A Productive July Ends

It's been a busy week so far. Nothing terribly exciting happening but all is satisfying.

First up I delivered half of my personal library to a local care home. The recreational advisor saw my advertisement on the local Freecycle and said he would take all the books. So that was a God send since most takers just want a fictional book or two. A great many of the books I donated history books and reference books of all kinds (cooking, gardening, travel, self help and health books, how to books and cookbooks and a great many other topics).  The recreational person I dealt with told me they will sell books to benefit the seniors in their care. I do hope that they will have good success with the sales.

Reading continues with a few good books in my pile each week. My recent reads were The Paris Seamstress, Rebel Queen and The Next Person You Meet in Heaven.  They were all good books and I've listed them in the order of enjoyment in case you are interested.  Right now I'm reading a few books on fashion: Gok Wan's Work Your Wardrobe  and The Way She Wears It  by Dallas Shaw.  I'm relearning a lot of what I once knew and it is good to have a refresher.  Most of my newer reads are borrowed from the library so that I'm not spending the money and adding to my clutter at home.

One of my errands on Monday was to go the beautiful Granville Island. This is a very popular spot with tourists and locals alike but I wasn't there to stroll around and enjoy. I stopped at a store called Ten Thousand Villages to pick up a parcel of small items I ordered on line and asked to be delivered to the store front. It saved about $ 10.00 Canadian on shipping charges which is a lot considering the parcel was very small. If I had heavier things or larger things on order, then paying the shipping charges would be a good idea.  In fact, in my previous order with this company I had the parcel shipped to my local post office.

I'm very pleased with the quality of the products I've purchased from this place so far. I also like that the products are purchased from various countries abroad at fair trade prices. If you'd like to check it out please do because you would be benefiting artisans from developing nations.   If you want to check out the store, please check here.

Some of you might wonder why I am buying things when I am doing major decluttering.  One reason is I like to shop for gift ideas for Christmas and birthdays throughout the year.  This helps spread the cost over many months.

The other reason is that though I have too much stuff, one area where I am lacking is accessories, especially necklaces and earrings which help to stretch one's wardrobe into numerous outfits.

I keep an eye out for things I can purchase at a good price and that will coordinate with my wardrobe, current and planned.  Since I've already donated many clothing items  I will need to supplement my wardrobe in future.  But I don't need anything for awhile and can make do with what I have.  I also have plans to sew some things with the fabric I purchased in Kenya earlier in the year.  I will buy some coordinating fabric here in town to try and extend my wardrobe options that way too. So I can hold off buying new clothing until I know for sure what I really need.  

Last time I wrote about my knees I mentioned that I need to get updated x-rays.  I finally made it early in the week for the x-rays on both knees.  I expect soon to be referred to the center that educates arthritis patients to better manage their symptoms and assess them as to whether they need surgery.

Other than that I've been busy with the usual household things and a bit of shopping for a new wall clock,  yarn and food for the house.

While relaxing in the evening I'm knitting dishcloths for Christmas gifts. It's really the main that I knit and I have built up a little stash.  I enjoy knitting these simple cloths and it helps me feel like I'm doing something constructive while I relax.

I went to the community garden and snipped off some beautiful sunflowers to place at home. I noticed there were some ants in them so I had to get those out before I brought the flowers indoors.

I also snipped some salad greens and brought home. I made a simple green salad tonight with hamburgers on buns for dinner.


The container garden is holding up well. The rest of the garden doesn't look so great and I'm not really sure why. Probably a combination of over watering at times and under watering at other times.

Right now though there are workers out there and so they don't take care how they throw things around. After their work of power washing and painting walls is done I think my garden will be largely finished for this summer. If I have time I may plant some thing from seed just to see if it comes up and blossoms before we get too far into Fall weather.

Geraniums are a favourite in my garden.

I'll continue being busy at home for a few weeks with plans to see a movie or two with a friend and visit with an out of town friend who should be arriving soon.  My house guests won't start arriving until the end the month. Until then I have a lot to keep me busy. That's my update for now. I hope you are all enjoying yourselves wherever you are in the world.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

So Hot, Trying to Keep Cool and Carry On

Hi friends,

It's been incredibly hot here. Yesterday on the news they said it was the hottest day of the summer so far. But I went out yesterday (Wednesday) and today (Thursday) and I think today may have been even hotter.

When I went out to appointments and errands, I was so concerned about a homeless man in a wheelchair and a little pup on the patio of a restaurant I had to stop and make sure they both had water.

