Goal Met & Some Sunshine, September 13, 2017

Hello friends,

I'm so excited to be able to say I've met my reading goals for the year. 

It was an eclectic mix of books for sure.

My official reading goal is modest . I've only selected 35 books for the year.
I already have a few more books on the go but these are various coloured icing on the cake :-)

I hope all is going well for you wherever you are.

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I'm so pleased to know that many of my blog friends in Florida have now reported they are safe after Hurricane Irma and they all came out reasonably unscathed. Thank God for that though I am still waiting to hear from one friend in Orlando.

Hurricane Irma also left many Canadians  stranded in the Caribbean.  Some on holiday but also residents and seasonal residents, students and business people.

Canada has airlifted 1,652 citizens out of the Caribbean since Saturday, according to the latest figures from Global Affairs.

Some Canadians are unhappy that the government help arrived a bit later than the help for the citizens of other nations. Some are thinking about those who travelled to these hurricane prone countries even though there was a severe travel advisory against travel. I'm sure there will be much more in the news to come.

(Source:  CBC News, September 13, 2017)

Closer to home the wild fires still rage across a good part of my province, next door in Alberta and farther east in the Province of Manitoba.

Yesterday, the BC Wildfire Service reported that as of September 12th, there are still 136 wildfires (over .01 hectares or larger) burning in the province.

So far in  the fiscal year 2017, the province has seen 1,246 wildfires burn 1.28 million hectares. That compares to a 10-year average of 154,944 hectares burned.

(Source: The Georgia Straight, September 12, 2017)

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Weather here is quite a lot cooler than it was a week ago. I'm needing a bit of adjustment as I'm still using summer covers and have my windows wide open all night.  Last night for the first time I felt a distinct chill and a cramp coming on. Reluctantly I realized it is soon time to change out the linens and blankets change my habits a bit to accommodate the cooler climate.

The days are beautiful and sunny though I realized last night that the sun sets over 2 full hours earlier than it did in the middle of July. I miss the longer days but Fall is one of my favourite seasons.
The only thing I don't like about Fall is that Winter will arrive soon and it seems to be a longer season than Fall, Summer or Spring!

I haven't had time to clear out the garden.  I've decided I will probably just leave it until the Spring.

Joanne from Cup on the Bus,  reminded me that the birds can come and eat over the winter if I leave my garden as is.  It makes good sense given that my city is not usually covered in snow for very long.

I know in previous Winters I have enjoyed watching the birds come to peck around in the garden and am always grateful then that they have a garden to come and peck around in.

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Our World Tuesday

Loss of a Legend

Today the world lost a bright light, a legend in the music industry. The gentle giant known as Don Williams.  He was only 78 years old.

I'm so very sad and I join his millions of fans around the world in wishing him God speed to eternal glory and comfort for his wife and loved ones.

I first heard his music when I was baby sitting for a neighbour at the young age of 16. I've been a fan ever since. No one could sing a song and make it sound so sweet like he could.

Don Williams was a master crooner. Virtually every song he sang is a favourite of mine. But this one I share with you as it was one I often played. It's called "Lord I Hope this Day is Good". I think this concert was in South Africa.

Even when I travelled to Kenya I was astonished to hear his music in so many taxi rides I took. It seems his fame extended all around the world.

This documentary of his trip to Harere in Zimbabwe, Africa is also a favourite of mine.  You can't help but be touched by the sensitive, kind nature of this gentle musician. You also will be touched by the opening song by two blind street musicians playing on battered and home spun instruments. It speaks to the love the people had for this amazing musician.

#RIP Don Williams

Those of us who loved your music will truly be missing your light and love.

My World Tuesday

Hello everyone,

Greetings from Vancouver where the temperature is still like the middle of summer . 

The weather forecast for the day was 34 Celsius and sunny skies.  The weather will cool off considerably by the weekend.

I guess then it will be time to clear the garden. I usually just leave everything until the Spring but it makes more work for me then to put the garden in. 

If I clear it before the Winter this year it hopefully means I will be better prepared to put my garden in next year.

