The Sky Looks Like a Painting

Hi friends,

Happy Friday to you all. We've made it through another week intact.  When I last shared in this space a few days ago I mentioned it would be raining for a good part of the next two weeks. I'm happy to report that we had 2 nice days of sunshine. I made it out to grocery shopping early Thursday evening. It was just in time as the sky turned dark in readiness for rain again soon.

I've been using the recent rainy days to read. I finished the books I mentioned in my last post here.

Currently I am reading two new books. One called Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate. This is a gut wrenching story based on a real life scandal in Tennessee where the director of an adoption agency was involved in kidnapping and selling the children of poor families into wealthy families.  The other book is called My Vanishing Country:  A Memoir by Bakari Sellers, elected in 2006 at just 22 years old, the youngest ever representative of the South Carolina legislature. Bakari Sellers is a lawyer and CNN political analyst.  This book is part memoir, part cultural analysis. It's set in the author's hometown of Denmark, South Carolina, one of the poorest states in the USA. I've just started the book but I've read it will trace his father's friendships with Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian-American civil rights leader and Martin Luther King, civil rights hero and explore the plight of the rural South's dwindling black working class.

It isn't very often I get to see such vibrant colour in the morning sky. I was lucky to capture these images.

Enjoy the sky where ever you are in the world. 

Keep well and keep safe.

Joining Skywatch Friday today and paying homage to Friday Foto Friends. xx

What's Up?

Hi friends,

I hope you are all doing great and enjoying whatever season you are currently experiencing. It is spring in my part of the world. It came late and as usual the best part for me, the cherry and apple blossoms, were so very fleeting and I hardly got a chance to appreciate and enjoy them.

I seem to get a shorter chance each season to enjoy them so I'm always grateful for the photos I manage to take of them each year and for the photos others share on their blogs. If you missed some beautiful blossoms you can enjoy a few here.

Much of our spring so far has been cold and rainy. From time to time I hear the weather person saying the temperatures have been seasonal or normal for this time of year with the exception of a few days here and there but in my own recollection it has seemed colder. We had warmer temperatures in January (unseasonably warm) than we did in much of the following months. That should be changing this week as we are supposed to get dry, sunny days with increasing temperatures to the end of the week.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I spent a bit of time in the patio garden because it was sunny as expected. Each day the temperature increased slightly over the day previous.

I'm including the photo below to show you how clear the sky was early Tuesday evening. I also wanted to share the painting on the side of the building. I always stop to admire it from across the street.

I look forward to the sunshine we are having.  But I'll be happier if the temperatures don't soar to high in the coming days and weeks. Today, Wednesday, it already felt very hot.  We have wildfire issues almost every year and so it's best the temperatures do not soar too high too early. Wildfires have become a concern each and every year for some time now. Not only is it devastating to our beautiful forests and private properties,  it is dangerous work to fight the fires and expensive for the governments and taxpayers. The budget for fire fighting is increasing each year as wild fires unfortunately become the norm. I think most of us attribute this state of affairs to climate change.  However I also heard on the news that almost 50% of the fires are caused by humans being careless. In this day and age one would think that people would be more careful.

I'm sharing the photo below because some of you might remember that the high rise (with the tree on the roof top) can be seen from my balcony or patio. It seems like it has been going up for a very long time but at least the past half a year seems to have been spent on the finishing touches. It looks like they are getting very close to occupancy.

Starbucks is on the street level and has been open for a few months already.  Recently, a friend of mine who visited from Toronto, Canada spent every day there studying for the legal bar examinations to qualify as a lawyer in BC. I met him there a few times for coffee.  The second floor of the building will house a grocery market called Nester's. When I look at it from across the street I can see the shelving going in but I'm not sure when they plan to open for business.

On the other side of the Chevron gas station is a new and very popular pub/restaurant. It has replaced a Japanese restaurant which I frequented.  One day it was open and the next day unbeknownst to me it closed it's business. Just beyond the restaurant, a few doors away (at the street corner) a popular produce place has closed. I used to enjoy stopping there for fresh fruit, vegetables and organic products.

I think the taxes for small business are simply too high. Recently the city council raised property taxes twice in 2019 (my property taxes increased first to 4.5 to 6.0 percent this year even though property prices have dropped).  The additional 1.5 percent increase was supposedly to lessen the tax burden on small businesses but some business owners have told me that their landlords had already increased their rents.  This means the tax increase did not achieve it's stated purpose.  It only makes the tax burden heavier on individual owners IMHO.

