Quick Travels

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I'm now back from my quick trip out of town to attend my late Sister-in-Laws (SIL) funeral. It was a very unique funeral. My late SIL had many interests in life and a host of friends and family members. She was a bit of a maverick and one of the MC's at her service called her one of the last true cowgirls of the area.

It is only fitting then that they opened service with a Cowboy's prayer. The MC's were and are cowboys too. Her son and other relatives also work with horses and cattle and many work on the land. Many First Nations dancers, drummers and singers were there to honour and sing to her for several days before and during the service.  A fire was kept for several days and nights with young fire keepers staying awake to ensure the flame never burned out. Food was brought in by many locals and tea, coffee, juice and water was constantly available as we condoled with family in the days and nights before the service.

One thing that stood out to me is how everyone spoke of my late SIL's hospitality and kindness. Her brother was one of the MC's and he told the assembled crowd to put aside any differences and love one another as that is what his late sister was good at. Loving others and embracing people of all backgrounds. I certainly do remember her kindness and care.   She was always positive whenever we interacted.  I also remember her as an avid cowgirl and outdoor person, a hunter and fisher providing food not only to her family but to others. These are just a few of her unique characteristics and accomplishments.

After the service, her casket was driven to the local cemetery in a truck and was escorted there by several horses and riders including her son. Her grave marker was carved by one of her nephews.  All in all, I know she would have been happy with how her family organized everything on her behalf and I'm sure she was looking down and smiling at the proceedings.

Her son (my nephew) on the gray horse.

These friendly horses came up to greet us as we parked to get photos of the riders.

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After the service, a few of us drove back to Vancouver. 

About an hour into the journey home, we ran into miserable weather.  At one point the weather was extremely stormy and windy while the skies poured down hail.  

Other times it snowed or rained until about 2 hours from home when the sun came out.
Thankfully my brother was the driver and he is a most excellent driver in terrible weather conditions.

This photo was taken about half way through the journey home.

All this wintry weather is not terribly surprising given that much of our journey is through the mountain highway, called the Coquihalla (Coq for short). It has the distinction of being the deadliest highways in the province with 400-500 accidents during the Winter seasons.  Fortunately for us, there was not much traffic on the way home given it was still early in the week.

We arrived at the dinner hour but most of the traffic was leaving Vancouver, not entering,  as people headed home from work in the city. We didn't have to compete for highway space.  To be honest, the traffic was lighter going into Vancouver than I've seen it for many, many years in all my many journies back and forth to visit my late mom.

This photo is taken at the highest elevation of the highway. Surprisingly it was not snowing here.

I'm now back home, recovering from the past week and trying to catch up to things.
It has been a very busy and difficult week to lose and bury a friend and family member.
I need a bit of recovery time too.
We are expecting a wet weekend so I won't likely be going far afield.
 I'm hoping the weather will improve before all the cherry blossoms disappear so I can get more photos.

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Thank you to everyone who made inquiries and kept good thoughts and prayers for the family.

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I'm joining in with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

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Signs of Spring & Transitions

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

Martin Luther 

♥♥♥

Thank you to all who left comments and sent messages inquiring after my health.

It seems that I've spent much of 2018 in the clutches of a cold or pneumonia or both.

I still have a touch of it. The weather doesn't help as it's been cold and sometimes wet.

Even so time marches on.

I can count on this tree to blossom first every year. It looks quite old.

I always look forward to Spring when warmer climates and clearer skies prevail and the blossoms unfurl in earnest.

But this Spring has started on a sad note.

I said goodbye today to a very dear and very long time friend. 

She passed 2 weeks ago of diabetic complications.  Her daughter arranged for services today as there are many relatives who had to travel far to be at the service.

It was a lovely service and my friend was noted for her long and faithful service to the church amongst other fine attributes.

I will miss her. Besides relatives she is one of the people I have known longest on this earth.

One spire at the local Catholic Church.

Also very unexpectedly my sister in law passed yesterday.

She suffered a brain aneurysm and was airlifted to Vancouver for surgery.

They could not save her.

I was at the hospital late into the night with the family as they made the heart rending decision to 'let her go'.

I am expecting that the funeral services will be as soon as possible. Several of my family members here will make the road journey on Monday for a few days.

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Friends we never know what this life will bring us.

