Friends, Dogs and Music in our City Yesterday.

I am fortunate.  That is the dominant thought in my mind as I post this morning.

A few of the things that made me happy yesterday that don't come with photos.

1. Our friends, Kitty and Jock dropped by Harrison's Gallery where they know we love to spend time.  It was a surprise visit that enriched our day.

2. My sister sent me three emails, and another two early this morning.  Just some beautiful photos of funny and endearing moments with her grandson and some thoughts about projects we are thinking about, but what it did is cut the miles between us (she's in Ottawa and I'm in Vancouver) down to zero.  She was right inside my head and that felt so good.

3. A comment from Jimmy and Simon,  friends met through our dogs.  They included a link to Jimmy's new blog idea with slow motion videos.  Check out that link if you like dogs and especially, Pomeranians.  You can watch McKenzie and Mimosa drinking water in slow motion and there's a crow flying in slow motion too.  I think they are onto something good!

4. I am deeply touched and honoured by some correspondence with mothers of children with cancer that came about because of my post last Sunday.  (Some future posts to come about that.)  I remain determined to do something to make a difference, though there is more thinking to do before moving forward.  Just one thought for today.  Tea Tree Oil, in this Oxford study, is showing great promise as a disinfectant.  I use it in our bathrooms.  So easy.  Just fill a spray bottle with water and add a generous number of drops of tea tree oil (14-20) and use it as a cleanser around sink and toilet surfaces. I fear many of our household cleansers are killing us.  This is worth a try.  We've been using it since Bill came home from the hospital and something tells me we are on a good path.

Other pleasures in our day.

George Wainborn Park

Black Jack and Bill played..  

while I took photos of the changing colours and..

other sights around us.

Their happy games..

did my heart good.

The hedge separating the bike and walking paths..

is slowly taking on the rich reds that I remember from last year.

This pair had..

a wonderful play and check out the top right corner.  Not sure what they were doing.. 

but what we felt were happy vibes..

 all around us.

Black Jack was content to have a little rest after their play (though she remained alert). 

I'll leave you to peruse a few more of the sights without further commentary about the park.

Khenko

Sculpture by Douglas Taylor

As you can see, that dog's tail really caught my eye, and I can see here that I wasn't alone :)

In the evening, we attended the Pacific Baroque Orchestra Concert, with Soile Stratkauskas as guest soloist on the baroque flute.  Here, Alexander Weimann tunes the harpsichord before the performance.  

I felt that we had witnessed something sublime, something truly out of this world.  

Shivers ran up and down my spine several times with the magnificence of it all.  Soile is a beautiful performer, inside and out, and Alexander's conducting and in particular, his harpsichord solo in Bach's Brandenburg Concert No. 5, took my breath away.

They are performing again today in West Vancouver at 2:30.  Here's the map with directions.

I took this photo of the outside walls of Christ Church Cathedral..

and the banners.. 

by the entrance.

You can listen to the Brandenburg harpsichord solo in this short clip with Karl Richter playing.  Happy Sunday to you!  Make the most of it, however you choose to spend your day.  Thank you so much for stopping by!