Making Slow Progress

The week has flown by! My time has been spent dealing with the missions in Kenya and following up on Jonah's care and stay in hospital. If all goes well he should be released on Friday, Kenyan time.  Thank you to all who prayed for his recovery.

I made a bit of progress reading my latest book by Dr. Don Colbert.

Book #52

I was interrupted at the coffee shop when I went there to read the book of short stories, Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie. A fellow patron who happens to own a used book store nearby started chatting and wanted to know more about the author.  I told him what I know, which isn't a lot and we briefly discussed another of my recent reads, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Then he went on his way and I had to dash to other errands.

Book #53

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I've made only a bit of progress on making granny squares. I like how they look so far though after I'm finished making squares and joining them there will be a lot of loose ends to weave in. This part can be quite time consuming.

The rest of the week I've been busy with errands and shopping for a few Christmas presents.  I 'm almost set now. I just have to finalize something for a niece and nephew. I also had to buy some tissue paper which I like to use to wrap around gifts before I stuff them in Christmas bags or wrap them in paper.  Wrapping presents seems to take longer than actually looking for and getting or making the gifts, lol. Tuesday and Wednesday I wrote out most of my Christmas cards and posted the international ones. My Christmas card list is limited to 20 cards this year whereas in some years it has been more like 60.

I was invited to an all day Christmas event on Saturday but have decided to stay home and rest.  I'm also hoping to get organized for the week ahead, do some crochet and hopefully some reading.  Right now I really don't have the desire to make nice with a room full of strangers so it suits me to stay home. I love to meet people but I have to be in the right frame of mind and well rested, otherwise being in a room full of strangers (minus my friend) is a lot of effort if you don't want to stand around looking like an awkward bump on a log.

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 It's been raining here and sometimes cold. Last night I found it quite warm which was a pleasant surprise.
 At this time of year it is usually raining and warmer or not raining and cold. It is not usually clear and warm.
Given the overcast conditions here right now I'm sharing sky and critter photos from my archives.

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The first set of photos with pink flamingos were taken at Lake Nakuru Provincial Park in Kenya.

Here is a view of the sky from my balcony taken on a clear day about 5 days ago.
You can see a bird flying in the sky. I think it was a crow. It's a bit hard to tell from the photo.

These small, colourful bird photos were taken at the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver. The conservatory has a lot of exotic birds which are always a treat for me to see though perhaps more common depending where you live.

Gouldian Finch at Vancouver's Bloedel Conservatory

 

Strawberry Finch at Vancouver's Bloedel Conservatory

I'm looking forward to the weekend. 

I wish all of you a wonderful weekend.
Thank you for stopping by!

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Linking with

Skywatch Friday

Friday Foto Friends

Saturday's Critters

So Hot, Trying to Keep Cool and Carry On

Hi friends,

It's been incredibly hot here. Yesterday on the news they said it was the hottest day of the summer so far. But I went out yesterday (Wednesday) and today (Thursday) and I think today may have been even hotter.

When I went out to appointments and errands, I was so concerned about a homeless man in a wheelchair and a little pup on the patio of a restaurant I had to stop and make sure they both had water.

I know the man had been drinking beer as I passed him in the morning. I asked him to please try to refrain from drinking beer otherwise  they won't let him stay at the shelter where I learned he will have a bed for the night for the next two weeks. I gave him a bottle of water and a small bit of money (not enough to buy booze) and kept encouraging him to drink water. I sat and chatted with him a bit and grew even more concerned when I realized that he is a schizophrenic and also suffers from depression but hasn't been on his medications for a few weeks. I know he just got out of hospital and I'm surprised they let him go like that since he is also old. Thankfully he told me that the shelter where he will sleep for two weeks is going to help him get into an apartment.  He also had several bags on his wheelchair which I noticed had some food in it so at least he isn't hungry.  What I was most concerned about was sitting outside all day long in the heat and not having any H20.

Completed book #41 of 42

As for the cute little puppy, her owner's friend told me the little doggie had a big bowl of water just before I dropped by. The little dog was absolutely sweet and so friendly which I find is often not the case with the small lapdogs. I wanted to pick her up and bring her home. I didn't get a photo though as my camera battery was already kaput for the day and I had to get home to charge it up.

Book #42 of 42 in progress

Waiting for book #43

When I got home I put a wet washcloth in the freezer, got on some more comfortable clothing and took a little rest with the fans going before I got up to put together a salad, sweet potato and some of the BBQ chicken I had prepared last weekend. I'm so glad I did the batch cooking because it means I don't have to put on the oven or use my pressure cooker during this heat. The heat makes me lethargic and cooking is the last thing I want to do in the intense heat.  We are supposed to get some rain on the weekend right in time for my niece's visit. I hope it does rain because we really need it.  My niece and I can use those times to get cosy and watch movies. She loves nothing better than a funny or scary movie (think the Hobbit movies) and a big bag of popcorn.


