Skywatch Friday ~ June 14, 2024

It's a beautiful time of year and the skies are spectacular.

These photos were taken during a neighbourhood walk. It rained in the morning but when I went out in the late afternoon it was sunny and warm. By the time I returned home a cool wind was blowing. Thankfully I carried a shawl with me and I was warm enough until I got inside. It's supposed to get hot again so it should be good for the garden.

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday. Thank you for visiting. Please come again soon.

A Beautiful Friday

It is very early in the morning around 4:45 a.m.

It feels so nice and fresh after the intense heat of the past week and some days.

 Joining in with Skywatch Friday. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Middle of February and We Got Our First Snow

On Sunday Valentine's Day we had snow fall. It snowed a few times more during the week but it didn't last more than one night before it all melted, at least where I live. 

Sky

 

As the week progressed we also got more colour in the sky and it was so lovely to see the sunshine and the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds.

I made time to go for coffee. I just stopped off at McDonald's as it was close to where I needed to run some other errands. Besides I like their coffee since it is always hot and fresh. 

Reading

Going for solo coffee is when I love to bring a good book to read. I read these two different books on two different occasions. The first book is written by a fashion psychologist and talks about the science of fashion. It also gives you some tips on creating a minimalist wardrobe. I found it a very satisfying read and would like it for my  personal library but right now I'm still in downsizing mode so I'll hold off on that. I am not into working on my wardrobe right now but in future I will have to make time to go through all my closets and drawers and get rid of things once again. I've been on a long and slow process of weight loss and so I have to get rid of things I'd like to keep but  no longer fit well.

 I am also getting into the book below about French women and how they survived in Nazi occupied Paris.

I bought this beautiful magazine as a nice easy to read treat. I love decorating magazines but don't buy too many because once they are read you need to store them. I used to buy a lot of magazines and so now it is a real treat since I only buy one or two every few years.

I've just order this book, Woman in the Wilderness from the library and it's ready for pick up. I saw this woman and her husband interviewed on a You Tube video. They both live in the wilderness of New Zealand and the woman is 30 years younger than her husband. They don't even live in a house except when Miriam's husband Peter got sick and they live primarily off the land. Miriam is a beautiful, healthy looking creature who kills the animals they eat. Before she lived on the land she was a vegetarian.  Now that they live in the wilderness they need the protein that comes from the animals in order to survive.

Meals

Here is a sample of meals I've prepared this week.

First up is raviolini stuffed with butternut squash served with a cheese sauce, baked chicken and simple salad.

On another day I made hamburger and macaroni soup in a tomato broth.

Next up is a batch of roasted beets,carrots and nugget potatoes.

The roasted vegetables accompanied roasted brisket which I marinated overnight before cooking.

Another day I made roasted pork chops and onions and sliced roasted potatoes flavoured with onion soup mix. I read about using the onion soup mix but if you suffer from swelling then I would advise against using this and to add fresh herbs and spices instead.

Kenya

In my last post I mentioned that Pastor Jonah had to return to Kericho Town to assist with showing the land to local leadership and court and land officials. The expectation is to also provide tea or lunch. Apparently the meeting went well but it was raining so heavily and cars had to be hired to transport people. They didn't linger for a long meeting due to inclement weather but they were provided tea. The officials in attendance seemed satisfied that everything is in order concerning the land grant application but I am not sure how long it will take before a court hearing is scheduled to learn the outcome of the land grant petition.

Next week it will be time to send funds to various people in need. Please keep the needs in prayer if you pray.

Thank you.

 

Linking this week to Skywatch Friday.

 

Fall is in the Air

This is the current book at the top of my reading pile. I'm enjoying it immensely and it makes me feel as if I too am in the mountains with the gorillas.

I wanted to share some Fall season photos but haven't been out to take any good ones.  We have had rainy, wet weather since late last week so that hasn't helped to do any photo taking.

 The following photos are from my archives and were taken a few years ago.  I hope you enjoy them.

The next photo was taken with the camera phone on Wednesday, September 24th.  It was just after a heavy duty wind and rain storm and the night was falling fast.

 The next few photos were also taken with my phone camera while I was doing some errands in between the rainfall.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today and Saturday's Critters. I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.

First Day of Clear Sky

We've been experiencing very poor air quality as a result of the wild fires that have been burning in Washington, Oregon and California states.  I've had to keep all doors and windows closed and stay indoors for five days.  On Wednesday the sky finally cleared a bit and it was such a relief to be able to go outside and to breathe better air.

These few photos were taken as soon as the sky cleared in late afternoon Wednesday. Then within a few hours the sky darkened again. I wasn't quite sure if it was due to the fires or if rain was on the way. Then it rained Wednesday night. The sky cleared a bit on Thursday and it rained a little again in the evening. We are expecting more rain over the next two days.

 

Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

Hello June

Happy June to all my lovely readers. 

I hope and pray that June finds you doing better than May 😀

I've been busy working away on various projects that I've let languish for long. I'm pleased with my progress thus far and have more work to do.  Mainly I've been continuing my major decluttering project and in the process of doing that I've identified some household projects and also some decor needs.  These are minor things not major projects but they take time to implement.  It has been raining for much of the last 6 weeks so that has helped me move forward and squeeze projects into the available free time here and there.

Where I live, the restrictions put in place over the last several months to contain the cases of Covid 19 are slowly and cautiously being lifted.  For now I remain in isolation and I intend to remain so until we see what happens with the forecasted 2nd wave of the virus in a few months time.  As in many countries and cities around the world, containment of the virus is made more challenging due to the protests going on over the egregious deaths of several Black Americans.  Of course I support peaceful protests for righteous causes but I do not support the looting, rioting, burning of buildings and so on that has gone on in some places and I hope peace will be restored before military interventions.

These are my first sky photos for the month of June. These are very early morning photos.

Joining up with Skywatch Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Solo Hummingbird

I  happened to look out the window when a little hummingbird was hovering above a bush on my property. It stayed for a short while and I was able to get a few photos though not close ups.  I didn't have time to properly focus, zoom or steady my phone before the little bird flew off.

One day I hope to put out the hummingbird feeder and maybe more hummingbirds will visit.

As you can see the sky is grey and we've had rain. 

I just looked at the weather forecast and we're supposed have rain for the entire week.

It kills my hope of getting photos of the spring tree blossoms in sunshine-y weather.
I guess I can make do with the photos I've taken in other years. 

Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

Keep safe.

♥♥♥