A dark and stormy morning....

But the joggers,  cyclers,  and walkers are still out.  Good day to take the bus downtown and renew our driver's licences.

Lunch with my cousins today at The Sylvia

We all had a wonderful time today and they loved our apartment....definitely felt we did the right thing.

 My cousins....Georgia, me, Bonnie

Jack and Jim

Amazing sunset last night

We went to Cloud 9 last night since the weather was predicted to change.  With everything going on we hadn't been there since Jan.  They've done renovations and have new chairs...looks great!  Still the same price for tapas and beer.  Then back to watch the latest episode of Madmen (excellent) and an episode on Netflix of Homeland.  We're enjoying it as well.

From the balcony....

again....

 Lots of colourful sailboats out.

 We often see folks down below trying to do the tightrope...with varying success!

One of our herons flying back with a full gullet of fish.  They don't seem to have much fun....just feeding these hungry youngsters.   The seagulls have the most fun.

Merci beaucoup, Richard!

Richard prepared a Father's Day Brunch at his place today (Emily was in Victoria celebrating Father's Day there).  Huevos Rancheros and home made tortillas then followed by a Victoria Gin and that great tonic they sell at Whole Foods....wow!  We took the little ferry over and on our walk to Richard's we heard some great buskers...fellow with guitar and harmonica,  South American flutes,  and a piper.

Jim talked me into an ocean swim....still a bit chilly for me but stayed in for a while.  I'll remember it was June 16 my first swim this year since it's Bloomsday.  It was very pleasant sitting on the beach and caught the sunshine...really dulling down now.   One fellow there who seems to go in every day said his first day swimming was May 1.  He's quite a swimmer.

 Lots of great boats out today...taken from the Granville Island ferry.

The Master Chef

 Seems like he is a Master Bartender too!

Richard and Jim

Las Margaritas and The Vancouver Museum

After lunch we took advantage of being close to the museum and went especially to see the Foncie exhibit...the fellow who took all these street photos over the years.  He was a real fixture.  I couldn't find the one he (well,  I think it was him...there were competitors) of my Dad and his friend, Les.  I found the one with Jim (about 5 years old) and his grandmother although it isn't identified as a Foncie photo so maybe wasn't.

It seems he took a lot of photos of First Nations and Asians and these were apparently often the only photos the families had.  Makes sense since these groups were not privileged and probably didn't have the means to take family photos otherwise.   I guess I probably knew this but was rather shocked to be reminded in  "This day in history,  June 15, 1949" in the Sun yesterday that this was the day that First Nations,  Japanese-Canadians,  Chinese-Canadians, and Sikh Canadians got the vote.

"Foncie Pulice was the last man standing from Vancouver’s great era of post-war street photography. Creator of about 15 million images over his lifetime, Foncie captured Vancouverites in action as they strode the city streets. His photographs trigger vivid memories for long-time residents who recall the particular day, the hour, their companions, the circumstances."

We also enjoyed the Ugly Neon Vancouver exhibit and Sex in the City.   And the photos by Joe Average...his mother taught at Esquimalt for a while.

Then for a swim at Second Beach Pool.  Jim wanted to go in the ocean but didn't look very inviting to me...perhaps today.

 Sat outside and enjoyed the great floral displays while dining.

Burrard Bridge in the early hours above.  Our view in the early hours below.  Love these photographs. by Joe Average.

 The Sex in the City exhibit was excellent.  Here they focus on sex education in schools.

There was a big movement in the 70's to get rid of the "ugly neon" and while these signs seem pretty cool,  photos of some streets demonstrated it really had got out of hand and become light pollution.  Everyone was for keeping the signs on Theatre Row on Granville...that always worked well.

Experiences rather than things...has always seemed a no-brainer to us

This article did give me some insight into why people buy expensive things...always something I've found hard to understand.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/06/why-wanting-expensive-things-makes-us-so-much-happier-than-buying-them/276717/

Wonderful lunch at Donna's

Donna had me,  Kerry, Katie and the grandkids,  Harmony and Zion over for lunch today and a swim.  A super time was had by all....thanks so much, Donna.  We really lucked in with the weather.  Sunny and warm and no wind!

 Kerry,  Katie and Zion and Harmony

Donna

What a difference an hour makes!

First three photos taken about an hour ago...last three in the past 5 minutes.

Espana still on my list

The menu at Espana didn't appeal to Monique so we went to The Sylvia instead.  We got a kick out of how they served the "9 oz" glass of wine Monique ordered....a small and an even smaller carafe.  We had a great visit and enjoyed imbibing from this great bottle of grappa she brought over.

Big week for out of town visitors

Kerry's in town from Edmonton this week and came for lunch yesterday....loved our new place!  And Monique from Victoria is also in town and we will see her tonight. We're planning on dining at a fairly recently opened tapas place on Denman called Espana.  Gets good reviews and is always doing a great trade.  We plan to go on the early side otherwise we probably won't get in.

Serrano ham on grilled endive...photo from the Yelp site.  Looks good!

Another interesting day

Linda warned us yesterday that we should act fairly quickly on getting a portable air conditioner for the bedroom as they sell out when it gets hot.  The fellow at Home Depot confirmed that.  So,  off shopping for that before noon today.   Sunday morning is a great time to shop and drive...very little traffic and very few people in the stores.  (Only slight problem was this old dear in a car with the vanity licence plate "Auntie" came out of nowhere and went obliviously through two lanes of traffic and almost sideswiped us....perhaps late for church.)

And we managed to get a handyman to install it this afternoon so all set up for the heat when it comes.  The most interesting handyman we've ever had.  We invited him for a beer and had an interesting chat....very new age, Eckhart Tolle kind of guy.  But of course,  Aldous Huxley was like that so,  hey.

A few photos I took from the balcony and of our new installation.

Lunch with old friends....

We had lunch at the Cactus Club today with Linda and Cec and Carol and Dave.  Always lots of laughs!  They came in from Surrey/Delta on the transit system....the only way to go for a trip to the West End.  Linda has become quite an expert.

                 Carol  and Linda...we are all childhood friends since the age of 4 years old  (well,  Carol was 3 years old).

Cec,  Linda, me, Carol, Dave....well....what you can see of us.

Lunch with John and Carol

John and Carol came for lunch today...great to see them as always.  So now John tells me the latest thing in photography is just pointing and shooting and not using a viewfinder...just after I'm so thrilled to have a viewfinder back on a camera!  Ah well,  I still LOVE my viewfinder.

Went for a walk Lost Lagoon way then back to the seawall to have a hotdog for dinner from our hotdog guy.   Best deal in town for 3 bucks with all the interesting condiments.  I passed on the hot peppers and hot pepper sauce (Jim didn't!)...did enjoy the onions, pickles, black olives, and sauerkraut.

Thursday night at The Sylvia...

A fellow called Bruce Gerrish tonight...first time performing at The Sylvia.  We really enjoyed him and his group.  Something new this year is the Thursday night music seems to go on past the end of May.

Video seems to have failed.  Here are a few photos.