Autumn Arrived ~ Skywatch Friday

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to my blog. I'm sharing a few photos taken near the end of September showing some of the autumn foliage. The weather had been quite hot for some time but autumn arrived suddenly with lots of rain and colder weather.

I feel the chill in the air as I sit and write this post.  The cold air blows through the vents in the hallway and in the apartment.  It happens every year when the heat of the summer turns to the chill of autumn.  I always have to remind the caretaker to adjust the air flow.  I don't think it bothers too many people.  There are really only 2 or 3 units that are most affected because of where the vents are located and I'm often the one bringing the issue up at this time of year. 

Anyway, I took the following photos when I exited my class at the community centre from a different door from where I'd entered earlier in the day.  I was surprised to see how the leaves have turned from green to the golden colours of autumn.  You can see in the photos that a lot of leaves have already fallen because it got quite windy and rainy over the past few weekends. 

The white bags and the umbrella have been set up by a local group that was organizing a community clean up.  Many people had signed up to help out and they were waiting around for things to get underway.

This building with curved windows was built quite some time ago.  It was one of the tallest buildings in the general neighbourhood at the time.  However there are now multiple building projects awaiting development in the neighbourhood and they'll be 25 to 30 stories high.  

Part of the City's plan is to mandate developers to build residences in the immediate vicinity of the new sky train and subway stations in the neighbourhood.  One of the new stations is about a block west from where this condominium building is located.  The details are in a document called The Broadway Plan which I've read.  It gave me good insight into the plan for how high the buildings can be built and where they will likely be located.  There isn't any land left to continue building single family dwellings.  Such an expansion of high rises will definitely change the nature of the area.

By the time this post goes 'live', our weather may well have changed. It will be nice to see the sun again but at this time of year we begin seeing much more rain.

Take care and thanks for stopping by my Skywatch Friday post.

Sky in Mid- September - Skywatch Friday

I took these photos on a sunny day.  

The air is now cooler during the day and especially at night despite the sunshine. Sometimes our hot weather can last well into Fall but it's a bit too early to see how things will play out this year.  

Rain was expected for a day or two shortly after I took these photos.

Overcast skies and rain did, in fact arrive in time for Car Free Day. I didn't actually attend the festival so these photos were taken at the very end of the day when stalls were being taken down and many people had left for home.  There seems to have been a good turnout despite the weather.

I did a bit of food shopping then went to the J.J. Bean coffee shop to have a coffee and read. It was a good way to end the weekend.

Thank you for visiting my Skywatch Friday post.

A Beautiful Day at English Bay

Hi folks,

Today's post is photo heavy but at least there's not much to read, ha ha.

We've been having hot and humid weather this week after a few days of smoke filled, grey skies. 

My cousin came to visit.  I planned for us to visit the Museum of Anthropology and Granville Island Market but ultimately we decided to go to the public market on Granville Island and to the waterfront in the city's West End by taking an aqua bus from the market across to the West End.

These photos are from the ride on the small ferry boat, called an aqua bus.  The ride probably takes 5 minutes or less and has gone up a dollar since the last time I used the service.  It's still a fun little thing to do but I always the end wishing it was longer, lol.

This next set of photos are from the West End where we started our walk along the waterfront from Sunset Beach to English Bay Beach.

Off To Work We Go - Tuesday 4

Welcome to Tuesday 4 started by Toni Taddeo and kept going in honor and memory of her.

This week we go back 5 years to ask again about work....

This week is about work.

1. Describe the best job you ever had why was it good? (if it was awful, tell us about that instead).

I've had many good jobs. One of my earlier best jobs was working for a national non-profit organization in our nation's capital city. I was reviewing education legislation with a view to recommending changes.  This was just one aspect of a nation wide study and not so terribly interesting. But other parts of the study were short staffed and the rest of us had to help out. It meant I got to travel to far flung locations in the country to meet and interview people. I was able to get to places I would not ordinarily get to and a few I had already been through.  I enjoyed it a lot because we were basically setting our own schedules in the field, away from office politics and it was summer with great weather. I had the opportunity to travel to even more locations but I declined due to timing, fatigue and other work needs.

2.  How did you learn to do your job?

No one taught me anything. Basically all of us were simply expected to know how to do our jobs and for the most part, we did through a combination of education, work experiences and an awareness of the end goals of the project.

3. You are now in charge of your town's public relations committee.  Tell us why we need to move to your town.

You will love it here (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)  because we have everything you could possibly want in a place to live. We have immigrants from all around the world.  They bring their cultures and foods with them so you can experience the kind of food you like at a variety of festivals and restaurants.  

English Bay in the West End

Our temperatures are relatively moderate and the winters though sometimes cold with snow are milder and shorter than the rest of the country.  The natural beauty here is to die for with majestic mountains and fantastically beautiful ocean front. If you prefer the fresh water, there are a number of destinations that are not too far away where you can take a weekend getaway and spend some time in a cabin by the lake or river. 

English Bay looking west to the mountains & Pacific Ocean

English Bay

Looking to the North Shore Mountains from Downtown

Spring at False Creek

False Creek looking north to downtown Vancouver

False Creek with a view northeast

Aquabus at Granville Island Public Market

If it's culture you enjoy we have all manner of concerts in every type of musical genre, a variety of regular sporting events, festivals, museums, attractions for adults and families and last but not least, the weather is suited to a great variety of sporting activities.

Rolling Stones Concert

Leora Cash, local Jazz Musician

Star Wars Movie with Live Orchestra

Early Music Vancouver

Aboriginal Day at Trout Lake

4.  It's lunch time! Build your perfect sandwich for us.. what's in it and on it and what's in our cups?

My perfect sandwich is a toasted, lettuce, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.  For a drink we can have home made lemonade, not too sweet. If you prefer we can have cold tea with some ice cubes and freshly squeezed lemonade and then you add your own honey.   The sandwich may not be the healthiest lunch but it's tasty and eating it now and then won't hurt too much.

The Last Friday of June - Skywatch Friday

The sky is very gray and dull today. But there appears to be a lot going on.

All week workers have been replacing the siding of this apartment building in the photo below. I believe the building sustained some water damage and rot as is the case with so many buildings in this city.

The work is progressing quickly and the job looks very nice!

As I walked about running my errands, I saw that another movie is being shot in the neighborhood.

A lot of people were relaxing in these tents.

I've just noticed the wolf ? or maybe it's a coyote? on the banners.

There's some filming going on inside one of the restaurants near the bright lights.

There's always something interesting to look at when you look up.

Happy Skywatch Friday.