End of the weekend

Last night we decided to take public transit out to the River Rock casino in Richmond for a birthday celebration. I am quite enjoying this new experience of having a seat on the bus offered to me. As I don't spend a lot of time in front of a mirror these days, it is surprising to acknowledge that others must see me as a white haired old woman!

On the return trip to downtown Vancouver a young woman immediately stood and offered us her seat and the empty seat beside her. I happily accepted but John, perceiving himself to be younger than his true self, refused her generosity and teetered on his pins for half of the trip. When another seat finally became available, he plopped down by the window and was immediately joined by a "white faced ghoul" with a stitched bloody scar across her cheek and hair laden with dead leaves. She was obviously on her way to a Rocky Horror party. Of course it was one of those times when I had left the camera and the iPhone in the apartment!! Back on Davie Street we found ourselves in the midst of various monsters and ghouls lurching along.

This morning we woke to another gorgeous day...walked down to Denman Street for coffee and a reunion for John at the gym. While he was lifting weights I enjoyed a walk around Coal Harbour watching kayaks in the water, seaplanes landing and a ridiculous number of small dogs with their poop-scooping owners.

Coal Harbour yellow harvest of leaves

When we returned to Cloverdale the temperature was 18 degrees and a warm wind was blowing leaves from the trees out front. Intent on harnessing the leaves we attacked the front lawn with great zeal...for the fifth time ...and discovered that the leaves on our neighbour's lawn were being carried over to us! 

With any luck the wind will blow the remaining leaves off 

and we will do the final raking tomorrow!

A Vancouver weekend

We are enjoying a weekend in Vancouver and an opportunity to attend the preview performance of Calendar Girls at the Metro Theatre last night. What a great story!...and the cast did an incredible job.

Adrian has dual roles in the production (this is a rehearsal photo).

This morning we sailed across to Granville Island on a beautiful sunny day.

Musicians were singing, children were playing and leaves were falling.

Kayaks were stored in hibernation for next spring...

...alongside life jackets.

Sunshine Coast Art Crawl

What a great weekend!

I travelled to the Sunshine Coast for the annual Art Crawl.

Shelly and I managed to visit eleven artist venues on Saturday

and a couple more this morning before I hopped on the ferry

for my return to Horseshoe Bay.

Sunshine Coast affordable housing!

A fascinating studio!

There were 144 venues listed in the guide

for this event from October 20-22, 2017.

Thank you very much to Shelly for hosting me

and to the organisers and artists!

A new home

We have finally found a new home...in Langley. It is an 1140 square foot condo on 54th Avenue that offers a large bright space for my studio. Possession will be on November 30th (exactly two years after selling our home in Salmon Arm) but we don't plan to live in the unit until next spring.

The month of December will be devoted to cleaning, painting and re-carpeting two rooms. January and February will be spent with friends in Mexico while the condo bathroom is gutted and refurbished. So...in the spring...when the roads are clear of ice and snow...we will empty the storage locker in Salmon Arm and bring our stuff down to the new home.

Meanwhile...reservations are made for a celebration dinner tonight!!

Thanksgiving Monday

More walkabouts in town on Thanksgiving Monday...

...and then a delicious dinner with our niece and her family...

...where we we did the traditional "height test"!

Our grand nephew is 6'-5"...and still growing!!

Campbell Valley Regional Park

This morning we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by going for a walk through Campbell Valley Regional Park.

A woman was photographing birds as they scooped up seeds from her hand. She offered us each a handful of seeds to distribute to hungry birds along the trail.

This little guy made sure that his competitors stayed away!

Forevers and what-ifs

I realised this morning that I have been weighted down by the heavy thoughts of "forever" woven with thick strands of "what-ifs". It was time to remember a couple of truths...that nothing is forever ...and... that it is impossible to consider all of the solutions to "what-ifs". When this reality settled into my anxious brain...there was a feeling of lightness. Freed from having to forecast every possible scenario of life in a new home...I was able to discard my doubts and take a fresh look at the streets of our future home as I walked along.

A local artist expressed joy in this scene!

waiting

We are on the verge of ownership...again. Our offer was accepted...now we wait for everything to clear by October 12th. It is old...with many stories... hidden in the walls... from 1978 to today!

Solo in Downtown Vancouver

Yesterday was an interesting experience in solo travel to downtown Vancouver. I had scheduled a hair appointment for 1:00pm so I decided to leave early in the morning and use the transit system instead of driving. I was not only the oldest passenger but also the only one with white skin and white hair in a melodic blend of youthful coffee colours and scents for the entire trip!

I had forgotten how Saturday mornings in downtown Vancouver are quiet! My first choice for a morning coffee was closed(no offices open in the Marine building) so I wandered over to Granville Street to find an Intelligensia outlet where I sat with two other customers. They stared at their handheld devices while I studied them...young and oblivious. Could this be a future theme for paintings?

When I became bored with observing these inert young people I wandered up to The Bay. This store holds many memories for me... hours spent shopping for shoes, clothes and panty hose when I was working downtown many years ago. I caressed the $90 bras and closely examined the $850 shoes while wondering ...who shops in this store now?!

Back on the street I decided to check out the library...previously only viewed from the outside. Wow! The layout that was posted inside directed me to the 5th floor...the QUIET floor... with magazines and newspapers. Fortunately it was also loaded with shelves of art books. Taking several books, I found a quiet table and comfortable chair to (hopefully) stimulate my creative side.

I marvelled at Richard Estes' realism, wondered at Alessandro Raho's translations of emotion through clothing and loved Jonas Burgert's swaddled images. It was thrilling to discover these artists!

Filled with imagery and stimulation I decided that it was time to see the exhibit at the Art Gallery and savour the flavours from one of the food carts that sets up outside the gallery. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the gallery, there was a long line of people to enter the gallery along Howe Street extending toward Georgia Street and no food carts in sight!

My solo day in downtown Vancouver was not working out exactly as planned! Maybe a little sushi was the answer. So, after enjoying some sashimi, I finally arrived at my hairdresser's for the scheduled appointment. After having white hairs snipped and shaped I hopped on the Expo Line and then squeezed into a jam packed bus for the trip back to Cloverdale. Young people offer me their seats these days!