Saint of the Day

The Catholic saint of the day for July 25 is Saint James the Greater, an apostle and martyr. July 25 also marks the feast day for Saint Christopher, an early Christian martyr.

Aum Saiba Poltoddi Vetam (Konkani Folk Song)

 

Saint of the Day

Saint of the day

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Bridget (1302-1373), patron saint of Sweden. She married a young prince and lived happily with him for 28 years, bearing him eight children. St. Catherine of Sweden was their daughter. After her husband died, Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, erecting at Vadstena a double monastery for monks and nuns. Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she later went to Rome, where she worked for the return of the Popes from Avignon. She died of natural causes in 1373, at the age of seventy-one. This Scandinavian mystic is famous for her Revelations concerning the sufferings of our Redeemer.

Saint of the Day

 

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Catholic Online Saints & Angels

Feastday: July 21

Patron: of Brindisi

Birth: 1559

Death: 1619

Feast Day

Today, 20th July, the Catholic Church observes the optional memorial of Saint Apollinaris, a 1st-century bishop and the first Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. He is venerated as a martyr after suffering severe beatings and torture for preaching the Gospel. 

Moonwhile in Mississauga

 

Moonwhile, this evening through my window in Mississauga, a crescent moon makes an appearance just a little bit over the rooftop, after a hazy day.

 

Cross by the Trodden Path

 

Furniture from Goa

 

Al Khasab Castle, Hormuz Strait,

Khasab Castle - Oil Painting by Tony Fernandes 1993.. Also please click on the link below to read about my journey through the Hormuz Strait in 1967 aboard s.s. Sirdhana. https://tonferns.blogspot.com/.../beyond-arabian-sea-part...

Happy Canada Day

 Happy Canada Day

Strawberry Moon in June

Meanwhile, from our street in Mississauga, the Strawberry Moon in June makes a grand appearance.

Lamps of the Past

 

Lamps of Logo Ago

 

Line Art in Sepia by Tonferns

 

Felicio, his garden and the village well

Felicio, his garden and the village well.

Like most houses in the olden days, my small had a modest little garden. My mother planted different types of flower plants in it. She fetched water from the nearby well, watered the plants, trimmed them and planted new ones once in a while. As a young boy, I had my own little patch with a set of plants that I tended to.

Every morning I would have a close look at the plants and admire the flowers, and also check whether any new blossoms or buds had developed. During the rainy season, in one corner of the garden, there grew a perennial creeper that bore beautiful and tiny star-shaped red flowers that were one of my favourites. The plant seemed to grow at a rapid pace each day. I had a string tied to the under-side of the roof beams, from one side of the house to the other, running just under the eaves, helping the creeper to get a hold on it.

Line Art by Tonferns in Sepia

 

FEAST DAY of St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony's Feast Day is celebrated globally on June 13. This day honors Saint Anthony of Padua, the beloved patron saint of lost items, the poor, and travelers. [1, 2]

Crossing the River Chapora at Siolim, Bardez, Goa.

Tar (Crossing point by canoe) Chapora River, Siolim, Bardez, Goa.Water colour rendering on computer from an old photograph from the 1970’s.

April Showers, May Flowers, June Bloomers

 

Fujeirah Castle

It was a trip to the East Coast of U.A.E. from Sharjah. As afternoon slowly turned into evening and the sun would soon set over the mountains, we reluctantly headed home after enjoying a day out with family and  friends. A long drive lay ahead of us - a mini convoy of cars that would shortly disappear into the sunset over the mountains back to Sharjah - as we hoped to safely make it home before eight o’clock. Lest we forget, it was Friday. We simply would not like to miss an episode of one of the greatest and longest running series of the early 1980's that delighted us all, and that was none other ‘Dallas’ and the conniving ways of JR! (Picture: Water colour rendition from original B&W line artwork drawing by Tony Fernandes). 

'O Caminhão de Goa'

 

'O Caminhão de Goa' from the Portuguese era. Water colour rendition on computer from original B&W Artline drawing by Tony Fernandes. The coaches were built in Goa on imported Bedford, Ford or Dodge chassis. They were quite unique in their appearance. The coachwork consisted of wooden framework, wooden panelling on the inside and brass sheeting on the outside. Some passenger seats were made of leather while others were made of wood. Fitted on the roof were a "carrier" consisting of a metal rail that would hold and transport a gamut of goods - from paddy sacks and metal trunks to bamboo baskets of vegetable produce to firewood, and also the spare wheel and a tarpaulin cover. The rear of the bus was fitted with a iron ladder for access to the top. Driver and passenger sides had doors. Vertically hinged passenger door was at the rear of the bus. The windows had sliding glass doors. Somes of these buses had longitudinal and parallel seating arrangement.

Fishing Boats of Dubai. Across the Creek View from Deira side.

 

Fishing Boats of Dubai. Across the Creek View from Deira side.

Watercolour Rendition on computer from Line Artwork

by Tony Fernandes

'The Fishing Dhows of Deira' - Dubai 1976.

'The Fishing Dhows of Deira' - Dubai 1976.

Line Art Drawing by Tony Fernandes

The Rocking Fifies & Sixties of my youth.

The Rocking Fifties & Sixties of my youth.

Rocking chairs are quite common in most family homes in Goa with their own unique designs and construction by Goan carpenters. It is essentially a varnished standard teak wood chair with its usual feature of a pair of 2 curved pieces attached to the bottom of the legs. The seat and the back rest is cane-strung.

They are made to rock and do not have foldable extensions to rest one's legs on like the Goan 'volter', which has 4 legs firmly on the ground with arm rest extensions that swing out to serve as leg rests. The original Voltaire chair was not a rocking chair and did not have extendable rests.

A single or a couple of these chairs usually complements several other straight-back chairs in the living and family rooms.

VICTORIA DAY

 

Victoria Day (French: Fête de la Reine, lit. 'Celebration of the Queen') is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Victoria's natural birthday, May 24. It falls on the Monday between the 18th and the 24th (inclusive) and, so, is always the penultimate Monday of May (May 18 in 2026 and May 24 in 2027). Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of Canada's ten provinces and all three of its territories. The holiday has always been a distinctly Canadian observance and continues to be celebrated across the country. It is informally considered the start of the summer season in Canada.

Oil Painting

 

Oil painting of 64 years ago.  

Size: 16” x 12” 

by Tony Fernandes.

Year: 1962. Age: 15.

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated annually on May 13 to commemorate the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal, on May 13, 1917. It is a significant Marian feast in the Catholic Church, focusing on messages of prayer—particularly the Rosary—peace, and reparation for sins.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

 

Cinco de Mayo

 

More April Showers bring more May Flowers

 

April Showers bring May Flowers

 

Come what may....I'm here to stay.

 

Earth Day

 

 

Laterite Soil, Stone and the Pick-Axe

 

Our Lady of Grace Church, Margao, Goa

 

My Old Country Church

 

My Old Country Church

Water Color Rendition from Photograph

 

Happy Easter Monday

 

Happy Easter

 

Holy Saturday

 

Good Friday

 

Maundy Thursday

 

Maundy Thursday, observed the Thursday before Easter, commemorates Jesus Christ’s Last Supper with his apostles, the institution of the Eucharist, and the washing of the disciples' feet. 

April Fools' Day