Another Month is Almost Over

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope all is well with you. I have been super busy and not able to blog much or visit your blogs very often. I continue to have issues leaving comments on many blogs but when I can leave one without difficulty, I do. I'm not sure if you too are having problems leaving a comment for me because I have noticed that there are very few comments left on the majority of my blogs in this new year. It's quite possible that it is simply because I haven't been able to leave comments for you. If you have been experiencing any difficulties leaving a comment for me, please do send me an email and let me know.  Follow the link at the Blogger Profile page (you may need to click on the 3 lines/dots at top left of the blog).

The weather here has been frightful. I've been anticipating an early Spring but instead we seem to be having winter over and over. The forecast was for snow on Saturday and quite a lot of it (up to 1 foot or 30 centimetres depending on where one lives in the city). I was very surprised to go for late afternoon walk on Wednesday and find myself under snowfall. It was also quite chilly. Fortunately I recently purchased a puffer coat to keep my legs warm in cold weather and I was able to use it. It's already paid for itself in the 2 weeks I had it after buying it on sale. I do have a faux fur coat which is very warm too but I cannot wear it when it's raining so I bought the puffer coat for those occasions.  I took these photos after it stopped snowing and on my way back from the library.

As I write this post I'm getting very annoyed at yet another blogger problem I've been experiencing lately. Whenever I go to edit and tonight, when I go to add photos, a new page comes up called "Post Edit" and it doesn't have any buttons and from that page I can do absolutely nothing except read what I've already written. Is anyone else having this experience or know what to do about it? In the last 6 months I've had so many problems with Blogger compared to all the previous years of blogging with absolutely no issues whatsoever. I didn't figure out the issue but I found a way to work around it. I have to use Google Chrome rather than Safari and that is helping the site to do what it is supposed to do. Sometimes I can leave comments too when I use Google Chrome. 

I'm beginning to think it may be time to move onto another platform. Alas, it won't be anytime soon because there are a lot of other things competing for attention: garden plans, family needs, household organizations and do it yourself projects, technology needs and health management. There is never a dull moment these days, is there? I know everyone else is dealing with most of the same things.

My cousin was visiting from Alberta and we had been planning for long to get together to celebrate her birthday. I haven't seen her since before Covid. Unfortunately she came down with a bad cold and the next day I did too. So she and her sister dropped by and we had a very quick visit and exchanged gifts. We're hoping to have a proper visit in the summer.

While I have been convalescing I started a new crochet afghan. This one is very large as it's meant to be a proper blanket for someone tall to snuggle up in. I found some of the ones I was making were simply not long enough even for me, a shortie. I like them to cover the feet and all the way up to the neck.

This is about 75% complete. The yarn colour is variegated 
and sold as you see it.

In the month of February I've been working away at getting rid of more things and have decluttered numerous items every day. Mostly these are small items because I have already gotten rid of the larger stuff during all my other decluttering projects. I was surprised to see how much 'trash' I've been storing. The items are small so you don't really notice them until you start collecting in a pile. 

An example of small bits I've been storing - 22 items now in trash.

I've been doing a bit of reading too. Here are my latest finds. I haven't gotten too far into any of these books yet. The book Spare by Prince Harry was being offered for free on Audible books. I'm not sure if the offer is still available. I put it on Hold at the local library but it will be awhile before I get it so I can listen to it on audible and then I won't need it from the library.

I picked up the book, little family by Ishmael Beah, because I'd read his debut book Child Soldier years ago. It was a superbly written and insightful book. The other book is fictional and deals with the current topic of internet dating and some of the scams that go on and have made the news around the world.

Last but not least, I'm sharing my 'free' ficus tree. I bought it off Amazon using reward points from my telephone and internet service provider. I also got the fairy lights off Amazon. The lights are strung together on very fine copper wire. There is a total of 66 feet of wire. what a nightmare. The wires get all tangled no matter how careful you are. I hesitate to remove the wire and redo the stringing because I didn't do a very good job but I'll have to be in the right frame of mind with nothing better to do before I try it again! Even so, I'm loving my tree. It will go in the corner near my sofa and replace all the live plants that have occupied the space but don't thrive given the cold and lack of light. If you are eagle-eyed you'll spot containers behind the tree waiting for paper to be shredded and trashed. Yet another project.

