National Indigenous Day 2017 - John Hendry Park (Trout Lake)

National Aboriginal Day 2017 occurred on Summer Solstice, June 21. It was a very beautiful and peaceful day. Clear blue skies and not too hot. This year, the Prime Minister of Canada renamed National Aboriginal Day. Hereafter it will be called National Indigenous Day to mirror the terminology in the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

UNDRIP codifies "Indigenous historical grievances, contemporary challenges and socio-economic, political and cultural aspirations" and is the "culmination of generations-long efforts by Indigenous organizations to get international attention, to secure recognition for their aspirations, and to generate support for their political agendas.

(Source: Wikipedia)

National Indigenous Day is a special day to celebrate the First Peoples of Canada and the heritage, diversity and culture that they have.  It was first celebrated in 1996 after years of lobbying by the Aboriginal peoples of Canada (Indian, Inuit and Métis  peoples).  Originally the Aboriginal peoples had hoped for a national statutory holiday recognizing their unique place in Canada's history however this didn't happen. It may happen in years to come.

I hadn't been to John Henry Park (otherwise known as Trout Lake) for a good many years. I used to go there for the celebrations on June 21st and also from time to time for Farmer's Markets.  This year I invited a friend to join me. I thought it was time she have an opportunity to see a pow-wow  (traditional dancing celebration and competition).  It turns out they no longer have a big pow-wow and even though they had a mini pow-wow we missed it entirely. My friend had to go to a seminar earlier in the day.  By the time we got to the park a good many activities had already wound up for the day.  Though a number of booths were still up most of them were packing up for the day.

I managed to capture some photos of lazy, sunny late afternoon.

There were ducks on the lake.

Watching them paddle around gave me a feeling of peace and tranquility on such a lovely day.

The canoes looked beautiful against the water and greenery.

 

 

I enjoyed this lady's leggings with the printed West Coast Aboriginal ovoid forms.

Later in the evening there was a big stage where some national and USA entertainers would perform.  We didn't get a chance to stay for the entertainment. We were only there for the first few minutes of the rap duo (on the stage in the photo below) from La Belle Province (Quebec)

I'm enjoying some family company at the moment so I may not have time to visit your blog until my guest leaves.

Enjoy your week and thanks so much for stopping by!

 Linking up with Saturday's Critters

Rainy Saturday Adventures

It was another wet Saturday in Vancouver but I had to go out. I was making my way to Trout Lake Farmer's Market where I had an appointment with my hat maker.

I took this photo as I was crossing a street to make a bus transfer. It's not cold as you can see the gentleman in the foreground doesn't have a jacket on.

After my transfer I had to get off and walk several blocks. I don't often come to this place so I always get off too soon and end up walking too far. In the old days this wouldn't have been a problem. These days it is a bit more challenging.

As I walked down the street, I noticed that the building which is undergoing restoration is a senior's residence.

This was a rather short street with very few homes on it.  I found this modern styled home.

I liked the simple, yet effective front entry with the small garden and potted plant. The door colour is nice too!

I didn't expect to find a restaurant here just a few steps away from the modern house. It looked like a well used coffee shop.  There aren't too many coffee shops for several blocks radius since this is a residential area although I understand that there is now a coffee shop in the newly constructed Trout Lake Community Centre across the street.

I didn't have a chance to go inside the new Centre but it is newly constructed and opened in February 2012. I believe the old buildings were demolished because they probably didn't meet current building codes for fire safety.

The community centre seems to have two buildings.  You can see one in the background in the photo below.  I also noticed the interesting shrubbery in place of grass. I think it is probably to make the space more eco-friendly.

Now I am about to enter the park area. Every weekend during the farmer's market this sign is put up to let non-residents know that they are not to park in this area.

Trout Lake is set in what is known as John Hendry Park and is the only lake in Vancouver proper.  This park is a real gem. I don't get to spend much time in it but whenever I do get there I see the locals having a wonderful time. The lake itself is in a beautiful setting. One always sees mothers and dog owners, taking their children and dogs for a walk.

The little dog in the photo below was friendly. It came up to me but when it realized I had no food, it didn't stop to visit.  It just kept right on going.  His owner, the man up ahead in dark blue rain coat, was patiently calling  "Maisie", as she dawdled along at her own pace.

