Smoke Gets in Your Eye

We went from having the most amazing weather on sunday for the final FIFA World Cup Ladies Soccer/Football championship (Congratulations USA) to hazy, dark, smoke filled skies.

The Vancouver area is currently clouded with smoke from wildfires coming from Whistler and many other areas. There are plenty of warnings for people with respiratory issues, the young and the old to not be outside.

Following our current heat wave, the cooler weather is welcome but I certainly don't want to open my windows to cool off the house if it means it will fill up with a smokey smell.

I think it has affected me because my eyes hurt and my nose keeps running.

We went from this: 

To this - the streets of Vancouver look like, from CTV news: 

Back Home Again

I just returned from a week long visit in Alberta to see my mom. It was a very special birthday and so I traveled to celebrate it with her. I also wanted to help with some of those things that are hard for a single senior to do - I helped her buy some clothes for winter, bought her a floor lamp so she could read in her favourite chair, took her to Costco, went to the garden centre plus several other locations. I also fixed her computer, helped her with her phone and iPad and did some gardening. All those little jobs that help her out. Instead of taking a cab I was there to drive her around. She said several times how much she'd miss me and the car. Too bad I couldn't hire her a driver like "Driving Miss Daisy".

And now I'm home and life resumes as normal for both of us. Unfortunately for me, I have a lot of housework and office work to catch up on, but I'm that's just how it'll be.

I had the perfect weather while I was there, it even got up over 30 degrees a couple of times, meanwhile back home there was lots of rain. It's nice to escape the rain because that's what happens for most of the days between September and April in Vancouver!

It's a beautiful sunny day here, and Jp surprised me by having window screens installed while I was away. It's so nice this time of year to be able to open a window and let the fresh air in. Yes I did have the windows open without screens but then we had a moth problem that not only threatens our clothes but all the wool this knitter has in the house. And if you recall, I already had one whole skein of baby alpaca destroyed. That's when I became too scared to open the windows. So today, I am enjoying this perfect fall day with a fresh breeze and trying to catch up on a few personal things today before I try to catch up at work the rest of this week.

How have you been?

Where's summer?

We had the most amazing June and July this year in Vancouver (weather-wise) -which is fabulous because we just had several not so good years. And me, being a summer baby, enjoyed every sunny, hot moment of it. Many others complained about the heat but I was very happy.

But now, we're back to grey skies - some days so dark I have to turn the light on my keyboard or all the lights in the room. It's still August, I want my sun back! Summer's not over!!

Okay, enough of my childlike temper tantrum - the grey skies keep me in the house so I can get house work and some other projects done. Being an adult, there's always work somewhere isn't there? If I could go back and tell something to my 15 year old self - that's what one of the things I'd say, "Don't be in such a hurry to grow up".  Really - work and responsibility are not what I was thinking about. I thought it meant FREEDOM. But that can't be farther from the truth - with a mortgage and other bills, what freedom? LOL. Oh the things that are wasted on our youth!

It's all over + catch up

Well the performance went well - I made a couple of mistakes in my first piece but all in all I think I did pretty good and I think I remembered to smile a lot more than I have in the past. We were doing two songs back to back  and the second one started faster than we thought so I missed the opening pose and the first couple of steps to get caught up to the group. We were complimented on the fact that we didn't let it get to us and that we kept going. It's hard to know how the others did, as I couldn't really see them since I was in front I could only concentrate on myself.

I can definitely say that I am relieved it's over - but glad I did it as this was definitely one of the better performances I've done. I'm getting much better at not being so very nervous.

I hope the video will be available soon, I'd really love to see for myself how our group looked.

Monday was a quickie catch up class and the new summer session starts next Monday. I am looking forward to that as well.

Tuesday was Canada Day - and we had the most amazing weather. Jp and I had to go to a mall to pick up an order, however, we probably spent a  1/2 hour detouring because the Canada Day parade was going right past the mall. It was so nice to have a day off in the middle of the week!

I'm still loving the weather, but the dang mosquitoes make it hard to sit outside - plus I feel so bad for Eco who runs away when I grab the bottle of citronella pet spay (or is covered in mosquitoes the moment she stand still for a second).

Snow Day - ugh!

Here in rainy Vancouver we - thankfully- don't get a lot of snow. It's one of the reasons we put up with the rain, because you don't have to shovel it and even if it's raining it's warmer than snow. But on Saturday it started to snow. Fortunately the ground was warm enough that as soon as it hit the ground it would melt - it would've made an interesting video - it was like even the earth was in denial.

