For The Win!

The latest issue of Uppercase, #18 has arrived! I had completely forgotten that I had a Subscriber profile included in this issue. I was flipping through, saw it on the page and had a moment of "Oh yeah!" Very honoured to have been included in such a great publication. Thanks Janine!

There is so much good stuff in issue 18-a collection of tiny chairs, (I have a wee collection of these myself) ransom note art, (I made one to submit, but sadly, it never made it into the mail-life happens) assemblages and more. Each issue is a delicious dose of eyecandy! If you're not subscribed, you're missing out!

In other news, I won a set of tickets from Stanley Park 125 for a horse drawn tour of Stanley Park! THANK YOU!! I am thrilled! I've lived here for 27 years and never actually done this. When I told my husband, he was excited about sharing that experience with me. I'd like to do it in early autumn when the trees will be turning colour-I can't think of a better way to celebrate the arrival of my favourite season! 

Horses + my beloved park + autumn = MAGIC!

Stanley Park turns 125 on August 24th-25th and I will be volunteering at the weekend-long celebration. There is going to be a variety of concerts and events throughout the park. You can find more information here. There's something for everyone! Hope to see you there!

Staycation

For my birthday, we went on a staycation. I won a stay at a trendy boutique hotel (with dog!) in downtown Vancouver, so we took advantage of it this past weekend. What was great is that I happened to chose the weekend with the best weather we've had all month! How's that for luck?!

 Broken Glass, Stanley Park Seawall

 Barnacles, Stanley Park Seawall

Tanker, Stanley Park

Naps

Sunrise, False Creek

Warehouse, Yaletown

Red Teapot, Granville Island

First Swim of Spring, Lynn Creek

 I loved being out in the sunshine all day for the last few days. We even got to dine al fresco three times. I have to say that sitting outside on a Sunday morning, eating breakfast and watching Vancouver wake up was the best. We're early morning people and it felt like the city was ours for a few hours-there's no one out just past sunrise except other dog owners and runners. 

I love this city.

Catch Up Post

 I have a new free desktop wallpaper for November for you to download if you like. I know this is a bit late, but it couldn't be helped!

Just click on it to get the full sized image and then right click on it and choose "set as background" and you're all set! Enjoy! This photo was taken at Stanley Park yesterday. I loved how the Japanese Maple leaves were in varying states of decay. Nature so beautifully illustrates the end of the life cycle at this time of year.

Seth Apter gave me the head's up that I'm one of the artist being featured today in his Technique & Tools series. Pop on over and have a peek to see what technique or tool I cannot live without! Seth shares a new post in this series every Sunday, so be sure and visit every week!

In other news, I spent the lion's share (pun intended for those who get it) of the day yesterday at Grey Cup volunteer training. The 99th Grey Cup is being hosted in our fair city. For those of you in the US, it's like your Superbowl, but without the wacky commercials and wardrobe malfunctions. *grins* I will post more about this tomorrow.

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!

Last the week, my friend Jenn and I had been discussing the raptor show the aquarium has on from now till September and I mentioned that I wanted to take my husband because he loves eagles. Jenn arranged via her generous boyfriend Matt for my guys and I to have free admission to the Vancouver Aquarium. (Matt works there, lucky guy!) We decided to go yesterday. We couldn't have picked a better day-the weather was gorgeous!

Here's a slide show of some of the photos I took while we were there: (Mouse over the image to read caption.)

I always enjoy the Jellyfish-it's so relaxing to watch them floating gently, like some weird creature from outer space. I think if I ever win the lottery, I am going to have a tank of jellyfish. Watching them is like a Zen meditation.

The dolphin trio was amazing. I love the shot I got of Spinnaker in the air, high above the rooftop of the dock. (The sport multi shot setting on my new Rebel is fabulous for capturing the speed and power of these beautiful animals.) At one point, when each of them was asked to vocalize three of the different sounds they make, it brought tears to my eyes. I can't help but love them-they are so intelligent and charming. The dolphins at our aquarium are rescues-each one was tangled and injured in fishermens' nets off the coast of Japan.

The raptor show was abbreviated because the turkey vulture they brought out first, Judge Dred, didn't want to return to his handler. They can't bring out other birds of prey until the previous one is gone, so we just got to see one bird, unfortunately. Sometimes the birds run the show! We did enjoy seeing JD though, he was pretty interesting.

