Crafty Creations

I've had a cold this past week or more and I've been quite fatigued. I haven't been feeling up to much of any real work or outside activities while I'm trying to rest and recuperate.

Usually when I'm sick, I like to read a good book but this week I got crafty.

First up was this jumble of knitting. I made two sets of dishcloths.

This first set is made with a smaller needle. I like this colour combination for kitchen cloths and have made a set for myself in this colour before.

This dishcloth and it's mate (not in this photo) was made for a friend of mine who recently helped me pack up mom's apartment. Her kitchen has whites, pink and browns so I thought she'd like this colour combination. I've made it in a slightly larger knit which I've found works very nicely for dishcloths.

I love this colour blue and actually made this one in the Autumn. This week I've wrapped a bar of dove soap inside and will gift it to a friend who loves this colour blue.

This yellow item is an aborted experiment in crocheting a baby dress. I didn't have the right size of hook and I don't think the yarn is soft enough for a baby.  As I progressed, I could see that the dress was really too small at the top. I believe I know what the problem is.  I think it is missing the chains at the ends of each row. I may try this again when I get the right size hook and softer yarn.

Determined to make a baby dress, I started a different pattern. I am using some light pink yarn that was given to me by a friend.  The colour looks washed out due to the lack of good light at that hour of the morning.

In this photo you can see the proper colour of the sweater. This is the first time I've tried this pattern. I always find the first time making something to be quite challenging and I don't usually work in yarn as my preferred material is crochet cotton.  Now that I am getting close to the finish, I think it looks very cute. I will post a photo of the  finished product after I find some ribbon and rosettes to adorn this sweet little jacket.

Close up detail of the sleeve.

I hope you've enjoyed a peek at my crafting week.

I'd love to know if you've been busy making anything 

and whether you have any knitting or crochet patterns 

of baby things to share with beginners like me.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Those Who Love Chocolate

Welcome to my newest follower, Snow white who lives in Nara, Japan.

Dōmo arigatō (thank you). Hajimemashite (nice to meet you).

Every since I found out I was diabetic I have not been baking as much as before. I miss baking cookies and eating a cookie while drinking my tea.  Lately it has been cold and windy here and  Tuesday night was no exception. I went on line and found this easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  These cookies are different from others I have tried because you add cocoa to the mixture.

Recipe Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp water if dough is dry ( I had to add a bit of water)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts ( I added some leftover pecan nuts as I don't have any walnuts)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

The mixed cookie batter.

Recipe Instructions:

Beat together the oil, sugar, and egg. Add the rest of the
ingredients and stir to blend well. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drop
by spoonfuls, about 1 inch apart, onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes (or until done) at about 375 F.
My batter  made 30 cookies.

There are two cookie shapes here, one round and one flattened with a fork tine.

One cookie - 106 calories, 1 starch/bread, 1 fat exchange 2 g
protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, 124 mg sodium

Quick & Easy Diabetic Menus by Betty Wedman, M.S., R.D. 1993 ISBN
0-8092-3853-5

These cookies were tasty and not too sweet but flavourful enough with the added cocoa. The cookies are also a bit crispy.

It's All About Love

I Corinthians 13 

Valentine's Day is a day of love,
For showing that we care,
And if we read the Bible,
God describes love there: If we speak like celestial angels
From heaven up above,
All our words mean nothing
If we don’t have Christian love. Love is patient, love is kind;
It doesn’t brag or boast;
Love conquers pride and envy;
It is never self-engrossed. Love is not rude or angry;
Forgiveness counters wrong;
Love stays away from evil;
It sings a truthful song. Love is full of trust and hope;
It always perseveres;
Love never fails; It’s faithful;
To the Bible it adheres. And if you give this kind of love
To your special Valentine,
You’ll be loving right in harmony
With God’s own sweet design. 

By Joanna Fuchs HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! MAY YOURS BE FILLED WITH LOVE

Update on Mom on Skywatch Friday ~ February 11, 2011

I would like to welcome my newest follower, Angela, who hails all the way from Kenya. Angela I do hope you will enjoy my posts about your beautiful country and also come to know a bit about mine as you read my blog. Karibu.

Sky photo taken in Kamloops, BC (from my archives).

