Scenes from Friday ~ Skywatch Friday

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to rainy Vancouver on a Friday afternoon. The weather has well and truly changed and we had a huge deluge of rain today (Friday).

The sky was rather interesting.  There were even a few flowers hanging in there, not ready to say 'goodbye'.  Flowers always give me joy.

Enjoy your weekend and thank you for stopping by

my Skywatch Friday post.

Stopping to Smell the Roses and the Flowers

Hello dear friends,

In my walks each week I try to spot the beauty in the small places and to literally stop and smell the roses, and the other flowers.

These beauties were what I stopped to enjoy earlier this week.

What about you dear reader? 

Do you stop and smell the roses too? 

Or perhaps there are other ways you like to enjoy the simple things in life. 

Let me know in the comments.

Live for Today (and Tomorrow)

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I trust that this new season is going well for you. Or at least as well as can be expected given the current turbulence in the world.

Canada and Canadians are of course impacted by what is going on south of the border.  However life does go on and each of us moves forward as best we can.  Our federal election is happening on April 29, 2025 but I plan to participate in advance polls this weekend. It's also Easter weekend so I've been busy planning a simple menu. This year I'll be making a dinner based on salmon rather than our usual ham or turkey. I'm looking forward to it.

Photo credit:  Southern Living website (february 2023)

I planted the patio garden and I can see the seeds are starting to germinate. They haven't fully sprouted yet and I can't wait until they get tall and have some blooms to enjoy. I've planted so many flowers so there should be a riot of colours. I haven't had time yet to plant the containers or to plant at the community garden. Hopefully I can get to some of these tasks over the long weekend.

Much of my effort in April has been focussed on getting the patio ready.  In addition to planting, I've been trying to make the space more comfortable. I purchased a new patio conversation set, a small table on which to place beverages and I'm waiting for the rug which I ordered on line. It should be here next week. I also bought a new trunk in which to store all the patio cushions.  I've unboxed it but haven't put it together yet. It will be very handy at the end of the season. I still need to get one or two furniture covers for the sofa and chairs.

Part of the spring 'to do's' includes spring cleaning. Is that a thing anymore? It is for me because even though I try to keep up to the cobwebs and dust over the winter months, things tend to look dirty and drab once the spring light arrives.

Something that will help me clean and do the washing are eco friendly cleaning products made and sold right here in the Greater Vancouver area by Live for Tomorrow.  I ordered a large quantity of product to reach the free shipping offer.  If you live in Canada or the USA, you might want to have a look at their products and place your own order. There is free shipping once you reach a certain spend threshold ($100 Canadian or $150 USD).  Here is the link in case you're interested. https://lftbrands.com/collections/shop-all.

The goods should arrive tomorrow.  I can't wait to try the cleaner for the washer.  Based on reviews, it's supposed to work very well.  I'm hoping to get rid of the mildew smell in the washer.

Even though I'm working hard, I'm enjoying the month.   It's my favourite time of year. I love when the sun comes out, the trees start blooming and the gardens start growing. It's still a bit chilly here but soon it will be quite warm.

Take care and enjoy your day.

Saturday Fun & a Catch Up

The dog photos in this post were meant for Saturday and Eileen's Saturday's Critters.  Somehow I saved the post to draft rather than as a "Scheduled" post so I'm sharing them a bit late.

I enjoyed watching this dog try to get in on the throw ball action between the two friends.

We've continued to have a fair bit of rain since the weekend but life goes on.

On Friday night I attended a new to me restaurant in town called "Nuba's", a Lebanese restaurant. The food is fantastic and I can see why there was a line up out the door that night. There are actually 3 restaurants by this name in town and I went to the one on Hastings and Carrell.  The group ordered sharing plates filled with tabbouleh salad, humous, baba ganoush, olives, houlami cheese and shredded beets as well as plates of pita bread. Then we ordered side dishes of chicken, lamb etc. All of the food was delicious but my favourite one is called "Najib's Special".  It is a deep fried cauliflower dish with a wonderful array of spices. Yum!

