A Gift

I had to go downtown on Tuesday for an appointment. I definitely didn't feel like venturing into the heart of the city since it was pouring rain.  The place where I had to meet is a construction zone right now. But I couldn't postpone my appointment any longer and in the end it turned out to be a very short appointment.

Getting home took more time. But as I'm wont to do, I stop somewhere along the way for a coffee and to read a good book. That day was no exception but when I got off the bus and went to my neighbourhood Starbucks, every seat was taken!  It was pouring rain outside and I've noticed that the neighbourhood shops are always full when that happens.

There was no free table and I couldn't sit outside in the rain. So I bought a lemonade to go and went across the street to the grocery store where they have a little dining area. There I also bought a hot cup of coffee and proceeded to read a few chapters of a book I'd left unfinished for a few weeks.

After my foray into the grocery store I stopped by the post office.  A wonderful surprise parcel was waiting for me there.

The parcel was from a blogging friend, Joanne, who has a delightful blog called Cup on the Bus.  Joanne is a talented crafts person and she made these beautiful, woven tea towels.

These will be used as covering for bread dough when I set it aside to rise. I think they are far too wonderful to just sit and look pretty but I don't want to use them for drying dishes just yet. That will come later ;-)

So I want to send a big  "THANK YOU" to Joanne for her kindness and generosity. 

I absolutely love my gift.

Go on over and have a look at her blog. She is an amazing grandmother and caretaker to several teens.  She also amazes me with her very full schedule of gardening, chaperoning, accounting, etc.

On Friday I went to meet some friends I haven't seen in decades, literally! Wow I can't even believe it's been that long. One of them is my Sunday School teacher and the other is her son. We had a really nice lunch together and tried to catch up on as much news as possible in the time we had.
If all goes well we will see each other again next year.

 After a full week of rain I'm happy to see the sun again.

Have a wonderful weekend. xx

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining; it's pouring.

The old man is snoring.

He went to bed and bumped his head,

And he wouldn't get up in the morning.

Did you sing this song as a child too? I don't remember where I learned it or at what age in school but I've never forgotten it.  In those days I lived in a small city where it seldom rained except prairie type downpours in the summer month. These downpours came complete with thunder claps and light shows (lightening). Some days or nights I would be babysitting and when the thunder and lightening began at the same time, I was terrified.  I can remember it would be so loud and the lightening would literally light up the entire house (with lights off) as we were taught to unplug and disconnect all power sources once a big storm came through.

Photo:  Looking toward downtown and False Creek from the waiting room of a doctor's office.  You can make out the reflected lights of the doctors office, some chairs and a person in the corner (bottom right).

Once or twice I remember we kids hid under the bed because the lightening was so powerful and it was difficult to escape. Our house had windows all over the place and the front room had a whole row of windows and more in the front porch.

It's funny what you remember from childhood. To this day I do not like rain storms that come with thunder and lightening at the same time. The few times I have been on the Canadian prairies when this kind of storm came up was rather terrifying too.

Photo:  Looking west on West Broadway, Vancouver, BC. I'm in the waiting room of a doctor's office hence the reflected lights.
You can make out the reflected lights of the doctor's office.

Where I live now we get a lot of rain so I always think of the little nursery rhyme about the pouring rain. Our rain storms don't usually come with thunder and lightening at the same time and when they do, the lightening doesn't light up my home like a Christmas tree!

Thank God for small mercies.

It's been pouring rain all day today and very windy tonight. That usually means a clear sky the next day. Indeed some sunshine is forecast for tomorrow but then it is rain for another week.

It was a very busy day today filled with phone calls and appointments.

I did manage to finally get to the movie

"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom".

I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it.
Idris Elba is a formidable presence on the screen and captures the essence of Mandela very well. Naomi Harris also does a wonderful job portraying Winnie Mandela.

Here is trailer of this touching & inspiring movie.

I hope you are all staying warm and dry wherever you are.

I will be joining in with Skywatch Friday 

and

Weekend Reflections

and add the links later :-)

My Day Today

“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.” ― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat 

I couldn't resist a photo of the beautifully coloured orange leaves.

But as you can see from the photo below, it was raining very heavily. It has been raining heavily here for some time.

On days like this I like to stay home and make some hot soup or bake something comforting, read a good book or go to the movies.

Today I went to see "Midnight's Children". 

