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.

It's a Beautiful Friday

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers. ~ Claude Monet

No ray of sunlight is ever lost, but the green it wakes into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted to the sower to live to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith. ~ Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, 1952

This was my sky for a short time today. It was a break in the otherwise gray and wet weather we've had all week.

The rest of the photos are from  my garden which is now growing. The container plants look especially nice.  They were planted before my little garden was planted but I keep adding more plants to containers. The most recent acquisitions were the red blooming geraniums because the big pot of geraniums in the blue pot are not yet in bloom and I just love red geraniums.  I also added two blue poppies. This time I planted them in a pot and if they do well I will add them to the garden plot later.  This year I finally got a community allotment (community garden plot) but I gave it up because it was just a little out of my walking distance. I'm hoping to get one of two plots closer to my home but was told I have a long wait. In the meantime I'll see if I can get my little garden more productive.

Zucchini squash

Tomatoes

You can see they are already coming out so I will need to put some supports around these soon to support the weight.

I have  more than enough parsley here in the container. I need to transplant the rosemary you see on the lower right.

The lettuce is ready to be harvested for salad.

Corn is growing well. I only have a few stalks. These are usually feed for the birds.

Pansies are still my favourite.

I have white and pink petunias. These ones have a sheen due to the rain.

 

The dogwood tree is also in bloom but there doesn't seem to be as many flowers as there usually are. My neighbour's tree has many more blooms.

I can see the buds are starting to come up on this big pot of geraniums. I can't remember what colour they are but they may be pink and red.

This is a recent acquisition. I love red geraniums.

Oops, I caught my foot in the photo, lol. You can see more buds ready to bloom in this pot.

I've had a very busy week and a fruitful one also. It is nice to sit back and enjoy the beauty around me at the close of the week.

I'm sending you all good wishes for a wonderful weekend. I'm also sending prayers for Edwin who continues to have need of sponsorship to receive outpatient medical treatment in Nairobi and for Kipngeno who desperately needs a sponsor to continue attending medical school. He is in the last semester for year 1 which finishes in August.

For more sky photos please join Sky Watch Friday here.
For more flower photos, please join in Floral Friday here.

My Visit to Chinatown

I had a quick visit to Chinatown today.  I'm afraid I had a number of errands to do there and was trying to hurry myself along so I could get to a movie.

A long view west on Pender Street in Chinatown. You can see the historic old buildings in the foreground and the Millenium Gate in about the middle of the photo (above the red car).

The way the the one tourist is dressed with a winter hat you would think it was cold out today.   I think she was wearing it to protect herself from rains which really turned out to be almost negligible. I found it rather humid today and was too hot in my thin jacket.

The first thing I did when I got to Chinatown was have a wonderful but short session of foot reflexology.  I haven't had one of these for at least 12 years or more. I enjoyed it a lot but it was too short and so I've got to return and get a full treatment. After the session, my feet felt so much better for about half an hour. I may decide to go every so often and treat my feet well since I have more problems with them than most people. Anyway, enough of that.  My main reason in going to Chinatown was to get some medicines and after many stops at different stores, I came away with a month's supply of the main medicine I want and need. The other one, I'm not so sure about, so I only bought one bottle.  Altogether I only spent $10. and that is the best bargain I've had in awhile.

Here is a slightly better view of Millenium Gate. The movie theatre is just past it to the left. I was in so much of a hurry due to being late that I didn't stop to take good photos.

I also wanted some new plastic basins, one for having an epsom salt foot bath now and then, and one for doing dishes or light hand washing. I managed to find them but at a different store from the one I planned to shop at since it is now.  Yet another casualty of the poor economy.

I bought two basins like the green one in this photo. The other one is yellow.

After this purchase I hurried off to walk to the movie theatre about 5 blocks away. Along the way I stopped to buy a wiener bun and egg tart at the Chinese bakery.

