We attended Earth Hour in downtown Toronto, not only because we were curious to see how Torontonians would respond but also because the first Earth Hour was initiated by Sydney, Australia and we were there at the time but not actually in Sydney. It was a huge success in our city and we had more than a few laughs as we packed into Nathan Phillips Square, along with more than 10,000 other celebrants. The stage was lit by candles and the generators for Nellie Furtado's group and others were generated by Bullfrog power. What a night! In our neighbourhood, lights were left off for the entire evening and there were many people in the park beside our house with telescopes, looking at the stars. It was a truly magical experience.
Above: Note how bright the night sky is with the lights turned out. Stars were actually seen downtown!
Before we had even returned home from Florida in early March, we knew that we MUST be with our dear friends Janet and Ray in Vancouver to celebrate Ray's 70th birthday (we just can't believe it.....and you will not believe it when you see his photo's below). The date for travel was determined to be April 24th and coincided with their daughter Claire's (Darla's best friend) little girls' dedication (kind of like a baptism only with a non-denominational service).
Above: Handsome Ray (at 70 years) in his funeral suit....well...not HIS funeral suit...he drives funeral cars for a living....getting in tight with the profession and looking for discounts.
Above: Ray and Bob on our exhilirating two hour hike around Burnaby Lake
Saturday, April 26th....the day of Sophia's dedication was a spectacularly sunny day. It had rained at least part of each day leading up to the celebration and we were all thrilled that Sophia's day was sunny and warm.
Bob and Jean (Jan's sister) all dressed up and good to go!The service was held in the gardens at Claire and Ari's apartment building. Everyone looked beautiful, especially our sweet darling, Sophia who is one of the most easy going babies I have ever known
Sophia in the gorgeous outfit her "Nanny Jan" made for her; The Service
We all participated in the releasing of the balloons; "Nanny Jan" and Sophia; When it's all too much, we sleep
The party and food following the service was fabulous.....then we all returned to Jan and Ray's to prepare for Ray's 70th birthday party. We had a blast with friends and relatives....Kim was in Van on business and she came as well. Total fun and the meal....Jan's cooking....was fabulous, as always!
Above: The glow from the candles was so bright that my flash didn't even go off! ; Ray leading us all in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to ME!!!'
We spent a lot of very precious time with Claire and Sophia and on one of the days, we decided to walk the sea wall in downtown Vancouver. It was a gorgous day! The swan seen below was old and arthritic. Each day, an older woman arrives (with the blessing of the parks people), the swan toddles up onto the path and is fed glucosamin and condroitin (along with regular swan food) so it can live in relative comfort for the rest of it's days. Isn't that a sweet story?
Above: Sally Swan; Claire, me and Ray; Claire and Sophia
How quickly time passes and soon it was time for Bob to fly back to Toronto while Jan, Ray, Jean and I headed for the ferry taking us to Victoria for a few days. We arrived at Darla and Peter's home on the edge of Victoria. It is a lovely cottage that shares the property with the owner Gail's, hacienda style house and acres of land. It is normal on any given day, to spot bunny's (Cortes, their dog LOVES bunny's!), finches, hawks, cows and goats....and the occasional grass snake below. Jean, the English city girl didn't seem to have the slightest problem holding this sweet little fella!
Darla made us lunch and then Ray, Jan and Jean departed for a B&B in Sooke. The rest of the day was spent with Peter and Darla. They had graciously invited one of my former TO bosses and his partner for dinner...even though they don't really know them. We had a lovely meal and evening. The next morning, Peter was called away to Tofino to pick up one of the youth who became ill on trip, and returned him to Victoria....an eleven hour round trip! Meanwhile, Darla taught yoga in the morning and we spent time downtown then it was back to painting, painting, painting for the artist.....who is now in a Tofino gallery and will also have her work in the Agora Gallery, Chelsea, NYC very soon.
I have attempted to capture the development of the paintings which take several days and layers of acrylic and colour to completion.
Above: Two completed; Peter and Darla
All too soon it was time to leave. Ray, Jan and Jean came by to pick me up and back to Vancouver we went. I was so fortunate to be able to spend one more evening with Claire, Ari and Sophia before flying back to Toronto the next morning. What a trip! As always with these dear friends and family, we had laughs and lots of lovely memories "made in Vancouver and Victoria".
A SALUTE TO OUR SENIORS!
How blessed are we to have these two women in our family circle. My Mom (in green) will be 90 in January and is still truckin' along! She still bakes (annually makes 12 pies for the Kleinburg Binder Twine Festival), attends group and church functions and continues to be a dynamic community elder. The beautiful lady beside her (Ada) is my Dad's 105 year old cousin. She is absolutely amazing, with all her faculties firmly intact. I am so fortunate to have heard first hand, stories of family members long gone and her life and the changes that she has witnessed over the years. Ada tells us she's been here far too long and she feels it's time to move on to the next experience. We'll see how that goes!
Dad's sister Jean, passed away a week following a "Cousin's Reunion" the end of May, that her daughters organized. Aunt Jean was 94. There is one remaining sister, Helen, who lives close to her children in Saskatchewan and we are grateful that she is still with us.
Below: Photo's of the Cousin's Reunion
Above:Donna (Aunt Jean's eldest) and Ken; Betty (Aunt Jean's youngest) and Tom; Our wonderful hosts (Aunt Jean's middle daughter) Shirley and Ken.
Above: My brother Wayne and Ev; My sister Jan and Elliot; Ev and cousin Brenda (Dad's brother's daughter)
Boating has been a bit of a bust this summer due to family parties, appointments and MORE IMPORTANTLY, dead Carp all over three of our connecting lakes. Nasty, stinky and nothing you'd wish to swim among! These bottom feeders are so huge that you would never believe that anything except old age could kill them but something has! We do hope to get a few more weeks in before the season ends. The massive cleanup has been carrying on for several weeks now.
Random Photo's of our Grandchildren (M.I.A.....Shanelle...no updated photo's 'cause she's a star and very, very busy!):
Above: Sidney (13 yrs) and me celebrating our birthdays; Sean (5 yrs); Matthew (almost 3)
Below: Ben (5 yrs)
That's it for now!