It was a rather long movie set in post-independence India, and based on the book and screenplay of the same name by Salman Rushdie.  I won't give away the plot but I did enjoy it.  It seems there are many good movies being released in November and December. It's a great relief to know that there are still good movies being made. The next one I hope to see is "Searching for Sugarman" (already released) or "Anna Karenina" (released on November 21).

Rainy Saturday Adventures

It was another wet Saturday in Vancouver but I had to go out. I was making my way to Trout Lake Farmer's Market where I had an appointment with my hat maker.

I took this photo as I was crossing a street to make a bus transfer. It's not cold as you can see the gentleman in the foreground doesn't have a jacket on.

After my transfer I had to get off and walk several blocks. I don't often come to this place so I always get off too soon and end up walking too far. In the old days this wouldn't have been a problem. These days it is a bit more challenging.

As I walked down the street, I noticed that the building which is undergoing restoration is a senior's residence.

This was a rather short street with very few homes on it.  I found this modern styled home.

I liked the simple, yet effective front entry with the small garden and potted plant. The door colour is nice too!

I didn't expect to find a restaurant here just a few steps away from the modern house. It looked like a well used coffee shop.  There aren't too many coffee shops for several blocks radius since this is a residential area although I understand that there is now a coffee shop in the newly constructed Trout Lake Community Centre across the street.

I didn't have a chance to go inside the new Centre but it is newly constructed and opened in February 2012. I believe the old buildings were demolished because they probably didn't meet current building codes for fire safety.

The community centre seems to have two buildings.  You can see one in the background in the photo below.  I also noticed the interesting shrubbery in place of grass. I think it is probably to make the space more eco-friendly.

Now I am about to enter the park area. Every weekend during the farmer's market this sign is put up to let non-residents know that they are not to park in this area.

Trout Lake is set in what is known as John Hendry Park and is the only lake in Vancouver proper.  This park is a real gem. I don't get to spend much time in it but whenever I do get there I see the locals having a wonderful time. The lake itself is in a beautiful setting. One always sees mothers and dog owners, taking their children and dogs for a walk.

The little dog in the photo below was friendly. It came up to me but when it realized I had no food, it didn't stop to visit.  It just kept right on going.  His owner, the man up ahead in dark blue rain coat, was patiently calling  "Maisie", as she dawdled along at her own pace.

You can see how deep the puddles were in various places along the pathway. By the time I got to this stage of my walk, I was soaking wet.  The rain soaked through my rain coat which is not rubberized for heavy duty rainfall.

I was going to the place you see just up ahead beneath the leaves....

But first, one last look and photo of the lake and the nice walking path along the waterfront.

At last! I make it to the market but I didn't take photos of the hat lady's stall. By that time I was just too wet and was more interested in drying up a bit and trying on hats.  Sadly, she had made two hats for me but neither of them fit just right despite giving her the measurements beforehand. She has to make some adjustments and I have to wait a bit longer. *sigh. I did manage to find a new hat for my mom and got a bit of a discount even though the hat still cost a lot more than my mother would ever want to pay. I've told mom that I will take the hat if she doesn't like it.

Here is a photo showing just how much rain was accumulating.

After I left Trout Lake, I decided to go to Chinatown to buy some new medicines and get another foot reflexology treatment.  The medicines I bought last time were not doing the job. 

I also wanted to get more photos for my Namibian blogger friend, Graham.  I admit that once again I didn't get the best photos but they add to what I posted last time (you can click here for the last visit). I will of course be making future trips and hopefully at some point the weather will be nicer and show a different side to Chinatown.

The first thing that caught my eye was this red street light. The bottom of it has Chinese characters but I have no idea what is written.

This is a long view of a street. You can see at least 5 street lamps in the middle part of the photo.

I love the streets of stores in Chinatown. You will find all kinds of stores with stuff for sale out in front, on the sidewalk.  During the early part of the day these shops are very busy with older Asian people buying their daily veggies and fish for dinner.

In this store window you can see various cakes which are waiting for their customers to come and pick them up. I especially love the cakes with the fruit on top as they have fresh cream in the middles and more fruit inside.  This is what they call "Fruit Cocktail Cake". The cake itself is a chiffon cake and very light in texture.

In another part of the window, you can see what events are going on if you can read the Chinese characters on the brochures.

