Globe & Mail

A large sign posted above the newspaper rack advised customers that the Globe and Mail will no longer be delivered to Salmon Arm. The pleasure that accompanied a steaming cup of coffee and the weekend edition of this national newspaper has been replaced by a request to "enjoy a digital read"!

A regular clientele enters The Matchbox on a daily and weekly basis. The owner carries magazines, books and newspapers from around the world. Customers come in for a chat, a lottery ticket and their choice of newspapers. Now one of Canada's major publishers has turned its back on its customers who choose to live in a non-urban environment.

By the way, that "free digital read" is soon to be replaced by a "pay to read" policy!

What a weekend!

What a weekend! Feeling crappy on Friday night, I convinced John to take me to the ER where they did x-rays to look for "free air" ( a sign of perforation) and blood tests. Apparently I was fine, so, we went home with tylenol 3's.

The next afternoon was a meeting of our Womens' Discussion Group that I did not want to miss. We spent part of the afternoon at Harald Park competing in a creative game of bocce.

After much laughter, and before the skies opened, we headed to Diana's to share a potpourri of delicious edibles. Good timing because it poured for the next few hours.

Thunder cracked overhead as we snuggled into her living room for our discussion topic. This required serious thought, writing and sharing. It is wonderful to be part of such a diverse group of women who never hesitate to bare their souls to each other.

On Sunday we were invited to the fourth annual showcase performance of Asha Pratt-Johnson. The daughter of our friends, she is a classically trained soprano. This year she was joined by Christine Robinson, a fellow soprano. They sang pieces from Strauss, Puccini, Schumann, Bellini and more. It was pure magic to sit in the audience.

In this photo they are singing their only duet, 

The Flower Duet from the opera Lakme by Leo Delibes.

The dreaded colonoscopy

The phone rang at 7am, waking us. In a stupor I finally understood that the call was from the local hospital. Apparently they had a cancellation for the next day and could schedule my colonoscopy into that time slot. "Don't eat anything today" she said, and take the pico-salax laxative as directed.

I hadn't eaten anything since 7pm the night before and that was just a bowl of cabbage salad! Following directions I drank the first dose of laxative at noon and prepared to wait several hours for it to work. Within half an hour later I was off and on the toilet repeatedly until 6pm when I was directed to drink the second dose which resulted in another three hours of intimate contact with the porcelain bowl.
I was cleansed and ready!!

The next day I didn't have to be at the hospital until 12:30pm, almost 40 hours without food. Once again the hospital called, this time to say that they were running early(who has ever heard that?)...could I come in at 11am. I didn't hesitate. Anything that would bring me closer to consumption of food was great.

John brought me home around 2pm. Tea and toast have never tasted so delicious!

Festival booths

Memories- a painting

It was a struggle but I finally put the last brush stroke onto the canvas.

It is ready for delivery to the gallery this morning.

Roots & Blues

We gathered today, in our lime green t-shirts, for Day One of Paint the Festival at Roots and Blues.

These creations are works in progress that will be finished tomorrow 

and on display at our local Art Gallery until August 24th. 

New shoes

I was easily convinced that I "had to have" these shoes!

Home

We arrived home last Wednesday after three weeks in Vancouver. It was a challenge to say goodbye to Frannie, the cat that we were looking after. He is a loving, sweet addition to their family.

Last night we were invited to friends' for a Greek feast and concert by the Jazzberries, a world famous trio of local musicians. They performed several jazz classics before and after dinner. As an added special feature we were entertained by daughter Asha and her friend Jack. Asha sang an operatic aria that she is rehearsing for an upcoming concert and Jack sang an aria from the Mikado. It was a magical evening! Bravo to everyone and many thanks for including us.

The Jazzberries

Asha & Jack sing along with the Jazzberries

Wesley provides percussion

Pride Parade

On a gorgeous summer day we joined family members and their friends on a terrace overlooking the parade route at Denman and Davie. Colourful glasses of punch preceded the festivities.

Vancouver's Pride Parade, the fifth largest in the world, celebrated its 35th anniversary in a display of diversity and support from all segments of the population. Over 600,000 viewers were entertained by the parade that passed by for over two hours.

Olympians Mike Janyk (Alpine skier) and Mercedes Nicholl (snowboarder) joined the route as a statement of solidarity with the LGBT community against Russia's newly adopted anti-gay laws.

There was a festive air full of cheers and applause!!

La Casa Gelato

We had our first experience with La Casa Gelato last night. Over one hundred flavours to choose from including seaweed, garlic and hops!! Our choices were more traditional...chocolate chip-mint, praline, chocolate-peanut butter and coffee crisp! Yummh...delicious. Located on Venables, it is easy to find. Just look for the "hot pink" building!!

A walk along Main Street

Today's walk took us along Main Street from 20th to 30th Avenue. Gentrification is everywhere but there are still holdouts from yesteryear. The Army, Navy & Air Force club at 23rd and Main Street has been pouring beer and hosting events for over 60 years. It has become an affordable and fun venue for karaoke enthusiasts including Adrian & Ashley. Windsor meats, serving my family from the 1940's to the 1970's, is now operated by a grandson of the original owner. They carry grain fed, local meats.

The shops on both sides of Main Street offer a wide range of coffee options and merchandise.

From Main Street we turned west and walked back along Ontario Street, the dividing line between East Vancouver and the west side of the city. Growing up on the east side, I was definitely from the "wrong side of the tracks". Even the sidewalks were different!! On the west side of Ontario the pavement was relatively new, quite smooth and wide. On the east side we had to step carefully over aging cracks on a narrow pathway. Huh!! No houses faced east along the west side of Ontario but rows of houses faced west on the east side. It was as though developers knew that affluent westside residents would not want to look at their poorer neighbours! 

Canada's Celebration of Light entry

Equipped with my tiny digital camera and a sky full of amazing fireworks

...the results are less than stellar.

This one filled the sky!!