What's on My Mind & In My Basket

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Happy mid-week to you.  I hope you are all well and good.

I cannot believe how fast May flew by and now we are almost through a full week of June. How did that happen? I seem to say that the time flies by so fast but lately I hear everyone else saying it too! I guess it means we are all getting older.

In sad news there are so many wildfires burning across Canada. It is devastating for many smaller communities and for the people who live in them.  Not only does it affect Canadians but Americans have been saying how their air quality is being affected in various parts of the USA. Unfortunately it isn't even the official beginning of summer yet and the meteorologists are forecasting a hot, dry summer ahead. Hold on to your hats.  If you're the praying type, please keep in prayer for moderate temperatures and more rain.

Here at home in southern British Columbia, we are okay but in the northern part of the province wildfires are burning.  Here in Vancouver, I've found it quite cool.  Despite the local meteorologists forecasting hot weather for several. days I've only felt very warm temperatures on one day and that didn't last all day long.  If I had to choose though, I would far rather it stay on the slightly cool side.

While the weather has been cool, I've been keeping super busy and trying to get as many things done before hotter temperatures arrive.  When it gets too hot I really am not up to doing much except trying to stay cool.  Sometimes I wonder how come I'm always so busy and never seem to catch up to things.

I think it's a combination of getting older and having too many hobbies. When a person gets older, they tend to have more medical appointments and medical related appointments, especially if they have a medical condition. There is always a test to do, medicines to pick up, a specialist or doctor to meet. Then there are also the dental visits and eye doctors which most people have. I seem to have lost my eye doctor and have to find another one because I haven't had an eye examination for quite some.  In my case, busyness is also greater this year.  After several years identification cards need renewal including, government ID, driver's license and my passport.  Two gardens needed to be planted and 2 tax returns needed to be be prepared and filed.  All of it within the same month or two. On top of that, the building where I live always has major projects going on.  While these impact  all residents. My particular apartment has had 2 leaks from upstairs which needed investigation and repair. In fact, the 2nd one is not yet completed.  It's a good thing I don't have to go out to work every day or this would be a difficult situation to manage.

Last, but not least, I always find more work for myself.  For example, the decluttering and cleaning project I started long ago.  Related activities include the purchase of several new furnishings (patio conversation set, storage sofa and adjustable bed and mattress) all of which took time to research and compare options before buying, and the organization of delivery and haul away services. 

Honestly, there is never enough time in a day and I also don't want to waste time.  Time is going by so fast and it's such a precious commodity.  Does anyone else have the same issue with time and too many things to do?

Despite the busyness, I'm happy that I've kept up with some reading and I've also started making more time for hobbies. 

Here are the current books I'm reading or about to read.

An Ocean of Minutes was a of a genre I don't normally read, a dystopian, fantasy novel.  The books revolves around the relationship between Polly and Frank. Frank becomes sick during a pandemic and the medical care he needs is cost prohibitive.  Polly decides to help him by signing on as a bonded labourer into the future. The company she is employed  by will pay for Frank's medical treatment.  Frank and Polly promise to meet one another in Galveston, Texas in 12 years time but Polly ends up being re-routed an additional 5 years into the future.  When she arrives she can't find Frank and the city has changed enormously.  Polly must learn to survive in a totally changed America.  She has with no money, no friends or family and no status in the country.  This begins her search for Frank and the heartbreak that goes along with the search.

Reading this book, at this time, seemed very appropriate to this time and place with all the radical changes taking place right now.

Meet me at the Lake is the second book I've recently picked up by Canadian author Carley Fortune.  I picked it up quite randomly and didn't realize that the author is quite a popular author. 

T he book is about a young woman named Fern who lives and works in the big city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her mother dies and leaves her a Muskoka lakeside resort.  Unfortunately, the resort is in a tight financial situation.  Before her mother dies, she hires a consultant named Will to help get things on a more even keel.  Fern doesn't find out until Will arrives at the resort to begin his work. Will is a former boyfriend bof Ferns, one who ghosted her so there are lots of unresolved feelings.  Will doesn't know that Fern's  mother has died when he checks in to begin his consultancy.

I enjoyed several things about the book such as the settings for the book (Toronto, Muskoka Lakes, Vancouver) and the general story arc.  However, the writing  is a bit too graphic for me when it comes to the intimate situations between the characters.  It's probably quite tame for some people.  But for me, it's a little too much. 

In A House for Alice, Alice Pitt has been living in England for over 50 years. After her husband dies she yearns to return to Nigeria to live out her last years on earth. Her daughters however, are torn over whether their mother should return to Nigeria or remain in London.  Her youngest daughter Melissa, is not only coping with the loss of her father and her mother's departure for Nigeria but her marriage is also breaking down.  I haven't gotten too far into the book but it seems to be about how significant life events can have negative impacts on one's family foundations.

