How often do you drive out of an Audi service center with a $0 bill? Intake manifold blessing!

The engine light came on bold during the last 600 kilometres of our road trip. 

Problem was a faulty intake manifold sensor.

Replaced the intake manifold, and thanks to the extended warranty offered by Audi, paid nothing.

I call it an intake manifold blessing!

☺

Watching Long-finned pilot whales in Nova Scotia

Long-finned pilot whales are actually oceanic dolphins

We saw these in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, North West of Pleasant Bay, off the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 

(Eyes on the water till the end, to see the whales) ☺

How I got recommended, and almost landed a job at Home Depot today

When our new Gardena 7 pattern spray wand broke (for no apparent reason), I went to our neighbourhood Home Depot to get a replacement.

The wand was not available in stock so the folks there directed me to another store nearby, based on the available quantities shown online on their computer

Visited the second store, which was supposed to have 8 of these in stock.

Saw only one opened product on the shelf (probably returned), and asked the associate if he could find another one for me. After all they were supposed to have 8 in stock.

He said there was only one available, and what is shown online on the computer maybe referring to damaged/returned products. 

To help me out, he went on to call other stores to see if they actually had the wand on their shelves (not online). 

"Seeing is believing right?" I said, and he nodded in agreement.

After several phone calls, no luck at the other stores. 

Apparently someone made an error and the SKU numbers were entered wrong, so nothing on their shelves.

I said I was curious to know more about the 8 that were supposed to be available in stock here, and asked if he could check the unopened boxes on one of the top shelves. 

He was kind and patient, and agreed. 

But the box had an SKU number which was not exactly what we were looking for, but similar. 

So I said, "what if they made an error writing the numbers?"

So he got a ladder, went up and opened the box, and voila ... a box full of new wands!

By now, other customers were lining up waiting for his help, but he asked me 

"Are you interested in a part time job?"

"Yes" I replied.

Then giving his name and department details he said,

"Go to the Home Depot website and apply, they may never get back to you in six months, but don't give up. Say that I recommend you"

Looking at the other waiting customers, he says to me 

"I could give you an orange apron in one hour if you are willing to join!"

I thanked him, smiled, paid, and wand in hand, left ☺

Yes I am looking for work/business, 
And if you need a persistent, customer-centric, multifaceted, investigative, results-oriented guy like me, 
You can find my profile here!

☺

"Here I am, take a good look at me now"

We went off the beaten track and after a long drive, decided to pause and enjoy the view of a scenic lake ... 

Then suddenly out of nowhere comes this hummingbird ... 

Within a few feet, and hovers around the tiger lilies ...

And as if to say; 

"Here I am, take a good look at me now. 

I know you have been searching for me in your backyard.

But you have only seen me once ...

I've been busy, and will have to leave soon ..."

And in about 30 seconds it was gone!

GOD knows our desire and shows up in the strangest of places

In acknowledgement of our prayer.

Sometimes very briefly as this fragile hummingbird

Laptop

What are the chances of finding your laptop, 

after losing it in the crowded parking lot of a busy airport hotel?

Truth is, with GOD everything is possible!

Lost my old laptop. 

Shared the news, and prayed hard for the next several hours. 

Imagine losing photographs of the past 10 years, and your entire music collection ...

All the power cables, chargers and external hard drives packed up for a road trip ...

Thanks to an honest guest, amazing hotel staff, and GOD's grace, got it back!

GOD uses us to perform miracles ☺

Faith is like a Road Trip

I don't know what lies ahead, around the bend, over the hill or beyond tomorrow ...

But I will never know if I don't continue to drive forward

So let's drive!

3 Coyotes

 Today we saw a pack of three large Coyotes during our evening walk!!!

They were facing us at over a 100 metres away, but before I could unlock my lens and zoom in,

they turned around and ran ...

And this is all I could get ...

More about the social behaviour of Coyotes

Here are better photographs of a different Coyote on the same walking route

Lakeshore

Evening walk by the lake ...

Well..., we are walking, but the Canada Geese are swimming!

... And the end of another day

Thyme

It's Thyme for dinner!

The combination of lamb, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary, and red wine is delicious!

We had a great Thyme ☺

Ash Tree

Protecting the Ash tree from the destructive Emerald Ash Borer

This is what it looks like to vaccinate a tree

Interestingly, TreeAzin is made from the extract of the Neem tree which has various other uses in places like India

Learn more about the Emerald Ash Borer

Cookies

For whatever reason (maybe oil prices, global politics? ☺) 

cookies at the grocery store are too expensive now ...

So I decided to bake my own cookies ...

All I needed was butter, sugar, flour, about twenty minutes, and voilà!

If I can bake them, anyone can ☺

Hope you are enjoying your afternoon tea!

Faith

When people ask me "how are you managing these days?", 

I reply "by the GRACE of GOD alone!" 

☺

♪ "I've been so many places, in my life and time, I've sung a lot of songs ..." - Leon Russell

Get A Song for You by Leon Russell on iTunes

Sunflower

A few weeks ago we planted this sunflower. 

Then, the plant was about 4 inches tall

Today it bloomed!

Now it is about 8 feet tall!!

Check out the Sunflowers I painted last year

What I can do with an axe, a woodpecker can do with its beak

"If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, 

More strength is needed,

But skill will bring success" - Ecclesiastes 10:10 ☺

A cool certified Rocky mountain Coors beer is the next best thing to water,

 while chopping wood on a summer afternoon

                                       

There's a Coyote!

Saw the coyote again today!

It was about 100 metres away from us, and the people walking towards it probably another 75 metres away from the coyote (image is fully zoomed in)

They didn't see it.

It kept looking at us for about 5 seconds ...

... And slowly started moving into the woods

Paused again to look at us 

... and disappeared

Lots of wild apples on the side of the trail

Also saw four rabbits. 

This one looks scared ...

See a close up of the same coyote here (saw it two months ago)

Good night!

Chilli

Has anyone tried the red hot Naga Bhut Jolokia chilli pepper? 

These are still growing in our garden ... not red hot yet ☺

This chilli is supposed to be 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce 

(which by the way is quite tame I think)

Would love to see your recipes using this ☺

Pizza Cookie

I'm only sharing the picture of the cookie with you, not the cookie ☺

                                  My friend Anne bakes the best Pizza Cookies on the planet!

Foil

What's the point if it is stronger and more flexible but all stuck up and useless?

☺

#Parenting To love and be loved

To love and be loved, nothing else matters in life. 

If you believe this to be true, there are two kinds of love in this painting.

Storge and Agape. 

Storge is the Greek word for unconditional love between family members, the love parents have for their children. It is sacrificial and committed.

Agape is the unconditional, overflowing and abundant love of GOD for all of us.

And what exactly is love?

The little girl in red, did this watercolor painting for me today! 

(That's how we looked in 2004)

Sushi