These boots weren't made for walking.

Here's the itinerary that Freddie and I set out with this afternoon (in the form of a note to Paul, who was out galavanting somewhere or other). What's not mentioned here is the goal of finding something — pretty much anything — to brighten up this greyish, gloomyish day.

Classic Vancouver winter wear to the right. BUT ... the woman is carrying a very multihued umbrella. It was a start, though I was hoping we could do better.

Bah ha! Not colourful, but pretty amusing nevertheless ...

A broccoli tree? Another Easter Island reject or prop from Hair?

All right! Here we go, Freddie! In-the-face sunshine on Cypress Street ...

And this brings us to our first destination: Marks Work Warehouse (Wearhouse?) for dog-park boots. We did try the Sally Anne across the street, but there was nothing on offer in the way of wellies. Freddie, as you can see, is being very patient with me. I finally settled on the black pair in the foreground (next shopping trip will be in search of colourful paints that can be applied to rubber!). These boots met the cheapness criterion, and, as I expected, were not designed for walking any distance. What I hadn't accounted for (especially when I "rage-bolused" a post-breakfast high) was how heavy the damn things would be to carry. More anon ...

Kind of an attractive mix of colours and textures in this building, though the shades themselves are kinda drearily camo.

Now, this, on the other hand! You gotta admire a Vancouver homeowner with the gumption and good sense to paint a house purple and red. Whoever you are, thank you!

Freddie and I stopped in at Kitchen Corner to see if we could find some of that rubber boot paint I was thinking about. Kitchen Corner sells everything ... except that. Oh well. More training practice. We then went to Home Hardware, which did have the kind of lightbulb I was looking for. I didn't get a photo, but Freddie did a very good job of ignoring a chihuahua who came into the (dog-friendly) store. Chihuahuas aren't his favourite playmates, granted, but he still earned his "leave-it" treat.

We also visited the new digs to see the paint job ... then started the trip home ... still hauling those freakin' heavy rubber boots.

The City Farmer is a neighbourhood pioneer in urban agriculture. They have a demo garden, and they've given me good intelligence on apartment composting, which we plan to start doing in our new place.

Here's the City Farmer lane. I started heading up toward the recycling and composting stations at the end, when it struck me that Freddie was glued to my side, eyes fixed on me, even though I had no treats or toys in my hand and hadn't given him a "With Me" (heel) command.

The bag of rubber boots (which also now contained a quarter-full can of paint from the apartment) was starting to feel like a sack o' cement. I backtracked to a wall, removed my pack, and .....

Freddie on the alert!

Yep. 3.7 — a pox on you, rubber boots (in addition to the perma-pox on diabetes)! Unlike the last alerting episode I reported on in detail, I did have special chicken treats with me this time. Freddie was happy to eat them .... but, having already consumed quite a few training treats on this outing, he was way more interested in a different reward ...

The BLUE HEAD!!!

I mean, given a choice, what would YOU pick??

Some attractive waterfall stairways as we made our way home ...

... and this groovy little secret passage between W. 7th and 8th. A good place to sniff and play and enjoy this not-entirely-gloomyish-anymore day ...