SNAP THAT

In Kenya I've tasted the most delicious chapatis. The ingredients in chaptis are few but I've never tried to make them. Today I tried today using this recipe from Allrecipes.com My chapatis didn't look anything like what I thought they should look like and it took awhile to get the hang of the correct heat for the pan without setting off my fire alarm from smoke, *laugh. The dough is rolled into balls and ready to be rolled into chapati circles. These chapatis were fine and look more like the one's I've had in vegetarian restaurants here. I need to continue to make these to 'perfect' them.  I also need to make sure the heat source is right so they bubble up like they are supposed to. Some of my chapati pieces bubbled up and others did not. One recipe I reviewed didn't oil the pan first. I tried that approach and it didn't work. It only smoked. Perhaps I had the heat too high.  I found lightly greasing the pan worked much better. I also pre

Lots of activity on the water. If you click on the photo you will see all the sail boats in the upper right corner. I like how the tree leaves frame this photo. Look at all the big tankers on the horizon. This is the planetarium where you can learn all about the stars and planets. This April 28th is International Astronomy Day. It has been years since I've gone to the Planetarium. There are all kinds of educational programs for children and adults alike to inform and education about the stars and the solar system. I also understand that they have had laser light shows set to popular music for many years. I think I would have enjoyed one of those shows but they are no longer available as the planetarium has moved on to high definition video for their shows.  What I remember most about my long ago visit was the 360 degree view of the night sky which are made possible through the planetarium's state-of-the-art Zeiss projector. You can view this short video and you

I dislike moaning about anything and that includes the weather. I am quite tired of all the rain we've been having though I hesitate to complain too much as I know it could be worse, much worse, given the terrible events in weather happening all around the world with seemingly increasing frequency. We have had some nicer days of sunshine here and there but nothing sustained and weather temperatures are still on the coolish side. I wanted to show you the sky above my home in a series of photos taken this week. I also wanted to show you one of the few plants in my garden. I just haven't planted anything new what with all the soggy weather. Sky on Monday, April 23, 2012. Sky on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. S ky on Friday,April 27, 2012. You can't even see the mountains. Solomon's Seal on Friday, April 27, 2012. Though it grew a lot since the photo taken below, I'm finding the growth is not as lush as it was last year. This might be attributed to the

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, I hope you are well wherever you are in the world on this Monday. My post today deals with a story you've read about before on my blog. It is about a boy named Edwin and his battle with chronic myeloid leukemia. Through the help of two of  my blog readers and myself, we have been able to get Edwin to different hospitals for observation, testing and treatment.  He has been able to get to Tenwek and Nairobi, Kenya on several occasions, have multiple tests and be seen by the very best specialists that Kenya has to offer. For all this we are grateful. God has been good and he has had mercy. He has given Edwin favour and the bills for tests and doctor examinations have been much lower than expected.  Edwin has also been treated so well by hospital staff.  All of this gladdens my heart so much  and I give all praise and glory to God the Father. It is like the story of the loaves and the fishes  for God multiplied the small amount we had and made

I took in a film at the 2nd annual Vancouver South African Film Festival (VSAFF).  The VSAFF uses the film fest as a way of raising money for Fezeka Senior Secondary and Songeze Middle Schools in Guguletu, Cape Town. My readers know that I have the Missions of Hope which is dear to me and where most of my charitable giving goes. However, I do try to support other charitable endeavours wherever I can. I did that today by going to a film and making a small donation at the door. This is where the film was shown in what we call the city's West End.  The film festival ends Sunday. I got off the city bus and had to walk the last few blocks. I took these photos near the waterfront. I love the brilliant display of colour. The film I saw was called "Stargazer" (aka Roepman) is an epic drama, based on the Jan van Tonder novel with the same title. It tells the story of a 1966 South African railway community, told through the eyes of an eleven year old boy, called Timu

Hi friends and fellow bloggers, How are you all doing? I've been keeping busy with the daily things of life. Things planned and things unplanned. You know like what happens when your washer/dryer suddenly stops working and you have to quickly find a replacement.  I'm afraid I can't go too long without a washer and these days there are fewer and fewer laundrymats.  since I've been living in my neighbourhood we've had at least 3 laundrymats close down and no new ones take their place.  What do you do where you live when your washer goes dead? Do you have a back up plan? This is the replacement washer & dryer. Much quieter than my previous washer/dryer combo and more energy efficient too . It is also that time again when I have to get the toenails groomed. I go out and have it done.  Though I know this is a luxury for many, I do it because I have diabetes and because I've been suffering for long now with ingrown toenails.  The pedicure helps to ge

