilometres from Vancouver, and is accessible by air and water. There is no fixed link. 

I took a break from the crowds during one lunch hour for a walk around the block. With my camera. I find the city very beautiful, although I never want to live there. The far building is slanted out towards the street and it appears to be leaning over for a better look at the water.

So many glass towers reflecting sky and sea. And each other. Buildings within buildings.  

Our closing speaker was Col. Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station. He spoke, then ended with a revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, a song that he sang from space. Have you watched any of his YouTube videos? He made life in space real for many people.

Car co-ops are very popular in Vancouver. Here is a row of Cars-to-Go ready for use. Our city-based children don't own their own car - they use public transit or pick up one of these car share vehicles. Saves on parking and insurance! It was great to meet up one evening to share dinner.

At least the grass was green. Little else showed much colour. Grey, grey, grey, intermixed with rain, rain, rain.

I enjoyed the visit to vibrant, beautiful Vancouver, but was happy to get back to our smaller city across the water. Is city life for you? 

Weekend Celebration

The suitcases were beside the door. I came home from school, dropped off my bag and away we went, hoping to catch the 4 pm ferry to Vancouver. Success! I brought my camera along, but didn't use it once. I did use my I phone so the photo quality is not that great.

We spent the evening with Owen and Ashley. Vancouver is a beautiful city. In the above photo, Science World's dome looks like a huge moon against the north shore mountains.
 

Here's the real moon, almost full, shining down on the endless construction scenes in this city that never stops growing. Real estate is about $1,000.00 per square foot so I don't know how anyone starting out can afford to buy a home. 
 

My three walking companions and I walked first to Peaceful Restaurant for the best Chinese food (northern China) that I've ever had. A bit spicy and everything freshly made in house. Delicious!
 

We wandered around False Creek for awhile, then headed over to Earnest Ice Cream. At 9 pm on a cool spring evening with a chilly wind blowing in from the water the lineup went out the door. 

I'm not very much a fan of ice cream, but I indulged in a Caramel Corn Sundae - buttery sweet ice cream, rich salted caramel sauce, whipped cream and a sprinkling of fresh caramel popcorn. Truly an indulgence and worth it!
 

Saturday afternoon we were in Chilliwack, about 1.5 hours from Vancouver, for a very special dinner with my parents and siblings. The beautiful couple above are celebrating 60 years of marriage this month. There will be a bigger family gathering in July. This dinner marks the start of what I hope will be many celebrations to mark this event. I'm so thankful for my parents' love for God, for each other, and for their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. They are wonderful!

City Views and Country Views

Pale pinky skies. Early light glints off skyscrapers in downtown Vancouver, seen from our daughter and son-in-law's apartment.
 

I open the fifth floor apartment window, carefully hang the camera around my neck and lean out to take photos from different angles. The view straight ahead - white church spires draw the eye upwards.
 

Driving eastward from Vancouver we walk along the path at Fish Trap Creek in Abbotsford, just behind the home we lived in while Tim completed his masters degree.
 

Cold blue skies and even colder wind made the walking brisk and a little short. The geese and ducks seemed happy enough.
 

Further east yet to Chilliwack and a mid-afternoon walk with Tim and my father. Mist rises from the river, gulls ride the air currents and the mountain tops are white with fresh snow.

Mount Cheam leans over the town, pristine white.
 

Crystal clear skies. Blue shadows and white snow. Awe-inspiring in spite of the chill.

Dinner tonight with my parents and siblings. The scent of roasting ham fills the house along with the wine-poached pears cooling on the counter. Home again tomorrow and then, a new year. 

Wishing all of my readers a most joyous beginning to 2015.

A German Christmas Market comes to Vancouver

Our Vancouver kids are the travelers who spent 10 months in Europe a couple of years ago. Two of those months were in Berlin. They enjoyed visiting the Christmas markets during November and December.

