Tag Archives: pictures

I Went to Montreal and London and Now I’m Home

Posted on by

and Stratford, but apparently I didn’t take any photos with the family there.

Over the week, I…

Met week-and-a-half old baby Piper (she’s a cutie!) in Vancouver


Saw my sister graduate from her Masters at McGill in Montreal


Went to the exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Bed-In

Drove by the house I grew up in…


…and saw that the birch tree planted when I was born is still there


Drove by “The Weedpatch” – my Grandparent’s old house


Lost 10 years off of my life in rush hour on the 401 in Toronto. (There are 13 lanes in this photo. Thirteen. Count them. Egads!)


Witnessed the wedding of one of our oldest friends (not old as in he is old but old as in our families have been friends since before any of us kids were born)

Drove back on the 401 once more before flying home to beautiful BC over the Gulf Islands (points if anyone can identify any of these islands!)

Montreal, encore

Posted on by
Montreal! Here I am again. Jen graduated from McGill today and I was joined by three of my aunts for the ceremony in a big tent on the lower lawn of campus. She got the degree, we drank champagne, it was a good (and crazy long – I’m not sure what time zone I’m in still) day!

Long Weekend

Posted on by

I like long weekends. Especially ones where 2 out of 3 of the days are pretty nice. Today it is pouring, at least it was dry for the parade this morning. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Friday after work, I biked down to Cadboro Bay to walk a bit and enjoy the beach. I also managed to bike all the way up Sinclair Hill without stopping.


On Saturday I undertook an epic walk downtown via Mayfair Mall and Beacon Hill Park/Cook St Village/Fairfield. I actually fell asleep on the beach halfway through because I was a little tired. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were lots of kites and boats out along the waterfront at Dallas Road. Then I called up a friend and we met for dinner which turned into dinner, tea and desert and a 3 hour chat.


Sunday was a great morning at the Cathedral with a fantastic message by the Dean (newly minted Dr. Dean). I walked most of the way home, via Ross Bay Cemetery – the oldest in the city where everyone who was anyone is buried including a few former governors and Emily Carr.


In the afternoon I again biked down to Cadboro Bay and read on the beach for a couple hours, watching all the people down there enjoying the sun and all the boaters out on the water. I did not manage to make it all the way up Sinclair Hill this time. It pains me to admit that.

Currently, it is raining something fierce but that didn’t stop a group of us from enjoying the parade this morning. I foolishly wore shorts, thinking it would be as nice as it was yesterday. It wasn’t. We stood in the middle of View St for about 4 hours watching the most random parade I have ever seen. We enjoyed the marching bands the most, though we also enjoyed making fun of some of the more random floats/groups participating.

Now I’m relaxing and enjoying the rest of the weekend before back to work with a vengance tomorrow.

March: Lions and Lambs

Posted on by


“In like a lion, out like a lamb; in like a lamb, out like a lion” is the phrase I remember learning in Kindergarten. It was supposed to tell you that March would either start well and end badly or begin on a rough note and end nicely. This year, March has been a little more schizophrenic with a day of rain and/or snow here and a day of sunshine there. While it hasn’t been as warm as March in Victoria should be, the flowers are finally up and spring is on the way.

Lent

Posted on by
Woke up this morning to a bit of a surprise: a light dusting of snow over everything. I had thought about going down to the shipyard to help out for the day but a combination of the snow and the fact that I’m working every non-school day next month made me stay home. I will be cherishing all the time I have to “do nothing” from here on in!
Not that I did nothing today. After some mundane house-related things, I went off on my walk. I’ve come to like walking a lot lately. During my months of serious thinking about my future, I did a lot of walking because it helped to clear my thoughts and was a good way to get away from distractions and pray as I enjoyed God’s creation. It was too good of a thing to give up and now I walk as often as I can. Though lately it has become more of a destination-focussed walk (Cadboro Bay, either the beach or the coffee shop, depending on the weather) than a walk-focussed walk.
As I’ve mentioned, I rarely listen to my iPod when I’m walking around anymore. As a result, I think I’ve been more involved in creation as I go. Rustling leaves beside the path give me a reason to pause and I’ve noticed some cute little wrens; a loud chirping (borderline obnoxious chatter) has introduced me to a new (for me) hummingbird. This morning, despite the snow, the signs of spring were everywhere.

I spent some on the walk, and at my mid-point coffee shop/journaling spot, time reflecting on last night’s Ash Wednesday service at church. It was quite a moving and thought-provoking service. I found it interesting (not coincidental though, because I don’t think it is coincidence when these things match up) that the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 58) directly related, at least in my mind, to the book I just finished reading, Three Cups of Tea. Related, at least, in the sense of vs. 6&7 of the OT reading:
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: 
to loose the chains of injustice 
and untie the cords of the yoke, 
to set the oppressed free 
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry 
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— 
when you see the naked, to clothe him, 
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
My challenge for Lent this year is two fold; I’m not “giving up” anything, rather I want to change how I do things. 
I want to spend more time in prayer and reading/meditating on the Word, less time doing meaningless things that eat up time.
And I want to examine how I interact with my world, both my immediate circle and the greater world around me, finding ways to do the kind of fast God deems as acceptable.

Today

Posted on by

Beautiful day in Victoria. I finally got my long-awaited sleep-in this morning and managed to get a whole 30 minutes extra. After running around downtown and various other places, I walked down to Cadboro Bay once again. It is becoming one of my favourite places to pass time. It was wonderfully warm until the sun moved behind trees and shade began to creep across the beach. I sat on a log and drank my coffee while alternating between reading my book and watching all the people on the beach.

There were lots of dogs being run on the beach and they are always humerous to watch as they hop up and down waiting for sticks to be thrown, sniff each other up and down, and frolic in the water. Other people were taking in the sunshine just strolling down the beach or going for a run and still others were doing like myself and sitting on a log soaking in the sun.


Now that it has warmed up a bit from our periodic snow and bitter cold wind over the last few weeks, the blossoms are beginning to emerge. The snowdrops have been up for a few weeks but all of a sudden the crocuses are showing and there are a number of daffodil buds to be seen. Trees have the beginnings of blossoms and everything is lovely and green. My biggest surprise today was the pussy-willows. I’m used to small bushes like what we had in the backyard in Belleville. We would cut a few branches every year and wait for them to bud inside during Lent as our Easter tree. They have already bud here and apparently grow to the size of a full grown tree!

Speaking of Lent, next week is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season leading up to Easter. Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) and I’m looking forward to my first church pancake supper in many years. That means it is now time to start thinking about anything that I might do in lifestyle change during the season of Lent. How about you? Any plans? Think about it and let me know. It is easier to keep commitment to these things if we support each other.

Recent Photos

Posted on by
I haven’t been taking too many photos lately.  However, there have been some fantastic sunrises and sunsets in the last few days, made even more spectacular by the fairly clear, blue sky and sunny days we’ve had.
The first is sunrise Tuesday morning and the second is sunset Friday evening.  Both were taken through my bedroom window.