Another Week Flies By

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

Today is a mixed bag of weather. It is mostly cloudy with a few brighter spots. It hasn't rained today but it did rain yesterday.

I continue to be busy with all the paperwork. I'm also catching up on tax filing. One of the things that's been on my 'to do' list for awhile. I did tell you in my last post (read here if you like) that I had gotten very far behind on my personal business while I was busy care giving. Now I have an opportunity to get everything back on track.

Right now I'm cooking beans (kidney beans and chick peas) in the instant pot. I need to get back to healthier eating and beans are good for the blood sugar. I also roasted some yams and sweet potatoes and cut up some red peppers, English cucumbers and avocados.  I will be blanching some green beans and boiling some eggs.  All of these will be used throughout the coming day and if I don't feel like eggs I can have some fish or some chicken.  But for dinner tonight will be some coleslaw and smokies along with roasted red peppers and onions.

A few photos of my garden.

These are what came up from some wild seeds I planted.

These geraniums are late to bloom. These are the first flowers coming out. Black eyed Susan behind them will be opening soon.

A few strawberries ready for eating.

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I'm reading a new digital book, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, on loan from the library.

A few years ago I read Bel Canto, another book by the same author and I enjoyed it very much.

Ann Patchett is a wonderful story teller.

 

I  learned that the local library will not be open until September though other branches have already reopened. Until then they have extended loan periods for books previously on loan before the pandemic. 

~~~

In cat news I decided not to wait any longer for a call back for interview and called the rescue center myself to make sure they received the cat matching information.  The woman decided to interview me on the spot so that turned out well. We discussed various cats that are awaiting adoption and now I just have to wait to hear when a cat comes available for me to view and decide. I am not the first person on the list for any of the cats which we discussed so I have to be patient.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thank you for stopping by.

Note:  As always, if you have an interest in African missions please see the various links at the side bar. We covet your prayers.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday

How the Garden Grows

Hi friends,

If you are here from Skywatch Friday you can find that post here. Otherwise welcome. I'm always glad you have paid a visit and even happier if you are able to leave a comment.

It's been a wet, cold week. I was expecting rain but it turns out to have rained more than I was expecting. Consequently I didn't get out to the community plot. I am so very late this year and I already know there is no more soil or compost left for me from what the garden club orders each year. I haven't been that successful in finding appropriate starter plants either so not only am I a bit late to plant, I will be sowing seeds directly into the ground. I've decided to keep it simple and plant only a few things anyway so it should all work out.


In my little patio garden I've planted some vegetables and some flowers. I've got fewer containers this year and many of my terracotta pots are cracked broken.  I couldn't find replacements pots in the correct size when I looked last week.

We haven't started summer yet and the city has already announced water restrictions which will last until mid-October.  The month April was very dry compared to the norm although we managed to make some of shortfall up in the last week with heavy rains.  Watering can be done 2 days a week from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. Even numbered homes can water on Wednesday and Saturday and odd numbered homes on Thursday and Sunday.  I remember I checked last year about whether the restrictions applied to condos or only to homes with lawns and the answer was the latter. This year it looks like vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees can be watered anytime if done by hand or with a spring loaded nozzle.  This is how I do my watering so it means I will have the flexible to water when I want.

I took the first set of photos in mid-April and the second set  of photos on May 1, 2020.

April 14, 2020

Solomon's Seal

Black Eyed Susan

Unidentified Tree

Two Weeks Later

Black Eyed Susan

 

Solomon's Seal in bloom

The tree is unfolding new green leaves every day.

The shoots coming up in the photo below were planted about 1 week ago and are now coming up. They are wildflowers and I've never planted them before so we'll see what comes up.  I planted them for the butterflies and birds.

The vegetables are not yet showing any signs of life but hopefully they will spring up soon.

The next photo is of some sunflower shoots. They have taken 1 week to get to this point.

I bought the potted fern last year and it was quite lovely. I let it stay out over the winter and most of the leaves died.
I cleaned it up a few days ago and already there are many new shoots coming up.  If you can the knobby "balls" in the center of the plant those are the new shoots that will unfurl into nice leaves.

I found 4  or 5 very small pots of pansies. I've mixed them in with the petunias.

I do have some pansy seeds and hopefully I might yet start some. Pansies seem to be a hardy little flower and have a long growing season compared to some flowers.

The next two photos just show the sky for the past week or so. Just because I never get tired of sky photos.

Sunrise

Sunrise and a seagull flies overhead

Where I live we are still under strict restrictions until May 15th. At that time or possibly just before we will learn what comes next. We expect some lifting of restrictions as we've been given hints but there will be no larger scale gatherings.
I believe different countries are already seeing restrictions lifted in various ways and means.
We should all remember that the virus is still out there. So please continue to be careful.
Stay safe and stay happy.
This too will pass.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter

Hi friends and fellow bloggers

I love this time of year. It's a time when the cold of winter starts to vanish and the warmth of spring begins to appear. It is the promise and the hope of better days ahead.

