SNAP THAT

It's been a busy few days since I posted last. I've been trying out some different knitting patterns. Hopefully soon I will unveil a few of the finished projects. Here is a sneak peek at one of my "works in progress".   It is a little baby cap. I've also been busy making and cancelling appointments. Don't you hate it when you wait for an event and the hosts/organizers cancel?  This has happened twice this past weekend for two events I was looking forward to later in the month.  On the other hand, that is probably just what I needed right now so I can catch up on things around the house and all the budgetary matters (bill payments and tax issues). On Thursday night, I did get together with 3 people I know and 23 more that I didn't.  My friend who is an acupuncture doctor organized a dinner for the Chinese New Year; which this year, is called, the Year of the Dragon.  Chinese New Year actually started on Monday but we had our dinner on Thursday

Dear Friends, We have an urgent appeal for a young student, named Jeremiah Lokol who lives on the border between Turkana and Pokot areas; one of the poorest parts of Kenya. I met him in September when I was on a food relief mission to the people in that area. Turkana people waiting for food relief Jeremiah Jeremiah has just been accepted to the top school in the country and this has made my day with this news.  But he needs tuition and school uniform costs in a matter of days (by the end of this month) so I am making an URGENT appeal to everyone. Sadly, everything that Jeremiah's family had was stolen by their neighbours just around the time the parents were planning to sell some cows and goats to pay for his education. Some of you will know that in this area the people are pastoralists and they suffer from cattle raiding. Standing with some Turkana women holding their water cans. As the boy comes from a family of  9, it looks like his dream of attending

We had another major storm pass through on the weekend. The winds were howling for two nights. I saw on the news that ferries serving the islands off of Vancouver were shut down due to the bad weather and power was knocked out in many places.  I was snug inside and safe from the storms. I was blessed that my power didn't go out at all. The small amount of snow we had was washed away by the rains and the temperature has warmed up considerably.  I spent the blustery day yesterday making progress on  my goals. One goal is to finish the baby afghan. I had started out making dishcloth squares in a new-to-me pattern.  One of the ladies in my knitting group suggested I sew them altogether into a baby afghan and I thought that was a great idea. I made about half of the squares last Fall and finished the other squares today. I just have to decide on which colour to use to crochet all these squares together with and I'm leaning toward a cream colour. I also like the blue in the yarn.

I'm still looking for my favourite bread recipe. One day, I will try making artisan bread because I love crunchy, chewy bread.  For now I am still making the traditional bread loaves and experimenting with different recipes. I often substitute whole wheat or multi-grain flour for some of the white flour in the recipes because of my diabetes.  But in this batch, I only used unbleached white flour. The recipe is from the Robin Hood (maker of flour) website. Ingredients: 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar 1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm 1 envelope (8 g) active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp/11 mL) 1 cup (250 mL) milk 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or margarine 2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt 1/2 cup (125 mL) water, warm 5 1/2 cups (1375 mL) white flour Directions: 1. DISSOLVE 1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar in 1/2 cup (125 mL) warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well. 2. HEAT milk to lukewarm. Stir in butter, 2 tablespoons (30 m

We had a storm overnight. The snow kept falling through the night. Though I see it didn't amount to a whole lot of snow on my patio, the snow did cause havoc on the highway. The sky is dreary and grey and it will start raining soon making the roads icy. The forecast is more rain over the weekend so it should melt all the ice and snow away over that time. It was, in short, perfect weather for some baked beans. I don't make baked beans very often but I am committed to making and eating more "from scratch" dishes using pulses and grains. Often I use dried peas, lentils, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, barley, cous cous and bulgar. For people with diabetes, consuming lentils, peas and beans helps control blood glucose management. Compared with some other carbohydrate sources, pulses have a lower glycemic index. Studies have also shown that consuming pulses can result in more stable blood glucose levels after meals. Pulses are high in fiber and protein, low in

On this particular day the skies were busy with planes and birds. Within a few seconds of taking my first photo, I spotted two planes in the air. I was also able to capture some seagulls perched on a building and others in flight. All in all, it was a great day for sky watching! Can you spot the small plane in the sky? I wonder where this commercial jet is going? I'd like to be going too. Click here to sky watch with others from around the globe.

Though the first two weeks of this month, I felt rather tired, I'm having a good week so far in this third week of January.  In the first half of the month, I did a lot of resting and didn't push myself  too much.  I used the time to think about different activities and events that I hope to take part in as part of moving forward in  my goals. I also used the time to continue treatment for my leg and to get myself organized.  My sleeping pattern got messed up in December and this continued into the month of January so I've been working on trying to improve that as well.  It takes me a long time to get back into a good sleep pattern once it's out of whack.  Probably because I suffer from a couple of sleep disorders. For those that don't suffer from sleep problems, give thanks for you are lucky! Sleep is so important not only to energy but to good health in general. When you don't have it, you surely miss it.  A stunning scene greeted me early Tuesday evening

