SNAP THAT

I've long noticed (and heard on the news) that Hallowe'en has moved up several spots in the retailer bonanza. This means the day is no longer just for children.  In fact, I daresay that adults have virtually taken over the day from the children and use it as an occasion for dress up and partying. As each year that goes by the restaurants and retail stores also get caught up in the day because they are trying to entice the adults to spend.  In my small sample of photos, I saw several restaurants using the Hallowe'en theme to decorate and offering themed food and drinks.  These days I think small business owners have to work very hard to stay in business so they get creative.  I even saw one high end consignment shop trying to induce shoppers with the creative use of clothes for elegant costumes. I took these photos as I was doing errands late this afternoon. I don't celebrate Hallowe'en. I  gave that up when I was twelve but I do understand that little child

A collection of  critter photos taken down at the beach recently. I don't know what all the commotion was but there were swarms of birds in the sky. There were more than this but I didn't have a chance to capture them. they were moving too quickly for me. This nice dog had lots of fun watching the water and digging a hole in the sand for his ball. His owner was relaxing with a book. This was a smaller swarm of black birds. I think they are crows.  The black colour looks so nice against such a beautiful blue sky. The birds perched atop a few trees before flying off again a few minutes later.  Boy did they make a racket as they called to one another as they flew off. I often wonder what it is they are telling one another.  Since they made racket in their landing and their leaving, I assume they were cawing about where to land and when to leave. Joining in with host Eileen at Saturday's Critters. Yesterdays' Skywatch Friday

I'm glad I took these photos while the sun was shining because this week it has been raining and overcast. I went to see the new movie, "Truth" today.  The events depicted in the movie are those responsible for the resignation of Dan Rather and the firing of producer, Mary Mapes from "60 Minutes".  The movie is a bit long and draggy in parts but is worthwhile going to see for the excellent performances of  Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Dennis Quaid & Topher Grace. I don't remember this particular story that gripped the American press so it was a good insight into some of the history of the times. I've also added two more books to my reading pile. One, Moonstone (written by Wilkie Collins), was recommended by blogger  Frugal in France .  The other I got from a woman in the movie line up tonight.  She was reading Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis.  When she and I discussed the book I thought  it sounded like a very interesti

Oh my, the time is going quickly, so quickly. I know I've said that before. Before you know it Christmas will be here! In the meantime, I've got a lot to catch up on; including reading. I'm still about 13 books short of meeting this year's reading goal of 45 books. It is a goal easy enough to reach but not if you've gone months without reading and are busy with many other things. I'm doing my best to catch up but it won't be the end of the world if I do not meet the goal. I will simply shift some books to next year. This week I've finished reading the following books: This was an easy read and had some good tips;  especially for retirees in USA. This is interesting because it gives insight into how a poor Puerto Rican rose to become a US Supreme Court Justice. This book gives insight into the traditional spiritual ways of Lakota people. ~~~~~~ I enjoyed all three of these books for different reasons and if you are looki

Hello friends,  It has been a busy week.  Several days a week, I have been trying to devote time to the study Spanish.  I've also been scouring used book shops for good dictionaries and phrase books. I purchased this small phrase book of Latin American Spanish, a book of verbs and a small dictionary.  If I continue to spend time in self learning I will expand the Spanish language resources I have. My Spanish teacher is from Mexico. Thoughts and prayers are with the people of Mexico right now. They have just experienced one of the strongest hurricanes on record on the Pacific Coast. Many of us have thankfully never had to experience a hurricane and I can only imagine the horror of it all. For some of you this will hit closer to home if you have friends visiting the country or family living there. I've said before that Fall/Autumn season is my favourite time of year. Each year I try to get some photos of the Fall/Autumn colours but it has been so very b

Yesterday I wrote about the young mother from Pokot area of western  Kenya who had to be rushed to hospital to deliver  her baby who was in a breech position. Like many young girls and women in Kenya, this mother has had female circumcision done, better known by some as female genital mutilation (FMG) and medically as clitoridectomy. The mother was rushed to a clinic at Kacheliba which is a great distance away from her home (45 kilometres one way).   Her child was born successfully with the help of medical intervention.  The mother lived too but is not doing well.  She is ruptured down below and needs surgery.  I believe this problem is called "fistula".  The surgery to repair cannot be done at the little clinic where the mother and child are currently admitted. It requires her travelling to another larger center (Kitale or Eldoret) and so a lot of resources are required for the travel, the surgery and care while she is away  from home. I'm not certai

 My friends who live in the highlands near Kericho, Kenya are once again on a humanitarian mission and have sent me some photos to share. The first few photos show the beautiful, blue sky with wisps of cloud. I have been to some Pokot communities but not nearly as far north as my friends often travel. They travel to different areas of Pokot country in Kenya every month, or every other month,  whenever they can get enough donations to to buy food-aid and petrol.  The vehicle they drive is borrowed from the church but if something happens that requires repair they must repair the car before they return it to the church. Considering these believers from Kericho are not wealthy, they take on great responsibility to make sure they minister to those that are less fortunate. The people they minister to are called the Pokot and I've written about them before. The northern and western areas of Kenya, where the Pokot people tend to live is very arid and the people are going hung

It is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I want to wish my Canadian readers a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm grateful to have an officially sanctioned time each year to to pause the ordinary course of events and reflect on the goodness of God and the blessings in my life. Of course one doesn't need to wait and give thanks only once per year. I try to do that on a frequent basis but it is still nice to have one holiday called Thanksgiving. Even more so if one knows the purpose of the holiday. Life comes with it's share of sorrows, trials and tribulations and it can make some people very bitter. But there are also times of  joy and happy moments. Daily too there are little things that give our lives added beauty, joy and meaning and put a smile on our faces if we let them..  As a person with an abiding faith I also hold on to the scripture that says  "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called accord

Seagull at Granville Island in Vancouver Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver is a destination for tourists and locals alike. There is a lot to look at and admire on the waterfront and the atmosphere is very peaceful and enjoyable even when there are hordes of people around. At least, I find it so, but I don't get to this place too often anymore. I may get there at least once, perhaps twice a year.  This time I was with a friend who likes to go there and it was probably the quietest I have ever seen it. It looks like the group of ladies in the background were enjoying shopping and picture taking. I think they may have been waiting for one of the Aqua buses that goes from one end of the Island to downtown Vancouver. I found these seagulls just in time for Saturday's Critters with Eileen.  Have a great weekend everyone! If you missed my post from Thursday please see it here . Especially if you are the praying kind.  Thanks so much!

These are current scenes of Fall/Autumn where I live.  The first set of photos were snapped early evening just as sun was setting today on Tuesday . You can see the sky is very dark and cloudy.  But we've had lovely sunshine and warmish temperatures for several weeks, interspersed with light rain for a day or two before the rain started this week. I haven't done any gardening since about the middle of August.  I need to make time to clean it up a bit before the winter comes around. Many of the trees have lost their leaves due to wind and rain but there are still some lovely colours all around. I snapped the next few photos when I went out for errands today. It was quite wet! These next shots will show October in a small Kenyan town in the highlands and were sent to me by a Kenyan friend there.  My friends in the highlands have already started experiencing heavy rains. It is expected to go on until December