A Good Week

It's been a busy, fun and tiring week with my niece.  We went to see two movies, "Despicable Me 2" and "Man of Steel".  Both of these movies couldn't be more different from the other but they were both entertaining in their own ways.  We laughed at the little minions in Despicable Me 2 and my niece almost split a gut laughing hysterically when the minions sang "YMCA" by the Village People. My niece and I love superheros of all kinds, including Superman. I thought the movie might be too serious and not entertaining enough for her.  She did get very wrapped up in the movie plot, shaking her fists at the villains who tried to kill Kal-El (the name Superman was given at birth by his parents on the planet Krypton).

In addition to going to movies, we managed to make two trips to the beach front.  One on of our trips, we stopped at a foot reflexology place before going for dinner.  My niece told me the day before that she wanted a foot massage. I didn't take her seriously because I know she doesn't like to be touched and her feet are ticklish.  While I was having my feet done, she surprised me by also having her feet massaged in the next room, lol.  After that we went for fish and chips before heading to the beach to relax and make sure my niece was able to dip her feet in the water.

It was quite an experience for her to walk barefoot in the shifting sands with all kinds of dried, prickly seaweed, small stones and shells. Her balance is not good at the best of times and her foot muscles are not strong or used walking in the outdoors without shoes.  She was very proud of herself after managing to take a walk along the beach to the water and back.  I was proud of her too because she struggled to keep her balance  but she made it.  Afterward, her feet were very dusty from the sand.  To make her laugh I told her she had "ghost feet". She thought that was very funny. 

We stayed home on the weekend as our first few days out were not only very long but very hot.  We were both tired and needed a bit of recovery.  I spent Saturday getting the kitchen cleaned and preparing salads for the the day as well as preparing for a small birthday celebration we were to have on Sunday.

On Monday we went to Granville Island and had fun walking around & eating ice cream.  It was a hot day but under the bridge by the waterfront there always seems to be a nice breeze.

After spending a few hours walking around, we decided we should have a bite to eat because we wouldn't be home for some time.  We still had some sightseeing to do, a ferry boat ride and two buses to take before getting home!

The Inukshuk  is always a lovely sight against the waterfront.

This is the small water bus that we took to downtown. From there we caught a small bus along Beach Avenue and saw a lot of the waterfront from the window.  The little bus eventually connected to the bus we needed to come home on.  The bonus was that we had a great little tour of the beachfront.

Tuesday was our last day together and we went to a local park and had a mini picnic. While at the park, my nephew came by with a football and played catch with his sister. It was nice to watch them have fun together. After that we went for a nice long walk and ended with a small sundae before coming home to get her bags packed.  The week went by quickly but we enjoyed our short time together.

We ended the day with this beautiful sunset.

This is my submission to Our World Tuesday and Skywatch Friday

My World Today

My small garden had a slow start this year what with all the rain. There is more sunshine now but the plants are a bit stunted compared to previous years. In fact, I didn't even bother to fill all my containers this year and some of the seeds I planted did not grow. This week however, the geraniums rallied and they are now starting to bloom.  The brilliant red colour makes me smile. I see the pink ones will be opening soon but I didn't get a good photo of them.

The pot below is showing signs of flowering soon but I can't remember what this plant is. I kept the tag close by so I can look at it when I have time. I had thought the plant would grow much higher before blossoming.

The tomatoe plants are coming along. The tall ones in the foreground are big tomatoes (not sure the type) and they are starting to show their green fruits.  The ones in the background are two different varieties of miniature tomatoes which are my favourite for salads. I have a small amount of kale, hot peppers and green beans too. Not too much as my garden is quite small.

I'm growing hostas for the first time. The ones on the east side of the shaded garden are looking spindly. I see something is eating the leaves too. The hostas on the western side of the garden seem to be doing a bit better. I

I'll be busy with a visitor this week.  My niece is here and we're busy making plans for our short week together.  Lately I find that the weeks fly by.  I feel like I've got so much to do and so little time to do it all.  I'd like to make more progress on my major decluttering task (which I thought was almost done a year ago!) and on renovation plans (which are now on hold for a bit).  I will be home for awhile before I go off to visit my mom again.  I hope to catch my breath as well as try to enjoy some of the sunny days ahead.  Soon enough it will be back to rain and I need to enjoy the good weather while it's here.

I  hope you are all enjoying your summer or winter, wherever you may live in the world.  Talk to you again when I have more pics and news. Have a great week.


Checking in with Our World Tuesday this week here and Skywatch Friday here.