My View on a Saturday Walk

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, 

I hope you had a great Saturday.  I had a busy one. 

I spent several hours shopping on Friday night. I was able to get most of what I wanted but I was not able to buy 2 seemingly simple items:  Brasso for cleaning and shining metals and neutral coloured (clear) shoe polish. 

After doing the housework and laundry on Saturday, I decided to try again to look for these two items.  I never buy these things but how hard could it be?  I know I've seen them around in several stores on more than one occasion over the past many years. 

It turns out that the local grocer doesn't carry these items anymore and and the supervisor on duty doesn't know why. This was the 2nd place I checked in at. No worries I thought, since I was sure to find them. Hours and 4 stores later, I still hadn't found either item until I got to the very last place, a pharmacy, where I finally found shoe polish but not in the colour I needed. 

I think I could find one or two items at a pharmacy called London Drugs but they have been non-operational for 7 days due to a cyber hacking incident of major proportions. I heard on Saturday's late news that they will now start reopening but I am not sure when they'll be fully up and running. I think I might also find these items at Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart but I don't get to these places often. I can either make a plan to go to these places or I can simply order them from Amazon which has better prices on both items and the convenience of having the items shipped to me at no additional cost.

When I was out at a small mall several days ago I saw a lovely jade plant for $10.00 (Canadian) and thought of buying it. When I was out last night I found a jade plant and an aloe vera plant for $10.00 total so I bought those instead.  They have been transplanted and I hope they'll do well. I think they'll need new, larger pots before the summer is over.  I love plants.

I did so much walking on Friday and Saturday and now I'm exhausted. I plan to take it easy for the rest of the weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Behind But Forging Ahead

Thank you to everyone who left such wonderful comments on my last post. If you missed it you can find it here.

I hope to continue my travel posts in a few days but for now just wanted to pop in here for a moment.

In not so fun news, I finally had the first dental for my bridge work.  As always there were unanticipated costs because there was a deep cavity under there and it required work. My dentist had to remodel my gum to properly get at the tooth. That wasn't anticipated and meant I had to get prescription antibacterial mouthwash and some kind of ointment. It also means 3 dental appointments rather than 2 so the dentist can see how things are going before the new mold is made for the laboratory to make the new bridge. I'll be glad when it's all finished.

I've been busy busy with cleaning, decorating & shopping. The shopping wasn't just for Christmas though I did some of that too.  I was returning some items previously purchased and looking for a new coffee pot. My coffee pot is perfectly fine but very basic.  For some time I've been wanting a coffee maker with a thermal carafe to keep the coffee nice and hot. Well imagine my surprise to find all the coffee pots are well over $100 Canadian. In fact most of them are double and triple that cost and I find that to be too much money.

The best deal I found on line was for a Cuisanart coffee maker with a thermal carafe. Cuisanart is a good brand for kitchen appliances. But then I decided I had better use a gift card that a dear friend gave me for Christmas last year.  The gift card was for a store called Canadian Tire.

Canadian Tire had several pots and I settled on this coffee pot by Hamilton Beach. It doesn't use a carafe because the coffee is kept in a holding container inside the coffee maker.  You can set the timer for how long you want to keep the coffee warm. I've made coffee in it twice already: one very small pot and one larger pot just to test it out. It seems to work just fine.  Best of all I got it for 'free' with the gift card because it was 55 % off and most of the reviews for the pot are very good.  I'll wash and box up my old coffee pot and store it just in case I need it later.

Other than that I bought a pre-lit cedar bough for the top of my bookshelves since I can no longer reach the socket now that I moved the bookshelves around. The prelit lights use triple A batteries and suit me just fine though I may actually return it for a wider bough made of artificial pine needles and berries. When I went to the store the garlands were very picked over so there may not be anything left by the time I return.

