SNAP THAT

I'm happy this week is almost over and I've managed to complete my tax returns for another year. I've  actually completed them just over a month early but can't file just yet. I have to wait for one final receipt and it will be at least another two weeks before I get it in the mail.  So I will just have to wait. I dread tax filing every year.  I always want to have oodles of time to work on the taxes and just do it all in a leisurely way.  So I often put it off and in the meantime the task hovers over my conscience like a bad dream. I  usually have to hunt around for receipts that come in during the year.  Though I do keep the paperwork in a bit of order, there always seems to at least once receipt that comes in much later than the others or doesn't arrive at all so it isn't only a question of when I want to work on the return. It is often a question on waiting on others.  I'm not so patient when it comes to these things. Some receipts are only availab

Hello friends, soon I shall be announcing a giveaway but not just quite yet. This week is a busy week of appointments, tax filings and errands and then I can get to the giveaway details. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this wonderful South African blessing I came across on line here .  South African Blessing* Walk tall, walk well, walk safe, walk free And may harm never come to thee. Walk wise, walk good, walk proud, walk true And may the sun always smile on you. Walk prayer, walk hope, walk faith, walk light And may peace always guide you right. Walk joy, walk brave, walk love, walk strong And may life always give you song. * Author, Patricia Schonstein.

I've felt that we've had a lot of gray skies and too much rain this winter. It might be a poor memory but that is how it seems to me. Once in a blue moon we got some clear skies and bit of sun. Early in February I captured these photos. I hope you enjoy the photos. I hope to see you again soon as I am hosting a giveaway and will be posting all the details here on  my blog. Enjoy your weekend. Please join others from around the globe who share their sky photos with us every week. Thanks to Sandy who hosted this meme for many years and to Yogi our new host and Sylvia, his co-host.

 If I could tell the world just one thing it would be we're all okay, and not to worry cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these. I won't be made useless, won't be idle with despair, I will gather myself around my faith.  Light does the darkness most fear. Jewel, American singer/songwriter Hi friends, While I've been house bound , I've been working on a few things bes ides my decluttering  project. For example, I've been knitting lots of dishcloths for my Etsy shop.  All proceeds from my shop go to Kenyan missions.  I find the knitting allows me to relax and think and pray about things on my mind.  It also helps me feel like I am doing something useful and something that may yet be helpful to the missions in the country I hold dear. I made my rug out of old pajamas which you can see here . Another project that I've started is a Wizard of Oz quilt that I was originally planning to make for a Christmas gift.  I ran out of time

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. Proverbs 31:13 Old night clothes after washing. Cutting up the clothing for trope or tarn. Trope/tarn turned into this.... The finished product after a bit of steaming. It looks wider on the bottom but that is an illusion. It measures approx. 19 inches from top to bottom and 21 and a half inches from side to side. I could have added more t rope/tarn but didn't feel like making more trope /tarn. I think the rug is a mple enough for my two feet . I'm thinking I will put it by my bedside or give it to someone. (Pard on my see through sock, he he). I am quite happy with how the rug turned out. I didn't follow a pattern, instead making one up as I went along and adding stitches to the corners as needed to try and keep a more or less, even shape. To make the trope/tarn needed for this project I used 4 pajama tops and 1 leg off of one bottom. Ideally, you should use t-sh

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 Hello friends, I want to thank all of you who have given and prayed for Little Linet while she was alive and for her family after her passing. As I mentioned in my last post, the family left for her final resting place on Friday from Nakuru, Kenya to Kisumu, Kenya to the Luo Tribal home land.  It broke my heart to see them leave on their journey and to know that they were leaving with few funds in their pockets.  But God is gracious.  Through the loving prayers of many of you, the family has now completed it's journey and is back home in Nakuru where they will try to carry on without their little girl. Mama Linet and her husband, are both impoverished and have very little education. To top it off they are living far from their home territory and they live in the slums where there is little opportunity for anyone.  Life is extremely hard in Kenya for pe

