Signs and Fences…

The signs and fences I’m sharing today are all from Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. taken on Friday March 18th.

We were happy to find Stanley’s at lunch time. We were still full from our hearty breakfast but after walking about we were ready for some refreshment.

May would be another great time of year to visit Stanley Park to enjoy the Rose Gardens. I still have a post with the beautiful flowering trees we enjoyed on this day. After we had our refreshment at Stanley’s we hit the road back to the good ole U.S.A.

I’m linking up with Lesley for signs, signs and with TexWisGirl for Good Fences.

We have another few days of sunny weather here in the Seattle area and there are predictions of the temps getting close to 80 tomorrow!! I’m back in a pattern of walking which is a good thing. I finally got my Senior Sneakers membership card so I will head to a gym nearby to sign up and see how that goes…

What’s new for you?

Totems at Stanley Park

The nine totem poles at Brockton Point are BC’s most visited tourist attraction. Because many of the original totems were carved as early as the 1880s, they have been sent to museums for preservation. The totems you see at Brockton Point today are new ones commissioned or loaned to the park between 1986 and 1992.

Luke Marston’s sculpture, Shore to Shore, stands at the site of his family’s ancestral village site X̲wáýx̲way, and celebrates Portuguese adventurer Joe Silvey (“Portuguese Joe”) as well as his first and second Coast Salish wives, Khaltinaht and Kwatleemaat. The artist Luke Marston is the great-great-grandson of Portuguese Joe and Kwatleemaat.

Joe Silvey was born and raised on Portugal’s Altantic Azores Islands, though after several adventures, Joe found himself on the Pacific, and an early pioneer of Vancouver’s Gastown.

The sculpture honours the link between Portuguese and Coast Salish First Nations cultures, marks the land’s rich heritage, and symbolizes unity for the Vancouver’s present-day diverse inhabitants. The large bronze sculpture is surrounded by engraved Portuguese stone, prominently installed in Stanley Park’s Northeast shore, overlooking downtown. You can read more about Shore to shore here.

The Skedans Mortuary Pole is a replica as the original was returned home to Haida Gwaii. In the late 1980s, the remaining totem poles were sent to various museums for preservation and the Park Board commissioned and loaned replacement totems.

In March Dear and I had an overnight trip to Vancouver B.C. and we were able to spend a few hours in Stanley Park on March 18th. We stopped at the Totems at Brockton Point for a while. You can buy an all day parking pass for $6.00 which worked well for all our stops. I’ll share our other stops at the park soon.

I’ll be linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveller.

March in Vancouver B.C.

On March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) we headed North for the border between the U.S.A. and Canada. We are fortunate to be a few hours from our friendly neighbors to the north.

On this trip we were headed to North Vancouver and had to cross some bridges to get there. We found our hotel and after a wait in line to get into the parking structure of the hotel we checked in and looked at our room.

The room had a nice view of downtown Vancouver across Vancouver Harbor. We were ready for our first adventure on the SeaBus that would take us across the harbor to the downtown area of Vancouver. We were ready for a meal.

We disembarked close to Canada Place and walked along the harbor to find a restaurant recommended by Lovella of the Mennonite Girls.

We found the restaurant and later when we shared our view Lovella realized we had sat in almost the same spot a week after them and we definitely had the same view. See the boats I marked with an X? Thanks for the recommendation Lovella. We enjoyed our meal at Cardero’s.

We walked after our meal and saw some interesting things and then headed back across the harbor to our hotel where later in the evening we enjoyed a light meal in our room that we purchased at the Quay Market that was located under our hotel.

We didn’t make reservations in Vancouver until we saw that the weather would be good for walking and exploring. Having Dear working from home gives us that flexibility to decide on last minute trips with the weather in mind. Being so close to Canada is another win win for traveling and seeing new things. On Friday the 18th we checked out of the hotel and drove to Stanley Park. On the way we stopped for breakfast at De Dutch…

I’ll share what we saw at Stanley Park in another post.

Dear and I are having a hard time standing up and sitting down today after several hours working outside yesterday. I’m glad we still can manage to do what we did. Cleaning gutters, pulling some weeds and cleaning out some planters, pressure washing the deck and cement areas, and then washing the car! Sheesh, this weather brings out the work in us! Thankfully I had a leg of lamb marinating in the fridge that I could throw in the oven for our meal of the day with potatoes and carrots that cooked underneath the roast in my handy Jamie Oliver pan. Today after church we had lamb sandwiches with our leftovers. So happy not to have to do anything today. A good day of rest.

Hope your Sunday is going well.

Since this post is filled with blue skies and blue water I’m linking up with Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor for Blue Monday! Thanks Jeanne!

