Sky Over Vancouver

I snapped this photo in Vancouver last weekend.  We've had dry periods here and there  but the sky is still very gray.

Vancouver continues to get a lot of rain but probably not as much as Alberta where the Bow and Elbow rivers have overflowed and flooded cities and towns across southern Alberta.  Calgary's downtown core was under water, while other towns like Canmore, High River and Medicine Hat have also been hard hit.  and under water.  Altogether about 100,000 people have been evacuated due to the floods.  Economists are saying that the flooding in Calgary will cost the economy billions of dollars and that Canada's economy as a whole will also suffer a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by several billion dollars.

On Monday the premier of the province said she thought it would take 10 years to fully rebuild the flood damaged areas of the province because a lot of the infrastructure (highways, etc.) has been damaged.

Regardless of  the huge issues created by the floods, the City of Calgary is attempting to regroup and forge ahead with their annual rodeo, the Calgary Stampede. The president of the stampede said it will go ahead "come hell or high water"on July 5th. It will be a huge challenge but in it's 101 year history, the stampede has never been cancelled despite two wars and the Great Depression.

Please keep the entire province in good thoughts and prayers.
There is so much damage and it is stressful to human and animals alike who have all been affected.

I'm linking up with Sky Watch Friday today.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Journey to the Moon

Christmas is over for another year. I hope that each of you enjoyed the day in your own way wherever you were and however you celebrated.  This year's celebration was different for me and my family.  One brother and my nephew and I drove to the north a few hours away from where I live and there we spent a few days visiting my mother and my niece.

This photo is on the highway going northeast from Vancouver. One doesn't usually see the mountains so clearly defined. On a rainy day you cannot see them.  On a clear day it is usually too bright to see the mountainous outline.

I love the wintery looking sun.

The mountains are beautifully silhouetted today.

I rented a motel room with a small kitchen unit in case I decided to cook something while I was away. It turns out that I only cooked once (bacon and eggs).  But the kitchen unit was nice to have as I was able to keep juices, fruits and breakfast cereal on hand.  I like to minimize eating out in the restaurant. It really gets tiresome if you are on a road trip.

We ordered Chinese take out for one dinner and had more than enough for two meals for all of us.  I did eat in a restaurant for dinner on one night. I had spaghetti and meatballs instead of the usual fare and it was a nice change.  For Christmas Dinner we again ordered take away turkey dinner. The dinner included freshly roasted turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, gravy and toast. My niece and nephew's late mother used to make waffles on Christmas Day so in honour of that we also ordered waffles.  My brother did all the running back and forth to the restaurant and the room, which was nice of him!

These farmlands are between 1 and 1 1/2 hours drive northeast of Vancouver.

After dinner and gift opening on Christmas Day, I took  my niece to see the movie "The Hobbit" in 3 D. It was a very good film and I look forward to the sequel.  Seeing a movie with my niece on Christmas Day is a tradition.  I used to take my mother to the movie on Christmas Day as it was the one day of the year that she would venture to go and see a movie.  But she hasn't been able to go to a  movie for some years so now I take my niece.  My niece loves popcorn and she looks forward to an annual movie with her aunt (and sometimes other members of our family too).
 
In between all these activities, we also spent a lot of time visiting my mother at her residence and trying to make sure any errands and jobs she needed help with, were done.  We put up some decorations and photos for her and generally helped her get organized. If all goes according to plan, my brother will return next month for a shorter visit with her as he picks up a medical lift chair that mom used to use.  I will either keep it at my home and use it or try to sell it.

Seeing mist on the mountains always reminds me of the movie of Diane Fossey, "Gorillas in the Mist".

We are getting closer to our destination and the sky is breaking clear in a few spots. I love the winter wonderland all around us.

 
I had a difficult time on this trip. Some of you might remember me having had numerous issues with my right knee. That issues comes and goes but I can usually manage quite well.  However, the night before I was to leave for my Christmas trip, I had such enormous pain in my left leg and I could barely walk the next day.  The pain and compromised walking continued the entire time I was away.  I almost cancelled my trip but I did manage to rally myself and get out of town.  Anti-inflammatories and over the counter pain medicine did not help.

When I checked in at the motel, the clerk mentioned that she had a similar knee experience to mine.  When her doctor sent her for a leg scan it was discovered that poor blood circulation had blocked her veins.  The solution was to put a stent in her veins but she said she still suffers from pain. I do not know if this is my problem but it certainly sounds like it could be.   All along I had been thinking my knee problems were caused by arthritis or muscular issues.  I really do need to get my doctor to check it all out. 

Since I managed to get away on the Christmas trip, I also tried my best to enjoy my time.  I had a lot of help from my nephew and my brother in managing with the daily tasks and for that I am very grateful.

I spotted the moon coming out and managed to capture it before it went behind the clouds.

I am now back home now.  I'd like to rest but I have an eye appointment in the morning. I really don't feel like going but it is better to get it out of the way before my many appointments coming in the month of January.

I love to see the moon wherever I go.

I hope you enjoyed the photos today. Have a marvellous and safe New Year's celebration if I don't visit with you before then.

Please join others around the world for more beautiful photos of the sky at Skywatch Friday.

Have Slices? Will Bag!

I want to say a big thank you to all of my new followers. You are all appreciated. I hope you will not just pass by once but come again and come often. It would be great too if you leave comments or check out some of my older posts.  If you see any problems like photos that aren't where they should be, let me know so I can "fix" it.