Photo Credit: Ashley from Yelp.  This is Najib's Special

Friday's gathering was a group of men and women saying "farewell" to a a member of the group. It was my first time meeting some of them.  They not only were a beautifully dressed group of people but a very diverse and interesting social set who immediately made me feel at ease.  Sadly two of the women I spoke with that night are leaving the city shortly. It seems that their work prospects did not pan out as hoped and they are moving on.  This city is a very expensive place to live and one can only sustain a life here if there is enough money to pay the bills and have some recreational money.  I know that is true in many places but this city is known for having a very high cost of housing, both rentals and purchases.  That is what makes the difference.

Since last week was such a busy week, I took Sunday to recuperate as well as catch up on house work and chores. There was and is still a lot to do on the home front.  One of the tasks I did was to sort through a lot of packaging from parcels received over the last few months.  In February I ordered some colouring books and some pencil crayons as well as felt markers.  Some of these are gifts and some are for me to colour and relax. It seems to be all the rage at the moment. I've seen these types of colouring books at my local pharmacy and also at the craft store. I've ordered 3 colouring books so far. One for me, one for my niece (for Christmas or Birthday) and another so I can send pages to my sponsored boys in Africa.

I spent Monday tutoring my friend in Mathematics. Right now we are doing a lot of work on multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. I've also touched a bit on fractions and decimals. Today though I walked my friend through a very practical lesson, that is drafting a monthly income and expense sheet.

For the past two years or so I've been constantly encouraging him to do certain things like pay himself first (investment into Registered Retirement Savings Plan), start a savings account, arrange overdraft protection for his Chequing Account, file annual taxes on time and watch his spending on the little things. He has done most of these things but not all of them.

Today's exercise opened his eyes to how much he was frittering away on coffee and snacks each month and how much his impulse purchases and recreational activities were costing him on a monthly basis. It also taught him that he is spending far too much on groceries each month for one person and that he can afford to cut back there and increase his budgetted amount for certain other expenses. I think it also opened his mind to the idea that if he spends carefully and saves every month he could actually take a vacation rather than believe he can't afford it.

I sent him home with homework to determine if all the line items were correct as one must have a real handle on one's spending each month before one can determine real income and expense amounts. I know many people recommend recording expenses every day for a period of time but I didn't ask him to do this because he is a very busy person and that would just never get done. Once we are done basic mathematical operations we will continue on to learn about basic geometry and algebra.

The other project we did today was to identify monthly savings requirements for variable expenses that may only occur once or a few times in a year rather than every month.

It was an opportunity for him to realize that he has been overpaying his medical premiums and he now needs to contact the provincial government and get this sorted out. He also needs to contact the Canada Revenue Agency to ascertain some other information related to deductions.  I could do this for him but I want him to do it himself. After all it is his money and he should have the responsibility of looking for the information even if he is very busy.

It took us a few hours to go through the exercise even though I kept him on track rather than get into side discussions about each aspect of the monthly expenses.