Signs, signs…

We saw this sign on a shop in La Conner during our sister weekend. That’s my sister Kathy who we made sit down under the sign. This sign is very accurate and true about our clever sister Kathy.

While Dear and I were driving about Stanley Park in Vancouver we came to this sign. This sign can be confusing. Should you stop or should you heed the NO STOPPING sign.

Linking up with Lesley for signs, signs.

Sunlit and InSPIREd Sunday…

On our sister weekend as we were leaving Coupeville on Whidbey Island we stopped so I could take photos of this church.

A well kept church with a great belfry!

And my shot to welcome Spring and the beginning of Holy Week taken at Stanley Park in Vancouver B.C. yesterday.

Linking up to InSPIREd Sunday and I believe the last week of Sunlit Sunday.

This coming week will be a busy one as our household prepares for our Easter observances. Cleaning, decorating, getting the guest room ready for our son and daughter in love from Eastern Washington, baking our traditional Easter bread Kulich/Paska, our sweet cheese topping, Seernaya Paska and decorating eggs. Haven’t decided on the main course for our Easter meal but it will most likely be rack of lamb. Are you getting ready?

Birthday Five!

Monday the 14th was my medicare and concessions birthday! When you reach my age you should celebrate for more than a day and as I write this post I’m on my 5th day of celebrating! Today I’m sharing 5 wonderful birthday encouragements I received.

(1) Dear and I were able to celebrate with the B.C. Mennonite Girls and their husbands on Sunday in Bellingham, Washington for brunch/lunch. The British Columbia girls came across the line. It was enough for me to celebrate over a meal but they showered me with gifts, too. These girls have been such a blessing in my life and I thank God regularly for each of them. I received many wonderful encouragements in the cards they gave me.

(2) On my actual birthday we met our kids on the western side of the Cascades for dinner. Our middle son and his bride live 5-1/2 hours away so they couldn’t join us. Dan called me before dinner to wish me a happy birthday. I love the cards I got from my kids with a good page full of words that always mean so much to me.

Josh and Laura gifted me Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life and a Peter Rabbit bunting kit. They know I love all things Beatrix Potter. Katie made that card and wrote a page full of thoughts that blessed me dearly.

This same six were together last year for my birthday. I forgot to take a photo this year.

(3) These two are my youngest brother’s kiddos and they are my youngest niece and nephew. They called and sang happy birthday to me. They live in Texas.

(4) My dear old pop called to wish me a happy birthday. He lives with my oldest sister in Southern California. We talked about the jigsaw puzzles I sent him and I thanked him for the cold hard cash he sent me. This black and white photo is taken in the 50’s during a camping trip probably at Big Bear in the San Bernardino mountains in Southern California. I’m the one with the buster brown hairdo and my oldest sister Kathy is standing. Jigsaw puzzles have become my pop’s favorite thing to do again at 92 soon to be 93 to pass the hours away. He reminded me again that he prays for me every day.

(5) I received many birthday wishes on Facebook and one of my dear old friends from junior high/high school messaged me and her sentiments made me cry. Another dear friend called on my birthday morning and expressed her wishes and love for me and I cried again. Good tears…

I’m writing this post from our hotel room in Vancouver B.C. where Dear and I continue to celebrate my birthday with an overnight trip. Vancouver is about a 2-1/2 to 3 hour trip from our home in Washington State. It’s always fun to cross the border into another country where English is spoken! Tomorrow we will take a ride on the hop on hop off trolley to take in much of what this grand city has to offer before we head home. I’ll come around to visit you all when we get home…

Linking up with Amy for Five on Friday at Love Made My Home and with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

Susanne’s daughter is getting married next weekend so I’m wondering if she’ll even have time to post for Friday’s Fave Five…

Thank you ladies for hosting!

All Aboard!

I’m traveling back to Katie and my Amtrak Cascades train trip to Vancouver B.C. last Thursday before Christmas Eve and Christmas activities commence!

We had to dress with a few layers because the temps on this day did not stay above freezing for long.

We started our journey in Edmonds, Washington. For many miles the tracks are right next to the water and it felt if I leaned towards the window I could land in the water.

As we approached Everett, Washington I wondered if we’d see a battleship or an Aircraft Carrier.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I’m glad I don’t have to clean off that rust…

So many interesting things to see with my camera.

After Everett the tracks came inland and we got to see some rural views before the tracks bent back west to the water.

Looking back I caught a glimpse of Mt. Rainier and zoomed in to catch our famous volcano in the distance.

It was fun to see the views of Semiahmoo from the train. Dear and I spent our anniversary at the inn which is right next to that water tower.

Seeing Semiahmoo I knew we were very close to crossing the border into Canada.

White Rock, B.C.

The train station in Vancouver.

