A Peaceful Walk

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well.

We are still enjoying nice weather but it took a turn to the cooler side on Friday and Saturday.  By Sunday it rained.  The chances of rain increase next week but I have plans to be busy anyway.

I took these photos as I walked to a local hospital for a CT scan. I didn't realize that they give evening appointments and was pleasantly surprised when my doctor's office confirmed the date and time on a recent evening. I find an evening appointment works very well for me because I often get a late start after doing things around the house and running essential errands.  During the day I'm quite busy with many things especially this week which is my birthday week.  Added to the extra get togethers with family and friends to celebrate, are all the appointments phone calls and emails emanating from the recent water leak in my building and damage to my home.

We've just come out of a long weekend and the holidays have contributed to delays in getting all my ducks in a row concerning what is required to deal with the emergency and restoration work.  Also the  insurance adjuster needs to get what they need just to get to point A so they can approve the claim. Fortunately, the adjuster assigned to my case,seems like a person I can work with.  I'm grateful for that. I still remember the only other insurance adjuster we had to deal with many years ago. He was a real jerk and totally unhelpful.  In the end, it all worked out because I had my brother deal with him.  He, he.  He didn't know my brother is a master negotiator and all around difficult guy to challenge.  In those days, I really didn't have the energy and stamina to deal with all the headache myself so I was very happy I could rely on my brother.

Anyway, things are moving along here.  I'll know more sometime later this week about moving out temporarily and to where.  I didn't really want to do it but it seems it will more than likely have to be done.  It's probably for the best while construction is going on and better in the long run for my health. 

Thank you for your visit today.  Please enjoy the photos.

Thank you for your visit. Please come again soon. 

Tuesday 4 ~ Books

Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Books are such a big part of many people's lives. Maybe we should talk about that.

1. Do you have some books in your home? If so what subjects are they? Which is
your favorite?

Oh my, do I have books! Yes, I do. My husband says I have books all over the place and on every corner and surface. Even though I got rid of at least 100 books just before the Covid pandemic and very seldom buy a new one, I still have too many books to accommodate well in our living space. 

Subjects are wide ranging. I have all kinds of novels from classic to contemporary, novels from authors around the world, art books, history books, science and self help books, Christian story books, Christian bibles and study books.  I also have a lot of self help books, cooking books, DIY books, children's books, craft books and so much more.  Based on the statistics produced when I log my reading material, I found out that my favourite genre is historical fiction.

2. Do you enjoy browsing around in bookstores ? Do you have a favorite you like to go to?

I really love browsing in bookstores. I used to make an afternoon on weekend specifically to go to a favourite bookstore and browse the aisles. My favourite book stores always had seats and tables to sit at and examine a book more closely before buying.  In those days there were many great bookstores large and small. These days they are fewer in number and they no longer have comfy seats and tables.  I realize in answering this question, that I haven't
actually browsed in a bookstore for many years. Mainly it's because I stopped buying new books and magazines many years ago already because I always got carried away with too many purchases.  

If I do purchase a 'new to me' book, it's usually something I've purchased on line or in  used book or thrift store. That way I don't feel any regrets when I finish reading them and want to gift them to charity.  It also means I don't contribute to my already plentiful book library.

3. Do you think real books are clutter or do you just love having them around you?

I love having books around and it's hard to discipline myself from buying them. Since most of my book purchases these days are gently used, I sometimes go on a bit of buying binge.  I even stop at the mini book libraries in the neighbourhood when I'm out for walks. Not too often though because with the sheer number of books I already have, and the number of books I borrow, I no longer feel such a great need to have them around me. I do feel that what I currently own is largely clutter and I'd like to whittle down the number of books I own.  I've given away a lot of books and I need to get better organized so I can add some to the mini libraries in the neighbourhood. Does your neighbourhood have a little library box where you can drop off books or take books for free?

4. What is the oldest book you've read and what is the newest book you've read or are reading.

I guess the oldest book I've read is the Bible and also Shakespearean works. Believe or not my English 12 teacher introduced our class to Chaucer and other writers of old. He even covered the history of the Bible. He was a wonderful English man and I felt like I was in a university class. The newest book I've read was published in February 2024. It was a very poignant story which I reviewed here.

Weekend Work

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, 

I hope you are well and enjoying the weekend.

As mentioned in my last post, I was spending time to declutter over the weekend.  I've been doing this off and on for quite some time but there is still quite a lot of 'fine tuning' to be done. I was spurred into action again due to a leak a few floors above me. 

It was 'deja vu' as I'd gone through this several years ago.  Back then we had to move out for several months while restoration took place. This time the damage is more contained and doesn't affect the entire apartment. Nonetheless we'll probably have to move out while the demolition and reconstruction takes place because the damage in one room is quite extensive.

While looking at other people's decluttered items is not so exciting, it sometimes motivates us to do some decluttering of our own.  I love watching others on You Tube declutter their spaces and I'm really trying my best to do a major decluttering job.  I can't believe it's taking me so long but at least I'm making progress.  After I'm done it will expand our options.  Either we can plan a move to a new place or we can remain and do a bit of home updates here and there.  I'm not certain about any move but I want to have things in a state of readiness just in case.  

