Original photograph by FreeImages user Marcello eM.

This is decidedly not a post about dolls, but instead about remembrance and history.

It’s the 100th anniversary of a poem entitled In Flanders Field by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a fact that has been emphasized in Canada. It’s important to take a moment to remember the sacrifices and lives lost in WWI, WWII, and the many conflicts and wars that have taken place since.

Some things deserve a moment of silence, this is one of them.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

– John McCrae, 1915

Doll related news and thoughts will resume on Friday.

Hi! *waves*

1. You must  (I can’t stress how important this is) be happy to a) send me your address and b)  be happy for me to send it on to one other participant so that you can revive your present! ( I will once sending the address to the other participant I will delete it from my computer and ask the recipient to do also once the parcel is addressed and sent. )
2. Your parcel must be in the mail by the twentieth of November.
3. You must spend under £7, $10 USD, €9, ¥1239, or $14 CAD
4. You must pay postage!
5. Make sure your item(s) aren’t fragile, we don’t want anything broken on arrival. 🙁

Your email must include your screen name, your real name and your address.  You  will receive a confirmation once I have received  this. I will however only have 28 spaces all which will be available until the 10th of November 2015 on a first come first serve basis!

Do you have your own Blythe-related announcement that you’d like to share here on BlytheLife.com? Click here to find out what Community Corner is all about!

You don’t know it, but I have been up since the crack of dawn today. (A possible exaggeration as I wrote this nearly a week ago…) But I will have been at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia since 7am today. There’s just no rest for the wicked! Or the BlytheCon planner.

If you’re not in Vancouver and hanging out with us in the biggest Canadian Blythe party ever… You’re missing out! We do have a livestream that is being hosted over on Ustream.tv. You may recognize it as it was used at a few previous US BlytheCons.

»» BlytheCon Vancouver Livestream is LIVE starting at 10am ««

If you are in Vancouver, be sure to find me! I’ll be one of the people at the Registration table until 11am, and then afterwards I’ll be wandering around the venue making sure things are going smoothly. I will have some animal ears on, so I should be pretty easy to recognize! If you do see me, mention BlytheLife and I may have some goodies for you!

I will have lots to share with all of you next week about the event. In the mean time, I will be running on sunshine & adrenaline!

The pre-BlytheCon Vancouver meet is happening tomorrow, Saturday August 8th, at the Jack Poole Plaza from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. Jack Poole Plaza (the site of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Cauldron) is located in downtown Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The Plaza a short walk from Waterfront Station.

Over the past year, I have shared photos of my visits to Metro Vancouver tourist attractions on the BlytheCon Vancouver 2015 Facebook group. If you are coming to BlytheCon Vancouver and want some suggestions, here are all of the places that I had shared:

Shoreline Trail is an easy walking trail located in Port Moody, BC. It takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Click to read more of this entry.

Today’s the last last day of online ticket sales for BlytheCon Vancouver! Sales had been extended from July 31st to August 4th to accommodate those who were unable to purchase tickets prior to August. Behind the scenes, things are coming along splendidly as we finish getting everything together and put the finishing touches on everything.

Photograph by Chun/Puppy52Dolls.

If you haven’t already, pop on over to the BlytheCon Vancouver website to see what fantastic donations we’ve received! Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets until end of day today!

Proceeds from BlytheCon Vancouver will benefit the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L.), who will also be at BlytheCon Vancouver with some of their volunteers and educational birds! We’re very excited that we’ll be able to make a donation to a local non-profit that cares as much about BC’s wildlife as we do.