Ready for Christmas

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the lead up to Christmas. 

Personally I've been sick for well over a month with some kind of cold and flu bug. The primary irritant for most of this time is chest congestion and phlegm in the throat. Just when I think it's going away it seems to come back.  I have to go to the doctor next week for a prescription refill so I'll ask about this too.

Other than that I've been busy with a number of things in preparation for Christmas. Despite being sick, I've managed to do a little decorating, write and post most of the Christmas cards (I may have 1 or 2 more to send), and prepare, wrap and mail Christmas presents that need to go in the post. Some gifts will be hand delivered.  Others will be opened here at home. 

I don't have that many presents to buy but as always I get a bit carried away thinking of yet another gift I should buy or make.  I enjoy gifting people, especially at Christmas. Even if it is just a small gift, it's always nice to think of someone else.  I didn't forget the people of Kenya and have sent some small monetary gifts to help with various needs.  I've promised to write about the Kenyan missions again in this space but haven't had the time to fully prepare the post.

Here are a few photos of my decorations and small tree. 

While I was decorating I also took the time to clean out the tubs where the decorations are stored. I put together a large shopping bag of decorations I don't use and no longer need.  

Indoor & outdoor lights & tree bulbs

Later this week, I'm looking forward to a Christmas concert.  Next week, I'm getting together with different friends and relatives and attending church services. I've also got a busy time of end of year appointments at the dentist, doctors and related lab work. 

It always seems to be a busy time no matter how much I try to prepare in advance to make it less so. In any event, I'm very pleased to have gotten all the decor, cards and gifts out of the way so I can enjoy the rest of the season.

Merry Christmas to all of you and have a wonderful and Happy New Year.

Tuesday 4 - Countdown to Christmas

Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we hope that 4 questions help you to blog, meet people and think about things in general.     

Let's talk about the countdown to Christmas or Chanukah or both!

1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child?  Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends?      Was a big deal made of the month in your family or town?  What does your countdown look like now?

Christmas season was always super busy for kids. We not only had Christmas programs at school to rehearse and prepare for but we also had Christmas programs at church to rehearse for the congregation. December was a nice, celebratory month in my town but I don't recall big and ostentatious Christmas displays. It was a small town after all and most people who decorated did so modestly. We children looked forward to getting the presents under the tree each year and to having a feast at Christmas dinner and all kind of snack foods throughout the season. Our house was a place for relatives and friends to drop by throughout the day to eat and visit. This was the case at every holiday and mom absolutely loved having everyone over and making sure they had too much to eat.  Mom didn't go all out baking cooking and sweet snacks but she did make a big batch of Dream Bars and also shortbread and sugar cookies.  I still absolutely loved and still love Dream Bars and make them on occasion for the Christmas season too. A day or two before Christmas and New Year all sorts of snacks would be set out which including things like nuts and mandarin oranges (the only time of year we could get these oranges in local stores), fruit cake, deli meats, variety of chips and dips, smoked oysters, pickles, cheese, crackers and cheese balls.  We had this basic selection all through my childhood and into adulthood too. There was always plenty of food.

2. As a kid did  your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?

My family usually stayed home on the holidays and people came to us.  These days, I find most of our relatives stay in their own homes celebrating with their own immediate loved ones or they travel far to gather with loved ones.  After all the families have grown up with children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren so things have changed.  I hosted both friends and local relatives for years but these days don't do much of it.

3. What foods did Mom and Grandma make for those  days?   What snacks were out?   What is the food situation in your home today? 

The snacks that were always out were mixed nuts most of which you had to crack yourself, Christmas candy (the red and white or green and white ones that tasted of wintergreen or mint, mandarin oranges, fruit cakes, Dream Bars, cookies,potato chips, pickles, cheese cubes, cheese balls, crackers, smoked oysters and deli meats.  The only real baking was the Dream Bars which have a shortbread like bottom with crunchy coconut flavoured topping. I basically make the same Dream Bars but not every year and we have a lot of the same snacks. I guess the other home baked goods were the cookies, usually shortbread and sugar cookies.

