Fabulous concert at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden

Hayne invited us to the Garden to see Silk Road....he introduced them and had seen them many times before.  What a wonderful group and enchanted setting in the garden with the waterfall,  frogs croaking from time to time to complement the amazing stringed and percussion instruments.  Music from everywhere....China,  France,  Brazil, Spain, Arab world...just loved it all.

http://silkroadmusic.ca

Artist Trading Cards

Susan has been very encouraging and the meeting is Sunday so it finally made me get back doing some painting and I've really enjoyed that process!  It's a little hard to work on these very small pieces...2 1/2 " x  3 1/2 ".  The advice is to not fuss too much and I think I need to choose my subjects better so I'm not doing too fine a brushwork...not my forte.

New York's new Trade Center

Don sent me these photos today introducing NYC's new Trade Center.  It looks fabulous and I'm really thrilled for New Yorkers to have this!

Back from a walk in Brittany type rain

Jim's playing golf tonight but I don't think this bit of fine rain will deter them.  We rarely get this type of rain in Vancouver...just lovely...now to curl up and perhaps finish the J.K. Rowling mystery "Cuckoo's Calling".   I happened to read about it in The Telegraph the day before it hit the North American press so managed to get a copy on hold very quickly.   I've really been enjoying it and look forward to a series....always on the lookout for a new mystery writer.

 Saw this van on my walk...looks interesting.

A change from all the sun....rather nice.

Snacks and booze at John's tonight

Had a great time in Kits today outside in John's lovely patio and he treated us to Absolute Vodka Cherry and a very interesting Canadian gin...perfect summer drinks!

Mussel Mania at the Sandbar on Granville Island

We met Richard and Emily there tonight...took the little ferry.  We realized we hadn't done this since January!  Always a great deal  but Jim did only count 6 slices of chorizo when he is used to a dozen or so.  They were very busy with tourists.

Quite a change in the weather..

It was a beautiful day and evening yesterday and we had a super time with Dick and Susan who came for dinner.  Susan brought me this cool little book that she made at the Artist Trading Card meeting last month.  It is the size of ATC's and I just love it!

And then thunder and lightning and torrential rain this morning just as the Chariot Fest of India parade was getting going...but I hear them now and the rain doesn't seem to have dampened their enthusiasm.   Bad luck given we've had so many wonderful days.  But,  the sun is out now and I'm so pleased for them.

We feel a rather special connection to this parade since when we first moved to the apartment here it was on Aug 15, 2010, and the parade welcomed us.  This is a little video from that time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YplNH_y-Gig&feature=player_embedded

Meinhardt Fine Foods...and pastis

I went exploring here yesterday and noticed a place called Country Furniture across the street which seemed to have some interesting things.  I was amazed to see pastis water bottles and glasses just like the ones we have.  I have never seen pastis paraphenalia before in Canada.  The water pitchers were $50 each and the glasses $16.  We have the exact ones they had and picked them up at Flea Markets in France for probably around $10 and $2 each.

 Lots of good stuff.

 We have examples of all three pitchers...the middle one we gave to Monique or the Curlings.

Our pastis collection.  We also have another water pitcher and glasses of the Pernod brand that I have packed away to take to Palm Springs.  The orange label "Janot" glasses are ones we purchased at the Maison de Pastis in Marseille and the Ricard pitcher on the left was our first pitcher before we discovered the Flea Markets.   We visited the Maison de P. with the Curlings and got some very special and unusual pastis which I believe Don made good advantage of having a wee nosh in his morning coffee....

I think we paid about $40 for it since it is an "antique" and it is a  souvenir from the wonderful town of Uzes.

Some lovely old apartment buildings around this area....16th & Granville.

Old friends, new venue....

We went out to Port Moody today (never been there) and had lunch at the Boathouse on the water there then back to Chris and Marilyn's house for coffee to die for and dessert.  Marilyn and I went to school and university together and had seen each other a couple of times since...the last time 16 years ago....     we hadn't seen Chris for 40 years.

It was a wonderful reunion...it all just clicked into place and it seemed like it had been last week since we were socializing together!  Looking forward to seeing them out our way and all of us enjoying an ocean swim.   We both celebrated our 45th wedding anniversaries recently.  Chris and Marilyn got married a couple of months after us and the reception was at what is now the Stanley Park Fish House.

Marilyn and I both taught swimming and lifesaving and Marilyn bought a Honda 50 first and then I got the idea and bought one.  It was a great and cheap way for transportation while at university.  I think I have a photo of us both on our Hondas somewhere...will try to dig it up.

Deep Cove...another great destination

We met Bonnie and Jack at their house in Deep Cove yesterday...hadn't been there for ages.  Then on to the village of Deep Cove to meet Georgia for lunch.  Great fun talking about old and new times. It's a very cool area and we look forward to going back and exploring more.

 Bonnie,  trying to get Chica, the dog to sit still for a photo...no success.

 Didn't have time for a swim in their pool this time...next time.

 View over Deep Cove from their house.

