Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fall. Show all posts

Monday, November 13, 2023

Tuesday 4 ~ Fall Y'all


Happy Fall Y'all

Welcome to Tuesday 4. So, can we talk about how your autumn is going this year? Maybe we can get you to post a photo  or two of your area in autumn...big changes or not.

1. Are leaves still falling where you are or are they done now? Have they even changed yet?

Oh yes, leaves changed colour several weeks ago and a lot have fallen to the ground. Last week I thought we were nearing the end of the falling leaves but perhaps there is still another week or two before the end. Here are a few recent photos taken in the neighbourhood.







2.  Does anyone in your family go hunting? Have you ever gone? Would you tell us about it?

No one goes hunting anymore but when I was growing up my dad and my uncles would go hunting for moose. I absolutely love moose meat, especially moose steaks with onions fried in lard and seasoned liberally with salt. Once cooked and while the pan and lard are still hot, you smear a piece of bread in the pan drippings. Usually we ate the meat and bread with boiled potatoes. Oh my, it doesn't get much better than that!  I've never gone hunting myself but I would have loved to have gone. My mom also used to set snares to trap rabbits in winter. She liked rabbit stew but I didn't like it myself. I went with her a few times to collect the rabbits and help skin them but I never learned how to set the snares.

 3.  Who rakes the leaves at your house?

There isn't a lawn to rake at my house but we do have a few trees and we get a lot of fallen leaves every year.  I usually clean these up in the spring when I get the patio ready for the summer.

4. Is football on your menu for fall? What teams get you cheering?

No it isn't. I never watch football.

Sunday, August 29, 2021

A Change of Season?


 Hi friends,

There's been a distinct chill at night over the past week  and it also rained for a few days here and there the sun came out but you can still feel the chill in the air. It got me thinking about the fall season.  One of my favourite seasons except for the fact that it is far too short!

On a whim I decided to go to another part of town today (Saturday).  I had to pick up a few specific items plus I made time to browse.  I decided to buy these colourful, artificial flowers and stems and put together this display. I also added some fairy lights amongst the blossoms to give off a hygge-ly glow at night. I think I need another 3 or 4 stems to give it a bit more fullness.

I don't normally enjoy artificial flowers but they are certainly pretty and these days they can look so real.  The one thing I do love about artificial flowers is they don't die. I love flowers and I love colourful flowers so these ones will last me for awhile without needing to worry about finding fresh ones that aren't too dear. In years gone by it was very easy to stop in every other store and buy a bouquet of fresh flowers. One often picked up a bunch to enjoy at home or to take to the host of a dinner party.  It has become harder to do as most of those small stores have disappeared and the cost of a bouquet is now quite high considering the blossoms generally don't last more than a few days. 

Anyway I'm pleased with these blossoms and I will keep my eye out for a few more stems.  I'm especially happy about the small battery powered lights. Having the ambience on a dark night is always so enjoyable.

This little poem captures my feelings about fall.  While summer isn't quite over and we will likely get warmer temperatures again soon, for now it feels like a new season has begun.  How is it where you live?



Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, October 29, 2020

October is Already Gone!

 Hi friends, 

I hope you are all doing fine and enjoying the change of seasons. Since I last posted a few days ago the weather has warmed up considerably and I can now turn down my thermostat. Usually when it warms up at this time of year it means rain so I expect that over the coming days.

When it's raining it's a good time to cosy up with a good book and hot drink.  Here are the next few books in my reading pile.



Book number 59, reading goals 2020.


Book number 59, reading goals 2020.

Book #60, reading goals 2020

 

The red blob in the bowl is home made ice cream which I made Tuesday night in my Vitamix blender. This is a photo taken as an afterthought after the ice cream had been sitting for about 20 minutes. It is made of a frozen wild berry mix, chia seeds and cream. Yum! It's one of my favourite snacks. A variation on this is making a smoothie with a vegan protein powder, berries and water (no milk, cream or yogurt).


I went late night shopping on Wednesday night for a carpet/rug cleaner I have been eyeing. It was on sale at a local store. It is also available on Amazon for the same price but I prefer to get it in the brick and mortar store when I can.  I also bought stain remover and soap cleanser for the machine.  Now I am all set to clean the carpets. My goal is to do a thorough cleaning of all the traffic areas before I start decorating for Christmas.  I don't plan on moving the furniture unless it's chairs or plants or something small.