I feel I am so far behind in various tasks I'd like to do that really need to be done in a timely manner. For example, I haven't planted yet at the community plot. I was hoping to do it earlier this week with the nicer weather we are having but have been tired and also busy with other priorities. I am hoping to get there tomorrow or Friday. I prepared the soil over a month ago and have been waiting for just the right day to plant both gardens.  I see the date on my photo below is almost 2 months ago when I cleaned the garden debris and added fertilizer. But honestly the weather has been either cold or wet since to feel like doing much more. I'm probably the last gardener to get my garden planted at the community plot.

In the patio garden I've put out the furniture (minus the cushions until the rain stops) and covered the outdoor tables with tablecloths.  I've been visited almost every day by my neighbour's new cat. The cat is only a year old and is very pretty, friendly and mostly fearless.  I'm of two minds about her coming to my patio garden so often.  I caught her digging in my garden the other day and I became concerned when I  saw one of the recently planted bulbs laying exposed on the surface of the soil. Not only might she destroy what I've planted but she might also start doing her business in the garden. My neighbour assures me she won't but I suggested she try to train her cat to stay on her side of the patio.  On the other hand, she is very sweet cat and I enjoy seeing her so it is hard to get angry over her visits.  I can tell my neighbour is anxious and wants me to like her new kitty cat so that I won't raise a fuss about it. But I know she is also concerned that her cat might start jumping over the partition to the neighbours beyond. That might prove more problematic.

Back to planting matters.  This year I wasn't able to plant many pansies.  Though I purchased enough of them the delay in planting means that at least half of them died off.  The other half don't look that great but I've planted them anyway and am hoping they will revive with some tender loving care.  This will be the first year I haven't planted many pansies since I first started gardening.  I've also planted fewer petunias this year but they tend to grow quickly so it should be fine.  I love all the colour petunias bring to the garden and the happy faces of pansies in full bloom.  To make up for the lack of pansies and petunias I've planted a lot of red geraniums.  Their brilliant colourful blooms always cheer me when I see them flowering in the garden.  The garden will look much better soon when the flowers and other plants start to mature.  I spotted a pretty little hummingbird last night. Hopefully I will see a lot more of them this summer. Maybe I'll finally be able to catch a photo of one this year if I can spend more time outside relaxing.

As we head into warmer weather it is also a time for better grooming with the hair and nails. I got the hair coloured, highlighted and trimmed. It wasn't the best job my hairdresser did this time around but it is more than adequate. This week or next week I'm hoping to get a massage and foot reflexology session using coupons I purchased 2 months ago already. They will expire in another few weeks so I must make sure to use them.  The nails will have to wait since my fingernails are damaged from the last person who did them. I cannot believe it but they need time to regrow.

This post was longer so I cut out several paragraphs.
I've got lots to keep me busy from now to at least the end of summer and I'm also expecting visitors.
It means I will hopefully spend more time relaxing and enjoying my mornings and evenings out on the patio rather than simply doing things out in the community or indoors.


 I'm determined to sit outdoors this summer and read, enjoy my coffee, crochet or work on my laptop.  Last year I spent little time relaxing in the garden enjoying the fruits of my labour so I'd like to change that.

What about you dear reader?  Do you have some restful summer plans or active and adventurous plans?

Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for stopping by.
Before I go let me wish all the mothers a
Happy Mother's Day.
 Many of us, like me, have lost our mothers and so it is a time to remember them fondly with love and joy for all they did for us.

Joining in with 

Skywatch Friday

I was going to post this week to

Friday Foto Friends
but Debbie says she will not be keeping this linky party going.


It's been fun while it lasted and I've met some wonderful lady bloggers through her efforts. All the best dear Debbie.

A Bit of This & That: Books, People, Paintings, Sky

I started the week tired so have been taking a bit of a break from heavy duty
 house cleaning while still trying to make a bit of progress.

I was very happy that I was able to recycle (by giving away) several household items (tablecloth,  oven mitts, scatter rug, dish rack and drying mats). It takes a lot of work to make sure items are clean, photograph them, post them on line and then respond to inquiries as well as arrange pick up times but it is so much better than throwing away items which are still in good enough condition to be used by someone else.

