SNAP THAT

Some of my readers may have heard about some key resource developments in this part of the world. One of them is the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project which would see the construction of twin pipelines from Bruderheim, Alberta to Kitimaat, British Columbia. This project was proposed in the mid -2000s and has been postponed several times. The project proposal was submitted to the National Energy Board in 2010.  It was accepted by the federal government in June 2014 and here are hundreds of issues that must be addressed during the next phase of development. There are several competing projects. Kinder Morgan, a US based company has a proposal to expand Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Strathcona County, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia. This project would see a tripling of the company's capacity to transport oil and if approved is expected to be operational in 2017. The weird part is that building is going on to accommodate the increased capacity even tho

I had to go downtown on Tuesday for an appointment. I definitely didn't feel like venturing into the heart of the city since it was pouring rain.  The place where I had to meet is a construction zone right now. But I couldn't postpone my appointment any longer and in the end it turned out to be a very short appointment. Getting home took more time. But as I'm wont to do, I stop somewhere along the way for a coffee and to read a good book. That day was no exception but when I got off the bus and went to my neighbourhood Starbucks, every seat was taken!  It was pouring rain outside and I've noticed that the neighbourhood shops are always full when that happens. There was no free table and I couldn't sit outside in the rain. So I bought a lemonade to go and went across the street to the grocery store where they have a little dining area. There I also bought a hot cup of coffee and proceeded to read a few chapters of a book I'd left unfinished for a fe

It's Saturday today and a glorious sunny day it was.  Though I am feeling much better, I am still having issues with my digestive tract after food poisoning just over a week ago. I didn't realize that convalescence would take so long. I'm not doing much yet but I have gotten back to regular appointments and errands. Thursday a friend and I went to a movie called "The Giver" with Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges and Katie Holmes. While it wasn't the best movie I've seen, it certainly was good enough to make a person think about the world we live in. In the movie, people live in a world where there is no colour or emotion, no sickness or war, no pain and no human touch, no books or knowledge of history.  It makes one realize that there can be an absence of all these things for all the "right reasons", usually idealistic reasons.  Yet the world can still be missing something and there can be hardship of another kind like no joy, no love, no touch, no

Hello friends, I've been very sick this past week. I contracted food poisoning and I think it was from some boxed fish purchased at the supermarket. I ate it a week ago and by the next evening I was suffering. By Thursday noon I was suffering even more. I finally went to the doctor on Saturday.  I'm happy to report that I'm doing better and am finally getting back to normal. Just yesterday it started to rain here. It didn't rain a lot but the sky is gray and the earth is a bit wet. have to say we have had a LONG run of sunny, hot or very warm weather. I guess Fall has now caught up with us. As I was taking a shot toward the mountains, a plane flew overhead. It looks lonely up there against a dismal sky. Whenever I have a bout of sickness, combined with overcast weather, I tend to want some home cooked "comfort" foods. I seldom make white bread any more but today I made both pizza dough (using Wolfgang Puck's recipe ) and French Bread ro

I've mentioned in earlier posts that my garden did not grow well this year. I also didn't do much to try and help it along other than watering but that didn't seem to be enough.  It was so hot and humid this summer and it wasn't until a very late season heavy rainfall that the plants started perking up a bit. Despite all that, my garden is still giving me some brilliant pops of colour and I am grateful for these gifts. I apologize for the quality of the photos. I tried hard to get some clear ones but it just wasn't happening today. Perhaps my camera has seen it's better days. In any case, I wanted a photo record of what the summer ended like. Joining Skywatch Friday this week. Happy weekend!

Recently, my friend Jonah went on another mission to the Pokot people of Kenya, near Lake Baringo (circled in red on the map). I have travelled to the area a few times and can tell you from first hand experience that is a very dry place.  (Over the last year the general area has been hit hard by flooding and lake overflow causing destruction of several hotels).  There isn't much in the way of towns and cities and amenities beyond a place called Marigat which I have written about before. Jonah is pointing to some water but this isn't Lake Baringo which is much larger and has resident hippos and crocodiles. Water is a scarce and precious commodity. Jonah joins the others in refreshing his hands in the wonderful water. See all the water bottles and oil containers. The people will fill them with water. Close Up of Some of the Women  I love their faces and their smiles. They still show much joy despite the harsh living in

It has been awhile since I posted. To be honest, I have tried posting earlier but I've discovered that since I upgraded to Windows 8.1 a lot of things don't work (phone to computer connection, printer, scanner). Of course they still work but they all need to be reset somehow. I'm no good at that kind of thing. I usually get my brother to set everything up. He will do so but then neglect to tell me he didn't download a certain program or connect up my printer. That kind of thing. And isn't it Murphy's Law that you always need something the most when it isn't actually working as it should? I discovered that last week when I was trying to scan some documents and help my nephew out with some on line research. The computer connection would just "spin around". I'm not sure what the technical term for it is. Later on we discovered that my wi-fi signal wasn't working. A call to the telecommunications company resulted in them changing the mod