Chat Cafe
Replies
-
Please pray for the us who live in the province of British Columbia. The wildfires are horrible. I live in Kamloops and 1 1/2 hours away is Kelowna where people are being evacuated many of them cousins of mine. Also in a different direction is another large fire where 7000 people have lost power due to the fires and parts of the main highway have been closed. They are now going around to motels asking people that are 'on holiday' to please consider leaving so that their rooms can be used for firefighters and evacuated people. Houses have been lost, let alone the trees and unfortunately all the wild animals are suffering greatly. They have declared the province under an emergency - there is no sign of rain and the winds are great. We need rain - please pray
2 -
Evening Hello
Marilyn, with living just outside the area in a community of the Metro Region of Vancouver the fires have affected so many lives. My heart goes out to the people who have been evacuated and who have lost their homes and property. My prayers are also with you my friend. Yes we are still under a State of Emergency due to these wildfires.
The smoke is severe with the particles of smoke from the wildfires affecting so many.
It’s 11:25pm and this gal is call it a night. Had reaction to the smoke particles in our area. Our air quality meter was a 6 which is Moderate Health Risk due to the particles that can be inhaled which can be a threat to those with health issues, Heart Disease Lung Diseases etc. Anyway as I went out to hand water my tomatoes the smoke was making me cough so I laid low and spent my day quietly.
I am safe no active fire near me just the smoke that fills my community.
My thoughts and prayers are with you always. 🙏0 -
Oh Marilyn and Judith, am praying for rain for you both. How devastating to have such smoke and active fires forcing people and animals from their homes. Praying you both stay safe, and there is no more loss of life and property. The smoke inhalation is so dangerous too. Please take care, both of you. There is actually a fire one suburb away from our house right now. Acres of land are burning. I am pretty sure no houses have been burned yet, but the smoke is bad. We are away from it out at our camp-site but are keeping an eye on the news like you are.
1 -
Air quality is not good - just looked it up for us right now and it is a 10 - have been advised not to go out at all as the small particles in the air from the fire are starting to cause health problems. Smoke is so strong we can't see our neighbors across the street. We are in Kamloops and the worst fires are in Kelowna which is just over 1 hour away and Chase which is 45 minutes away - looks eerie outside. So glad I know the Lord. And looking out the window I see horrible wind - Heavenly Father we need the winds to become quiet and the rains without lightning or flooding to come.
2 -
I am praying for all who are effected by the wildfires. The smoke is so dangerous to those with lung issues. My daughter just got home back in Denver from our house, all the parties are over and I am really tired. I donated blood today and these last two times I have donated, rather than making me feel energetic, I am feeling very tired. Hopefully by tomorrow I can have more energy to get the house put back together after entertaining the grandkids.
Saturday we went to a friend's house to pick pears. They are not as ripe as I would like but they do not like pears at all so they just give them away or feed them to the pigs. It was nice for my daughter to have them a little green so they do not bruise as she was traveling. I may just dry some since I still have pears in my pantry from last year. Our second party was smaller but was very encouraging. We had about 60 people there including some of my husband's family members. They were very impressed with the love the church gave to us. They do not attend any church so it was good to have them see that church does not have to be rote and boring but lifegiving and loving. We had lots of food left over so we gave away what we could and froze the rest. It will be good to have some things in the freezer for a quick meal when we are on the go.
Tonight we got together with the "old gang" that we went to school together in the 1970's. The school no longer exists so most of us are in the aging group. The man who lead the choir and has a beautiful voice was visiting this weekend so we were able to see him. He had a Sunday morning radio show where he sang and preached and when the regular piano player was gone, he would ask me to accompany him. It was very intimidating!
Our weather continues in the 90's so we have not gone outside very much. When it is late afternoon, we can sit in our swing on the back porch and enjoy the bird songs and a breeze under the trees.
I have lots to get done today before bedtime but I am glad to be back here on a regular basis now. I missed you all!0 -
Thank you Linda and Susan for your kind comments on the conditions Marilyn and I are living under.
