Well, more shots from the balcony...

…which I know no one really wants but  we see it live and it is so wonderful.  I'm not printing up and keeping these shots because I do know they are all a muchness…not like the people photos I take and I do print up those.  I realized just how valuable the people photos were  when Richard,  a number of years ago,  mentioned that he and his friends were going through albums and all they focused on were the photos of people.  Yes,  I think our family will like my people photo albums.

Still…I love these sunsets!

Daily Catch coming to Denman…wow…love this fish store.

I can't quite believe the  photo I took of this is not in my photo stream yet.  Everytime I try to upload photos, they are in my photo stream…ah, the mysteries of technology.   So,  The Daily Catch will be right beside Kin's.  Great.

Another wonderful ocean swim today…yes,  this is why we live here.  Just came in from sitting out on the balcony and a very refreshing breeze going on.  Watching the sunset.

Well,  finally there.  A great combo….Daily Catch and Kin's.

A very moving article in the New York Times

Our Weddings,  Our Worth

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-same-sex-marriage-supreme-court-our-weddings-our-worth.html?_r=1

Jim's first day at school...

Jim had his first day at Columbia College today and really liked his group of students (only 17 of them)..really nice young people and some even came up after the class and thanked him…he didn't get that at Camosun!  It's a great new facility with state of the art everything…AC,  smart classrooms,  etc.  They really seem to know how to do things.   For each new faculty member,  HR sends an introductory email about them and also a photo…nice touch.  And only about a 15 minute drive.

And then a wonderful ocean swim this afternoon and chatting with our beach friends.  The ocean is so warm for this time of year…wow.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Blood On Snow"

 "Blood On Snow" by Jo Nesbo

This is a quick and enjoyable read.  Nesbo,  as usual,  is quirky and funny.  I was going to recommend the movie,  "Headhunters" for those of you who watch Netflix but I see it isn't on the Canadian Netflix.

The ending to a perfect day...

Wow….a wonderful ocean swim and then a Bar-b-q in Dick and Susan's backyard.  Lots of fun and great food and such a balmy night.  Thanks so much,  guys!

Donald Wexler January 23, 1926 - June 26, 2015

1. Donald Wexler

   Architect
2. Donald Wexler was an influential Mid-Century modern architect whose work is predominantly in the Palm Springs, California area. He is known for pioneering the use of steel in residential design

   
   

   He made a amazing contribution and this gives me a chance to post some photos of my wonderful Jacinto mountains with some of his houses.

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

First ocean swim for me today…wow…so warm!

I almost didn't go in today as there is quite an ocean breeze going on.  I guess it's hot somewhere in this "heatwave" but not really here.  The water was fabulous!    It looks very promising for very warm ocean swimming this summer.  Last year we got about a week of Mediterranean type ocean temps but it's looking even better for this year.

Bring it on!

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Falling in Love"

"Falling in Love" by Donna Leon

 Ann Marie MacDonald's latest,  "Adult Onset" came at the same time but it seemed a bit heavy for summer reading so I read this instead.  Very light reading but always fun to read  something that takes place in Venice.  Next up is Jo Nesbo's latest "Blood on Snow"…then perhaps some serious reading.

The Deux Chevaux...

I get a newsletter from Australia called "The French Affair" and today there was this fascinating article on the history of the Deux Chevaux.   It's hard not to love them and the pull back top to make a sort of convertible is brilliant.   And it was the only car we could pass on our first trip to Europe in 1972.  We had rented the cheapest car available…a Renault 5.  The gearshift was like a bubble gum machine. But we actually camped in it.   You could open the trunk (hatchback type door) and we slept with our feet hanging out on little camp stools.   We found we got dew on on lower legs that were hanging outside so used a shower curtain to cover them.  I don't know how we managed to sleep like this…a king size bed almost doesn't seem big enough for us now…ah…to be young.

We only camped when we couldn't get a hotel for $3 a night or less.  We did allow ourselves to pay $4 in Paris…after all, it was Paris.   We have often stayed at the same hotel in Paris since it's in a wonderful location in the Latin Quarter and on a small quiet street.   We've been paying closer to $300 a night but then there are bathrooms in the rooms (half the size because of that!),  an elevator,  AC,  and the hall lights aren't on a timer that switches off when you're about halfway up the stairs going to your room.