I wonder if I will ever get the hang of the "gardening thing"?

I'm lucky to get some containers planted each year to enjoy some beautiful blossoms but this year due to prolonged rainfall during the time when we should have been planting gardens, there were fewer options for the starter plants I wanted. I even went to many more places to look for them. I finally got most of what I did plant from Costco (the red geraniums below) and Home Depot (the pink petunias above and black eyed susans below).

Forest fires continue to burn throughout the province and across the southern border in the USA.  Earlier this week very remote communities in Manitoba to the east had to be evacuated as wild fires started there. This was a huge effort because so many people had to be airlifted to safety and taken to Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

 The area where the fire is burning is covered in dense forest interspersed with a multitude of lakes and so is difficult to travel in and out. 1500 people from a First Nations community had to be airlifted to safety.

 

(Source: CBC News)

(Source: CBC News)

The air quality index for Vancouver today looks like this. 

I postponed my appointment with the Travel Clinic where I intended to get booster shots for my out of date vaccinations because I thought it was going to be 34 degrees today and sunny and hot. I thought I'd go at the end of week when it is expected to cool off.

In making my appointment I discovered that Yellow Fever vaccination used to be good for ten years (the stamp I have says mine is good for ten years). Now the World Health Organization says you do not need a booster shot and one shot is enough for a life time.

I hope my stamp doesn't cause any problems for entering Kenya.

The travel clinic says that affected countries know the updated advice on Yellow Fever.

Sky overhead today, September 5, 2017

Joining in with Our World Tuesday today.

A Bit of Progress

Hi friends,

Last time I wrote about having cataract surgery. It has been 1 week since I had my 2nd eye (left eye) done and I am doing well. The actual surgical procedure was a little more uncomfortable than the 1st eye (right eye) during the procedure but not so bad. After I got home and put some drops in it seemed to be better and I haven't had any issues since then. In about 3 weeks I will return for my last visit to the eye specialist and she will give me a reading prescription. For now I am using the dollar store reading glasses which I had already been using.

I've spent the last week trying to catch up on a whole lot of things: Kenyan missions, laboratory appointments, posting and receiving mail, paying bills, a lot of reading and visiting with a good friend.  I don't get to visit with my friend that often and it is a true delight when I do get to see her.  She is a very busy lady.  She is busy ministering daily to elderly people in care homes of whom have no one to help them.  She just takes the time to help them with their day to day needs, sit and visit with them, pay attention to them, read the word and pray with them.  She will even do special things like give them a pedicure.  They love her so much.  She also takes time to pray for me on a daily basis.   I appreciate my time with her and the love she shows in various ways.

The weather here continues to be in the range of 26 Celsius to 31 Celsius and will continue at least through the early part of the week. There has been very little rain in the past two months and we've had about a tenth of our usual rainfall. The wildfires that started a few months ago to the north are still burning.  Read more here
The entire province is so dry and new fires pop up all over the place including not so far to the east of where I live. Just earlier this week wildfires started in the Province of Manitoba and many people have had to be evacuated.

In my August 4, 2017 post, I wrote about the national elections scheduled for August 8th in Kenya. The elections have come and gone. The incumbent President, Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President, William Ruto were announced the winners. The NASA opposition coalition took the outcome to the Supreme Court of Kenya, arguing that the elections process was not fair and credible, particularly as it came to the transmission of election outcomes results. Last Friday, the Supreme Court rules in favour of the Opposition and ordered that another election be held within 60 days.  Please continue to pray for free and fair elections and a peaceful and clear outcome.

My friend Jonah's mother in Kenya has been struggling for her life.  For quite some time she has been in and out of hospitals, some farther from home, some closer to home.  Advice has been followed, surgeries performed, medicines prescribed, yet there has been no resolution to her health challenges. It has been a stressful time and worrying time for her family and those who care about her. She has been through a lot physically and I believe it is prayers that have sustained her.

