A Glorious Sky

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope the end of the week finds you well and in good health.

On my end it's been a hectic week and I suffered a bit of ill health here and there but am more or less fine. I think it's just the transition from hot to coolish weather that usually gets to me at the change of seasons. But I'm enjoying getting out in the cooler weather while the sun still shines.

I hope you enjoy today's skies over Vancouver.  

I was happy to catch the sunset. Usually I cannot see it from where I live as I don't have a good and clear view to the west. Too many trees in my line of vision. I'm happy for the trees though.  They help keep things fresh. 

The moon is out and shining bright. It's time to say goodnight.

Enjoy your weekend and thank you for visiting. This is my submission to Skywatch Friday. 

A Short Errand

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you doing so far this week?

The weather at the end of the last week turned quite hot though not unbearably so. In fact, the weather so far during late spring hasn't been very hot at all and sometimes not even that warm. This is great not only for me but also for our forests because too hot weather means more wildfires.

I've had a tiring week but that's because it's also been a productive one.  I'm making progress on a number of fronts. I'm always happy when I get things done on my long list of things to do. 

On the Friday past, it was a hot day but I had to go out for one main errand at Home Depot.  On my way back, I stopped for dinner at a spot I haven't visited recently. Friday nights are often spent running errands and eating out because I'm gone during the dinner hour.

One of my favourite Bento Box meals

It was getting close to 9:30 p.m. as I made my way back home.  I always appreciate looking at the sky when I'm out and about. These clouds were gathering and by Saturday the sky turned gray though it didn't rain. 

I sometimes stop at Blenz for coffee or cold tea.

I stop here for lunch or dinner and sometimes a buffet.

In years past, I've visited for the lunch buffet at the Holiday Inn for special occasions. They had a wonderful buffet with a different theme each week day.  The selections were not huge but they were more than adequate with a soups, salad bar, a hot entree with a particular theme (examples Asian, Greek, BBQ etc.) and a dessert bar. Sadly they stopped the lunch buffet several years ago and concentrated on a breakfast buffet for their guests. 

On Friday I noticed that the hotel has restarted their lunch buffet but only on Thursdays and Fridays from 11:30 to 2:00 p.m. I see that the menu will be a BBQ theme on Thursday, June 27th and British food on Friday, June 28th.  Neither of these cuisines is my favourite so I hope that they change the menu themes each week.  A friend and I are over due to celebrate our respective birthdays which are both in the month of May.  Perhaps she will be the first one I get together with for lunch there soon. This place is good because the price was reasonable and the food was always excellent. 

Do you have a favourite place you like to go for a meal?

Thanks for coming to visit.  Please come again soon.

The Last Weekend - Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all doing well.  

We've had a few beautiful days of sunshine. Now we are in the very last hurrah of April. I captured these photos on Tuesday before the rains returned Wednesday morning for the rest of the month.  

It was a beautiful and sunny day but by the time I took these photos the weather was turning in preparation for the morning rain. The temperature was just right for me with a thin long-sleeved top and puffer vest.  

Thank you for visiting and sharing your comments. I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today.

Beautiful Friday Sky on a Cold Evening

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I keep thinking Spring is around the corner but my hopes keep getting dashed. We had an unexpected bit of snow on Wednesday night and on Saturday we are expecting up to a foot of fresh snow. Knowing that I went out tonight and did a few pressing errands.

Here are some of my night shots.  There seemed to be a lot going on including an explosion that happened at the dinner hour just before I was about to get off one bus in the heart of the city. I heard a lot of sirens after that. Later I learned the sad news that 2 were treated for burns and lacerations due to the fire which they believe was caused by some kind of underground electrical vault fire. My bus had passed the site where the explosion occurred just seconds before hand and some passengers that got on the bus seconds later says there was smoke and balls of fire coming from the side of the building. Roads, buses and skytrain in the vicinity were all closed or affected in some way but I was on my way out of the city before that happened.

Here are some photos I took while I was downtown. I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday. Please join in too.

Thank you for stopping by. Have an awesome weekend.

Happy Friday, Happy Skywatch & Happy Weekend

Hello folks and blogger friends,

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer to date. It certainly is different from the last few years in many ways. I'm thankful to have the freedom to go out and about more than the previous years. But I didn't get a chance to go out of town for several years now.  This year was no exception.  Even though restrictions were mostly lifted, I really don't care to travel right now and contend with all the travel/transportation delays and related issues.

 

We've had a heat wave for much of (July and ) August.  Even when the posted weather has been in the lower 20s Celsius, it has still felt sweltering.  Even Jonah who is used to the heat and dry areas in Kenya has commented about how hot it has been here. At last we had a dip in temperatures today and a sprinkling of rain. It wasn't a lot of rain but combined with lower temperatures it made all the walking I did today much more bearable.

 

 

I had to go deep into downtown Vancouver today to the Purolator service center to return a few Amazon parcels. Normally I send items back through the post but these items had to be returned by Purolator. It was very convenient to get to the center by bus as it let me off across the street. I thought I would return straight home and the bus stop was right outside the center's door. However when I got to the bus stop there was a sign saying one had to catch a bus at Burrard Street. That was a lot of walking for me especially since my knees aren't fully rehabilitated. Fortunately I managed to do what I needed to do.

 

After I finished downtown, I did more errands in my neighbourhood.  I was shocked at how many people were out and about.  There were lines of people everywhere waiting to get into virtually every single restaurant and drinking establishment  Of course it is Friday and many people go out on Friday nights but tonight it was noticeably busier than usual.  I don't know if it was because the weather was cooler and more comfortable or if suddenly people are realizing that the end of summer is almost upon us and they're trying to soak up every minute left of it. It's probably a bit of both.  It was also very busy with tourists downtown though it doesn't seem so in the photos. It was nice to see so many visitors walking and enjoying the sites.

 

The photos I'm sharing are from downtown Vancouver in the city's West End Coal Harbour area. For most of the day the sky was a very dull gray. The sun came out around 6 p.m. but I couldn't stop to take photos.

Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

 Joining in with Skywatch Friday