 Jack took Jim for a ride in his special toy...

Deep Cove

Then in the evening, off to see a free film (a comedy...quite good)  at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura which is located in the Standard Building just across from SFU's Harbour Centre.  What a wonderful old building!  The photos don't really do it justice.  It reminded us of the Smith Tower in Seattle.  Anna (who is Italian), one of the regular swimmers,  told us about these activities.  She was there with Pierette,  another regular swimmer,  and we were all on the bus together going home and they met this fellow they knew,  Henri, from Marseilles.  What a character....94 years old and certainly going strong!

SFU at Harbour Centre

Another destination for us when we were downtown the other day was SFU's Harbour Centre campus since Jim had a couple of books to pick up there and I wanted to check out the campus and getting the bus there since I'm taking a 6 week course beginning in September on the Chinese Garden.  Dead easy to get there by bus and so much easier and cheaper than driving and parking.

http://www.sfu.ca/continuing-studies/courses/scfc/2013/09/chinese-garden.html

I was quite interested in the glass work they have there.  Not much information there but I found this link by googling:

http://illustratedvancouver.ca/post/20306826729/sfu-harbour-centre-glass-by-mary-filer-and-harold-spence

View from Harbour Centre campus....right on the edbe of Gastown.

Pride Parade

I must confess I have been somewhat prejudicial about the Pride Parade.  Since it's in our area we've seen glimpses and the clips on TV have made me feel that it's not really something I would be interested in and was somewhat confused about the over the top exhibitionism.

This next story is what is important to me about gay rights and pride...the first  couples getting married after midnight when the Gay Marriage Bill passed in Minnesota.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-75-most-unforgettable-moments-from-minnesotas-first-day

But when 600,000 people stand in the hot sun for four hours to watch something it probably needs a closer look.  And then there was the practical aspect of it being hard to "get out of Dodge" with the road closures around here and better to be a part of all the noise and hullabaloo than being annoyed by afar.

So, I  went to watch it for about an hour and I came away a convert.  It was impossible not to be caught up in the exuberance and somehow the fact that every shape, size, and type of person participated,  often dressed and acting outlandishly made the whole thing feel very inclusive and affirming.

And you got to love the fact that such a wide variety of organizations and businesses feel "Be there or be square".

So,  I get it...Happy Pride!

 Lots of free stuff being given away....I scored a bracelet!

Video from The Sun:

http://www.vancouversun.com/Video+Vancouver+Pride+Parade+2013/8748728/story.html

Photos and stories....Celebration of LIght last night

The family group featured in the story  was in front of us last night and we were entertained by their games and goings on.  We tend to get nice groups of families in front of us.  Kind of neat to open the Province newspaper today (we get the Province Sundays when The Sun doesn't publish since we are such newspaper addicts) to read this story.

http://www.theprovince.com/life/Vancouver+Celebration+Light+perfect+setting+family+together/8746973/story.html

 That's our apartment building in the background.

This is the photo from our balcony of the family.  As more people came later on in the evening they very thoughtfully took down the net so others could get good viewing places on the grass.  That's the fireworks barge and the fireboat in water foreground.

Thailand lights up the sky....wow...fabulous and probably the most artistic

This is the Sun's photo from the airshow that preceded that fireworks.  I'll post more fireworks photos tomorrow (the Sun's not mine...didn't take any at all this time)

New bookstore...The Paper Hound...344 West Pender

Read about this recently opened bookstore on W. Pender today in The Sun and we decided to take a look and explore around the area.  Just a super bookstore and we really wish them well.  Loads of neat books and cool stuff to look at.  Lunch at the Water Street Cafe.  Took the bus and as always great to not having the driving and parking hassle.

 Very cool dollhouse in the window...love it!

 Various books that have been banned are behind the door of this medicine cabinet...you'll have to visit the store to find out :)

 They have a neat collection of things left in books...not for sale but you can browse.

 And also photograph albums of photos left in books...not for sale but you can browse.  This time round I spent more time browsing this stuff than looking at the books.

Lunch...Jim had a steak sandwich and I had the calamari and caesar....yum.

These little dogs belonged to a restaurant patron sitting beside us.  They attracted a lot of people attention that they loved.  They were very well behaved in terms of staying on their side of the fence outside the restaurant area but barked like crazy at every poor dog that passed by....guess they figured they owned the sidewalk since they were restricted to it.  Now,  in France,  they'd be on the owners' laps or perhaps wandering over to lick my toes.  Dogs are king in France and welcome everywhere.

And snapped a photo from the bus of the very cool new sidewalk at Bute and Davie painted for the Pride Parade and will be permanent.

Someone has put the Laughing Men into the Pride Parade spirit.

2.5 hour wait at the Mexican US border for Sky

Sky was glad Ian gave him some Spanish language tapes...

A great and much less expensive idea for housing.

Shipping containers turned DTES homes

 

Atira Women's Resource Society opened their recycled shipping container social housing project, August 1st, on Vancouver's Alexpander street. The 12 units are Canada's first homes from shipping containers.