Abundance Of Gratitude At Granville Island

GRANVILLE ISLAND is an oasis amid Vancouver City life and the perfect place to enjoy a face-to-face visit with my friend Carol and her adorable sidekick Black Jack from bikesbirdsnbeasts.

It was fun to chat and catch up on the news under a typical West Coast mix of cloud, sun and occasional drizzle.

Although the sky held promise of a rainbow, it was the sea that produced one when Carol arrived on the multi-colored Aquabus.

It was early morning and crowds were just starting to build.

While children fed pigeons, locals and tourists searched for tasty treats to eat on the plaza or to bring home. Decisions, decisions … it was not easy to pick when there were so many choices.

The Farmer's Market overflowed with luscious food and flowers.

Much of the produce is grown in BC.

If you did not have an appetite before you arrived, you certainly would after wading through this horn-of-plenty.

Handmade original art also abounded. I came face-to-face with a painting behind glass that was etched on the unevenness of a stone.

The work is by Michelle Vulama who also paints on jam-jar lids and cereal boxes.

I was enthralled by the mystical sounds of a pan flute permeating the air. Luis Martos is a busker at Granville Island. He blew me away with his Pied Piper rendition of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah. Although I could not find him playing it online, some of his other tunes are on YouTube.

Granville Island, located under a bridge, was an industrial area before its transformation and is now surrounded by high-rise buildings with expensive water views.

The waving flag reminded me that Canada Day was approaching on July 1st and that I would be lucky to live almost anywhere in this vast land that is a cornucopia of abundance and acceptance.

Have you felt gratitude wash over you? It is an imperfect world where not everyone on the planet has equal wealth, rights or opportunity for contentment. So good conversation with a friend in a peaceful setting filled with plenty of food for the soul and senses made me feel very fortunate indeed.

Listen to the national anthem O Canada being sung a cappella (video above) and visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Rosy Outlook Despite The Thorns

I AM FULL of anticipation and eager to learn if my recent attempt to root one of my favorite flowers in Crescent Beach will take hold. I usually prefer the pink wild rose with its untouchable prickly stem. However, one bush that has minimal thorns and clusters of vividly red tightly wound petals looked like a perfect fit for my garden.

I admired it for years by the side of the road. The hardy blooms appear early in spring and stay late into winter. I have not been able to find anything quite like it (they really are as bright as pictured) at the local nursery. The city landscaper did not know the name of this specific variety and suggested I take a cutting. Expecting some failures I took more than one and incorporated the rooting methods of others to come up with my own plan.

I cut the bottom of the stems at an angle about an inch below the knob. I then dipped each one into root growth powder and wrapped the stem in a wet paper towel so that most of it was covered like a mummy.

I snipped off the lower leaves and most blooms the way I normally would when pruning ... leaving a few for momentary color.

I placed the stems in a vase on a windowsill with low light so I can keep my eye on it and keep the paper towels moist. Some people cover the entire stem in plastic and put it in a dark place for several weeks.

I also inserted a treated stem into a pencil-sized hole in my garden that I covered with an upside down vase.

Have you rooted anything intentionally or accidentally? (Potatoes in a sack root in the dark whether you want them to or not.) It takes patience to see what, if anything, develops from an effort to root many of the finer things in life. Meanwhile, thanks to the landscaper for letting me try it with these lovely flowers.

"Earth laughs in flowers," said poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Maybe that is why we love bringing them into our homes.

Find more tantalizing blooms from around the world at Today's Flower.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Postscript June 30, 2014
I peeked at the cuttings wrapped in paper towels and found not a single hair or tendril starting. My stems in the vase will likely not root but I do not regret the anticipation and hope the one I planted in my garden is more successful.

Puddles Of Sunshine At Dunsmuir Gardens

IT SEEMED OBVIOUS to me that these discarded boots were made for working and sloughing through heavy mud in a downpour.

Someone tending plants at Dunsmuir Gardens in Blackie Spit Park must have left them behind.

They stood tall on a spot of sun as if in a puddle. The community garden plots surrounded by a wildlife refuge were bare last time I walked there.

But now even the entranceway sign was choked with plants and hardly recognizable.

The sun squeezed through the foliage forming streaks that looked like rain. This was a day for bare feet and open toe sandals.

Insects buzzed in the sunny yellow hearts of wild flowers hosting a bee buffet.

The sun beamed on pretty pink bells hidden in the greenery.

It washed over a train that chugged alongside the path to the gardens. (For a cloudier view on trains and their impact on local communities click HERE.)

Rays of sunshine performed a sparkling dance in the nearby water.

A painting at the entranceway showed a pet lazing in the sun.

The painting leaned on a wooden well blocking the light so that the bottom appeared deep and mysterious. I tossed in a coin and wished for good fortune.

Do you make wishes at wells? A wish (even at a waterless well) seeps a ray of hope into cloudless days and days when you need galoshes.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms