Seagulls on the Island

Seagull at Granville Island in Vancouver

Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver is a destination for tourists and locals alike. There is a lot to look at and admire on the waterfront and the atmosphere is very peaceful and enjoyable even when there are hordes of people around. At least, I find it so, but I don't get to this place too often anymore. I may get there at least once, perhaps twice a year. 

This time I was with a friend who likes to go there and it was probably the quietest I have ever seen it. It looks like the group of ladies in the background were enjoying shopping and picture taking. I think they may have been waiting for one of the Aqua buses that goes from one end of the Island to downtown Vancouver.

I found these seagulls just in time for Saturday's Critters with Eileen. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

If you missed my post from Thursday please see it here. Especially if you are the praying kind. 

Thanks so much!

A Good Week

It's been a busy, fun and tiring week with my niece.  We went to see two movies, "Despicable Me 2" and "Man of Steel".  Both of these movies couldn't be more different from the other but they were both entertaining in their own ways.  We laughed at the little minions in Despicable Me 2 and my niece almost split a gut laughing hysterically when the minions sang "YMCA" by the Village People. My niece and I love superheros of all kinds, including Superman. I thought the movie might be too serious and not entertaining enough for her.  She did get very wrapped up in the movie plot, shaking her fists at the villains who tried to kill Kal-El (the name Superman was given at birth by his parents on the planet Krypton).

In addition to going to movies, we managed to make two trips to the beach front.  One on of our trips, we stopped at a foot reflexology place before going for dinner.  My niece told me the day before that she wanted a foot massage. I didn't take her seriously because I know she doesn't like to be touched and her feet are ticklish.  While I was having my feet done, she surprised me by also having her feet massaged in the next room, lol.  After that we went for fish and chips before heading to the beach to relax and make sure my niece was able to dip her feet in the water.

It was quite an experience for her to walk barefoot in the shifting sands with all kinds of dried, prickly seaweed, small stones and shells. Her balance is not good at the best of times and her foot muscles are not strong or used walking in the outdoors without shoes.  She was very proud of herself after managing to take a walk along the beach to the water and back.  I was proud of her too because she struggled to keep her balance  but she made it.  Afterward, her feet were very dusty from the sand.  To make her laugh I told her she had "ghost feet". She thought that was very funny. 

We stayed home on the weekend as our first few days out were not only very long but very hot.  We were both tired and needed a bit of recovery.  I spent Saturday getting the kitchen cleaned and preparing salads for the the day as well as preparing for a small birthday celebration we were to have on Sunday.

On Monday we went to Granville Island and had fun walking around & eating ice cream.  It was a hot day but under the bridge by the waterfront there always seems to be a nice breeze.

After spending a few hours walking around, we decided we should have a bite to eat because we wouldn't be home for some time.  We still had some sightseeing to do, a ferry boat ride and two buses to take before getting home!

The Inukshuk  is always a lovely sight against the waterfront.

This is the small water bus that we took to downtown. From there we caught a small bus along Beach Avenue and saw a lot of the waterfront from the window.  The little bus eventually connected to the bus we needed to come home on.  The bonus was that we had a great little tour of the beachfront.

Tuesday was our last day together and we went to a local park and had a mini picnic. While at the park, my nephew came by with a football and played catch with his sister. It was nice to watch them have fun together. After that we went for a nice long walk and ended with a small sundae before coming home to get her bags packed.  The week went by quickly but we enjoyed our short time together.

We ended the day with this beautiful sunset.

This is my submission to Our World Tuesday and Skywatch Friday

Taking Stock of 2012

The end of another year is here and just as I've done for the last few years, I'm taking a few moments to look back at my progress on the goals I set for 2012. These goals are really mostly guidelines for me to keep moving forward through the year rather than hard and fast rules about what I need to do. They probably aren't that much interest to my readers but I do it because I find that setting out broad goals each year helps me to keep things on track and gives much needed structure to my year.  Blogging about it makes me more motivated to work on the goals and holds me more accountable for my time.

Last year, I structured my goals into several categories: Spiritual, Health & Lifestyle, Family, Financial, Hobbies and Home.

