Surviving social distancing

I think it's week 6 ... or maybe week 7 of our new reality with social distancing and essential services. Sometimes it feels like it's week 23.  But we're finding out that there's lots to do at home. And that's a good thing.  It's also a good thing that this is happening in April and not November. I think we'd all be having a more difficult time if we were heading into the cold and the rain.

That said, because it's a world-wide thing (still finding it a bit hard to believe) there are many countries in the southern hemisphere that are experiencing this in autumn. My hat is off to them.


We are just so grateful to have our house projects and our garden to relate to.




And the neighbourhood is putting on its very best. This is a dear house a few blocks away where a fellow spends all his time making the boulevard garden into sheer delight. This was taken a few weeks ago; now the tulips are taking over. In the summer there are lilies. Seems this guy rents the back suite and puts all his extra funds into bulbs to beautify the sidewalk.

As for me, I'm still painting in my "studio" in the bay window of our living room.

I've been taking a really excellent online course to help me find my "authentic voice" and it's been keeping me pretty busy.  The painting on the easel is one of the projects she calls the "never ending painting" because every week we have to make substantial changes. I kind of laughed because it feels like most of my paintings are never-ending because I'm always making big shifts and changes. This one has been through a few incarnations over the past five weeks. I'm kind of slowing down with changes because I'm getting attached to this version.  The idea though, is to be able to let go of attachments and see what comes next. 

These are a couple of earlier versions. You can see that it's gone through some big changes.

The co-op gallery I'm involved with has been closed since early March but we've taken turns putting paintings into the window. It was my turn to do the display a couple of weeks ago. I had a lot to choose from because I was scheduled for a solo show at the end of May so I've been doing a lot of painting.

That show is postponed now until maybe September. one will be postponed now, maybe until September. It all depends on when things might be eased up. It's kind of hard to see the paintings with the reflections in the window so here are a couple of photos of two of the larger paintings.

This one I'm calling "Yellow Square" is 24x36 inches and it's now hanging above my desk. 

And this one "Together and Apart" is 24x24". They'll both be in my solo show, whenever it happens.

Although both Harry and I have been busy, the days have a very different feeling to them, mainly because we cannot see our friends. Social networks are part of the fabric of our lives and it is very strange that this is not available now except through the internet and telephone. Like everyone we've been using the telephone more and have even had some Zoom meet-ups. But we're longing for a time when we can actually get together.

Sending you greetings and our very best wishes for health and sanity at this time when we're all called on to gather our strongest inner resources.

I'm back

It's hard to believe that my last post here was January 18th. And now we're at April 22nd. That's more than three months without blogging. And what incredible changes the world has gone through in that time. Here we are together around the world going through a pandemic and self-isolating ourselves at home. If you had told me beforehand that this would result from a flu virus that emerged in China I would not have believed it possible. But here we are.

Here in Canada it began on a Friday Morning in early March when our Prime Minister held a press conference in front of his home to tell us that his wife was ill with the Corona virus and that our Parliament was closed and everyone should just stay at home. Since then we've seen different countries around the world start to take action in their individual ways, some more effective than others.  Now our newscasts cover nothing but Covid-19.

So from our home on Yukon Street to you, wherever you are, we send greetings and well wishes for your health, safety and sanity. It's a very strange time.

Victoria has experienced a stretch of beautiful spring-like weather lasting about six weeks. It's been really lovely and although Harry and and I are staying home and keeping away from other people, we have managed to get out for some walks in different areas, always keeping the required 2 meters away from others.  We've seen lots of other people getting fresh air, walking dogs, and chatting at a distance,  children playing on the deserted streets with their parents close by. After ignoring my camera for weeks I started to bring take some pictures again.

So I thought I'd share some photos from these walks. 




Chalk drawings on the road.

 A  view from along the waterway path in Sidney.

There are lots  of springlike blooms happening here in Victoria. It seems strange that the world continues to unfold as usual while we humans are experience such different times.  I am so grateful for the beauty though.