After our discussion he promptly went to the local supermarket to buy food so that he wouldn't have to buy meals tomorrow for breakfast and dinner.

~~~

I went to a different supermarket (my local supermarket) on Saturday and discovered there is next to nothing remaining to buy in the store. I was hoping to pick up some meat and produce. I couldn't even buy bananas.

Whatever I did buy was 40% off but I noticed that first the store increased the "regular" price before they started the sales so in the end you were paying almost the original regular price. You really have to know your prices before you buy things these days.

As I mentioned in a post a few days ago I was looking for a new glucometer.  I met with my pharmacist on Saturday to look at some of the options and decided on the One Touch Verio Flex. Boy I really wish I would have had something like this a few years ago to better track everything without having to log it all into a chart by hand or manually.

 Just in case any of you are looking for one here is an image (albeit blurry). The coloured panel tell you when you have low blood sugar, normal blood sugar or high blood sugar. If you turn on the Blue Tooth option and download an app to your phone it will record all the results and chart them for you. You can also add notes about food and exercise though I'm still working on how best to note the foods. I am only 2 days into setting it all up but so far so good. It needs enough data (at least 2 weeks) before the charting of results can be more useful to you. Over time I think this will be a very useful tool.

Weather today was pouring rain. I didn't check the weather report for Tuesday yet but I do have some errands.

If the weather cooperates I might go downtown to see a foreign film. It is only playing one time on one day so it is either see it now or see it never, lol.

A photo from my archives. So far I haven't had much time to take photos of tree blossoms  this Spring.

Thank you for stopping by.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday today.

I hope you all have a fabulous week ahead

Saturday's Critters

In the past several weeks I've noticed large flocks of birds every where I go.

I am not sure if they are migratory birds that are flying south, or if there is another reason.

But they are interesting to watch.

It is hard to capture them when they fly so quickly though.

Joining in with our host Eileen at Saturday's Critters.

Day One of Routine ~ Not!

Hello friends,

I hope you all had a great day today.

I decided to postpone my regular routine and just took it easy for another day.

I did very little. I talked to mom, had a shower, a cup of coffee and am reading a good book in between doing a little of this and that around the house.

The 3rd and last book in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy.

This book is extremely popular and has many holds on it at the library.   had better finish it quickly as it is due soon. I've haven't been reading as much over Christmas holiday as I had hoped so I still have hundreds of pages to go before I am done.

I love reading. It gives me a lot of joy.  How about you?

Two other books I've read this past week.

Each year I am steadily increasing my reading goal. At the same time I don't want to make the goal so high that I don't achieve it.

Last year I started my reading goal quite modest. I think it was 25 books and I kept gradually increasing it because I kept surpassing the goal. I ended the year with 56 books read and that didn't seem too onerous.

This year I've set my goal at 45 books. If I find myself getting behind I will simply reduce it so it doesn't become a chore.

Over Christmas I posted on my blog that the highways through the mountains to go and visit my mom were mostly bare and clear. Then we were expecting a snow storm over the weekend but it didn't affect where I live. However it did affect most of the rest of the province and there are a number of road accidents. Unfortunately, I also had some sad news.  One of my brother's friends passed while he was shovelling snow the other day. This is very sad because he is under the age of 50 years. It really drives home how dangerous it is for people to shovel snow. Especially if they have any unknown heart issues.

Please be careful if you are shovelling snow. It might be better to hire someone if you aren't feeling up to it. This is not activity in which one should push themselves to do more. If you are tackling the job yourself, read these tips on how to take care of yourself. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Affiliate/Shoveling-Snow-Health-Hazards_UCM_426562_Article.jsp

Keep safe and enjoy the snowfall if you are affected by winter snows. It can make everything look so clean and pretty.

A Lovely Day

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

 

 Joshua 1:9

I had a lovely day yesterday.  I haven't had a truly lovely day in a very long time. It isn't as if I haven't tried.   And it isn't as if things are terribly wrong in my life but I have had a tremendous amount of stress throughout the last many years. I deal with it rather well for the most part but from time to time, it does get to me.

Some of you know that I've been trying to look after myself better.  My efforts are showing small but positive improvements so I will keep doing what I'm doing.  I am also reading the Word more and making sure I spend time in prayer and praise; giving thanks for all that God does for me. In this regard , I really haven't changed my routine.  I've always done this but I have tried to slow down more and cut out some of the distractions. 