4.  Did you have a traditional way of spending the day with time to open gifts, visit,  special breakfasts, special dinner, guests?    What do you do now?

Christmas morning was always for our immediate family. The children woke early and excitedly waited until parents rose and said it was okay to open gifts. Then everyone sat around together and opened their gifts one after another while we all oohed and awed and commented on the revealed gifts, lol. I don't remember if there was a special breakfast until much later when my mother and sister always made waffles with fresh fruits, whipped cream and bacon for breakfast. Then we waited for the full feast at dinner. I still basically do the same but we don't have the special breakfast every year and I do not put the Christmas turkey on the table until supper time. Mother always wanted the 'dinner' early so it was more like late lunch growing up. Then we ate leftovers throughout the day and into the next.

Let me close by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. May you enjoy the season whether alone or with friends and loved ones. I hope you will feel refreshed and look forward to 2023!

A Very Merry Christmas

Hi friends,

I hope you are all well since my last post. I've been getting things ready in my home and running errands all related to Christmas.  

Sky Watch

Before I get into the news I want to share a few sky photos.  The first photo was taken on December 14th in the late afternoon.  The next photo was taken a few days earlier on Sunday, December 12th mid-afternoon after a particularly wet weekend.

Over the next 2 weeks the forecast is for half rainy days and half sunny days.  That's better than what we usually get at this time of year.

I'm grateful for the odd days of sunshine and the glorious views but truthfully the rainy days haven't bothered me much because I'm indoors and keeping busy.

Christmas Preparations

On Sunday night I finally got out the Christmas ornaments and did the decorating.  I'm glad to have the decorating done. Now I can enjoy the twinkling lights every day as I await Christmas.

 

The small tree, the mantle and bookshelves have all been decorated. I love my little tree because it is pre-lit and doesn't require many baubles. I gave away my larger one and this is the second year I've had the small one which is a perfect size for the living space.

This is the Chinese armoire I moved to the empty wall. I've added a few sparkly lights and glittery balls though I have yet to hang the elephant head mosaic on the wall.

 

 

The plants at the top of the mantle are a new addition. They were not doing well on the floor as the space is too drafty.  They are all tropical plants and I hope they will do better at the higher level.  The poor ficus lyrata (on far right) have been having a really rough year and I'm amazed they have survived. Some of the leaves are still recovering.

I painted one wall and touched up some doors. I have more to do but this will be it until after Christmas. I wanted to move the small Asian amoire to the wall so I painted the one wall first.
 

Before I added a few glitter items to the Chinese amoire, this is what it looked like just decorated with Kenyan artifacts and a Himalayan salt lamp for a Hygge-ly glow during the winter nights.

 

 

This is the Christmas mail I picked up at the post office today (Tuesday).  I'm always happy to receive cards and letters since hardly anyone I  know sends a card these days. I too have drastically reduced the number of cards I send.

 

I'm expecting 5 more parcels to be delivered to the post office and at home.  Most deliveries have been late and I'm hoping these ones will be delivered before Christmas as two of them contain Christmas presents. I also have a box of chocolates which I ordered for a Christmas fundraiser that I need to find time to go pick up soon.

 

 

Home Projects and Activities

 

I tried to put this box of shelving together. It's missing some pieces but I tried anyway. 

 

 

I need more time to figure it out since the pictorial instructions were somewhat useless and the snaps that hold each shelf up won't stay closed. If I cannot figure it out I may have to return it but I'm hoping I can figure it out. I bought the shelves with castors so I can roll it out of the way when I'm cleaning.

 

 

On my reading list:

I completed this book by Kristen Harmel. I highly recommend it.

I am now reading, The Girl with Seven Names. It's very interesting and is about a young activist from North Korea about her early life and ultimate escape from North Korea.  I found out about her on You Tube through a Ted Talk video when she was invited to California to speak about her experiences.

This is what I've been making and eating for dinner this week.

Ginger stir fried chicken with onions and snap peas served with brown rice.