That's it for now. I hope to get on a better track with posting and commenting in March if all goes well.  Until then keep healthy, happy and reasonably busy.

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday was sung a few times yesterday. I celebrated a birthday on Monday and though I don't generally go for big parties I do enjoy more intimate gatherings with family and friends.

~~~~~~~~

A friend made a scrumptious and diverse dinner.  There were 3 kinds of rice (plain white, brown and chicken pilau), millet ugali, chicken stew, sauteed kale/onions, roasted plantain, roasted chicken legs with a lemon sauce and chapati. Not to be outdone her son made 2 flavours of muffins in two different sizes.  We had a feast and I was stuffed.

I thought it was rather creative how this young boy made cupcakes and bought candles to spell out Happy Birthday. 

It was very sweet.

Here is the young chef lighting up the cupcakes before they sang and I blew out candles.

Not to be outdone my "baby" brother bought me a beautiful fruit cocktail cake with whipped cream frosting topped with fresh fruits. This is my favourite cake and it has now become a staple for family birthday celebrations. I will have a few more birthday luncheons as friends have invited me out later and as time allows in my schedule.

~~~~~~~

I haven't had time to post a lot of photos of my various outing over the past few weeks so I'm sharing a few from a few weeks ago when a friend invited me on a harbour cruise.

I have a lot of photos to share.  This post will only cover the walk along the northern sea wall toward the departure point for the cruise.

I alighted near the sea wall close to the entrance of the Westin Bayshore Hotel.  This hotel is popular with tourists and is located almost at the entrance to Vancouver's Crown Jewel, Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a 405-hectare public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada and is almost entirely surrounded by waters of Vancouver Harbour and English Bay.  Read more about this beautiful park at this link.

I'm headed north west of the hotel so I need to go around it.  I found the hotel rather large and spread out.  It is also undergoing some redevelopment though it is still open for business.

A view west towards downtown Vancouver.

A small marshy pond located adjacent to the hotel. Too bad there were no birds splashing about

I love the riotous colour in all the blossoms.

Just as I am about to head due west, I look to the east and snap a few photos. 

The  white building with the 'sails' in the background right is the east wing of  the Vancouver Convention Center and where I was last week for Flyover Canada.  I just learned that it is still part of the Convention Center. I thought it had been replaced altogether by the new one (see photo below) but now I understand there is a west wing and an east wing which are actually two separate buildings.

See the paddle boat with tourist on the top deck.

You can see the port of Vancouver with the multi-coloured shipping containers in the background.  The float plane on the far right is part of the fleet for Harbour Air which flies to our provincial capital, Victoria and to many other points on Vancouver Island.  In late April the airline added flights to Seattle, Washington.

In the photo above you can see the structure in the middle with a green roof. That is the new 'west wing" of Vancouver Convention Centre.   It is built on stilts over the water.

 The living roof, seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment and fish habitat built into the foundation of the West Building make it one of the greenest convention centres in the world. The Centre recycles an average of 180,000 kilograms of materials annually, nearly half of the total volume of waste generated. It avoids canned goods, disposable utensils and dishes, and donates leftover food to local charities (source: Wikipedia)

The grey, concrete building peeking out just to the right of the lamppost in the foreground is the Vancouver Lookout Tower. At the top there is an observation deck and the only remaining revolving restaurant in the city.

I enjoyed my walk along the waterfront looking at all the activity on the water and the various boats and ships which were docked. Though the weather was overcast it was perfect for a day out.  Signage was present here and there announcing various tours and yacht rentals.

A float plane comes in for landing.

Signage announcing some water adventure tours.

 

I've now arrived at the departure point for the Harbour Cruise. Here I sit and wait on a bench for my friend to arrive. 

It isn't too long before I heard my name.

My former boss was out for a luncheon walk and recognized me in profile as I gazed out over the boats and yacts.

What a small world we live in.

In a short while afterward my friend arrives and we set off for our adventure.

Stay tuned.

Joining in with 

Our World Tuesday

Thank you for visiting. Please come again soon.