My decorating is never over the top but it is a lot for me since I am not a big fan of decorating for the holidays. I love to see the end result but I do not enjoy the process. I have everything up where it should be but now need to work on fluffing up the leaves and garlands and putting the small bulbs on my small tree. I hope to finish on the weekend because I'll be too busy this week to spend time on decorating.  Once I finish decorating I do really enjoy sitting in the evenings with the main lights off and the Christmas lights on. They cast a cosy glow and make me feel very contented and joyful.

I also continue to be busy with the missions in Kenya. I don't have a lot more to report to what I mentioned in this post but I do have some very good news. The doctor has said that my friend Eunice could be going home in about 2 months as she has been slowly but steadily improving so the family and I are cautiously optimistic. It has been a long, hard road for Eunice and the family and for me so this news was very welcome. If you'd like to make a contribution to her recovery, please see the link on the right side bar or contact me.

Sunday I'll be going to a luncheon with two family friends and it will be a nice time to visit before the Christmas season is fully upon us. One of my friends just had a baby on November 11, 2019, Remembrance Day and  it will be my first change to see the baby girl. I have been busy shopping for little Christmas gifts for those I will see and making it a  priority to wrap them so they are ready to go. I also popped a few extra Christmas cards in the mail though most went in the mail late last week.   Before the week is over I hope to finish wrapping gifts for the family but I still didn't find the time to alter clothing for niece. Once I confirm the measurements it won't take that long.

Do any of you grow ficus lyrata or ficus bambino?  I've been wanting a larger ficus lyrata for some time now but the ones that are a good price at IKEA are sold out whenever I've tried to purchase one.  On Friday night I managed to find a store that was selling some small plants.  Their larger ficus lyrata sell for over $400 Canadian. I was very happy to get two smaller ones for $16 and tax.  Living in a north facing, coldish condo doesn't really help with growing tropical plants which can be quite finicky in our climate.   Even with the heat on,  the drafts that find their way indoors are not good for the plants. That's another reason I don't want to spend too much money on any plant.

Here is a photo of the baby plants. If you know about this kind of plant let me know what you think it is because  I may have actually purchased a ficus bambino and not the ficus lyrata.  In any case I will enjoy trying to make these little plants grow.

I asked why the top leaves were so big and the under leaves were so small. The salesperson said because the growth comes from the bottom. That doesn't make any sense to me since the new shoots are coming out at the top of the plant not the bottom.  I remember days long ago when I lived in other homes. My plants did well in those days and I hope and pray they will do well again.  I find plants are wonderful addition to a home.

I haven't had time to do any reading or movie watching so I'm still making my way through the book on Coco Chanel. I was surprised to learn things about her which cause me to admire her less. I won't say more in case you want to read the book yourself.  I will say that she made a lasting impact on the world of women's fashion and it is good to know more about her.  For that reason alone I am happy to read this very well researched book.

Last, but not least, I picked up this movie from the library called She Walks Ahead.  It's based on a true story about Catherine Weldon, a painter, (played by Jessica Chastain) who leaves New York and travels to the plains to paint Chief Sitting Bull. Chief Sitting Bull is played by Canadian actor, Michael Greyeyes. Of course movies don't always stick to reality so if you are interested in knowing more, read here.  This story was all new to me and a very interesting bit of history.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful week.

Pastel Sky & Few Critters

I was fortunate to be able to capture some beautiful colour in the sky earlier this week. 

The first three photos were taken from my home.

The photo below was taken on the highway between the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia in the Rocky Mountains during one of my travels to northern Alberta.

The next few photos were taken on my balcony on a hot summer day.

I discovered a beetle which at first I thought was dead in the bird bath.

But upon closer inspection it was alive.

Do you see what appears to be an air bubble over it's head (3rd photo in the beetle series).

I emptied the bird bath into the garden as it needed refreshing and the beetle was able to recover.

This little exotic bird and flowers were photographed at the Bloedel Conservatory.

I'm afraid I can no longer recall the names of either but some of you might know.

If you do know could you leave a comment with your knowledge?

I'm linking up with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters

Thanks for visiting!
Have an awesome weekend.