I am not enamoured of summer which is the season most people in the northern hemisphere enjoy.  It's far too hot for me. But give me good old Spring with all it's new growth and blossoms, bright sunlight and longer days and I'm in heaven on earth.

I missed the blooming of cherry blossoms but more blossoms will be out in the next few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to go out and capture some. Right now though we are pretty much discouraged from going anywhere except to do essential grocery shopping or to pick up pharmaceutical needs. I am also trying to spread out my grocery store forays so I don't go out as often and that means we go without a few things here and there for a little while longer.

Indoors I've been keeping busy. Surprisingly I haven't been reading that much. I've only finished one book in the several weeks of social distancing. It's a book about an American expat in Paris. I've read a few books of this type but this is my favourite one so far. I found it very touching; especially the final chapters. Check it out if you can.

Our local libraries are completely closed until further notice so we can only borrow from the digital library. My latest book is a cosy murder mystery called The Long Quiche Goodbye. I know a lot of my followers enjoy cosy murder mysteries.

Since it will be Friday tomorrow I thought a nice sunrise photo would be in order. This was taken from my balcony on Thursday morning.

I haven't been able to get out and garden yet as it has been too cold for me. I hope to get out soon but time will tell. In the meantime I love to see plants that come out whether you prepare anything or not.

Black Eyed Susan poking their way through

Solomon's Seal

I close my post with a few photos from April of 2019. These beautiful blossoms lined the streets where I went to hear an Easter concert at a church near a friend's home. Lovely blossoms like this never fail to bring me joy.

I want to wish you and your household a Happy Passover (April 8-16, 2020) 

and a Happy Easter (April 12-14, 2020).

May the peace of God rule over your hearts and minds.

♥♥♥

(Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week).

This and That: Beautiful Skies and Various Hobbies

The beautiful sky that greeted my Saturday evening.

Beyond getting rid of clutter I've been preparing for Fall and Winter projects and making a bit of progress.

In February I purchased the fabrics on the left side of the collage (all cotton).

On the weekend I purchased the fabrics on the right of the collage (all cotton, viscose, rayon and bamboo).

I want to make some summer dresses or outfits but I haven't found the right patterns yet. 

I keep looking on line for inspiration and ideas.

I still need notions to undertake the various projects.

These are not for my winter wardrobe. These are in preparation for next summer so I still have plenty of time to find just the right inspiration for the clothing.

The white interfacing at the top of the right hand pile is for a project I hope to make for one of my brothers.This one I'm hoping to start before winter arrives.

The olive green dress below is one I got a Kenyan seamstress to make for my late mom. 

The seamstress was amazing as she sewed up 3 dresses for me virtually overnight.

African women seem to sew without patterns as they know how to measure and cut for various styles.

They are quite amazing in this way.

 I had two similar dresses made for my mom and one for me. I wanted mom's dresses in a very simple cut and wide enough for comfort when seated. I also wanted large pockets in the front of the dress for easy accessibility when seated in a wheelchair.

Mom loved her dresses and at her home going ceremony I made sure to dress her in one. This is the one I have left and on hot summer days I wear it around the house. If I want to wear it out I would have to alter it.

These next few photos are from my community garden plot. I had a good crop of beans and zucchini this year. 

I don't think I'll grow zucchini next year though as they take too  much room in the small plot.

The sunflowers grew very well but the leaves had spots on them.

I will have to try and learn what caused the spotting and check to see whether other

sunflower growers had similar issues.

I harvested kale and lettuce from the small garden.  I could not use up all the kale but the lettuce really didn't grow large enough or plentiful enough though I did enjoy a salad or two. I've had more success growing lettuce in containers on my balcony.  This year in my patio garden I grew mostly flowers which were growing nicely until end of July then all of sudden the garden dried up. I also grew cherry tomatoes and strawberries which grew well.  The peppers, eggplant and zucchini didn't grow well. The herbs grew quickly but sadly, mostly went unused. 

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In Kenya, Eunice remains at the private hospital so we have had no forward movement in getting her to hospital. But since I posted this on Wednesday night she took a turn for the worse and is back in Intensive Care. The family is desperately trying to raise funds for her further treatment.
~~
Ernest had the plaster changed on his leg and is healing well.

A young friend was robbed of his phone a few weeks ago while riding public transport called matatu (basically a shared taxi van). One really needs a smart phone to survive in Kenya (perhaps in most of Africa these days) as Kenyans do a lot of money transactions via phone and also need to keep in contact with friends and family. Thankfully a young Canadian woman offered to help purchase a new phone for him. That was an answer to my specific prayers.

In other good news, one of the young men I helped to finish an Engineering degree finally got a refund from the university he had been hoping to attend this year.
It took almost 8 months to get the money back.
We are grateful since universities in Kenya  are notorious for being broke.
This is another answer to a specific prayer.
For some odd reason the university insisted on making the refund cheque out to my young friend's mother despite the fact that he is of age and she did not pay his tuition.
This approach had great potential to cause other problems but thankfully everything worked out fine and very soon he will have the funds put into his own bank account.
These funds are needed to apply to graduate school.
More on that as time goes by.


