lady in the park

Barbora

part of Vancouver Biennale, a sculpture by American artist, Vladas Vildžiūnas

home alone ( in school )

But this is what happened, and you don't subdue this kid so easily.

Well, those dancing on the tables, are my favorites anyway.

Spring!

Found it! Among the dry, gray bushes. Life has started again. Icy cold wind but the kids are wearing t-shirts, insisting on spring.

The whole staff is leaving school, except me and the caretaker. The two of us will run this business for a while :P

puddly day

The buds come with a price... lots of rain!

Don't feel too bad, Trine.  The rest of the country keeps getting more snow, too!

Spring?

An other ten centimeters of snow last night. But the sun is shining. And the dog is sunbathing in her favorite chair on the veranda. I have to go out in the world, and look for a bud. A bud of any kind. To match Lissa's :P

Hipstamatic Spring

Soooo fragrant!

a rage

Huge amount of melting water, ice and snow. Roads are closed. In Balestrand a house is washed on the sea. Two people are missing. Helicopters are flying low along the fjord.

skjerjehamn

1. My bedroom

2. The sunset

3. Dog posing

4. Blindfold

Pie is 50

Going to

http://www.skjerjehamn.no/

Looks promising as Leikanger is also bathing in sun this morning.

Husabø

Not really a totem pole, but a menhir, or a "bautastein" in Norwegian. Just like the ones Obelix, in the comics, kept throwing at people.

This one stands in Husabø, and apparently it is the largest one.

The symbolism though, is not to be mistaken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menhir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelix

street

Baby Fyfe immortalized

a star with a heart

Nybøstranda

We also have totem poles, like this one in Nybø.

They are from the Viking Age, and only show that people liked it here, since way back in time.

Lissa says:  Interesting! But what are they called?  Are they carved or engraved in any way? It seems it may be some kind of marker (viking "road sign" ;-) unlike the totems, which are made of wood and usually tell some kind of story.  This reminds me more of our Inuit "inukshuks", also made of stone, which were used in the north mainly for navigation or to mark migration of animals.  The inukshuk was one of last year's Olympic symbols.
http://www.inukshukgallery.com/inukshuk.html

Museum of Anthropology, UBC

memorial totem poles behind Museum

Haida houses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_people

...

Enough is enough,

and soon we will all get lost.

Caffe Latte

... at Caffe Cittadella

at Ash and 7th

in a beautiful old two storey house.

Great attention to detail, beautiful ambience, great coffee

and charming staff.

 (and the chocolate lavender cashew cluster bar was delicious!)

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1539341/restaurant/Fairview/Caffe-Cittadella-espresso-bar-and-bistro-Vancouver

skidag

Traditional pattern. Bright colors.

And while the whole school was skiing on Kleppa all day, Japan was drowning. Can't believe the pictures.

BC books

books on my reading list by local authors
both have been nominated for the BC Book Prizes 2011
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/nominees-for-bc-book-prizes-announced/article1935326/

I've been meaning to read Vaillant's "The Tiger" and "The Golden Spruce" both of which

I have recently purchased.

"Visions of British Columbia" is a beautiful book co-authored by a friend.

It has already won the Vancouver Book Award this year.  Good luck, Scott!! :-)

west view

Birds on the fjord.

FRUKTLAGERET, Vangsnes and Balestrand in the background.

Harry

statue of Harry Winston Jerome in Stanley Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Jerome

rectangles

Forecast says strong gale in the north of Norway. Will be rough here too.

primary colours

Brockton Point Lighthouse and blue sky

totem poles in Stanley Park

wood carvings, Stanley Park

The sun brings out the colours in Stanley Park.

Back to rain tomorrow.

two steps ahead, one step back

Woke up to a thick layer of white, clean snow. Not a bird, just silent snow. The roar from the plough in the distance.

Yesterday the streets were bare.

a favourite eatery

Biercraft Bistro on Cambie

had the Orleans mussels with Belgian frites, bocconcini salad, and a Stella

http://biercraft.com/cambie/

collective echoes

carving from cedar stump at Creekside Park in the heart of Vancouver.
it sits nearby the futuristic-looking Telus World of Science.
a group of young artists called "collective echoes"
created this carving, which is
part of a series of works called "Systems of Sustenance"

herman

Visitors from Sogndal and Lærdal, small places further down the fjord.

We took them to our local continental cafe, Herman. The ceiling decorated by Janne Nes, an artist from the neighborhood.

bedroom

(the bangle is an Alexis Bittar :http://www.alexisbittar.com/home.php)

shifting seasons

Low tide and spring by the seaside.

Kjellaug is listening to The Ski Championship on the radio, during working hours. She works at the doctor's office. No one is calling anyway. Winter games are very healthy for the Norwegian population.

Congrats to Canada, by the way, for the Gold Medal yesterday! Hope you are feeling well also :D

in like a lion; out like a lamb...

That adage is supposed to apply to the month of March, but proved an apt description for today... we had everything from driving rain earlier in the day, to a lovely sunset with blue skies and big fluffy clouds.

warm winds

The snowshoes are giving me access to new areas. The coolest part was walking straight up some icy slopes between the trees.

Fjord is dark and so is the sky. As winds and warm weather is coming in.

Marching on ;)

Shopping in Sogndal.

Looking back on February

a collar or a bucket

Dog is very sad about wearing this thing, but for brief moments she forgets.