Skywatch Friday

 Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

It's been awhile since I posted for Skywatch Friday so these are a few of the sky photos over the past several weeks. These photos were all taken over the months of June and July. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Roof top of the city's central (main) library

Books, Books, Books - This is What I've Been Reading

I set the reading bar low in 2022 because I wanted to do other things. I haven't actually done the other things I had planned or hoped to do, but there is still time. This year I've read the following books. Forgive the lack of a good picture but it was the best I could do with the screenshot. My favourite reads out of these were the Ken Follett book (I've loved all of his books) and the Maye Musk memoir. It was very interesting to learn who raised Elon Musk and also to learn how Maye Musk and her family moved from Canada to South Africa and what brought her back to North America.

 

I'm reading several other books as shown in the photo below but am am really only focussed on the novel A Spool of Blue Thread. I've also placed a few books on hold though I'm trying to restrain myself so I can do some sewing. Perhaps if it gets too warm I won't be able to sew until the Fall but then I have the issue of less natural light. We shall see. There is the added issue of not yet finding patterns I would like to use for the items I want to make and like last summer I've been buying more clothing so I don't actually need anything more.

I hope your reading plans are going well and that you have something interesting to keep your mind occupied.  Weather where I am is hot this week.  I find I can't do much when the air is too still. That's when I sit and read or watch the television whilst sitting with open windows and fans blowing.

Until next time, keep well and keep safe. 

The Last Week

 Hello friends,

Thank you to all who left well wishes and comments on my last post. I truly appreciate your beautiful words.

I trust you are well and enjoying summer/winter wherever you are in the world. There is so much going on around the world.  Most of it is not that positive so it's important we do what we can to safeguard our mental and physical health to help us cope. Some of the ways I safeguard mine are through enjoying nature (the sky and gardening), reading, short walks and some self-care now and then (exercise, prayer, deep breathing, relaxation, slow routines, mani-pedis and massage). I was blessed to do most of the above this week. All the photos in this post were taken this week.

Today (July 10th) was a lovely day.

 

I had my second booster shot a few days ago. All went well save for a sore arm on the second day after the shot. Not everyone in my province has had their first booster shot yet let alone their second shot. They have to be eligible first and eligibility is generally based on health status and age. For some reason the head doctor here makes the age cut off very high unlike all other jurisdictions in the country. I think that is wrong headed but I'm not the one making the decisions.  Just the other day however I read that the government has opened things to everyone aged 12 and older to get a booster shot in the fall when Covid cases are expected to increase once more. 

Jonah had his 2 vaccinations in Kenya and that was good enough to travel and enter Canada when he travelled in May.  But like most insurance there is a waiting period to get a health card here in the province of BC before he can register for his booster shots. Once the waiting period is over he can complete health card registration provided he has received the permanent resident (PR) card issued federally. 

Canada is very backlogged in virtually every area of service due to the pandemic so PR cards and other things are taking months to receive instead of a week or two. We were happy that Jonah's card did indeed arrive at just under 2 months wait time and he has been able to register or apply for the last bits of documentation he needs.  It's a huge relief since many people are experiencing significantly longer wait times.

 

Jonah has been very busy getting accustomed to life and work here and he has been enjoying both.  The other day he joined the work party at the community garden to help repair the raised beds that were falling apart and to do some extensive weeding around the plots. Weeding and general upkeep of the community garden area is the responsibility of all gardeners who have a plot but most of them don't seem to do much. Maybe they don't know that they have to volunteer 4 hours of time over the summer to the work needs of the garden. I certainly didn't know until the new chairman pointed it out a few weeks ago. Basically, Jonah's garden work on Saturday fulfilled the volunteer hours required for this year.  In addition, my nephew's girlfriend put in several hours of work a few weeks ago so we have more than covered our volunteer work hours requirement for the year.  We only have one plot which my nephew's girlfriend has planted and tended this year.  I'm hoping next year she will be able to get her own plot because she loves the gardening process. I hope they don't say she is disqualified due to living too far from the neighbourhood.

 

My left leg is still giving me problems though I do see signs of improvement here and there. I'm trying to make sure I take time to do the exercises and the walking recommended by the physiotherapist.  It's been a difficult balance  because it doesn't take too long before I've overdone the walking. I had such a day on Friday when Jonah and I went out to do our business. I came home very tired and spent the rest of the weekend indoors to recover and get the housework done slowly so I can be ready for the week ahead. I also spent some time outside in the garden. When I wasn't outside I left my patio door wide open and enjoyed seeing the little hummingbirds come by.  I also enjoyed the chirping of birds. They were very active this weekend. I don't remember hearing them last summer when there was so much smoke in the air. That couldn't have been good for their little lungs at all.