There are signs that things are different though... like hearts posted on windows to show support for our health care workers. 

And this sign chalked on a path in a nearby park.

It gives hope that this may not last forever. There is talk that the strict measures adopted here in B.C. may be gradually lessened in months to come.

Home to the snow

We arrived home from Mexico City on Monday to a wind and cold and a skiff of snow and the following day Victoria was blanketed in the white stuff.  This is what we experienced from one day to the next. What a contrast!

Before I leave our Mexico trip behind I want to post a few photos from places we visited around Cuernavaca.

This is the Robert Brady Museum, the over-the-top home of a rich American collector who lived there until 1986. The house was a former convent and displayed his collection of thousands of works of art, many of them Mexican.  The place is exactly as it was when he died in 1986, a private museum for him and his wealthy friends. A great spot for living vicariously.

Next up is Tepoztlan, one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos, where we went by taxi for a day trip. It's a small town in an amazing setting of rocky mountain peaks. Wikipedia says it's famous for the remains of the El Tepozeteco temple built on top of a mountain. We didn't climb the mountain to see the temple but we did wander up and down the cobbled main street, where vendors were taking down their Christmas decorations and hikers were gearing up for the climb.                                                                                                                                                The church was pretty and the meal we had was good but there were entirely too many vendors selling trinkets for our taste.

We were more impressed with the Gardens of Mexico, also a taxi drive outside of Cuernavaca. This place is really large, the largest public garden in North America we're told. It was built by a wealthy family and rivals Butchart's Garden for sure. Like Butchart's it has an Italian garden, a Japanese garden, and all kinds of different areas. 

This large peacock greeted us as we entered. It was decorated with poinsettias and I believe the flowers change seasonally. You can see the bulldozer starting to remove the plantings in front.

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We liked the tropical gardens and the Cactus garden, but most of all we enjoyed walking around this lovely area (and taking little jitneys) in the early morning sunshine without crowds. 

Because it was just after the Christmas holidays there were very few people visiting.  It's only been open for five years so they must have trucked in some pretty large palm trees.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch in the lakeside restaurant and then headed back to Cuernavaca to get ready to leave the next day.  Even with the snow, we're glad to be home after a month in Mexico.

a visit to Ajijic

Weve spent the last couple of days in Ajijic on the shores of Lake Chapala visiting friends from Home. Deb and Keith live in a his beautiful spot for the winter and spend their summers in an apartment in Victoria. This is taken from their patio looking across the lake

Eleven years ago Harry and I drove through this area in our old motor home with the two border collies. You can read about that trip here. Since then this place has continued to attract snowbirds and other international visitors who live here full time. At 5,000 feet the weather is lovely and there's lots for visitors to do. Deb showed us around the three lakefront towns, Ajijic, Chapala, and Jocotepec, each with a malecon along the lake, and each with its own vibe. 

The city of eternal springtime

We came to Cuernavaca because I had heard wonderful things about the climate, and after a sultry time at the beach this so-called city of eternal spring seemed like an ideal place to relax for the last part of our trip. Plus I’ve heard it’s where many expats live and it’s a retreat for rich people from Mexico City. We’ve been here three days now and we really like the place we’re staying. The Posada Antigua is behind a wall on a busy street in Centro with cute little casas spilling down a hill.

It’s very peaceful and now that Christmas is over there are only a few guests. And the weather is perfect:  cool at night and fresh in the morning, warming up by 9:00 with an afternoon breeze and warm evenings. 

 

The zocalo and the cathedral area are pretty but the rest of the Centro is scuzzy and derelict in spots, though and the sidewalks are dangerously broken. 

We’ve seen no sign of expats or language schools like in Oaxaca. Today we took a city tour on a bus looking for some more pleasant neighbourhoods but didn’t see too much of interest. Yesterday we asked a taxi driver to take us to some nice neighbourhoods and he couldn’t think of any. Fortunately we’re in this peaceful spot and there are a few places a bit out of town that sound interesting and the taxis are cheap.