I know we aren't to dwell on our feelings and circumstances when things are not going our way.  That's where that saying comes from "Fake it, til you make it!".  But there are some times when we cannot even fake it and we give in to feeling our feelings.  While there are many who are afraid of doing this, some experts would argue that it is good for you to feel your feelings.  Even the Bible recognizes that people would do that  because in the seasons of life it isn't always rosy and sparkling.  That is what makes us human.

The writer of the Book of  Ecclesiastes in the Bible has this wisdom:

  When life is good, enjoy it.
    But when life is hard, remember:
God gives good times and hard times,
    and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.

 (Ecclesiastes 7:14)

It is through those times that those of us who are believers must continue to believe that better times are ahead and that God will look after us. That is different from believing that every day we will feel we have complete confidence because some days we absolutely do not feel that way at all.

We know we can have complete confidence when we fear the Lord and put our trust in Him. He gives us a place of refuge to which we can run in times of trouble. (Proverbs 14:26; Proverbs 18:10; 1 Peter 5:7).

Boat on the open waters of the north Atlantic Ocean

Cast your bread on the waters: for you shall find it after many days.

Ecclesiastes 11:1

I started off by saying that today was a lovely summer day and one I truly enjoyed.  I am grateful for such days. Today was  very warm but did not have the oppressive heat we've had for much of the summer.  We face the waning days of summer on this side of the world and it won't be long before the cool Fall season arrives.  Fall is one of my favourite seasons and I look forward to brisk walks in the crisp air.

Today though I enjoyed getting out in the warmth of the sun and enjoyed some of life's simple pleasures:  a chat with a neighbour, letters posted to my Zambian children, fresh flowers in vibrant colours, good books from the library, good coffee, and last, but not least, very good news that mom's (trial) wheelchair has arrived. It should be delivered to her in a day or two and she can't wait.  After they assess what might be needed to customize the wheelchair, the "real" one will be ordered. I hope both the trial model and the real one, help to alleviate her present discomfort. (For those who like to read my travel posts, I will resume posting images from La Belle Province and other places soon). 

My submission to Skywatch Friday.

Joy

From the Meriam Webster Dictionary

¹joy

noun \ˈjȯi\

Definition of JOY

1

a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight

b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2

: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3

: a source or cause of delight

— joy·less adjective

— joy·less·ly adverb

— joy·less·ness noun

 
I am feeling joy today. I had my  Hemoglobin A1C test done last week to determine my average blood sugar level over the previous 3 months.  I am so happy to report that my average blood sugar was 6.6 % and less than 7 % which is the target. Normal level is 4.5-6.0 so I still have a little ways to go in getting it back to normal. 

I've been working very hard since October and taking not only my pharmaceuticals and newly prescribed pharmaceuticals, but alternative medicines as well. I've also cut my food intake in about half. I eat half at one meal and the other half at the next meal or the next day. Exercise is key also.  But due to the pain levels in the knee(s), I simply haven't been up to it. It is hard exercise just getting around the house and going out of the house for the odd errand or appointment.  I do intend to get back to exercise of the official kind as soon as I am able. Another thing I am doing is making sure I consistently take my medication and at more or less the same time every day. I admit I had become quite lax in that regard. I pray I can sustain my renewed efforts and get back to normal sugar levels soon.

I'm also feeling some joy over completing a simple household chore. I cleaned and re-organized a cupboard and a drawer Saturday and managed to get my bags of flour off of the floor and into the cupboard. I decided that for now I do not need an airtight container taking up my limited floor space.  I don't have any pests so this should work out fine. 

I've put the flour into one of the very few of my cupboards that is deep enough.  I'll just have to be careful when I want to take flour out of the bag so I don't spill it all over the place. I could purchase glass or plastic containers and fill them with flour before putting them into the cupboard.  But I've already got so many containers in use and I really don't want to add  any more.  I will try this new approach for awhile and see how it works out. I see that I also need to re-arrange my other cupboards soon for greater efficiency. I know there are things in there that I no longer need and can give away.  It seems there is always something that needs cleaning. I'm sure it is like that at your house too.

All the oil (for cooking) and vinegar for cleaning is on the top shelf. I buy big jugs of olive oil, canola oil and vinegar and then decant them into smaller containers for ease of use. At the very back of this shelf is where I store my thermoses (not in the photo).   On the bottom of the cupboard are my bags of white flour and whole wheat flour.  In front of the flour bags is a small basket  where I keep an apron or two, some cloth serviettes and extra boxes of plastic baggies.

