Skywatch Friday in Early January

We took a drive out to Langley City and Chilliwack at the weekend. I had to return an item I'd ordered on line and I wanted to try another item on at a brick & mortar store.  It's a good thing I did that because the fit wasn't quite right. I saved myself some money from ordering and the time it takes for delivery and mail in return for the improper fit.

As you can see it rained that evening but the pretty lights of Christmas were still up in an area of town known as District 1881. I don't think I've ever been to this area before. We didn't really explore. We just drove around and stopped at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant for dinner before heading back to Vancouver.

Here is a film I found on You Tube about District 1881. It has become something of a tourist attraction which seems to have caught the locals by surprise.

While most of the rest of Canada is dealing with heavy snowfall at the moment, here at home, the next few days are expected to be dry and sunny.  Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to get some day time photos to share on Skywatch Friday.

Thank you for stopping by!

End of 2025 and a Few Last Minute Images

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Tuesday was a super busy day for me.  The day included running errands in the late afternoon and early evening. I thought it would be fun to share some snippets of what I saw while I was out. I made my usual trip to the library to return a book and pick up another. 

There was a chill in the winter air and fresh snow had fallen on the mountain tops. Today was a treat in that it was so nice to see the mountain peaks in all their glory today.  Not only was there freshly fallen snow on the mountains but the sky was clear enough and bright enough to enjoy the view.

I was out in the neighbourhood running a number of errands when I took the following "night time" images.  It was only about 5:30 p.m.   Apparently we'll be experiencing a wolf moon or super moon which will reach it's full peak on January 3rd just after 5 a.m. I doubt I'll be up that early to take a photo. You can read more about the moon here in case you're interested.

A popular outdoor seating spot in warmer months.

I enjoy all the Christmas lights at the time of year.

I'm reading my last book, number 59 of the year which will bring me to 20,100 pages read. I didn't think I'd meet the 20,000 pages because I slacked off a bit from reading to focus on a few other time consuming things. However, reading is an easy, pleasurable activity when you have a few minutes to spare so I always have a book on hand. 

My first book of 2026

If I don't read from you or post again before the end of the year I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year. May God smile on you and your loved ones in 2026.  

Joining in with Skywatch Friday for the first time in 2026!

Road Trip - Part 1

Hello friends,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas  Day however you spent it.

I love Christmas but I always feel good when the day has passed.  I can take time to relax and catch up on some rest.

These photos are taken on our road trip from Vancouver to Kamloops for a Christmas  visit with a loved one. I thought it would be interesting to share the scenery along the way. 

First up is a map to orient ourselves.

Our drive begins in Vancouver (near the top of the yellow area on the left). We are driving along the 'green line' (Highway 1) past Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford to Chilliwack and beyond.

Here is a map of the entire province British Columbia on the left and Alberta on the right with cities like Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Calgary and world famous parks like Jasper and Banff 

We left around 7 a.m. and it was still dark.

As we reached and passed  Chilliwack, there was a lot of low lying fog.  The entire southern coast and Fraser Valley have been experiencing a lot of heavy rain (atmospheric rivers) in the coastal areas of British Columbia (like the states of Washington and California).   There has also been a lot of flooding and evacuations and you could see that the fields still have a lot of water in them.

I'll be sharing more photos of the scenic drive in future posts. I apologize in advance as I did not get photos of the actual towns and cities for the most part. It's rather hard to do that without stopping and we were trying to beat the bad weather.

Thank you for stopping by my Skywatch Friday post. I hope to visit yours soon.

Skywatch Friday - Speeding Through December

The month of December is flying by!  The weather here has been heavily raining for much of the month so it's been a bit of a challenge to get photos when it hasn't been raining. I did manage to get a few.  (Note:  I'm sorry to those of you who visited through the Skyley blog because my photos upload sideways no matter what I do!).

Tuesday was exceptionally wet but I had to go out for a medical test.

I love these lights from Saturday night in the neighbourhood.

City Lights

I never tire of the city lights especially when the days grow dark early. I'm always happy to see the lights which illuminate my path.

 Thank you for visiting this Skywatch Friday post. Have an awesome weekend.

First Friday in December - Skywatch Friday

It's that time of year where it gets dark very early.  During the day, the sun mostly hides behind a gray sky.  The twinkling lights at this time of year brings cheer to the outdoors and to me whenever I have to venture out. 

Thank you for stopping by my Skywatch Friday post.

Have a great weekend.