Skywatch Friday - March 23, 2023

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you've all had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend.  Where I live we've had some beautiful, sunny days and some not so spectacular days. After a glorious sunny day yesterday it was back to rain today and actually quite chilly. It should turn back to sunshine soon. I can't wait until it warms up a touch. I don't like it too warm just enough to keep my bones from getting a chill.

The first photo is taken in my patio garden. I haven't done any work to prepare it this year and I won't be doing any. Everything will be ripped up and out by June or July as the patio gardens in the entire building need redoing. It's a job and a half and very expensive.

I took the next two photos at the community garden in a nearby park. I was trying to capture the setting sun before it completely disappeared.

I've been preparing the community plot but some darn dog went and walked all over it damaging things in the process. I love dogs but not when they run rampant. I don't know why but they only ran over mine. I guess my plot is too close to the main pathways. Good thing I caught it. I will be keeping a close eye on things as I want the garden to grow a bit by May.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely weekend. 

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Another Friday Has Come & Gone

My how time flies. I wish it would slow down a bit but on the other hand, right now I'm waiting not so patiently for spring season to arrive because we've had a long, cold winter as far as Vancouver weather goes.

Today we had some glorious sunshine and it being Saturday and the end of spring break for students, everyone and his/her dog was out all over town.  However, the good weather won't last long. In fact it will cloud over tonight so my brother and I went for a wonderful drive up the coast to enjoy the scenery. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday today (a day late). Have a wonderful week ahead.

Warm & Cold

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well. Today I want to share photos I took on Wednesday. The day started off sunny and warmish. I went to the community plot in the late afternoon (first photo) and by the time I left it had turned cold. 

In this photo you can see how bright and beautiful the sky was before it began to cloud over. Today is now Friday and it was very cold when I returned home from a late outing. It's supposed to start raining soon and I expect we'll have unsettled weather for the rest of this month which is the norm. I'm glad I went to put the compost in the garden on Wednesday because I sure wouldn't feel like doing it now.

Thank you for stopping by.

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday. 

Skywatch ~ January 20, 2023

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

We've been getting a lot of rain as is the norm here at this time of year. Today was exceptionally wet but I took a walk after the rain slowed a bit. I had to do a few errands. I'm not sure but I think it might be an early spring this year. Time will tell.

My submission is a bit late but I'm joining in with the Skywatch Friday crowd today. Have a wonderful week ahead.

Skywatch Friday ~ January 12, 2023

 

Where I live the sky is generally gray over the winter months. Every now and then we have a break; the sky will clear and the sun will shine. It reminds us that spring will soon arrive. We had such a day on Wednesday.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Skywatch Friday ~ October Vibes

Site of the new subway station at Broadway & Main

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

We've had record setting temperatures over the fall season but on Friday we are finally expecting some rain.  The other day the meteorologist reported that since July to the present time we have only had 16 mm of rain when the norm would be just over 160 mm of rain. No wonder the tree on my patio died. It had been looking sickly for a few seasons and it has finally succumbed. I'm a bit sad but it's not going to matter much. 

Within the year or so the strata will be uprooting all the patios and is contemplating not having any gardens at all. The weight and growth of them (dirt, plants, roots, water) has the potential to become problematic for the structure of the building. No decisions have been  made yet and there will be a special meeting to discuss all the results and options going forward once a report is ready. I think I would rather confine my gardening to containers on the patio and have a bit more footage to arrange furniture.

In the meantime here are some photos I took of the sky when I was out and about running errands earlier in the week.  I took these photos just as thd light was fading. I thought the ones with the trolley lines set against the sky were quite interesting.  A lot of those lines will be likely be eliminated once the new subway system on the Broadway corridor is running (target is late 2025) but I don't know that for sure.