Fire Chief said last night they are Making headway in one area which is good but it still remains the fact that thousands of families have been evacuated and properties lost. 🙁
Today temps were cooler but no rain in sight, air quality very early this morning was a little better! But then rest of day came. Sorry I did not listen to any further reports!
Marilyn you are closer than I am, praying for your safety. Both our communities need rain to knock these fires out.
Susan, praying for protection for you as you said there was a fire one community over from you. Please stay safe,
Linda, you said you were so tired, probably from all the festivities with your Anniversary Celebrations. Glad you are at your Trailer, hope you can get some rest. Hope you enjoy your time picking pears. Fresh pears are so yummy! 😋 will you make a pear crisp, like an apple crisp, my grandma made them. So tasty! 😋
Have a good night. God Bless 🙏🤗❤️0 -
So glad to have you back, Linda, and to know how things went! It sounded like a truly lovely, memorable time. 💖
Marilyn and Judith, praying for you both. It sounds so scary and terrible. I am glad you know the Lord too. 🙏 🤲 ❤️ May you both stay safe and well. Please stay in touch as much as you can. We hear no details of what you are going through over here beyond a brief announcement that there are Canadian fires....
Today is Colin's birthday and we are having a nice time with our friends....
0 -
Good Morning Ladies
Will let you read what I wrote above Susan’s post as nothing has changed since I posted the updates on the wildfire situation last night.
Thank you Linda and Susan for praying for the BC Wildfires and for Marilyn and I. So appreciated.
Susan, please wish Colin a Happy Birthday from me. Hope his day is Blessed abundantly! 🥳🎂
Enjoy your celebration 🎉 with friends!
Have a Blessed Day and Week everyone!
God’s Blessings 🙏✝️🤗
0 -
1 -
Oh Marilyn and Judith, so very sorry nothing has improved since yesterday. Will continue to pray for relief and protection. 🙏 Fires are ferocious, uncontrollable beasts. Thank you both for checking in. At least we know you are hanging in there.
We're packing up to go home today. We have been unable to get the hot water system to work this trip so have been boiling lots of water for dishes, sink baths etc. It will be nice to climb into our shower at home. The van is booked in to be repaired next week. I hope our neighbourhood fires are out and that the asphalt has been laid on the road outside our fence. They have been working on our road for months, putting in storm water pipes and traffic lights, and it has been dusty, noisy, and sometimes we have had to wait long periods to get out at the intersection. It will be great when they are done.
Small problems compared to the Canadian fires though....1 -
Susan - belated birthday greetings to Colin. 🎈🎉🎁 I hope he had an encouraging day. I'm glad you can get away for a little while but still have your privacy from your friends. When we were on vacation with family in San Diego, I felt like I was in a dorm with lots of roomates. I do need to be by myself to relax at times.
Judith - I am letting my pears ripen up a little before I do anything with them. Pear crisp sounds delicious but we need to be careful of the sugar in our food. What I was thinking was to cut them up and dry them for snacks during the winter. I can rehydrate them if I need to to cook with too.
Marilyn - Praying for the wildfires to be under control. I am glad you are safe where you are. Have there been many deaths from the fires or just property damage?
Today is a perfect weather day. We had rain last night and again today. It is overcast so it is not too hot. I am sad that the rain washed away the chalk art the kids did before they left yesterday.
Here is a picture of our cake for our second party. It is a replica of our first cake. She made a few changes but I really think it is nice. She also made a cake made of fruit (watermelon on the bottom, cantelope on the top and decorated with grapes and strawberries) was for my husband to eat. He did share with the rest of us too.
1 -
2 -
Marilyn - great quote - so true! I continue to pray for your safety and health issues with the fires.
Judith - I am praying that you will get your weight back up to 97#.
Susan - I hope you had a good trip home yesterday. I am so glad you have the new caravan to use this year.
