After the Pain

Hello everyone,

Since my last post I have suffered a lot of pain. After taking so many painkillers I decided to call the dental office and let them know I needed to get in sooner than my scheduled appointment. I had been on wait list but had not received a call. A few people commented on my last post that their dental offices have space for emergencies. I guess I didn't consider my situation an emergency because I didn't realize that the tooth giving me a problem still had roots.

Long story short, I did go in a few days earlier to the dentist and it was discovered that I had an abscess which needed to be cleaned out right away. Since then I only had a bit of pain after the freezing came out. I've now got antibiotics and pain killers to use as needed. I return Monday for the work to be completed. I'm not sure yet about other work as there is another major piece of work that needs doing under a bridge which now needs to come out and hopefully redone. When I saw the dentist a few months ago he thought he could work around it so I'm not sure why he says something different now. Maybe the x-rays tell the story but the affected tooth has no roots. So I'll wait and see. The main priority was getting rid of the tooth pain and is more or less gone. Thank goodness!

~~~~~

These sky photos were taken around 5 a.m. from my patio

Sunrise June 9, 2019

Sunrise June 9, 2019

Sunrise June 9, 2019

These plants are all from my patio garden

Geranium in a pot.

Catmint (not cat nip)

Remember the pansies were almost dead before I potted them but they are doing very well now.

Pink petunias

Basil

I've been taking a 1 mile walk each day in my neighbourhood (running errands, going to appointments and to the community garden plot), I spend 10 minutes a day, sometimes 20 minutes on the whole body vibration (WBV) machine, I take supplements for arthritis and try to eat more greens.  The knee pain has greatly reduced but is still there in the background if you will. I will continue with my regimes and next time I see the doctor I will ask for a referral to the arthritis specialist to discuss what my options are.  There can be quite a long wait for knee replacements where I live but they assess each person to see whether you should go on a priority list.

On my last post Yoko commented that I must strengthen the thigh muscles to help the knee pain. I remember when I was getting physiotherapy for the knee I was given some exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee so I will start doing those again. The WBV machine also increases muscle mass in my legs so that helps.   The knee pain returns when I haven't been using WBV. There have actually been studies showing that WBV is good for arthritis sufferers (if you get the right kind of WBV machine) and I did experience great relief for several years after first being afflicted by arthritis many years ago.  My situation was much worse back then and I was eventually able to walk pain free after a lot of rehabilitation (as described above) and supplements.

I continue to keep very busy with the missions in Kenya. Right now I'm trying to help Eunice and her family who are dealing with life and death issues and the heavy financial burden.  Some of you may remember that Eunice  suffers from a blood issue. Either the blood is clotting and causing sudden hospitalization or she needs a lot of blood transfusions. I fear that she cannot go on much longer as she has already been through so much but God only knows for sure.

The main source of need is to pay for blood at a cost of 3000 Kenyan shillings per pint ($40 Canadian/$30 American) and she needs blood every other day. It gets expensive.  Her family has been getting relatives to travel in from several hours away to donate blood to try and reduce the costs but even this is a hardship because most of them are very poverty stricken and its hardship to spend on the transport and try and eat a bit on the journey to hospital and back. Kindly keep this woman and her family in prayer as the hospital she has been in for some time is several hours away from her home. The specialized kind of care she needs isn't available where she lives.

Ernest Ruto has gone home from hospital but there is still an outstanding balance of about $180 Canadian owing to the Kericho District Hospital. It's important to clear the bill not only because the money is owed but because it is the least expensive hospital option in Kericho Town and if the bill is not paid Ernest will have a hard time to get future medical assistance. I thank God for those who helped get this man home to recover. He is far happier to be recovering at home. Another benefit is that the hospital bill is not increasing since Ernest is no longer occupying a bed.

About a month or so ago I finished the last crochet blanket I was working on. I let it sit around for weeks as I just couldn't seem to get to tieing off the ends and taking a photo.

Finally I put all the loose threads to the back so I could take a photo of the blanket. I spread it out on the grass at the park because it is too large to get a good photo at home.  It is a twin size blanket so I also can't get a good photo of it on the sofa or on a larger bed.  Since I took the photo I have finally woven in and tied up all the loose ends at the back. I just need to prepare the blanket for mailing to my aunt so she can take it to my uncle.  I do hope it won't go missing at the care home where he lives as I've learned that things often get stolen in care homes.  That reminds me that I need to put a name label on the blanket before I mail it. It might help a bit.