This drawer used to hold my good cutlery in a storage box which has been moved to the top of the kitchen cabinets because they aren't used so often. I now store all my baggies (which used to be where my flour bags now rests) and some tea towels and "good" linens which were gifted to me behind all the baggies. I don't have a linen closet or a pantry and so you can see that finding appropriate storage for everything is a challenge.

I posted my giveaways on Freecycle on Saturday and within an hour or two my toiletries and books were spoken for but not the kitchen items. Perhaps when I wake there will be some expressions of interest for those items too. By today (Sunday) I hope to have most of my giveaways out the door. Not bad since I only put them together the day before yesterday. I have more purging to do. I think one more good round of purging (maybe two) ought to do me for quite awhile. Then I need to finish the paperwork on which I made a good start a few months ago. 

Lessons Learned:

For those that have followed my blog for awhile, you will know I've been doing giveaways on Freecycle and to the local charity shops for awhile now.  I would say that I've been at this major decluttering project for at least a two and a half year period of fairly steady going.  It started after the fire two floors above me and after having to move out of my home and into a hotel for four months.  (While in the hotel I started my blog  as a way of trying to keep positive through illness, fires and family sickness).   Living in the hotel with only the barest of essentials, I began to realize just how llittle of what we own is actually used, needed or missed when you don't see it.  I was also struck by the overabundance of  my "stuff" as compared to many in Africa where I had travelled not so long before the fire. I also had to move my mother into a nursing home and had  to deal with disposing of all her stuff. Years and years of accumulated stuff which she never wanted to get rid of for various reasons, many of them sentimental (I've inherited some of her ways, ha!). It was ironic that someone who wouldn't let anyone go through and organize or help her sort, had to completely rely on someone else to sort it all and make decisions when the time came.

I decided that I needed to offload a lot of my stuff and start to live more simply.  There were multiple  reasons for making this decision including:  to have a greater sense of freedom when I no longer had to maintain or look after so much"stuff", to live gratefully for what I have and more mindfully about what God has given me and how he wants me to use it, to live more frugally so that I could be of greater help to my family, charities that I value, and the missions in Kenya through my friends and contacts there.

It has taken me a lot longer to go through my things than I originally thought. due to a variety of reasons. In the  meantime I've also inherited quite a lot of "stuff" from my mother and previous to that I have "stuff" from my sister and all of that needs to be sorted as well.  Much of what remains is photos and paperwork which requires more of my time to carefully scrutinize and decide what to keep and how to organize it. From my mother I also have a lot of crafting items which I don't want to get rid of though I have gotten rid of her yarns, patterns and a lot of fabric. I've kept more fabric than I reasonably have room for which explains part of my feeling so "crowded. I do want to use as much of the fabric as I can and I have several projects in mind. I just need time.

I'll be so glad when it's all finished though I realize that keeping on top the clutter is a never ending cycle.  I don't think I will ever again be undertaking such a huge purge as I've just done, especially after I finish the paperwork.  From this entire process I've learned about my weak spots (books, toiletries, clothing and paperwork) and where I need to keep a watchful eye in future (spending and accumulating).   I've also learned that I do not need to keep years and years of paperwork or every single photo or keepsake that was ever in my hands or in the family hands. I've learned that I need to keep those things most meaningful and let go of the rest though that process takes lots of time and organization. I've also learned that some things can be turned into memories (example, some of my sister's clothing will be incorporated into a quilt or two for her children) and some of mom's fabrics can be turned into quilts for her use and for other members of the family. I can also make some photo albums with select photos for key family members and get rid of the rest. I've learned a lot through this process. I've probably missed out a few lessons learned but these are the ones that come to mind at this moment.  Within the next year I hope to have made more gains and gradually get rid of things currently being stored (photos, books, fabrics, craft supplies, papers).

In conclusion, this whole process has been a very long and sometimes challenging journey. But there is "joy" in the journey also. It is a simple joy borne of overcoming challenges. Clutter. Who knew it held so many lessons for me?

A Simple Friday

The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts: and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible.~ Montaigne

I don't think I wrote on my blog that both knees started bothering me this week. Fortunately when I awoke on Friday the pain in my right knee had gone away and the pain in the left knee was considerably reduced. I am still not back to "normal" but I am much better. I am hoping and praying for complete recovery soon as I already know the healing process is cyclical; at least where my knees are concerned. In any case, I was very grateful today!