We have our Bible study group at our house tomorrow so today is cleaning day. I fnd a few ants in my kitchen so I am going to scrub the floor to make sure there are not little morsels of food that are bringing them in. I ahve them in one of our bathrooms but I do not have any idea what is bringing them in there. I still have to make up the beds my daughter and grandkids slept in. At least I have the sheets washed.
1 -
Marilyn continue to pray for you as you are closer to active fires, but I Praise God you are safe. Thank you for the great quotes.
Linda, the picture of the replica of your Anniversary cake is so beautiful and so delicious looking. The Baker did a marvellous job in icing and decorating it. The dehydrated Pears sound scrumptious! I love all dried fruit and so look forward to when I can eat normally again! Hope you enjoy your Bible Study at the house tomorrow. Please don’t overdo your cleaning today! It’s so frustrating having ants get in, hopefully you can get them out today. Thank you all for your prayers, working on getting my weight back up, hope it will be up when I go into surgery.
Today our skies were a blanket of smoke, yesterday there was improvement but today no sky was visible, thankfully we are safe here. There is a ban on camp fires, no open fires anywhere, we have water restrictions too, no watering outside, no hose watering, I put some water in a jug and water the tomatoes. My trees are looking quite dry with not getting any rain. We
need rain especially for putting out the wildfires.
Susan safe travels home today. So sorry that your heating system is not working, would be so hard to boil water for everything like having hot water for dishes, sink baths and any cleaning the was needed. Thank you for all your prayers for Marilyn and myself. What did you do for Colin’s Birthday? Think I read something but can’t find that post.
Hope you all have a great evening and sleep well tonight! Will be back tomorrow! God Bless! 🙏🤗0 -
Our trip home was good yesterday. We had lots to do unpacking and washing then. Judith, we took Colin our to a cheese tasting, then to a nice lunch. I baked a cake for him we all shared. We had dinner with our friends. He said it was a good day. I hope the smoke is starting to go away from your area. The fires were under control here but the roadwork is still not finished.
Linda, I loved your cake! It was beautiful. The chalk art was so sweet. I would have been sad it was washed away too. So glad you have had some very special times. The van is new to us (it is about 2 1/2 years old now) and it is revealing a few problems, but it is still a nice van.
Marilyn, are you still in danger? I sure hope you are safe.1 -
1 -
Susan - I am glad you made it home safely. The birthday celebration for Colin sounds like fun. Yes, trailers can have problems as they get older. Ours is over 20 years old and we just did an overhaul last year. It is working much better also since we found the hole where the mice were getting in under the bathtub. Having it sit on the mountain property all Summer does have it's disadvantages since there are critters that like to investigate the insides of any vehicle. It is in storage on gravel now in town so we do not expect any animal visitors during the Winter.
I finally got the front part of the house cleaned up before we had our Bible study group come over this afternoon. I still have a lot of stuff that needs to be organized but it is sitting in my bedroom now. It is hard to not see it sitting on the floor so I will keep being reminded to organize it every time I go into the bedroom. I need to get a storage box for the speciality things and the other things like cups, napkins, etc I will put in our pantry to use for times people come over. The next person who had a 50th wedding anniversary is free to borrow my things if they need it.
I am baking Cheesy Zucchini Casserole this evening to use up some zucchini we picked from the garden. Once it starts, I need to get creative in uses for it or give a lot away. If it is good, I will put the recipe on the thread if any of you want to try it.1 -
Marilyn, how are you doing? Hope the Smoke is not too intense and your Air Quality is Good. Been thinking of you a lot, also all the Families in our Province who have been displaced from the Wildfires that have destroyed their homes and properties. Trust you safe and not near the active fires. My thoughts and prayers are with you! 🙏
The quote you posted is so true, I agree we don’t Count the Days but Make Every Day Count!