I had the service man from the telecommunications company here to upgrade the modem and digital and PVR boxes. The equipment I had was first generation stuff from about 10 years ago and it really needed to be upgraded. What a difference it has made too. I no longer have such long delays and pauses when I use the remote controls. I also now only have to use one remote control rather than 2 and the speed of everything is much better even though I'm still on relatively low internet speed.  I've been waiting for years to get the fastest internet speed and it has been available now for awhile. But sadly the strata council and the telecommunications representative had an issue which led to a stand off and the end result is we cannot get the high speed internet right now.   So the upgrades are a God send and really correct the main issues I've been having. The service man will return in a few weeks to do one more thing which will allow me to have more streaming capability in the apartment. When you have guests or roommates it is much better to have more than 2 streams at a time to use for HD television (2 for watching in different rooms and one for recording). I am probably not explaining things properly but some of you may know what I'm trying to say, lol.

Other that that I've finally got things handled with the new financial advisor and I've made a few financial decision which I had put off for some time while I deliberated about finding a new advisor. I'm pleased with the progress I've made and will be doing more analysis and tweaking over the coming months.  I asked my new advisor if there were any incentives available for making the switch and I was given a choice of gift cards in the amount of $100. It was a bit disappointing since they give $300 for new bank accounts but I am still happy to have something. If I didn't ask I wouldn't get.  I chose a gift card for movies as that is one thing I like to attend throughout the year but I don't like paying today's prices.

Weather here has been very hot. It is usually me complaining about the heat but as I walk down the street my neighbours and some times complete strangers complain to me about the heat. Usually people just love hot weather but it seems this year those that don't are a bit more vocal. I am sure we are off to another dry summer and I just hope we get a few good rainfalls here and there. In May we only had 30.5 mm of rain which is just barely over 1 inch and well below the norm.

Every day or every other day I water my small balcony garden and go to the community plot to water that too. The community plot I have has a mish mash of plants because there are things coming up that were planted by the previous tenant.  I don't want to pull anything out until I can see what is growing. My lettuce, sunflowers and beans seem to be doing well. I didn't have poles for the beans when I planted so now need to get some up pronto so I purchased some 5 foot high bamboo poles. I didn't have time to go searching for alternatives and just bought these in a package of 25 at a store in my neighbourhood.  In future I hope to have some good enough photos to share of the little plot.

Joining Skywatch Friday

Thanks for reading. I hope you will come again.

Kericho & Tea

My favourite area of Kenya is in the highlands,west of the Great Rift Valley. The small town of Kericho is in this area.

Can you spot Kericho on the map?  It is several hours west of Nairobi.

Kericho's population is about 150,000 and total population around the area is about half a million people (1999 census so the information is a bit out of date). While that doesn't sound so small it has a very small town feel about the place. Kericho is the hub or center of the tea industry. Most of what it grows in tea is shipped to the United Kingdom. The main tea companies are Unilever and Finlay's and Ketapa.

Tea is so important to this town that the town square is even called Chai Square. Chai is the Indian word for aromatic spiced tea.

On my last trip to Kericho I snapped the photo of these 3 beautiful trees as we entered town from Nakuru, a larger city located to the north east of Kericho. Nakuru tends to get a lot more tourist activity than Kericho because it is closer to the flamingos and other wildlife I featured in an earlier post. Nakuru is also a central location as a jump off point for many other tourist destinations in Kenya.

It was a very hazy day when we arrived in Kericho and the skies were not so terribly exciting.  However, the thing that stood out to me  is the sheer beauty of the town.  The tea estates and tea crops which dot the hills and valleys around the area are a vibrant green colour.  I should say shades of green which give a depth to the colour instead of making it look lifeless and flat because everything is the same shade of green.  In the photos above and below virtually all the greenery on the ground consists of tea bushes.

In this photo taken from the car, the skies are a very pretty blue with white fluffy clouds. This is how it usually looks whenever I've travelled to Kericho. It can get quite hot at times but it usually rains for a short while every day and then the sun comes out.  I understand that right now they are experiencing a dearth of rain.

I pray the rains will arrive soon.  Kericho's rain keeps everything green and fresh.  The the rain is needed for the tea crops and for the farms. The people depend on it like all farming people depend on the right weather at the right time.

In my last photo you will see how hazy it is. The beautiful red roof tops are the roof tops of houses on a tea estate. The people who work on the tea estates live and work there. The housing is provided by the tea estate companies. I'm not sure but I think the workers pay rent also.