This phenomenon continued all the way to Sunday but now the snow was sticking on the lawns but the streets were still only wet - which was also interesting because now it was still easy to get around but pretty to look at. No one needed to shovel or plow the snow.

But today??? Well, the earth finally came out of denial and accepted the snow and now it's accumulated everywhere - about 6-8 inches of it depending where you look. Which means for many people - this will be a snow day and things will get cancelled.

Unfortunately for me, I work from home, so I will still get to put in a full 8 hour day - but lots of other lucky sods will actually get to legitimately stay at home. Sucks being an adult, doesn't it?

Fall Weather

There's lots of local talk about our record breaking September weather - for having the most amount of rain on the most amount of days. It definitely was a wet one. It felt like we caught up for all the rain we missed throughout the summer. And some days it was more like a monsoon that our usual fare.

But today it's sunny. At least so I am told. The morning radio hosts were talking about the glorious orange sun this morning, so I excitedly looked out the window, only to see..... FOG. We finally get sun but how would I know!? I kinda looks like this:

Welcome to Autumn in a Rain Forest! Sometime this afternoon I should get to see what all the fuss is about - hopefully the sun'll stay long enough for me to see it. How's your fall weather?

Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dense_Tule_fog_in_Bakersfield,_California.jpg

Magical Morning Wind*

This morning Eco and I were out for our walk which is was  perfectly normal - a bit of a chill in the air, some dampness, still and calm. And then I turned the corner and boom! I was hit by warm air. I looked around to see if perhaps a house was on fire, or a large vehicle was idling but found nothing, and then a little gust of wind brushed past me with more warm air.

And as I passed streets near the area where I had first started walking, I could feel the cool damp air pushing up to the warm 'corridor'. I was most fascinating and remarkable. It's pretty rare to have a wind like that - I swear it's come straight from Hawaii or Arizona and it's especially odd to feel an air  temperature change. That's a time where I wished I had a heat sensitive camera so I could see the air patterns. As you can tell, it was so amazing to me, I just had to share!

* I realized later when I saw that titled, one might have thought I was going to write about flatulence. No? 

Where have I been?

I've been to the mountain and back.

Last week I was away on business in meetings at Bear Mountain Golf Resort. Wowza, is it ever a beautiful place, and the weather could not have co-operated any better. What a tourism commercial. We had people from Western Canada and Ontario at the meeting and I think everyone wanted to return (or move) to Vancouver Island!

Travel-wise it was fantastic. For those of us on the Vancouver side, we have to take a ferry to the island which is about an hour and 45 minutes. That too was wonderful. And the ferries have much improved. They used to be so 'functional' but now they are quite well designed breaking up the sitting areas making them smaller to reduce the noise levels. And landcapes and ocean were superb - and that's coming from a personal who's seen it many times and lives here! British Columbia is a gorgeous place to be.

The craziest part is no one golfed! The events co-ordinator booked a whale watching expedition instead. The thinking was that everyone could be together and mingle since we are all so spread out across the country and you'd only get groups of 4 doing that for golf - but still, two beautifully designed golf courses at your door and no one from our group stepped on the greens. I did see licence plates in the parking lot from Colorado and California though - I bet they had a good trip up here too. If you eve come to Vancouver, you must plan a trip over to Victoria. I'm sure you will be glad you did. (No I do not work for the tourism board)

The weather this spring and summer has been stupendous and I am over the moon. Being a summer baby I just love the sun and hot weather, however, being an adult I no longer get to lay about for hours on end just being outside. Maybe that's why I appreciate it so much.

Friday night Jp and I walked out of the house to go to the grocery store and then realized we forgot our bags (they don't give bags anymore in many stores to reduce the waste and damage to the environment - do they do that where you are too?) so we turned around and headed back into the house. Just then we heard a crash and I see a pile of boxes I had in my office covering the floor. Poor Eco was under my desk, probably not sure what to make of it. First thing we did is call her to make sure she wasn't scared and that she could get out.

Although I'm not happy about the mess, I'm so glad that I was there when it happened. First because I wouldn't want Eco to be hurt by it, and two because if it had happened while I was away I might have felt that Jp was somehow responsible.

The bad news is that my weekend plans were changed as I dealt with this issue. Oh sure I could've just thrown the boxes back together and restacked them, but I decided I'd better deal with them since they were a mess and so I cleaned out my bookshelves and other areas as well. Day 3, almost done! I'm sad that I'm missing the sun, but so glad that the visual clutter won't be clogging up my brain.

How are things going for you? I must catch up in the next couple of days!

