SNAP THAT

Since I posted last we've had a major wind and rain storm here in Vancouver. I was without power for the better part of a day and night but my power was restored in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  There are still over 30,000 homes without power. In addition to a long power outage on Saturday evening, I also had a fire alarm near midnight. It was nothing to do with a fire but you just never know so out you go. Thankfully I wasn't asleep yet but many of my neighbours were wearing night clothes.  I didn't take any photos of the storm damage but click here for today's storm update and to see the extensive damage. Now that our hot weather is behind us and Fall on the way I will likely be waxing a bit nostalgic about the beautiful summer flowers.  However this year was so hot that it was hard to enjoy the flowers and some (most) gardens, including public gardens really suffered for lack of water due to lack of rain and resulting water restrictions. Mosaic of summer f

"Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best." Bernard Meltzer *You can click all photos to enlarge for better viewing.* Beautiful macaws Beautiful orchids & a finch. Can you spot it? Beautiful little finches Joining in with Saturday's Critters . Thank you to Eileen for hosting this meme. I'll also be linking up Judith for Mosaic Monday . Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

There were some interesting clouds in the sky yesterday but only one of my photos came out clearly enough to post.  I was actually trying to capture the moon which you see in the photo below. Fast moving clouds meant it would only come into view intermittently.   There are sure to be some excellent shots of the moon on line this week as the first of 3 supermoons occurs August 29, 2015. I can't take night shots so I'll be looking for your photos. I'm joining up with Skywatch Friday this week. I hope each of you has a great weekend. I'll be by to look at your sky shots.

Time passes so quickly by. I know I say that a  lot and I hear it a lot from my friends too. But honestly, where does the time go? Hey I think there is a song by that name. Let me digress a moment and check out that song. My mind does like to wander. Okay I found "Where Does the Time Go" by Barry Manilow. But that isn't the song I'm thinking of. I thought there was a song from a few decades back. There is another song by Sandy Denny & the Strawberries called "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" That's the one I remember.  I really only remember the very last refrain. I prefer a slower version of this song as sung by the last Sandy Denny (died 1978)  in the band, the Fairport Convention.  Here is a video of this lovely folk song in case you'd like to listen to it. It isn't really a video because there are no moving pictures but there is good audio. It's vibe captures how I feel about the passing of time (sad). There is just so mu

Little Baby Fidelis and her mom Martha have arrived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  They arrived at about 12:10 p.m. on Saturday August 23, 2015. Baby Fidelis & mom Martha, with welcome bear. Isn't Baby Fidelis just the sweetest child? She is already holding the bear so well. Here with host family at Pearson International Airport. The host mom is a nurse who hails from Kenya. It is a very long journey from Kenya for mother and child. Surgery is already set for Monday. Please pray for the child and the doctors and nurses. Baby Fidelis and her mom Martha are expected to be in Canada for six months as the baby undergoes further follow-up. I imagine there is more than one surgery involved as the baby's face has to be reconstructed. Photo credits : I retrieved these pics from Kenyan media. I believe they were all taken by the host family & posted to Facebook to update people on the baby's safe arrival.

Hello everyone, I'm still sharing the beautiful birds I photographed at the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver this summer. Today I'm featuring three small birds. This bird was prettily perched on a huge palm leaf so I almost missed it. This little bird was busily gathering feathers for nest building. This bird has the loveliest colours. I have more photos of it. Do any of you know the names of these birds? If "yes' you can write them in the comments section. I have the names  of the birds. I'm just curious to see how many of my readers already know them since there are a huge number of bird watchers out there. I will return and post the names in a few days. I also saw a very pretty sky earlier this week and haven't had a chance to upload the photos yet. I hope you like them too. I'm joining in with Saturday's Critters and Skywatch Friday this week.  I'm a bit late for both but here goes anyway. Update: August 2

Dear Friends, At last the Baby Fidelis and her mom are on the way to Canada! In fact they may have arrived in Toronto as this news is being posted. See and hear all the details in the video I've posted. I cannot wait to see how the baby looks after surgery and facial reconstruction. I'm so delighted that she and her family will have a new lease on life. Thank you to those who gave and to those who prayed. May God richly bless you all! Have a wonderful weekend. UPDATE August 23/15:   Sorry dear readers. The video I posted has now been removed from youtube. I have no idea why. It might have to do with the fact that the baby's identity information (passport) was also posted.