Fried bannock bread to accompany the leftover ham and bean soup.

Pork chops roasted with capsicum and onions served with penne pasta in pasta sauce

Submarine sandwich and an orange

 

Fried pork chop with brown rice and stir fried Baby Bok Choy, yellow peppers and onions

Kenyan Needs

Last but not least, I want to mention the needs in Kenya which are great at any time but especially now after the great floods, the locust invasion, the Covid pandemic and the Christmas season.  Many more people than usual are without any form of work and there is little government help. 

If you are in a position to help at all please consider doing so. It would mean a world of difference. This year my help will be more modest.  In recent years I have always worked with Pastor Jonah to do something special for a needy larger group be it widows, orphans, school kids or the internally displaced people (IDPs). Most of the latter have now been given land to start life anew and though they are likely still in need we have lost touch with them or they have moved out of the general areas where we try to serve people.

The list of recipients I can try to help is shorter this year and I've itemized the basic needs below. If  you would like to contribute to any of them kindly contact me at my email or send a Pay Pal donation to kerichojoy [@] gmail.com (the address is without the square brackets of course but I have put them there so the bots and spammers don't pick up the address).  If you have difficulty leave a comment  below as to how I can reach you back. If for some reason you still have difficulty accessing, I can also send you a Pay Pal request for payment to the email of your choice and in the amount of your choice.  It would be lovely if we could make Christmas a bit brighter for these people.  

All dollars amounts are given in Canadian currency.  If you need assistance with converting these amounts to your currency let me know and I can help you.  Most of these listed needs are ongoing needs but some of them are specific to Christmas, like food and clothing.  It is customary in Kenya to have at least one meal of chicken on Christmas day and a treat to buy one new change of clothing. The clothing takes the place of a gift since the village people have very little in the way of clothing or material goods.  The dollar amount beside each item is the bare minimum and does not cover the cost of the chicken in the food amounts (food amount covers things like tea, sugar, maize flour, rice and oil). If you want to add a chicken it will be another $15-$20 Canadian). Things in Kenya are expensive but we do our best to keep wants and needs to the barest minimum.

Here are the needs of people I help through the hands and feet of Jonah and Alvin in Kenya. Some of them I help each month and some I help only when I am able to do something more.

People I have been consistently supporting each month

Eunice - in hospital - contribution of any amount for medicines (blood $55 Canadian dollars a pint; medicines for blood pressure and blood thinner - approximately $40 Canadian dollars each) + special diet ($205 per month).

Ernest - diabetes medicine $55 monthly; vitamins $30 monthly; food $55 monthly; food for Christmas week $25; new change of clothing (thrifted) $25, transport ($20)

Alvin - food for Christmas week ($25); data bundles ($25-$30); clothing/shoes ($50); transport ($20).

Jonah - food for Christmas week ($25); vitamins ($30); data bundles ($50); clothing/ shoes ($50); transport ($40)

People I help intermittently

David - married travel tour operator with 2 children and a wife. His business has been greatly affected since Covid started. Food is the main need and beyond that, education costs.

Sarah - single mother with 3 children living in one of Nairobi's slums. Food is the main need and like any parent in Kenya there are costs associated with educating the children. All kids return to school in January 2021.

Stephanie - single mother with one child under 1 year old. Food is the main need and baby things.

Carolly - single man who recently began working as a doctor. He only makes $256.00 Canadian per month at a maternity clinic in a small village.  The money must stretch to cover his food, housing, data and transport needs, and the needs of his sister and grandmother (3 households). I also help him from time to time with things like phone or transport costs). Sadly Carolly lost his grandmother yesterday.  She suffered a stroke in the spring and gradually got weaker.  She now rests with the ones who have gone before. Please pray for her children and grandchildren as they are devastated.

