Tuesday, November 11, 2014

My World This Week

There has been a lot of rain over the past week or two. I got wet on two days last week and ended up feeling poorly. I took Friday to recover as Saturday and Sunday were full of commitments. Having the one day to do nothing but rest really helped a lot though am still dealing with phlegm and fatigue.

I managed to capture a few scenes to illustrate some of my week.

I am at Heather Street taking a photo but am really in the area to shop.

I always love this view toward the city from Broadway on Heather Street.
Taking a walk in another part of town  after having some Vietnamese Pho Soup.

There is still some lovely colour in the tree leaves.

Many of the Fall leaves now blanket the streets and sidewalks.
A friend and I spent the entire day together on Sunday after attending church together.  She is an out-of- town friend and was here for a mini-vacation. We had a great time together but she ended up getting two parking tickets in one afternoon! It turned out to be an expensive day for me , paying for our lunch and one of the parking tickets.  I don't go out to lunch terribly often  so this splurge for someone I don't see too often is okay. I told her it will be our Christmas lunch since I won't see her at Christmas.

We got our second ticket just before 6 p.m. on Sunday night.  It was pitch black but we were looking out over the city lights from Queen Elizabeth Park. It was very pretty but I'm afraid my cell phone camera doesn't do it justice.

Looking out over the City of Vancouver from Queen Elizabeth Park.

This city has gone beserk with parking rates and meters everywhere.  This and lack of consultation on rapidly accelerating development will cause me to vote for a new mayor next weekend. He promises to do reduce paid parking hours, put a bit of a brake on the fast pace of development and find a way to do real consultations with communities.  If he wins the race (it's a close race), the citizens of the city will have an opportunity to see whether he made good on his promises.

I managed to squeeze in a few days of reading in this week.   After finishing a very satisfying read,  The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland, I quickly moved on to The Juggler's Children.  The latter book is a story of one woman's search for her family roots and her use of DNA testing to piece together her very interesting family background. When I borrowed the book last Thursday I didn't notice that it was a fast read so it's a good thing I had time to read it right away. I will return both books on Thursday.

When the year opened, I set myself a modest reading goal of  35 books.  I passed the goal some time ago.  I've been slightly adjusting the goal upward. every time I surpass it by 3-5 books.  My current goal is 52 books.  A few pages from now I will have read 51 books. I'm not sure what I shall read for my 52nd book and would love to hear your suggestions.

Are any of you reading a good book right now?


I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday this week.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful autumn leaves.

Bonny Bonafilla said...

Sorry to hear you've been poorly. We've had a lot of rain recently here in London too. Wishing you a fast and complete recovery. Parking tickets are the bane of our lives here as well. They make it so difficult to shop in town that no one goes and then they wonder why the city centre isn't like it used to be. Your photos are stunning. Fall in lovely Vancouver looks like a very special time of the year. All the best for now, Bonny

Jutta.K. said...

The Autumn-Leaves are colorful in each Continent,
Nice pictures.
Greetings from Germany and
thanks for visiting my blog.
Jutta

OtienoHongo said...

Wow, 51 books? I wish I could read that much in a year! I recently decided to start using public transport as we spent typically 2 hours daily in traffic, this might give me some time to read! I am currently re-reading What is the What by Valentino Deng, if you have not read it maybe it could go to your reading list.
Charles

Jan said...

Hope you are feeling better Penny. How lovely the city looks in your photographs, with the colourful leaves, tall buildings, mountains and clouds across the skyline. Your photos manage to capture the vastness of the city space and then cosy corners too. Sorry to hear about your parking tickets! Hate that! Sounds like a lovely early Christmas visit with your friend however. Xx

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Your photos are lovely. What a pity that two tickets had to be issued to your friend.At least you had the day together and I hope you are feeling well now.

Joanne Noragon said...

A couple of village council members attempted to pass a parking meter ordinance last year. The lifeblood of the village (the biggest source of operating tax dollars) are the merchants, who fought it tooth an nail. They had to make their case to the citizens, since most merchants do not live in town. They succeeded, the issue died without coming to a vote. Nothing can strangle commerce faster than parking meters.

Joyful said...

Thank you for the book recommendation. I will definitely add it to my list since I've been following the story of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" on various television programs and documentaries. Soon a Hollywood movie about these men will be here in my city and I hope to see it. One of these men has now married and settled in Nova Scotia, Canada to the far east of me.

Linda said...

Your photos are lovely.

Jill Harrison said...

sorry to hear about your illness and your parking ticket! but great images to illustrate your week. Don't you just love a craft supply shop! Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by my blog.

affectioknit said...

...love the fall photos...and your yarn store...

:)

!Have a lovely day!

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, Thank you for another interesting post and the photos of Vancouver when you are out and around. That view of downtown from Heather Street is excellent … I can see why it is one of your favorites. Your comments about the parking rates and development hit home with me … well, Seattle is in the same situation. The economy in Seattle is booming and while that has its positive aspects, there are also some negatives. Our traffic is worse than ever and the experts blame it (partly) on all the folks who have moved here in the last couple of years. I hope you will keep us posted on what happens in the Mayoral race there in Vancouver. I would be voting with you for the guy who will slow things down a bit. I certainly don’t think I know a lot, but one thing I’m pretty sure about is that things go in cycles. If we are not careful there is going to be a lot of pain when things slow down. Getting back to your pictures for a moment: Our trees are almost exactly changing at the same rate. I guess that’s to be expected since we are not that far apart? We are getting down to the deep-reds and dried-out-yellows and seeing more leaves on the ground than on the trees. And, one more thing to answer your question a few days ago … Yes, I’m in a highrise building. When I was a kid my mother and I travelled from Texas across country to visit the Seattle World’s Fair. I hope you will take a look in my Blog Archive for my post on Friday, April 20, 2012, about that trip. When we were in Seattle we stayed in an old classic hotel downtown … I remember thinking I would love to live in a building like that. So, (said with a smile) today I am. Thanks for sharing your pictures. And thanks for stopping by my blog, I always appreciate your comments. Have a fine day! John

Cynthia said...

You live in such a beautiful city! Too bad about the tickets, but I hope they don't lessen your enjoyment of the day out with your friend. I'm going to look for The Jugglers Children at the library. Thanks for the recommendation.

Mereknits said...

So sorry about the parking tickets but lunch with a goof friend is a special treat. Thank you for the book ideas they sound great. Also hope you feel better.
Hugs,
Meredith

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I am connected with the Canadian Military through on of my books.

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, Hope you have a nice weekend up there. It is sunny down here for about the 6th day in a row ... unheard of for this time of year. It's cold though!!! All the best from Seattle, John

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