Hello my friends and fellow bloggers, I'm still waiting for warmer weather. Though we have been getting a few days of sunshine here and there I cannot believe it is still very inclement and cool. Even the tree blossoms that lined the side street where I live died off already. They hadn't even fully bloomed though I think there are still many tree blossoms around town. Hopefully I will see some this weekend when I go to the Vancouver South African Film Festival (VSAFF). I finally planted my pansies yesterday as they were beginning to die off in their little starter plant boxes.  They are now in containers. I know that pansies are a very hardy plant so I think those that were dying off will revive if properly cared for. I love pansies and I love the different colours of them.  The pansies speak to me of childhood memories.  Memories of walking to school in the  morning, seeing dew on the grass in the fron tlawn and the pansies "smiling at me" before walking to sch

I've started a beginner's class in Kiswahili. Although there are probably a lot of Kiswahili speakers where I live, I've never come across any Kiswahili language classes in my city.  But in the wee hours of Tuesday morning someone sent me a notice about the class. Next day I called the office  about registration and found myself in my first class at 6:30 p.m.the same day! I don't generally make decisions that quickly but I have been wanting to take such a class for a long while and I didn't want to miss this opportunity which won't come again until the Fall 2012. The class is being offered by a local Non-Government Organization (NGO), or as we call it here, a non-profit society (NPS), that does charitable work in various countries in Africa.  Though the NPS doesn't appear to be working in Kenya, the languages classes are taught by Kenyans. The class was full and most of the students were young people fresh out of university or still in university. In fac

I got this very neat idea from my blogging friend Jan. I wrote down a bunch of things that give me joy and put it into this wordle program (on line) and it makes a "CLOUD"  out of your words for you. I call this one my "Joy Cloud" following Jan's lead but you can make different kinds of clouds too.  There are other things that give me joy but these are the ones that came to mind rather quickly. You can adjust the fonts and colours within the pre-set limits.  The program ( here ) does allow you to identify and give prominence to words but I couldn't quickly figure out how to do that in the context of so many words (I'm sure there is a way but I wasn't able to intuit how). Still I really like this program and the idea of having a "Joy Cloud". Originally I started this blog with the intention of helping me remember that there are many things for which I can be joyful even though a lot of what I've had to deal with over the years rea

I was privileged to attend one of the very few Soweto Gospel Choir performances in Canada during the choir's current touring schedule.  The choir is only playing 4 dates in Canada and it performed in Vancouver this past Saturday, April 7, 2012. I haven't attended a concert  by this choir before so once I purchased my ticket, I immediately went on line to find out what I could about the choir, it's members and music. What I learned inspired me. I was delighted to learn of the community spirit which these choir members have and how much they give back.  Not only to their own communities, but also to the communities where they perform. On the night of the performance I got to the concert venue about a half hour early only to be met with a terrifically long line up.  The long line of people was at a standstill and it only grew longer over the next 15 minutes or so.  I finally decided to see what the hold up was and discovered that the theatre doors were actually open.  T

Some of you will know that I was to attend a Soweto Gospel Choir performance tonight for the very first time. It past bedtime so I won't do a full post until later. I just wanted to say I had an awesome time at the concert tonight. After the show I unexpectedly "ran into" a choir member and had the opportunity to photograph her in her beautiful costume. I posted the photo on Twit Pic and learned her name is Jehoschefatt Fata though the Tweeter said "Jeho".  She is beautiful and had a magnetic stage presence. I found her very gracious dealing with the public after the concert. Thank you Jeho! More on the concert later. For now I wanted to leave you with this photo. God bless your Easter weekend.

  The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something. Rita Dove The other day I saw this interesting situation in the sky. As many of my regular readers know it has been raining a lot here this Fall, Winter and Spring. In fact, we are still having inclement weather but we now have the welcome addition of sunny rays here and there throughout several days this week. I hope it continues until the weather warms up. I digress. Let me get back to the clouds. I was looking up at the sky and I saw something almost like a straight line on the horizon. The "line" was made by low lying clouds. I thought it was quite interesting and I don't think I've seen anything like it before so I am now sharing it with you. I hope you can see the portion of the sky just above the tree blossoms. Let me take a moment to wish you and yours a blessed Easter weekend. For more interesting sky ph

I recently went to visit my mother who lives about 4 and half hours north through the mountains. I thought it would be good to show you the scenery along the way. The first 2 photos were taken about 1.5 hours into the journey. Truth be told I never seem to think about taking photos until I see this mountain range. The mountains are always spectacular but on this day they seemed to be outlined somehow in that the shape of them seemed more clearly defined than usual. Perhaps it was just my imagination. No matter how many times I travel this highway, things always look different to me. This photo is taken on the highway going through Chilliwack, an agricultural area.   This photo is past the City of Hope. We are climbing up to the summit of the mountain range.  There used to be a toll bridge here for many years but it is now gone. Instead they are building a toll bridge closer to where I live. I am always awed by this sheer rock face on the mountain no matter