Racing to December

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you all doing?

How is the weather where you live?

These are a few photos of the weather over the past week or so.

This kind of weather calls for stick to your ribs foods and 'warming' foods so there's been plenty of that.

My health has been up and down as it usually is at this time of year. Whenever I'm fighting a cold I don't have much energy except for watching something on television or Netflix or one of the other streaming services. Sometimes I also start a project. I started making a few dishcloths but ran out of yarn. Maybe I'll get back to Michael's soon. I'm only buying small skeins of cotton yarn since Michael's no longer sells the large skeins of cotton. At least not the branches I visit.

I've slowed down on the big declutter project though this week I managed to sort a few papers and declutter a 4 foot Christmas tree and some Christmas ornaments.  

Even though I've decluttered quite a bit I've decided the 4 foot tree is too wide in circumference and I've opted for a taller and skinnier tree. They're called Pencil Trees because they are very thin.  This kind of tree will fit much better into my small living space.  The other tree which I purchased a few years ago has been given to a friend of mine who said he was going to go shopping for Christmas decorations and a tree.  I delivered the tree and baubles to him on Tuesday night since he lives within walking distance.  I'm happy he will be able to make good use of it.

What is keeping you busy in your neck of the woods or your part of the world?  Are you ready for Christmas.  

I guess in the USA they will soon enjoy Thanksgiving first but we in Canada celebrated in October. I'm always grateful for a longer period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It gives us more time to savour each holiday and to prepare for the next.

Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts on weather and your activities. Until next time, please take care. 🎄🎄🎄

The Last Day in October ~Skywatch Friday

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you're all fine and doing great.  It's the end of another month and it has turned cold and very wet as we close out the month 

Today (Thursday) we had the first snows of the season on the mountain tops. No doubt skiers and ski hill owners are happy. I'll be happy as long as the white stuff remains on the mountains 🏔️.

The months fly by and tomorrow we begin November.  Soon the year will be over!

For dinner on a cold night I made ground beef mixed with baby bok choy and tomatoes in sauce served over steamed rice. It was delicious and definitely warmed me up.

Thanks for stopping by and joining me in checking out today's Skywatch Friday.

The First Friday in July

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well.

It's Friday and I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit. I'm going to the Rolling Stones concert tonight. The ticket was my Christmas gift from my younger brother. Wow, I haven't been to a concert in decades and things have changed dramatically. I cannot even take a purse into the venue. I could use a fanny pack but it ended up in storage when the contents of the master bedroom were moved out a few weeks ago. I just found this out yesterday when I decided to read all the rules and policies about 'bags'. I almost skipped over that part but I'm glad I didn't because I wouldn't want my purse being confiscated. Anyway I'll have to really pare down and make sure I wear clothing with pockets. That's a tall order too given we are suddenly experiencing a heat wave. 

I'm not going to let these challenges get to me. I'll probably be the 'lightest' I've ever been going anywhere in recent history, lol because I can't take much into the venue. That might be a good thing. I'll take an empty plastic bottle to fill with water, my wallet and my phone. These are a must because you need a debit card or a credit card. It's a cashless venue. Also you need your phone with the Ticketmaster app so you can scan your ticket. No paper tickets or screenshot tickets are allowed. Things have really changed a lot for those of us who never go to sporting events or big concerts but if you've been to these big events lately then it's all common knowledge for you.

I went out for some errands on Thursday.  It was very hot and there was not a cloud in the sky. Here are a few photos for you.

I was on my way to dinner and I happened to pass by a flower shop which is relocating this month. They had various sale signs in the window. I spotted this trolley and tried to enter to buy it. The store was closed but the owner saw me pointing to the item and let me in. I bought it and then had to return to my home before I could go out to dinner.

As many of you know, I am decluttering but I do still buy certain things that I need for how I want things to be in future. For sure I want plants and greenery and I currently lament that I have very few flat surfaces. This little trolley will help solve that. It can also be used as my DH bedside table because I'm getting rid of a big chest that we have been using as his night stand amongst other things.   The table takes up way less space than the chest.

I ended up going out for Vietnamese food instead of Japanese food. It was very tasty and the young water struck up a conversation with me about my phone because he has a similar one. I've learned he has only been here for 10 months from the beautiful coastal city of Danang, Vietnam.

A fabulous meal.

That's it for now. Have a wonderful Friday.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

Skywatch Friday ~ June 28, 2024

It's the last Friday of the monthand a wet day for us. It was also a wet day on Thursday when I took these photos.  

I was on my way to meet a friend for a lunch to celebrate both of our birthdays, which are in the month of May.