SPIRITUAL

• Implement an appointment time for prayer and study

• Use a good study guide for bible study
• Support one person in reaching their goals
• Make one loan to a female entrepreneur in a Kenyan village
• Cultivate and nurture Christian friendships
• Implement an appointment time for writing & gifts to my sponsored children in Kenya
• Continue to keep in touch with childhood spiritual leaders

I made good headway in all of these goals though there is some room for improvement. I managed to meet all of my spiritual goals but need to improve on consistency of appointment time for prayer and study. One thing I added to these goals over the year was reading my Bible chronologically and I will continue with that goal in 2013. One thing I found helpful was reading at night rather than in the morning.

I supported 2 people in moving forward with their post-secondary goals this year and helped two women with their business goals. I had been saving pennies as a way of raising funds for Kenyan women. I will no longer be saving pennies because the Canadian Government has abolished the one cent coin and it will no longer exist as of  February 2013.  I will miss the penny coin for many reasons.

I've made a decision not to continue providing post secondary or business assistance to Kenyans in the foreseeable future.  My hope is that the assistance I was able to provide will be enough to encourage the receivers on their respective journeys.  I will continue to provide help to Kenyan villagers in various ways as the Lord leads and enables.

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

• Continue to learn about diet for diabetics & incorporate pulses, grains, dark green veggies into cooking.
• Learn to make artisan bread
• Make more multigrain bread
• Get more Omega 3 EFAs, vitamins, fiber & antioxidants
• Implement an appointment for stretching
• Ride my stationary bike for 30 minutes 3x per week, increasing to every day
• Resume weight training
• Continue with my swimming lessons
• Take a water aerobics class
• Laugh more
• Learn new computer skills
• Upgrade my skills on smart phone/tablets, etc.
• Clear up computer files and photo files
• Continue to broaden my base of friendships & participate in my various group meetings & get togethers

I was not successful with several of my health and lifestyle goals; mainly those goals which required physical activity. I did continue to learn more about incorporating healthy eating habits, and getting more Omega 3 EFAs, vitamins, fiber and antioxidants in the diet but this did not help me achieve weight loss or better blood sugar levels.

Looking back over 2012, I see that I was hampered more often than not by long periods of constant pain and inability or limited ability to walk or exercise.  This again made weight issues very challenging,

In 2013, I hope I can make more progress in a fitness regime and find some way around my pain issues.  I am not on pain killers or anti-inflammatories.  Over the year I tried several different approaches to naturally combat inflammation but it didn't seem to make much difference to my pain levels.  I simply have to keep trying in 2013.  I did undertake some steps to radically reduce some stress in my life and that can only help my overall health (and blood sugar levels). 
 
I was also able to upgrade my skills on my smart phone and my computer tablet, though I didn't make much progress in learning new computer skills like Photoshop.  I did make a new website/blog for Missions of Hope, Kenya. However this is no longer published as the volunteer heading the missions is in a life transition right now. Perhaps it will be revived in future and so the work is not for nothing.  

Sometime during the year, I killed my computer hard drive, about the 4th time in 5 years that I've completely lost my hard drive. It is always a headache when that happens as it means lost money, lost time and lost files. I spent a fair bit of time trying to recover as much as I could. There wasn't much time or interest left in the year to learn new computer skills.

Locally, I made several new friends and participated in a number of group gatherings as well as organized a few of my own gatherings, outside of my home and inside my home.

New things added to my list of things to accomplish in 2012 included: undergo eye examinations, find a new dentist (and get a treatment plan in place), do all the paperwork to get a new CPAP machine, schedule a course of massage and foot reflexology.



FAMILY

• Continue regular schedule of communications & attend to needs
• Implement a regular schedule to write spiritual memoirs
• Conduct necessary research for spiritual memoirs
• Plan a vacation for my niece
• Continue to make contact with relatives who are shut-ins
• Plan a trip to visit extended family, for missions or personal trip

Saving pennies for Kenyan women~May 22/12 - $89.55

It was important to really focus on my family this year due to ageing relatives and their various health needs. In May, I was able to visit my last living uncle before he passed due to complications of surgery related to colon cancer. The trip to see him with my brother pleased him greatly. (At the same time, we were able to meet several other relatives and see how they are doing). Our comfort is in knowing we will see my uncle again some day but understandably his daughter who saw and spoke to him every day, misses him a lot. She paid a visit to my own mother in October and that was a wonderful surprise for my mom. 