I stayed up very late last night (early Friday morning) and finished reading "Appetite for Life", a biography of Julia Child. I would have finished sooner but the last two days have been rather busy with lots of phone calls and interruptions.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. What most impressed me was just what a tremendous work horse, Mrs. Child was. She worked tirelessly to bring the joy of French cooking and good food to Americans.  She also worked until  near the end of her life:  keeping constantly busy with writing, cooking, and making cooking television shows as well as her charitable and other educational interests.  Another thing that impressed me was her devotion to her husband;  in fact, their devotion to one another really touched me. Julia Child and her husband Paul were fully devoted to one another and they supported one another throughout every stage of their lives.  It was also surprising to me just how much moving around Julia did before and after her marriage and how many different jobs she had before she become a French cook. She lived in many different places in California, Massachusetts, India, China, France and Norway.  When she married, she and her husband had several homes on both coasts in USA.  They also had a home in France where they spent as much time as possible. They travelled a lot and socialized a lot throughout their marriage.  Julia's non-stop energy for work and socializing was noted by all around her.  All in all, she led a fascinating life.

I made some ham and lentil soup on Friday evening.  You might say I was inspired by Julia Child, but I've always loved a hot bowl of hearty soup on a winter's evening.  Yesterday was also grocery shopping day so I had all kinds of veggies to use (onions, carrots, celery, potatoes) and left over ham from the ham roast made the day before.  I also had a bit of bannock bread (whole wheat and white)  left over from the day before to round out the meal. I never got round to eating the strawberries for dessert and saved them instead for a late night snack.

Photo from my archives.

I did a lot of  window shopping (the internet version). I made myself tired looking for boutis work, flannel sheets, and pendleton blankets. I  think I better give that a rest for awhile since I don't plan on buying any of these items anytime soon. I also spent time sourcing some very large containers for dry goods storage. I don't have a pantry and my kitchen has very limited storage so I need to find storage containers that will sit in the corner of my kitchen and store some of my food. I think I may have found just the thing. These are actually storage containers for pet food but they are air tight and will work just as well for dried goods.  The bonus is they cost a lot less than similar items sold for (restaurant) food storage. I also looked at other types of bins but I like these ones on wheels with tight closing lids.

A purchase I made a few weeks ago arrived last week and I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I need to finish moving things around so I can it up and try it out (more about that later).  Instead I spent some time dealing with purchasing the new Word 2013 Suite and having it installed on my PC. Later I will have it installed in my laptop too.

I gave some time to my calendar and planned to attend my writer's group.  However the session for tomorrow is fully subscribed so I'll have to wait for next week or the week after.  Much later, I spent time viewing parts of a 'new to me' documentary called the Up series I believe it is the last in a series of

documentary films produced by Granada Television that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. The documentary has had seven episodes spanning 49 years and the documentary has been broadcast on both ITV and BBC.

The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future. Every seven years, the director, Michael Apted, films new material from as many of the fourteen as he can get to participate. The purpose is also stated at the beginning of "7 Up," as, "Why do we bring these children together? Because we want to get a glimpse of England in the year 2000. The union leader and the business executive of the year 2000 are now 7 years old. (Source: Wikipedia)

Part 1 of the series can be found  here if you are interested and youtube also has several parts to this series available on line if you don't mind watching on line. I didn't get to watch all the parts so I will continue another day as it is quite engaging.

I found it very interesting having a peek into what life was like in 1964 for these British children from all walks of life and  was quite impressed with them  The documentaries begin to document these children starting from age seven and then every seven years thereafter until they reach age 56.  At age seven they seemed so mature. I don't think seven year olds today are quite so mature but perhaps I just haven't spent enough time around this age group to really know.  I do know that youngsters of today are exposed to far more than the youngsters of old, so perhaps they are more mature or as mature, but in different ways. One of the things that surprised me about the 7 year olds in the documentaries is how many of them had boyfriends or girlfriends and spoke so freely about having these young relationships.