Our "camper van" in 1972

http://www.frenchaffair.com.au/explore-france/tribute-to-the-2cv

First time in Second Beach Pool today….

I can't believe it's the end of June before I got in this pool…usually I get in there Victoria weekend when it opens even if it's raining!  Sooooo wonderful to be swimming outdoors in the sunshine.  Definitely the ocean tomorrow.

Jim was up at Columbia College today getting organized for his first class Monday.  He was really thrilled to speak a lot of Spanish today.  The HR person is from Argentina and another teacher there who is Greek teaches Spanish and  French.  I think it's going to be a fun experience for him.

 A thirsty crow having a drink…I'm surprised to see the water fountain running all the time.

 The fruit stand at Second Beach seems to be a feature now….bought some cherries.


Walking along the seawall home after my swim.

Yum!  Our family used to go camping up in Penticton for the first three weeks of July just at the beginning of cherry season.

Not into the ether after all….

I noticed a while ago my photos on my blog from 2002 - 2010 weren't showing.  I have this idea of creating an ebook with photos and photos of my paintings of our time in France and asked Richard if he felt the quality would be ok if I took a photo of the hard copies of photos I have.

 From Richard today,  posted at 1:34 am.  Thank you so much, Richard!  It's really great to have all my blog posts back with the photos.   So nice to have a technical wizard in the family…

Hi Mom,

No need to take new photos of the old photos. The image quality really suffers and there's 3253 of them! I've figured out a better solution.

I repurchased the domain name "whypop.net" and redirected it to a free hosting service where I uploaded all the old images from an old backup that I made back in 2012.

I've tried to check as many of the images as possible. Some of them needed a little fix because they were coded wrong way back when. Just let me know if you see any more broken images and I'll fix them.

While I was going through the photos, I had to laugh at the caption for this selfie from April, 2004. Clearly, it was written before we had the word "selfie."

 

Richard and me taken by holding the camera in front of us. Great thing about digital cameras is you can always take another one if it does't work.

The other day Loryl and I tried to take a selfie which turned out very badly and went directly into the ether.  I think the trick is to have a long arm which neither of us have!

There is hope for the US after all…."Supreme Court Approves Gay Marriage Nationwide"

This was  great way to start the day!  And yesterday,  the Supreme Court ruled favourably on the Affordable Care Act.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0

Lots and lots of positive reactions on the Facebook  Palm Springs Neighbourhoods Group.  Eric Norland posted this great photo and comment.

To save Affordable Care/Obama Care and approve, at last, Equality in two days is totally awesome. What a great country!

Great day for golf for Jim and Dick...

So glad because about 5 days ago,  rain was predicted for today but things change on the West Coast.  We have had 14% rainfall from the norm…that is dry!

Lots of spinnakers out tonight and it also seems to be the day that hundreds of kayakers,  paddle boarders,  etc.  go out for a run.  I think it must be the last Thursday of the month.  They don't really show up in the photo.

Sylvia Hotel tonight

We met Derek at the Sylvia tonight for a drink and snacks.  Since we were in "happy hour" we tried out their tapas menu.  We had flatbread and dry ribs…not really very much choice.  I must say I was quite unimpressed with the food.  That will be a first and last…better off doing our usual of splitting a fish and chips or a burger.  It makes me all the more appreciative of the Cloud 9 tapas menu.  Lots of laughs as always with Derek…just a little disconcerting that most had to do with our own aging. I'm not sure that in our early 20's when we first met that we'd be having these conversations.  Ah well,  life is still good!

From Facebook today….love it!

Lunch with Madame Justice Russell today...

Loryl is an old school friend and we had lunch today.  I met her at the Law Courts and we went back to her chambers after lunch….great fun!   We actually hadn't seen each other for almost 50 years but it seemed like yesterday somehow.  I hadn't really been in the Law Courts before.  It's quite a lovely and impressive facility.  I imagine today they would go higher and take up less footprint.