I'm documenting my decluttering efforts so later I can look back on it all.  What follows doesn't cover everything that has been decluttered recently.  It's a bit of work to take photos of everything and count every item. I try to count the big stuff and not the papers as there are just far too many of them.
 

Apron, mask and various cloths

Lotion, Empty Bottle, Emergency food

Papers

In between decluttering, I found a bit of time to knit with a 'new to me' yarn. It's cotton yarn and it's a little thinner than I'd like. I really should learn to read labels before I purchase something.  
 

Even though it's a bit thin, I think it will still work for a cloth. I like to make and give these as gifts and my friends seem to appreciate them. As you know, wash cloths need frequent replacing so if I gift someone more than once with the cloths, they generally need to replace the former ones I've given them so I'm not adding to their clutter.

After knitting one cloth, it was back to decluttering efforts.  In case, I have to relocate temporarily, I'm trying to get rid of as much as possible so junk doesn't go to storage only to have to be disposed of later.

Let's hope I can get a lot done this week.

Take care.

Beauty in the Night

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you had a wonderful week and have some nice plans for the weekend.  

Even though it's a long weekend here I haven't made any plans to get away. In fact, I'll be trying to make progress on decluttering.  I'm trying to get through this next big push because it will make a huge difference in how things look around here. I can finally put a few clutter bugs to rest.  I also have a few important things that are keeping me closer to home. I may share more about that later depending on other issues and posts I want to make.

Today I want to share some night shots I took on walk back from meeting a friend for a cool refreshment. I wasn't planning on meeting up with him as I had several errands to run. However he said he could stop off at a point near where I was going to be so we decided to get together. I wasn't pressed for time because stores were open late that night.

He's the fellow I mentioned in a post earlier this week who has been going through huge health and housing challenges.  The good news is that though he'd been told to move, the housing management backed off from their demand after he challenged them. He was prepared to take them to court over it an I guess they decided they wouldn't press the matter. At least not yet.  So that is very good news indeed.

On my way back from errands I decided to walk all the way home. I don't like where the new bus stops are located and it was still light outside. So off I went.  On my way home I have to pass by many heritage homes. The people who own them work very hard to keep them up to standard. I noticed that several of them had lights strung up and it made such a pretty sight.

My apologies to anyone who saw this post earlier. A different and incomplete version seems to have been published with an April 2024 date. I have no idea how that happened since I only took the photos a few days ago and the post should have been in draft. Anyway, it's a good thing Jeannie at Marmelade Gypsy saw it and commented otherwise I wouldn't have known what happened! Blogger and the things it gets up to, lol. 

I love technology but some days it makes more work for me. I thought it was supposed to simplify things!

We Made it to the Middle of May

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I trust you had a great week.  We've been having spectacular weather with sunny days, blue skies and warm weather all month. It's been a super busy week for me.  But I made some time for a walk to take photos.  It was a perfect day for a walk.

May is such a beautiful month.  It's also my birthday month.  I love being born in the month of May. 

The weather makes me happy because the skies get blue, the grass gets green, flowers bloom and the weather warms up, but doesn't get too hot.  I find the change of season also makes others very happy and everything is just that much nicer.

I'm being treated to a fabulous lunch at a beautiful venue early next week in celebration of my birthday.  If it isn't going to be too uncouth I'll take some photos to share.

It's a long weekend here. Whether you have a long weekend or not, I hope you enjoy it immensely.

Thank you for stopping by. Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

A Day in Photos

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well today.

I took a little jaunt out to the University of British Columbia on Sunday to take a friend for coffee. He's been a patient at the University of BC Hospital and before that, a patient at the Vancouver General Hospital.

On my way to the University of BC

Once I arrived at the hospital, I made my way to an area of the university that is new to me. In the sky just beyond where you see the tree branches in the below photo, I spotted two eagles heading in the opposite direction. I'm always very excited to see eagles and I don't get to see them that often. I was a little slow to get my phone camera ready so I ended up with just a photo of empty sky.

I spotted 2 eagles flying just beyond the leaves.

I wondered why these trees were lined up the way they are.  They remind me of an orchard but this would be a very small orchard.

I'm not sure what kind of trees these are.

Regent College (see the small sign at parking lot) an interdenominational evangelical Christian college affiliated with the University of BC is located on the UBC Endowment Lands. It's peeking out behind the fence.  Like most other areas of the university the college gets a lot of international students.

The photo below looks toward a tower where a professor I know used to live. I'm not sure if the housing is meant for professors only or is also open to the public. A lot of the new housing on campus is for students and staff alike. I know the staff get subsidized rents.  When I was a student at UBC, highrises were extremely rare and development was minimal. The university is barely recognizable now as there has been a lot of development, both housing and amenities for staff and students, grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

The Starbucks I was headed to is located just beyond the awning in the below photo. It turns out that the store with the awning is a wonderfully stocked grocery store. Both of these are newer additions to campus life. I stopped there to buy a lot of fruits and vegetables some of which I used for dinner that night.

The Starbucks is just beyond the awning.