Gorgeous Long Weekend Ahead

When I checked the weather at the beginning of this rainy week, the forecast indicated we'd be stuck with wetness for several days. We endured days of weird weather - bits of sun, light rain, heavy rain, thunder, sun, mugginess  - sometimes all within the same hour. But late Thursday night I found out that glorious weather has been forecast for this long weekend (Happy Canada Day) - sun with top temperatures between 25-30 celsius. That's a good temperature to be in, not like the 36+ degree weather in places like Phoenix or San Antonio and so I am over the moon to hear about this wonderful forecast.

I thought I'd be spending the weekend in the house, maybe cleaning up my office/work room - but now I plan to be outside - clean up the garden, do some painting and maybe just kick back and relax as it is a long weekend after all.

This morning's 5:30 dog walk was heavenly - the weather was perfect - 18 degrees, a warm wind so early in the day?  I didn't want to come home. In fact I almost didn't, instead of being out for 30 minutes, it ended up being 45. So very grateful for this lovely, lovely weather.

Now off to work -for a productive day with minimal interruptions since so many people take the Friday of a long weekend off as well - and then time to enjoy the weather. I don't even care if there are mosquitoes, I'll put up with them so I can enjoy the warmth and sunshine! Happy Weekend to you too!

"June is bustin' out all over...

 ...June better get a new dress."

 - that's a little joke my dad used to have. He'd sing the beginning line of the song and then end with the second line. For years I didn't even know it was a real song:

June 1st today. Wowza! How did that happen? It seemed like it was the beginning of spring just a short time ago. I feel like I've been in a fog the last week or so. In fact the other day I went from 7am to 9:30 and I don't know how.

Since I work from home, usually around 7:30 I make Jp a cup of coffee and bring it to him before he starts his work day. But the other day I suddenly realized he was in the kitchen at 9:30 making his own coffee. I didn't hear him get up, or shower or anything. I mean I kinda did, but I kinda didn't. That's a wee bit scary don't you think?

Anyway, work 'year end' is over. It's Saturday and it's the first of June. I'm ready to get started on getting things done. First up was some marketing and business for my little shop which I've basically neglected the past 2 months - and it shows. Sheesh. It's true you need 50% in making things and 50% marketing.

And I'm kinda glad that it's a cloudy day with some 'spitting' rain  so I can get some desk work/office work done. Does anyone else use that term  - spitting rain - besides us Vancouverites? Just like they say the Inuit have 50 words for snow, I'd say we could probably come up with just as  many to describe our rain - like "Scottish Mist" or "movie rain", that kind of thing.

Must Have That - Busines Update

Twice this week I've had an item from my Etsy shop featured in an Etsy Treasury - the first one called: The Next Generation where my pea green striped hat is featured and another called The Playful Gallery which includes my little Turtle Booties.

Etsy defines a treasury as:  an ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery comprised of lists of items.These lists contain 16 items. Members can create a themed collection or feature their favorite items from all over Etsy.

If the seller is popular they can help generate traffic to your store, which will hopefully lead to sales. Being featured is like a recommendation from a friend and is definitely welcome exposure. Treasuries are not for self-promotion so you should feature other people's work. In a sea of products and shops it helps when your items are brought to the front. 

I've also had some requests from ladies in my dance class, including one who bought a pair of wrist warmers right off my hands! 

All these requests are a good thing to keep my mind off our chilly spring - including a nasty hail storm yesterday. Luckily only the crocus and the snow drops were in flower at the moment as the daffodils and tulips only have about 6" leaves at the moment. I would like it to get warmer since I've been quite cold the last couple of days. Odd how I was warmer in -16 degree C weather during my trip last week than I am here with +8 degree C weather. Like everyone says I guess it's our dampness that makes the biggest difference. 

What does spring look like where you live? 

Mixed-Bay O' Weather

Today is one of those winter days that is nice to look at but not so nice to be in because it's going between sun and cloud and wind and rain spit. It's fun to look out the window to see the big clouds rolling by but gee I had to zip and unzip and take off and put on my coat a bunch of times.

I'm kinda glad I'm back home now.

Other people musta felt similar because we were the only ones in the dog park - it's not so fun to be in a park by yourself, although Eco makes her own fun jumping fences, sniffing trees and then running through muddy little creeks. It's a good thing she's dark brown so I don't really know how dirty she got. By the time I towelled her off at home it didn't look so bad. Silly little dog.

I lost my creative mojo this past week after I got news from one of my potential customers that $500+ were spend on shop similar to mine in the US. Congratulations to that shop but dang I thought I had it in the bag - so to speak. I've been sort of re-thinking my direction and working on marketing more. I guess there's always something to work on.

