Loved this Henri Le Chat Noir today.

I often wish that humans did not view their lives with cats as one continuous photo shoot.

Well….I got my sticker!

Killarney School 50th Reunion last night

Jim and and I have come down with terrible colds so couldn't go.  Linda sent me some photos.

More good stuff from Jack Knox

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-party-pros-and-cons-and-a-plea-to-vote-1.2088688

Happy Birthday, Richard!

To a great son….have a great day!   Maybe the Blue Jays will win…

Rick Mercer's rant…perfect.

Since it's his rant…..it's not really mine is it?   So,  doesn't count…right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-deQYK7c2Q

Wow…what a game!

The Toronto Blue Jays, powered by Jose Bautista’s seventh-inning three-run homer, have advanced to the American League Championship Series with a thrilling 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of their divisional series at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Devil's Star"

"The Devil's Star" by Jo Nesbo

Quite an interesting and engaging thriller.   So far,  Jo Nesbo hasn't disappointed.

Haven't seen our grey whale lately….

I'm glad John got this photo…crazy for these folks to go this close I think.

-John Denniston photo.

Wow….26 miles…a photo of Richard just as he finished the Victoria Marathon.

Congratulations,  Richard,  on achieving your goal!

A wonderful Thanksgiving at Naomi and Ray's with Grace and Richard.

What a treat to be treated again to a wonderful dinner,  fabulous French wine,  and excellent company!

We did enjoy ourselves so much,  thank you all.

So glad to get this email yesterday….

Hi Mom,

I had a great day of running today. The weather was superb and I finished a little bit ahead of my goal time. See you on
Monday!

Love,

Richard

Rainy morning here in Vancouver

So I put on some slideshows of photos from Palm Springs and the south of France…

 Soon to be dining in the sunshine on our patio and drinking fresh orange juice from our tree.

 Dining in the south of France at our villa with Susan and Alan.

Our wonderful little village of Carqueiranne.

Soon to be in the land of songbirds…real songs….not just chirping!

Eric Norland photo.

Sunset tonight

Loved Jack Knox's column in the Times-Colonist today...

“Got one!” I hollered. “Got me a terrorist!” She sputtered and squirmed, protesting her innocence, but I kept her pinned under the table.

She had clearly ordered her Thanksgiving pumpkin pie “Allah mode” — which as we all know is Islamic terrorist for “God is ice cream,” a call to jihad, or niqab, or one of those frightening foreign words — so I was forced to take her down.

“Let me up before I file for divorce,” she said.

- See more at: 
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-it-s-a-thin-line-between-nationalism-and-racism-1.2083067

And was surprised to actually agree with most of what Conrad Black said in this letter to the National Post.

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/conrad-black-this-government-has-scraped-the-barrel-in-its-symbolic-pandering

End of a hurricane….not!

There were really dire predictions for weather this weekend so was thrilled to get up this morning to beautiful blue skies and no wind.  Richard is doing the full marathon in Victoria this weekend so I imagine conditions couldn't be better!  Good luck, kid!

A great time with old friends….

Linda and Cec,  Roger and Kerry,  and Donna and Neil came over for drinks and dessert and we had dinner at The Sylvia.    It  was wonderful to see everyone especially since we'll be leaving soon.   And even the weather cooperated by not pouring rain while we were walking to The Sylvia.

I managed to get a few photos at the restaurant…too busy talking!

 Donna and Kerry

 Cec

Jim and Roger

Another favourite haunt bites the dust….

Tanpopo,  The Fish House,  now C-Lovers.  We went for a walk in the rain and the idea was to get fish and chips.  It closed Sept 27.  We will miss it since they were the best fish and chips in town and a bonus of being able to get mushy peas…a rarity.  There are still other locations but nothing close.  We got bento boxes instead ….good rainy day fare with the hot tea and miso soup.

Tea with a very old dear friend….

Kerry came over today and it was so nice to see her.  She woke up in the hotel today hearing the rain and we are both enjoying the rain,  the coolness,  and the leaves turning.  I think if you grew up in Vancouver,  you love these kinds of days….at least for a while until the rain gets to be a little too much!

Grey whales back yesterday evening right in front of us.

People are certainly enjoying them.  When I went swimming yesterday morning,  people were parked in a lane of traffic to jump out to see the whales.

They've been in the area 7 days in a row now.

A beautiful morning but it looks like change of weather is on the way.

This isn't a whale but a swimmer this morning swimming right where the grey whales were last evening.  Some of our beach friends continue to swim long  distance most of the year and their route is the same as the grey whales.  I was a little surprised to see someone swimming this morning since that's exactly where the whales were yesterday at this time.

Two grey whales today!

It seems the two have been spotted a couple of days ago….our pet invited a friend.

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/10/grey-whale-spotted-in-vancouver-for-4th-day-in-a-row-photos-videos/

And a sunset…

And I couldn't resist…Monday morning in Palm Springs.  We are enjoying Fall as always and looking forward to summer again in a couple of weeks…nice to have access to a time machine!

Eric Norland photo.

I agree it really is all about coercion.

 We shouldn't add to the problem by using coercion ourselves.  I'll never quite get the French attitude towards this.   

Dinner at The Red Truck Brewery

We met Richard here for dinner.   We enjoyed our food,  the ambiance, and especially the company, of course!  It was a devil of a place to find…Google maps steered us wrong as usual.   Very interesting to be in this very industrial area of Vancouver that has changed so much.  Richard just came off a 20 mile run….in training for next weekend's big marathon in Victoria.

Bookbub

If you have a Kindle,  iPad,  Kobo,  or Google Play,  you can use this free and cheap service.  After you sign up and choose categories of interest and your reader,  you will get daily emails with free and cheap downloads and you can search their site as well.  I downloaded "Murder in Provence" for free the other day and a Mother Teresa bio for free as well.  They also go to my Kindle app on my iPhone….ain't technology great!

Here's a review….very positive.  There really is no downside as I can see.

http://www.highya.com/bookbub-reviews

Itty Bitty Book Review: "The Girl on the Train"

"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

A rather amazingly written thriller given its her first novel.   I saw it as a Fast Read in the library and am way down on the hold list so picked it up.  A very enjoyable read and keeps you guessing.

Fun at The Sylvia and with old friends..

We really enjoyed the music at The Sylvia last night and we met some neat American tourists as well.

Thursday, Oct. 1

Arnt Arntzen – Jazz, Pop/Rock

The fellow plays a banjo and the woman a bass….both great singers too.

And then today,  Carole and Don from Victoria took us out to lunch at The Cactus Club.  It was so great to see them and catch up with all their news and to hear about their trip to France in the summer.

 Don and Carole

 Us

 I had the chicken lettuce wraps which were amazing and so copious I ordered a "doggy bag"…now this must be the classiest yet…what a great idea…a cloth reusable bag.

From the Vancouver Sun: "Boomers still rule the roost; deal with it. We've paid our dues"

I do have mixed feelings about all of this.  Yeah…we had our own problems to deal with for sure but we did luck out in many ways…beyond our wildest expectations for some things.  So,  Shelley,  let's not fan the flames of the generation war but focus on solving the special problems that exist for all of us.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/shelley+fralic+welcome+boomer+world+officially/11403899/story.html

Sunset….sunrise

Sunset last night….

 Sunrise today…soon to be sunny!

No sign of our new pet,  the grey whale….perhaps not an early riser or should I say spouter...

Of course she would know…!

From Susan today:

"Well, the drawings aren't great, but maple, ash, fir, oak, and those last two could be many things; pretty typical simple leaves."

Especially for Susan who is really into identifying local plants and trees these days….

So true….keep up the good work,  Susan.