A nice day, finally!

Those of you who live in my city know just how long we've had no sunshine. Today, things changed (it actually started yesterday). The sun is out, the snowtopped mountains are beautiful and the days are getting longer.









Mountains


We decided to take a walk in Stanley Park, took the skytrain to Waterfront and walked from there. Spring announced its coming.








The seawalk





Some flowers were blooming, and it seems that half of Vancouver had the same idea about taking a walk as we did.










































Spring is coming: some flowers and buds.


On the way back, we decided to take the seabus (the ferry across the harbour) to Lonsdale Quay for a beer and a burger (since I wasn't driving, this was a safe thing to do). Seabus is part of the skytrain system, so we bought a ticket at Waterfront, went to the quay, had our food, got back on the seabus, transferred to skytrain, and went home. The fare for each of us for all that was $1.75 each way (a total of $7.- for the whole day). I think the cost of driving would have been higher (at $1.05/l for gasoline) - and I would have had to have a coffee instead of a beer.










Lonsdale Quay

Happy Valentine!

For the ladies who read this blog - a happy Valentine's day. Now you can say that you have at least one Valentine's greeting.

Of course, the crass, commercial North American environment has tainted the meaning of the day to some degree; we ourselves are not immune. But at least we have a choice; we can make the best of it. In that spirit, we invited our immediate family to dinner yesterday (it's next to impossible to get dinner reservations for today). We had a very nice dinner at Earl's restaurant, which is located not far from our house. There were eight of us: our two granddaughters, our son, our daughter-in-law and her parents, and the two of us. Earl's had arranged a very nice (square) table for us - the food and service were excellent - and we had a good time. Even the cost was low, because we used up the gift cards which we had received as presents from my wife's sister and brother-in-law at Christmas.

An additional reason to dine out was that our older granddaughter has her 10th birthday on Valentine's day (Valentine's day is the birthday date she shares with my own sister, her great aunt). She received a present from her maternal grandparents; we expect a visit from her today at our house, because she knows that there are more presents for her here.

I'm fortunate. My wife and I like staying at home. Usually, we have a glass of wine after dinner, and during the winter at least, when the evenings are dark, we light some of the candles we have in our living room. This makes for a nice, cozy, and romantic feeling - one can say that we have a Valentine's day almost every day.

Praise family!

Enough, already, and more

It seems that we've had far more than our normal share of snow here. There has been "dump after dump" for several weeks now, and some snow has almost always been on the ground. That's quite unusual for us west-coast softies. We've done more than our normal amount of shovelling; it makes up somewhat for the missed walks my wife and I like to take. The other exercise option we have is an old excercise bike we have in the basement, which we use when the weather makes walking uncomfortable for us.

This exercise bike was given to us by a member of our extended family. When we got it, its "odometer" showed just under 300 miles of (stationary) travel - the scenery never changes - now it is showing just over 1,200 miles. This means that we have "biked" around 900 miles - 1,450km - I think that's like biking from Vancouver to Calgary.

Anyway, I'm sure hoping that the weather will be clear for the next lunar eclipse on February 20. This eclipse occurs early in the evening, it starts around sunset (and moonrise) for us here on the west coast. Look towards the eastern horizon, as the sky gets darker, the eclipse should be more easily visible. It's hard to predict, sometimes the moon gets really dark during an eclipse, and is hard to see.




This is a simulated image of how the moon might appear on an uncommonly clear evening at around 6:30pm on Feb 20 from some imagenary lake in the Vancouver, B.C., area. Click on the picture to get a slightly larger view.

Winter's back

As predicted, we had another dump of snow overnight - and it looks pretty.

The granddaughters cavorted in it before they went to school. Fun for the kids. For me it was less so. I was scheduled to do some work for the Whistler public library this morning, but road conditions this morning were such that I postponed that to tomorrow.

The ability to visually check road conditions on stretches of highway of interest is one of the wonderful aspects of the internet. If you're planning to drive in this kind of weather it sure helps.

Getting on

Yesterday, our younger granddaughter reached the ripe old age of 8 years. Of course, in honour of the day, presents had be offered, starting early. So, as grandparents, we did our duty - and, we're glad to say - our offerings were received with gratitude. The family gods are placated.


Of course, that was just the beginning. Great festivities were arranged at the temple of our kids birthdays - the local bowling alley. I got involved in a couple of 5-pin bowling games. My expertise showed immediately; I even exceeded 100 points in one of them (a good score is probably around 250 or so).

Our older niece also had her 27th birthday, and she was also there, along with her parents, her sister, her daughter (who would be our niece niece, I suppose). Many people are amazed by the "birthday coincidence" in their families, but probability theory predicts the chance is more than 50% once the number of family members exceeds 23. Our family and close friends number more than that - even among our family members at this birthday gathering we have two sets of people who share the same birthday.

Great fun was had by all.

The new dress


Marbles

Barbies









Two birthday girls (picture by Derek)

A special winter day.

Well, it's another mess outside - it snowed until about 11:30 am, but with the temperature hovering around 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), the streets are slushy, and slippery, and now it's raining. A good thing that it's the weekend; traffic is less problematic. This condition only exists in our immediate area here, because we're slightly elevated (90m - 250ft above sea level); it's enough to make a difference. The main thoroughfares tend be cleared by the city for the buses in any case. All that is not special in any way.

