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Took a while getting here this year – but after the snow, rain, hail, winds, damp, grey skies and general lacklustre demeanor – Spring is finally putting in an appearance. Mother Nature – who has been drumming her fingers on the counter-top for some weeks now – enquires frostily (seemed appropriate):
“What kept you”?
Cue the usual annual photos of Mother Nature doing what she does best…
A few more images from the City of Glass!
All of these photos – as well as the images in the previous post – were taken from the window of our hotel room in Coal Harbour.
Cool – huh?!
To Vancouver last weekend for a work event…
That is one of The Girl’s work events, of course. I only work from home these days – and more power to that – but The Girl’s new venture is sending her darting about hither and thither just at the moment and on this occasion I went along for the ride.
We were kept pretty busy eventing (which all went pretty well, as far as I was able to ascertain) but we still had time to dine out in a manner to which we are no longer as accustomed as once we were (probably a good thing!)
We didn’t get to do much more than that in Vancouver (unless you count a fairly brief visit to IKEA on the way back) but given that the weather was pretty terrible (blowing half a gale in the Georgia Strait) that was a good call.
When the cloud cover blew away late in the day I thought I would take some photos from our room of the early evening light playing on downtown Vancouver’s signature glass edifices. Herewith some examples:
The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
As we wait for spring to arrive (today the sun shone – then it hailed, whilst the sun still shone – then it clouded over and big fluffy snowflakes started falling. We are now left with what is, I am assured, termed a ‘dusting’!) our thoughts inevitably turn to matters inside the home.
The Girl and I are very fond of our dark-wood furniture – a fair amount of which followed us here from the UK. One ensemble that did not was our rather fine twin pedestal dining room table and matching chairs – the which we acquired here in Victoria from some folks who no longer had room for it. For a reproduction suite it was and is really pretty splendid, with the exception of the rather tasteless fabric with which the chairs had been re-covered. Having lived with this for a couple of years we decided that it was high time to get things upgraded.
As is often the way here in Canada we rapidly established that the perfectionist friend of ours – who did all the difficult painting when we renovated our main floor some years back – was also a wiz at re-upholstering chairs and benches. Cool! She has just completed the task – perfectly as ever – and we thank her most gratefully.
Whilst we were at it we thought we would buy a couple of nice stools for the peninsula between our kitchen and dining room – and a dark-wood plant stand for our over exuberant spider plant.
Anyhow – I thought you might like to see a few photos…
Tags: Friends, Home, House, Photo, Renovation
“When it snows, you have two choices—shovel or make snow angels”
Unknown
Following a number of false alarms Vancouver Island finally succumbed to one of the snow storms that have already been prevalent in other parts of the country. In the usual manner – and for the familiar reasons – the BC capital failed to deal particularly well with what was in fact not really a huge amount of snow.
Those further east – where the winter weather is considerably more serious (snows that fall in November or December may still be lying in February or March) – are won’t to sneer at us coastal British Columbians for our general feeb-like response to this natural phenomenon. We simply smile at them and point out that the six inches of snow that fell here on Thursday will be gone by the weekend – and in four week’s time the city’s streets will be emblazoned with spring blossoms.
Yah boo sucks!
Of course, that means I have to whip my camera out sharpish and dash off a few snaps. I really like the way the snow makes these images look like monochrome ones – with just the odd Spielbergian splash of colour giving the game away.
I loved the juxtaposition of the bright saturated colours of these flowers in our dining room against the black and white of the snow outside the window.
Tags: British Columbia, Photo, Snow, Weather, winter
“Age is not measured by years. Nature does not equally distribute energy. Some people are born old and tired while others are going strong at seventy”.
Dorothy Thompson
On January 7th 2014 I wrote this post whilst sitting in the departure hall at Vancouver International airport, waiting for a flight back to the UK. The Girl and I had been visiting British Columbia for Christmas and the New Year – as well as for a trip up island to Tofino… more specifically to the Wickaninnish Inn. The chief purpose for our trip there was to celebrate my sixtieth birthday – that somewhat scary turning of a decade which is a precursor to impending old age.
