Vancouver reflections

Driving around seems to be more familiar - the highways between the airport and the house and the house and the barn are more familiar. Also familiar now is the rainy weather. It was very foggy out and the mountains are not visible at all.

I feel comfortable and at home here - as my sister said to me - you are welcome any time. I wish we were closer so I could pop in for a meal or a weekend visit but we are not.

I look around the house and see many familiar items - either from Lachute or that I gave as gifts. Some of the animals hanging around in various corners of the house I gave her. Close by the computer I see a moose bookmark and a pink pig that is useful for dusting a computer screen. Also close by is the famous wooden pig that was the last item found in the back of the kitchen cupboard in Lachute.

When one goes to visit someone regularly it is interesting to keep up with the neighbourhood and the house. There are big houses being renovated on the next street. There is a new speed bump near the school.

The main bathroom is being renovated. There is discussion about taps and counter tops and whether to take out the bathtub. There are new items in the house - a garbage can with an electronic opening device - you wave your hand over it and it opens. My sister has an electronic notebook.

One trip out did not turn out as expected. We went to the university and saw many nice houses nearby. There are parks where my sister rode her previous horse. The whale exhibit was not open. Neither was the lottery house which was quite cute and in a downtown residential area.

Staying with someone means going shopping with them. We went to the Superstore for groceries and came home with a large bag. It was the weekend and quite busy.

The trip to the barn to see Red Serge was more successful. My sister longed him and rode him as well. He is a little sore on one hind leg but he manages. I was well dressed with my hat and gloves.

All in all it was a good visit West. Both my sister and brother-in-law are doing well health wise.

Visiting

What you need to know.

What goes in what recycling bin.

How do you use the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer.

What are the nice places to walk around the neighbourhood.

What time are the newspapers delivered.
Very early - I heard them.

Off and away again

Here I am again in Vancouver visiting my sister and brother in law. It seems like 5 minutes ago I was here but it is actually more than 6 months.

I am letting my body figure out what time it is. My plane landed after 8 p.m.on Thursday night - 11 p.m. Ottawa time. It was somewhat later than that when I went to bed.

The bed and house is familiar now - this is the fifth time here since spring 2007.

As a friend said to me before I left - enjoy the different places and people. I will - even when I feel tired.

Vancouver visit: October 2009

It was really a very nice trip this time around. The weather was great and we were able to get out and about often. It was good to see the mountains instead of just imagining they were there in the rain.

The scenery is always nice to view - no matter where you go there are hills to go up and down.

When I mentioned shopping for tires in the U.S. I meant winter tires. Snow removal in Vancouver does not exist too much. So now one of their cars - the Subaru - is all set for winter driving.

We took a visit to where Red Serge is now living. It is a new barn with one long row of stalls and an indoor arena. The weather in Vancouver is a lot milder than Ottawa so the sides of the arena are open. Also there are no fixed doors to each boarder’s stall. The horses can go in and out as they please. Then they have to get dressed in various blankets when it gets colder and wet.

We went to Fort Langley which had been a Hudson’s Bay trading post. The day we picked for this expedition was the local cranberry festival and the town was packed with people and cars. That was a challenge for the driver.

We went to the local Surrey Museum in a very nice new building. Kathi and I must be getting older. We saw some items that looked quite familiar - a school desk and a small record player.

On the Monday after recovering from the previous day’s Thanksgiving meal we took a trip on the Skytrain and the new Canada Line which has been built for the Olympics. It was quite a long trip there and back. We ended up at an Asian mall and went and did some shopping in the local dollar store.

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I really enjoyed my trip West this year - the company and the fine food my sister provides. It was good to be there again.

I do not plan to visit during the Olympics - I think the city will be quite busy with people etc. I will watch anything that I want to on my new television.

Urban animals - Ottawa and Vancouver

I have not seen any bunnies, raccoons or skunks around my house lately.

In Vancouver Kathi thinks that she saw coyote paw marks on the back deck. The cats at the barn where Red Serge lives are encouraged to stay in at night because of the coyotes.

We met a family of raccoons on the way to the airport.

I found some interesting information online about urban wildlife and how to get along with it from the Stanley Park Ecology Society and the City of Ottawa.