Kericho is home to the world's single largest tea plantation. It is also the home to the first fossil ape Kenyapithecus discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961. It is a beautiful little town with manicured looking tea estates & beautiful lawns and gardens. The weather is usually very agreeable for those that prefer moderate temperatures.

I hope you enjoyed this "peek" into the town of Kericho, Kenya.

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

How are you Spending Christmas?

Hello blogging friends,

I am sending you Merry Christmas wishes and praying you are having a good time so far for the holidays. I myself am visiting with my family and will shortly begin to prepare our traditional breakfast waffles before putting in the bird for the dinner later in the day. We are not extravagant in our meal as we once were when my mother was well and able to prepare food. She was well known for hosting large dinners annually for the relatives. It was a bit of an open house at our home every year as children growing up. We always had many drop in guests on Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Those days may be gone but mom still likes to host the gathering at her home with me doing the preparations and cooking. I am able to help her in this way to keep her connection as strong as she can as our family is no longer very large and we live far from most relatives.

I am grateful I can provide this support to my family at these special times of the year. This year will be somewhat poignant as mom is not well and she will go into a nursing home in order to get more daily support and overall help.

One of my own personal traditions is remembering those who are not able to have a Christmas full of food, gifts and goodies. I have several places where I like to help a bit and bring some cheer. Recently I took a visit to Kenya. There I distributed some small food items to widows in several villages. You would not believe how HAPPY they were. It warmed my heart so much. I wish I could have done a lot more for these precious people.

Here are a few photos of that special day.

Being led into one of the village homes by the ladies.

Greetings are being made as we settle into the cooking hut.

A widow leads us in prayer.

Waiting for the program to begin.  I don't have all my photos uploaded yet of all the day's activities.  I wish I had one for you now showing the actual food distribution. But I will add more photos later when I get back to  my own home.  These are some of the widows and orphans who were assembled.

The following photos were added December 28, 2010

The widows speak.

A local leader who supports the widows self-help group. He acted as my translator.

The chairwoman of the widow's group smiles broadly after receiving her gift of food.

The secretary of the women's group receives her food.

Widows and orphans gather around and sing a song of happiness during the food distribution.

See the smiles. I was told that they were singing about how God is good and had not forgotten the widows at this time of Christmas.

Here the widows pack up the food and children and head home. Some of them headed to the food that had been prepared for us.

It was a wonderful day there in the village near Kericho, Kenya. I would like to go back again and do more of this kind of work as God enables and blesses me. This distribution of food came about because of the Jiko Stove Project I was working on. You can read more about the project here.

  I'd love to know how you are spending your Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to each of you. May you find a special day wherever you are. 

If you are alone, reach out to someone else or volunteer your time to help someone in need if you are able and help to spread the season's cheer. 
God bless you all.

Dreaming of Africa

These days I am dreaming of Africa. Kenya in particular. I want to visit and see my friends in the flesh instead of just emailing. I also want to make some progress on a small project with the village women in Kericho, Kenya.

I've long had a desire to help the orphan girls and women to somehow make their lives easier with things like jiko stoves and fireless cookers, as well as menstrual pads.

A jiko stove would help the women in so many ways but they are somewhat expensive especially for the villagers and a recent cheaper alternative came available but it is still too much for a villager. Jikos can save the women from back breaking and time consuming work of collecting firewood. Because there are so many people collecting twigs to start the fires for daily cooking, it is harder and harder to find it nearby. Women and children can spend hours a day locating the wood and carrying it home on their backs. It is hard work and also dangerous to go so far where you can be accosted. Once you get it home and start the fire for cooking the smoke that is generated is also a health hazard for the women and children who often suffer from eye problems.

Here is a photo of  a woman collecting firewood. I was trying to take her photo discreetly so it turned out blurry.

My hope is that I can provide each household in the village near Kericho with a jiko stove or a fireless cooker. So far I've managed to pay for 11 jiko stoves and there are another 28 women waiting for one. A jiko uses less wood and uses it more efficiently. Also you do not get all the smoke you do with the traditional three stone fire. You can read more about the jiko stove project here. You can also READ here about people I am helping in the village with the jikos.

Because of the cost and the time it is taking me to get enough jiko stoves, I've recently been considering  fireless cookers instead. They look like this in the photo below and are less expensive than a jiko stove. The drawback is that they are not as versatile. This is not my photo but I've misplaced the one I was sent. 