An update: the kids seem to have had some fun, though.

My wife and her two best friends are attending the Canadian figure skating championships every day (and night) and, since the todays performances started early, she got away before most of the snow came down. She is using the tickets which were originally purchased by her childhood friend (and a bridesmaid at our wedding) Sonia, the fourth in their group, who died this past November of a heart attack, and whose birthday is today. In her honour, the three girls are going out to dinner tonight - some months ago they had planned to get together with Sonia on this day and do that. Their birthday get-togethers have been a tradition for many years; no doubt there will be a tinge of sadness and nostalgia tonight. That's why today is special.

Routine

Well, we're now into the new year, and the routines are back to what is the new, and we hope temporary, normal for us. Derek's through his latest chemo and the weather actually was a little nicer today than forecast. You take what you can get.

Since I run my own little business, the other routines will also call for attention (bookeeping, pay bills, taxes, invoices and reminders to be sent, etc.). In that sense, you could say that it's business as usual. It's probably just as well that the weather forecast calls for more rain. It wouldn't feel so good to be tied up doing all these things when the sun is shining.

But who's complaining? Most of us usually don't need to worry about the next meal, or how to find shelter; we live in the best country in the world. Just think about what's going on in the Middle East, or Africa, but also think about those people in our country who are not so lucky. We can all help at least a little by contributing to a charity which addresses some of these issues, or volunteering in some way.

Yes, we do have family health concerns - and we're hoping for a good outcome; to some degree, this comes to almost every family. Popular concerns notwithstanding, our family's experience with our health care system has been positive and we have received timely responses when necessary.

So, again, let's take what we can get (and appreciate it).

An improved beginning

Well, New Year's has come and gone, and things are getting back to a "routine" status. My own business is starting to roll along again - because the schools and universities are back to normal next week.

Considering the circumstances, we've had some good news with regard to Derek's cancer fight. He had a CT scan yesterday, and some improvement is evident. You can read the details here: http://www.penmachine.com/2008/01/rollercoaster.

So, we hope that the new year will bring more good news. I also think the comments people leave on Derek's blog in no small measure contribute to his positive mental and physical outlook. To all of you, thanks for caring.

Armchair astronomy and space travel

This is the time of year in our part of the world at which clouds cover the sky almost continuously. It frustrates the astronomer in me. For instance, there are a couple of comets visible in binoculars at night right now, Mars and Saturn are at their best for this year, the winter constellations are coming up - but I can't get to see them. So, I resort to my past pictures, and also the internet.

To the left, there are some pictures I took of the Moon over a year ago. I suppose that you would have a similar view from a spaceship heading there - this is as close as I'll ever come to space travel.

You can certainly see many more (and better) pictures like that on the internet. Here's a new "location" for lunar images, for the most part provided by "earthbound" people who, like me, have an interest in astronomy.

I you're interested in the missions which NASA sends to the planets and their moons here are a couple of links: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm. Enjoy the views!

Below is the New Year's greeting from the Cassini-Huygens team at NASA - these folks are the ones who sent the Cassini probe to Saturn. That probe (along with the Mars rovers) is part of what I consider to be the most successful and productive "robotic" space undertakings ever:















Our family wishes you the same!

Happy New Year

We wish everyone who reads this blog, and those you hold dear, a successful, prosperous, and (most of all) healthy 2008.

Christmas has come and gone, the kids got lots of presents, and we, as parents and grandparents, even received some practical and useful ones - among them books, which my wife and I always enjoy. Reading is one of our favourite pastimes.

In some respects, of course, 2007 has not been the best of years for us. But Derek and we've made it through - one learns quickly how important family and friends are in our lives. Thank you all.

More from the old-fashioned kitchen

Our venerable kitchen has produced another crop of old-fashioned Christmas food - shortbread cookies. Our granddaughters lent a helping hand. Here are some pictures:



Getting the ingredients





















a "little" butter













obviously this is "diet" food (you go on a diet afterwards)












cutting the shortbread cookies













onto the pan













the final goodies












making the "big cookie"













decorating













all done.











It's nice to see the traditions being taken up by the granddaughters. Perhaps they'll remember their grandmother "Mimi" at future Christmas celebrations when they have grown and have their own families, just as we remember our parents and grandparents at times like these.

The school festivities

The other day I mentioned the Christmas recitals and school functions in which our granddaughters are participating. Here are a few pictures of the school performances:

The kids and their teachers all did a wonderful job.

Merry Christmas!!

A busy time

It's been a number of days since my last post.

I'm sure that I'm not alone at being busy during this time of year. My "busyness" comes mostly from running a home-based, one-person business. My wife does all the shopping and baking (2nd Pulla installment today - see previous post). I don't like shopping - she loves it. Whatever few presents I buy usually come via the internet. Throughout the year, my wife is always looking out for gifts to give on various occasions, so we usually have our Christmas gifts assembled well before the shopping season starts.

As it is, our social calendar is also full until the end of the year, what with family and friends hosting little get-togethers, the grandchildrens' school and recital performances, etc. It is a joyful time. tempered to some degree by Derek's illness.

My wife and I wish all who read this blog a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, and, especially, Good Health.