Saturday, March 09, 2013

Saturday March 9, 2013


Saturday March 9/13  update #387
I had to stick around to process another 45 photos from yesterday and that takes a long time.   So check for a second batch of photos.   They include more from the Old Cathedral, a harpist, the Justice building and a few more candids.
Today is a rest and catch-up day for Bella while I have my usual Saturday job at Joe’s Secret Garden.   The meal is Arabic tonight so it was an experience.  Our favorites are still the Fried Chicken and the BBQ nights by far.  Mark and Karen came dressed in Arabic fashion, having lived in Egypt and all that, they had the attire.  It is funny that 2 Canadians came dressed as Arabs while the two Arabs, Youssef and Tarek stayed with their Western dress.   Anyway it was a fun night and a good time was had by all.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 08, 2013

Friday March 8, 2013


Friday March 8/13  update #386
Happy Birthday Bettye.
I was off and running early just to get downtown and take some photos because I agreed to be back in time for Rosa to do the housecleaning.
I managed to get inside San Alfonso church, the City Hall, the Provincial building, the Old Cathedral, then the Justice building followed by the Civic Centre next to Parque Calderon.   I have taken many shots of things I have taken before, but wanted to see what kind of results I would get with the new Canon camera.   There were many beautiful Ecuadorian artworks and statues, and I got a couple of candids as well. I do hope you like the results.
There are too many photos so I only got through less than ½ of them so far so you’ll just have to see the rest tomorrow.
Today is Women’s Day in Ecuador and there was a celebration about to commence in the Civic Centre but I didn’t have time to stick around.   A video store had a couple of movies that caught my eye so our collection has grown by another eight today.
Bella was off to the weaving store then to meet the lady who is going to translate her documents to enable her to get her own separate Residency permit here in Ecuador.
We went out to La Vina for pizza for supper and enjoyed that immensely.   We ran into a ferellow that lived in the county of Strathcona near Edmonton, his sister and their friends from Montana.  Then at an adjoining table there was a couple with 2 kids, he was from France and she was from Quebec.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Thursday March 7 2013


Thursday March 7/13  update #385
Bella was off early again (do I know this woman??) with a friend to meet with the “Doll Lady” who makes spectacular costumed dolls made out of pantyhose, nylons, etc.   Over the years we have seen some amazing examples of such art so Bella was interested in learning another craft, naturally.
I did my thing then went to meet Jay at the Fuji store.  I thought he was late, most unusual for Jay, so I took a few shots of the pigeons and the church in Santo Domingo Square.  I found Jay in a neighboring store and we went into Fuji.  Jay had a problem getting the emails I had sent him with the updated versions of the old photographs he had given me.   See my earlier post about Hockey photos.  He wanted 40 x 50cm enlargements made of the Cournoyer and Lafleur versions, and he chose the sepia version of his Dad’s hockey picture.  I knew he would choose that one.  I love that shot.
He had brought along the completed collage for donation to the Hearts Of Gold Foundation Silent Auction so we came home to frame it.   On the way, we stopped in a video store and picked up the movie “Argo”.
We got home and had lunch, them cleaned the new frame and installed the collage.  It looks great!
Then we sat down to watch Argo and enjoyed that very much.
Bella soon came home followed by Oswaldo as they continued to work on his Canada Pension application.  Bella had done much research into the problem of applying from out-of-country, hoping that Canada Pension has all the information required on everyone.  We assumed that they would have the information from every paycheque where CPP is deducted but apparently not…  It seems they can now play stupid and force us to prove, yes, prove, when you entered and exited the country and when you worked and contributed…  I am glad that we never encountered any such problems when we applied, although I may be in the distinct minority where I have every income tax filing since day 1.   They were honestly hoping that CPP would tell them how long Oswaldo had worked in Canada but it now appears that Oswaldo is going to go to Canada and talk to them in person.   He is planning to return to Canada to work for a couple of years anyway.   Don’t we just love government bureaucracy!
Bella is going to be applying for her own separate Visa, in case something happens to me, so some of her documents have to be translated by an approved translator.
Jay had some of Bella’s new bread, and a chocolate éclair so he was just raving about Bella’s culinary expertise.
Donations are starting to come in for the HoG Silent Auction so I will be getting busier for the next few weeks.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Wednesday March 6, 2013


Wednesday March 6/13  update #384
Bella was all prepped to host some serious bridge players today and they played for 2.5 hours.
I got an email from one of the founders of the Hearts Of Gold Foundation asking if I could do a Blog entry about their upcoming “Pay It Forward” Silent Auction and Sale event on April 13th.   Plus she wanted some photos of donated items to accompany the article. ….  No pressure, but maybe by today or tomorrow….  So I started scribbling.
After a few phone calls I made it to the HoG office at 2:30, supplied the Blog item, donated a painting, and took photos of a few necklaces that also have been donated.
While I was there we also caught the last Volunteer to get his photo taken too.   
I rushed home and worked on the photos and had them back to the Brass by 5:30.  I also received an email that the Blog item has been posted on their new, fabulous website at heartsofgoldfoundation.org so please have a look at it and subscribe if you can.
Bella had a visit from Oswaldo to have her explain some responses he had received from Canada Pension.
I continue to work on scheduling of duties and the paperwork we will need for the April 13th HoG Auction.   There are many minute details to get done and we are still looking for many more donations.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Tuesday March 5, 2013