Today I have a short post. I've learned late Thursday that after only one week in the nursing home, mom had to head for hospital emergency again.  The chronic cellulitis in her legs has flared up again. This time in the right leg. The doctor at the nursing home examined her and suggested she go into hospital. 

I find this development upsetting since I've only recently returned to my home (out of town) from moving her and clearing out her apartment. I'm sure mom finds it even more upsetting but we didn't have much time to talk about what she is going through.  I don't have more information about her condition.  I would simply like to ask you to pray for my mom and for me. 

Thank you so much! 

Update (Friday afternoon):  I talked to the attending nurse. She said mom has had an ultrasound and though the nurse hasn't read the official report yet, she thinks there are no blood clots. Thank God as mom's leg colour has been so dark and unusual. Mom is being given a course of intravenous antibiotics 4x daily.  I'm told she should be back to the nursing home in a few days. If so, that will be her shortest hospital stay yet and that is good news indeed. Then she can finally settle into her new home.

For more Skywatch Friday click here.

Lake Elementeita

Click here to read Part 1 in this series. It starts with my stopover in Nairobi, Kenya.
Click here to read Part 2 in this series in Kenya. It continues with my sojourn in Nairobi, Kenya.
Click here to read Part 3 in this series on Kenya where I stop to view a stunning lookout.

As we continue our journey northward from the look out along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway as seen in my post here, we eventually make our way to Lake Elementeita. Lake Elementeita, also spelled Elementaita, is a soda lake, in the eastern limb of East Africa's Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya. The lake gets it's name from the Masaai word "muteita" which means "dust place", a reference to the dry and dusty quality of the area, especially between January and March.

I passed through this area in November 2010.  At the time the area was nice, lush and green.  Elementeita is located between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru. The major Nairobi-Nakuru highway runs along the nearby escarpment giving motorists a spectacular vista towards the lake. However I wanted a better look at the lake.

At the entry gate just off the highway we paid a small entry fee and then turned off to drive down a very bumpy dirt road to the lake.  Don't let the bumpy road deter you from the experience of seeing the lake.  I still remember my first trip where I couldn't get over how bad the roads were and now it doesn't bother me at all. By the way, many of the major highways have been improved since my first journey to Kenya.

Taking these close up views of the mountains and surrounding area will make any bumps you encounter more than worth it!

After the busyness of Nairobi and the traffic jams we encountered every day, I felt myself relaxing the tense muscles in my body. It was just so wonderful to be out in natural surroundings of which the country of Kenya is bountifully blessed.

As often happens when you veer off the beaten path, children appeared out of nowhere.  Some had been working and some had been playing for at least one of them had a machete, a common implement here. The children excitedly ran down to the lake to meet us. I often have candy with me and small change for like children everywhere they hope to be given a small treat.

The first white settlement at Lake Elementeita occured when Lord Delamere (1897-1931) established Soysambu, a 48,000 acre ranch on the western side of the lake. Delamere gifted the land nearest the lake to his brother-in-law, the Honorable Galbraith Lowry Egerton Cole (1881-1929).  Egerton Cole is buried on Kekopey Ranch which today is called Lake Elementeita Lodge and is open for overnight guests.

On our drive back up the road to the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, I snapped these photos of the buildings on the surrounding hillside.   You can see some of the birdlife in the foreground of the lake.

There are between 350-400 bird species recorded in the Lake Nakuru/Lake Elmenteita basin. Elementeita attracts visiting flamingoes which feed on the lake's crustacean and insect larvae and on its suspended blue-green algae.  In 1962,  tilapia fish were introduced to the lake from Lake Magadi in Kenya.  An unfortunate side effect of tilapia introduction is that the flamingo population has dramatically dwindled.  The tilapia fish attract a lot of fish eating birds that also feed upon the flamingo eggs and chicks.  Over a million birds that formerly bred at Elmenteita are now said to have sought refuge at  Lake Natron in Tanzania.

*All photos mine*

Overnight visitors to Lake Elementeita can spend the night at the Elementaita Lodge as well as camping at Mbweha camp.  You can find breathing photos of these lodgings by clicking on the links (as underlined).

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Elmenteita
http://www.africanmeccasafaris.com/kenya/guide/lakeelementaita.asp
http://www.enhols.com/kenya_safari/lake/elementaita.aspx

Sorting, Combining & Chucking

People are going hungry in parts of Kenya. If you can pray or help please read about it here.

