Granola bars for Jesus

I was faced with a dilemma.

Yesterday was our last day in Victoria, and I still had food left in my cupboards, dry goods like cereal, rolled oats, peanut butter, brown sugar and raisins. Some stuff in the fridge as well, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

If I left the food, it might be thrown out and I hate throwing out food. I even considered making granola bars and putting them in my suitcase. But I couldn't take anything else with me because our suitcases were already pretty much at maximum weight. Besides, it seems kind of ridiculous bringing granola bars in a suitcase.

While staying in Victoria, we passed homeless people every day. I don't like giving money to them because I'm always afraid it will go to drugs or alcohol. But I always feel so bad for them. What an awful life. But what can I do?

And our priests back home are always talking about going out to the peripheries.

I'm sure you know where I'm heading with this. When I told Fred he caught on pretty fast. He's a quick study that Fred.

So...I made a large pan of granola bars, (recipe here). It worked out pretty perfectly. I just measured all the ingredients I wanted to use up (rolled oats, honey, raisins and peanut butter), and then added the appropriate amount of olive oil, cinnamon and salt. I made 16 large granola bars, about twice the size of my usual ones.

But I needed some apple sauce which I usually put in my granola bars at home, but didn't have any. Then I remembered I had two apples in the fridge, praise Jesus. I'd make them into apple sauce. So that's what I did.

Then Fred and I went out and found 15 homeless people and asked them if they would like a homemade granola bar. They did. And the last one went to a man whose lovely big black dog came eagerly over to me, sniffing the package. I had to give him one as well.

Ogden Point and Floating Village

This morning we walked for 2 and a half hours around Ogden Point, and the floating village, which is a tiny neighbourhood with cutsie pootsie houses on the wharf. Adorable.

To get out to Ogden Point which has a lighthouse, there is a long boardwalk. The fog was very thick out there.

We saw some seals on our walk to the lighthouse but couldn't get a picture of it. Actually just when we saw it, a guy asked us if we'd like to both get our picture taken, which we did. But by the time he was finished, the seal was too far away to see. That picture was taken with my camera and not the tablet, so you won't see it below.

The pictures below are out of order but I'm not going to fix them. I need to take a nap instead.

East Sooke Park

We took a road trip to East Spoke Park yesterday. In the rain.

There were the usual suspects along the route: beautiful big gorgeous tall God inspired trees.  We even saw a couple of deer but my picture only turned out on my camera, so I'll post it later. We didn't see any bears. Which is a good thing.

We also passed this amazingly weird stand of trees. They were all in formation along the side of the road. It seemed that the bottoms of them were all curved upwards where they came out of the ground. I couldn't quite make out why or how this happened. See pictures below.

Fort Rodd Hill and Fisguard Lighthouse

Saturday we visited Fort Rodd Hill and Fisguard Lighthouse.

Johanna' s friend Chris came over from Vancouver to join us.

It was a lovely sunny day and really really windy over by the lighthouse. I didn't realize how frozen my fingers had become from taking pictures until I visited the washroom and realized that I could barely move them. The weather is still way better than Ottawa, I must say.

I think Fred and I both took these pictures. I think.

Cathedral Grove

I spent my birthday at Cathedral Grove in BC in MacMillan Provincial Park. What an amazing place.

It rained the entire day, and the paths were wet, in some places you were forced to walk through an inch or so of water. But it was worth it.

It's difficult to appreciate the sizes of these trees. Some of them are 800 years old which is hard to even comprehend. There are Douglas Fir (largest and oldest), Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, Grand Fir or Balsam Fir and others.

Johanna who has visited the forest before, found this experience entirely different than the last time when it was sunny. She said it was like being in a cathedral because it was so silent and the trees soar, giving a feeling of being in church. The stillness and the silence.

I can't say I had the same feeling this time, but I can't quite put my finger on how I did feel. With the rain falling straight down, in a constant spray on everything; with the smells of the earth, the trees, the moss; with the soft sound of the rain as it falls, you just feel so small and inconsequential. Like you are a speck amidst eternity.

God is good.

Butchart Gardens

Monday we went to Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Oh my what a beautiful place.

We spent the better part of the day there. Fred again used the tablet for pictures, and I include only a few below, we have to many to show them all.

One thing I love about the West coast of Canada, is the trees. Big beautiful honking trees. Unfortunately none of them were identified at the Gardens. I do know the California sequoia Redwood trees now, which are my favourite I think.

But we also noticed trees whose branches are all bent into curvy shapes. I asked one of the gardeners what they were and he called them "contorted" trees. They aren't a single species of tree, but he said any tree can become contorted. I don't think I've ever seen that in Ontario. Probably because every winter our trees freeze solid from the freaking cold. Who knows?

And the daffodils. They are everywhere in Victoria. And I mean everywhere.