I read a blog post today asking what the readers have done to save money today as part of frugal living. I always make an effort to live frugally and stretch my funds as far as they will go but I had to think about my answer for today's savings.  I saved elastic bands from the produce purchased yesterday, made coffee and drank it at home, made home made soup and ate home made bannock bread.  Lastly, I guess I saved the cost of a movie ticket since I am not going to the "56 Up" documentary which is playing in town. Instead I am watching all the free parts on line.  On my brain is the question of how much the new appliances I got after Christmas will save in my power bill.  The appliances are all energy efficient so if they save me money it will likely be evident over the course of the year.  Any savings through the new appliances will be offset by my heavy use of the electric heating this winter.  With the sore knees I could not tolerate the usual cold.  Still, I am curious and will be watching the power bills.

I hope you are keeping warm if you are having a cold winter. For those of you suffering from high temperatures like in Australia, I hope you are managing to keep cool and hydrated.

Happy weekend to each of you.

Simple Pleasures

"That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest." ~ Thoreau 

"Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires."  ~ Lao-Tzu

Hello friends,

How are you today? I hope you are all having a fantastic week. I have been busy doing a little knitting and a lot of crocheting.  Today was a good day as I took a break from that.  Yesterday was a good day too as I had a chance to clean my kitchen floors and do some laundry.  It felt good to 'catch up' on house work for a day.  Do you ever notice how housekeeping feels good when you haven't had time to do it and you get a chance to catch up? Or is that just me?

I just got back from errands and grocery shopping.  I sent my mother a small care package of a hot water bottle wrapped in a cosy leopard print cover and a toothbrush.  Since the weather turned cool she has been complaining of being very cold.  No amount of blankets and wraps seems to help.   I can totally understand as I've been feeling a bit that way myself. The weather changed suddenly this year rather than gradually and no doubt we are both feeling the brunt of it.  I thought a hot water bottle might help her as she is not allowed to use an electric blanket for safety reasons.  She also needed a new toothbrush. Even though she has two somewhere in her room or bathroom, the staff never seem to be able to find anything.  Poor mom has also been having a lot of breathing issues lately.  She is using an inhaler but it doesn't seem to help much. If you would say a prayer for her that would mean so much to me.

At the post office I also weighed all the hand crafted items I've been making for my Etsy shop.  Some of you will have seen a few of the items I've been making.  I'm hoping to raise funds for the Missions of Hope through the sales.

Right now I'm making a quick dinner of stir-fried ground beef (minced beef) with chopped vegetables (baby carrots, onions, celery and fresh green beans). I like to stir-fry all this with soy sauce and put it on top of small new potatoes with skins on.  I don't know if they have new potatoes outside of North America. They are just basically small, immature potatoes.  The skin is not yet hardened and thick and they are quite delicious!  I also have some baby greens, English cucumber, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and a yellow apple for a basic salad.

After a few days of being mostly indoors and feeling oh so tired, it is such a joy to have a nice simple day where I don't feel too bad.  Adding to my feeling of joy is a short letter I received from one of my sponsored boys, named John. John lives in a slum near Nairobi, Kenya. He is 9 years old and today the letter I received is one he wrote me all by himself.  Usually someone else writes a letter for him.  John wrote his letter in English and I am so proud of his nice, neat printing.

I was also blessed to receive a letter from the daughter of my childhood Sunday School teacher.  My former teacher is about 90 years old and though she is in good physical condition, her memory is no longer good. Her daughter is packing up her mother's things and moving her into her home to look after her better.  While she was packing her mother's things she came across a note I sent back in November 2011 and decided to write me.  I'm so glad she did.  I'm also glad I've been writing to my former teacher while her memory was still intact.  It was one of my goals to let her know how much she meant to me and how her faithfulness impacted my life in a positive way.

The weekend starts tomorrow.  

My wish for you is that you have time for some simple pleasures.

Blessings and hugs.

Thursday Sky

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An Oasis on a Hot Day

One day my niece and I went to a local park for a picnic. I think it was one of our hottest days during the two weeks she was visiting. I don't have air conditioning and the fan wasn't enough to keep the condo feeling fresh and cool. It turned out to be a good decision to go the park.

The small park was busy while we were there but not too busy.

I also took cushions and books.  I wasn't up to reading but my niece looked at books while I relaxed.
 

We munched on mini meatballs, potato and egg salad, cheese, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and grapes. We brought water to drink and a soda each.

The black crow in the tree next to us seemed to be waiting for some food.  We didn't
encourage it by throwing scraps of food but my niece loved to watch this bird and two others that joined it.

The shady trees made a refreshing change from the condo. It's always lovely to get out for a picnic but I seldom do these days.

Join in here to see what others are up to on Our World Tuesday.