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I had several sightings of Faith - the neighbourhood cat that lives next door to Kathi. You can read abut last year’s encounters with her.

http://vickimilca.blogspot.com/2008/10/things-that-go-bump-in-night.html

When my brother in law and I were checking out the neighbourhood view on Google Streetview I asked him whether he saw Faith hiding behind a tree. We did not find her.

One night we had some lovely salmon for dinner. My kind hearted sister and a long time animal lover gave her a small piece. I am sure she went away content.
　
　
　

Vancouver visit

In Vancouver and some things are familiar and some are not. I was remembering the route from the airport to Kathi's house - I think we turn here. I remember these mountains and these streets.

In the house there are familiar things and some were not - I met Dennis the Bear and a new friend - Radar Rabbit.

In any household it is good to know how the electronic devices work - the computer, the television, the sound system. The computer is now wireless so I am not having to pick up my feet so carefully so as to not trip over the long cord which was used in the past. There is a new television which is somewhat fancier than mine but I can easily turn it on. The sound system my brother in law and I figured out together.

It does not seem like a year since I was last here. Kathi was in Ottawa twice in the past year. I had left a very sick horse in Ottawa and when I got home I no longer was a horse owner. Of course now I have Abracadabra who is a real delight and I have fond memories of Bishop too.

Vancouver here I come

I have been checking the Vancouver weather. Today it looks to be very nice until next Saturday.

I will say goodbye to everything in Ottawa tomorrow and head West.

I will say goodbye to Abracadabra and my little house and all my friends and my life in Ottawa.

I will spend some time with my sister and her husband and enjoy being with her and meeting up with Red Serge - her horse.

Out and about: seeing the sights in Vancouver

When I was in Vancouver which seems like a while ago now, I had several expeditions to see the scenery and of course the scenery there involves hills and even mountains and water.

Kathi and I took a day trip for lunch that involved many means of transportaion. We ended up at a very nice restaurant for lunch on the North Shore. We travelled by car, Skytrain, Seabus, bus and some walking too.

We walked through the little market on the North Shore but did not buy anything. On our walking part of the trip we stopped in some interesting kitchen and food stores.

Of course it is always nice travelling across the water. This trip is quite short. There was lots of Olympic construction going on nearby.

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Then another day Kathi and Cliff and I took another luncheon trip - this time to Harrison Hot Springs. We drove in Kathi's new car - very comfortable.

We drove there the scenic route and then came back by the highway. The road was very winding and we crossed the Fraser River.

There is not too much to see at Harrison Hot Springs. It is a tourist destination and that is about it. Where we sat to eat our lunch, there was a very nice view of the lake and mountains.

We took a drive around town - to see the houses. They looked to be quite substantial and probably quite pricey.

We saw the remains of the sandcastles on the beach. There is an annual sandcastle contest. I did not have too much to report to Esther Bunny who did not come on this little expedition.

Animals in the house: Vancouver edition

This does not include the cat that was thrown out!!

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There are animals everywhere in the house - upstairs and downstairs. I took a quick tour and I know I missed a lot of them.

This time I did not see Ruthie Rabbit (the Vancouver edition). She is not the oldest animal in the house. She is well loved and sleeping away her retirement on a top shelf.

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So on the lower level, there is the Spirit of Prince - a very fine looking stuffed horse.

There is a small collection of small animals. When I asked where they came from, Kathi told me that Cliff used to use them in his photography business to entertain the little ones.

Of course, there is Dennis the Bear - the star of the household.

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In the living room upstairs I found horses on the mantel, a china piggy bank (I did not shake him to see what would fall out), and some bunnies of course.

In the kitchen I found a moose on a bookmark, a cow on the window sill which is really a milk jug.

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Other animals I saw in passing - a wooden pig from Lachute, a pink pig that likes to dust computer screens, a grey hippo, a beaver on the desk and a large penguin wearing a straw hat on top of the television.

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One of the animals that was there has now moved to Ottawa. It was a yellow glass bunny that was in the bathroom window. Kathi thought it looked a bit lost there. So now it is in Ottawa in my basement window and looks quite fine there.

This is another bunny for my bunny collection.