You can see how deep the puddles were in various places along the pathway. By the time I got to this stage of my walk, I was soaking wet.  The rain soaked through my rain coat which is not rubberized for heavy duty rainfall.

I was going to the place you see just up ahead beneath the leaves....

But first, one last look and photo of the lake and the nice walking path along the waterfront.

At last! I make it to the market but I didn't take photos of the hat lady's stall. By that time I was just too wet and was more interested in drying up a bit and trying on hats.  Sadly, she had made two hats for me but neither of them fit just right despite giving her the measurements beforehand. She has to make some adjustments and I have to wait a bit longer. *sigh. I did manage to find a new hat for my mom and got a bit of a discount even though the hat still cost a lot more than my mother would ever want to pay. I've told mom that I will take the hat if she doesn't like it.

Here is a photo showing just how much rain was accumulating.

After I left Trout Lake, I decided to go to Chinatown to buy some new medicines and get another foot reflexology treatment.  The medicines I bought last time were not doing the job. 

I also wanted to get more photos for my Namibian blogger friend, Graham.  I admit that once again I didn't get the best photos but they add to what I posted last time (you can click here for the last visit). I will of course be making future trips and hopefully at some point the weather will be nicer and show a different side to Chinatown.

The first thing that caught my eye was this red street light. The bottom of it has Chinese characters but I have no idea what is written.

This is a long view of a street. You can see at least 5 street lamps in the middle part of the photo.

I love the streets of stores in Chinatown. You will find all kinds of stores with stuff for sale out in front, on the sidewalk.  During the early part of the day these shops are very busy with older Asian people buying their daily veggies and fish for dinner.

In this store window you can see various cakes which are waiting for their customers to come and pick them up. I especially love the cakes with the fruit on top as they have fresh cream in the middles and more fruit inside.  This is what they call "Fruit Cocktail Cake". The cake itself is a chiffon cake and very light in texture.

In another part of the window, you can see what events are going on if you can read the Chinese characters on the brochures.

I always love to see all the variety of things for sale as displayed out on the sidewalk.  Some of it is medicine and some of it is food. For example, this store had all kinds of beans and dried berries out front.

I bought some goji berries (wolfberrys) to put in  my cooked oats.  These berries are called a superfood because they are supposed to be very high in antioxidants.  However as always it is good to check with your medical practitioner before taking such things. For example this berry has been known to cause problems in some cases with people taking warfarin (a blood thinner).

Some stores sell food and herbs and some strictly sell herbs; like the one in the photo below next to the Fido (phone) store. If you click on the photo you can see all the medicines and herbs in jars.

Here are some dried shrimp.

And here are some dried mushrooms. These can be reconstituted and used in your stir frys and other foods but I've only ever used dried mushrooms to date. I did not like the particular brand I bought and prefer using fresh mushrooms.

That's it for my tour of Trout Lake and Chinatown for today. I'd love to hear your comments or questions.  

I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday here. Please check in there and see what others are up to around the world.

I hope you come back soon.  Have a wonderful week ahead.

I'm 

Victoria Day Weekend 2011

I spent a fruitful and fun weekend.  It is my birthday weekend. Normally I am not even home when I have my birthday so it was nice just to do things I don't normally get to do.  It was raining but that didn't stop me.

The first stop was Dressew on Hastings and the Army & Navy Store. I was on a shopping expedition for stretchy knit jersey fabric to make my mom some plain coloured skirts to wear this summer. I found just what I needed and the sales lady was very nice and helpful. I got served and assisted and my fabric cut in no time at all.  This was delightful considering how some of the reviews (which you can read by clicking the link above) would have you believe that the service in this shop is terrible. Now I just  need to find some time to make the skirts. I also had a great chat with another shopper and found out we share an interest in sponsoring children in Kenya. She sponsors hers through SOS Village and I sponsor mine through Compassion International Canada's office.

As I was walking from Dressew to Army & Navy, I could not believe my eyes and my luck. I turned my head at the first corner and recognized a woman I have been trying to find for years. I don't even know her name but I know that she makes and sells hats. I bought one from her years ago at a Garden Show and I've since lost it and needed another one. I stopped to talk to her and sure enough it was the woman I've been looking for. How fortuitous. I gave thanks to God because truly he knows how I've been searching for this woman for such a long time.  It turns out she doesn't even live in the city anymore!  She was only here to sell her hats at  a local Farmer's Market. She gave me her card and told me I could drop by the next day.  I was thrilled.