 

I made a good start on writing my spiritual memoirs but have a lot of work yet to do to research some of it with my mother. Due to mom's health this cannot be done at my own convenience and I pray that I will be able to get what I need soon. Also the progress on actual writing was hindered by mobility issues since I was unable to get to my writing group in the latter part of the year. 

 

One of my goals was to keep contact with elderly relatives and childhood spiritual leaders. I tried with limited success to keep in touch with two older lady relatives. Mostly when I called them they were not at home but I did try. More recently I made contact with one and let her know that I would like to visit her when the weather warms. She is very excited. I'm excited too as I will see some new to me countryside.

 

I also wrote several times in recent years to my former Sunday School teacher. I hadn't heard from her in a long while and recently her daughter wrote to let me know that she found my address when packing her mother's belongings. She is moving her mother in with her own family due to the memory loss. It was touching to hear.

 

Finally, I planned a vacation for my niece to come and visit me over the summer and to spend her birthday with me. She was thrilled when we went to see the theatre production, "Mary Poppins" and also enjoyed our picnic and our travels on the small ferry boats around Granville Island. I had initially planned for a one week visit with my niece but she ended up staying for two weeks.  We had a nice time together despite my mobility issues.



FINANCIAL


• Continue to pay down debt
• Budget "to zero"
• Live below income
• Save more
• Continue saving in the snowflake jar fund for miscellaneous projects
• Think two or three times before spending
• Continue to implement strategic charitable giving
• Review insurance coverage & investment matters
• Investigate & buy silver

I managed at long last to purchase some silver coins for my long term needs. I also implemented budgetting to zero on a monthly basis. This made it difficult to meet the on-going missions needs in Kenya.  Consequently, this type of budgeting didn't work if I wanted to help the Kenyans with some immediate and pressing needs. These needs also made it impossible to pay down debt despite living well below my income.


I managed to continue to save some modest retirement funds but couldn't manage to save anything in a bank account for other needs.  Fortunately I received some tax refunds to help me with some household needs.  In 2013, I will be implementing a more stringent regime of charitable giving so that I am able to meet my own obligations as well as continue giving to the mission field.

HOBBIES

• • Read one or two books per month
  • Create an edible garden
  • Crochet a doily or a baby outfit
  • Knit slippers (1-2 pair), possibly learn to knit sweaters or socks
  • Finish the knitted baby blanket
  • Make dishcloths for gifts
  • Learn to machine quilt
  • Consider sales to raise funds for charitable giving
  • Use up stash of materials before buying more
  
  
  I was able to complete a number of creative works though I did not stick to my list of intended projects. Instead, I made many dishcloths, hats, scarves and blankets; all of which went into my Etsy shop. I had hoped to raise funds for charitable giving but haven't sold anything.
  
  
  I learned that buying all the supplies (some second hand but most of it new) even on discount, and careful shopping,  is rather expensive. I bought a lot more fabric than I intended as it seemed I never had exactly what I needed. I learned a lot by trial and error about how to go about future projects and purchasing what I need.
  
  
  It is probably not the best use of my time to make things unless I want to take them with me to Kenya on a missions trip since I was not very successful in sales. Either that or I need to figure out how to market my products or simply let my product development and sales develop more organically.   I am not the kind of person that will set up shop in a temporary stall to sell things. However, I am happy to have learned how to make new things and have already given some of my crafted items away.
  
  
  I surpassed my modest reading goal of one or two books per month and started reading the Bible from front to back after I completed 25 books for the year. 
  
  I was able to put in an edible garden and a lot of container flowers.  My edible garden had tomatoes, corn and peppers.  The peppers and the tomatoes did very well but the corn wasn't edible. For some reason the corn did not mature this summer unlike other summers.  I will reconsider what to plant next summer.

HOME

• Complete major decluttering project
  
  
  Yeah, I completed the HUGE decluttering project that seems to have gone on forever. I managed to get rid of all my excess clothes left over from my working days. Rather than continue to try to sell them on line, I bagged them all up and gave them away. Kitchen items, craft it and knick knacks were all bagged up and given away through my local chapter of Freecycle. I am still working on offloading some paperwork and excess photos.
  