Sometimes we have a long journey in this life and sometimes we have a short one.

In all cases, it is made a bit easier in the knowledge that those of us with faith will meet again one day.

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It is almost one year since my own mother made the transition. 

She left in peace and contentment just as I know my dear friend did also.

That is a gift to the family especially when we know they have suffered long due to ill health.

Where they are now, they will not suffer again.

There are always Canada geese on the lawns in front of train station.

In my sister-in-laws case the end came very suddenly and totally unexpectedly.

It is harder to deal with loss in such cases.

My heart aches for her only son.

A few seagulls overhead.

Spring seems to be a season in which many leave this earth.

It is also a time of new growth and rebirth.

I thought  this new growth in the bottom of the tree trunk was interesting.

 I ask you to pray for the children and families involved and affected by these recent losses, especially for the children.

Also, my close friend's grandma Sally has been in hospital in Kenya for many weeks.

I ask for prayers for her and her family as well.

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I hope you all had a pleasant Easter holiday.

I had a quiet but pleasant one.

I've started to visit some of your blogs again.

Please bear with me if I am a little slow to get to your posts.

I miss reading what you all share.

I like the light in this photo.

♥♥♥

Joining in this week with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

Easter Sunday

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

Just popping in to wish you all a blessed Easter Sunday.

May peace rule in your hearts and lives today and always.

See you soon.

An Unexpected Pause

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I'm just popping in to let you know that I will be taking a hiatus from blogging. Some of you might be wondering what happened to me as I haven't posted in over a week and left few comments in the blogosphere.

Unexpectedly and rather suddenly I got some kind of bug just over  a week ago. Recovery is very slow and I really am not up to being on line much. I will be back when I'm feeling much better.

In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the changing season wherever you live. Here at home it is overcast today and quite dull.

The First Signs of Spring

The cherry blossoms are just starting to come out on one tree near my place. 

No signs of blossoms are yet visible in most of the other trees around where I live but it won't be long now. 

I had to use my Android phone camera which doesn't take the best of photos.

I couldn't help myself. I had to capture these blossoms because every year I anticipate the blossoms with eagerness and joy when I finally see them.

I hope to share better photos soon.

Happy Tuesday and happy week ahead.

I'm linking up with

Our World Tuesday this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pastel Sky & Few Critters

I was fortunate to be able to capture some beautiful colour in the sky earlier this week. 

The first three photos were taken from my home.

The photo below was taken on the highway between the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia in the Rocky Mountains during one of my travels to northern Alberta.

The next few photos were taken on my balcony on a hot summer day.

I discovered a beetle which at first I thought was dead in the bird bath.

But upon closer inspection it was alive.

Do you see what appears to be an air bubble over it's head (3rd photo in the beetle series).

I emptied the bird bath into the garden as it needed refreshing and the beetle was able to recover.

This little exotic bird and flowers were photographed at the Bloedel Conservatory.

I'm afraid I can no longer recall the names of either but some of you might know.

If you do know could you leave a comment with your knowledge?

I'm linking up with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

Thanks for visiting!
Have an awesome weekend.

Trendy Saturday Night Out

The area where I live has become a trendy hot spot for dining and drinking. People come from quite far to partake in one of the many busy restaurants and/or the multitude of craft beer places in the general neighbourhood.  The craft beer places are in the same general neighbourhood but on the way to the city. I am travelling in the opposite direction to the southern edge of the part of town known as Mount Pleasant and on the fringes of the area known as Riley Park. This is where there are many coffee shops, dessert places, boutique shops and a plethora of eateries.  I'll share some of them with you in this post. These are only a fraction of those that are available on this busy street called Main Street. Main Street is the centre street in the city. If you go west of Main Street you are in the western part of town and if you go east you are in the eastern part of the city.

I was surprised to see just how busy it has become. Years ago when I first lived in the area (multiple homes ago), this area was definitely not the place to be. Once 6 p.m. rolled around everything shut down and was very quiet. Over the years many new business people moved into the area revitalizing it with trendy eateries and shopping places. Formerly it was known as antique row but today there are very few antique places to be found. The millennials have no interest in antiques it seems. Many of the long established antique stores have vanished or they have reduced their floor space and moved on to other neighborhoods.

I love the sign in the photo below. On one side it says 'good food'. On the other side it says 'eat".