I finished the book about Denys Finch Hatton. I have to say I quite enjoyed it and am amazed at what the author was able to research and put together since there are no remaining relatives of Finch Hatton and very little exists of him in history books.  I picked up another book  I'd placed on hold about Prince by his ex-wife Mayte Garcia.  I am waiting for a book called The Bookshop.  This one came on recommendation from one of the many blogs I read though now I cannot remember which one. If you happen to be reading this post, let me know it was you (please).

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If you read my last post here

you will know I've been doing some batch cooking and want to continue.

Since then I've ordered some proper containers from Amazon and

they arrived today.

 

There were 20 containers in the package. I think that will be enough.

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The heat of the last few days has taken it's toll on my little garden.

I'm hoping I can keep it going another few weeks. The forecasted rain this weekend would help a lot but last weekend rain was in the forecast and it never arrived.

I was happy to see the Black-eyed Susan flowers bloom. For awhile I wasn't sure they were going to bloom this year but they did come about just over a week or two ago.  They are not quite as healthy looking or as plentiful as in previous years.

The strawberries are nice and juicy but I only have one pot so not much of a harvest but I'm enjoying them.  Seeing strawberries growing "in the yard" brings back happy childhood memories of finding the odd strawberry when playing with siblings.  Those were in the days when we were not able to buy strawberries so readily in the supermarket.

The other morning I went out to take a photo of the sunrise. 

I was a bit late as the sun was already up.

Imagine my surprise when I captured this

 drone hovering a few feet from me. 

I hope I don't appear in the "movie" as I wasn't dressed for my cameo role, lol.

A shot of the garden after watering. I hose down the patio floor to cool it off.

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 Keep well everyone.

Enjoy the weekend ahead where ever you may be.

I'm joining in with

Skywatch Friday

and

Friday Foto Friends

It's Friday!

I really haven't been up to a whole lot but the days just seem to whiz by. I am spending my time trying to keep warm, bake and run a few errands. We have another snowfall warning for tonight but I think most of it will fall overnight so I don't have an updated photo of what it looks like.  The photo below is one taken after yesterday's snowfall. You can see the sky is quite gray.

 
Here's me all bundled in my Russian hat and my down parka. I don't have much opportunity to wear the hat. In fact it was the first time during this year. I got several compliments on it as I did errands at the post office and delivered a book to the neighbourhood library.  In this photo my hat looks like a bushy hairdo, lol.

 

On my way, I stopped off at the health food store to purchase a new bottle of Aloe Vera gel. I stopped taking it for some time while I have been taking some heavy duty vitamins.  However I found that Aloe Vera gel seems to help some small rashes that appeared on my arms some time ago and never went away. I have no idea what caused the rashes but they were clearing in patches by drinking a tablespoon of aloe vera gel in a glass of water daily.  Since I stopped drinking it a few weeks ago there has been no further reduction in the rashes so time to start drinking it again and hope for the best. I don't like the taste of the gel so I dilute it with a lot of water.  I also have some topical gel but for some reason can't get into using it.

When I stopped at the post office I found these books I ordered from Christianbooks.com

These will help me when I study the Bible.

My long time readers will know that I very seldom buy books but this month I purchased 5. That is a record for me.

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Last but not least are these lovely exotic birds from the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver.

They add some colour to the otherwise gray days here.

I think this is a Common Chaffinch

 

Gouldian Finch

Blue & Gold Macaw

Joining with 

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Skywatch Friday

and 

Saturday's Critters.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great weekend!

Friday

Hi friends,

I've had a busy few days. Not a lot of exciting things as such but I'm very happy.  It's because after a long period of time I'm finally making progress on a number of outstanding "to dos".  I'm also making progress on a few new things.

First up are my new projects.  Some of you will know that I started off the new year making crocheted afghans.  I had a long standing cold (which is still not fully gone!) so I had a lot of indoor time. I made two afghans in a new to me pattern in the month of January. The first one is a combination of colours (ivory, gray, gold) that is much more subdued than I usually gravitate towards. I enjoyed making the afghan and wanted to make another one so I could hopefully remember the pattern better.  for the second one I decided on a very bright combination of colours (burgundy, teal blue, mustard yellow, gray and orange).  These yarns are made by Caron in a variety of variegated colourways and I'm not too familiar with them. I was trying to figure out which one I might like!

 Can you see the 4 colours? The one on top is the first afghan I made. The green at the bottom is the last.

Once I made a second afghan I decided to gift one to a cousin who celebrates a her 60 th birthday this month. She plans to visit at the end of the month so I will gift it to her then.  In the meantime I've described the afghan colours to her and given her a choice between the two. She chose the brightly coloured one though she hasn't actually seen it yet. She wants to be surprised.  Then she said she might want to buy one or she might know someone who wants to  buy one so I made two more.

A cushion project is one that's been around for awhile. I've had several large cushions which do not have cushion covers. They are only covered in muslin and the kapok stuffing cannot be washed.