  
  Additions to my list of the activities for 2012 included: renew patio space and replace some pieces of old furniture and  several small and large appliances.  Patio furniture was repainted, and new purchases included an umbrella for the patio table and a bird bath for the little birds to enjoy. A much needed sofa and chair were also purchased in the summer and kitchen appliances were purchased in the winter. I was very blessed to purchase all these items at good prices. I make it a point to carefully look for sales and the best quality within my budget I can so that whatever I have will last me for years to come. The last time I had a new sofa or appliances was several decades ago.
  
  
  At first blush, it seemed my year was filled with health challenges and little accomplishment.  But I tried to stay positive and keep on forging ahead as best I could.  I can hardly complain with all the terrible things that have been in the news all around the world.  As I age, I am mindful of the Bible teaching to be "content".  I try to keep a balance about what I'm feeling and doing and am learning to "go with the flow", though this is easier said, then done.
  
  
  After I've reflected over the year, I realize that my progress was or better than satisfactory.  I was able to accomplish a lot of the household tasks and creative tasks that I've been wanting to accomplish for a very long time. I was hampered in my progress by health challenges but am grateful to God.  He has helped me not only survive the year but get through some challenging projects and assignments.
  As I move into 2013, I pray for better health, not just for me but for loved ones and the many people I've met through blogging who also suffer from ill health.
  
  
  May 2013 be a blessed year for each of you and may our Heavenly Father grant you peace, good friends and good health.
  Happy New Year!

Sky Over Granville Island

For more beautiful skies from Skywatch Friday, click here.

Mary Poppins Comes to Town

My niece is visiting for a few weeks. It has been a long time since she's been to my home and she and I have both been enjoying our long overdue visit.

While she is here we are being like being tourists and going to Granville Island and other areas of the waterfront, going to the movies and Chinatown, riding a little ferry boat, having fish and chips at the waterfront and ordering KFC (chicken), both of which are her favourites, going for a picnic and maybe swimming if she we can find one of my bathing suits to fit her, relaxing in the garden and having a small birthday celebration.

And if that isn't enough, thrill of thrills, we are going to see the musical, "Mary Poppins" and we are so excited!  The only other time we took in a musical together it was her favourite was "Beauty and the Beast".   She enjoyed it so much and so did I!  Mary Poppins will play at the same venue, The Queen Elizabeth Theatre where I also saw the Soweto Gospel Choir in April of this year.  You can read more about that fantastic concert here.

When I was a child, I loved the character of Mary Poppins and I was especially enthralled with how she brought out furnishings from her carpet bag when she moved in as the children's nanny. Who could ever forget her songs "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" ?  The musical should be a lot of fun and a once in a lifetime treat.

What about you dear reader? What do you like to do when your niece visits?

Enjoying a Day at Granville Island

Participating this week in

Your Sunday Best
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday 
Water World Wednesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was such a lovely day! It's great to be a tourist in your own city ;-)

Please visit again soon.

Note:


Little Linet here is going to have surgery. She needs a lot of prayer and financial support both to help with surgery and with her food and clothing needs. If you can help, please let me know or donate here.

Skywatch Friday on the Waterfront

Little Linet here is going to have surgery. She needs a lot of prayer and financial support both to help with surgery and with her food and clothing needs. If you can help, please let me know or donate here.

It's a hot day in Vancouver. Decided on a mini-cruise to feel the breeze from the water.

My niece is visiting me for a few weeks. Though it was a very hot day today she really wanted to go out and see the sights.  We decided to go to Granville Island and while there we embarked on a mini cruise of the waterfront.  There were lots of interesting sights along the way. I'll share a few of them in today's post that show the sky. I will share other photos later.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

Yachts in the foreground, the BC Place Stadium in the background.

The "diamond" (globe) is the Science World; a place devoted to science and inspiring future leadership in science and technology.

One of the parks/green spaces along the water at False Creek South.

Someone's unique boat. I think this is called a catamaran.

Someone's houseboat. I didn't even know there were houseboats in this area of the waterfront.  I was surprised to see about 6 houseboats nestled alongside one another just past where we embarked on the Aquabus.

For more skies from around the world, click here and join in the fun. If you are the praying type please see my post here.

The End of an Era, The Beginning of a New One

Tuesday, May 4th at approximately 11: a.m. the BC Place Stadium dome was purposely collapsed. Over the next 3 weeks it will be methodically removed from the roof top and sent to recycling.