I know the man had been drinking beer as I passed him in the morning. I asked him to please try to refrain from drinking beer otherwise  they won't let him stay at the shelter where I learned he will have a bed for the night for the next two weeks. I gave him a bottle of water and a small bit of money (not enough to buy booze) and kept encouraging him to drink water. I sat and chatted with him a bit and grew even more concerned when I realized that he is a schizophrenic and also suffers from depression but hasn't been on his medications for a few weeks. I know he just got out of hospital and I'm surprised they let him go like that since he is also old. Thankfully he told me that the shelter where he will sleep for two weeks is going to help him get into an apartment.  He also had several bags on his wheelchair which I noticed had some food in it so at least he isn't hungry.  What I was most concerned about was sitting outside all day long in the heat and not having any H20.

Completed book #41 of 42

As for the cute little puppy, her owner's friend told me the little doggie had a big bowl of water just before I dropped by. The little dog was absolutely sweet and so friendly which I find is often not the case with the small lapdogs. I wanted to pick her up and bring her home. I didn't get a photo though as my camera battery was already kaput for the day and I had to get home to charge it up.

Book #42 of 42 in progress

Waiting for book #43

When I got home I put a wet washcloth in the freezer, got on some more comfortable clothing and took a little rest with the fans going before I got up to put together a salad, sweet potato and some of the BBQ chicken I had prepared last weekend. I'm so glad I did the batch cooking because it means I don't have to put on the oven or use my pressure cooker during this heat. The heat makes me lethargic and cooking is the last thing I want to do in the intense heat.  We are supposed to get some rain on the weekend right in time for my niece's visit. I hope it does rain because we really need it.  My niece and I can use those times to get cosy and watch movies. She loves nothing better than a funny or scary movie (think the Hobbit movies) and a big bag of popcorn.


I finished the book about Denys Finch Hatton. I have to say I quite enjoyed it and am amazed at what the author was able to research and put together since there are no remaining relatives of Finch Hatton and very little exists of him in history books.  I picked up another book  I'd placed on hold about Prince by his ex-wife Mayte Garcia.  I am waiting for a book called The Bookshop.  This one came on recommendation from one of the many blogs I read though now I cannot remember which one. If you happen to be reading this post, let me know it was you (please).

 ~~~~

If you read my last post here

you will know I've been doing some batch cooking and want to continue.

Since then I've ordered some proper containers from Amazon and

they arrived today.

 

There were 20 containers in the package. I think that will be enough.

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The heat of the last few days has taken it's toll on my little garden.

I'm hoping I can keep it going another few weeks. The forecasted rain this weekend would help a lot but last weekend rain was in the forecast and it never arrived.

I was happy to see the Black-eyed Susan flowers bloom. For awhile I wasn't sure they were going to bloom this year but they did come about just over a week or two ago.  They are not quite as healthy looking or as plentiful as in previous years.

The strawberries are nice and juicy but I only have one pot so not much of a harvest but I'm enjoying them.  Seeing strawberries growing "in the yard" brings back happy childhood memories of finding the odd strawberry when playing with siblings.  Those were in the days when we were not able to buy strawberries so readily in the supermarket.

The other morning I went out to take a photo of the sunrise. 

I was a bit late as the sun was already up.

Imagine my surprise when I captured this

 drone hovering a few feet from me. 

I hope I don't appear in the "movie" as I wasn't dressed for my cameo role, lol.

A shot of the garden after watering. I hose down the patio floor to cool it off.

~~~

 Keep well everyone.

Enjoy the weekend ahead where ever you may be.

I'm joining in with

Skywatch Friday

and

Friday Foto Friends

Random Wednesday Morning Shots

I'm always happy to watch the sun come up.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends and readers.

My World Has Turned Cold

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful weekend.

After a few days of warmer weather and sunshine, the rain has returned to the coast.

It is also colder than usual for this time of year. Or at least it seems that way but I'm sure it will warm up again before the month is over.

Although the gardening season is now over, I am still enjoying some colour in the container garden. I haven't looked after the garden since about the middle of August & I am amazed it has done as well. I guess it is all the rain we've had. Once the season is well and truly over, I will be cleaning all the garden debris in preparation for Winter.

This past weekend I enjoyed completing the 3 books I posted about last time.  I can now add those to my annual tally.  I'm still 2 books behind schedule.