Graphic Credit: touched2betouched.tumblr.com Approximately 9 hours ago ( 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time), the Kenyan reporters were saying the family was still trying to get visa and funds together. Slightly overlapping that update, was news that Baby Fidelis and mom will be travelling from Kenya to Canada on Friday (tomorrow). In another development,  His Excellency, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya was reported to have  gotten involved in the Baby Fidelis case.  It is said that he has donated money.  This is in addition to the funds donated by Muranga governor Mwangi Wairia.  The amount donated should cover all the costs associated with the long stay in Canada. As for Joseph  (aka Alejandro) Wanjau, he was arrested on Thursday.  The police used two friends to lead him to a place where he was then arrested.  It remains to be seen what the defense will be. I want to thank all those that have prayed for a good outcome for Baby Fidelis despite the circumstances. Baby F

Hello everyone, This post will be brief. I am so sad to report that Baby Fidelis' surgery in Toronto did  not go forward on August 18, 2015 as scheduled. A monetary dispute between Fidelis' family and the family advocate, Joseph, has erupted and interfered with the scheduled surgery. Serious allegations have been made and the police are now involved. I don't have too many details and I'm looking for positives in this matter. The advocate says no funds have been stolen or lost.  So if he can be believed, that is good news.  However to the best of my knowledge, the funds haven't been transferred to Baby Fidelis' family yet.  Neither have the Canadian visitor's visas been given over to the baby and her mother. A bit of good news is that the hospital in Canada says they will open a new surgery date for Baby Fidelis if the family can get to Canada soon.  Major hospitals in Kenya cannot do the type of surgery that Baby Fidelis requires which is why she h

View north to the mountains which are obscured by low lying cloud. When night falls, the cross on the church steeple will be illuminated. Southeastern view of the sky.  I always like to see the flag waving in the wind. At last we might be getting a bit of rain here in Vancouver. Not much has fallen yet but hopefully tonight it will. Checking in with Skywatch Friday .

I  am finally getting around to sharing a few more photos of the beautiful birds I photographed this summer.  I will be joining in with host, Eileen at Saturday's Critter s. Thank you Eileen for managing this wonderful meme.  If you missed my Skywatch post & brief update on medical missions in Kenya, you can find it by clicking here. Bloedel Conservatory located in Vancouver's beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park & home to the birds. Casey, the Amazon Parrot Kramer, the Moluccan Cockatoo Moluccans are the largest of the cockatoo family and are extremely intelligent. I've read that Kramer loves peppermint tea, baseball hats, and is a very good dancer.  Sometimes he swings upside-down from his perch and puts on a show.  I was fortunate enough to see him put on a show when I visited though.  He was quite cooperative in posing for photos for me and only put the show on when he had an audience. Kramer has a large vocabulary and says things like

It was just about two weeks ago since I went to see mom. Here are a couple more sky photos from the drive. It was a bit cloudy as you can see in the pics but that day the temperatures soared to 33 degrees Celsius by mid-to- late afternoon.  Since then they have been experiencing temperatures in the low 30s.Today it was 31 degrees.I much prefer the temperatures where I am now since it has cooled off a lot. The day ended with a lovely sunset. Short update:  My friends in Kenya have now got the travel visa to travel to Toronto Canada and they will arrive sometime next week. Continue to pray for this group of travelers: for all their needs to be met, for a safe journey and for a successful surgery for Baby Fidelis. I am so excited for her and her family. Soon she will be able to resume a normal life free of pain and discomfort. Photo Credit: Hope Foundation for Orphans, Kenya My friend's mother, Eunice is still at the missions hospital but now on a

I've fallen behind in my reading goals for the year so have been trying to make up for it. I've just finished reading London which is well over 1000 pages. This was my third book and perhaps the longest book by Edward Rutherfurd.  Maybe it only seems like the longest because it took me much longer to read it than the other two books ( New York and Paris ). London didn't quite meet my expectations. It started out strong and finished with a whimper. The book spans 2000 years and I admire a writer who tries to take on such a project even if the effort was not entirely successful. Alexander McCall-Smith is a prolific writer and has written several different series of books; each of  which are vastly different.  I've read many books from his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, all of which are set in Botswana, Africa. These are my favourite books from this author.   I have also read a few books from a few of his other series. I like them a little less but they a