I also cleaned the cabinet under the Master Bathroom sink and installed a shelving unit. It makes a big difference and now I can have things nicely stored away.

I finished reading two books and am working on the 3rd one picked up recently at the local library. There is already a waiting list for the two books in the few days since I borrowed them. Whenever I see a waiting list for a book I try to hurry up and read it because I cannot renew a book for which there is a wait list.  If I finish a book quickly I also like to return them to the library quickly so that others may enjoy them.  Of course while at the library I  picked up 3 more books (2 books with tips for household cleaning and/or frugality and one novel).

It's been raining a lot here and I haven't managed to get to the planting of my gardens. However I can see the perennials coming up in my patio garden with all the rain we've been having. I still have to plant the bare spots and I'm hoping for better weather soon though Tuesday was a spectacular day.

On that day, or rather, that evening, a friend and I went to see the exhibition from French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 - 1959.  While in the line up to get into the museum I started chatting with the woman ahead of us. Instead of being a local resident, she was a visitor from Mexico City who was in Vancouver for a conference.  She was squeezing in some sightseeing whereever she could and it was her last night in the city.  I helped her out with some of her questions and then I invited her for coffee afterward which she readily accepted.  It was nice to sit and chat and be hospitable to a stranger.  Hopefully she will have a nice thought about Canada or Vancouver in years to come. This verse of scripture always comes to mind when I chat with a stranger

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

It isn't the reason I entertain strangers however. I just enjoy meeting people and showing them kindness or helpfulness. I think most people, including me, enjoy being on the receiving end of this kind of hospitality.

Now here are a few paintings (and one sculpture) that caught my eye at the exhibition. I did ask first if it was okay to take photos and the answer was 'yes' but no flash photography.

Carpet Merchant of Cairo, c. 1869 Artist Jean-Léon Gérôme

Madame Boursier and Her Daughter  c.1873 Artist Berthe Morisot

Young Women of Sparta, 1868-70 Artist Jean-Baptist-Camille Corot

Woman of African Descent, 1868, Artist Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

I end this post with a photo of the night sky on my walk to the bus station after coffee.

To cap the night I grabbed a quick bite to eat and stopped at the dollar store to see if I could find a small item I need.