Tuesday March 5/13  update #383
Bella was off early to teach a crochet class and then she had to see if some registered documents were being saved for her at the main Post Office or not.  We had them sent to a friend’s PO Box only to find out they have now cancelled it, so we were unsure if our documents would be lost forever.  A big sigh of relief to find the documents were indeed being held.  
These documents are necessary for Bella to apply for her own residency as opposed to being a dependent on my visa.  Since there are no laws governing the situation if I should suddenly get hit by the big red bus, it is safer for Bella to get her own full residency approved.  She tried to get that process started today, even to just get one question answered, but they tell her she must come only in the mornings (they don’t know that Bella isn’t a morning person…).
I did my usual chores and uploading but had a problem with my FAA photos that wouldn’t upload.  Then I rushed to get ideas ready for the Hearts Of Gold meeting this afternoon.  I was shocked to see about 5 new faces at our meeting but soon found that some of these new volunteers will be a great asset to HoG.  My duty is to coordinate efforts and donations and paperwork.   Oh, and I had to take more photos of the new volunteers for their Volunteer badges that Tarek has done such a great job on.   Many more great ideas were brought forth and many more valuable contacts uncovered.
When I arrived home I had to work on the photos for Tarek first.   Then I had to send out 3 templates for our volunteers to use for donations and Gift Certificates.
Sorry, I had no time for any other photos today.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 04, 2013

Monday March 4, 2013


Monday March 4/13  update #382
Neither of us are feeling completely up-to-snuff yet but the chores still need to be done and we have to fight our way through it all.
Bella went out for a haircut and then got some more groceries.  She spreads out her grocery purchases over 3 days at 3 different locations, Coopera, Coral and Super Maxi.
I uploaded more works for sale again today then was determined to head down near the Escalinata to see if there was any action down there.  Going by that area on the bus on both Saturday and Sunday it appeared there was a bunch of tents being set up for some event, so it needed checking out.  Oh well, they must have been putting them up on Saturday and taking them down on Sunday because the place was bare of anything exciting.
I had to content myself with getting a few photos with the new camera of Todos Santos, the Broken Bridge, some Inca ruins and a Parrot.
I tried to get into the Pumapungo ruins but the security guard was waving everyone away for some reason.  Rain was threatening so I headed for the nearest bus stop.  The first bus that pulled up had drawn the ire of a motorcycle cop and many patrons on the bus were giving their two cents worth to the cop too.  This was naturally holding up a lane of traffic so the policeman was not too popular with anyone.   Finally my bus showed up and I managed to make it home safely.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Sunday March 3, 2013


Sunday March 3/13  update #381
I didn’t have a very good night so I just got up and uploaded more works for sale.
Bella was off for banking and groceries, then bridge at Joe’s.   She is getting very frustrated and needs to find a real competitive situation soon.
I slipped up to Jay’s place, nice apartment on Escandon, to check out the collage he is working on for us as a collaboration for the Hearts Of Gold Silent Auction on the 13th.  He has done a great job and I can’t wait to see the final result when everything is glued down and then framed.
Jay showed me many of his prior collages, many autographed by our childhood hockey heroes.   He has put a lot of work into those, without benefit of any computers.   Wayne, Mario, Gordie, Bobby, Paul, Tim, and many others he has done over the years.
Then he showed me several old personal photographs and he asked if there was any way he could get some decent enlargements off them if he dragged them to the Fuji store.  I told him most of them would have to be scanned, cleaned up and adjusted severely before they could produce anything decent.  I offered to experiment on a few, so he gave me one with Guy LaFleur (The Flower), and two with Yvon Cournoyer (The Roadrunner), plus a great old championship photo of the Sons Of Ireland featuring his father.  That last photo is easily my favourite as I love the old black and whites.  Jay has given me permission to share the results with you.   I have not only taken a small original and made it possible to get a larger enlargement, but I have had to clean up a lot of fading, flash glare, folds, dust and scratches, but I am not displeased with the results.  Sometimes there is only so much you can do with a small, damaged original.
Bella made it home and we went out to KFC for a long overdue treat.   She had also brought home some leftover cinnamon buns from Joe’s for dessert, yummmmy!
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Saturday March 2, 2013


Saturday March 2/13  update #380
Didn’t do much today, just the usual computer stuff and tried to nap to catch up on my recovery since there is virtually no more stuffiness or cough left.
Bella went to the weaving store to prepare kits for a crochet class she is going to be teaching.
Then we were off to Joe’s Secret Garden for a Barbeque supper.  The boys were busy making cinnamon buns for dessert and were cursing all the work involved.   As a result the supper was very late but nobody seemed to mind too terribly much.  It was nice to catch up with Chris and Bettye who we hadn’t seen in ages and with many other friends.
That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/