Poor Little Guy!

This is 'Smokey Joe', a little stray kitten that was rescued by my sister and my parents. My sister's neighbor brought the kitten to my sister after finding it on the road. It was cold, starving and soaking wet, having been abandoned for days. My sister brought the kitten over to my parents home. My parents had to give this kitten some very intensive care, as it was suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and exposure from the cold, rainy weather. The poor thing was very close to death at that point.



My parents didn't think the kitten would even survive the night. My mom had to feed him with a special tube/dropper as it was difficult for it to eat.



Miraculously, it survived the night and his vital signs began to improve the next day.



I went there on Saturday afternoon and took these photos of him. He's still weak and so very tiny and thin, but he's come a long ways since they found him. He's a very sweet and affectionate little fellow, and he purrs a lot.





My mom told me he likes to curl up next to a heated pad that they have. The pad is one of those things you can put in the microwave oven for about a minute, and then it's nice and warm. So I warmed it up in the microwave, then I put the warm pad on the chair, and I carefully placed the kitten in it. Well, he loved it! He immediately curled up against the pad and shut his eyes.



Knowing how this little guy has suffered rips my heart out. I don't know how someone could so mercilessly leave a helpless kitten out in the cold and abandon it like that. If that person could only imagine the suffering it has endured.

My sister knows a guy who will take the kitten home on Tuesday. I hope his little life from now on is filled with love and caring.

Goodbye to Pie

Nobody loves apple pie more than I do. In fact, it may horrify you to know that I've been consuming a least 1 or 2 large apple pies a week on average.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk on the radio and in news papers about the dangers of hydrogenated oils in our food. I was curious, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about, by doing a google search. Well, I discovered there's good reason to fuss. The stuff is poison. The FDA knows it and so does the processed food industry. Yet it's still being used, and in many, many of the foods we eat.

But don't take my word for it, check it out here.

Today when I was grocery shopping, I found Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated oil in every bakery product in the store. How lame is that?

So yeah, now I have to find some other tasty dessert to have with my after dinner tea. It'll be difficult to find something as lovely as apple pie. Perhaps I'll learn how to make my own.

Remembrance Day (Canada) November 11

I attended this year's November 11th Remembrance Day ceremonies again at Victory Square. This year I arrived there early and I was able to get a better view of the ceremony.

I don't think I need to say very much, as these photos speak for themselves, however, I will say that I am forever grateful to these men and women veterans, who fought to protect the freedom of all Canadians.











This is Pte. Ernest Alvia (Smokey) Smith. He is Canada's last surviving recipent of the Victoria Cross, awarded to only 94 Canadians for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. You can read his incredible story here.


























































Here is the lovely Mrs. Pamela Martin of CTV News (Vancouver) in a live interview during the Remembrance Day Ceremonies:




And one more of Pamela;

Flashback to last spring

I was compiling a slide show of some of my favorite images over the past few days. While I was browsing through my image library, I came across some photos of the baby geese from last spring. Everyone knows how much I love the geese, and there aren't many things cuter than goslings, so here's a flashback:

Some images left over from last summer

I was browsing through my image files on the computer last night and I came across some photos that I'd forgotten about. I remember this guy playing a Surbahar on the beach down at English Bay in Vancouver. It's a really cool sound. He had a tip jar beside him, and I gave him some money. He allowed me to take several photos of him playing.