I could never decide on the style or colour of cushions covers I wanted and dithered about it for some time.  Since the stuffing needs refreshing I opened them up again and washed the outer part. It is a messy job because the stuffing gets all over the place.

Kapok is a natural material which comes from the Kapok tree. Kapok is also called Java cotton.  The Kapok tree is native to west Africa and was transported to Asia where it is cultivated for its fibre or floss.  The tree can grow up to 4 metres (13 feet) per year and reaches about 50 metres maximum. The kapok fibre comes from the trees pods which open and are then dispersed by the wind before harvesting. 

The stuffing is used in pillows, mattresses, upholstery and insulation but with the availability of foam, plastics and synthetic fibres, kapok's use has declined. Personally I have used kapok for a  few decades and I prefer it to foam and other unnatural fillers.

The kapok tree

Kapok from 3 large cushions.

I went to Ikea and purchased 5 different but complementary cushion covers. It's feels so good to get that niggling job out of the way. I very seldom get to Ikea. I don't really like going there because of it's enormous size and maze of rooms you must make your way through to find what you want. But if one has time and energy it is fun looking at all the things one can possibly need for one's home. It is also very inexpensive to shop there unlike some other places and I find the quality is good or comparable to other places.

Another item I needed from Ikea is a large majestic palm. I have gone without large plants in my living room for quite some time simply because it is very drafty and cold along the window wall.  Now I've decided to try again.

Majestic palms are not that easy to grow at the best of times since most of us tend to over water them or improperly water them .  They need to be almost dried out before they are watered well and drained so that the bottom of the planter is not sitting in a pool of water.  I'm hoping I can keep this one alive for awhile.  I  plan on putting up some drapes over my window blinds too. Normally I do not like drapery but I have grown tired of looking at beige blinds.  I also want to see if some simple drapes will help minimize the draft.

I haven't been out to take any nice photos so I'm sharing some I took at the waterfront at English Bay Beach in October 2017. 

Linking with Friday Foto Friends 

and 

Skywatch Friday

Have a lovely weekend.

The Skies Were Blue Today

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sky was blue today,

I wanted to go out and play

I took my good camera with me but forgot the memory card in my computer!

Thank goodness for phone cameras.

I snapped these few pics on the way to meet a friend I haven't seen for long.
We exchanged Christmas gifts. Yes, you read that right.
We don't get together so often but we pray for one another a lot.
She gave me a wonderful book on alternative health remedies.  She also gave me a pretty glass bird which had a mottled blue colour inside.
I will try to take a picture and add it here later. The gifts were perfect.

I gave her a few hand knitted dishcloths in her favourite colour (variegated yarn in red)
and a personal alarm device.  The latter she can can use when she is travelling alone at night from her ministry at the old folks home.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

and

Friday Foto Friends

September Sunset

Much colder weather definitely arrived last weekend and carried through most of the week. We also had some rain. The first in a long while. 

We didn't have the best summer.
We had very inclement weather until well into May.
After that we went directly to extremely hot weather interspersed with very smokey skies from all the wildfires burning to the north of us.
Once that was over we went directly to very cold-ish temperatures and rain for a few days.
The current forecast is expected to be sunny for the rest of the week. I'm not sure what the temperatures are going to be but I'm already "missing"summer because winter won't be very far behind.
We Canadians do like to complain about our weather.

At times when I want to complain about things like the weather, I remind myself that other places have seen much worse and are dealing with real devastation.
There doesn't seem to be such a thing normal weather anymore. 
What we used to count on for seasonal weather no longer exists.
 A few years ago I heard a Canadian Climatologist say we should now learn to expect the unexpected in terms of the weather.  So these days I never quite know what to expect and I take nothing for granted when it comes to the weather.

I can only hope and pray for the best in the sense of peace and safety and protection of property and persons from destruction when the worst in weather arrives.

As we transition into Fall I am grateful for some things that the summer months brought.
There are many things to be grateful for, some smaller, some larger:

• the ability to make progress on my long 'to do' list 
• putting in a garden though the planting season was much later than usual 
• getting my cataract surgery accomplished and not having any problems with it
• visits with long time far away friends and relatives
• most friends and relatives were fine and unaffected by wild fires and wild fires did not get close to my home (however one relative and his family members had to be evacuated)
• my friends in Kenya did not suffer personal violence during the recent elections (another election will be held next month because the country's Supreme Court invalidated the August election)
• all my friends in USA came through Hurricane Irma more or less intact and with minimal property damage.

Hurricanes, fires and recent terror attacks and threats in various countries have created a lot of fear and anxiety amongst people, including me.
My faith in God and thinking about the basic essentials in life which I need to be happy (my list: shelter, water, food, relationships, hope & love) are a huge help in keeping calm and carrying on though the storms of life (literal and figurative).

 Have a blessed weekend.
I pray peace to you and your families.

Joining Skywatch Friday
and
Friday Foto Friends 

April Sky

 Happy April!

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Have a fantastic weekend and

thanks for stopping by.♥♥♥