Skywatch Friday - May 24, 2024

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are well today,

I went to lunch with a friend.

So when we chatted to make the plan, I heard her say "Seasons in the Park", a beautiful restaurant in Queen Elizabeth Park. So that is where I arrived on Wednesday last, just before noon. I waited but no one came and there was no reservation under her name.

I decided to sit in the lounge area and keep an eye out for her. I also called her at her home and cell phone numbers but there was no answer. After about 10 -15 minutes no one had arrived but I received a phone call. It was her! I was at the wrong place.  I hurriedly got the new instructions, reactivated my Uber account and went off to meet her. 

In the meantime, I took these photos of the entrance to Seasons in the Park. If you look in the first photo beyond the windows, that is where one would get a fantastic view of the city. I had no time to capture the views of the park which is so beautiful at this time of year.

These chairs are near a fireplace where I waited.

So the next venue is a place called Shaughnessy Restaurant and it's located in another park called Van Dusen Gardens. Van Dusen Gardens has a magnificent light show at Christmas each year which I attended in 2022 and 2023 and posted about.

My friend and I were so excitable and chattering away that I completely forgot to get proper photos of the restaurant and the park itself.  These photos are from the entry to the restaurant.

The outdoor seating area

The restaurant was bustling, the wait staff was super and the food excellent.  Best of all was reconnecting with my dear friend.  She is the one who took me for birthday lunch. We've been friends for 38 years and met almost from the beginning of my move to Vancouver.

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday. Thanks for stopping by! 

Keeping Distracted & Focussed

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

When life gets hectic sometimes I just slow everything down with reading, cooking, cleaning or making something.

This week my mind is occupied with the patio renovations and now having to deal with the recent water leakage and damage into my living quarters.  I kept busy with a lot of decluttering and a bit of knitting.

Story of my life, lol

A few decluttered items

Making these simple dishcloths keeps my mind focussed on the repetitive tasks required in working the yarn.  While I'm doing that I can't really dwell on any negative thoughts.  

I also did a bit of cooking.  Once we move out, we'll be gone for awhile.  Food will potentially be spoiling in the refrigerator so I'm trying to use up what we have and buy food very sparingly.

I made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce for some quick meals this week.   I also thawed out some beef rice soup I made a just over a month ago and stored in the freezer.

I'd be interested in knowing whether you ever had to move out of your home due to damage of some kind?  Where did you move to and what was the best and worst part of the experience?

If you're here for Skywatch, my post will be up in several hours. Have an awesome day/night and 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.
 

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!