Back to real life

Whatever that is when one's life takes a sudden turn. So I was away in Vancouver and then in Montreal at my school reunion. Both were good trips but now I am home and having to do stuff. That includes shopping for a new horse - quite a procedure for all kinds of reasons.

I have to catch up with my life as well with being away for almost 2 weeks and then having to deal with Bishop's death. All of that is ongoing.

I had major house repairs that were unexpected but they are all done now. I hope there is nothing else unplanned in that department for a while.

I did walk while I was away and I have started to do that again since I came home. I ate not too badly while I was away. My sister has good food in her house. I made good choices when I was eating out more. Now it is back to my own food and that should be alright too.

Food and exercise in Vancouver

My sister is a great cook and we had some very good and healthy meals. With a cancer survivor and a heart bypass/diabetic in the house, they need to be.

I did eat some healthy type chips and some of that wonderful extra old cheddar cheese which I do not eat at home.

I sampled my sister's homemade wine - lower in alcoholic content that what you can buy. Both the red and the white were nice.

We did some planned walking. We were out and about one day and walked through a shopping area and of course we made a few stops in the stores. Then we walked through a very nice residential area.

Now walking in Vancouver almost everywhere involves some hills. I was not into anything more serious. The mountains of course are beautiful to look at - especially for those who live in the eastern part of the country where the mountains are much older and therefore lower. I took a couple of walks up the street where my sister lives. It is all uphill on the way out and downhill on the way home.

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The next trip in my life will be Montreal where there is also a mountain of the lower variety. So one of my next postings will be:

Food and exercise in Montreal.

Things that go bump in the night

So my first night at my sister's visiting I was woken up at one point with what sounded like a loud thud noise. I thought nothing of it as I was not in my own house and all houses make noises - especially at night. Early next morning I stepped out to pick up the newspapers. The front door was open - very strange. Was someone trying to come in? What was that strange noise I heard?

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The tale (or tail) is as described.


The evening before my sister - as a good householder - had gone to put out the recycling for early morning pickup. Something had happened and she neglected to lock the front door.

A neighbour's cat who likes to invite herself into the house, must have been watching Kathi. Some time later she decided to pay a visit. Very quietly as cats do, she slunk upstairs. My brother in law was not interested in seeing her in the house, so he opened the sliding door to the deck.

With a loud thud she was out of the house.

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So this is what I had heard - the cat being thrown out and that is why the door was open.

She is a cat non-Grata and will continue to be. I saw her the next day and she was still trying to get in and she was still being refused entry.

Such is the life of an unwanted visitor.

Esther Bunny goes West

Esther Bunny did take this trip some months ago, but she needed her mom’s help to write about her adventures so it was a little delayed. Easter bunnies like to travel at Easter time, so this is when Esther Bunny took her big trip. She had to remind everyone that she met that she is not the Easter Bunny but Esther Bunny.

There was lots of planning before she and her mom could go West. Her mom had not travelled by plane in quite a few years and Esther Bunny never had. (How did she get from her original home in China to Canada is a good question, but that would have to be another story.)

So being an organized bunny like her mom, Esther knew exactly what she had to pack to take with her. She made sure to include her pink bandana and her cowboy hat (also pink) with the special elastic that goes under her chin to keep the hat from blowing away in a stiff breeze.

She made sure that her mom got a window seat on the plane. Esther Bunny is so small that she does not need her own seat. She fits quite easily in the seat pocket when she needs to.

She did want to see what was going on outside at the airport, so her mom had to hold her up for a better view. Everyone looked to be very busy - there were people and vehicles and all sizes of airplanes and to a small stuffed bunny, they all looked to be very large. How did they ever get off the ground?

Esther Bunny wanted to watch the luggage being loaded into the airplane. Yes, that was her mom’s blue suitcase and her own little pink one disappearing into the cargo hold. She could also watch the food trolleys being loaded. She knew what they were by the sign on them - food - showing that even small bunnies can read well.

At first Esther Bunny thought that when the airplane went up she would have to flap her ears really fast to help get the plane off the ground. Her mom reassured her that this was not really needed. So how does the plane get off the ground, thought Esther Bunny.

She easily got settled in her seat pocket - the preferred seating for a small stuffed bunny. Before doing this and being a friendly little bunny, she waved to her seat mates. Was that a small teddy bear 3 seats over waving back?