I carried on to Army & Navy and was happy to find a suitable pillow there but not a suitable sofa cover. Sofa covers are not so readily available here in my city so I'm thinking maybe I should order it online instead. However that will have to wait because Canada may be having a postal strike as soon as Wednesday of this coming week. While there I was getting hungry so I stopped at their small lunch counter for a grilled cheese sandwich. The young woman who served me started to chat with me about the "end of the world". I told her I didn't believe that the day would bring the end of the world because the bible says "No man knows".

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24:36

Then I told her that the Bible does give a hint as to the end of the world and I asked her if she wanted to know what it is.  She said "yes". I told her that the Bible says the gospel will be preached to every nation and then the end of the world will come (Matthew 24:14).  I let her know that there are groups that monitor the number of  unreached people groups  and that the Lord will come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2).  I said that the end of the world was not likely May 21st but it seems to be coming soon.  I gave a silent prayer of  thanks to God for giving me an opportunity to share what the Bible actually does say given that there is so much misinformation out there from people who claim to know the gospel.

After my shopping and a stop for a sandwich, I made my way to Chinatown and the International Village to take in a movie called Water for Elephants. I enjoyed it immensely though there were some very harsh scenes of violence toward animals and people. It was very well done and I think very realistic about what times must have been like for a struggling circus during the Great Depression.

Here is the beautiful Millennium Gate in Chinatown.

The 'China Gate' on Pender Street was donated to the City of Vancouver by the Government of the People's Republic of China following the Expo 86 world's fair, where it was on display. After being displayed for almost 20 years at its current location, the Gate was re-built and received a major renovated facade employing stone and steel. Funding for this renovation came through some government and private support; the renovated gate had its unveiling during the October 2005 visit of Guangdong governor Huang Huahua.

I think the gate is a beautiful addition to the City and really captures the essence of this part of town.

On Saturday I was up late as I had stayed up very late. My first stop was at the Farmer's Market at Trout Lake in Vancouver. I was on my way to buy a hat.  I needed a new summer hat and since it was raining I decided to buy a rain hat too! I forgot all about taking photos of the lake which is a pity since I don't get to the lake very often and I wanted to show you photos of this little treasure in the city. Hopefully I will get there again this summer and I will show you then. I did take photos of my hats for you. I was blessed because the hat maker gave me the summer hat for $10.00 off as a repeat customer. I was also pleased because the hat was already $10.00 less than when I bought it many years ago so that was a $20.00 savings on the hat.

My summer hat.  I'd like to own these in several different colours.

My rain hat.

After that I made my way to Commercial Drive where I had Chinese food and stopped at various stores.

I stopped in at Design Dreams to buy kapok to refill some of my sofa cushions. Unfortunately the shop doesn't sell kapok anymore but the nice young man who worked there gave me some ideas as to how to fluff up my pillows.  I also discovered that the store now sells buckwheat.  That is good to know because my buckwheat pillows need to have the buckwheat replaced.  I will have to go back there when I have more time to work on the pillows.

I stopped at one store that sells international goods and purchased an animal print shawl. I then went on to a thrift store that I haven't been to for many years. On my way I stopped to ask for directions and talk to a young mom with her baby. It turns out that the woman moved here with her husband from Switzerland and while we both waited for the bus we had a very nice chat.  At the thrift store, I bought some Croc type shoes for $2.99 and two books, one was Anna Karenina for $1.99.  The shoes and the book are in perfect condition and haven't been used.  Again, I felt very blessed because the two paperback books are actually $4.50 each but the sales clerk gave them to me for $1.99 each.

This print scarf is reversible with brown as the main colour on one side and cream as the main colour on the alternate side.

These Crocs are a pale pink and will go with a lot of my neutral and jewel toned clothing. Great for the summer.  They fit perfectly and are more supportive than the last two pair I've owned.

This book hasn't been read. I look forward to reading it and breaking it in.

I spent more this weekend than I have in a long time but all in all I needed these items and I am happy. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and today the rain continues so I am staying inside to catch up on a knitted dishcloth in a new to me, pattern.