Just over a week ago I showed you a photo of the dome on  my walk to Granville Island. (Click the underlined words if you want to read about the walk). Here it is again. It is the white roofed building nestled between the high rises.   BC Place recently had prominence as being the venue for the Winter Olympics 2010 Opening and Closing Ceremonies and over the years it has hosted many spectacular events in the City.

This is what the dome looked like after collapse.

Photo Credit: Nick Procaylo, PNG

I hadn't even realized that the roof was going down today. It was a bittersweet moment. The original dome was built in 1983 at a cost of $126 Million.

The dome will be replaced with an expensive retractable roof. While I am all in favour of making upgrades, it is a rather expensive proposition coming directly on the heels of huge expenditures for the Winter Olympics. The retractable roof alone is expected to cost in the neighbourhood of $475 Million, though I've also read estimates of $458 Million. The new retractable roof is expected to be the world's largest retractable roof for a domed stadium and it's anticipated completion is sometime next year.

After spending $5000. on my portion of my condominium building's roof replacement, I am not feeling up to spending my portion of $475 Million that will need to be paid from taxes.

Is there any large tax funded project where you live that you had to pay for whether you supported it or not?

Fantastic Walk to Granville Market - Pt. 3

Well my friends, it is so good to see you back for the 3rd and final installment of my blog posts on the fantastic walk to the wonderful Granville Island Market. If you missed parts 1 and 2, you can catch up here and here.

When I left off, I was just about to continue the walk along the waterfront represented in the photo below.

I did that until I arrived just under the Granville Street Bridge.

That is the bridge above my head in this photo. I will continue the walk straight ahead.  Immediately to the left of the bridge pillar is the famous chain of steak restaurants, The Keg. 

Just a few short minutes and here I am right out side the public market, better known as Granville Island Market.

The market itself is housed in this big yellow and red building. It contains fresh produce of all kinds, fresh meats, delicatessens, honey and home made crafts and goods. There is also ready made food to eat.  Just outside where the benches are, buskers will sing and you can sit or stand and be entertained.

Here is a young lady now singing "Heart of Gold" by well known Canadian musician, Neil Young.  I love the song and she is singing very well.

Behind the young woman you will see shops. There are wonderful shops all over the island, many of them house the works of gifted artisans and uniquely west coast products.

Here is a photo of the wonderfully, fresh produce available for purchase.  You can find all sorts of local produce and ingredients here but you can also find the more exotic. Many people love to shop here. Even though it is more expensive, it is fresh and it "moves" quickly.

By now it is getting to be after 3 p.m. and I haven't had lunch yet so I head straight to the food area.  It is fairly busy at the food court. I guess everyone loves to eat at the market.

I always want fish and chips when I come to the market. A public market on the waterfront is about fish.

While I eat, I listen to more great tunes sung by the man close to the door.  Can you see him? He is just under the exit sign.

I also people watch. I was fascinated by the women at the table in the photo below. They were primping and preening in public (putting on lipstick, etc.) right at the table after eating. You might have a hard time seeing them but they are to the far left of the photo. They were "Betty Boop" lookalikes. I'm thinking there is a Betty Boop club in town as there are a lot of young women about these days with "the look". (Oops, I meant Bettie Page. Betty Boop is a cartoon character with a totally different hairstyle).

Now that I have finished lunch I want to go out nearer to the water and watch the boats and the sea gulls. I want to get a photo of the sea ferry for you too.

I got lucky. There was a beautiful photo shoot going on. A young Asian couple who had just gotten married were having a photo shoot on the boardwalk right on the water.

I had to get in on the photo action too! lol. I think this couple will be very pleased with the photos in their album.  Can you see the photographer's equipment bag in the forefront of the photo below?

These kayakers look like they are having fun as I wait for the ferry to pass by.

Here is one larger ferry (above).  There is also a smaller fleet of ferrys. These ferrys are great as they take you just across to the city or back to the Island and a few other points for $2.00.  These are very short rides but lots of fun.

Now I leave you with some flowers. Aren't they simply beautiful? There is every colour of the rainbow here.

I've had a fantastic day and a fantastic walk. It was especially nice to have you along. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Now I make my way home again.  This time I make my way back to a bus by walking back under the Granville Bridge.

On my way, I pass by another marina. Here you can rent a boat for a few hours.

I take my last look at the seawall which continues toward Burrard Bridge (westward) just before I get to the bus stop.

Lovely.

Don't be a stranger.  Click here  and here to see other images from around the world.