After a very long time I am now hopeful that she has the right help. She is currently under the care of a doctor from Louisiana, USA and is doing much better. Inn the last few days her improvements have been dramatic and she is being weaned off of various medications. I do hope and pray that this improvement will be sustained through God's grace but for the foreseeable future she remains in hospital under doctor's care.

Also the young girl with lung problems has been back in hospital with chronic pneumonia. After purchasing medications for her I am hopeful she will be able to return to school.  I pray too that her strength will increase and her health improve daily.  Whenever the Lord enables me to get to Kenya again, I plan to meet the young girl and see what can be done to help her with better nutrition.  She is on my heart because she is so young and totally reliant upon the good wishes of her school for an education and even for all of her day to day needs.
                                      

I started this post with an entirely different subject in mind.  Instead this post primarily about Kenya came out however in the typing of it  had an awful lot of technical problems.  I hope all the typos don't appear in the published version. If they do I will have to correct later. I've never experienced such a problem on blogger before. I hope this is only temporary.

 God bless you and give you all a wonderful week ahead.

At Long Last

Well I never knew it would turn out this way.

A few years ago I embarked on a journey to get better vision and get rid of glasses and contacts. That way I could feel freer to learn how to swim.

I investigated Lasik surgery but was too chicken to move forward. The reason being the jury was out on whether I was a good candidate. I had been to 3 surgeons. One pronounced me a suitable candidate but I swear the man was under the influence of alcohol when I met with him and I could not feel comfortable with his assessment. This was borne out when I met with the 2nd doctor who found me to be an unsuitable candidate for Lasik. The medical staff did explain to me why I wasn't a good candidate but I didn't understand the jargon. I guess the bottom line is I wasn't a suitable candidate.  This made me trepidatious.  I cannot remember what the 3rd eye surgeon said. I only remember that I was not comfortable going forward with Lasik surgery.

Later when I mentioned my experience to my eye specialist where I visit once a year for diabetic follow up, he suggested I get cataract surgery. Though I wasn't yet an advanced case I have enough cataract build up to make me a candidate if I so chose. He said I  might as well get it over with since I will need it at some point anyway.  It made sense but I thought about it for another year. Why the delay you might ask.

In the meantime I developed a retinal tear, unrelated to diabetes according to the 2nd eye specialist who repaired it. So I had that treated and several follow up appointments to deal with it. This new eye specialist told me I should not go forward with the cataract surgery. What a dilemma!

I thought about it for another year. In the end I decided I would get the surgery. Over that year I could tell my vision had changed and was getting cloudy.  I wasn't sure if it was because of better blood glucose management and improved vision thus the need for changing my eye prescription,  or if the cataracts were getting worse. My optometrist told me it was likely because of better blood glucose management. The eye surgery coordinator told me it was because my cataracts were growing.

In any case, I decided it was better to move forward now that blurriness was occurring more frequently and I was past the immediate issues of the retinal tear.  I also know that at some point everyone needs cataract surgery and people seem to be getting younger and younger who need it.

I have a Kenyan friend who is still quite young and just had surgery last year.  I am still relatively young as far as cataract surgery goes but this will save me the bother of getting this common surgery when I am old and not necessarily as mobile. Years of experience with needing to help my late mother go to doctors, including eye surgeons and so on, helped me make a decision,  Of course I also wanted to be free of contacts and glasses. I will still need reading glasses. I opted not to go for specialty lenses which the doctor said are harder to fit and if they need to be redone it is difficult as the lens needs to come out in pieces.  Much harder than putting them in.

A few weeks ago I had the first eye done and it went very well. However at the same time I developed vertigo due to inner ear fluid. In running errands I was almost passing out at times. That was a bit scary and prompted me to see the doctor last Friday for  assessment. I get my 2nd eye done today and my last visit to the eye surgeon should be in another month with two appointments and many eye drops in between visits.  I have to say I am looking forward to it (pun intended).

If you are thinking about cataract surgery or have a parent or friend you need to help get to their surgical appointments you may wish to read more here.

