Engine 374

On 23 May 1887, Canadian Pacific Railway Engine 374 arrived in Vancouver pulling a train carrying 150 passengers. The new nation of Canada was then linked from the Atlantic to the Pacific and this opened the door to new arrivals and immigrants. The CPR rail yard and roundhouse located in False Creek, an industrial area with saw mills, lumber yards and barges. The removal of the railway tracks was a clearing made for the creation of the Expo 86 site, who's theme was Transportation and Communication. The refurbished Engine 374 once again made its appearance.  As a fundraiser "Heritage" bricks sold for $19.86 each, the amount to coincide with the year of Expo, and $400,000 raised. Each brick had the purchaser's name on it, and these blocks now form the paved floor of the Pavilion on Drake Street, Vancouver.

My daughters, both 4th generation Vancouverites, have their names embedded in time with the train that brought it all together.

Englesea Lodge

Most people have not heard of the Englesea Lodge which once stood on Beach Avenue at English Bay next to the pier.

I only became aware of it because of Peters grandfather; Charles lived there till he passes away. Charles was a retired purser of the Empress ships and had a history of sailing.

After his wife Kathleen passed away, he still had a young unmarried daughter Margeret. They both resided at the Sylvia Apartments on Beach Avenue and after Margaret was married, he moved into the Englesea Lodge a short distance from there.

The view from the Sylvia Apartments with the Lodge in the background. The same architect was involved in the design of both the Sylvia and the Englesea Lodge. The red brick buildings resembled each other. The Englesea Lodge was on the beach next to the old pier. It was a landmark that could not be mistaken. The Vancouver Park Board started buying the old neighbouring houses that accompanied the Lodge on the beach. 

Eventually, the Lodge stood by itself, firmly positioned and jutting out on the beach. The Park Board approached the owner to purchase the property, but he refused. Later he agreed to sell, but the residents were not agreeable to vacate their homes on the beach with an ocean view.

In 1981, as we watched the evening news on the Television, we were informed that the Lodge had burned down. Luckily there was no one around when the fire mysteriously started in the basement and the Englesea Lodge was no longer in anyone's way. 

Space was cleared to make room for the beach. With this landmark removed, it was the start of a changing Vancouver skyline. 

Today, Vancouver's skyline is undergoing another transition with canes, hovering above the tall skyscrapers. From where I live I can see 17 cranes, a city that is changing forever.

The Fire Hydrant

During the day at the water park, I kept an eye on my granddaughter and was quite amused at her actions for a five-year-old. As part of the play area, there are a few fire hydrants with hoses attached. It's usually an attraction for boys who like to hose each other down in a water fight. 

Annelies has moved over from the canal systems to the fire hydrant. She and her blonde friend wanted to join in on the fun. But the two boys weren’t interested even after a bit of negotiation from the girls.

As the boys wanted to continue their game they found that the system broke and no water came through the hosepipe.

Annelies had a closer look 

and discovered a twist in the hose

 She quickly corrected it 

 

The repair was successful and the girls were allowed to play. 

The Waterworks

My five-year-old granddaughter Annelies is returning to school next week after a beautiful long summer. 

She needed a babysitter for Friday and I decided to take her to the Waterpark on Granville Island.

Besides the slides and the water sprinklers, it has remnants showing its logging past and old iron equipment has been turned into tunnels and other decorative art.

The weather was perfect and we spent the day at this children friendly park.  While keeping an eye on Annelies, I saw others enjoying the sun, water and sand.

There were plenty of taps and water to fill containers of all shapes, colour and sizes.

                     
                            

Annelies gravitated to the sandpit where her Dutch genes surfaced.

 She was engineering endless canals and waterways. 

Her little friend seems to be into dredging and hauling away the mud. 

  

A trickle of water to mix with the mud.

A little more dredging to widen the canal

Her little friend changed  his mind and was trying out ship building instead.

                  

There were a few newcomers to the park and some needed extra support.

                                                                             

 Others were unstoppable 

after playing in the mud, everyone came out squeaky clean 

 
Annelies found a quiet moment before returning home. After all, it has been an exhausting day taking care of Grandma.

Asparagus Soup

With the arrival of asparagus season, bundles are now displayed in prime spots in the vegetable shops. After enjoying the tender shoots, the snapped-off ends can be turned into a delicious lunch soup. Cut off the woodiest portions of the ends; they are too fibrous. We use Braun stick to liquefy the soup, but I am sure a blender will work.

Simple Asparagus Soup Recipe:

Leftover asparagus ends water, onions, garlic, salt, bay leaves.

