Dockside Brewing Company
behind the Granville Island Hotel
1253 Johnston Street
Granville Island, Vancouver B.C.V6h 3R9

I’m going to hop on the Aquabus and take a ride over to Granville Island right after work. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll say yet, and I’m actually nervous at the thought of meeting them. I know, that’s silly, but it’s true. While I’m not a mommy blogger at all, I read both bloggers’ sites every day. And I really do like Heather’s photos.

I noticed the garden in progress (shown above) on Hastings Street about a block down from Main Street on my way into work this week ala the SFU 135 bus. Last night after work, I decided to head down there to see if there was any information explaining this garden. Once I got to the garden area, I realized this was not really a good plan. I was alone next to an awful hotel and surrounded by people smoking crack and ranting. I continued walking as though I knew what I was doing, walked around the block and peaked down the alley behind the garden. It seemed mostly clear, so I walked down to the fenced off area and took pictures through the fence. There were people coming down the alley and a few people huddled behind a dumpster. I packed up my camera and headed off, my heart beating fast and feeling rather unsafe.

Nothing happened to me. I made it out of the area and I’m fine. Nobody even said anything to me. But that part of town is sad and scary.

This is what makes this garden interesting to me. As far as I could tell, there was no explanation about what was going on there. It’s a full lot and someone is building a winding path with bricks in there. There were wooden barrels planted in the ground and some plants. I saw a couple of wheelbarrows and even a hard hat. I think this may be a permanent garden, right in the middle of skid row. Who is creating this? I’m very interested to know who it is. I’d love to go back to the garden (with some friends. My decision to go alone was not a good one.) and take pictures of the garden as it progresses.

If anyone has any information about this, I’d love to hear about it. I did a quick search online and didn’t find anything.

Be prepared for detours and roads to be blocked off on Sunday. They start running early on Sunday - 7:00 am for the full marathon and 7:30 for the half. There’s plenty of entertainment along the race course to look forward to as well. It should be a good time!

I had to see for myself what kinds of items were available at the Winters Farmers Market today. I was happy to support our local farmers by picking up some Russian Blue Potatoes, a big bag of carrots, apples, honey and some free trade coffee. I have plans to make some whipped blue potatoes for Easter dinner tomorrow.

The farmers market will be open a few more times at the Wise Hall at Adanac between now and the end of April. There are more details about the dates on this newsletter at the eatlocal website.

Have a good long weekend…

Sadly, tomorrow I’m going to be part of a Diva Race that I haven’t even trained for. Hence, I’ll be walking. Slowly. I doubt I’ll make it in time from Jericho to the parade. But, I will be there if some kind of fitness miracle takes place for me in the next 24 hours.

Also, I learned from Kinship yesterday that “Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus”. So please don’t. You’re brother’s okay, but not your grannie. Please enjoy the Celtic Fest and the bus responsibly.

I’d better run over there pronto to get all the fibre my heart desires. And yes, I had to explain to a confused coworker today that it’s not food festival of oat bran and the like. For those that don’t engage in crafty activities, they don’t automatically associate fibre with yarn and wools and bunnies. Also, I had to explain to another coworker that they don’t kill and skin the angora bunnies for their fur, they comb each rabbit carefully and collect the hair that way. And it takes a lot of bunnies and a lot of combing to make a sweater, let me tell you. My coworker was relieved by this news.

The event is great for barnyard animal photo opportunities. It’s full of llamas, goats, bunnies and lambs. That’s a big part of why I keep going, even though they canceled my favourite part - the fashion show where they brought the animals on the runway.Maybe I’ll see you there tomorrow. I’m going to meet my new friend and crafty blogger, Denise, for lunch there. Look at me networking!

According to Jeffery, I’m rich since I’m at this event. Sweet. I had no idea. I’ll go to the bank and inform them of this turn of events.

This morning’s keynote speaker was Matt Mullenweg - creator of Wordpress and serious spam hater. He’s a great speaker and pointed out how facebook ripped off the wordpress design. Also, did you consider getting invites on facebook spam? I never thought of it before today, but in Matt’s opinion, it certainly is. I would have to agree, but I don’t mind that kind of spam as it’s coming from my mother-in-law mostly. And who doesn’t like to get a facebook poke?

After Matt’s talk, I sat in Dave Olson’s session called “F&*% Stats, Make Art. He’s clever and funny. Dave’s big into the podcast side as well. I also spoke to him briefly after he spoke - very gracious.

I’m not sure what I’m going to blog about next. I have been very preoccupied with this event. So, now what?

So far I’ve run into Isabella, Jan and David - all local bloggers and I think I’ll add their blogs to the local blog-off tournament. I also met one blogger from New York who came to Vancouver specifically for this conference. Cool, no?

The location is excellent - the Forestry Building is beautiful and open and with the sun streaming in through the glass ceiling? This is a great venue.

Sadly, I’m unable to upload pictures at the moment as the camera cable is sitting on my desk at home. But there’s always tomorrow and there’s always Rebecca’s Blog. She’s ALL geared up.

I’m ready to go and have confirmed my vacation day from work booked for this coming Friday. I’ll be bringing along our clunky old Dell laptop to the event and my camera. And I’m totally looking forward to it. And I think there will be a local Vancouver blogger meet up there as well.

Maybe I’ll see you there, too!