I didn't find what I was looking for but I was satisfied with my day.

~~~~~

Joining with 

Skywatch Friday

and 

Friday Foto Friends

A Month of Skies

I thought it would be fun to do a series of sky photos taken over approximately one month in February and March 2019.

Vancouver, BC, March 12, 2019

Edmonton, Alberta, March 19, 2019

Edmonton, Alberta, March 18, 2019

Jasper area, BC - AB border, March 15, 2019

Nairobi, Kenya, February 17, 2019

Storks getting ready for night, Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2019

Joining with

 Skywatch Friday

 and

Friday Foto Friends 


Have a wonderful weekend!

Sunset Over Alberta

This sunset was captured on the drive back from the recent trip to Grande Prairie. 
The photos were taken while driving west on Highway 16 from Edmonton to Jasper (a few photos of Edmonton City can be found here, and photos of the drive north to Grande Prairie can be found here).
 I think the location of these photos was near the town of Entwistle as we hadn't yet reached the town of Edson.

Joining up with

Skywatch Friday

and 

Friday Foto Friends

Changes in Kenya

In yesterday's post I mentioned I'd been travelling and have recently landed back in Vancouver.

I hope to do several travel posts to bring you up to date but for now I wanted to share some changes coming for all those who live in Kenya or those who wish to travel to Kenya for tourism or for work.

Citizens of Kenya and all foreigners living in the country will now be required to apply for a Huduma Namba before they can apply for many other identification papers needed to operate in the country such as national ID cards, passports and so on. Even the elderly will require a Huduma Namba to apply for pensions though the roll out of pensions to the elderly hasn't even begun and has in fact been delayed for going on two years due to lack of money in the Treasury.

Article dated February 1, 2019 in Kenyan paper
(Click to enlarge)

Also, foreigners wanting to visit Kenya are being given shorter visas usually of one month duration rather than three.

All these changes come courtesy of Dr. Fred Matiang'i, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Security who has been on a mission to rid the country of illegal workers and those who live in the country without benefit of proper identification. For my non-Kenyan readers you can google immigration changes in Kenya for news articles and You Tube videos regarding these changes.

There are many reasons for the changes including freeing up jobs that can legitimately be done by Kenyan locals. Another overriding and important national concern is the number of people who live in the country or enter the country to do damage through terrorist activities.

Of course while I can understand the changes taking place and the hard line stance, unfortunately in the meantime, innocent people will be adversely affected by these changes. People like ex-pat NGO workers and Christian missionaries who are applying for or renewing work permits. Foreigners must now apply for their appropriate visas whilst in their countries of origin.

Tourists who wish to stay longer in Kenya are now being limited to a one month visa though I think one can apply for an extension up to three months. In former days one would get a tourist visa for three months with extensions possible to at least six months. Tourist visas are now available through an on line application and have been for the past several years. I applied for a visitor's visa which took longer to process and approve than the last time I applied. Though it stated it was good for three months, it also said that the length of time I could stay in Kenya would be determined by officials at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. My passport was stamped with a one month visa but it was only later that I realized it wasn't quite long enough. My stay in Kenya was about 35 days so several days longer than one month. One cannot be cavalier about overstaying a visa,  Fortunately it didn't cause me any problems when I checked in at the airport for the return journey home.

Just to illustrate how serious everything needs to be taken, as I was about to board the plane in Amsterdam for Nairobi, I was shocked to learn of a terrorist attack at the Dusit Hotel located in the very neighbourhood where I had booked lodgings. Momentarily I was in a panic and wondered what to do about accommodations. Friends quickly found me an alternative but I decided I needed to think and pray during the flight about what to do. By the time I landed in Nairobi I felt peace about retaining my original booking. As time went on I had no qualms about staying in Nairobi. I thank God for the peace and the protection while I was there.

Now that I'm back in Canada I'm dealing with Winter.  A late Winter storm has been hitting the west coast for just over a week.

I went from this

and this

Oshwal Center, Westlands, Nairobi

to this

A flock of birds flew past just as I was snapping this photo. Can you see?


While I cannot say I was happy to return to Winter weather it is always good to be home after a long journey especially when a number of important things need doing.

I am grateful that I was kept safe on my journey.  I'll be sharing more about this aspect in future posts.
In the meantime take care and have a wonderful weekend.

Sharing with

Skywatch Friday

Saturday's Critters

and

Friday Foto Friends
though this meme is on break for now.

Time is Passing So Quickly

We've been having gray skies and buckets of rain all week.
The news reports a lot of flooding in various parts of the city.
Other than a trip out on Sunday and some errands on Monday I've been staying inside so I am snug and dry.
A wind storm has now been forecast so I spent a bit of time today moved the patio furnishings and storing the patio umbrella so it doesn't blow away and damage things.

I've noticed how very dark it is now. Morning light comes later and evening dark comes earlier.
Thankfully the Winter equinox will arrive soon and gradually the days will become longer and lighter.

My blog post is entitled "Time is Passing So Quickly" because despite my early preparations I don't feel ready for Christmas.

I did complete Christmas shopping and wrapping and Christmas cards both paper and electronic. I also did the Christmas decorating. I've managed to meet with a few friends before the holidays and have one or two more to see in the next week.

 But there is still a lot to do: cleaning, sorting, paperwork, a bit of cooking and preparing to travel out of town.

I am not able to get much done each day.  I only do what I feel like doing so my list of things doesn't change much from day to day. At least I'm enjoying the Christmas lights during these dark days and I'm sure I'll get everything done that is important.

READING

My latest read is Becoming by Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States of America. I read it quickly and I found it very well written and interesting.  I shared the book with a number of friends all of whom told me they had the book on their reading lists.

Mrs. Obama will be here in Vancouver on March 21st and there is a lot of excitement around her visit. 

I'm not sure what I'll be doing then so I haven't purchased a ticket which means I'll probably miss out altogether. These kinds of events with well known people always sell out here.

I've read 57 books so far this year. My original reading goal was only 35 books but since July it seems I've been reading a lot of books.  I just kept increasing the goal as I read more and more books.
I am hoping to complete another 1 or 2 books before the end of the year.

CRAFTS

I haven't had time to work on crafting too much but I did manage to make 2 globes out of a few craft items from the Dollar Tree, Michael's Craft store and jars from my cupboard. I enjoyed this little craft and will know how to do a better job if I make some again in future.

A few weeks ago I also started the pink and berry afghan. I'm still not finished and I've run out of time to make the black, gray and white afghan I was hoping to have finished by now.
I guess that means I've made 8 afghans this year rather than 9.
Next year I may only make 1 or 2.
I'm not sure yet what craft I will focus on. Perhaps I will finally knit a pair of socks or make more doilies to use up some of my crochet string.

Little by little I tie the loose ends in the back. There are so many of them that I'm still working on it. I would say I am about 2/3 done. It's not my favourite thing to do so I don't work at it that often.
Once I've done that I have to block the afghan to help give it proper shape.

MOVIES

I've also been catching up on watching several movies during the wet and gloomy weather.

Here are the movies and a brief summary of each:

Nancy - A strange story about a young woman named Nancy who becomes increasingly convinced she was kidnapped as a child. When she meets a couple whose daughter went missing decades earlier, the couple's doubts give way to willful belief.

By the Sea - Written and directed by Angelina Jolie while she was still married to Brad Pitt. The scenery and the costumes are very appealing but the story itself is very shallow and not my cup of tea. Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.

A Star is Born - with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I saw this story years ago with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. I liked it at the time but I wasn't that enamoured of this newer version. Lady Gaga has received a lot of accolades for her acting role but personally I wasn't that impressed. Her acting is very flat and monotone however her singing is just as impressive as always I was very impressed by Bradley Cooper who does a wonderful job of playing an alcoholic singer. The movie however has a very sad ending.

The Girl in the Spider's Web - Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cyber-criminals and corrupt government officials – both in Sweden and in the United States – whom are only known as The Spider Society. A movie filled with many twists and turns. The role of Lisbeth is very capably played by Claire Foy who you may remember from her performance as a young Queen Elizabeth in the series "The Crown".

I'd be interested in your thoughts if you have seen any of these movies or read Michelle Obama's book.