~~~~~

By the time this post is published I hope to be enjoying my visit with my niece so I will "see" you once our visit is over and she has returned home.

 I close with one more photo of the misty mountains.

I really love the sky.

Joining up with

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday & a Bit More

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

I'm popping in to see how everyone is doing. I've been on a wonderful break. I've been enjoying a much slower, relaxed pace of life. I'm not doing anything unique or exciting just enjoying the usual things I do at a slower pace.  Rain started about a week ago and we've been getting a bit each day which is wonderful as it is good for the earth, good for the dams and good for the gardens and natural life. Today (Friday) it was back to very hot weather.

From my patio garden

Amongst other things I've been busy shopping for and preparing for various friends' birthdays and looking forward and planning and shopping for the prezzies I need to get organized for Christmas. I've also continued reading and currently reading books 33 and 34

I also joined a fashion book club where the leader suggests books to read, then we experiment and share the results.  I haven't done any experimenting yet as  the first step is to read the books. I'm not sure I'll have a lot of time or interest in this but I do like to see what others are wearing and it is a nice diversion from the daily grind.

I've been watching a lot of You Tube videos and learned about the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook from some American ladies who vlog. I'd never heard of this plan or cookbooks before but have now ordered them from the library and think I'll be trying a lot of the recipes in at least one of the books. Do any of you follow this plan? People who follow it consistently seem to get great health and weight loss results. I'm afraid I'm not too good at consistency in following plans. I just try to learn healthier ways of cooking and eating and have decided to purchase their most recent recipe book.

I wrote last time how I had been having so many problems with my knees. I have been popping a lot of OTC painkillers, various health supplements (Turmeric, glucosamine and a host of other daily vitamins). I still have to go for my updated x-ray before I am referred to an arthritic program but I am happy to report that the pain levels have been more bearable this past few days.  I continue to walk almost daily and get on the whole body vibration machine for about 10 minutes daily.

Meeting with friends has proved to be a bit more challenging as several have been ill, a hazard it seems of growing older. I always feel great when I get a chance to sit and meet with friends I haven't seen in awhile and I have been able to meet with a few. I hope to get to meet a few more in the next few weeks so I can have a clear slate before company arrives.