I finished reading this new book French Braid by Anne Tyler.   It was a quick read and I enjoyed it although it was far from one of my favourite reads.  Unbeknownst to me I also started reading another book by Anne Tyler just a few days before.  That one is called A Spool of Blue Thread: A Novel.  I thought the two books seemed quite similar but French Braid seemed to flow a bit better and so I finished it first.

Last, but not least, I finally made time on Wednesday to get a mani-pedi. I've been needing a good clean up of the nails for quite some time but don't like to pay the prices or sit for so long. I was glad I did get there as the young woman who worked on me had a very pleasant personality and I asked her to give me an extra long hand massage because she asked me to wait for my manicure while she worked on another client who was there with a friend. I agreed to her request and she gave me a nice long massage when she returned to work on my fingernails. 

In the "old" days one would always get a wonderful hand and foot massage as part of the mani-pedi. Nowadays you mostly have to pay a premium for these services.  If a salon does happen to include a massage with their basic service it is usually nothing to speak of.  Often you don't even get one especially since they started using gel nail polish. While I was waiting for the nail tech to be free, I enjoyed a nice, long massage on the massage chair.

It's been a busy week despite the leg issue and I'm expecting another busy week ahead. 

I wish you all a wonderful and happy week where ever you are in the world. 

Stay safe. 💓💓💓

Update and a Big Announcement

 Hi everyone, 

I trust you have all been doing fine. 

I have been on a long blogging break for a number of reasons but the blogging break has gone on longer than I intended.

When I first went off line it was because I was working very hard on what I had hoped was the last stages of major decluttering. This involved dealing with all the papers I've been collecting and storing for years.  Several years ago I had gone through my large filing cabinet and gotten rid of a lot of paperwork so I thought I was well on my way to completion.  However I discovered that that was only the tip of the iceberg.  The more I looked, the more I had papers here and there that I had stored away. It seemed like as I was going through and shredding old papers that they were in fact expanding in number! Of course that wasn't actually happening, it's just that there was so much of it. I set myself a deadline of the end of March, then April and I worked hard toward the goal.  I got rid of much of it but I still have more to do. 

Once I stopped shredding papers, I got very sick with a bad cold. I had worked myself very hard and so I guess my immunity was not that great.  I no sooner got through that then I started having an arthritic flare up and it has gone on for many weeks. I'm not one hundred percent sure why the flare up happened but I think it is largely due to the horrible weather we've had for the last quarter of 2021 and for half of 2022.  Constant rain.  

It's actually been quite cool too but I think I'll take the cool to the heat wave we had last summer at this time.  Sadly, the hot weather resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and wild fires totally wiped out one small community named Lytton and another First Nations community or two. The damage to the forests was also extensive. Lots of rain to dampen the earth this year has significantly reduced threat of wild fires for the present time. Instead communitys are now dealing with possibility of flooding due to melting snow packs on the mountains combined with heavy rainfall. Water levels are dangerously high right now throughout much of the province but I'm hopeful that rivers won't overflow. This past week we had a mini-heat wave but yesterday and today, it is back to a bit of rain and overcast weather. I prefer it when the weather is broken up with warmer days and cooler days as keeps everything in better balance all around.

In between decluttering and getting sick, I did manage to plant the garden albeit not quite how I normally do. The heavy rainfall and cold seemed to affect how things are growing. Too much water I think but at least things are now blooming.

My nephew and his girlfriend are looking after the community garden at the park again this year. They enjoyed it so much last year but next year they may get their own plot if any are available.

If you are still reading, I have some big personal news to share. I've been waiting for the right time to share it and now seems to be a good time.  My long term readers and blog friends know that I do grassroots missions to villagers in Kenya and have been doing so for a very long time. Early on in the missions outreach, Jonah and I met through a mutual pastor friend. Jonah is a trained pastor but also has an academic background in humanitarian work and a significant volunteer background in relief work in Kenya.  We had been planning to get married for quite some time and on my last visit to Kenya it finally happened.  The global pandemic and Canada's backlogged immigration process delayed our reunification but as of May, Jonah landed in Vancouver and we were reunited at last.