She did not have long to wait before the plane lifted off from the runway. As it turned out, she did want to flap her ears a bit as the plane gained altitude and Esther Bunny’s ears popped. They were soon travelling through some light fluffy clouds. Was that the sun on the other side? I guess the clouds were too thick for the sun to shine through them, thought Esther Bunny.

When it was finally time to eat, Esther Bunny waited patiently for her special order - a small bunny sized salad. A plastic bib was provided which Esther was told she could keep as a souvenir of her trip. She had asked for some ranch dressing with her salad - she thought that was most appropriate when flying West.

Esther Bunny liked looking out the window and seeing the clouds and sometimes fields and lakes and even some snow a long way below. There was too much to see and think about and definitely no time for napping - a favourite bunny past time.

Not too long after finishing her salad and wiping her somewhat sticky paws on her napkin, Esther Bunny was interrupted from her gazing out the window. One of the flight attendants came over to where Esther Bunny was sitting with her mom. With gentle inquiries as to whether she was really Esther Bunny, she was asked to go up to the airplane cockpit for a specially arranged visit.

The young flight attendant was quite eager to escort Esther Bunny to the cockpit to give her a special introduction to the airplane. Esther Bunny was very interested in learning more about the plane.

She could not believe all the lights and buttons and other instruments. She could not believe that the two pilots were sitting back enjoying their coffee from a Tim Horton’s mug. Esther was given a small mug of hot chocolate. She was told that she could keep the mug as a souvenir of her visit.

Esther had lots of questions for the two pilots. How do you know what button and flap to push when? How do you know what direction you are going in? And especially important - what makes the airplane wings flap?

There was lots of time to have answers to all her questions. When she was escorted back to her seat and her seat pocket, Esther Bunny was quite overwhelmed by all that she had seen and learned. She thought it was probably a good time to have a nap. It looked like her mom was going to do the same.

The time passed very quickly and before too long, the captain came on to announce that they were starting their descent to the Vancouver airport. Esther Bunny could feel her ears pop again.

The plane came down not too quickly through a lot of clouds. Was that the ocean over there? It was certainly larger than any lake she had seen. Once the plane had landed and was moving towards the terminal building, the captain announced the local weather and time. Was it only that time? What time was it anyway? She watched her mom adjust her watch. This was much too complicated for Esther Bunny to figure out.

As the plane moved towards their gate at the terminal building her mom tucked Esther Bunny into her small blue carry on bag. Esther Bunny did not know what was happening until some time later and she was able to hop out of the small bag. She was finally in Vancouver at the house where Vicki’s sister Kathi lived with her husband and Dennis the Bear.

It was the next morning before Esther Bunny had a proper chance to talk with Dennis the Bear. They had lots to talk about together but they would have plenty of time because her mom’s visit was going to last more than one week.

She was very interested to go and meet Ruthie Rabbit - a cousin to the Ruthie Rabbit living in Ottawa. They had a long talk together which was made even longer because of the fact that Ruthie kept on falling asleep. A stuffed bunny that is really a pyjama bag is allowed to do that.

One afternoon Dennis the Bear took Esther Bunny down to see the creek at the back of the property. It was only a short hop for Esther Bunny. She began to look around but she did not see any fish. Dennis had stories to tell about salmon being sent on their way down the creek or was it up the creek?

The visit with Dennis the Bear passed quite quickly. Dennis had lots of stories to tell especially one about his trip to the Calgary Stampede. Esther Bunny had stories to tell as well. She had several trips to Toronto with her mom and she even met Santa.

As the time to go back home again was approaching, her mom started to pack her suitcase. Esther Bunny was able to pack her little pink suitcase all by herself. When it was time to leave for the airport, Esther Bunny hopped into her place in her mom’s blue carry on bag.

She would now have some new adventures to share with her stuffed animals friends at home. She liked travelling with her mom and hoped that she could do it again soon.

She hoped that her mom would remember the words from Esther Bunny’s first story. “Now my mom does like to take me travelling with her. She says that I am good company and no trouble at all - which is very true.”

Love and hugs,
Esther Bunny (with help from her mom)