Dear friends, Thank you to those of you who sent your prayers and your donations for little Linet and her family. Your continued prayers for this family's needs are very much needed. (For the background story read here and here ). Since Little Linet has passed from this life, her body has been at the morgue in Nakuru. Funds sent to her family have been used to pay for her casket ($100) and for morgue fees ($60). The balance of funds has been used to help the family to defray food costs. As is the custom they have had to host relatives and friends which also includes feeding them over these past six days.  Since Little Linet is from the Luo tribe she will be returned to Luo territory near Kisumu which is also the custom. But first her family will sit with her for one night at their family home near Nakuru. This past week has been very hard on Little Linet's mother and father. We have tried to be supportive and bring them practical helps like food to help meet the needs

  . . . to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.    Isaiah 61:3 Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11: 28-30 Dear friends, I mentioned in my last post that Little Linet has passed on to her eternal rest.  Jonah visited Linet's family and learned that on Wednesday they will travel from near Nakuru, Kenya to Kisumu, Kenya in the far west of Kenya to the traditional home land of the Luo Tribe. Although the distance between Nakuru and Kisumu does not look so far on this map, it is a distance of many hours jou rney that the family will have to make to lay little Linet to res

God blesses those people who grieve. They will find comfort.  Matthew 5:4 My heart is very sad today. I heard the news that someone I love has died. The little girl I knew as Little Linet has lost this earthly battle for her life. I was first introduced to her by my friend Jonah who voluntarily undertook missions in Kenya for many years before recently stopping for a time of transition. He learned about Little Linet while he was going to university.  She was wasting away and unable to eat due to her cleft palate problem.  He took her for medical help and she was eventually able to resume eating and she regained some weight. Then I started trying to help her with her medical issues with the ultimate aim of getting her through cleft palate surgery.  Some of my lovely readers helped me with that. I am very grateful for your help. Rest in the knowledge with me that we tried to make her life and her small family's life a little brighter and to lessen their suffering. We

Every year the crocuses push up from the ground.  It is always a source of delight. 10  My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Solomon 2: 10-13  Join in with Skywatch Friday here. Thanks to Alan of Yogi's Den for agreeing to take over hosting duties for this wonderful meme!

Hi dear friends, I hope you are all doing great! It is still cloudy and raining where I live but in a few days we are expecting sunshine for a few days. Last weekend the weather report was also for sunshine for two days and though it did stop raining it didn't really shine all that much. I hope they are right this time! I continue to nurse my leg. It is really up and down with the pain levels. On my good days I get outside for some errands. Those days aren't as often as I'd like but today the leg is feeling better and I can walk straighter than usual without a side to side gait. I am trying out this new-to-me infrared heating pad.These pads are very pricey but I got it on a significant discount.  I still had to think twice before buying it but the free shipping was the clincher. This one is on a trial basis for a few weeks.  It had many good testimonials from arthritic pain sufferers but for my knee it didn't seem to do much. Last night I also had an aching back and

From the Meriam Webster Dictionary 1 joy noun \ ˈ j ȯ i\ Definition of JOY 1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety 2 : a state of happiness or felicity : bliss 3 : a source or cause of delight — joy·less adjective — joy·less·ly adverb — joy·less·ness noun   I am feeling joy today. I had my  Hemoglobin A1C test done last week to determine my average blood sugar level over the previous 3 months.  I am so happy to report that my average blood sugar was 6.6 % and less than 7 % which is the target. Normal level is 4.5-6.0 so I still have a little ways to go in getting it back to normal.  I've been working very hard since October and taking not only my pharmaceuticals and newly prescribed pharmaceuticals, but alternative medicines as well. I've also cut my food

What I'm working on.. .. Using up my cotton yarn stash. Lots more to go. These always make great gifts and I go through a lot of them myself.   What I'm reading..... Winner of the Booker Pri ze , t his book is an easy read .  Something I call "fluff" reading after the lengthy books I've recently finished and all the dates and details they included , this book is easy on the brain. I picked this book up last year at a second hand shop. I am declutter ing again and that means going through my books to get rid of what I won't read. this was going to go in the pile to give away but I started reading it instead and I'm enjoying it. When I read I try to keep track of new vocabulary in the open book with page marker. I learned t o do this from L inda . Visit her blog by clicking the link to "Grandma's Letters" in the African Blog Love widget (sidebar ). What I'm decluttering... Kitchen stuff in a big wicker basket.

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. ~  William Arthur Ward  The weather report was for SUNNY skies today and tomorrow.  As you can see from the photos it wasn't exactly sunny but I'll take it over the rain! See the weather in the skies all around the world by joining Sky Watch Friday here. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for visiting.