Here he is on arrival day in Vancouver. He's not used to getting flowers :-)

 

As you can imagine, we have been super busy.  There is an awful lot for Jonah to learn and discover but he is adjusting well and enjoying the process. He loves it because it is peaceful and the city is not too small.  The city is quite large by Canadian standards but is relatively small and calm compared to Nairobi where he often travelled for business.  We hope to continue the work of the missions in Kenya and to share what we feel led to share now that he is here but first things first.

Immigration and travel during these last few years has been very challenging. As we went through the process we could see the hand of God in the process.  We really know that God undertook everything on our behalf and was with us through it all.  This was especially evident to us through the last year and even now.  We are grateful when we realize the great hardships and difficulties that so many other couples have faced and are still going through as they journey through the same process. I'm still marvelling at how quickly our application was processed though it took some time for the officials to actually begin processing the paperwork. Some people have been waiting years and ours took only about 4.5 months to be processed though the other elements of the process added time. Truly a miracle during the Immigration backlog affecting millions of people.  We don't take the blessing lightly and are thrilled to begin life together.

Here he is at one of our outings to Stanley Park and the waterfront.

The long weekend is coming up so I just want to wish all my Canadian and American readers a very Happy Canada  Day (July 1st) and Independence Day (July 4).

Stay safe until next time💓💖🎇🎆

Break Time

Hi friends,

I'm popping in to let you know that things are getting increasingly busy for me as I deal with a couple of major life happenings and on top of that spring work and maintenance.  My plan is to stop posting and surfing blogs for a month or two while I deal with things.

Posting doesn't take that long but I get very distracted because once I'm into blogger I begin reading and often commenting on posts. It's fun, but time consuming. Hopefully by staying off line for awhile I will be able to do everything that needs to be done.  Everything is good. I just need to focus right now. 

In the meantime, I'm sending you all best wishes for a wonderful season wherever you are in the world. Where I live it is springtime but still a bit chilly.

I've been hoping for warmer weather and sunshine to better show the cherry blossoms.  However it has been raining a lot and is still a bit chilly.

Keep well and stay safe.

Tuesday 4 - Which One?

 Welcome to Tuesday 4 in memory of Toni Taddeo.

Which one do you prefer?

1. Picnic by the water or backyard BBQ?

I absolutely love the waterfront and would choose the venue for a picnic if there weren't a lot of people around. I love to have peace and quiet and just enjoy the picnic with family or loved ones. A backyard BBQ is attractive because you won't have a lot of noisy people around plus you don't have to schlep your food and other accoutrements very far.

2. Spring or Autumn? Got reasons?

This is a hard one because these are both my favourite seasons. If I have to choose one I guess it would be spring. The reasons are that it brings so much joy and colour after a cold, long, gray season of late autumn and winter. I do love fall too because of all the beautiful colour and the cool, crisp air after a hot summer. I find crisp air so invigorating.  But I would have to choose spring just because it gives my spirits a lift and I look forward to growing season. When fall rolls around I get a bit melancholy because I know it won't last long and winter is around the corner. If I could only have fall and spring, I would gladly do away with winter and summer.

3. Cup of Tea or Cup oCoffee?   'splain it to us Lucy... if you don't mind!

I love coffee best. Probably because when I was a child almost every one drank coffee when they visited one another and there was a lot of visiting going on. Tea was usually only brought out for a one on one afternoon visit. I really love the smell of coffee too and I have fond memories of the coffee aroma wafting it's way to my nose whenever mom or dad would make morning coffee.  Nowadays I drink coffee in the morning and early afternoon. I switch to decaf or herbal tea late at night to keep me warm and I also drink a lot of water.

4. A weekend at home or one spent out and about?

It depends what one is doing out and about. If it is going to see some naturally beautiful spots or spending time with a friend  then I will go for being out and about. I also like to go out and about once or twice a week just to spend quiet time on a walk or running a few errands, maybe reading a book over coffee. Otherwise I would much rather stay home relaxing or doing things around the house. 

Dockside, a local restaurant to which a friend introduced me.

A friend took me to the above restaurant which was quite special because it is marina side and it wasn't very busy at noon. I enjoyed it because I don't really like crowds especially when trying to visit with a friend. Of course if you go to some events you expect it to be busy and then you don't really visit but simply enjoy companionship while taking in the sporting event, concert, movie and so on.