Right now I'll focus on reading a very cute children's book about Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting.  It was written in the 1920s.   I never learned about Dr. Doolittle as a child and I never did see any of the Dr,. Doolittle movies. I'm reading it now to assess suitability for sending to the boys I sponsor in Africa through Compassion International Canada.

The earlier book  I previewed was too violent and very sad. I didn't want to send that to young boys in Africa who already lead challenging lives. I'm also limited as to what I can send because the books can't be too costly.  They have to be taken apart and shipped in sections as well as meet criteria of thickness and dimension.

I'm also reading Alexander McCall Smith's, The Saturday Big Tent  Wedding Party and making progress on the book, Sweet Dreams by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.  I started the latter some time back but am only just now making progress.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Thank you for stopped by!

Summer Arrived

Since I wrote last we've had a spell of warm, sometimes hot weather. The kind where you need to throw the windows wide open at night so you don't suffocate.

Thankfully this year there has been little of the really hot, uncomfortable weather. We've had just enough (for me) to remind me that it's summer.

To cope with the heat and stale air inside, I've been taking my breakfast outside on the patio.  It's very refreshing.

Blueberries, shredded wheat and almond milk.


I haven't yet got around to the small projects I need to do around the house. the weather has been a bit too warm for that and I've been feeling tired since Thursday.

It turns out I have a summer cold.
I haven't had one of those for ages. I must have caught cold with the fan going and at night it can be a bit chilly with the windows open.

I've been using my time to sleep and catch up on reading.
I recently completed The Paris Secret.

 
I'm nearing completion of The Valley of Amazement (81% completed)
and, I'm about one third of the way through a new book
The Children of the Stone.

I am not sure if I've mentioned it before but I'm working on getting consistent sleep and better sleep as a way of helping my health.
I've been at this new regime for about one month with varying degrees of success.
I thought it would be a way to determine if inadequate sleep is impacting my blood glucose management.
My new sleep routine seems to be having a very positive impact on my blood glucose numbers. In fact, now I'm having problems keeping from getting numbers that are too low, at least when I get good sleep.
In addition to impacts on blood glucose, I've found lack of sleep has immediate effects on blood pressure (mine is normal but can run on high side of normal at times), body aches and pains and general tolerance for the daily things of life.
I've always known this intellectually, but experiencing and observing the affects first hand is something quite different.

I found an interesting study on the impact of lack of sleep on diabetics and took this photo (click to enlarge) of  one interesting page.

I'm slowly catching up to paperwork and a few small tasks.
It feels good to move forward but I'm expecting another summer guest soon.
Before she arrives I need to make progress on all my errands and a few projects around the house and garden.

A photo of my patio garden taken on Friday.


I hope your summer is going well.

We have so many summer festivals here.  There are multiple festivals and events going on every week and it's hard to keep up to what is going on in the city.  I guess that is all good for the tourists.
As for me, I'm enjoying staying home and the peace and quiet as I convalesce.
Another long weekend comes to an end today. I found it quiet and peaceful in my neighbourhood.  Long weekends the locals like to get out to visit relatives or go camping.

We will be back to rain this week if the weather forecast is to be believed.
I don't mind for the garden to get another good soak.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy August!

Our World Tuesday

My World This Week

Hi folks,

I hope you are all having a glorious summer so far.

The past several weeks we've been having a lot of rain. Almost every day has been cloudy or overcast but also the sun does come out too. It has been pretty good from my point of view.  Today the sun is shining brightly and it is expected to be sunny all week before a bit of rain on the weekend.

Sunset shot ~  July 26,2016

I've been busy with missions in Kenya. Two of the young men I know are supposed to graduate this year; one a bit earlier than the other.  As always in Kenya there is a "glitch". The earlier graduand has worked very hard to get to this point. He told me his grade is missing for one class taken 2 years ago even though he wrote the exam! I've heard of this problem before where the university says that a student did not write certain exams (sometimes many exams).  The students then begin a long process of paying to have the problem "sorted". If they can't or won't pay they have to re-do their courses in hopes of graduating. Some cannot afford to re-do and so they lose out on their years of hard fought education.  In the young man's case, his problem is one missing grade.  Many of his fellow classmates are suffering too because they've been told they are missing more than one grade. I'm praying for this man to be vindicated and allowed to graduate as he rightfully should be.

Update: June 28/2016 ~ I am very happy for my student friend. My intelligent young friend managed to outwit (my description, not his) the administration. He found his exam paper (with proper approval) in the university archives and not only that, showed them he had achieved an "A" grade! So he will graduate on time. The other student has been advised and thankfully has all his documents showing all grades received over the years.