 (Update:  I've just come home from the 2nd eye surgery. I must say it is more uncomfortable than the first go around. The eye specialist said it is often that way. I have a follow up appointment tomorrow so hopefully all will look okay with the eye. For now it feels like there is something in there. I guess there is. A new lens! But last time the "fit" was somewhat more comfortable.  Last time too it was a resident doctor and my eye specialist supervised and walked me through it. Today she worked alone. In both instances I was offered medication. In this case, Ativan for anxiety. I declined because of the addictive nature of the drug and I also didn't want to be under the influence for several hours afterward. Though I was a bit anxious prior to surgery I felt I could manage, and I did.)

End of summer garden.

The summer has just flown by and I have been so very busy trying to catch up after many months of doing very little. My garden never fully got planted but what I did plant I enjoyed. Now as the summer wanes I am already missing the colour.

Have a great week ahead everyone.  I'll be seeing you.

 Soon I shall be back to visit your blogs, comment and reply.

National Indigenous Day 2017 - John Hendry Park (Trout Lake)

National Aboriginal Day 2017 occurred on Summer Solstice, June 21. It was a very beautiful and peaceful day. Clear blue skies and not too hot. This year, the Prime Minister of Canada renamed National Aboriginal Day. Hereafter it will be called National Indigenous Day to mirror the terminology in the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

UNDRIP codifies "Indigenous historical grievances, contemporary challenges and socio-economic, political and cultural aspirations" and is the "culmination of generations-long efforts by Indigenous organizations to get international attention, to secure recognition for their aspirations, and to generate support for their political agendas.

(Source: Wikipedia)

National Indigenous Day is a special day to celebrate the First Peoples of Canada and the heritage, diversity and culture that they have.  It was first celebrated in 1996 after years of lobbying by the Aboriginal peoples of Canada (Indian, Inuit and Métis  peoples).  Originally the Aboriginal peoples had hoped for a national statutory holiday recognizing their unique place in Canada's history however this didn't happen. It may happen in years to come.

I hadn't been to John Henry Park (otherwise known as Trout Lake) for a good many years. I used to go there for the celebrations on June 21st and also from time to time for Farmer's Markets.  This year I invited a friend to join me. I thought it was time she have an opportunity to see a pow-wow  (traditional dancing celebration and competition).  It turns out they no longer have a big pow-wow and even though they had a mini pow-wow we missed it entirely. My friend had to go to a seminar earlier in the day.  By the time we got to the park a good many activities had already wound up for the day.  Though a number of booths were still up most of them were packing up for the day.

I managed to capture some photos of lazy, sunny late afternoon.

There were ducks on the lake.

Watching them paddle around gave me a feeling of peace and tranquility on such a lovely day.

The canoes looked beautiful against the water and greenery.

 

 

I enjoyed this lady's leggings with the printed West Coast Aboriginal ovoid forms.

Later in the evening there was a big stage where some national and USA entertainers would perform.  We didn't get a chance to stay for the entertainment. We were only there for the first few minutes of the rap duo (on the stage in the photo below) from La Belle Province (Quebec)

I'm enjoying some family company at the moment so I may not have time to visit your blog until my guest leaves.

Enjoy your week and thanks so much for stopping by!

 Linking up with Saturday's Critters

Early August

Hello friends,

It's the end of another week. Time passes so quickly.

I had great news today. My nephew has successfully completed his Master's Degree in Psychology and will commence his PhD studies in a few short weeks. I am very proud of him. We have long had a "deal" that once he has completed much of his education we will travel together to France. He reminded me of it today.

In other news the wild fires which have been burning for weeks now continue to wreck havoc several hours to the north of me. The air quality in much of the province is very bad and has now affected my city for a few days.  Have a look at the sky in the photo below.

This has been the picture for much of the past 3 days. Our province has not seen fires this bad for about 60 years or weather and we've been smashing temperature records all week. What we need is some good rainfall but there doesn't seem to be any in the forecast. The moon has turned orange. You can see it peeking out of the trees in the photo below (sorry the trees are in the way and I wasn't high enough to see over the trees). I read on line news today which said a controlled burn a few days ago is now an uncontrolled burn due to high winds (*sigh). It is threatening a power station that supplies electricity to Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Crews are working hard to make sure it isn't impacted but at this stage only God knows the outcomes.