I always love to see all the variety of things for sale as displayed out on the sidewalk.  Some of it is medicine and some of it is food. For example, this store had all kinds of beans and dried berries out front.

I bought some goji berries (wolfberrys) to put in  my cooked oats.  These berries are called a superfood because they are supposed to be very high in antioxidants.  However as always it is good to check with your medical practitioner before taking such things. For example this berry has been known to cause problems in some cases with people taking warfarin (a blood thinner).

Some stores sell food and herbs and some strictly sell herbs; like the one in the photo below next to the Fido (phone) store. If you click on the photo you can see all the medicines and herbs in jars.

Here are some dried shrimp.

And here are some dried mushrooms. These can be reconstituted and used in your stir frys and other foods but I've only ever used dried mushrooms to date. I did not like the particular brand I bought and prefer using fresh mushrooms.

That's it for my tour of Trout Lake and Chinatown for today. I'd love to hear your comments or questions.  

I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday here. Please check in there and see what others are up to around the world.

I hope you come back soon.  Have a wonderful week ahead.

I'm 

My World Tuesday ~ November 9, 2010

My thank you to those of you who are praying for Kipngeno's school needs. He really needs your prayerful support.

Hi friends,

Here in Vancouver it is very windy and wet. I am reminiscing about warmer times and nice flowers in my garden.

Like these red roses.

And these Zinnias.

It is the kind of day where I feel I should curl up on a nice chair and read or study. The rain can get to be too much here in late Fall/Autumn and Winter.  At those times, it is important to be grateful and remember that it is the rain that keeps our city green and full of grass throughout the winter, as well as bringing early flowers in Spring.

My study corner for quiet study. There is a comfy armchair close by and natural light from the window.

That is my world for this Tuesday. You can join others around the world here and see what they are up to.

Yummy Blueberry Muffins

The other day you will remember my first try at making Treacle cookies and burning more than half the batch. I thought I could still eat them but they were simply too hard for me and my gums are a little sensitive right now.

Torrential rains have been coming down for the past week and over on the large island off the coast, Vancouver Island, hundreds of people have been evacuated. More rain is expected though I think it is supposed to slow down a bit.

With weather like we've been having, a person craves hot drinks and comforting snacks so I made these very easy blueberry muffins. The ease of this recipe is just what appealed to me besides my love of berries. Easy is good in my vocabulary with my short attention span and health issues.

I can safely tell you that these muffins will be made again soon. They are simply "yummy".

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. frozen blueberries

Blend together oil, sugar, egg, and milk. In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Then blend together the rest of the ingredients taking care to add the blueberries last. Don't stir too much or the dough will turn blue from the berries. Bake for 30 minutes or less at 375 or 400 degree oven.

Enjoy!

Update: My yummy Blueberry Muffins were pronounced the "best" muffins I've ever made. Quite an endorsement considering how easy they were to make. I did find them very tasty myself.

Rain Falls, a Promise is Made

Photo Credit: http://community.webshots.com/user/anttisarki/profile

After a week or more of blessed sunshine, it was pouring rain overnight and into the morning. Rain brings a freshening of the earth, in addition to a cleaning for our enjoyment on another sunny day. It just so happened that my reading for the day was also about rain.

In Genesis, chapters 6-9, I read again about the flood that God sent upon the earth due to the evil and violence in the world.

¹¹The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹²And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

¹³And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 6:11-13

But God found in Noah, a perfect man for his generation.

Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9

So he made a way of escape for Noah, his family and all the animals, both clean and unclean by getting him to build and Ark and enter into it for the duration of the 150 day period (Genesis 7: 24) over which the water prevailed on the earth.

I've loved this story about Noah and the Great Flood since childhood. It is because it is so incomprehensible to my human mind that man could be so wicked and violent so as to provoke God to flood and encompass the entire earth. Yet, God in his awesome love and mercy would save the world and even the animals so that the world could be inhabited once again. This speaks to me of how awesome God's love and mercy really is. He didn't have to save us but for one Godly man, He did! Praise His Name!

This wonderful story concludes with God's promise to us to never again send a flood to encompass the entire earth; the mark of which is His beautiful rainbow.

¹¹And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

¹²And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

¹³I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:11-13

Whenever I see a rainbow, I am reminded of this wonderful story and God's promise to us, His children. I am grateful that God keeps His promises.