Branching out

 This tree mural, painted on the side of a shop in Ocean Park (South Surrey) is only visible at an angle because of the nearness of the building beside it.

 The grapevine detailing is a nice touch.


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Blue and surreal

This rather surrealistic mural is on the back of the rink and recreation center in the Whalley section of Surrey.

I first noticed it from the chair in my dentist's office several years ago. Thus when I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, I made sure I had my camera with me just in case the mural was still there.

It is. Perhaps a little the worse for graffiti - but the athletes are still laboring, the pretty girls still beaming down on passersby in all their blue glory. (The building walls are straight, not curved, as the last panorama, stitched together out of three shots, would suggest.)

I don't know who the artist is.

Crescent Beach - Surrey, BC

Our walk down Crescent Beach today took us past "Meg’s Place" – a beach house that is not shy about celebrating Christmas. Piped Christmas music originating from somewhere on the property floated across the path and a peek into the yard revealed a festive fairyland.

Cloverdale - Surrey, BC

On our way to the Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday, we passed this mural. It does a good job of representing Cloverdale (one of Surrey’s several town centers), known for its flea markets, antique shops and the rodeo. Cloverdale’s quaint western-town streets have also made it a favorite location for movie and commercial shoots. Smallville, Postal, Hot Rod and others were filmed there.

The three scenes of remembrance, below, are painted are on the wall of a building facing the cenotaph square -- in Cloverdale as well.

Cloverdale Cenotaph, Surrey BC

Ernie and I joined hundreds of others at the Cenotaph in Cloverdale this morning for a Remembrance Day ceremony.





A special event this morning was the unveiling and dedication of a new statue on the cenotaph memorial


The representation of a World War 1 soldier, kneeling at the grave of a fallen comrade was commissioned to replace an earlier similar one which was melted down to make bullets for World War II. This new piece was paid for in part with funds raised by Surrey school children.


Before we left, we unpinned our poppies and placed them with hundreds of others on the memorial as a token of our remembrance and thanks to Canadian soldiers past and present.





We remember.

Beachcomber Building

One of my favorite local murals is on the walls of the Beachcomber Hot Tubs building (134th St. and Comber Way in Surrey). I don’t remember when it went up – I’m thinking perhaps just before Y2K. I also don’t know the artist.

The mural consists of two walls of famous people. The west-facing wall is titled, "Beachcomber Salutes the Record Breakers."

The south-facing wall is called, "Beachcomber Salutes the Legends."

Now if only I could name them all!

West wall - the Record-breakers

West wall - 1

West wall - 2

West wall - 3

West wall - 5

South wall - the Legends

South wall - 1

South wall - 2

South wall # 4

South wall - 5