The Main Street Science World Sky train Station

The new St. Paul's hospital under construction 

Heritage Hall

St. Patrick's Catholic Church

Even though it was a wet day I never got rained on at all since it rained before and after my outing. I'm hoping it won't be such a long time before we are able to meet up again.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.  Enjoy your weekend and thank you for dropping by!

Neighbourhood Street Scenes

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are well today.

These are photos I took on a recent walk in the neighbourhood. You can see the sky is very grey and dull but what you can't see is how cold it was. Seriously cold.

I had to wear a long sleeved top, a sweat jacket and my winter rain jacket. I was just fine dressed this way but I was so surprised to see how cold it had become. I don't remember it ever  being so cold at this time of year although the rain is no surprise, lol.
 

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Former Evangelistic Tabernacle, now turned into condos

 

Very near the corner of Main St. & Broadway

A newish restaurant I haven't had a chance to try yet

I like the joyful exterior of this place

The new Broadway/Main St. subway station will be located here (behind the photos)

I hope you enjoyed this peek into the neighbourhood.  Thank you for your visit.

The Weather Changes

It rained Saturday morning but the sun came out by the afternoon.

I went out for a short errand and found it a bit on the cool side.

The weather is changing for awhile.  We've had such lovely, sunny and reasonably warm weather for much of this month. We've had partly cloudy skies early in the week turning to rain yesterday for the rest of the week. It should be good for the gardens. I hope it doesn't rain too much because I'd like to do some walking.

I snapped this photo because of the flock of birds above. They're a bit hard to see.

Enjoy the rest of your week.
 

Image of the Day

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

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

Taken May 7, 2024

What subject matter do you like to photograph?

Thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you again soon.

The Week Ends and Starts Like This

Hello friends and fellows bloggers, 

I hope you are all fine and that you enjoyed the weekend. As I mentioned in my last post here, I was very tired from all the walking and shopping I did on Friday and Saturday.  Thankfully the weather was good for those days. In fact, it was good all week long.

Late Saturday the raindrops started falling but just sporadically. Today it rained but not so much. It will rain more tomorrow. So we ended the week in sunshine and start the new week with cloudy skies and rain. 

 

It looks like the week ahead will be mainly sunny and warmish, with a few cloudy periods.  This is good news because one of my dear friends and I are planning a walk around a lake and of course we'd prefer that it isn't raining when we do so. We've postponed a ew times already due to inclement weather but now the temperatures are much warmer than they were a few weeks ago.

I haven't been reading much this week as I've been busy with several meetings and appointments. I need to get cracking on 2 books that will come due at the library shortly.

I've been experimenting lately with eating parts of the beef that I don't normally eat. Partly it's due to lack of availability at my local grocery store. But last week I made beef tongue which I haven't had since I was a young girl. It was nice and tender. On Sunday I made beef liver with some onions and pieces of bacon. I didn't have a lot of bacon so I cut it into pieces and mixed it with the onions. It was tasty. 

Liver isn't readily available at my local grocery store either but oddly enough I found it at another grocery store owned by same billionaire. Now the parent company is converting one grocery store (Buy-Low) into the other (Save On). I don't know why they are doing this because Buy Low is not a new acquisition. It was purchased in 1995 by the Jim Pattison Group but I have noticed the soaring prices at Buy - Low over the past 3 years.  All three major grocery stores in my general neighbourhood are owned by the same company.  It's no wonder the prices are so high at all of them.

The Last Weekend in April

 This is what it looks like here on Sunday early evening.

I'm keeping busy on this rainy weekend with a bit of cooking, decluttering and cleaning. 

Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables

Chicken and rice stew

Roasted, seasoned chicken

Roast beef stew

I don't buy many books and magazines these days however I noticed that lately I've been buying a magazine or two each year. I just let go of 18 magazines, some of them are as old as 2009 and 2012 with a few in the last 3 years. The books are old. I think I inherited one and I bought one many years ago. I never look at them so out they go.

I snapped these next photos while out for a few errands on Friday. It had been raining heavily but stopped for a few hours. The blue in the sky looked so lovely.

I also went thrifting on Friday. I'm careful what I bring into the house these days since I'm decluttering. Adding more than I really need would be counter productive.

This Omega juicer is like new but needs a good cleaning.

These cute stamps were a bargain.

I've been wanting a tray with an old map on it for ages.

During these times of heavy rain and cloudy skies before summer arrives I've been turning up the hygge.

Some lovely, fresh tulips.

A lemon scented candle.

Some faux flowers with twinkling bulbs at night.

Instead of reading this weekend, I ended up binge watching this tv series on Netflix. I still have one episode to go and it's quite thrilling.  If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

That's how I've spent a satisfying weekend. I hope you enjoyed yours.