Now – it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that – if I turned sixty in 2014 – I must now have finally reached the ripe old age of seventy…
…which is indeed the case.
Our 2014 trip to Tofino was all the more epic because we were still living in the UK at the time. This time round we were not only resident in the country in which we celebrated, but also just down the road from our chosen destination – that favourite of ours, the Brentwood Lodge Spa. Because The Girl was in charge of the details the event turned out to be a slick piece of organisation – and a lot of fun and relaxation to boot.
We trundled over to the spa on Friday for sumptuous ninety minute massages (hmmm! dreamy!) – but came home thereafter to sleep in our own bed. We re-traced our footsteps on the Saturday and checked in for the night to one of what really are very gorgeous West Coast rooms – overlooking Brentwood Bay and the Mill Bay ferry dock.
There was time for lounging in the pool (outdoors, but startlingly warm) and the hot tub before we dolled ourselves up for dinner. We hugely enjoyed a splendid coastal repast with Tuna Tataki, Scallops and mushroom risotto to the fore – supported ably by a delicious bottle of BC Fool’s Mate Chardonnay from Checkmate Artisinal Winery.
Yum!
As for the birthday – job done!
Here are some piccies…
Tags: Birthday, Brentwood Bay, Celebration, food and drink
…to friends, acquaintances and gentle readers…
…from the Kickass Canada Girl and the Imperceptible Immigrant…
we wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas and a Happy Hogmany!
Tags: Celebration, Christmas, Photo
The Encyclopedia Britannica (online edition) says on the subject of rituals:
“A complete analysis of ritual would also include its relation to art, architecture, and the specific objects used in ritual such as specific forms of ritual dress. All of these components are found in ritual contexts, and all of them are nonverbal in structure and meaning.”
“Huh!” – I hear you exclaim… “Where is he going with this?”
“Patience!” – say I. The encyclopedia continues:
“Most rituals mark off a particular time of the day, month, year, stage in life, or commencement of a new event or vocation. This temporal characteristic of ritual is often called “sacred time .” What must not be forgotten in the study of ritual is a special aspect of ritual that is often described as “sacred space.” Time and place are essential features of ritual action, and both mark a specific orientation or setting for ritual. Time and space, whether a plot of ground or a magnificent temple, are ritually created and become, in turn, the context for other rituals.”
What time of the year is more endowed with ritual than the winter festival season that includes – amongst other celebrations – Christmas? And do we not imbue the occasion with timely rituals both old and newly devised?
“Yes!” and “yes” would be appropriate responses to those questions.
Yes – the run in to Christmas is upon us and we each mark the season in our own particular fashions. For example, The Girl and I know that Christmas is shortly to be upon us when it is time to make a festive run up island to partake of luncheon with The Girl’s mother – and other venerable friends – and to exchange the first gifts of the season. This usually happens at about the same point on the calendar as does the annual charitable event that sees Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express pull in to the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney for its annual fundraising concert. I have written about the Cariboo Express repeatedly over the years and I will continue so to do as long as each occasion proves to be the same festival of joy and love to which we have become accustomed… the which it happily continues to be.
Sacred times – sacred spaces!
Here are some boat pictures from our ferry crossing to Mill Bay on our way up island.
Tags: Barney Bentall, Cariboo Express, Christmas, Photo, spirituality
I thought the gentle reader might appreciate a few more glimpses of autumnal hues – before everything fades to a wintery grey for the the next three months or so. Fall is glorious, though it is the season of which I am least fond. Winter serves a purpose but unless one likes to get out to play in the snow and ice it is not one that some folk – self included – find easy to love. Still – it does eventually give way to the spring and that is a very good thing.
Good grief! Here we are – already well into November. The Halloween decorations are coming down and the over-zealous have already started on Christmas…
Time for some soothing images of autumnal colours – to demonstrate what a beautiful world this is despite what we insist on inflicting upon it:
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