Image of the Day

One of my favourite subject matter for photos is trees. Another of my favourite subjects is the sky.

Taken May 7, 2024

First Monday in May

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you all doing today?  I'm still very busy with errands and such.  Some of you know that I've been on a mission to find Brasso (metal cleaner/polisher) and some neutral shoe polish since last Friday to no avail.

Sky around 5:30 a.m. Monday

I checked one more store in the neighbourhood today just on a lark because I had to pass by there on my way to drop off a book at the library.

Sky at 4:45 p.m.

Sky at 4:45 p.m.

Lo and behold the store had Brasso.  They didn't have any neutral shoe polish but they did have something called Dubbin.  This isn't what I need for a particular project but it will come in handy for conditioning leather items and the leather sofa so I bought it. Tomorrow I'll check some other stores for the neutral shoe polish.  I could order it on line.  But I'm on a mission to see if and where I can find it locally in case I needed or wanted to buy these items again.

Sky at 7:55 p.m.

Dinner of pork chops, tater tots and pico de gallo

I'm thinking of posting daily or almost daily for awhile just because at this time of year I love what I see in the sky and all the greenery around me. I hope you'll come and visit again soon.

Early Skywatch

This is an early post for Skywatch Friday. It seems I'm sometimes late but never early until today, lol. We've had a spectacular few days of sunshine though rain was forecast for this week, the forecast was amended. 

I had a busy week. It was tax deadline yesterday. I managed to get it done for DH and I about 24 hours before deadline though we did have an issue or two.

I went out for a walk yesterday and I came across these notices for tax help. There was a line up of people needing to file so the sole tax preparer had to stay late to help everyone.

Look at the pricelist (below) for tax preparation.  I saved DH and I several hundreds of dollars.  Not only that, I know they would have charged us more than the posted prices because of the number of receipts we have. I've had that experience filing as a single person when I used to go to tax preparers.

Cost is the main reason I started doing tax returns myself because the pricing became ridiculous and that was many years ago already!  Thank goodness for tax software though some are better than others. 

Do you have any software you would recommend? I've been using Turbo Tax for the past 2 years and I'm ready to change.  I found it more expensive than other software and also far more complicated than necessary with various quirks as regards the tax considerations for DH and I and the constant 'push' for paying for various of their services is super annoying considering we have to pay to use the software to begin with.  DH and I have a bit of a complicated tax scenario for the last few years and going forward at least a few years. It's not so very complicated but more involved than a simple return.

Anyway, I have another busy few days ahead so I'll stop here and wish you all a fabulous few days ahead.

Beautiful April Sky

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

It's a beautiful April day in Vancouver and I'm enjoying the sun.  You can see people on the streets in short sleeves or no sleeves and shorts. I don't find it warm enough yet at 18 Celsius but I'll take the sunshine.  I hope it's nice where you are.

I'm a bit late for Skywatch Friday. Thank you for stopping by!

A Few Days in April

April 6, 2024 

April 8, 2024

April 9, 2024

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday this week.

Thank you for stopping by!

Skywatch Friday - An April Mood

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, 

I hope this month finds you well. I can't believe we are already well into the new month of April. The month is almost filled up already with commitments and I thought it was going to be a slow one.

This month has given us a very mixed bag of weather so far with some warmish days and downright cold ones too. The skies have also been changing quickly each day. I guess that is normal for spring weather but parts of Canada did get snow on Thursday. I know parts of Europe also got snow and I'm guessing some of our neighbours to the south too.  I'm looking forward to the day when temperatures will reach at least 19 Celsius.  Then I'll feel like the growing season part of spring has arrived. However, very hot weather need not come.  Wildfires are a big concern.  Wherever  you live I hope your weather is good.

Here is a collection of sky scenes over the past week (click on each photo for better viewing).

March 30, 2024

April 1, 2024

April 2, 2024

April 3, 2024

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.  Until next time, stay safe and thanks for stopping by!

A Few Days in March ~ Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers.

I hope Spring is treating you well so far. It's been roller coaster weather where I live with mostly gloomy skies, cooler weather and the odd beautiful sunny day.  I'm sharing a few days this past week so you can see what I mean.

March 27, 2024

March 26, 2024

And about 30 minutes later on the same day.

March 23, 2024

 

One of the many things keeping me busy this week is patio renovation. The construction job is behind schedule over all and my patio in particular. This week they were to replace the pavers on the patio membrane. After which they will build the retaining wall and fill it with soil. I don't know yet about whether they will hire someone to replant the gardens or if we will have to re-do it ourselves. When I bought the place it came with a fully planted garden that had trees. Now I may have to replace all those plants myself but we will have guidelines this time from a landscape architect's report about what can and cannot be planted. 

No matter what the strata council decides, I'm still paying for the replanting in addition to the payments for the construction. It's just that I would prefer not to have to do all the work myself as it's not that easy hauling plants up from the ground level. I talked to the strata manager yesterday and he couldn't tell me what the timeline is for completion so I don't even know whether anything will be ready for enjoyment this summer. We are expected to have very hot weather this summer and so the timing of that will likely coincide with when the garden will finally be ready.  Once it is ready to go, we will need to power wash the pavers and make them look nice again.

Last but not least, I wish each of you and your loved ones, a blessed Easter weekend if you celebrate.

 I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by.