[Photo credit: Solar Cookers International]

If I am fortunate I may get to visit my friend, Loice and her husband, Pastor Japheth in Nakuru. Here is Loice looking with interest at her digital photo. I say if I am fortunate because I may be rather busy when I visit and so we shall see how things go.

I leave you with ac photo of the majestic lion in the national park in Nakuru. They roam the park and you must stay in the car. No walking around here where the lions roam though there is a picnic area where the baboons are.

I simply love the majestic lion. But I wouldn't want to pet one!

These are Kenya's Children

Some of you know that I have a friend in Kericho, Kenya who is a youth pastor. I am always trying to let others know of his work in the hopes that others would come along side him and help him with his ministry to the orphans and widows in his village and further abroad.

Since the January 2008 elections in Kenya there have been many more refugees added to the countryside. My friend and many of his colleagues go out and minister to these internally displaces people as they are enabled. You can read about his last visit to a refugee camp in the post below the photo. If you can help in this work, please let me know and I will give you the information you need. Otherwise you can pray for the people and their needs as well as the ministers and agencies who try to help. I know that many of you are focused on Haiti right now and that is a good thing. But at the same time, let us not forget about the many others who are also homeless and without food.

Hello friends,

I am sitting here and my mind is far away. I have been praying for those in Haiti and thinking about the sights and voices there that I see on the news.

Here in Kenya, I am thinking of those who are in the internally displaced people camps (IDPs). Their tents are torn and leaking. It is sad that we have a cruel world.

I am saddened more with the sight of the children, crying for help, and not knowing the dangers of over exposure to cold and bad weather. The worst thing is that they don't have enough clothes to cover them.

I also met Rachael who gave birth at the camp. We asked her how she got to her child without the services of a matron, and she said, the Lord was on her side. She appealed for help in terms of clothes and warm items to keep the baby warm as they live in the tent.

We need to stand out and pray for the hurting world. It is such a sad time for those in the IDP camps.

God Bless
Pastor Jonah

Decorating ~ Tis the Season

Stockings are set out by the fireplace for those surprise presents Santa always brings. Truthfully, I haven't been a stocking stuffer recipient since childhood. I just like looking at the stockings on the mantle.


My little tree has stood in for Christmas tree duty now for several years. I bought it because I thought it would be quicker to decorate each year and also, it saves on buying and throwing away trees. The tree is not so big but it does have full some boughs so it carries quite a lot of decorations.

Some years I don't trim the tree in lights at all. Some years, I use multi-coloured lights. Mostly, I like clear lights.

I thought I would go for a gold theme this year but when I finished, I saw that the gold bulbs looked too large for my little tree. I removed them and started the decorating anew.

Here is the little tree after I added white stars and red sparkling bulbs.

Now here is the little tree with the lights on.

I usually keep my holiday decor quite simple. I add some red, glittering bells to my door, instead of a wreath and I often adorn the fireplace mantle with holly and red berries. Some years, I don't decorate at all. I do like to look at glittering things, so I decorate as often as I can. I don't bother with lights and tinsel around the walls and windows.

This year I added a beautiful red skirt to the tree. I tried to add a metal star but that only fell over, lol, so back to the trusted angel on top. There is a way to light her up too but I don't like to fiddle with the electrical wiring and I think she looks fine just as she is.

Now that my decorating is done, I can get on to other things like preparing for and discussing with the Missions of Hope leader, Pastor Jonah, what we should do for Christmas celebrations in the village. I am excited. This year, I launched my Etsy shop and am raising funds to help the villagers. The first project is to provide some jiko stoves and a Christmas party. If you can help, I'd love to have you stop by my shop. If you want to help but don't want a photo or a disciple cross, please contact me and we can discuss. Looking forward to hearing from you.

The WONDERFUL MIRACLE of a School

I want to share with you a little story about my friend, Pastor Jonah.

For years Jonah has been praying for a refuge center of sorts. In this centre he would house & school young orphan boys or delinquent boys from Kericho, Kenya; boys no one else will keep.

A few days ago he had a phone call from a friend he used to worship with in the same church. What he heard truly blessed his heart as this man has a school building which could help to make Pastor Jonah's dream a reality.

Jonah has been praying to start a such a school ever since he finished seminary and this is the closest he has come to seeing his prayer answered.

Please pray that he can be able to run this school some day. It is truly a prayer answered and Jonah is just waiting for God's directions.

Thank you God.


Pictures of the school and the owner