On the way home from shopping there was a beautiful sunset over the Fraser River. Unfortunately I could not stop to take a photograph for you.  By the time I got home and started dinner it was quite late.  By the time dinner was ready I was feeling a bit light headed and I ate too much as my blood sugar was probably a little too low.

The stuffed pork chops were just right.  Normally the pork chops on offer at the store are very lean.  But these ones were quite fat and had a lot of marbling.  This turned out well because I like roasting my meat for a long time but sometimes they get too dry if they don't have adequate fat.  We had sides of caramelized onions, mashed potatoes and a simple salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and avocado in a dressing of Balsamic vinegar and grapeseed oil.  Everything was delicious. It sounds funny for me to say that but I can appreciate my own cooking and I'm happy when whatever I've made hits the spot otherwise it would be a waste of food and cooking effort.


 
Since I haven't had time to take some good photos I am sharing some that I took in early October of 2019.



Here is another photo from my archives.

This one was taken at the Stanley Park downtown along the beginning of the seawall (south side)

This dog had so much fun running into the ocean to fetch the stick. It always amazes me how dogs never seem to tire of playing fetch with their owners. As you can see I shot this photo into the sun. I always read you shouldn't do that but personally I like to do it from time to time.


 

These little bird photos are also from my archives. I'm afraid I don't capture birds very well because they move too fast for me.  I am not one hundred percent certain but I think the first bird (first 3 photos) are of a sparrow. It looks somewhat bedraggled because I believe it was a super hot summer. I think the last two photos are of little chickadees. These are the two main types of birds that come to my patio besides the hummingbird. Update:  Thank you to Eileen over at Saturday's Critters for identifying the first bird which is a finch not a sparrow.






Given Saturday is Halloween I am posting a few photos of spider webs.  I do not celebrate on October 31st but I know many people do. I'm finding people are getting quite creative about the way to celebrate since the health officials are strongly urging people not to go out door to door.



I cannot believe how fast this month has gone. I know I say that quite often, lol but it is so true that time passes far too quickly. I don't want to waste a minute of the time I have. I don't count relaxation like reading or watching television as wasted time for the most part because we all do need to build relaxation in our daily lives so we can stay happy and enjoy life more.

Speaking of happiness, I found a graphic some months back and meant to share (I don't believe I ever did). The suggestions for being happy apply at any time but maybe this year they are more important than ever.

 Tell me dear reader, do you agree with these suggestions for happiness and do you have any additional suggestions?

 

Thank you for stopping by. Please stay safe until we meet again in this space or yours.

I will be linking up with 

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

At the Half Way Mark in the Month

I had a super busy day on Monday, October 19th (approximately the half way point of the month) and it was the start of a very busy week.  While I ran my errands the rain stopped and sun came out so I snapped a few photos to share on Skywatch Friday this week.  I hope you enjoy. 








Dinner was quick:  stir fried pork cubes with Swiss chard from my garden and daikon radish (and spices) and a dish of stir fried noodles with a variety of vegetables and chili garlic oil.  I ended the day with a clean sink and all the dishes put away. I mostly wash the evening dishes, cutlery and pots and pans but I don't always finish the job. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf because everything put away makes the evening and the morning much nicer.

This month is flying by so quickly. We had two family birthdays a month apart (and celebrated them differently due to Covid).  We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada on October 12th and cooking a traditional dinner takes time whether it is for 2 people or 10 people .  I'm doing a major declutter of paper.  I've been going through a long, long process of fully decluttering my home and I am  now on the paper files. I've got so many that accumulated mostly while my late mom was ill. I didn't want to throw anything out. Now I've got to sort through it all and keep only what I really need of hers, my late sisters and also my own paperwork.  It feels good to finally get rid of paper that have been cluttering my space and my mind for so long. 

I have also been getting rid of larger items, not just items from the kitchen cabinet and closets. I could finally be offloading the very large power wheelchair which is taking up a lot of space near the entry way.  Friends of mine have been fund raising to replace the battery and charger and ultimately gift the chair to a paraplegic lady who can really make use of it. The fund raising efforts are very slow.  But it sounds like they have more than enough now to at least have a technician come over to evaluate everything.  I will know more in a week or two.