~~~~

Given that most people, including bloggers are very busy right now with Christmas plans or travel plans, I probably won't be posting much before Christmas. It will depend on how much I get done in the next short while.

Wishing you all a wonderful next few weeks

and

a very Merry Christmas!

A card I purchased from a Kenyan artist on the streets of Nakuru.

~~~~

Joining in with

Friday Foto Friends

and 

Skywatch Friday

November Ended on a Bright Note

~~~~~~~

Where I live I seldom see a rainbow even though it rains a lot.

I'm not sure why that is.

So when I do see a rainbow it is an exciting event.

~~~~~

Rainbow (source Wikipedia)

A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the sun.
Rainbows can be full circles. However, the observer normally sees only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground, and centered on a line from the sun to the observer's eye.
In a primary rainbow, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted when entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.
In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and has the order of its colours reversed, with red on the inner side of the arc. This is caused by the light being reflected twice on the inside of the droplet before leaving it.

and

It is difficult to photograph the complete semicircle of a rainbow in one frame, as this would require an angle of view of 84°. For a 35 mm camera, a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 19 mm or less would be required. Now that software for stitching several images into a panorama is available, images of the entire arc and even secondary arcs can be created fairly easily from a series of overlapping frames.

~~~~~~

As I sat at my computer desk and was looking out toward the mountains I spotted some colour just beyond the leaves of my bush.  I went out to the balcony to take a closer look and discovered a rainbow.

I went out 3 different times to capture photos.
Though it started to pour rain I wanted

to be sure and get at least one or two decent ones.
I didn't take the photo as instructed by Wikipedia notes above. I just went out and did my best to capture the rainbow while it lasted.

On my 3rd attempt I was blessed to see two rainbows!
As it states in Wikipedia, the 2nd arc does have the colour red on the inside of the arc.

I felt very blessed and extremely excited to see one rainbow but even more excited to see two of them!

In the Bible there is a scripture
 where God promises Noah he will never again wipe out the population of the earth by flooding. He says the rainbow will signify his promise.


There are a few other verses that deal with the rainbow.
One of them is Revelation 4:1,3

"After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven . . . 3. And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne . . ."

This is a beautiful and happy image.

I feel expectant after seeing the rainbows and am looking forward to a wonderful month in December.

~~~~~


I know the Christmas season can be a difficult time for many who are hurting and lonely.
If that's you and you are reading this I share this thought with you.

Linking up with

Skywatch Friday

and

Friday Foto Friends