 As of 6:23 a.m. PT Friday, 10 communities had reached a seven out of 10 on the Air Quality Health Index:

• Central Fraser Valley.
• Central Okanagan.
• Eastern Fraser Valley.
• Kamloops.
• Metro Vancouver - NE.
• Metro Vancouver - NW.
• North Okanagan.
• South Okanagan.
• Squamish.
• Whistler.

When the index shows a number of seven or higher, Environment Canada recommends that children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions "take it easy" and reduce outdoor activities.
The general population should do the same if they start to cough or feel an itch in their throat.

(Source: CBC News, August 4, 2017)

Yesterday when I was out running errands I had to make a dash for the bus and I ran as fast as I could for almost 1 block.  I noticed later in the evening that my throat was very sore. I've also had an intermittent, irritating cough for a few days. I'm largely indoors but it is too hot to go without throwing open the doors and windows and running the fans so I guess I must be breathing in the small particulate matter which is in the air.

With the run of hot weather I haven't felt up to much though I am keeping very busy with the daily things of life. I've made a bit of progress with some household updates; mainly buying new accessories for the kitchen, dining and bathroom areas. This has also meant decluttering a bit in these areas and giving away things.  All the giveaways take time because one must take photos, place the advert, respond to emails and phone calls and then hope the people show up to pick up what they requested. Sometimes there isn't much interest in what is posted. It is all a matter of timing.

With the really hot weather this week I haven't done much reading. Even so it won't be difficult to meet this year's reading goal as I'm several books ahead of schedule.  Currently in my reading pile is The Legacy of Pemberley by Rebeccah Ann Collins. It is the 10th book and final book in the series. The funny thing is I didn't know that when I picked it up so I've had to try and decipher who everyone is.  If are a Jane Austen fan I'm sure you will enjoy the book just as I'm enjoying it.

There Was a Country:A Memoir  by the late Chinua Achebe is also in my current reading pile.  It is about his personal account of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War of 1967-1970.

Besides these two books I've got several more on hold request at the library.  I've also downloaded several free ebooks this week from both Amazon Kindle and Kobo (Canada's version of Kindle).  I probably wouldn't spend money on these books but since I got them for free I will now be introduced to some "new to me" authors.

As you can see, I won't be without reading material any time soon.  The nice thing too  is that I'm already prepared with reading materials for any future travels. While I still prefer reading a paper book you can't beat the convenience of an ebook. I can carry an entire library of books in my mini Kobo.   Such wonders. My grandfather and great-grandmother would have marvelled at the thought if they had lived long enough to know about it. I think my grandfather would have especially liked an ereader. Every time I saw him he would be reading.

My niece will visit me in a few short days and  I'm looking forward to her visit. We always have fun and I do things with her that I wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy.  While she is here we will celebrate her recent birthday and her brother and I have a few surprises planned.

In coming weeks and months,  I'll be trying to solidify future travel plans with my nephew.  He is a very busy guy so it will be difficult to pin him down over a mutually workable period of time to travel. I do hope we can work it out.  I'll also be working on a few other fun plans.  More about these in future.

I've been busy helping students and widows in Kenya.  There is always great need there. Sadly the little toddler with the cancerous tumour on his eye passed on.  We were unable to save him though the doctors tried hard.  My friend Jonah worked tirelessly to get the City of Nairobi to provide land to bury the lad who died while being treated in hospital in that city.  Ordinarily one would be buried on the family compound.  However the sad fact is this young lad and his mother were turned out of their rural home due to the boy's tumour. The father thought his wife and the boy were cursed.  As a result they had been living in a shelter for some time and the boy had been many hours away in hospital for much of the time.

Last but not least, Kenya will be having it's national elections on Tuesday, August 8th, 2017.  It is a always a very tense time.  If you are a person of prayer,  please pray for peace and safety for the nation and it's people as well as fair election outcomes.

Take care until next time.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Friday Foto Friends.