The other fabulous thing we did was attend an Alfresco dinner party. It's a "flash mob" sort of thing where you get an invite and then RSVP to sign up. 24 hours before the event, you get an email revealing a location somewhere in Vancouver. Each person brings either an appetizer, entree or dessert to share with everyone else, along with their own plates, cutlery and beverages. The organizers provide the "table" and "seats". (The table is this funky accordion type thing made of tyveck. It's very environmentally friendly, as it can be reused and transported by bicycle. The seats are little round carpet mats.)

It was our first time going-I signed up late last summer after seeing a story about it on the news. I'd forgotten all about it until I got an email last week about the first one of the summer. It's a lovely way to meet people you'd never met otherwise and to share some fabulous food in a beautiful setting. The people we sat with were super nice and amazing cooks. (And artistically inclined! I happened to sit with people who love art!) They brought these bacon tarts that were a pecan type tart with crisp bacon in it. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I can tell you they were the hit of the party and utterly delicious!

I made Japanese chicken drumettes which were marinated in soya sauce, ginger and garlic and baked in the oven. People kept wandering over to where I was sitting to ask "Where are those chicken legs?!?" and I came home with an empty dish, so I guess they were good!

My husband said he didn't care what were were doing the next time an invite pops up-he'll go no matter what. I am just so pleased he had a good time. I figured he would-he likes meeting new people and going to picnics/potlucks, so I was pretty sure he'd want to do it again. It was so much fun!

After a whole day outside in Stanley Park, we slept like rocks. It was a Sunday well spent-the best one of the summer, so far!

25 Years Later

For years I have wanted to rent a bike and cycle around the Stanley Park seawall. Everyone does it here because 1. it's flat and 2. it's gorgeous. After 25 years of living here, I finally crossed that off my life list.

We rented bikes from English Bay Bike Rentals, which is on the west side of the park. Nick, who works there was really friendly and helpful. I opted to rent the 3 wheel trike, so I wouldn't have to worry about balance (which is off because of my MS) and because it had the handy dandy basket in the back to haul our picnic lunch. Nick gave me a quick rundown of the gears and how to engage the parking brake and we were off. 

We took Indy with us. Indy has no experience trotting alongside a bike. It took a few minutes or riding for him to understand that veering in front of the bike was ill advised. Also, Indy does not understand that he is not a sled dog. I had hold of his leash and he was pulling me. I had to gear down to create more drag and with the one had I had free, ride the left break to slow him down enough that I wouldn't be killed. Yeah. Adventure at it's best. Let's just say that Stanley Park's seawall is 8.8 km (5.5 miles) and I did very little peddling. I am completely floored how strong he is!

We did stop several times to let him rest and give him water. He also had a dip in the ocean for a good 1/2 hour because being that close to water and not getting to swim is torture for a Lab. We stopped for our picnic as well and had a good chat with an older couple from the UK who were here on holiday and also own a black Lab. (They were missing their Lab who was at home, so they enjoyed patting Indy.) For the record, Indy wasn't even close to tired when we got home. We could have easily done a second lap around.

Here's the Diver, which I've showed you before, but as you may or may not know, Vancouver's hockey team is in the Stanley Cup playoffs and our city has gone a little bonkers. Hockey is a religion in Canada and so this is a really big deal. Some goofball dressed her in a Canuck's Jersey and gave her a stick with the white towels fans swing in the air at the games. So silly! We also have to giant Lion sculptures at either end of the Lion's Gate Bridge  (which runs through the park) and someone's decked them out in jerseys too.

 

This bus was parked outside of the bike shop. It's completely decked out for the playoffs.

The colours were the original colours of the Canuck's uniforms. (Fulgy if you ask me!) The current incarnation is blue, green and white, which is more in keeping with west coast colours. (Blue being the ocean, green being the trees and white being the sneaux on the mountain peaks.)

Even the digital signs where you see the bus name and number have been altered to reflect the occasion. If our team wins, it's going to be utter pandemonium. I'll just be glad when it's all over-I'm not really a hockey fan.

Anyway, this weekend has been the first sunny weekend we've had so far and it was so nice to get out and do something I've wanted to do for so long. We had such a great time, we're planning to do it again.

We've also decided that we're going to cross another thing off my life list over the summer: we're going to go on a whale watching tour! The tour leaves downtown Vancouver and goes to the the Gulf Islands (Canada waters) and down into the Straight of Juan du Fuca (US waters) and lasts 3-7 hours depending on where the whales are. I've always wanted to go out on the ocean and see the whales in their natural habitat. We live in an area where there's such a rich and diverse ecosystem and I want to experience as much as I possibly can. Besides, I have a brand new camera to break in and what better way to do it than whale watching?