We were underwhelmed with the Christmas market that was our destination choice. Thankfully food is my love language and Finch’s Tea and Coffee House came to the rescue. We really enjoyed our baguettes and Lady Grey tea.

This was in Katie’s words a “Hipster” establishment. The menu was posted on the blackboards. They delivered most of the sandwiches on brown waxed wrap paper.

Betty from Mennonite Girls Can Cook made the scarf next to my nice big cup of tea for me and the really cool thing about it is that she included slots in the scarf that serve as hand warmers/slot pockets.

Speaking of that large cup of tea, we had to take our signature sipping tea shot!

We visited some antique shops in the Gas Town area of Vancouver and a fun shop called Old Faithful.

We walked back to the train station and boarded our train for our long trip back to Edmonds. We were very happy that there was a dining car on the train with several food and drink choices. The trip back was in the dark so it seemed slow and long to me. It really helps to be able to see things out the train windows that are interesting to make the trip seem shorter. If we do this trip again we’d like to spend the night and only travel one way each day. I do like the quiet stress free aspect of traveling on the train.

Well here we are with just a couple days before Christmas. How are you doing? I hope you are calm and collected and that you have time for joy and peaceful moments.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Corrie Ten Boom…

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

Mini Book Tour Mosaics ~

The Mennonite Girls had a very busy Saturday with 6 Canadians traveling across the border from Canada to the U.S.A. Saturday morning. 6 Canadians plus 1 American traveling across the line to Canada Saturday afternoon and 1 American traveling back to the U.S.A. Saturday evening. Did you follow that?

First stop was at the Bellingham, Washington Barnes and Noble store. I drove north from the Seattle area to join my Canadian friends who traveled south across the border. It was a nice relaxed time of signing books and talking to old friends and new friends. One of our bloggy friends who we had never met face to face, Debora from(Whatsovever Things Are Lovely), stopped by and we had a great time chatting about blogs and adventures we’d like to have in the future. A dear friend of mine from our former church who lives in the Bellingham area stopped by to have her book signed. Such a fun surprise to see her. Kathy had 2 elderly relatives stop by. They were so sweet and it was so much fun listening to them.

Debora is standing with me behind the girls. In the lower photos in the mosaic are Kathy’s relatives and my friend Cindy.

After our time at Barnes and Noble we decided to stop at the Olive Garden in Bellingham and have some lunch before we all headed across the border to Canada. We had the all you can eat soup and salad. What a great deal for a good meal. Next stop Ten Thousand Villages in Vancouver, Canada.

This and the next mosaic are a combination of both of our book signing stops. The employees at both venues were wonderful. The new friends we met that have enjoyed cooking the recipes in our book were very encouraging. We were blessed to hear stories of courage and success in coming to a new country and thriving. We also heard of goals in the future that were an inspiration.

In this mosaic the top photo is from Ten Thousand Villages on Commercial in Vancouver and the bottom two are from Barnes and Noble in Bellingham.

While we were busy out here in the West our two Prairie Girls were signing books at the Henderson Ten Thousand Villages.

It was a full wonderful day of fun and fellowship.

The girls dropped me off at my car in Canada at a little after 7 P.M. I headed for the border and had one of my best border crossings ever. I stopped at the booth and handed the U.S. Border Agent my passport. He asked me the typical questions. When he asked me why I was in Canada I said I was at a book signing at Ten Thousand Villages. He asked me if I was an author. I told him I was one of 10. He asked me what the name of the book was. I told him Mennonite Girls Can Cook. He smiled real big and said, my wife follows you girls and has made a lot of good stuff. He then patted his Kevlar vest and said he’s put on some weight. I smiled and said, me, too. Ha! He said wait until I tell my wife…

I’m joining with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

I am continuing to have a problem posting comments on some blogger blogs. I’ve been working down the line on Mosaic Monday links and there are several that will not accept my comments. If you don’t see a comment from ellen b. that is probably why…so sorry.

Tuesday Afternoon in Vancouver, B.C.

Tuesday, afternoon,

Tuesday, afternoon,
I’m just beginning to see,
Now I’m on my way,
It doesn’t matter to me,
Chasing the clouds away.

Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near,
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh.

I’m looking at myself, reflections of my mind,
It’s just the kind of day to leave myself behind,
So gently swaying thru the fairy-land of love,
If you’ll just come with me and see the beauty of

Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday, afternoon,
I’m just beginning to see,
Now I’m on my way,
It doesn’t matter to me,
Chasing the clouds away.

Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near,
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh.

ht: Moody Blues

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Mosaic Monday ~ Vancouver, B.C.

All of these views were taken at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. this past Tuesday. My daughter Katie and I drove up to Canada from the Seattle area for the day.

To see more mosaics or to join in with your own mosaic visit Mary at The Little Red House.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Vancouver B.C.