Gratitude December - Day 22

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Today's post is Day 22 of Gratitude December.  I'm grateful that the Coquihalla Highway has been reopened to commercial traffic.  The reopening is about 1 month earlier than initially expected through the hard work of so many workers, engineers and so on who worked around the clock to reopen it.  

Photo credit:   BC Ministry of Transportation

The highway is a major route that connects the City of Vancouver and the other municipalities in the Lower Mainland with the rest of the country. While it was closed the supply chain was badly affected. Truckers had to use alternate and very dangerous routes to move goods. It will be awhile yet before this major highway is reopened to recreational traffic but today's reopening is definitely good news!

Photo credit:  Darrel Dyck, The Canadian Press

There will be major upgrades to the highway going forward.  Upgrades that will try to strategize around climate change issues so these repairs are temporary in nature.  BC Minister of Transportation, Rob Fleming called the reopening, a Christmas Miracle and I would agree.

Gratitude December - Day 21

This post is for day 21 of Gratitude December.

I'm grateful that in this day of internet, email and social media, there are still people who like to connect in the old fashioned way.

These Christmas cards and others not yet hung, have given me smiles 😊.

What about you dear reader? Do you still send or receive Christmas cards? If you receive them do you display them somewhere?

Gratitude December - Day 20

The weekend saw another storm and thousands were left without power.  Today I am grateful for the sun and clear skies. 

I am also grateful that I live in a place with such beautiful scenery. It adds to my daily enjoyment of life.  What is one thing you are grateful for today?

 

In the last several posts, I've mentioned an opportunity to bless villagers in Kenya with a Christmas meal. If you would like to participate and help feed a village family please click the red flower to the right of blog to be connected to Pay Pal.  If you wish to read more about the initiative please click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.  We appreciate your kindness at this challenging time of year.

Thank you for visiting. Enjoy your holiday preparations as we near Christmas Day!

Gratitude December - Day 19

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

Today is Day 19 of Gratitude December.

Overnight we had so much rain and I could hear it pounding down for hours.  Overall we've had far more rain since mid-September than we've ever had since weather occurrences have been recorded. It's wreaked havoc around the province.

 

When I took these photos the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. I tried to capture the raindrops on the leaves as evidence of the rain.

 

Today I am thankful that I have a home and shelter from the rain and cold. There are many homeless in the world including in my beautiful city. Though the different levels of government have been strategizing for years about how  to tackle the issue, the solution seems to allude them. I do hope they can find answers because the problem is only getting worse. In a few years I'll have to make some difficult decisions about where I live too. In the meantime, I don't take my home for granted.

In the last several posts, I've mentioned an opportunity to bless villagers in Kenya with a Christmas meal. If you would like to participate and help feed a village family please click the red flower to the right of blog to be connected to Pay Pal.  If you wish to read more about the initiative please click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.  We appreciate your kindness at this challenging time of year.

Gratitude December - Day 18

Hello everyone,

Saturday is Day 18 of Gratitude December and I'm posting a few hours early.  If you landed here from Skywatch Friday you can click here to find my entry. You can also click on photos if you wish to enlarge them for viewing.

I'm grateful that I finally made it to the annual Christmas Market. It's been going on for several years now but this was my first trip. I purchased a season's pass several weeks ago and planned to go several times. 

My plan didn't quite work out for various reasons but I was happy to finally get there. I'm hoping to go again but on Friday new Covid restrictions were brought in and that will put a damper on all large gatherings. All the more reason I'm grateful I made it to the market when I did.

These are just a few photos of the experience. I hope you enjoyed!

In the last several posts, I've mentioned an opportunity to bless villagers in Kenya with a Christmas meal. If you would like to participate and help feed a village family please click the red flower to the right of blog to be connected to Pay Pal.  If you wish to read more about the initiative please click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.  We appreciate your kindness at this challenging time of year.

Gratitude December - Day 17

Today is Day 17 of Gratitude December  (I've increased my blog font at the request of a reader).

I'm grateful for a day in which the gray skies broke to show some blue and the sun even came out for awhile. If you live where you get a lot of snow, you probably also get a lot of sunshine even during the shorter daylight hours. Sunshine and blue sky would not generally be scarce but when you live in the rain forest, the dry days and the clear sky days are few and far between during rainy season.

I took advantage of the beautiful day and went to the Christmas Market. I'll feature the visit in another post on another day.  Today I'm featuring the beautiful sky we had both in day and in the night.  It was also relatively warm and it was so lovely to get out and about.

 

On the way to the Christmas Market

Fresh snow has fallen on the mountains.

Lighted sails at the Vancouver Convention Center.

Giant tree in the plaza of the Art Gallery.

Moonlight through the branches.

Back in front of the old Vancouver Convention Center.

In the last several posts, I've mentioned an opportunity to bless villagers in Kenya with a Christmas meal. If you would like to participate and help feed a village family please click the red flower to the right of blog to be connected to Pay Pal.  If you wish to read more about the initiative please click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.  We appreciate your kindness at this challenging time of year.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Gratitude December - Day 16

Today is Day 16 of Gratitude December.

I'm very grateful for these two kitchen appliances that make my life so much better on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

 

I'm talking about the Nespresso coffee maker and the milk frother. I can make a cup of regular brew or make cappuccino in the  comfort of my home.

The Instant Pot is a wonderful addition to the kitchen. It makes it easy for me to put together a tasty meal with minimal effort.

What appliances do you enjoy in your kitchen?