Skywatch Friday ~ September 30, 2022

Friday September 30, 2022 is first  National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, colloquially known as Orange Shirt Day.  It is a new Canadian statutory holiday to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system. You can read more about it here to understand how the statutory holiday came to be.

Yesterday I had lunch with an old and very dear friend of mine. She is now 87 years old and I haven't seen her for a few years. I cannot believe that much time has passed since we had lunch on my street. In the meantime her long time husband has passed on and she has moved from the house they shared to a beautiful apartment not too far from where they lived. She invited me to come and see her new home.

Her apartment has two small balconies with the most stunning views of the city. She lives on the 11th floor so I snapped photos to the north and to the east.  It clouded over while I visited her and was raining by the time I took these photos and eventually made my way home.

View to the northeast. The buildings in background are in the city's west end neighbourhood.

Same scene as above but  bit earlier in the afternoon before the rain came.

The green in the center of the photo is Stanley Park and the mountains shrouded in mist is West Vancouver.

Many ships and barges were in the water. The number kept changing.

A view to the east includes parts of Kitsilano neighbourhood and the high rises in back are downtown.

My friend made a great choice in a new place to live. The building has an outdoor pool, a fitness center, lovely garden and everything you could need is a short distance away. The best part of all is the comfortable surroundings and the fabulous views.

Perhaps you can see in the last photo how dry the lawns are. Normally they would be green but we had hardly any rainfall for many months after getting so much rain last fall, winter and even into the spring. We had a late arriving heat wave it we are expecting warm, summer-like conditions again though it rained on Wednesday and was overcast on Thursday.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday. Thanks for stopping by and visiting today.

Hello September

 

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Happy September!

It seems the main part of summer is over.  For me the best part of summer is in September because the weather cools down quite noticeably.  There are only 22 days left before summer ends and fall arrives.  Fall is one of my favourite seasons because of it's beauty and crisp, fresh air but unfortunately is such a brief time before heavy rains arrive and we prepare for winter.

Summer arrived somewhat late in BC this year. It rained a lot for the first part of the season but made up for it in July and August. On the last day of the month of August it was still blazing hot. My garden has been pretty much done for the last week.  I probably didn't water it enough at some critical moments of the season.  It's always a challenge for me and I can sometimes miss a day here and there when it is critical to give the earth some sustenance through watering. I'm still pleased that the blooms lasted up until about a week ago and some of the container blossoms are still hanging in there.

Instead of gardening my main focus in the early part of summer was helping Jonah get situated to his new life and our life together in this city and country which is new for him.  There was a lot for him to do and we also tried to have a little outing here and there for relaxation. Then came August and I decided it was time for me do as much as I could to catch up with much needed DIY's around the house and continue with the major decluttering I've been working on for some time.

The DIYs have mostly been a learning experience.To be honest I don't have much patience for it.  I made a mess of a few things which had to be undone and then re-done. I'm not finished yet and will continue working until at least the official end of summer. Even simple things can be a bit confusing if you've never done them before.  I've been relying on You Tube for tutorials for almost everything. Thank goodness I can turn to You Tube.

On the last day of August, I remembered my dear late mom who would have turned 89. I miss her but know I will see her again one day. Also on this day I received a card from a friend in Colorado. I couldn't believe it when I opened the envelope to discover a Christmas card written back in December. I understood from the note that my friend and her husband have been temporarily living in another state so they can look after her mom.  I'm hoping by the time I write back she will still be at the temporary address. 

I have the sense that I'm turning the corner on the long list of DIYs I've been working on.  Today I received a shower curtain and the new doorknob for the master bathroom.  I didn't waste any time in steaming the wrinkles out of the shower curtain and putting it up. I absolutely love and I intend to keep it.  It means I'll be returning the creamy white waffle weave curtain I bought last week. The off-white colour was too 'yellow' and clashed with the natural white paint colour on the bathroom walls.  Later in the day I'll return the items to the stores and on Saturday I hope to repair the small holes I made in the door and touch up paint before I install the new door knob.  The rest of the weekend I'll give the bathroom a thorough cleaning and see what else I can declutter before moving on to other projects. If you are interested in seeing what else has been accomplished you can click here.  

Until we meet again on blogger, stay safe. 💗