Susan, glad your trip home was all good, hope you got all unpacked and got everything washed up. It’s great to travel but it sure brings lots of work after with cleaning up and putting everything away. Sounds like a lovely day for Colin’s Birthday, Cheese Tasting sounds so yummy, I loved every kind of cheese going, so going to a Cheese Tasting would be a great way to sample and find new cheese you hadn’t tried. Having Dinner with friends is a great way to celebrate a
Birthday. You said you baked a cake you all shared, what kind of cake did you make? I’m sure it was scrumptious! A thought before I go onto another thought, how is your hand and wrist doing? Any further treatment? Please let me know. Hope you have a great evening my friend,
Linda, glad you have a place to store your trailer for the winter away from critters that would get in, and it’s great you got the area that needed patching under the bath tub that will prevent any mice or other critters from entering the space that was open. Glad you got the front part of the house cleaned before Bible Study. Your zucchini recipe is making me hungry and my mouth watering. Good way to use up the zucchini you have. Please share it in our Recipe Forum if you think we all would like it. But Cheesy Zucchini Casserole sounds really scrumptious to me. 😋
Here is my update on our Weather and the Wildfires here in BC!
We are still dealing with Wildfires here and our Province remains in a State of Emergency, there are 375 active wildfires burning across BC. 27,000 thousad people have been forced from their homes due to the wildfires destroying structures which forced the families to leave the area. These wildfires have devastated the communities in so many areas. The Okanagan, West Kelowna are the hardest hit but all the other communities have been devastated with destructive fires. The Smoke has covered all our communities and we all are on alert for wildfires due to our ground is so very dry. We have had no rainfall and none in forecast. This year 2023 the the Province of BC Forest Fire Service said it was one of the worst years for wildfires!
In my immediate area we are under high alert as our land is so dry, we are under water restrictions and No Open Fires, no fires for cooking.
Our air quality is not good. In my area the Air Quality Index is a 4 Moderate Health Risk that affects your Breathing. With our communities filled with Smoke and having Smokey Skies it cause the Particles to be inhaled from the wildfires.
A 4 to 6 reading is a Health Risk that is Harmful to your lungs as you Inhale the Particles from the Wildfires.
Our temps today have been 80 degrees and Air
Quality Index is 4 a Health Risk for Breathing due
to the Particles from Wildfires that are inhaled!
I will keep you updated as I can. Thank you for your prayers for Marilyn and myself. 🙏❤️0 -
Judith, it still is so bad in BC for wildfires and air quality. I had no idea so very many people were affected so deeply, even though I knew the fires were widespread. I am relieved you are keeping us up to date with what is happening locally. I think of you and Marilyn together and hope Marilyn is also safe. Praying for you both 🙏 ❤️ 💓
My hand and wrist are slowly improving, thanks. The steroid injection effect lasts 3 to 4 months, so I will see how it is going in Oct/Nov. The Dr said I may need another injection in my wrist then as the tendons were badly inflamed.
Linda, glad your van has been repaired and is in critter free storage now. We had a few ants while we were away. Ants can set up nests in the walls of vans, so we tried to make sure we eliminated them all. We also store our van on gravel. There's an on site caretaker and guard dogs who patrol the place. Lots of vans, boats, buses, cars and motorhomes are stored there. I am with Judith about the zucchini casserole recipe. We eat lots of zucchini. We roasted some last night in fact. So I would love your recipe when you have time to share it.
The roadwork and dust continue outside our house. We're hoping it will be completed in a week or so. It has been months so far.
0 -
Judith, I forgot about telling you about Colin's birthday cake. He requested a chocolate cake so I took a packet mix chocolate cake with us in the van. I have a gas oven and taking it as a packet mix meant I didn't have to pack lots of ingredients. We were off grid so I couldn't use an electric mixer so to give my hand the least amount of strain, I mixed it with a potato masher! There was an icing mix in the box that I thinned down and poured on the cake. It soaked in a bit that way and we don't like thick icing anyway. I bought a small bag of chocolate covered macadamia nuts at the cheese factory, split them in half with a knife and placed them evenly around the edge of the cake top. I had a birthday cake candle for the middle of the cake. Everyone said it was a nice cake! I didn't take a picture sorry.1
