Fun in Vancouver!!

I'm as cozy as a clam in my hotel this morning. I've got the AC off, so it's quiet and a beautiful temperature! I got a quilt on the bed, and I'm listening to my home radio station! How cool is that!!!!😊  Oh, I had to switch to the Zoom call for the Barn Quilt from Thimbles and Things. You have to love the internet. 

I've access to my files on my shared drive so I can put the finishing touches on the presentations I'll be doing tomorrow morning. Yep -- it will be the final reveal for Boho Heart, Wanderers Wife, and Long Time Gone. I'm so excited -- that's almost more exciting than seeing all the fantastic quilts at Quilt Canada!

Never one to shy away from walking, I decided to walk to the convention center yesterday, and it's less than 2 KM, which is nothing for me. I finally hit 11.5 KM yesterday, the first time since I left home. 

But I had to get out of the hotel first! I was waiting for the elevator as my room is on the 7th floor. When one finally came by, it was packed, so I decided to take the stairs. I got to the bottom, and there was NO exit from the stairs to the lobby. Really?? I had to return to the 3rd floor and take the elevator down. It drives me crazy when hotels do NOT make stairs work for people who don't want the elevator because who takes the stairs in the hotel? By the way -- if you look in this picture, the EXIT for L had an alarm on it, which is why I had to go back to 3 to take the elevator. Just in case you were thinking, I can't read!

Help -- I can't get out! 

I see that cars and pedestrians are a big issue here as well as there are loads of underground parking and there are HUGE signs for people to pay attention to those entrances to the underground parking. The problem would be those people who are always on their phones who would NOT see the sign. 

Pay attention

And I spotted these in a window close to the convention center. I LOVE that type of thing, and it would be easy to do with the embroidery machine. Hmm -- an inspiration, which is partially why I love to walk as you never know what neat things you're going to spot. 

A fantastic sign in the window

Here are some more things I spotted on my walk. When this section of sidewalk was created, they put the impression of leaves in it. How cool is that? I should have done that at home, but I wasn't there, and I wouldn't have thought of it!! 

Leaf impression in the concrete

And then I spotted this on the edge of a building. The first 11 (or so) stories have letters written around the edges. It's so cool. I didn't get the entire wording -- I'll have a better look this morning. 

Words on the outside of the building

And there's my thumb. -- the picture doesn't show how bad it is -- OK -- so I'm exaggerating. It's not that bad and only hurt when it happened; now, I wouldn't even know that anything happened. 

My bruised thumb

I found the Food Court across the street from the convention center, so my goal was to hit the Tim's for breakfast. The breakfasts in the hotel are so expensive. And once I had sat and enjoyed some quiet, it was off to Quilt Canada 2022!

Welcome to Quilt Canada

It was a CRAZY day! We still had a few things to get together in the booth and once that happened, well -- let's just say that we were still doing some of those last-minute things when the doors opened, and we had people, and we were swamped all day. People have been cooped up and wanted to kick the tires of new sewing and quilting machines, and they came in droves! I'm sure people will be back today as they checked out other machines and then will decide today or tomorrow. 

What was so fun was the number of people that stopped by to say that we had "met" on Zoom. How cool is that? And people from all over Canada have come, so that is super exciting. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello. 

I didn't really get a chance to leave the booth yesterday, other than to get something to eat at lunch! I'm in a class until 4 PM today and hope to spend some time during lunch and after the class ends to check out the quilts. Tomorrow will be a quieter day and ends at 4 PM. 

After a group dinner, I was off to meet up with M again. I got to walk past the steam clock in Gastown, which I've seen on numerous occasions. It fascinated my grandfather, so he brought us here many times!

The Steam Clock in Gastown

And then someone at dinner mentioned The Old Spaghetti Factory. Oh my god -- when I was here MANY years ago (with Katimavik!), I went there, and I remember getting some glasses from drinks that you could buy -- The Conductor and Jump up and Kiss me? Does anyone remember those? I still have those glasses! I thought I might stop for a drink or dessert as I had some time to kill, but the place had a 20-minute wait, and all the bar stools had been removed for the pandemic. 

The Old Spaghetti Factory

So I continued and spotted an ice cream shop, and even though I found the air cool, I stopped for ice cream. I didn't get a picture as it was in an overflowing cup, and by the time I got things under control, I had forgotten. Let's just say that it was YUMMY. 

Yes -- I find the air cool here while people walk around in sleeveless shirts and shorts. BRRRRR!!!

And then I got to meet up with these two. M and I and Bear had a good visit. That little guy is enthusiastic about his greetings, and what a goof, but then he settled on the sofa beside me and was quite happy until it was time to go. Another short visit, but better than no visit at all. 

M, me, and Bear

It wasn't that far for me to walk back to the hotel, so we took Bear for a walk for part of the way, and I spotted this on a building, which is very cool. And when you make a trip like this visiting family, you realize how true that is. 

An excellent slogan on a building

But I love this picture. Do you know how hard it is to get photos of dogs and people and have everyone looking at the camera? Well, he cooperated on the third picture. Love you guys!!!!!

Bear and M

He is such a pumpkin!!! 

It was getting close to 10 PM when I got back to the hotel, and I spotted many homeless people on my way. There are quite a few homeless communities around this area, and the weather is more conducive here than it is back home. But it's scary to think how and why they ended up homeless. How far away is each of us from being homeless? 

The bottom line is that I wasn't scared to walk home in the dark, and well -- don't mess with me. I remember something my grandfather told me when I was a teen. He said, "walk like you know where you are going, even if you don't, and no one will bother you." That is something that needs to be written into my memory book about him. Wise words of wisdom and so very true. It boils down to confidence, and you can get into trouble if you aren't confident. Thank you, Grandpa Mills!!!

Gosh  --- this is a pretty emotion-filled trip with all the family visits and memories. I hope I have more in me as I'm not done with the visits and memories! Good grief   -- I keep losing my phone on the bed as I remember another picture to put in the blog. 

I need to share what's happening on the home front. The concrete for the step and walkway are poured, and it's time to get the PATIO done. Yep -- there's going to be a patio on the front of the house. I can't wait, as I'm excited to sit out there and visit with neighbors, dog walkers, and well -- just watch the world go by. Often I sit on the steps, and it's not comfortable. The patio is not huge, but enough to put a chair or two, and the girls will love to be out there. 

The forms for the patio

It will also help the transition with that huge step and hopefully make it easier. As a neighborhood, we just don't spend enough time getting to know our neighbors or taking full advantage of our yards, so we're trying to make every square inch have a purpose. Then the rest will be landscaped with trees and grass. 

I won't be home for a while yet, so I will have to wait to see it all. 

I see it's almost time to get myself moving so I can walk down to the convention center, have some breakfast, and then get to my class. I'm so excited about it, and well -- I have more stuff to tell you, but not today!! 

You can check out this link if you want to see the winning quilts from Quilt Canada. I haven't even had a chance to check it out myself as it's been quite busy, but I'll have some time tonight, so I hope to do that, or better yet, I hope to see the quilts in person!

On that note -- I'm off for another fun-filled day of, well -- FUN!!!!

Have a super day~!!

Ciao!!!!