Sunny Sunday kitty cuteness.
It’s coming along nicely! Very exciting for me to see the daily progress; to be closer to seeing the final piece – I still can’t quite imagine what it will be!
As it grows and changes, its magnificence increases.
TC peeks out of her basket as the sun peeks out to warm her.
Our final day (too quick!) was all about food and art (mostly food!). We usually have breakfast at Central Bistro on our last day in Vancouver as it’s very good and very close to the hotel. Delicious! We had noticed a new shop on Denman while we were coming and going on the bus, so we walked a couple blocks to check it out: Ayoub’s Dried Fruit and Nuts. This is a gorgeous store run by a lovely woman. We picked up a few snacks for the ferry ride home and some Turkish delight for the cat sitter. After checking out from the hotel we headed up Robson Street, popping into a few shops. We encountered a very sweet blogger named Mel who snapped photos of me and GJ for her blog Culture Serf. We had a delightful chat about our favourite shopping places. Check out her blog; it’s really fun! Then met our friend Sandra for lunch at Nuba on Cambie at Hastings. We shared a snack plate and GJ was able to have Turkish coffee, which he loves. Next stop, a couple hours at The Vancouver Art Gallery, which is always wonderful. That left just enough time at the end of the day for a snack at Mink before skytrain/bus/ferry/bus to home and our little cat!
Our favourite new West End shop: Ayoub’s.
Amazing hot chocolate and snacks at Mink. And they have fondue!
Another gorgeous sky as we leave Vancouver.
Excitedly awoke to our full day in Vancouver with a dusting of snow on the ground! It was really pretty all the days we were there: lots of big, fluffy clouds; snow falling on the nearby mountains; breaks of sun; smell of snow in the air. We jumped on the bus/skytrain up to Main and 28th and walked east on 28th to St George where we enjoyed a lovely petit déjeuner at Le Marché St George. Our pastries were so delicious, I forgot to take a picture of them until they were almost gone! Along with pastries and light lunches, Le Marché has a few delicacy groceries and unique household goods for purchase. It was hard to take good pictures and not include the many patrons who came and went in the shots. Once we were done we walked back down Main Street to Broadway, stopping now and then to browse the many interesting shops we encountered, including Front, a cool shop of new and gently worn fashions, shoes and accessories. We wanted to check out Gravity Pope, a shoe store my sister recommended, so hopped on a bus heading west on Broadway, jumped off at Yew and walked over to West 4th for a bit of shopping. Luckily, at another shoe store, we found a new pair of boots for GJ as the only shoes he brought had sprung a leak in the slush first thing in the morning. Yummy lunch and celebrity sighting at Sofie’s Cosmic Cafe, then we headed down to the Kitsilano waterfront at the Maritime Museum and walked back to Granville Island to catch the ferry back over to the West End and back to the Hotel for a rest. The evening brought the main attraction of our trip: the world premier of Ignorance, a new production by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, showing at the CULTCH. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe the show!
A bit of snow outside our beautiful hotel, The Sylvia.
Yum! Croissant aux amandes, brioche, café et chocolat chaud.
Le Marché St George, St George at E28th, Vancouver BC.
Le Marché St George, detail.
Le Marché St George; small shop, lots to look at!
Looking up at the Maritime Museum and a gorgeous sky from the dock of historic boats just below the museum.
Looking over at the West End from Kitsilano.
A section of a kinetic ball sculpture in a window at Granville Island.
Last week we headed over to Vancouver for three days; what fun! We really appreciate having a much larger city in which to play so close to our little lovely town. We missed the bus on tuesday morning which would have put us on the 9am ferry, so were forced to eat a delicious breakfast at our favourite place Mo:lé, and had time to go back home to snuggle the cat for a few minutes before catching the bus for the 11:00 boat. The straight was a bit rough, but we arrived on the mainland intact and a quick bus/skytrain ride later we were downtown. First stop, the Sylvia Hotel at English Bay; our home away from home whenever we go to Vancouver. After a quick freshen up we headed out to walk the sea wall towards Granville Island. We found some great art to view at a few of the South Granville galleries. Equinox Gallery had an amazing display of Takao Tanabe; the largest number I’ve ever seen in one place. His work is so beautiful. A bit of shopping and then an AMAZING dinner at Vij’s.
Winding our way through the Gulf Islands.
Passing another ferry en route to Victoria.
Out in the straight, the chop was causing the ferry to bob about a bit!
Lovely walkway along English Bay in the West End with views across to Kitsilano.
The Ferry stop at the Aquatic Centre. From here you can get to Granville Island, Yale Town, Science World and a few other stops.
A quick hop on the harbour ferry from the Aquatic Centre to Granville Island.
At the end of our lovely stormy day, we stopped at the Eagle Feather Gallery at 904 Gordon Street. Our friend George has some of his carvings there. We were fortunate to see a Haida carver named Alex Spence working on a beautiful new piece.
Some of the wonderful treasures at Eagle Feather Gallery.
Carver Alex Spence working on a new piece. A delight to watch the mastery of his skill.
A finished piece by Alex Spence.
A wild and windy day in Victoria didn’t stop us from enjoying a long walk with dear friends George and Catriona. After filling our tummies with yummy brunch at Mo:lé, we headed out in the wind to walk our favourite harbour and seaside route. A stop at Fisherman’s Wharf allowed us a visit with the resident harbour seals, mom and pop and their baby which was so cute and half the size of its parents. Our second stop was at the beautiful totem pole in Beacon Hill Park which was restored last year to former glory, hopefully to share its beauty with us for many more decades. Cake and coffee followed at Trè Fantastico before we made our way back downtown.
The adults, so comfortable with the humans watching them, are waiting for someone to provide them some fish from the Fish Store on the dock.
One of the parents with baby (head poking out); couldn't get a shot of all three of them together.
It was incredible to be standing beside the Totem Pole yesterday as it was swaying so much in the gusting wind.
So beautiful up close too!
Totem Plaque.
A blanket and hat for D’s and A’s baby girl due next month. The felted embellishments on the blanket are on both sides of one corner.
A small, warm blanket with stocking-knit pattern and needle felted embellishment.
Flip the corner and the embellishment is the same.
Some pink, orange and teal on a white soft wool stocking-knit cap
I have no idea how this will look when done, but it’s pretty amazing already!
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