September love

I must admit that we've had an absolutely fabulous August and September (so far). I can't recall a September that has been so dry and sunny and I am really enjoying it. Most years our tomatoes would just be nice and big on the vine by the end of August and then the rains would start in September and they would never turn red or they'd just split and then the slugs would get into them and into the compost they'd go. And the grapes would be just about ready and then the rains would cause them to stay sour and get mouldy and then I'm busy keeping the dog away from all the fallen ones on the ground.

September does have a special appeal to it for me - even though it's now been YEARS since I've been in school, September still feels like a time to start again, a time for fresh paper and supplies and for new goals in the 'year' ahead, hope for what lies ahead. And even last night when our dance group met for our fall classes, it felt like the beginning of a school year (even though it had only been 4 weeks since most of us saw each other) There were several new hair cuts and even some new hair colour and of course, many were tanned from summer vacations. And we were all so happy to be together and get going for the fall and planning for the future.

September has always been special to me as my parents shared the same birthday and so it was special in my mind because of it. It reminds me of bouquets of asters and dahlias and those lovely orange chrysanthemums. My mom now lives far away from me, but I trust by brother and SIL to tak good care of her, they always have very lovely presents for her and a lovely meal with a special dessert. I'm envious that I can not be there.

I really love the summer because I love the heat and the sun but for some reason when I fondly recall dog walks, I always conjure up images of the fall walks (often all the way back to walking my Old English Sheepdog when I was in high school). I think about being bundled up in my coat, boots  and maybe even a scarf and mittens with my dog happily enjoying all the different smells and the cool air. And turning a corner on the walk and being surprised by a tree that seems to have suddenly turned red (or yellow) overnight!  And soon it will be time for me to switch our morning walks to midday as it's staying dark later and later and soon daylight savings will mean we'll be completely in the dark (it's just easier to walk in the daylight rather than outfitting both of us with flashy blinky lights and reflective gear). The midday walks are also quite enjoyable, it's a nice break during the workday and sometimes we end up walking past the local elementary school around lunch time and many of the little kids run to the fence to pet Eco and of course, Eco just LOVES children and can't wait to say 'hi' to all of them.

Other than the hour or so before and after school as the kids noisily walk to and from school, most of the days are quieter and there seems to be a calmness in the air. Slowly one by one the hummingbirds and other birds start to disappear  - the geese honking as they fly south, sometimes in groups as big as 50 and sometimes they can be seen and heard for miles. And there are less and less lawnmowers or other sounds during the days. September just seems to have it all: warm, sun, rain, cold, frost, flowers, colour, empty trees, ending of summer, beginnings of autumn to winter. Sigh, isn't it a wonderful time of year?

What's your favourite part about this time of year? 

Happy Canada Day !

It's a lovely long weekend, Canadians all across the country are off to celebrate OUR day.

Unfortunately for those of us in the Vancouver area, we're still experiencing grey days and so many of the outdoor performances may be slightly changed - but hey, we're Canadian and if we let the weather get to us then we'd be inside and grump most of the time!! And the show must go on!

I would have liked to make something like this - but gee our strawberries won't ripen without some sunshine!!!

Speaking of being inside, I'm hiding out - not because of the weather - but because I've been up since 5ish with a migraine! Bah! Stupid head! Well, so far I've watched Vertigo, I am Sam, The Ides of March and Mildred Pierce. Movies help me forget about my aching head.

Anyway, Happy Canada Day - to all my friends no matter what country or continent you are on!

Photo credit: http://www.theminibaker.com/easy-canada-day-cake

The Good Part about a Bad Spring

As my friends in Texas and New Mexico are dealing with the high heat,  everyone has been griping around here about our crappy weather - and although I could sure use some sunshine to life my spirits, I've recently been reminded of a bad thing related to warmer weather, as of June first we're living with excessive

SHEDDING!

OH MY! 


If you have a Labrador or similar dog then I bet you know what I mean. I swear Eco sheds a pile of hair higher than our roof top  EVERY DAY! 


It feels like this: 

Good thing we have a good vacuum (unsolicited unpaid plug for Dyson). 

Mini Vacation 2012

I'm back from a mini-vacation - 3 days in downtown Vancouver - it's been a while since we've had the time to leisurely stroll through the various areas so we started on West 4th and Broadway and over then next two days walked  Robson Street, Pacific Centre, Harbour Centre, Sinclair Centre, Gastown, Davie Street. It was interesting to see how much has changed over the years and semi-shocking to see so many vacant retail units there were, especially in the malls.