My family had a scare a few days ago when one of my brothers almost met his end after a freak accident in his driveway. Thankfully he is fine. After the accident he was trying to rest in his house when he started experiencing chest pains. He went to hospital and they checked his heart and his head as he had smacked his head when thrown from the vehicle when it stopped on the roadway.  The doctors pronounced him okay and after a couple days recovery at home he told me he was very bored and wanted to go to work the next day. He is very grateful that his injuries were not worse and that it wasn't yet lights out for him. So much can change in an instant and we his loved ones and friends are grateful that things were not much worse.

One of the many geraniums from my patio garden

Updates on Missions in Africa

In my last post I wrote about Levi the Engineering student I had been helping in Kenya. He is now in India and getting registered for all his classes.  The entire process of registration and running from building to building when he isn't familiar with the place is somewhat overwhelming.  But he is a determined fellow so he will no doubt see it through.

Ernest is recovering at home though he has lost an alarming amount of weight and he was already very thin. We are trying to help him with funds to buy more produce and food in general as he has only been drinking milk and eating ugali.  Ugali is a  type of thick corn flour mush eaten by virtually everyone in Kenya but it isn't very nutritious.

Eunice is still in hospital and needs prayers as her condition has been weak for some time though somehow she manages to hang in there.

There is no update about Alvin.  For now he continues his participation in the boys choir, his church activities and meeting with various friends.

Carolly is finishing his last week of medical internship and will be graduating in the Fall since he has already passed his medical examination. Well done, Carolly! We are hopeful that one of the Kenyan hospitals will snap him up and give him a paid post as a doctor very soon.

I no longer sponsor Kevin in Uganda.  The community he lives in is graduating from the program. It means they will be able to develop their own businesses for self sufficiency and grow their own food as well as pump their own water.  Hurrah!  The remaining 3 boys I sponsor in Kenya and Ethiopia are all doing well.

Petunia from my garden

I'll be continuing my summer break though may pop in here from time to time (and continue to visit as many vlogs as I can)  and  especially when I want to share a photo or two.
In meantime I will continue reading, tending to my gardens, knitting and decluttering.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

I appreciate your visit, your comments and your blogging friendship.

Enjoy!

Starting the Week off Right

Last week was the first sunny week for some time and in fact the week ended on quite a hot note. That is about to change and thankfully I was able to complete planting both my balcony garden and my community plot before the weather cools a bit. It is expected to cook by about 10 degrees Celsius this week and hopefully it will rain for several days.  According to the weather forecast it looks like the best chance of rain is on Tuesday with 90% chance of rain and Sunday and Monday with 70% chance of rain respectively. I find the garden does much better with rain water than with tap water and the ground just soaks up the rain which is great for the tender plants.

On Sunday evening (Mother's Day), I was walking back from the community plot and came across these gigantic poppies. They were simply too beautiful to pass by without getting a photo or two even though the sun had set about half an hour earlier.

The photos are not the best quality but I think they look a bit like paintings.

I went out on the patio in the wee hours of Saturday morning to take a few photos. I was excited to find a hummingbird perched high on a nearby tree.  My camera battery was dead and I had to use my phone so the quality is not the best but I think you can make out the outline of the bird at the top of tree (right side of the photo).

The hummingbird was perched quietly on the tree top for almost 30 minutes in total.  I was hoping it would make it's way to my patio garden but it never moved until it flew away.  I spotted another hummingbird flitting about and drinking nectar from the blossoms on the Solomon's Seal on my patio.  It moved  far too quickly to take a photo and didn't stay very long to enjoy the nectar.

The sunrise is always so peaceful and beautiful. I love the golden colour of the sky.

At about 4:30 a.m. it gets rather noisy with the seagulls squawking overhead. They zip back and forth and back and forth like they are going crazy. It is almost like they are excited about having freedom in the skies at that early hour. I do not know why they don't do this during the day time too.

There are always several seagulls flying about but I only managed to capture one as my main subject was the hummingbird.

Thank you for your visit to my blog.

Wherever you are in the world I wish you a fabulous week ahead.

Our World Tuesday