I promise, I'll be by to visit you soon.  If I take the time to read your posts, I will also take the time to comment.

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And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Acts 2:46

I have a meat slicer which I inherited from my mother last year and I've never used it.  I was wondering if it would do the job of slicing the bread I made on Monday (see post here).

I brought it down from the upper cabinet, washed it up and used it. It took me awhile to remember that you need to hold down two buttons at once and move the bread at the same time. The slicing was no problem, once I got the hang of it.

I'm rather pleased with the results.  The 4 loaves of bread will last all month.

I was able to get 17 slices out of the larger loaves, and 12 slices out of the smaller loaves. I froze the two larger loaves and kept the smaller loaf out for use. The 4th loaf has been sliced with a knife on an as needed basis. I'm guessing that slicing the bread with the slicer makes more slices so the loaf of bread would last longer. But I can't compare the two methods since I didn't count the slices from the loaf I am slicing manually.  In any case, I far prefer the machine slicing method! The loaf at the top of the photo (below) was already in the freezer when I decided it needed a photo opportunity, lol.

The bread crumbs will be dried and added to my bread crumb "bag".

In other news, I haven't been very good about tending to my garden because we are getting enough rain to keep it nicely water.  The garden is giving me pleasure with it's brightly coloured flowers and nice shades of green leaves.  The herbs grow far too fast for me to use them all.  The very tall plant to the lower right of the bird bath is parsley. I didn't know it could grow so tall!

The bird bath needs to be cleaned every now and then as all the blossoms from the tree above it get in the water.  But the little birds love to come and splash on a sunny day. You can see there are a few clouds in the sky but overall the day was bright and hot. It's back to rain on Friday. It saves me from watering the plants.

Submission for SkyWatch Friday. Please check in there and see submissions from around the world.

Skies over this past Week

I dislike moaning about anything and that includes the weather. I am quite tired of all the rain we've been having though I hesitate to complain too much as I know it could be worse, much worse, given the terrible events in weather happening all around the world with seemingly increasing frequency.

We have had some nicer days of sunshine here and there but nothing sustained and weather temperatures are still on the coolish side. I wanted to show you the sky above my home in a series of photos taken this week.

I also wanted to show you one of the few plants in my garden. I just haven't planted anything new what with all the soggy weather.

Sky on Monday, April 23, 2012.

Sky on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

Sky on Friday,April 27, 2012. You can't even see the mountains.

Solomon's Seal on Friday, April 27, 2012. Though it grew a lot since the photo taken below, I'm finding the growth is not as lush as it was last year. This might be attributed to the incessant rain and lack of sustained sunshine.

Photo taken on Monday, April 16, 2012.  The growth had sprung up overnight after one nice warm day of sunshine.

Thank you for your visit.

Please check in at Skywatch Friday and see the sky in many other places around the world.

Glorious Clouds

I had fun looking at, and taking photos of, these clouds.

Aren't they fantastic?! I hope you have something nice in your sky to entertain you today. For more great sky photos from around the world, click here.

Skywatch Friday

We've been having storms and very high winds today so I've dug through my archives for today's submission to Skywatch Friday. 

These photos of a June sunrise are taken from my patio.
Isn't the sky beautiful?

I miss summer already :-( 

Join in here for more beautiful skies from around the world.

Skywatch ~ November 18, 2011

What can be better than a glorious red Maple tree against a beautiful sky on a sunny day? 

Thursday Sky

First snow on the North Shore mountains this year.  It is a nice, sunny day even though we were expecting rain.  There is no snow at street level here in the city but the air has a definite chill. Time to start wearing and carrying gloves.

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Enjoy your weekend and please check out beautiful sky photos from around the world by clicking on the badge below.

Macro Experiment & Skywatch Friday

This was a failed macro photo but as I looked at it, I realized I liked the effect of the stems against the lovely sky. Happy Sky Watch Friday everyone. I do have an entry for the macro flowers meme so come back a little later *wink.

Link up with Sky Watchers here.

Interesting Formation in the Sky

I thought this was an interesting submission for Skywatch because of the interesting cloud "circle" on the right of the photo (just above the trees).

Please click on the badge above to see more wonderful skies from around the world.

Kenyan Skies

Many of my readers will know of my love for Kenya. I thought it appropriate for Skywatch Friday to feature the Kenyan skies. I have some of my own photos here of Kenya but I also wanted to introduce you to a wonderful new gospel singer in Kenya by the name of Alice Kamande.  Ms. Kamande has a beautiful voice and here is her video where she sings "Wewe Pekee".

Nairobi skyline

Clouds over Nakuru National Park

Skies over Lake Elementeita

Skies over the village

Now here is the video featuring the beautiful, Alice Kamande. If you look you will see the beautiful Kenya skyline.

ENJOY!

For more beautiful skies from around the world, please click the badge.

A Thing of Beauty is Joy Forever, Skywatch April 6, 2011

Thank you and welcome to my newest follower, Wren.

Long time readers of this blog know how much I love apple, cherry and plum blossoms. I never, ever get tired of them and they bring such joy to me at this time of year.

Yesterday was an especially nice day to take a walk since it has been raining so much here and we haven't been getting consistent sunshine. I took these two photos to show you the blossoms and also to let you see that there is still fresh snow on the mountains.

Please click on the SkyWatch badge and it will take you to more beautiful skies around the globe. Thanks for stopping by!

The Sun Sets on Another Day

O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:9 (NASB)

Click here to see wonderful sky photos from all around the world.