Spanish Banks

view of Vancouver skyline to the east as seen from Spanish Banks

Spanish Banks facing west

Spanish Banks are a series of beaches on the south side of English Bay in Vancouver.  They are a reminder of the early Spanish explorers to the area.  Many areas along the coast are named for them, particularly islands in the Strait of Georgia such as Galiano and Valdes.

Happy holidays are over

View from school this morning. Sun breaking through.

Back to colleagues, kids and routine. Snow is melting in the streets and drops dripping from the roofs, and people are changing too...

La Nina

skier... unusual sight in Stanley Park

... albeit her gentler side.  While snow storms ravage the rest of the continent, Vancouverites are treated to a very unusual, but still, lovely, and fairly warm winter wonderland this morning.

snowy calm at Second Beach, Stanley Park

that's not a puddle...

a strange sight on Vancouver turf in late February.....

While the west coast of Norway warmed up, we were setting record low temperatures last night at minus eight!  Lots of snow today, but instead of melting when it hit the ground like it's supposed to, it started to build up!  Brrrr.

Spent the afternoon visiting with my lovely cousin, recently home from world travels.  Beat the weather by making crafts and drinking tea.

by the way, Trine, note the poster in the background :-)

Slow motion

Temperature is rising from minus five to plus five. Icy, wet and drops dripping everywhere.  Including from this branch.

The dog and I have watched The American with George Clooney. Beautiful pictures, few words, and a slow pace...

Patriotism

Kick off in Oslo. The World Ski Championship in Holmenkollen just started.

And there is already a war on Sweden.

staying in from the cold

For lunch, lamb shank with dijon sauce at Argo Cafe... yum!

  It has been unseasonably cold for Vancouver as of late, which was my excuse today for staying inside with rib-sticking food or hot coffee.

... and at coffee time, watching the world go by over a warm latte.

   Check out the Argo Cafe if you get a chance... great food and unique atmosphere:     http://www.argocafe.ca

Discohola

Rain and warm weather coming in. I am going to miss the crunchy sound from the hard packed and wind blown snow.

Creekside

A cold, clear and windy day draws to a close.

facing northeast from the new Southeast False Creek community development
built on the site of last year's athlete's village.

Good morning, Lissa

Matja in her playground says hello :)

Good morning, Matja!  It's a sunny day here, too! Lissa

happy holidays.... except here

view of the greater Vancouver area from the north shore, with the
glaciated volcano, Mt. Baker, in Washington state visible in the background.

  Well, it's Monday morning and in Vancouver it's a regular work day, but for our neighbours to the south in the US it's Presidents Day, and for our neighbours to the east in Alberta and Saskatchewan, it is Family Day.

   Mother Nature has been gracious, and the weather's been beautiful for visitors to our fair city from those jursidictions this weekend.  Nice for us, too, but they get to sleep in.

Sometimes when you wake up in the morning, you wonder what happened last night

Ordinary people

The family Johnsen on their way to an even more remote area. The mountain Kjeringi, 1314 meters above sea level.

snowshoeing on Cypress Mountain

Whiskyjack guarding the skis

shadows and light

Fate

Poor fellow. He could stand the winter, but not my window

i can see clearly now the rain has gone....

taken with Hipstamatic app,
Kodot XGrizzled "film" and Roboto Glitter "lens"

nothin' but blue sky...

S Granville shopping district... my 'hood

VINTERFERIE

Cold, windy, sunny

and off for a week :)

Breakfast

Ordinary food

for ordinary days

and back to wet....

boats in False Creek

Looking West

Strolling back home last night

Another chilly night....

... but this time no rain.

Skyline Leikanger

Saw the dentist today. And this is the view from his office.

It was a dark and stormy night....

I have to confess this was not taken tonight,
but on a very similar night to this one....

A heavy rainfall warning, and wind warning, were issued for the lower mainland for today and Mother Nature delivered in spades earlier this evening.  I had no desire to head out there,

so I pulled this photo from my archives.

My darling b-dog

When we get up at seven, dog goes straight back to sleep

PS. In Norway a b person sleeps all day, while an a person gets up with the birds. Not so with Matja, the dog

variable cloudiness....

Long Exposure near Vanier Park

Let's try again tomorrow

Weekend crash landed.

Silver Linings

view of False Creek from Cooper Park under Cambie Bridge

view from Cooper Park to the southeast

     Today was my long exposure workshop.  The weather was dreadful for shooting in the urban landscape; rain and wind, so we found a spot under a bridge.  But after hours of shooting in the cold, some of us who stayed a little longer were rewarded with a break in the clouds and lovely light.

...

... or what is this?

Sunny Windy

Still bleak and arid, and not a bud in sight

Cheering up the Kitchen

No serious photography today.  Too much to do for one thing.

This is just  a little collage I made in Adobe Lightroom print mode... just playing around.

I'm getting tired of the gloom.  Trees are starting to bud, but I'm anxious for flowers.
I will repot the primula and put them on my balcony.  The cut tulips are fading....

R

R was here.

Just turned up at the door late night.

I was having a glass of wine she is sixteen I can not actually give her anything.

But sometimes life grounds. I try to find something for her to hold on to. A lifebuoy and a line.

My New Job

I told Mikkel I got a new job. Making a blog with Lissa. He called me back immediately. "Mum! You can not earn money on a blog!"

He was worried I might quit work or something.

I have been looking after him for 25 years. Now he is looking after me.

Anniversary Approaches

Olympic Cauldron

The city is gearing up for one year anniversary celebrations.

More school

Kids run off with my camera and started climbing the walls

Sunrise, Sunset...

6 p.m., Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park

We've had a couple of clear, sunny days, but after tomorrow, back to rain.  Looking forward to longer days, flowers and less precipitation....

peek-a-boo view from Queen Elizabeth Park of downtown Vancouver
and north shore mountains at dawn.

Primary School

A small girl in fell over a stick and her mouth was bleeding. She was screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Siri put on plastic gloves and checked her teeth. They were all there. I tried to comfort her and said: "you will be fine, Amalie".

She stopped screaming for a second and looked at me very sternly...

"of course I will!"

(all names are made up)

Cops and Robbers

Two men escaped the local prison in Vik tonight. They were seen leaving in a small boat. The local police, or should I say the Sheriff, quite calmly told the newspapers the weather was filthy, and the two men would probably get cold and hungry very soon

It is like everything is so cozy and quaint around here.

And children playing cops and robbers always show mutual respect...

PS. The robbers are now back in prison and very sorry about the whole thing.

(Lissa comments:  for those in North America old enough to remember... sounds like "Mayberry" ;-)

07:00. Pitch dark. Only the roar from the catamaran going to Bergen every morning is breaking the silence.

Chinatown

Ushering in the year of the Rabbit

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens, downtown Vancouver....

sometimes West is East....