Harbour Centre from our balcony

Looking down from our balcony

We also took the SeaBus to North Vancouver and toured around the Lonsdale Quay where we  found some yummy places for dinner. We actually had other plans for dinner but it looked and smelled so good we couldn't resist! We started with a very fresh prawn cocktail at Screaming Mimi's and then had some brisket with mashed potatoes and gravy at Sharky's Chop House. Mmm MMmmm. I finished with a bubble tea and bought some fresh chocolate chip cookies for a late night hotel snack.

Fresh Fish and Seafood at the Quay

At breakfast there was some yummy dark coloured cheese in my omelet, intrigued we asked the server about it and she sent the chef over with a sample - it was Guinness Cheddar and boy was it delicious, especially melted in an omelet! Have you had it?

Then later while sitting in the Mexician restaurant, La Casita in Gastown, I accidentally made eye contact with a woman walking by - well she started yelling about "why couldn't you just leave it alone? You know his face was burnt! Why couldn't you leave it alone?" and on and on. She yelled at me through the window of the restaurant and then went around to the front and opened the door and yelled at me some more, then spied a bottle of hot sauce on a nearby table and squirted it in my direction. As soon as I realized my mistake of being caught looking at her, I didn't look at her or in her direction again.  It's one of those things that you can't undo once it's been started. I had my back to the door when she came in the restaurant but I just sat there and did not turn around as I didn't want to agitate her any more. I just kept an eye on the restaurant staff to see if I needed to duck or anything. Since no one else did anything about it(I guess they managed not to make eye contact), she soon moved on as quickly as she came - like a big ol' hot sauce spraying gust of wind!

We lucked out by having sun for the first two days, but then we were hit with snow/rain which made for a very chilly walk back to our hotel. It's a good thing we had a late checkout  - I had time to take a warm bath and change into dry/warm clothes before heading home.

The gas fireplace is the main heat source in our house so we turned it off while we were away, but because of this and because we don't have a furnace our house was down to 13 degrees C when we came home. Brr. That takes a while to heat back up again. Thank goodness for our  mattress heater.

Eco had a great time at the neighbours and now we're back to life as it always is - doing laundry and cooking and cleaning and working.... (sigh) it's good to be home.

Well for those playing along - yesterday was my 12th year anniversary at my job. It came, it went just like every other work day. In fact even spoke to my boss on the phone (I usually only talk to him about once a week when I call him). I should have known not to make such a big deal of it in my mind. I have made a note to not build up any expectations next year. Happy Un-niversary. The only good news? I now get four weeks vacation per year - I like that!!!!  I was planning on treating myself to a sushi lunch, but Jp made us the most delicious sandwiches so I didn't bother. Not much can top his sammiches!

Today for Vancouver and the areas surrounding it, it is finally sunny, which makes me happy because too many grey wet days can really bring a girl down! And do you know another way to bring a girl up? (no, not that silly) How about some high energy dance music? My instructor plays this at the beginning of our class for a warm up -we only need this song as a warm up and we are ready!  Turn up your speakers and get moving!

 Instant mood lifter!!!

Happy Groundhog Day! 
(He only has a 30-40% accuracy rate so don't believe him too much)

Funky Forecast

I love how they draw little triangles for 'freezing rain'!

So far, I haven't seen freezing rain - just plain ol' wet rain, so combined with all the snow on the ground it's like walking through a slurpee (or frozen margarita if you can related to that better) 

French Bread on the Rise

Look what's coming my way soon - a nice fluffy loaf of French Bread:

I probably shouldn't lift the lid while it's in process, should I? 

And it's perfect for a day with this forecast:

Did you see that? "Feels like -19" - you dang right it does!!! 

Wind gusts 39 kmh!! blech! 

This would be one of the very few days in a year that I don't walk Eco. The wind just keeps howling and sending little snowflakes across and up and every direction. She doesn't seem affected by the cold at all, she just happily runs around retrieving her football, but I'm just not going to go out there. Besides, I'd better stay home to keep an eye on my bread! ;-

Got the All Clear

Eco and I stopped by the vet's office today and she's given Eco the all clear! Yay! No more cone wearing and wrapping the foot in plastic every time we go outside! I am so relieved! And I am sure Eco is as well because she seemed to be getting a bit frustrated. Tomorrow she gets some playtime with the neighbour's dog, which is something I'm positive she will really enjoy!

It's been cold and frosty here but I'm so glad it's dry and sunny! The sun really helps get me through the winter!