 I've never eaten at the restaurant but they had a long line of people waiting for a table.
Perhaps you can see them in the photo below.
 What you cannot see is that there were a lot more people waiting in patio seating to the left of the sidewalk.

Notice the outside benches along the right side of the sidewalk

They are there because the restaurants all along this block are exceptionally busy.

The burger place in the photo below has great burgers and fries.

I haven't tried this place for years since I try not to eat so many burgers or fries. It looks like they have a great lunch special.

I was pleased to see the used book store was open late. 

There is another one across the street that closes earlier (around 6 p.m.).
The sushi restaurant next door to the bookstore is quite good though I haven't been there for a long time.
 Many restaurants I stopped going to since I retired due to needing to manage diabetes. Nowadays I stick to a handful of restaurants when I need a bite to eat and make many of my meals at home so I know what is in the dish
There is a second sushi restaurant adjacent to the first one.  It doesn't seem quite as busy but they offer brown rice and other healthy options. Many of the Japanese restaurants in town do likewise.

I love the sign at the Thai Restaurant. It glows so prettily in the dark. Again I haven't been to this restaurant for years but it was good each time I went.  They have always had a great word of mouth reputation and the reviews on line are excellent also.  

A lot of out of towners seem to hit this spot when they come to the city and want Thai food.

For my dinner I ended up at a diner and had a marvellous Greek dinner of Roasted Lamb, something I never make at home. 
Unfortunately I didn't take a good photo of the diner or even of my meal but it was very tasty.

Earlier in the day I ran some errands in the area called South Main. It is where the community library is located. I picked up a few movies there and returned a book that was coming due.  
The weather was gorgeous and the light very beautiful. 

The newish library and Community Centre on the ground level with apartments above.

 

I love old brick buildings like this. We have so few of them left in the City. We never had so many to start with.

The steeple on the building in the photo below belongs to what used to be a church I attended for about a year. Sadly, the congregation sold the building which was converted to condos and they bought land in another municipality.

 I did not follow the congregation out of town because I lived and worked in Vancouver and the new location wasn't convenient.
Many long established churches left the city due to dwindling attendance and the high cost of everything.  

Fortunately the trend seems to be reversing and there are a lot of new churches being founded in the area and across the city. Most of them are worshiping in diverse places such as spaces above coffee shops, in shopping malls and cinemas due to lack of their own building.

Personally I don't mind worshiping in these different types of spaces as long as there is a place to gather.

It makes it a bit less convenient though for office administration, nurseries and programs.

The high rise in the photo below is the first one to be built in the neighbourhood.  It likely won't be the last.
In fact just a few days ago the council just approved 3 high rise buildings (one development) about 10 blocks away. Again the development was hotly contested because it cuts off the sight lines to downtown and the mountains  which up to now have been protected views.  Vancouver has basically run out of land and has to build upward.  Those involved with the planning say that the mountains will still be visible from this side of town.  Others are concerned this is the beginning of high rises everywhere. The city has reached the point where the only solution is to build high rises.  It just keeps on growing and there are not enough homes for everyone.

The builders started building the high rise in earnest in about October 2017. They made good progress but there is still quite  lot to be done. The development takes up a good half block of the city and incorporates a low rise and a high rise plus a lot of amenities for all the residents.  I've seen the renderings for the complex and it looks great but I always withhold my full judgement until I see the finished product. All the apartments in the complex sold out many years ago already while the debate about building was still going on.

 Last but not least, I intended to make several pizzas when my cousin visited last weekend.

Instead I took her out for a wonderful Greek Souvakia dinner which she really enjoyed.

I made the pizzas for my brother and I instead.

Ham and pineapple pizza

My pizza above ended up being almost a triangle shape after baking. Despite trying to make it round it kept shrinking.

I divided pizza dough meant for 2 pizzas into 4 so I had to stretch the dough quite thin.  I prefer thin crust anyway.
I only have one round pan so the other pizza is a long one.
At my diabetic workshop the other day one of the ladies said she wanted to offload her pizza paraphernalia
which included a pizza stone and I'm not sure what else.
I said I would take it so I hope she remembers to bring it next time.

Primarily veggie and cheese pizza but part of it has ham (at the top).

The pizzas were both pronounced "very good".

Thank you for stopping by.

I'm linking up with 

Our World Tuesday today.