For the past 5 years, a German Christmas market has come to Vancouver. It's set up in the Queen Elizabeth Plaza downtown. From their apartment, Owen, Ashley and I walked about 45 minutes through streets thronging with people and brightly lit shops. 
 

 

 The market is aglow with lights and small stands featuring wares from Poland, Turkey, Germany, and Canada. We sipped mugs of Gluhwein as we strolled through the stalls looking at wooden toys, homemade soaps, textiles, ornaments and much more.

Dinner was a crispy schnitzel with mushroom gravy and potato salad shared by Ashley and me. Owen had a Bratwurst with onions and sauerkraut. It was all delicious!
 

Ashley and I posed in front of the huge Christmas tree. The Nutcracker stood outside the Kathe Wohlfahrt store which features decorations including ornate German pyramids and delicate glass ornaments. No photos were allowed. I purchased a new tree topper for our Christmas tree. 

In the centre of the above photo, Ashley and Owen are each eating a Rotato - a deep fried potato twisted around a stick. We had a lot of fun. I'm sure that centre photo is blurry because I was laughing so hard.

After getting chilled on our walk home we enjoyed hot chocolate and a couple of games of Bananagrams before bed. The next day was packing and cleaning. I wasn't there for the actual move - that's  happening today and tomorrow. 

Linking with Judith of Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday.  

Beautiful Grey

Our time in Vancouver and then Chilliwack last week went by quickly. But I found time, one afternoon, while Ashley had class, to walk along the seawall at Stanley Park, from English Bay to Siwash Rock. I'd hoped to go further, but time was marching on, so I turned back.

The sunny days dissolved into misty grey while we were there. Sea, sky, and shore blended into monochromatic vistas, save for the occasional pop of brilliant leaves.
 

Tankers at anchor in the harbour await their turn to load or unload. They, too, melted into the landscape.
 

Birds hung out on the rocks. In the bottom center photo, a cormorant spreads its wings to dry. I learned recently that cormorants have feathers with more "wet-ability" than other seabirds, to enable them to compress their feathers in order to be able to dive deeper for fish. Hence the wide-spread wing stance on the rocks. It would have been a chilly day for air-drying.

Linking with Mary for Mosaic Monday, at the Little Red House.

Over the Sea and Home Again

Monday, July 1, was Canada Day. We celebrated by a quickly planned trip to the mainland. Our afternoon cruise was delightful - warm and sunny, with always stunning scenery.
 

After leaving the car at our daughter and son-in-law's home, we walked, rode buses and the metro, walked some more and enjoyed the beautiful city of Vancouver. People were out in droves enjoying the holiday and sunshine. 
 

After a picnic supper in Stanley Park, we wandered along the waterfront until we found a patch of grass on a slope where we spread our blanket and sat to wait for the fireworks. But we needed ice cream! We left Tim to hold down the fort (blanket) and the three of us walked some more. Owen works downtown and knew of a place that sold "the world's best gelato." The lineup to get into the store curled down around the corner. We waited at least 30 minutes to get in.
 

Owen wasn't exaggerating. Bella Gelateria won the Florence Gelato Festival in 2012. 

We asked for cups of gelato instead of cones to make carrying it back to the blanket easier. It was so hot; with a cup of gelato in each hand, walking as quickly as possible through the crowds, drips and melts were inevitable in spite of my periodic taste swipes. Here's the end result - empty cups and happy tummies. 
 

The crowds were so pleasant. Beside us a Philipino family played cards while waiting for the fireworks. People chatted, read, and played. About 100,000 people came to downtown Vancouver for the celebration. It was fun to be a part of it. So many languages and cultures came together. I'm a proud Canadian.
 

The next day, Owen returned to work, Tim and I did some errands with Ashley, and then we took Tim to the bus terminal where he caught the ferry back while Ashley and I shopped. On Wednesday the two of us went downtown again. Lunch at Lily Mae's was delightful - a scrumptious chicken confit sandwich and salad, eaten while watching the flow of interesting people on the sidewalk. All in all, a very good little trip. 

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers!