Art, puzzles, bike rides and beach runs

Some ram added to both of our computers, a Sudoku puzzle AND a crossword completed at Harrison Galleries, a bike ride to the beach, a run with Black Jack, a few blooms and some neat grasses, and a good feeling to know Scotland is still a part of the UK.  The teachers' strike is also over, something that will make life a lot easier for parents who have struggled with childcare options since the middle of last June.  I guess you could say small things and big things added up to a good day yesterday.

Each visit for treats and crossword time at the gallery café is slightly different in terms of the art that is either new or perhaps has just found a new way of entering my thoughts. Yesterday, two oils on canvas: Near Ucluelet by Nicholas Bott and..

Waiting by Olaf drew me into their warmth, perhaps all the more inviting on an overcast day.

Bill waited while I took those photos.  We were both feeling rather happy with our puzzle-solving strategies.  The Sudoku puzzle was our first ever completed without cheating.  We think it may have been an easy one :) Here is an example of a puzzle shown at the Wikepedia link given above.  The idea is to have the numbers 1-9 in every row, both horizontal and vertical, and in every 3x3 box.  Bill and I learned a couple of strategies from our friend, Jane, but I would be interested to know if anyone in blogger land has other strategies they would like to share that might take us past the beginner level.  We have both googled in the hopes of increasing our skills, but there is so much information, and to be honest, much of it boggles our brains.  I'll give you the answers to this puzzle at the end of the post for anyone interested, and if anyone wishes, I will also happily share the strategies that presently work quite well for us, though they usually take us only about halfway through the puzzle before realizing we need a few other ways of seeing the number combinations. 

 

There was a light rain falling as we rode to English Bay but Black Jack was still able to run..

 and it was even possible to take a few pictures.   

 Black Jack's ears change..

positions in just a few seconds..

of running time.

I don't think I would ever have realized that if it hadn't been for the photographs.

There were a few Mallards swimming by the edge of the beach..

I think they were waiting for Black Jack to finish her run so they could take back the beach..

 for a little rest time.

A few juvenile gulls flew overhead, and in the distance,

 I could hear starlings calling out from their homes under...

 under the Burrard Bridge.

 

Grey days..

have their own misty appeal.

Bill and Black Jack investigated.. 

every nook and cranny, 

while I admired the grasses in the foreground, the mountains in the background, 

and the sense of mystery as they disappeared over the terrain in between.

A few scenes.. 

across the water..

became all the more beautiful as new light appeared in a patch of sky over Vanier Park.

On that note, we headed homeward.  These grasses.. 

along the bike path, 

as well as one more juvenile seagull, 

and some really beautiful white flowers were the final photos of the day before..

Black Jack reminded us it was time for supper.  That was our day.  Thank you for reading about it.  

Here's the completed Sudoku puzzle for anyone interested.  Happy Friday to you!