Happy Easter! Joyeaux Paques!

Hello Peeps! I hope you are enjoying the 3 (possibly 4) day weekend off. We got lucky the last 2 days with sunny, warm weather, which meant we were outside all day yesterday. We took Indy to Spanish Banks for a dip in the ocean and then headed over to Stanley Park for the first picnic of 2011.

While we were at the park, we were lucky enough to come across the area where the Blue Herons are nesting. It's a pretty impressive sight to see these large birds landing high up in the branches. Their nests are huge! We had a chat with a woman who was there surveying the birds and she explained a bit about what was going on in the heronry. I remember when the birds nested in the center of the park, right outside of the aquarium in the evergreens. Apparently, the entire population migrated en masse to its current location on the ocean (English Bay) side of the park because of eagle attacks. The eagles come and steal eggs or the chicks if they are so inclined and the herons are pretty much helpless. Kinda sad, but that's how nature works.

My friend Alyx has some beautiful photos of this year's nesting season. The heron photos are about 1/2 way down. I took some myself, but they weren't great-it makes me think I'd better finish doing my homework and hurry up and get my new DSLR! I'd like to return before nesting season is over and try again with the new camera.

I spent today baking up a storm in anticipation of tomorrow night's dinner. Friends are joining us. I baked some cabbage buns this afternoon (an Easter staple!) and I had to cover them and put them away-the temptation to "taste test" was proving to be too much! Tonight we'll BBQ and I got some corn on the cob. MMM! Looking foreword to switching up our day to day menus for the warmer weather fare.

I hope the Easter bunny is good to you!

Weekend Update

See? It's coming!! Autumn is on its way!! One only has to look for the signs. *wink*



This gorgeous blue dragonfly was hovering right in front on me on our hike to Beaver Lake in Stanley Park. I've been going to Stanley Park since I was 4 and I've never been on this trail. (Neither had my husband whose lived here all his life.) I was pleased that I could capture this shot.

Here he is resting on a bush. It's amazing how large dragonflies get. This one's wing span was wider than my palm.


There was a single Blue Heron hanging out at the lake, along with a flock of ducks.

The entire lake was covered with lily pads. It was so beautiful. I've never seen so many in one place. I was hoping to spot frogs and turtles, both of which make their home here, but no such luck.

Mother nature is slowly transforming this lake, back into forest. On one side of the lake you can see seedlings and grasses have taken root and the lake is drying up. I guess eventually there won't be lily pads anymore. I am just glad I got to see it how it looks now. It's a little gem, tucked away in the heart of the park.


We stopped at the Point that overlooks North Vancouver to get some ice cream. They had some fabulous flavours. I got Pistachio almond, which was *so* good. Indy was trying to work his doggie mojo. (It's all in the eyes with him.) This expression is "Please mum, I want some of your ice cream." It worked-it always works. I have a very soft heart where Indy is concerned-so much so that I order my ice cream or gelato based on what he can share. Yes, he's got me wrapped around his big furry paw.

True north, in the true north!

And a quick visit with the belugas. The little grey one is a baby. I always visit my fellow Manitobans when we're in the park. The belugas come from Churchill, Manitoba, which is way up north in the Province where I was born and raised.

Sunday at Stanley Park

It's been awhile, but it was so good to see you again, old friend.

Ocean Life

On Saturday, our family had the opportunity to go to the aquarium in Stanley Park. (If you check out the link, you can watch the belugas and otters on a live feed!) I took a ton of pictures and figured the easiest way to share them was to make a slide show.

My favourite things in the aquarium are the jelly fish, which I can stand and watch for hours-they are so soothing to watch and the sea horses which are just so oddly charming. My husband thinks they are one of the weirdest creatures on earth, but he loves them too.

I also really love the giant sea turtle. It's amazing to stand underneath it (the way the tank it lives in is situated) and watch something so big glide by effortlessly. Sea turtles are beautiful.

We also got to see a small group of baby fur seal which are on loan to our aquarium from Alaska so they can be studied. They were on the other side of their tank, but when we came to look at them and they saw us, they came right over to check us out. They played directly in front of where we were standing for quite some time.