A Good Start to the Week

I had a wonderful Monday and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. I hope you had a great start to your week also.

It started off as a beautiful sunny day. I got up early and proceeded down the street for

a little pampering...

before I continued to the shops to try out sofas.

After 30 faithful years of service, I am retiring my sofa. It is less expensive to buy a new one rather than reupholster the old one.  I am a frugal person so I do intend to keep my armchair for awhile longer until I find one I am happy with.  The chair is in slightly better shape that the sofa and can still have new life with a slipcover.

Next, I went on to a lovely lunch....

Fungus soup and green tea

Lightly battered cod fish with sauce

and finished with some refreshing strawberry bubble tea....

Fresh strawberries with ice and tapioca pearls

Later, I did some knitting....and reading.

Now I am having tea and hope to relax and read more. Shopping research continues tomorrow when the rain is also expected to return.

Dear reader, if you have a moment, I'm curious as to how long you keep your sofas? I like things that last a lifetime but so many people do like to change their furniture often.

Daily Life

Hi friends and fellow bloggers, How are you all doing?

I've been keeping busy with the daily things of life. Things planned and things unplanned.

You know like what happens when your washer/dryer suddenly stops working and you have to quickly find a replacement.  I'm afraid I can't go too long without a washer and these days there are fewer and fewer laundrymats.  since I've been living in my neighbourhood we've had at least 3 laundrymats close down and no new ones take their place.  What do you do where you live when your washer goes dead? Do you have a back up plan?

This is the replacement washer & dryer. Much quieter than my previous washer/dryer combo and more energy efficient too.

It is also that time again when I have to get the toenails groomed. I go out and have it done.  Though I know this is a luxury for many, I do it because I have diabetes and because I've been suffering for long now with ingrown toenails.  The pedicure helps to get the feet and toenails nice and clean. The polish also makes everything more presentable and who doesn't mind sitting in an automated massage chair while getting the feet washed and cleaned?  I can't do the pedicure myself these days.   I'm going to one new girl since i discovered that I had needle like shards of nails imbedded into my skin. Trust me, it hurt a lot to get it all out.  I'm going to have to keep the toenails very short to prevent the ingrown nails and make sure I don't miss my appointments.

It was also past time to get the hair done. I have been thinking for awhile now that I don't want to have my hair chemically processed any more.  I started highlighting my hair rather late in life and so  I've minimised the hair dye in that way but going every month to the  hair salon adds up to a lot of chemicals. I know I still have chemicals to contend with (like in the nail polish above) but I want to minimize it all as much as possible.

I did some research on henna and thought I'd give it a try. I had to wait an extra long time before getting the henna done since you can't put henna onto chemically processed hair unless you wait 8-12 weeks.  Initially I intended to do the henna myself but my hair dresser said she'd help. I thought for the first time that might be wiser. However it turned out she hasn't done it for ages and ages and was rather nervous about it all. I reminded her that it was her idea to help me and to more or less to stop complaining about the two step process and time that was required.

Here is the end result.

I like it.

Next time we will add some lemon juice for golden colour and some yogurt or eggs for conditioning. I'm experimenting with using henna and will also be experimenting with using different brands.

Lest you think my free time is spent on primping and preening, I am also keeping up with the reading in between other work and errands. I still have my goal of reading 24 books this year. For me that is challenging as I have to remember to read a little a few times a week.  I used to think I read a lot when I completed 6 or 7 novels a year and then I discovered that some people say they read a hundred books or more a year. Well based on the kind of books I tend to read (dense books, rather than read in 2 hour books), I will likely never reach 100 books a year. I will be content to read 24. 

I will have to update my completed reads soon but these are the books I'm reading right now. I finished the top one; an interesting and quicker read about a young woman growing up in Iran and how her family escaped to Canada. I am about two thirds of the way through "A Suitable Boy" and about  half way through Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue".

I have more respect for Sarah Palin after reading her book about her political life in Alaska. It is always good to try and learn as much as you can outside of what the media feeds you during political campaigns.

This was the vapour trail above my head today. Whenever I see these, I think of the song "I"m Leaving On a Jet Plane".   I wish I really was!

I leave you with a verse for today.It came to me as I was contemplating on the many tragedies and horrors I find on the internet news and through social networks. 

If we could only have brotherly love toward one another, these horrors would be fewer.

Let brotherly love continue. 

Hebrews 12:1

I wish each of you peace, and brotherly love.

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