 Loryl is presiding over the case of the Francophone schools wanting  better facilities.  Quite fascinating.

Loryl's chambers...

Madame Justice Russell….aka just Loryl.

Quite the day and night in Vancouver...

There was a pod of orcas in Coal Harbour yesterday….this is just down the street from us.

Video:

http://globalnews.ca/news/2068817/watch-pod-of-orcas-spotted-in-burrard-inlet/

And then there were these amazing Northern Lights.  I didn't know they were predicted as I would have got up to see it.

More photos here:

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/06/photos-of-northern-lights-vancouver/

Father's Day

Grace and Richard came over yesterday and it was great to see them.   We hadn't seen them for a while since we were sick,  they were in Toronto,  etc.  It sounded like they had a great time in Toronto and had some very gourmet dining experiences.  Speaking of gourmet,  they brought over some wonderful ice cream from a company called Earnest Ice Cream.  It comes in reusable jars and flavours change daily.  We had strawberry basil and salted caramel…yum!

http://earnesticecream.com

And for Father's Day,  Richard installed a service on his iPad so he can watch the Blue Jay games…a great gift!

Great fun with Linda & Cec and Donna & Neil at Cravings

We've all been knocked down by these nasty viruses going around so we were really pleased to finally be able to get together and at a restaurant we all enjoy.  Cravings is in Marpole so it makes it a central location for everyone.

Linda is suggesting a trip out to Chaberton Winery in South Langley…great food  at the Bacchus Bistro (Linda and Cec have been there and rave about it)  and fine wine that we could taste before ordering.  Definitely a fun thing to do on a summer's day.

http://www.chabertonwinery.com/index.php

"Car Free Day" on Denman

…aka  "Drive to Street Festival Day"  as Susan thinks it should be called.  It's usually disappointing except we often get free stuff.  We made the mistake of eating at a booth a new Italian restaurant was running  Jim's pasta was like out of a can and my Italian sausage in a bun was flavourless and dried out.  Ah well,  we know not to try that place!

We did get a couple of water bottles from the Liberal Party,  I got a magnifying ruler (love this!),  and we got  two really great umbrellas from Hollyburn…worth it in the end.

Our loot…the best part!

I just had to post Susan's wonderful drawing of her back garden...

Watercolour with Ink Washes

I finished another drawing done for Steven Reddy's class using the grisaille technique.  I drew this in my back yard where I sit on sunny, summer days enjoying a cup of tea and a good book.  

Right now I'm revisiting a favorite Hannah Hinchman publication:  A Trail Through Leaves - The Journal as a Path to Place.  I must admit, my sketchbook/journal is trying to look like hers right now.  I'm a hopeless mimic.

Jim and Dick know how to pick them….

Jim and Dick are playing golf today for the first time since we got back from Palm Springs…well,  a combination of them both being busy,  Jim getting sick and putting his back out,  Dick putting his back out.  Wouldn't you know it?  It's been the most amazing weather and now today it's raining and cool.  Well,  I hope they aren't sticking it out and have retreated to a warm pub.  Yes,  well,  First World problems,  I know.

Jim's final class today at SFU

Jim had a lot of fun preparing his class on Alice Munro's stories even if he was quite sick and had a major nosebleed the first class!  All worth it in the end.  He had a great group of students…no surprise there…I take courses in this program and know what the students are like.

They have the Program Director come in the last 10 minutes to take the evaluations.  He ran into her later and she said "They loved it!".  And he ran into a student who said he told the Program Director that "he would be coming after her if she didn't invite Jim back to teach another course".

Now….for a glass of celebratory wine out on the balcony.

Carol and John are coming for lunch today...

And I decided to make Un Grand Aioli….vegetables and cod served with lots of aioli.  It's south of France weather these days so it seemed appropriate.  This is my first time making it so we'll see.

We had a great time….I couldn't believe it was 6pm!  Always lots of good conversation.  They brought some wonderful peonies…wow!

I think the meal went over well and it makes a nice summer meal you can make ahead…a winner.