The second day

A lovely day today, bright sunshine, a bit of wind over the water. We took the little ferry across to Granville Island to the market. We got some skewered meat and some stinky cheese, and these perfect cherry tomatoes. The genetic engineering is mind-boggling. 

I wanted to show you some knitting but I left it behind where I was volunteering last night. I sure hope it is there on Sunday when I go back!

Trying something new

I am used, now, to putting a picture or two a day on Instagram. 

Sometimes, like last month when I was in Spain, I think of blogging it all, but then I am overwhelmed -- I took 1200 pictures in two weeks in Spain! I can't sort through all that and put up a neat blog post or two. 

What if I did a little post here every day? 

I have discovered (perhaps years late, who knows?) that one can drag and drop photos, instead of giving them a title, exporting them, pulling them from the exported photos list...

So that makes things easier and quicker for me. 

We could pretend it is Blogtober or NaBloPoMo, and I could try posting every day. 

This morning I took a walk in the park. 

Things are sprouting and blooming all over the place. 

The cherry trees have been quite magnificent this year, but many are already done. 

That is an Ojochin cherry, one of a tiny number in the city. 

I hope I will be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. 

Though you might get tired of flowers in the park!

Oh, happy new year!

In 2023 I shared my photo themes with my brother and others, and there was some interest in continuing to have a monthly photo theme this year. So here goes!

I found a different page and a different list. I've taken ideas from "the human environment," "nature," and "forms and techniques," but I will muddle them up to spread them through the year. 

1. January: water in motion
2. February: paths
3. March: texture
4. April: advertising
5. May: sky and cloud
6. June: openings
7. July: music
8. August: in the garden
9. September: self-portrait
10. October: metal
11. November: arms and legs
12. December: reflection

January is almost over, but I will see what I can do about that. I have all sorts of other ideas about what I should be doing, but so far, not much has been actually accomplished. But I did buy a new notebook to record all my achievements. 

Here's some knitting!

Fingerless mitts for me. I made another pair of full mittens for Debbie for Christmas and these were a bit smaller and used up almost all the remaining yarn. 

The library project of 2023

I have been to all 22 branches of the Vancouver Public Library. The first was way back on January 4, and the last was just this past week. I even have a spreadsheet to prove it! And pictures.

January 4, Firehall branch

January 10, Carnegie Branch. No selfie!

January 29, Collingwood Branch

January 29, Renfrew Branch

March 8, Kitsilano Branch

March 26,  Dunbar Branch

March 26, West Point Grey Branch

April 17, Joe Fortes Branch

April 26, Terry Salman Branch

June 1, Oakridge Branch

June 1, South Hill Branch

June 14, Central Branch

June 17, Britannia Branch

June 17, Hastings Branch

June 21, Kerrisdale Branch

June 21, Marpole Branch

August 8, the new location of the West Point Grey Branch

September 5, Champlain Heights

September 5, Fraserview Branch

November 7, Mount Pleasant Branch

November 7, Kensington Branch

December 6, Strathcona Branch

And that is all the libraries! 

This was a fun project which did what I wanted it to do: make me take a walk in all sorts of different neighbourhoods I would otherwise not go to. I found that most of the branches are small neighbourhood places where you can sit and read, have storytime for children, find a magazine, find a public washroom and pick up the books you have put on hold -- not every little branch has all the books you might want, but the system is large and you can get any circulating book delivered to your local branch. 

What will next year's ticky-list project be? Bus routes? Parks? High schools? We shall see. 

Big old museum

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art one day. It was big... I'd been once before with Elaine (reported in this long and rambling post) and Stephen had never been. We went especially to see the exhibit of Manet and Degas, but of course, there is so much to see! 

First just a couple of Egyptian things, a lovely sheep, for example. 

This is a "mummy portrait." Faces painted on boards and placed on mummies. I found this one surprising and very modern looking. 

It's hard to take pictures of a giant painting, but here is a bit of Christ's leg, as painted by Manet. 

And the legs of a dead Toreador, also by Manet. Just look at those silk stockings!

Three girls peeling potatoes, dressed in vibrant red! By Leon Frederic. You notice this one from across the room, and I found it surprising they were not noble ladies doing handiwork, with those red dresses.  

So many paintings. So many other things! The gift shop alone would take a day to explore fully. 

And so we say farewell to the Met museum. Perhaps I'll be back again when I am 80 or so. 

Really, tomorrow

Guess what, I cannot face the millions of pictures I took at the Met. I volunteered at the VIFF cinema this morning and am going to see Metropolis this evening, with live music and everything. Still jetlagged, I'm just not feeling the blogging energy. 

So I give you this 19th-century nekkid man as a placeholder, and will be back again tomorrow!

Back at home

I was away and now I'm back. 

We went to New York City because Stephen was involved in a "music and art inspired by physics" event at Hunter College. We stayed nearby in Midtown Manhattan; we went to rehearsals and performances and Stephen watched a day of recordings while I found a yarn shop and other things. We ate with the artists and performers, often in Brooklyn. We looked at skyscrapers and other things; took the free ferry to Staten Island; went to the park. I didn't include any pictures of our day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- maybe tomorrow. 

This was the view from the roof of our hotel 

The stage set up for a rehearsal

Look at all those different yellows

As close as we got, from the Staten Island ferry

Outside Knitty City yarn shop

It has that pretending-to-be-handknit look

Hoo boy, the building actually moves on wheels

A coffee shop

And now we are home, the leaves are quite golden around here; my Christmas cactus bloomed in my absence. Tune in tomorrow to see if I can face the gazillion pictures I took at the Met.