Early Morning on the Patio

Hi blogging friends,

I  hope you are all doing well and keeping happy and busy.

We are still getting quite a lot of rain where I live and I haven't been out in the gardens much.  The long term weather forecast is for more rain over the next 2 weeks. It has also been cooler than usual. At the end of this new week we will crack the 20 Celsius mark for only the 2nd or 3rd time since the beginning of Spring.

I'm not complaining as I'm still self isolating despite restrictions being lifted. I will continue to self isolate and keep my eye on the community transmission developments over the next few months. Being indoors means I am slowly getting some old business done though truthfully it is taking me a lot more time than I thought it would. I guess the good news is I always have something constructive to do.

I was out in the patio garden very early one morning and captured these photos. Most of them are of a bush that I don't know the name of but which goes through a multitude of looks over the course of the year. Sometimes there are berries.

The photo below is the only one that is not of my flowering bush. I think it's a Salvia plant but I am not 100% sure as I planted it a few years ago and it never did very well.  This year it seems to be doing better.

My reading list includes this raw and powerfully written memoir of an up and coming Indigenous writer and activist, Helen Knott. Unfortunately her story of gender violence is not that pretty but the good news is she managed to overcome her addictions to drugs and alcohol and begin a new, cleaner life with hope and promise.  The gender violence the author had to endure throughout her lifetime fed into her addictions and the memories kept her addicted.

I'm currently reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Several years ago I saw a movie based on the book and I enjoyed it. I'm about half way through the book and I don't remember much about whether the movie is true to the book. In any case, I always like to try and read books on which movies are based and the writing is quite enjoyable.

Last, but not least,  I'm reading Shadows Along the Zambezi. It's as masterfully written as Shadows Over an African Heart by Diana M. Hawkins.  Both books bring focussed attention to the issue of elephant poaching in Zimbabwe and all the violence and corruption that goes along with it.

Young elephants having a mud bath at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage, Nairobi, Kenya

All but one of the books are digital loans from the library which for some reason is still closed to the public.  They don't even do curbside pickups. I'm not sure why they are still closed while most places are now open with new policies in place to stem the transmission of Covid 19.  Some time back I purchased a digital copy of the book on elephant poaching and am reading it on my Kobo device, Canada's version of  Kindle).  I'll be so glad once the library is open again so I can borrow paper books. In the meantime, I'm grateful for the digital option.

A short update on the Kenyan missions.

• A variety of crops were planted for one large, extended family.  Once the harvest is ready there will be corn, cabbage, carrots and a variety of vegetables for 3 or 4 households to eat.
• Elder Eunice is still in hospital. Though it was about 8 months ago that doctors said she would be ready to go home in a month or two that never happened. She is still in hospital and is more or less stable. We have no information as to the prognosis. 
• Alvin, the young engineer graduate was hoping to come to Canada and continue his studies.  Sadly he was not accepted and we have given up on the idea.  It is very expensive process to prepare the application packages and has lead to a "no" decision two years in a row. It is very disappointing.  Alvin is a very intelligent and studious person and he would have done well here but getting accepted to a Canadian university (easier to get acceptance and scholarship if one is freshly out of high school)is difficult for people from poor countries and is more so the case when money is not part of the family assets.
• Pastor Jonah has had a very difficult experience of late with one of his molars. He needed a root canal and the hospital where they did it did not do a good job at all. It was becoming septic. Fortunately he managed to get the tooth redone at a private dentist office and after a week is now very much on the mend. 
• Others continue to receive food and medical helps when we have funds to assist them.
• I thank those of you who continue to pray for the missions and/or lend financial support. May God richly bless each and every one of you.

That's all for now friends. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Please continue to stay safe. xx