After the aquarium, I went off to another area of Vancouver to the Beehive Hair Lounge & Spa where I got a fabulous sassy 'do from Jen, who is the best stylist EVER!! My hair is now 1000 times better than it was (chemo has taken all the curl out of it and it looked fried.) and I am so pleased.

When my husband came to meet me at the skytrain station afterwards, he parked because he didn't recognize me walking towards him. My hair is the shortest it's ever been in the 19 years we've been married. I thought that was pretty funny. He was so sweet, when I got to the car he said "Wow Honey, that looks great!" I love it-wash it, towel it and then ruffle some hair putty through it and I'm good to go! Perfect summer hair!THANKS JEN!!

The day kind of ended on a bit of a sour note though. When I got home, I slammed my next to baby toe into the foot post of our bed. I am pretty sure it's broken. It's purple and hurts like h*ll!! When I have a headache like I did on Saturday (having my hair done triggers a major headache, which is part of my MS) I get clumsy and stuff like that happens. So in exchange for great hair, I get a broken toe. *sigh* Well it was worth it. Now the trick is to keep Indy from stepping on it!

Mother's Day 2009

So my perfect Mother's Day began with bacon and eggs for brekki, followed by presents. My son gave me the 1st season of "Rescue Me" on dvd, which I love and also a card from Indy (my fur baby) with a Starbucks gift card inside. The cards cracked me up-my son knows I like funny cards (not mushy ones) and the one from Indy was a surprise.



After breakfast, we packed a picnic lunch and drove into Vancouver to go to my beloved Stanley Park. The tide was out today, so we were able to take the steep steps down the side of the seawall and wander the beach. One thing we all love to do is beachcomb. I think we'd be happy doing that on any given day, more than anything else in the world.

Here's a section of the seawall where we were walking. When the tide's out, the entire thing is totally encrusted with mussels and seaweed. It's really quite something to look as far down as you can see and millions of mussels are clinging to the wall.

See what I mean? It's like this for miles and miles!

Carver and I always take our cameras and poke around seeing what's worth shooting. It's something we enjoy doing together and Mother Nature never disappoints us.

I like the colour in this one. It was a random log on the tideline that had rusted out steel mesh attached to it.



The scuba diver, as I've mentioned in post about Stanley Park before. Today the rock is sitting right out of the water. You can see by the tide marks how high the water usually is.

The horse drawn tours of the park going by. Indy was taken with the horses. I think he thinks they are just big dogs.



Downtown Vancouver. The sails in the background is the convention center. We get lots of cruise ships docking in the inner harbour. There's a seaplane dead centre getting ready for take off.





We stopped and had our picnic lunch at the Totem Poles. These are new totem sections that have recently been added. There are much bigger totems in the center of this area that have been there for years. I really like the colours and the moon faces.




Another new totem section. I think these new pieces are so beautiful. The totem area is where most of the tour busses pull in for photo ops for the tourists. You can just stand in this area of the park and quite literally watch the world go by.

This is the aquarium area of the park where you can get a free sneak peek at some of what's inside. We took Indy down to see the seals and the belugas. He's got his nose pressed right up against the glass. Just a little higher up is the waterline and he was trying to stand up on his hind legs so he could see above the water. (He's a water dog through and through.) This is the first time he's seen seals. I bet he'd have jumped right in if he'd been able to.

Oh and if you're wondering what's on his back, it's his backpack, though it's askew. He carries his water bowl and treats when we go for hikes or long walks. (Everyone carries their own weight in this family!)

The weather was beautiful today-warm without being too hot and there was a breeze along the water. We're home now, briefly and then the guys are taking me out for dinner to our favourite restaurant. Then all our favourite shows are on tonight so that will be a nice way to wrap up the day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there!

Life Is Good

So it's the Easter long weekend and my husband and I are rediscovering what being a couple without kids is like. Our son is away for 9 days and so we're home alone, which so rarely happens, though it's a sign of things to come as he will be graduating high school in about a month and a half. *boggles*

We decided to spend the day enjoying the outdoors. We started off with taking Indy to the dog park nearby for about an hour to let him run around off leash so he could burn off some of his endless puppy energy. Then we hopped back in the car and drove into Vancouver to Stanley Park, one of our most favourite places.

We got there just before noon and started off by having the picnic lunch I had packed, then we set off on the sea wall. The sea wall loops around perimeter of the park and if you are walking at a comfortable pace, it takes about 3 hours to go all the way 'round. There's paving the whole way with two separate parallel paths-one for pedestrians and one for cyclists and rollerbladers, so everyone can safely enjoy the loop.

