Bluetiful Day

One day I was running errands in an area of town I seldom get to. I've had to go that way a few times in the last few months. 

Since it has literally been years and years since I have visited this part of town, the area has changed considerably.  Whenever yuppies move into a neighbourhood, they change the area dramatically by renovating houses, opening new shops and wonderful cafes and coffee shops.

I will have to return in future to check out some of these "new to me" places.

 On my last foray to the eastern part of the city, the sky was an absolutely beautiful blue, or "bluetiful".  It had been threatening to rain all day but the afternoon turned out to be fantastic.

I'm glad I ventured out after all rather than staying indoors where I would be snuggled against the elements. 

I mentioned that this part of town is changing dramatically.  Actually all parts of the city are changing dramatically.  No matter where you look new building and highrises are going up.  I don't usually take photos of the buildings that are going up as there are plenty of those. 

In the photo above, the building was difficult to cut out of the picture.  I also thought that the building added to the "flavour" of what is happening in the neighbourhood.

While I was trying to capture the sky and the contrail I noticed a bird flying by.

Birds in flight are always a nice surprise. 

A few days earlier before these blue and white sky photos were taken I was in a totally different neighbourhood in the centre of the city.  I was there to photograph more tree blossoms.

I wasn't the only one with this idea.

I crossed paths with at least 5 people in a matter of minutes.

We were all taking photos of the lovely tree blossoms.

 It was a very bright, sunny day with no clouds in sight.

I also took photos of beautiful red rhododendrons in full bloom but these photos were overexposed.

 I'm still learning my new camera and perhaps this summer I will get some better photos of flowers.

 

Thank you for visiting (and commenting).

Linking up with Skywatch Friday
I Heart Macro

Another Day and I Couldn't Resist More Eye Candy

Yesterday I posted a lot of  photos of tree blossoms.

Today I went back for more.

This time I tried for more close up shots.

Hopefully I still have some time to get to a different area and get shots of better kept (cared for) trees.

I hope you all had a pleasant Easter weekend.

I had a nice one.

Pink Eye Candy

Each year I look forward to trees blossoming in the Spring.

 

However, the last two years we have had very strange weather. 

It makes it very difficult to get many good photos. 

These particular trees on a busy city street don't seem well cared for at all. 

I have never see anyone from the City of Vancouver pruning them, or otherwise looking after them. 

Nonetheless their happy and generous pink blossoms give me a lot of pleasure.

 Especially when I can take photos and view them again and again.

Such precious gifts  I get every year for free and I look forward with anticipation to the time when they will arrive.

I feel so blessed to be the recipient of these glorious gifts that are given so freely.

All I have to do is be outside to savour their beauty.

  I can enjoy them in the rain too.

But to share them with you, I like to photograph them on a sunny day.

 

 Today I'm sharing these blossoms at Our World Tuesday
and Mosaic Monday.

 

Have a wonderful Easter Monday and thanks for stopping by.

Look What the Last Day of March 2015 Brings

The day was not bad as we made our way out of the city in the early morning about 7:00 a.m.  The weather forecast for Vancouver today was heavy rain and thunder.  I was glad it wasn't raining when we left.

In the photo above and below we are travelling over the new Port Mann Bridge. Every time you cross the bridge you must pay a toll fee of about $3.00 each way (more if you take longer than 7 days to pay).  Unlike New York and many other states, you do not stop and pay the fee at the bridge. Instead you pay on line or by cheque. Tourists must also pay.  There are a few exemptions such as emergency vehicles, public transport vehicles, taxis and people with proof of disabilities.

As we head in an easterly direction it looks quite cloudy.

Passing through the City of Chilliwack (photo below) you can see all the water pooling in the farm fields.

We've been getting a lot of rain for well over a week.

A nice rainbow came out as we stopped in Chilliwack for gas.

About a half hour later, the snow started flying. You can see it all over the windshield of the vehicle.

This next photo (below) is near the peak of the mountains on the Coquihalla Highway.

It was very foggy in parts and quite gray in the sky.

I snapped some photos of the trees and road banks just to show how much snow had fallen in a short space of time.

Another 45 minutes drive to the north and we are nearing the town of Merritt, BC.

The sky is spectacular but I see in the forecast that they are expecting snow tonight.

We descend the mountain into Merritt (photo below) where we will make a quick coffee stop.

On the north side of Merritt, we reach what is often referred to as the "Second Summit".  Here you will run into bad weather once again. In winter it is usually very icy, or snowy,  or both.  Today it was snowy and wet.

From this point we are about 40 minutes away from Kamloops, our ultimate destination.

You can see the road sign warning of sudden weather changes.

In this last photo we are descending another mountain into the City of Kamloops.

I made this trip to take my mom for a medical appointment.  Actually I was planning on visiting anyway but when I got the call about the medical appointment, I had to visit on this particular day.  I've been doing a spot of sewing frr mom so delivered some of the new items.  Whenever I visit I always try to make some sense and order out of her wardrobe as staff make a jumble of all her clothing. I also cleared out some of the items I don't think she has been wearing to make room for things to hang properly.

My brother joined me and was there to visit with mom and to touch bases with a few other people while I went to the medical appointment with mom.

The drive back to Vancouver was much of the same weather and we stopped for more gas and a wee bit of shopping before getting home about 10:3 p.m.

It is always good to see mom but it is also good to get home after a long day!

I hope you had a good last day of March 2015 for we won't see it again.

Thanks for visiting!