set for the season!

It was a nice Saturday.  Me, back in the kitchen.  Some friends over for dinner and put to work on the tree.  A torta rustica served up. 

Some drinks and conversation and Christmas music.  And all of that leading to today:  a condo cleaned up after a busy day yesterday, a tree in the living room,

holiday cheer decorating the inside and outside of the condo.

I love this time of year so darn much! 

it's beginning to... oh, you know the rest!

Twenty days until Christmas.  Fewer than three weeks.  I have so many cards left to write, wrapping to get done.  Tomorrow we'll put up and decorate the tree.  Yep, it's that time of year.  And so last night we got started on some of the holiday cheer. 

The arrival of a lovely handmade ornament from a dear friend in Australia

spurred me to get Conrad and get things out of storage.

We're taking a somewhat maximalist approach this year, pulling out all kinds of things from the boxes and putting them on display. 

Part of that is to remind ourselves of what it is that we have in the first place!  And maybe after the holidays some of these things will find new homes.  We shall see.

But hooray for the holiday season.  And yes, I am playing Christmas music as I write this.... 

back at Zarak

Conrad had to miss Chris and Allister's wedding this past summer, so we decided we would celebrate it again with a meal together when we were in town last week.  The timing was fortuitous:  Chris had a birthday just days ahead, and Van had had his birthday just days before.  Add in Marie, and we had the makings of a good dinner out.

Zarak has become my new ViJ's when I come to Vancouver - a place that I like to go to because the food and drink are good, they're interesting, they excite me.  I mean, the menu

hasn't changed substantively in the few times I've been there now, not really, and yet, I can't wait to go back.  Any excuse.  So go back we did.  Hooray!

Cocktails were up first.  This past summer it was Marie having the smoked negroni, but that night it was Chris. 

Quite a show!  I went with the clarified mango martini,

something I was a little dubious on until the waiter persuaded me, but which proved to be not as sweet as feared.  I liked it a lot, in fact, and if it wasn't for Conrad wanting a bottle of wine, I would have stuck with it.

And then on to food.  I didn't photograph it all.  We also didn't do what we did last time with the "feed me" option on the menu, good as that was.  We kept it under control and enjoyed several dishes.  Mantu - beef-filled dumplings - were up first,

then came our US Thanksgiving nod:  buttermilk fried chicken. 

I wish we had had more of that one.  Among the other things were the Uzbeki palaw

and the beef cheek. 

It was all excellent.

Dessert was essentially one of everything with an extra trifle-like dessert thrown in along with candles. 

We each tasted the others but mostly stuck to our own, so it was the deconstructed baklava for me. 

A terrific choice.

But the night was good because we had a great group of six of us enjoying food and conversation together. 

And that is why I want to go back again - to enjoy a group of us enjoying such tasty food and each other's company.  In 2026 I will for sure! 

time spent in Vancouver

Easing back into the blogging here...

A week ago we flew up to Vancouver.  A week already.  US Thanksgiving, and the travel was easy.  I thought it curious that our flight was full, but LAX was fairly quiet, and my gosh but the international arrivals at YVR

was all the more so.  A breeze through that!  If only the weather were prettier.  Ah well.  Late fall in Vancouver, right?  I don't mind it at all.  It feels a little more like real Vancouver.

We headed into downtown, to our hotel, but our room was not yet ready.  Leaving our luggage at the hotel, we ventured first to the club

for a bit of lunch, then wandered around mostly in Gastown, a part of Vancouver that - curiously enough - Van had never been to.  We poked in a few shops, not many, and took a few photos,

and eventually made it back to the hotel for check-in.  We had a little time before catching a bus

to get to dinner that night, the subject of a different blog entry to come.

On the Friday morning I was up before the others and out the door on a little walk of my own, capturing some shots down near the convention center and around Coal Harbour before returning to the hotel to pick up Conrad for more of a walk.  A clear morning, a real contrast with the day before, but not at all warm, oh no.  But it promised to be a nice day for flying!  Here, then, are some shots:

It's always lovely to get a bit of time in Vancouver, and I always come away thinking that I should be living there.  One day?  Maybe not.  But I'll look forward to the next visit! 

quick check-in

Well, howdy!

All plans for blogging and more in recent days kind of flew out the window on Saturday at lunch time when, after a good long soak, I took my sick self to bed for the rest of my time in Tofino.  We got last night, and I'm still on the recovery trail.  A cold or the flu - not COVID, happily.  This one really knocked me around, I tell you.

So, a quick check-in, and more to come when I'm feeling back to normal! 

And onward

After a night in Vancouver, it was a beautiful day for another flight for us.  A gorgeous trip across the Salish Sea and over Vancouver Island,

taking us to Tofino.  And yes, more to come when we get home!

we escaped!

An early morning for the three of us,

but we made it to Vancouver

by lunchtime.  Yep, we escaped US Thanksgiving.  Hooray!

More to come in days ahead with longer posts after we get back next week, I promise!