In other news, the young man who had cancer tumour removed from his face (see post here) has been undergoing chemotherapy in his small town. He has suffered weight loss and hair loss but otherwise seems to be progressing as expected with his treatment.

Ernest, who has been to the hospital in Nakuru on two separate occasions for liver cancer tumour removal and follow up treatment for sepsis seems to be recovering well at home.

Another older gentleman I helped a bit with hospital costs has succumbed to leukemia and been laid to rest. My friends had to go and escort his body from a hospital in Narok. He leaves behind a wife and several children as well as many friends.

Joseph, laid to rest on Saturday, June 25th, 2016.He fought a good fight.

Another friend completely lost his house after working so hard to build it. The government's contractors recently bulldozed the house along with the houses of many of his neighbours.

My friend's house in rubble

He was also charged a significant sum of money for planting trees.  The trees were planted as a noise barrier to his property which is adjacent to a road. The government is expanding what was once a country road way and paving it so they have expropriated the property of many landowners along the roadway. This process seems to have happened very, very quickly.  Many were caught totally unaware including my friend.  Those that knew right away barely had time to do anything. It takes time and money to have a plan. They had neither.

Trees cut down after being "improperly" planted along the roadway.

I just think of all the loss of funds for electric and water connections and the loss of personal property not to mention the house itself.  Sadly all the neighbours along the roadway also lost homes and possessions.

Roadway being expanded

 
These are not wealthy people.  They have no insurance.

Besides which insurance probably does not cover this kind of thing.  I am not sure if the government will ever compensate them for expropriation of their property. There is always talk of compensating people for this or for that.  Though the intention may be there at upper echelons of government, seldom does the money get to the grassroots people. The funds are eaten up in the scams and scandals in which most government officials are involved. Efforts are being made to tackle corruption but it is still rampant.
One friend is still waiting to be compensated for health expenses incurred last December! He has been told repeatedly to "wait".  Finally last week they told him they must wait until the new budget funds flow.  Even then many of his receipts have been rejected for "rubbish" reasons and so he won't get a significant sum back which we were expecting.

In happier news, my friends assisted a girl's boarding school with getting some new beds. The boarding school has been set up to help impoverished girls get an education and escape horrors such as female genital mutilation (FGM).  They need a lot of things and the beds were a huge blessing to these young girls.

Praying over the gifts.

Someone has contacted me about possibly donating reusable sanitary pads and I'm hoping that I can connect the gift with these young girls who can surely use them.

The needs represented by the lives of the people I've mentioned in Kenya  are multitudinous but God is able to deliver and help. He cares about the people of Kenya as much as he cares for you and I.  The hope we have is what keeps my friends in Kenya, and I, going forward.

~~~~~~~~~

Here at home in Canada, I've also been very busy.  It's time for multiple dental appointments, both for cleaning and for restorative work. It is also time for an annual check up for the surgery for the retinal tear I had two years ago. I'm not sure how long they will monitor it.  I'm also still waiting to hear when I will have my annual diabetic eye specialist check up. Last time I met with the eye specialist we discussed eye surgery.  But for now I still haven't made a decision.  Instead I've decided to get a new pair of glasses.  They will have the progressive lenses and UV protection so I don't need to worry about sunglasses.  They will have anti-glare and transition brown lenses.  I hope they will be fine because the last pair were a dud. I couldn't wear them for more than a few minutes at a time no matter how often they were adjusted. I wear contact lenses and seldom wear glasses but I might wear glasses more often if they were comfortable and fit properly. Fit affects vision when the lenses are progressive.

It was a relief to finally get to the dentist for cleaning and repair work. It has already been a year since a temporary crown was done and in the meantime a front tooth chipped in two places.  I didn't want to wait any longer. The work will be completed during a break between summer guests.

Like many diabetics I have a constant battle to keep the blood glucose numbers under control. Right now they are better than they have been in a long time. My challenge is to try and keep it that way. One key thing I need to work on is getting R-E-S-T and that includes getting to sleep earlier.  It is a work in progress but I am making progress.

I will have company soon.  One guest arrives Friday and leaves before the next guest arrives on July 4th. My second guest will visit for a few weeks and then I will go and pay my mom a visit.  In mid August I have another shorter term guest.

It's a good thing I got my small garden planted early this year otherwise I wouldn't have had time to do it. At least when my guests arrive my garden will have some blooms.

I hope your summer is going well.

Joining with Our World Tuesday