Some Good Fences in Vancouver

We saw Amy last night.  I gained new respect for her voice and for the fragility of her supreme talent. We saw behind the scenes in the movie that Amy almost broke down, awestruck by Tony Bennett, when invited to sing with this artist she had idolized from early childhood.  What you see in the youtube below is the final take.  Perhaps, as you scroll the fences I collected over just a couple of days this week for Theresa's Good Fences meme, some of you may want to listen to Amy and Tony singing "Body and Soul" together.  Many thanks, Theresa, for hosting such a fine meme.

This very old fence is in Stanley Park. 

Bill and Black Jack sat for a moment while I photographed it,

and then walked on,

while I caught a few more shots looking down the path.

You might think this next fence is just more of the same.  It was similar but was seen at Charlson Park.  Perhaps, it was built by the same person.

The rest of the fences were all taken in Vancouver's West End on Wednesday.  They are all interesting to me, but if your time is limited, scroll down to the last four pictures at the end of the post.  That old stone fence is definitely a keeper.

This fence, with wire netting added to keep small dogs from squeezing through the railings, surrounds a very..

spacious dog park.  I caught this dog with legs outstretched,

and then crossed under his body for fast propulsion.

There is a community garden and a children's play area in the park.  I love to see active kids, colourful blooms and kid art.

Bill and Black Jack walked down the path, admiring the gardens while I checked the variety of fences.

Sometimes, it was the blooms behind the fences,

or the critters in the blooms, that caught my eye.

I liked the orange ties on this fence,

and the yellow rose resting on this one.

The birdhouses in the tree were delightful as well.

Gorgeous old houses, a yellow-picket fence,

a translucent bee,

some tomatoes,

some pink blooms,

and these tiny orange flowers were just a few of the sights behind the fences..

before I came back once more..

to the birdhouses.

Bill and I left the park, wandering the nearby streets,

keeping tabs on the fences as we went. This one could barely contain the greenery behind it.

We wondered at the intricate patterns in this tree,

and at the bright colours behind these rails.

It turned out they were..

in honour of Pride Week.

Just about every fence style turned up,

but the sculpture in front of this fence was definitely an original.

The Lauren is a new all-rental building, a rarity in Vancouver.  It is built on..

the grounds of St. John's Presbyterian Church, built in 1906.

As we were studying the sculpture, this gentleman, Mr. MacKay, emerged from the building, and a fascinating conversation ensued.

I was sometimes distracted by the..

butterflies, but all the while, I knew..

we were privy to some truly interesting historical information.  Mr. MacKay felt the sculpture, titled Triumph of the Technocrat, had dubious artistic relevance to what had been a beautiful church.  He moved into the new building because his parents were married in the church. He was also fascinated that the preacher was a firebrand when it came to women's suffrage and temperance.  The sculpture combined wood from the original church with a modernistic metal frame.  Whether that combination works from an artistic point of view is best left to the viewer.  Bill and Mr. MacKay didn't think so.

I thought using some of the original stained glass in this wall was a great feature.

The building was very, very tall, and interesting from an architectural standpoint.

There were also pleasant areas..

for residents and passers-by to stop for a chat and a board game.

Enriched by the encounter with Mr. MacKay, we tore ourselves away and continued along West End streets. As you can see, fences were plentiful.

Bicycle lane turnabouts were lovely.

We came across quite a number of heritage buildings.

Rand House was a particularly notable one.

Also notable was this adorable doggie in the window.

I took several pictures just so you could see that he wagged his tail.  See that little bit of white on the right hand side? It appeared and disappeared with each wag.

Our fence hunt took us behind a juggler next.

Though he appeared to be striding along slowly, Bill and I were running like crazy to catch him.  I wish you could have been there.

He managed to evade us :)  I found it fascinating that he was using only his right hand to juggle two pins.

He led us right by this stone fence..

with gorgeous flowers behind it.

I was calling this vehicle the candy-mobile (note the gate behind it)..

but when I examined the close-up, saw that it was covered with magnetic letters.

We came back to Nelson Park where we had started, and I saw this cat..

disappearing into the bushes.  Unlike the juggler, I managed to get in front and..

catch a shot of his cute face.

Near the corner of the park, I heard the tap-tap-tapping of this stone mason.  He was delightfully friendly when we approached him.

He was about to replace the old grout with new, but first, there was a lot of manual labour to clean the spaces between the stones.  He said that fence was definitely worth preserving and we agreed with him.

I'll leave you with this last photo of my beautiful Bill.  He has sat by my side during much of this post, helping me to be brief.  Ha Ha.  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!