In a medium size pot place trimmed asparagus ends, chopped onion, some garlic cloves, bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Add lots of water, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for half an hour or more to tenderise vegetables and reduce the liquid. For extra dimension and flavour, you can also add stems from cauliflower and broccoli or other leftover raw vegetables.

When suitably reduced, remove the bay leaves, adjust the seasoning and zap with the Braun stick. You can add some dried tarragon leaves if you wish. A dollop of cream cheese will add texture. Be creative; it's soup.

A serving the idea is to place some cooked shrimp in the bottom of soup bowl and ladle the soup over top.

The Art of Cooking Asparagus

My method of preparing asparagus was a hit-and-miss situation. I even purchased a special asparagus pot to stand the stalks upright and boil them in an inch of water.  

On our second date, Michael prepared dinner for us aboard Sequitur and I was impressed. Dry-seared filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce, a crimini mushroom-shallot-cream Sauce over Gnocchi with a side plate of perfect asparagus topped with a swirl of mayonnaise. The asparagus came accompanied with a bottle of wine from Sequitur's cellars. I decided to linger a bit longer.

I have been watching Michael prepare asparagus for eight years now and would like to share his method.

Feel each asparagus by starting at the cut-off end and move up to where it gets tender then snap it off there. The snapped-off ends are the woody parts and can be used for asparagus soup later.

Use a shallow pot or pan, large enough to fit the asparagus in lengthwise; even a frying pan will work. Bring the water to a rolling boil, drop in the asparagus and reduce the heat to a bare simmer for exactly six minutes. Run cold water in the pot till it is just bearable to the touch. The cold water stops the cooking process and will keep the asparagus warm until serving. Do not prepare it too far in advance. 

My seldom-used stainless steel asparagus cooker has become a functioning wine cooler and on occasion a vase.

https://www.pinterest.com/yachtsequitur/dining-aboard-sequitur

The Empress Ships

I have been a resident of Vancouver for 37 years and two more generations have been added to our family tree with a total of five. 

This connection to China had brought my husband's family to Vancouver.

The CPR established their headquarters in the Terminal Building downtown next to Pier BC, the dock for the Empress ships. 

Today its is alive with the connecting passengers to the Skytrain. 

         The Skytrain has 47 stations on three lines; Expo line, Millennium Line and Canada Lines.

The CPR or Canadian Pacific Railway was expanding and added new ships, Canadian Pacific Steamships to their route to connect to China. 

These were tea clippers that raced across the Pacific to get to Vancouver to off-load their cargo. It was then transported across Canada on their privately funded railways, to ports in the east. Their final destination was London, England.

These ships built in Glasgow, Scotland with the Empress of Russia being one of them. The Empress of Russia was built 1912-1913 and left on her maiden voyage leaving Liverpool via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver. She repeatedly sailed the same route, Hong Kong-Shanghai-Nagasaki-Kobe-Yokohama to Vancouver. In 1913 she broke the record for the fastest trans-Pacific crossing, which was formally held by the Empress of Japan. The Empress of Asia broke that record in 1914, crossing the Pacific in nine days, two hours and fifteen minutes.

The route was so successful that two more ships were added o the fleet. The 165,810-tonne vessels had a length of 570 feet and their beam was 68 feet.  The ship had three funnels, two masts, quadruple screws and was able to reach an average speed of 19-knots. 

The ocean liner provided accommodation for 284 first class passengers and 100-second class. There was addition room for 800 steerage class passengers.

These ships had a change in design from a long overhanging bowsprit to a straight stern like a warship. 

This new design gave more speed and better seagoing qualities.

 Empress of India figurehead 1936

The Vancouver Public Library

The design and function of modern libraries are keeping up with our changing times and needs. Once libraries, post offices, banks and city halls had their standard recognizable designs. The older library buildings were sombre, robust and stern, much like the librarian of that day.

In the eastern portion of the Vancouver, Central Business District stands the nine-story-high Vancouver Public Library. It's hard to miss with its work of art appearance, which mimics the look of a Roman coliseum. The core of the building is a nine-story rectangular box, which houses floor after floor of book stacks interconnected with escalators. Throughout, there are pieces of art, beautiful displays and service desks. All of this surrounded by a free-standing elliptical collonaded wall featuring well-lit reading and study areas. The library's internal glass facade overlooks an enclosed concourse formed by a second elliptical wall. This immense glass-roofed concourse serves as an airy entry foyer to the library and houses a row of small businesses, coffee shops and eateries. On the top of the compound is a football-field-sized sea grass roof.

Throughout the building are fields of computers; most reference materials are now available on-line. Archives that were once stored and difficult to access are now available at a keystroke. Although this library is inviting, I still prefer accessing it from my home.

Kitty-corner from the library is a city-block-sized parking lot that once housed the downtown bus depot is now the site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery.