Saturday, December 31, 2016

New Years Eve


It is a snowy, blustery, foggy night in downtown Vancouver. 
We are happily staying indoors... not exposing ourselves 
to the elements and treacherous sidewalks. 

Large clumps of slushy snow keep falling from the roof
...startling us from our winter reverie.

Time for a glass of wine!

Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas Day


It has been a whirlwind of fun, food, walks and card games!


Christmas morning view from the garret!


Christmas morning walk along English Bay.


Bubble entertainment along the way!


Lewchaks under the mistletoe


Maxwells under the mistletoe.
We attracted quite a crowd!


Not sure what he's afraid of...maybe that the poor overcooked turkey will attack?


Staying warm!








Sunday, December 25, 2016

Christmas Eve


John's sister and husband arrived from Moose Jaw on December 23rd. We have been eating, drinking and playing cards ever since!...Oh...and a long walk yesterday!


Christmas winter cabbage


Christmas Eve dinner with Adrian and the Lewchaks
followed by more card playing!


Monday, December 19, 2016

Crazy or brave


Crazy or brave?? Not sure which category we are in after navigating the downtown streets of Vancouver this morning. Instead of rainfall overnight, we experienced a huge dump of snow. None of the main streets or side streets were ploughed, none of the sidewalks were cleared. All intersections had foot deep piles of snowy slush.

We slipped, slid and waded across intersections enroute to the Community Centre (John's gym) on Denman Street. For those who have never experienced Vancouver after a snowfall that turns to a meltdown...it is ugly! We had finally released our grip on each other, on a cleared piece of pavement, when an idiot raced along Denman Street in the curb lane and covered us in a heavy spray of slush from head to toe!! We were soaked and sought refuge at Delany's for a coffee/tea warm-up.

The return walk, two hours later, showed some improvements on the sidewalks but nothing had been done to clear slush from the streets. Rivers were running alongside the curbs and massive puddles had formed at every crosswalk.

We are taking a one hour rest (and drying our gear) before tackling our next outdoor adventure to get to a Doctor's appointment using the transit system. Should be interesting!




Sunday, December 18, 2016

Early Christmas dinner


We shared an early Christmas dinner tonight with Adrian, Heather, Chris and Augie.


Augie's latest interest is History.


The men collapsed after dinner with bulging stomachs!


Thursday, December 15, 2016

Friends


Friends for 75 years!


They have so many stories to retell!!

Monday, December 12, 2016

Full moon


The cold weather is settling in for a few days...


...along with this full moon in a winter sky!

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Bright idea?


Sometimes when you wake up with a bright idea...it's best to ignore it and replace it with common sense! That didn't happen this morning! I suggested that we take the little ferry to Granville Island, enjoy a "pre-crowd breakfast" and do a walkabout.

Looking out the windows from our lofty height it appeared that the snow had been washed away overnight so there should be no problem...wrong! The sidewalks were still slushy on the way downhill so we chose to walk on the road, navigating around parked cars. Then we arrived at the pathway leading to the little ferry. It had not been cleared so we chose to step onto the snowy grass edge, clinging to each other to ensure that if one of us went down, the other was down too! A feeling of confidence soon evaporated when we encountered the ramp that would take us down to the wharf and the waiting ferry. It was very slippery but at least there was a railing. The skipper waited patiently for us and dropped us on Granville Island a few minutes later.

A word of warning...Granville Island roadways have not been plowed and the pathways were not cleared!!

Sliding into the market we settled ourselves for a relaxing breakfast while we watched racing skulls with energetic young people race back and forth in the harbour. Finally it was time to layer ourselves into winter outerwear and brave the walkways of the Island, not an easy task. As the sleet intensified we decided to slide down the ramp and sail back to the West End.


The snow intensified and we were soon in the midst of a blizzard as we tackled the hill back to the apartment. We weren't empty handed however. There were prawns and scallops for dinner tonight...


...and we were not tempted by the Christmas goodies on display!

Friday, December 9, 2016

More snow


It looks like Vancouver is going to have a harsh winter.


Once again we are receiving a blanket of snow!

Snow has been falling off and on all day. We went for a walk this afternoon and slid back to the apartment on slushy, slippery sidewalks. There isn't a huge accumulation in the downtown area but there is enough to make the roads treacherous when temperatures drop tonight.

The weather forecast indicates overnight lows next week of minus 10 degrees...probably record breaking cold temperatures for Vancouver! We were very grateful to discover our winter coats (from Salmon Arm) in my sister's closet.

We heard from John's sister that she and her husband will be joining us for Christmas...driving from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to share turkey dinner. This year we are not doing the "big family dinner" routine, instead we are breaking into smaller groups for a change.

Over the years we have hosted Christmas dinners in Salmon Arm, shared the turkey festivities in Puerto Vallarta and visited with family at the coast for large tables of food and fun. This year we have decided to keep it small and simple. Three of our kids are spread out...New York, Sechelt and Oregon so our youngest will join us along with the "blow-ins" from Saskatchewan to fight over the turkey wishbone, who makes the best gravy and whether brussel sprouts are necessary for Christmas dinner! (Of course they are!) We will wrap up the evening festivities with a rousing game of Saskatchewan Rummy and Rusty Nails!!




Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Anniversary



We are marking another anniversary date today. 


Monday, December 5, 2016

Snow!


After waking up to sunny skies yesterday
this morning we have snow in downtown Vancouver!


Sunday, December 4, 2016

Sunny day


What a surprise! Woke up to sunny and clear skies this morning!
Headed out for a chilly walk.


Snow on the mountains and more in the forecast for Vancouver.


Pink tinted windows caught my eye.


Cadbury's truck waiting for Santa's parade to start!





Saturday, December 3, 2016

Fog and a small baby doll


Today's wanderings


Burrard Bridge in morning fog


An abandoned baby doll



Friday, December 2, 2016

Winter in Vancouver


Oh dear! Bleak days...wet...wet...wet!...but we are still braving the wet to enjoy walks and coffees! The West End continues to please us. One cherry tree is in blossom already...about to have a shock if the temperature drops as predicted.


Winter in Vancouver


One of the surviving small grocery stores in the West End
offering good prices on produce as well as a variety 
of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern goodies.