January 18th, 2012 is the largest online protest in history, to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA . Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now . I'm not actually American but on January 18th, I will not be blogging or publishing comments on my blog or commenting on other blogs.  I do not support internet censorship or more government control over the internet and America's actions will have ramifications for other countries.   I will resume blogging on Wednesday, January 19, 2012. Thank you for your patience. In the meantime, I offer this short article from the Canadian Press. ~~~ Canadians to join Wikipedia protest of anti-piracy act Online encyclopedia to black out site for 24 hours at midnight The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 17, 2012 6:52 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 17, 2012 4:46 PM ET Some Canadian websites are pledgi

I made cranberry oatmeal cookies on the weekend and I decided to look for a good recipe for cranberry muffins. These ones are low fat and not too sweet. I substituted oat bran for the wheat bran because it is good for the cholesterol levels. Leading nutritionist and author, Leslie Beck has this to say about oat bran. Oat bran has long been touted for its soluble fibre. About one-half of the fibre in oat bran is soluble fibre, the type that lowers LDL (bad) blood cholesterol. Soluble fibre is a soft fibre that absorbs water as it moves through the digestive tract. In addition to helping lower cholesterol, it also keeps blood glucose levels in check. Technically, oat bran is not a whole grain (since it's actually only one part of the oat grain). But because of its exceptionally high fibre content, it can be considered a whole grain. A landmark study published in 1963 was the first to document the cholesterol-lowering effects of oat bran. Since then, there's been no

    An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.   Martin Luther King, Jr. (In honour of Martin Luther King day)  ~~~~~ I captured the mood of the mountains at several stages this past  weekend. It always fascinates me how quickly the weather conditions can change. We were expecting a big snow storm on Saturday but it didn't amount to much; at least not where I live.  We did get a mild sprinkling of snow on the mountains and in the city which you can see in the photos below. The storm did arrive overnight on Sunday. This morning's news said that some schools were closed up the valley, about an hour or so away from me.  Big snowflakes were falling here outside my window a few moments ago and fog shrouded the mountains. Right now though, the sky has cleared a bit and the snow has stopped. I am not sure what the next few days ha

NOTE :  I've just been advised by a reader that she cannot leave a comment. I apologize to all bloggers who experience the same issue. I've recently set blogger settings to allow "embedded" comments. I know that this used to cause commenting problems for some people. Blogger's new comment feature requires "embedded" comments.  Hopefully blogger will soon resolve any issues associated with this change. Ingredients: 1 cup flour (white or whole wheat) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used about 3/4 cups) 1/4 cup fat-free vanilla or plain yogurt 2 tablespoons canola or corn oil 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/3 cups uncooked old fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats 1 cup dried cranberries (original recipe calls for raisins) Directions: HEAT oven to 350°F. Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or use non stick te

SOMEBODY is thankful for the support you have provided.  -somebody wants to hold your hand. -somebody hopes everything turns out all right. -somebody wants you to be happy. -somebody wants you to find him/her. -somebody is celebrating your successes. -somebody wants to give you a gift. -somebody thinks that you ARE a gift. -somebody hopes you're not too cold, or too hot. -somebody wants to hug you. -somebody loves you. -somebody admires your strength. -somebody is thinking of you and smiling. -somebody wants to be your shoulder to cry on. -somebody wants to go out with you and have a lot of fun. -somebody thinks the world of you. -somebody wants to protect you. -somebody would do anything for you. -somebody wants to be forgiven. -somebody is grateful for your forgiveness. -somebody wants to laugh with you. -somebody remembers you and wishes that you were there. -somebody is praising God for you. -somebody needs to know that your love is unconditional. -som

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson  Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight.  Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward.  Your life will never be the same again.   ~ Og Mandino The best practical advice I can give to the present generation is to practice the virtue which the Christians call love.  ~ Bertrand Russell The first and highest law must be the love of man to man.  Homo homini Deus est - this is the supreme practical maxim, this is the turning point of the world's History.   ~ Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.  

Hello friends, I'm still on my blogging break but I wanted to thank you all for your kind comments on my last post. I have been enjoying some restful days while I also plan a bit of my schedule but I did say to a friend that I would be back on the blog if I have something to report concerning the Missions of Hope. I do want to mention that my friend, Jonah has returned to what what I think is his last semester in his Master's Degree Program on International Development. He has been in an accelerated program to try and save money on his studies. Please pray for him to have excellent study skills and good memory and research and writing skills as he completes his thesis and prepares for exams. The other student, Kipngeno, I've written about before. I ask you to continue praying for him as he is now at a critical juncture in the finances needed to complete his first year of medical studies at the Kisii University. Here we have given him a small amount of

Dear reader, Where does the time go? It seems that the older one gets the quicker time passes and the Christmas season we just had is no exception. This past Christmas was the first time I was at my own home for Christmas.  There was only one other time I was far from home and family at Christmas.  I didn't remain at my home though because I had been invited to a friend's for the holiday. I wanted to stay home but she insisted that no one should be alone at Christmas so I accepted her hospitality.  This year, I had a number of plans but everything was in limbo until the last moments before Christmas.  In the end I was at home and it was okay. I was looking forward to it and I thought I might actually have a nice rest from all the busyness of constant appointments concerning my leg, and all kinds of errands to run, before Christmas. Not! It was quiet but it wasn't restful because I was very busy. Besides the rush of buying and getting Christmas gifts in the post (yes,