I haven't started the next two books but they look interesting.  I just picked them off the shelves because I was short of reading material at the time. Now I've got too much to read.

The Paris Express is based on a real life event, a French railway disaster of 1895. It's ready for pick up at the local library.

Some of you may know that I started a major decluttering & reorganizing project quite some time ago.  In between these tasks, there have been many interruptions so it's taken forever to make progress.  The main purpose of the project is to create time and space to for work on a number of hobbies. One of those hobbies is crochet.  

In May, I started making some crocheted dishcloths as gifts for friends. I also made an oversized cardigan for a friend who has a birthday coming up later this summer. Earlier in the year, I made a few cushions for a cousin's birthday. I haven't given them to her yet because she is supposed to visit this summer from a city about 1200 km from me. I will give them to her during her visit. I also made a few knitted dishcloths. Before the year ends I hope to work on other hobbies as well. If the weather remains moderate, I may be able to do some of my work outdoors on the patio. That would be ideal as I could play some nice music while I work. Not too loudly though as I don't want neighbours complaining. I suppose I could also just use my phone and wear earphones.

The Dishcloths

The Oversize Cardigan

The Cushions

The Sky in July

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

It's been awhile since I participated in Skywatch Friday.  

These photos were all taken in downtown Vancouver, BC on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. 

The weather here has been very hot and we are in drought at a Level 4. I learned that on the news recently.  Here is a map of British Columbia.  All of the areas in red are at drought Level 4.

Vancouver, BC is just north of the border from Seattle and definitely in the red zone. As many of our neighbours in the USA will know, we've been having a lot of wild fires all over Canada and BC is no exception. It makes air quality in some places very bad but thankfully we are not suffering the thick haze and smoke we had 2 years ago (or maybe it was last year). I can't keep track any more because this type of thing is sadly now a regular occurrence.

I wish you a wetter summer or winter wherever you are living and that you stay safe. 

 

First Day of Clear Sky

We've been experiencing very poor air quality as a result of the wild fires that have been burning in Washington, Oregon and California states.  I've had to keep all doors and windows closed and stay indoors for five days.  On Wednesday the sky finally cleared a bit and it was such a relief to be able to go outside and to breathe better air.

These few photos were taken as soon as the sky cleared in late afternoon Wednesday. Then within a few hours the sky darkened again. I wasn't quite sure if it was due to the fires or if rain was on the way. Then it rained Wednesday night. The sky cleared a bit on Thursday and it rained a little again in the evening. We are expecting more rain over the next two days.

 

Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

My World Tuesday

Hello everyone,

Greetings from Vancouver where the temperature is still like the middle of summer . 

The weather forecast for the day was 34 Celsius and sunny skies.  The weather will cool off considerably by the weekend.

I guess then it will be time to clear the garden. I usually just leave everything until the Spring but it makes more work for me then to put the garden in. 

If I clear it before the Winter this year it hopefully means I will be better prepared to put my garden in next year.

I wonder if I will ever get the hang of the "gardening thing"?

I'm lucky to get some containers planted each year to enjoy some beautiful blossoms but this year due to prolonged rainfall during the time when we should have been planting gardens, there were fewer options for the starter plants I wanted. I even went to many more places to look for them. I finally got most of what I did plant from Costco (the red geraniums below) and Home Depot (the pink petunias above and black eyed susans below).

Forest fires continue to burn throughout the province and across the southern border in the USA.  Earlier this week very remote communities in Manitoba to the east had to be evacuated as wild fires started there. This was a huge effort because so many people had to be airlifted to safety and taken to Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

 The area where the fire is burning is covered in dense forest interspersed with a multitude of lakes and so is difficult to travel in and out. 1500 people from a First Nations community had to be airlifted to safety.

 

(Source: CBC News)

(Source: CBC News)

The air quality index for Vancouver today looks like this. 

I postponed my appointment with the Travel Clinic where I intended to get booster shots for my out of date vaccinations because I thought it was going to be 34 degrees today and sunny and hot. I thought I'd go at the end of week when it is expected to cool off.

In making my appointment I discovered that Yellow Fever vaccination used to be good for ten years (the stamp I have says mine is good for ten years). Now the World Health Organization says you do not need a booster shot and one shot is enough for a life time.

I hope my stamp doesn't cause any problems for entering Kenya.

The travel clinic says that affected countries know the updated advice on Yellow Fever.

Sky overhead today, September 5, 2017

Joining in with Our World Tuesday today.

Early August

Hello friends,

It's the end of another week. Time passes so quickly.

I had great news today. My nephew has successfully completed his Master's Degree in Psychology and will commence his PhD studies in a few short weeks. I am very proud of him. We have long had a "deal" that once he has completed much of his education we will travel together to France. He reminded me of it today.