Many years ago there was only one main bus to the university campus, the #14.  A second bus took an obscure route nearer to the waterfront but students seldom rode that bus.  Today, there are multiple buses coming and going from multiple directions. On the way home I took the #99 B-Line bus which is an express bus that travels along a major street called Broadway; a good route for intersecting with many other bus routes, subway and sky train options. 

A new subway line needs to be built to the university.  There is a current subway extension being built.  It was was meant to go out to the university but will only go part way due to the ballooning cost of construction that occurred over the "Covid period".   Of course, plans can change and political parties at all the levels can decide that the construction needs to happen now rather than later.

Heading home another way.

A Friend in Need

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

How are you all doing?

It's been a hectic time in my life of late but things are getting done. Nothing too exciting just a lot of hard slogging with shopping expeditions for small items (shopping is not a favourite activity of mine), a lot of small household jobs requiring a lot of elbow grease (rust removal, grout cleaning, small diys, etc. and planting.  Spring is always a busy time as I dust off the cobwebs of winter, quite literally and figuratively, and prepare the household and gardens for the warmer days ahead.

 I went out to the university hospital to meet up with a friend of mine on Mother's Day.  Both he and I lost our mothers several years ago and he tends to get very depressed on Mother's Day without his mom to call. He has been in hospital for 5 long months which is another reason for him to be depressed.  Currently he is in rehabilitation at the university hospital to try to re-learn to walk.  He lost several toes and part of his heel on one foot about 5 months ago. A few years ago he lost several toes from his other foot and he'd been in a wheelchair ever since.  I'm not sure what happened but I think during one of his many surgeries they must have damaged a nerve because all of a sudden he couldn't walk anymore.

He insists he is not going home until he can get out of his wheelchair and walk again.  Otherwise he's thinking of seeking medical assistance in dying (MAID).  It wouldn't be his first time to think seriously about MAID and I know he was thinking of applying after the experience a few years ago of needing to get around in a wheelchair. I hate hearing him talk about it but I can certainly understand his feelings. 

He has been to hell and back for many years already with various medical and housing issues.  He's experienced a lot of discrimination and ill treatment by both housing and health officials.   Right now he is battling with the management at his current place of residence and he's fighting to remain in his apartment even though he is in hospital. It's basically the housing management views that he is unable to live independently and they want him to go into an assisted living facility.

Wednesday update:  The eviction  threats against my friend seem to have stopped. At least for now he can breathe and his building administration is s now being very nice  I guess they don't want a legal fight.

There is much more to the story but I also don't pretend to understand it all. My role is just to try and be supportive and a listening ear so I'll leave the story there.

So on Sunday I went out to meet him and treat him to Starbucks coffee and a lemon loaf.  We enjoyed a long natter. It was also good for both of us to have a visit with one another.  We both lost our mother's years ago to their various health challenges and it gives us time to reminisce and share our memories. Both of us met the other's mother once or twice though they both lived far from Vancouver.

Good Morning Tuesday - Tuesday 4

It's time for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 ... just four questions each week for you to ponder and share your thoughts, likes and dislikes.  You can visit others and see their opinions and hopefully make some new blogging friends.

Can we talk about mornings? We all have them, right?

1. Do you jump out of bed or hit the deck running as I call it or are you slow to get up to speed in the morning?

I'm slow to get up to speed in the morning. It typically takes me hours to really get going. I'm a night owl not a morning person.

2. Do you start the day with coffee or tea?  Or do other things help you wake up like washing your face, etc.?

I usually start my day with coffee and cream after making my bed and making a washroom stop. Sometimes I'll wash my face then but usually I wait until I've had my coffee and feel more alert.  Then I'll take a shower including washing face and brushing teeth and and get dressed to start my day.

3. Is the best part of waking up some Folgers in your cup? What brand of coffee or tea lights your fire?

I like the jingle for Folgers coffee but you'll find Maxwell House in my cup instead. I read the other day that the coffee got it's name from the Maxwell Hotel. 

One of his [Joel Cheek] first big customers was the Maxwell House Hotel. The hotel bought some of his coffee to serve in their dining room. Supposedly, the customers loved it so much they demanded that the hotel keep selling it. Joel named his coffee brand Maxwell House after the hotel in Nashville, where this happened. Tennessee State Museum website

 4. In the Netherlands toast with hefty style chocolate sprinkles are a usual breakfast.  Italy also begins the day with rolls or cookies.  Britain and America are eggs, bacon, toast, or cereal.  What about you? What is a typical breakfast for you?

Many years ago I used to eat breakfast more often; usually a cold or hot cereal with toast. On weekends I would have the full American breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast on a Saturday.  I remember the days well because I was a student or a young career woman.  Saturday was always a time relax and do errands, and meet a friend for late breakfast and a natter. These days I seldom eat breakfast.  When I do it's usually toast and coffee.  Sometimes I have a craving for hot porridge or bacon and eggs and I'll make those if the craving or hunger is strong enough.

I've recently had a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast. I probably won't have it again for quite some time. In this case I was using up some small potatoes before they went bad.

I'm joining in with Tuesday 4 today.  Thanks for stopping by!