Update:  I have now sent Christmas food package to several people: Ernest, Alvin, Jonah and Sarah.  Since it is Christmas I added a few hungry people who were not on the list above:  Elijah (with 7 family members), Charles (6 family members) and Rose (several family members). I also intend to add David who has 3 additional family members. I gratefully received a donation from one of my blog readers. There is still time to send a donation so please don't worry about when you can send it if you are planning to send something. The people will be glad to have some help to buy food and medicines at any time.

 ~~~~~

Things are moving along here and I still have many projects to complete. I'm hoping that before and after Christmas I will have accomplished a lot more and can start the New Year with a clean slate. I am actually a bit behind but I am pleased with my progress and I think after Christmas dinner is done I will be able to accomplish a lot.

I will be taking a break from posting until after Christmas but will still access email daily. Update:  I had a lot of difficulty posting photos, centering them and even typing out this post so I apologize for any misspellings as there are more than usual. I've tried to correct them after posting.

God bless and give you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas. 

~~~~

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Welcome to December

This beautiful scene greeted me Monday. 

There will be more scenes like this for another week or so as I've read that we will have dry, relatively warm, sunny weather until about mid-December. Thereafter it should get a lot colder due to the effects of  La Niña, the colder counterpart to El Niño.

Welcome to December!

 

I started reading a new book. It's digital and from the library but for some reason it won't download for offline access. It means I have to read it on my browser. It's an easy read of the romance genre. One of those books that you don't have to think about while you read.  

 

I wanted to read that kind of book right now since I'm  busy with lots and lots of  'to dos', sending Christmas mail, household tasks, and looking for deals on things I need for the house.

Some sewing was involved in preparing one of the packages so I was a bit late it getting it prepared. Now that I've dusted and cleaned the grime from the sewing machine, I really should try to sew up a few other items before I decorate for Christmas.

I finally folded and boxed the too large patio cover back up. It fit into the box much easier than I was anticipating though not as good as when I bought the item new.  That's usually the case so it will have to do. By tomorrow I hope to have it returned and refunded. I'll try again and this time order on line though it may take a while as all packages are slow to be delivered right now. Canada Post is dealing with a record 2 million items delivered daily. This far surpasses their usual 1 million items delivered during Christmas. The postal business has been booming during Covid 19.

Right now I'm cooking up some cabbage, onion, potato and ground beef soup in a tomato broth. I was going to skip the ground beef but this will be our dinner so I decided to add it for more satiety.  There will be plenty left over for Friday although I have plans to make fish and chips for dinner.

 

Late at night, when I cannot sleep, I get out the app and colour. It's so addictive and I love the pretty colours.

I hope you all have a pleasant and safe weekend. Thank you for stopping by.

Joining up with Skywatch Friday.

Christmas Crackers

My friend Lynda in Tanzania wrote about the history of the novelty Christmas cracker over at her blog today. I love the handmade ones that are made in Tanzania by the residents in leprosy homes.

My family never grew up with this tradition but as I got older I have incorporated it into my tradition whenever I have Christmas dinner at my house. Since mom hasn't been able to travel for some time, I haven't had dinner at my house for a few years. I now make Christmas dinner over at her home when I visit and the family gathers there.

Lynda's blog reminded me that I still have a whole box of unused Christmas crackers that have been languishing in a cupboard. I have now taken them out and will add it to the growing list of things I'll take with me on my Christmas visit.

Here are some pictures of my box of novelty crackers.


Inside there are usually plastic or crepe paper hats (crowns), a plastic toy and a little joke or verse. I think these are quite neat and I like adding them to my dinner festivities. Maybe you also like to have Christmas crackers at your table or perhaps you have never used a Christmas cracker. You can learn all about how to use them here. Happy pulling!

This Year's Cards

I got the idea to post my Christmas cards for the year from Mary-Laure over at Aurea. I love these cards because they resemble home-made (the Christmas baubles are three dimensional). I am never organized enough to make my own cards as I have to do shopping and Christmas preparations, not only for my household but for my mom's as well.

I usually have a selection of 4 or 5 different types of Christmas cards to send each year. I managed to get a photo of this one before I post it tomorrow. I don't have photos of the other cards as they have already been posted. What cards are you sending?