In other news the wild fires which have been burning for weeks now continue to wreck havoc several hours to the north of me. The air quality in much of the province is very bad and has now affected my city for a few days.  Have a look at the sky in the photo below.

This has been the picture for much of the past 3 days. Our province has not seen fires this bad for about 60 years or weather and we've been smashing temperature records all week. What we need is some good rainfall but there doesn't seem to be any in the forecast. The moon has turned orange. You can see it peeking out of the trees in the photo below (sorry the trees are in the way and I wasn't high enough to see over the trees). I read on line news today which said a controlled burn a few days ago is now an uncontrolled burn due to high winds (*sigh). It is threatening a power station that supplies electricity to Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Crews are working hard to make sure it isn't impacted but at this stage only God knows the outcomes.

 As of 6:23 a.m. PT Friday, 10 communities had reached a seven out of 10 on the Air Quality Health Index:

• Central Fraser Valley.
• Central Okanagan.
• Eastern Fraser Valley.
• Kamloops.
• Metro Vancouver - NE.
• Metro Vancouver - NW.
• North Okanagan.
• South Okanagan.
• Squamish.
• Whistler.

When the index shows a number of seven or higher, Environment Canada recommends that children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions "take it easy" and reduce outdoor activities.
The general population should do the same if they start to cough or feel an itch in their throat.

(Source: CBC News, August 4, 2017)

Yesterday when I was out running errands I had to make a dash for the bus and I ran as fast as I could for almost 1 block.  I noticed later in the evening that my throat was very sore. I've also had an intermittent, irritating cough for a few days. I'm largely indoors but it is too hot to go without throwing open the doors and windows and running the fans so I guess I must be breathing in the small particulate matter which is in the air.

With the run of hot weather I haven't felt up to much though I am keeping very busy with the daily things of life. I've made a bit of progress with some household updates; mainly buying new accessories for the kitchen, dining and bathroom areas. This has also meant decluttering a bit in these areas and giving away things.  All the giveaways take time because one must take photos, place the advert, respond to emails and phone calls and then hope the people show up to pick up what they requested. Sometimes there isn't much interest in what is posted. It is all a matter of timing.

With the really hot weather this week I haven't done much reading. Even so it won't be difficult to meet this year's reading goal as I'm several books ahead of schedule.  Currently in my reading pile is The Legacy of Pemberley by Rebeccah Ann Collins. It is the 10th book and final book in the series. The funny thing is I didn't know that when I picked it up so I've had to try and decipher who everyone is.  If are a Jane Austen fan I'm sure you will enjoy the book just as I'm enjoying it.

There Was a Country:A Memoir  by the late Chinua Achebe is also in my current reading pile.  It is about his personal account of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War of 1967-1970.

Besides these two books I've got several more on hold request at the library.  I've also downloaded several free ebooks this week from both Amazon Kindle and Kobo (Canada's version of Kindle).  I probably wouldn't spend money on these books but since I got them for free I will now be introduced to some "new to me" authors.

As you can see, I won't be without reading material any time soon.  The nice thing too  is that I'm already prepared with reading materials for any future travels. While I still prefer reading a paper book you can't beat the convenience of an ebook. I can carry an entire library of books in my mini Kobo.   Such wonders. My grandfather and great-grandmother would have marvelled at the thought if they had lived long enough to know about it. I think my grandfather would have especially liked an ereader. Every time I saw him he would be reading.

My niece will visit me in a few short days and  I'm looking forward to her visit. We always have fun and I do things with her that I wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy.  While she is here we will celebrate her recent birthday and her brother and I have a few surprises planned.

In coming weeks and months,  I'll be trying to solidify future travel plans with my nephew.  He is a very busy guy so it will be difficult to pin him down over a mutually workable period of time to travel. I do hope we can work it out.  I'll also be working on a few other fun plans.  More about these in future.

I've been busy helping students and widows in Kenya.  There is always great need there. Sadly the little toddler with the cancerous tumour on his eye passed on.  We were unable to save him though the doctors tried hard.  My friend Jonah worked tirelessly to get the City of Nairobi to provide land to bury the lad who died while being treated in hospital in that city.  Ordinarily one would be buried on the family compound.  However the sad fact is this young lad and his mother were turned out of their rural home due to the boy's tumour. The father thought his wife and the boy were cursed.  As a result they had been living in a shelter for some time and the boy had been many hours away in hospital for much of the time.

Last but not least, Kenya will be having it's national elections on Tuesday, August 8th, 2017.  It is a always a very tense time.  If you are a person of prayer,  please pray for peace and safety for the nation and it's people as well as fair election outcomes.

Take care until next time.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Friday Foto Friends.