I stopped again at a wonderful little shop where I found all kinds of Chinese lanterns and fans and lovely chopstick sets, etc. I quickly selected a few different fans, some for my mother and some for me. I chatted up the store owner and told her what a lovely shop she has. Funny I'd never been in it before but have passed it by many times over the years. Now that I know what a treasure trove it is, I will certainly visit again.  I'd like to get a few colourful, paper lanterns to hang in my home.  This cute little shop sells the paper lanterns at half the price of a store further up the street from where I live.  I'm always looking for a bargain!

I managed to get to the movie,"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", but I was a bit late. Missing the first part didn't take away from the enjoyment of the second part. The movie stars Dame Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith and a host of other great actors. It is about a group of British retirees who travel to take up residence at what they believe is a newly restored hotel in India only to find out otherwise. It is quite lovely and charming in unexpected ways. I recommend seeing it if you can although I believe it will appeal to the older set more than to the younger generation.  When I mentioned this movie to my nephew's girlfriend yesterday, she said she thought it would be a good one for her grandparents who are nearly 90 years old!. I'm not nearly that old but I still enjoyed it.

If you'd like to see more of what other were up to on Tuesday, please visit Our World Tuesday. If you missed my post about missions needs please read here.  Thank you for visiting.

Kenya Missions of Hope Needs Your Prayers

Hello friends,

Edwin getting blood work.

We begin a new week and I hope you are all having a good one. My nephew was to arrive was his girlfriend yesterday for a small birthday dinner for him but due to unforeseen circumstances this had to be rescheduled to today.

My main news today is that my friends in Kenya need our collective prayers to meet some big needs in the next short while. I hope you will take a moment to read the short report at the link below and to offer your prayers and good wishes. Please note that there have been bombings and deaths in Nairobi City over the past few weeks and the city has been on the alert so not only do my friends need prayers to meet their material needs but they need prayers of protection.  God bless and have a great week.

Kenya Missions of Hope: Short Update on Missions: Hello, Edwin and I will be going to Nairobi in about two days for further cancer treatment.  Last Friday we went for some check up and ...

Beautiful Skies Overhead

(This is a submission for Skywatch Friday)

It's one of those days that flew by. I was going to do so many things but where did the time go? I'm having some issues with very hot and sore hands and feet and tired legs so I decided to stay home. Nonetheless the day went quickly. I will have to wait until tomorrow and hopefully get my mani-pedi as well as go to Chinatown. I've been wanting to go there for ages and I have to buy some herbs so now is a good time to go.

I finished the book,  Half a Yellow Sun, by the young author Chimamande Adichie.  I enjoyed it immensely. The book is about the fight of mainly the Igbo people in Nigeria for their own country, The Republic of Biafra.  Biafra existed from May 30, 1967 to January 15, 1970 and most of us know little about the struggle.  The book is a fictional account of the events as experienced through the lives of 5 main characters.

I'm now reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulk. The book is about Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life both before and during World War 1. This book is highly acclaimed but I didn't enjoy the first part of the book which deals with the protagonist's  illicit affair while lodging with a textile factory owner.  I'm enjoying the second part of the book more.  It deals with another phase of the same protagonist as he serves in WW1. The author does an incredible job of describing the grittiness and harshness of the conditions under which soldiers fought and worked in the trenches.

I've also started a fascinating book called The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock.  I think this book will surely inspire me as it deals with a woman called Mrs. Delany who lived in the 1700s. After her husband dies, she begins her life's work and accomplishment at the age of 72.  Mrs. Delany is the inventor of the art form, collage, and I'm looking forward to learning much more about her and her creative process.

Right now I'm making curry chicken with naan and basmati rice for dinner. The chicken is slowly simmering so I'd better get to making the naan. In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful sky photos and have a joyous weekend.

I never get tired of looking at clouds and the beauty in the skies.

For more beautiful sky photos join Skywatch Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend and please visit again soon.