Blue Monday on May 31, 2010

Franz Kafka's house in Prague (close to the castle), Czech Republic. I love this shade of blue *smile.

Click here to see more Blue Monday submissions.

I'll Be Away

Hi friends,

I will be away for awhile visiting family so you might not hear from me while I'm gone. Though I will have my laptop my time on it will be limited since the wireless costs after using the allowable "bytes" is very expensive.

I have set up a few posts which will publish while I am away. 

I hope you enjoy them. 

As always, I love hearing from you.

People come into our life disguised as angels, and sometimes angels come into our life disguised as people. It is possible to see God anywhere. All it takes are open eyes and ears and the willingness to see miracles. They are everywhere. God is as available as we are. Having friends that inspire us to rise to higher and greater levels is an awesome gift. Surround yourself with people that inspire you to do better and inspire your friends as well. It is a profound truth that the people we spend time with shape the path that we travel.  http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/quotes/

Simple Joy Saturday ~ May 29, 2010

Remembering summer's past and the beauty of the abundant gardens in the city.

Click here for more Simple Joys in Our Life.

Under the Vancouver Sky : Skywatch Friday ~ May 28, 2010

[Please click on photos to enlarge].

For more sky photos from around the world, click here.

Bananas Anyone? How about Banana Bread?

I always have bananas on hand and though I try to buy only a few at a time it seems I overbuy and the bananas are ripe before I have eaten them. Half of the time when I shop, the bananas on offer are already over ripe or I would purchase them slightly green and let them ripen on the counter.

When I have over ripe bananas I put them in a fruit smoothie (more on this another day) or I make some banana bread though I can't say I've baked any for some time. Yesterday I had a hankering for some banana bread and didn't want to purchase any while I was out for coffee with a friend. I meant to bake the banana bread last night but was a little too tired so today (Thursday) was the day.

Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1 chopped and mashed apple (i only used 3 bananas so I added a Fuji apple)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (I reduced mine to 3/4 cup and it was still a bit too sweet)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

Mash the bananas and then in a large bowl add the melted butter into the mashed bananas. Next add the sugar, egg, and vanilla into the bowl and mix. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last and mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

This recipe was found here . It was my first time trying this recipe and it was very simple to make as well as quite tasty. I modified the recipe with the addition of the apple as I also had some apples that were going brown. I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and I think it could easily be reduced by another quarter cup if you don't like things too sweet.

For your convenience, I have now added a recipe converter to the side bar (on right hand side of your screen). Enjoy!

Have Passport, Will Travel

Well it's that time of the year to dream of travel plans.  Before I can do anything concrete I need to renew my passport. I got my last passport in November 2005 but they are only good for 5 years. Actually it works out to 4 1/2 years since you must have a valid passport with at least 6 months left on it before you can travel. Mine will expire in about 6 months so it must be renewed.

Passport applications and renewals are done at the Passport Canada Office at the Sinclair Centre in downtown Vancouver (corner of Hastings and Granville).  That is where I spent my time Tuesday. I had to wait until Tuesday since the Monday is the annual statutory holiday, Queen Victoria Day in honour of Queen Victoria.

Photograph of Queen Victoria by Alexander Bassano, 1887.

On my way to the passport office I caught a glimpse of this demonstration. I also decided to stop off at the Dressew, a Vancouver institution; where I bought skeins and skeins of wool and cotton yarn to make dishcloths and try my hand at a child's sweater. See  more about my knitting adventure here and here.

I finally made it to this place.

The passport office is on the second floor. There were a lot of people in there but the line up moved fairly quickly. I waited in one line for an agent to review my documents and give me a number which would be called when another agent would take my money and give me instructions.

Altogether I was in and out of the office within a half hour. It cost me $87 Canadian. Twenty of this is for the processing fee which includes sending my passport to me by registered mail (requiring adult signature for delivery acceptance).  It is the same price for an original application or a renewal application. I was told to expect my passport around June 8, 2010.  If I needed it quicker, I would pay an additional $20 and be able to pick it up at the same office on the third day after drop off.

This got me to wondering how much it costs in your country for a passport (original or renewal) and how long it takes to process. I'd love to hear from you!

Demonstrators Gather at Carnegie Center ~ Wordless Wednesday, May 26, 2010

 
Click here for more Wordless Wednesday.

Update May 26, 2010 - This update was posted due to the great interest in the subject matters of the demonstration. I am not 100 percent sure about the demonstration but I believe it was organized in protest of the closure of a health centre located next door. The building where the people are gathering is a community centre which provides recreation and other programs for the very dispossessed people living in the area. These people are the  poorest of the poor in Canada and many of them are on drugs and have health issues such as HIV.

The regional health authority removed funding for the health centre recently because it said that the same services were being provided at another location in the neighbourhood. The residents disagree with this assessment and so took to the streets. This is only one of a series of demonstrations on this matter. When I passed through the area on the transit bus the crowd was just getting organized.

Thank you to  my readers for your keen interest in these photos.