A Little of This and That

Here are a variety of photos from my garden. I'm reluctant to put it all to bed until the rains begin for the season of winter. We are having sunshine this week until Thursday. The rains will be here in time for Thanksgiving. It will rain for almost a week and then the sun is expected to come out again but I notice the temperatures will be quite frigid. I guess I'll need to try and get things done outside around that time.

I've been busy trying to keep up with the Fly Lady routines after participating in the Fly Lady Babysteps "course". Everything is going well, perhaps better than I expected. 

I surpassed my reading goals back in August so I've slowed down in my reading habit. I just completed the 3rd book in a series by Lesley Downer. I really enjoyed the first two books and I also enjoyed the 3rd one but not quite as much. I believe there is one more in the series.

Currently, I'm reading The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker.  I've seen the author here and there on You Tube and I'm enjoying his book so far.   It's doubtful I'll be implementing Mr. Becker's system though I agree with his philosophy of getting rid of unnecessary things so you can enjoy the things you deem necessary.  I also just like reading about different approaches to major decluttering like the Kon Mari Method, Swedish Death Cleaning, the Fly Lady and so on).

I've got a simple dinner in mind for Thanksgiving as there will only be two of us and no guests this year. Ham (I'll save the turkey dinner for Christmas and New Year's dinners), sweet potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, maybe some scalloped potatoes too, a few crunchy veggies (crudités) instead of a salad and a pie of some kind. Perhaps cherry pie just to be different.  I always make more than enough food so we can enjoy leftovers and I can make ham and pea soup once or twice. Soup is always good but especially at this time of year when the weather starts turning cool.

What about you dear reader? What is the weather like where you are? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? If yes, what will you have for dinner and what will you remember to give thanks for in 2020? As for me I am very grateful that my family members and friends far and wide, are safe and that I am safe. I had a bit of scare last month when a friend of mine had a family member test positive for Covid in the country of Kenya. Thankfully they had very minor symptoms and are fully recovered.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm joining in a little late with Our World Tuesday.

Rhinos and Baboons

These photos are from my archives and were taken in Nakuru, Kenya, East Africa. 

The first photo  was taken from the north side of Lake Nakuru on a return trip to see the Menengai Crater.  You get a glorious view of the lake as you approach the city from the north.  I will try to share photos of my visit to the crater in another post. Today's post is about Lake Nakuru and the wildlife park situated there.

 

The next view of the lake is from Baboon Cliff Point in Lake Nakuru Provincial Park.  The point is situated on the western side of Lake Nakuru and the views from the top are fantastic.  It's one of my favourite spots in the park.  The name derives from the fact that so many baboons are living in this particular area of the park.

I'm only sharing two of the photos of the baboons. There were so many baboons and they are quite mischievous. They will enter your car and take things if you are not keeping a close watch.  The monkeys do the same.

Here you can see baboons climbing all over the parked cars.

The rhinos in the next two photos were an awesome site. These rhinos are called black rhinos though the colour can range from brown to grey.  The World Wildlife Fund for Nature Kenya  has been working with the government and other organizations and people of goodwill, to save the black rhinos from poaching and loss of habitat and so the population has more than doubled over the past 25 years.  You can read more about black rhino conservation needs and efforts here. Sadl, the Northern White Rhino is virtually extinct. Just over a year ago, Kenya harvested the eggs of the two last white female rhinos in the northern part of the country.  They are hoping to fertilize them with the sperm of the last male white rhino that died in Sudan in March 2018.  You can read more about white rhinos here.

I took a little time to see many wild animals both in zoos and in their natural habitat while I've been on missions trips to the very poor in Kenya.  I feel so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see many of these wonderful creatures in their natural habitat.  My hope is that through the good will and good work of people in Kenya and around the globe, these majestic creatures will not go extinct while we can still do something to save them. The largest threats to their survival are poaching and loss of habitat.  If you love wild animals please consider a gift to those that work in conservation.  If, like me, you are interested in alleviating the suffering of the very poor who barely eke out a living, kindly read more at the various links on the side bar and consider being a change maker along with me. During this global pandemic they are suffering even  more than usual.

I hope you enjoyed this brief post on Kenyan wildlife. I'm joining up with Eileen's, Saturday's Critters meme today.  Please come and visit this space again soon.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.

Fall in Vancouver

 I'm continuing the Fall theme in this post. 

The trees photos were taken on Tuesday late afternoon when I was out running errands. I was looking for one small item and ended up having to go to four (4) different stores to find it. It is a simple little thing called a plate or tray hanger. You used to be able to find them almost anywhere.  Now I think they are becoming extinct though you can buy them on Amazon.  I found what I wanted at Michael's. The fact is, I knew that Michael's carried what I needed because I looked on line first.  But I was hoping to find them in one of the small stores near to where I live.

In the short video I am standing in the parking lot of a grocery store and looking down over Broadway Avenue. One block to the west (to the left of the scene in the video) they are connecting the street with a subway line that will eventually go out to the University of British Columbia.  This transportation option is long awaited and long overdue. The building of it has already started.

Once I picked up what I needed at Michael's, I was famished and had this lovely Teriyaki Beef Bento Box for dinner. The small restaurant where I ate was packed with diners.  They were mostly police officers on meal break but I was too tired to look for another restaurant.  At least the restaurant did have hand sanitizing and social distancing measures in place.

The next few photos are of my garden  and were taken Thursday, October 1st. The blooms are hanging in there so I haven't plucked anything up yet.  In fact, if I have time in the next week or so, I hope to try out my brother's camera lenses again.  I think the photos below were taken with my camera and the prime lens that came with it.

Here are a few more photos from Tuesday night's outing.

I found these apples growing on this tree amidst the high rises. I didn't pick them.

This blue sky photo was taken on Monday night.

 A book I recently completed and can recommend is:

It's a book about slavery, the underground railway and the magical, mystical powers of some of the people who helped their own as best they could. I did not know before reading this book, that the author and journalist, Ta-Nehisi Coates, has also written a Black Panther series for Marvel Comics. That was a happy connection for me as I very much enjoyed watching the movie, Black Panther.  I was saddened by the recent loss of one of it's lead actors, Chadwick Boseman, who by all accounts was not only a fabulous actor but a very fine human being. The more I read about him and what he did in his short life, the more I realize what a great loss it really is.  May his family and loved ones be comforted and may his legacy continue to impact many people around the globe. ♥♥♥

 

 Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to you all. Stay safe.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

Fall is in the Air

This is the current book at the top of my reading pile. I'm enjoying it immensely and it makes me feel as if I too am in the mountains with the gorillas.

I wanted to share some Fall season photos but haven't been out to take any good ones.  We have had rainy, wet weather since late last week so that hasn't helped to do any photo taking.

 The following photos are from my archives and were taken a few years ago.  I hope you enjoy them.

The next photo was taken with the camera phone on Wednesday, September 24th.  It was just after a heavy duty wind and rain storm and the night was falling fast.

 The next few photos were also taken with my phone camera while I was doing some errands in between the rainfall.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today and Saturday's Critters. I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.