St. Michael's Catholic Church Plaque - A Tonferns Creation

The first St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church was founded by Fr. Barnabas in 1971 and was originally just a small chapel close to the erstwhile British Air Force Base in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

In 1973 Fr. Barnabas had the church move into the British Officers’ Mess nearby and had the kitchen converted into a Parish House along with an indoor community center attached to a large compound wall where outdoor Mass services, Children's Christmas Tree parties and Thursday Tambola/ Housie were held.  Father Barnabas was succeeded by Fathers Attilio, Edmund, Antonino, Felicio, Godwin and Angelo. The congregation increased along with the space needed to accommodate the increasing number of parishioners.

The sign shown here was installed during the tenure of Fr. Felicio Diniz as the Parish Priest in the early 1980's when I was an active member of the church community centre. I made a sign on my own accord out of plastic letters and a metal cross cast into 'Plaster of Paris' and presented the plaque to Fr. Felicio who then had it fixed to the wall at the entrance of this church.

Now here's where the story about this plaque takes a different turn. Some years after I left Sharjah, a magnificent new church was built nearby, and the old one was demolished. We moved to Dubai and later to Canada.

On my visit to Goa after many years, my wife and I stayed with her sister Lourdes and bro-in-law Leo when we noticed this plaque in the show-case in their living room. I was greatly surprised to know as to how this piece of work would cross the vast expanse of the Arabian Seas into Goa.

Lourdes then related to me how she had salvaged the sign just prior to the time when the bull-dozers were supposed to have moved in for demolition of the old church. Well done Lourdes. Thanks and kudos for saving and keeping this sign - 'a sure Sign of the Times' - and 'a Sign of the Cross' of nearly 50 years ago as a memento. Gives me goose bumps of sheer nostalgia, thinking about the good old days when we lived, worked, picnicked, partied (and prayed) in beautiful Sharjah and the U.A.E. in general.

Julian / Gregorian Calendar AC BC

Julian / Gregorian Calendar AD / BC

The short form, term or acronym A.D. stands for 'Anno Domini' - a Medieval Latin phrase. It means 'In the Year of the Lord'. 

The term B.C. is used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars preceding the birth of Jesus. 

This calendar era is based on the traditional birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of his birth, while BC indicates years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. 

Hence AD 1 starts from the time of the Birth of Jesus, his crucifixion being AD 33.

Therefore A.D. does not mean 'After Death'.

The Moon in the Daytime.

The Moon in the Daytime yesterday - 26 Jan. 2019.

8.48 am - 9.54 am - 

Dir: 254° W - 265° W. Alt: 30° - 20° to the horizon. 

Mississauga, Ontario. Canada.

Photographs by Tony Fernandes.

The Moon today is in a Waning Gibbous Phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon's illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with a illumination of 50%.

Tonferns Guitar & Violins

Violin and Guitar 1/8" thick PVC with Goa scenes.

Scale: 1:8 (Handcrafted by Tony Fernandes)

Super Blood Wolf Moon

Tonferns Guitars

Miniature Spanish guitar,
 hollow body, 1/8" plywood.
Scale 1:8

Handcrafted by Tony Fernandes

Acacia Trees of the U.A.E.

The Fujairah Tree

The Fujairah Tree. Rul Dhadna. This was our favourite picnic spot that we drove to 165 km away from Sharjah, where we lived, via Dhaid, Masafi and Fujairah City. This scenic place was close to the coastal road, and very near to the sea.

Rul Dhadna - Fujairah

The acacia tree is a primary source of gum arabic. Extensive browsing by camels prune the under-side of the branches of acacia trees giving them the distinct flat lower appearance. It continues to make up for this by further extending its thorny branches to collect moisture and sunlight with the smallest leaves and survives in arid climatic conditions.

Rul Dhadna - Fujairah

Guardians of the night sky

Dubai Reflections 1980s

Tonferns Handicrafts - Tractor Trailer

Just Plain Nostalgia of Monte

  

JUST PLAIN NOSTALGIA - Remembering the good old school days at Monte.

Late in the fifties, an orphanage was added to the school, with separate accommodation for about 15 to 20 pupils down on the west side of the hill, consisting of a small building that was located adjacent to the old well and pump-house near the football grounds. I believe it was later moved up to another place near the monastery on the top of the hill and the old structure abandoned.

During our final days at Monte, my classmates and I stood by and watched the new huge 3-floored building gradually rise on the northern side of the chapel, supervised by the Principal, Fr. Pacificus. Other general improvements were made too during this time. In the late 1950's there was a sudden rise in the number of boarders due to the school's popularity and good standard. There was an increase in the numbers of boarders, especially whose parents worked in East Africa and the Arabian Gulf. The class-rooms were almost bursting at the seams, each class with nearly 4 divisions, and each division having nearly 30 to 35 students. So a remarkable and ambitious temporary project was launched in order to accommodate this sudden rise while the new concrete building was getting ready. It was the construction of a giant thatched hall with wooden uprights and large bamboo poles - with over 8 classrooms on the eastern side of the main building. It had wooden partitions and a long common passage to enter the class rooms. I remember the roof leaked a little bit in several places during heavy rains, but that was taken in stride! I studied my Std.III and Std.IV there before moving to the original main building. Today a beautiful and modern structure stands in its place as seen in the photograph here. Also is a picture of the orphanage in ruins, the ground level water storage tank, the pump engine moorings and the well taken in the year 2012.