I've also been busy learning a new routine for running the household and though I'm not fully on board with the program it is a big help. I suppose any method one uses to keep on top of the household is helpful. I never found the household maintenance to be very difficult when I was younger.  I guess I have slowed down a lot because these days the running of the household seems to take up more time. I think the key is to find an approach you like and stick with it and consistently apply the routines.  If anyone is interested, check out FlyLady or Diane in Denmark, both of whom are on You Tube. Diane actually was a Fly Lady mentor for many years and still teaches others how to implement the system.  I enjoy her sparkly personality and motivational pep talks.  What I like about the system so far is that many things are done in 15 minute increments.  As they like to say, "you can do almost anything in 15 minute increments".

I'll be linking up with Skywatch Friday later this week. I send you my best wishes for a beautiful and safe weekend. If you missed my post about Kenya you can read it here.


Saturday, October 19, 2019

Marking the Year in Reading & Looking Back

This year my reading goal was 25 books. Once I reached that level any extra reading I did was to be enjoyed whenever I had time. I am now up to 44 books (those in the picture below) and I have no end goal. Right now I am trying to read and learn from some fashion and cooking books. The only problem is usually when I want to do that there is a queue of people who want the books too and sometimes one cannot renew them. Our library system allows 2 renewals if you are not caught up with too many people needing the book so altogether you can borrow a book for 9 weeks.



In addition to reading the library books I am reading chronologically through the New Testament. I try to read about 5 chapters a day.  Right now I am in the last chapters of the Book of John.  I am also reading the Book of Revelation. I haven't much read the Book of Revelation since I was a child and it isn't a book that many churches teach about. Once I've read this Book a few times on my own I will go over a third time with a Bible Study series on the book. I think it's important to be prepared in better understanding as I look around me and I hear the events happening the world over.

It was Thanksgiving the other day and I shared some Fall colours in my post. You can look here for Fall colours in 2019.  I thought it would also be fun to see what October looked like last year by way of comparison.  The following photos were taken in early October 2018. I remember the day well. It was a gorgeous, sunny and warm day. The Fall colours were not yet that in full array.








The Go Fund Me campaign button is now ready in the side bar.  This is to help
Eunice with hospital and medical needs. For those who are new to this campaign you can read all the details at the link (in the side bar at top right).

Thank you for visiting.

I hope to see you again soon.

🍁

🍁

 🍁

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Fall Colour & Sunshine

I went to City Hall to try and vote in the advance poll for a new Mayor and city Councillors. The line up was so long and I had many other errands to run so I decided to wait until Saturday which is when the regular poll will be open.

City Hall (front)


Back (northern view) from City Hall. Downtown is in the distance.


We've been having fabulous Fall weather this past week or so and the fall foliage is still on the trees but just barely in some cases. These photos were taken on my walk to City Hall.








The next several photos were taken on the weekend. Look at the tree on the left side of the photo below. It's completely  missing half it's leaves.





The large building complex in the photo below is nearing completion. You might recognize the tower from many of my earlier posts. I've been watching it go up for what seems like years though I think the construction started in earnest  last October.


I've heard that the tower is ready for move in though I'm not sure when the move in date is. The condominiums were sold out several years ago.


There will be a grocery market on the ground level. (The tower peeking out in the back is the one I've featured numerous times in my blog posts).  This is a higher end market called Nester's. There is already a branch of this grocery market a short 10 minute bus ride away to the south but this store will make grocery shopping extremely convenient for the resident owners. In fact there there is another food store just behind the building across the street.


I spotted this cute puppy at the park. He really didn't want to walk and laid down on the grass to protest. Eventually he followed his master and they went ahead in the general direction that I travelled.


Time has been flying buy as always. I'm still not quite 100% healthy though I'm learning I always feel sub par during the Fall months. It is my favourite season but I always seem to be sick for much of it with low grade fever, headache and fatigue. At least I can still enjoy the seasonal colour and I still try to keep up with a schedule as bet I can.
 The weather is supposed to remain good for a few days.  If I have time I will take a walk around a lagoon in the park downtown soon.  We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I'm making good progress on an afghan I've decided to make for a friend's Christmas gift.  She doesn't read this blog so she won't find out what I'm making.

I have plans Thursday for surprising my brother for his birthday. Not a party as such because he has his own plans but a little something to mark the occasion. On Friday I will go to dinner with a friend and a lady missionary to Taiwan. Saturday is voting day and somewhere in between I have errands and the walk I'd like to take.  I hope to share photos in this space later.

Joining in with




Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!


It Was a Spectacular Day! ~ Skywatch

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, It was a spectacular, sunny day where I live. It's still rather chilly from my point of view but the ...