 

In my reading stack this week I found a wonderful little book called The Birds of East Africa. It is short read of approximately 200 pages and is a sweet little tale set in Nairobi, Kenya. The style is along the lines of Alexander McCall Smith's #1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

I'm now reading the best seller The Distant Hours by Australian writer, Kate Morton. It's an interesting book about family secrets connected to 3 elderly sisters living in an imposing and decaying castle. 

I picked up both of these books at the thrift store on a whim and wasn't expecting much from them but they are both turning out to be satisfying reads.

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I also picked up a set of sheets and pillowcases at the thrift store. I wouldn't have purchased them but they were a good price, minimally used and I like blue and white. This set is by Tommy Hilfiger but strangely they look quite wrinkled even though they are not 100% cotton. I don't iron most things including sheets. By the time they are pulled flat onto the mattress most of the wrinkles will disappear.

Each piece of the 4 piece set was sold individually.  I didn't notice that the two exact same pillowcases had different prices until I got them home.  I'm guessing two different clerks priced them.  I paid about $26 dollars in total for the set. I think the price is okay given what new sheets cost and these appear to be little used.

Have you found any good thrifting deals lately or read any good books?

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

Skywatch Friday - Downtown Sky

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope this weekend find you well and in good spirits. 

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today.  The photos I'm sharing were taken downtown earlier this week.

The sky was mostly hazy from wild fires that have been burning all around.  But late in the afternoon the sun broke through.  Enjoy and thank you for stopping by.

The hub of financial and business district near Burrard Street and Pender

High rise on the way to the waterfront.

Promenade around the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Side view of the new Vancouver Trade & Convention Center.

The back view of Christ Church Cathedral with green top of Hotel Vancouver peeping through.

The side of the newish Trade & Convention Center and North Vancouver in background.

Goods stored for shipping. The pile of whitish yellow substance is sulphur.

A small float plane is landing.

The Lions Gate Bridge in background.

The area where trees are jutting out is Stanley Park with North Vancouver in background.

Happy Friday, Happy Skywatch & Happy Weekend

Hello folks and blogger friends,

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer to date. It certainly is different from the last few years in many ways. I'm thankful to have the freedom to go out and about more than the previous years. But I didn't get a chance to go out of town for several years now.  This year was no exception.  Even though restrictions were mostly lifted, I really don't care to travel right now and contend with all the travel/transportation delays and related issues.

 

We've had a heat wave for much of (July and ) August.  Even when the posted weather has been in the lower 20s Celsius, it has still felt sweltering.  Even Jonah who is used to the heat and dry areas in Kenya has commented about how hot it has been here. At last we had a dip in temperatures today and a sprinkling of rain. It wasn't a lot of rain but combined with lower temperatures it made all the walking I did today much more bearable.

 

 

I had to go deep into downtown Vancouver today to the Purolator service center to return a few Amazon parcels. Normally I send items back through the post but these items had to be returned by Purolator. It was very convenient to get to the center by bus as it let me off across the street. I thought I would return straight home and the bus stop was right outside the center's door. However when I got to the bus stop there was a sign saying one had to catch a bus at Burrard Street. That was a lot of walking for me especially since my knees aren't fully rehabilitated. Fortunately I managed to do what I needed to do.

 

After I finished downtown, I did more errands in my neighbourhood.  I was shocked at how many people were out and about.  There were lines of people everywhere waiting to get into virtually every single restaurant and drinking establishment  Of course it is Friday and many people go out on Friday nights but tonight it was noticeably busier than usual.  I don't know if it was because the weather was cooler and more comfortable or if suddenly people are realizing that the end of summer is almost upon us and they're trying to soak up every minute left of it. It's probably a bit of both.  It was also very busy with tourists downtown though it doesn't seem so in the photos. It was nice to see so many visitors walking and enjoying the sites.

 

The photos I'm sharing are from downtown Vancouver in the city's West End Coal Harbour area. For most of the day the sky was a very dull gray. The sun came out around 6 p.m. but I couldn't stop to take photos.

Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

 Joining in with Skywatch Friday