We spent about 4 hours walking. When you have a dog, everyone wants to meet you and pet your dog and of course your dog wants to meet every single dog they pass, so you're stopping and starting alot, which was perfectly fine, since we had all the time in the world.

The pic above was taken on the ocean side of the park. Someone had just carved the words into the sand and I thought that yes, life is good if you are at the park on a Friday, with the love of your life, walking your puppy. Sometimes we forget that our lives are made up of small moments of sheer goodness that we often don't stop long enough to recognize and savour.

There is an area of the park called "Lost Lagoon" and this little beggar was lurking along the shoreline watching the tourists feeding the ducks and trying to figure out if he was going to get anything or not. He didn't and wandered off into the underbrush.

I spotted this turtle farther around the lagoon. Sometimes in the summer, you can see them sunning themselves on the rocks. I like turtles.

Okay, this is a horrible picture, but it's a swan along the lagoon sitting on her nest. The park staff have cordoned it off so it's protected from tourists. There are 4 eggs in the nest. Swans can be vicious when they are protecting their young, so it's probably a good thing there's this mesh fence up.

Finally, there are signs of spring are all around. This flower is bachelor's buttons in one of the gardens in the park. They are quite small-about the size of a quarter but I love their colour-it reminds me of pink lemonade.

I'm not really sure what kind of flowers these are but after the unseasonably long winter we've had on the coast, they're a welcome site. We saw LOTS of ornamental cherry trees in bloom. We have so many here because we're on the Pacific Rim and have a very high Asian population in Vancouver. The cherry trees are Japanese in origin and the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is happening now.

Vancouver boasts over 36, 000 pink and white cherry trees and there are organized tours you can go on to properly appreciate them! Believe me, they are spectacular.

This is the horse drawn trolley tours of the park going by. We did this at Xmas one year and it was alot of fun. *SO* touristy, but sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in your own town.

This is Siwash Rock, a sea stack, the only one of its kind in Stanley Park along the sea wall. It's a well known landmark in the city.

Driving home, I noticed this for the first time, near the corner by the Vancouver Art Gallery. I don't know how many times I have passed this corner and never seen it, but then again, it could be fairly new...

The Vancouver Art Gallery. Sometimes when you drive by this side of the building you see strange things advertising the current show. This display is not wild like some of the things I've seen.

Okay see the man statue on the left? Every time I go by, I want to stop and take a proper pic, but it's in such an awkward place parking-wise that unless you are walking in that area, there's nowhere to stop and do so.

Anyway, this is in front of the Buschelan Mowatt Gallery and this statue is so cool. It's made entirely from stainless steel alphabet letters, which look to be no more than about five inches tall. The way it's put together, it looks like a 3d figure of a man, but you can see right through it. Taken from this perspective, (whizzing by in a car!) you can only see the figure, but up close, you can see each and every random letter. I love this piece. I wish I owned it-it's brilliant and I never get tired of looking at it!

Here's the link to the artist Jaume Plensa's page on the gallery site and an up close pic of the piece. If you look at my pic and then the gallery pic, you can appreciate how amazing this work is.

This is part of the Vancouver Public Library. They built this building a few years ago, but I love the architecture. From this shot, you can't see how wonderful it truly is but the whole thing has a coliseum feel to it.

This shot gives you a sense of what I mean. The way it is situated on the corner is really interesting and adds to the skyline. Here is a view of the atrium. If I weren't an artist, I would enjoy being and architect. (But alas, I am not a math whiz.) I love looking at the lines of structures, the materials they are made from and how the colours and shapes fit together. When I went to NYC, it was a feast for the eyes.

Speaking of structures, this sad little shot (again, taken while whizzing by in a car) is the 2010 Olympic's Athlete's Village. I've walked by on foot and it's really, really nice. I even walked over the pretty bridge there, that very soon, hundreds of Olympic Athletes will walk over. The village is located on False Creek waterfront and I think the Athletes will enjoy the view, especially at night.

And last, but not least, this is Indy sleeping in the back seat on the way home. He's so adorable. He insisted on stretching out across the back seat so he could have his head on my husband's jacket. How he could sleep with head and neck in that position is beyond me, but he looked so sweet. I think we wore him out finally!

So...that was my day and a glimpse of Vancouver. Sometimes it's nice to get out of the studio and get inspired by the natural beauty. We certain have a wealth of it here!