I spent a few hours on Monday night going through mom's photos (the few that I brought back with me, the rest are with her) and my dearly departed sister's photos. I got rid of  a few photos and some papers but need to go through them once or twice more to decide what papers to keep for her children.  As for the photos, I hope to make a keepsake album or two for my nephew who is now a young man.

I then spent the entire day on Tuesday going through all my craft and sewing items. Well almost all of them. I didn't go through my tole painting supplies as they don't take up much room and are in a small plastic container. I was sorting and cleaning as I went along and trying to make room for some of mom's things that I brought back to my home.

My condo doesn't have much storage space inside so I had to cull some more towels and odds and ends,  in order to make room for other things. I would likely have been getting rid of these things anyway in my regular decluttering exercise.

Odds and ends for giveaway. I will add to it as I continue going through the apartment.

I also decided to discard my trusty shower curtain. Would you believe I've had the same shower curtain since 1989/1990?!!!

It is hard to see in this photo but this shower curtain has all kinds of colours in it: peach, beige, pink, green, dark and light blue, white, gray, pink and black. I think I kept the curtain so long because it has so many colours.  All I had to do was change up the towels and the bathroom rug for a different look now and then.

I've temporarily replaced my shower curtain with this all blue and white one which belonged to mom.  She hardly used it and it had been packed up for a few years.  Though I do like the colour blue this isn't the curtain I want for the long-term.  I've been meaning to do a minor change in the bathroom but haven't got around to it yet.

My bathroom redecorating will likely feature the colours in this floral wall art; a gift to me by my nephew.

In my sorting and cleaning today I had to remove virtually everything from their containers and repack things as I went along.  My living and storage space is limited with all the supplies I already had.  Now I was adding some of mom's supplies, especially knitting needles, a few sewing supplies, all her beads and leather and all the material with Native American designs.

I saved all this stuff because I want to take up beading once again and perhaps make some quilts with the unique material she had. At least the material is unique in Canada though perhaps in the USA it would be much easier to find.  It would be shame to get rid of all this crafting material since mom kept it so long.  Moreover, if I needed to buy it again it would cost me a small fortune.

Perhaps I can gift my nieces and nephews with some of the craft items once I make them.  Or perhaps I can even sell some of them as unique gift items if I have enough of a stash. Whatever the case, I will certainly be busy for awhile once I start making things!

My crochet threads are now all in a basket in the front room for easy access.  Thankfully mom never crocheted with thin cotton yarn or I would probably have kept some of hers too!

My knitting yarns are all in a big plastic tub rather than spread out in different carry bags.  I didn't bring back any of mom's yarns with me. I figured I had enough to keep me busy for awhile.

This is one of the carry bags I had my knitting in. I now use it to house all the knitting needs, crochet hooks, stitch counter, needle gauge, stitch holders, etc. I inherited a few knitting needles from mom but gave all her yarn to a friend who was helping me pack. She will give the tub of yarn to an avid knitter.

These are the fabrics I've inherited. Since I only have room in my closet for one tub of fabric, these additional fabrics will go on the top shelf in another of closets.  I'll be making a bit more room in that closet when I get rid of some linens, blankets and pillows.  I've place two large, thinner tubs containing leather and beads on the floor in another closet.

The other things I brought back were plastics for food storage, a few pots, a juicer, a meat slicer, a dehydrator, some large plastic bowls, a spice rack, food and supplies like laundry soap, paper towels, some matalesse coverlets I had bought her some years back and a pendleton blanket. These things will all be put to good use and except for the food (for which there is no room in the cupboards), the other things have been put away.  

I think one of the hardest things for any one who has to go into a nursing home, is the loss of all their possessions. I didn't have much time to give things away but where I could, I did. I know it helped mom to learn that some of her things didn't simply go to waste and that someone wanted them.

I didn't actually intend to do all this sorting today but I am sure happy that I did.  I have now cleared a path in my bedroom and in the front room and things aren't overflowing everywhere. I ended up chucking about 3 small bags of garbage and emptying two 3 small boxes, two larger boxes and two big, plastic tubs in addition to putting together at least one basket for giveaway.  On Wednesday I plan to carry on sorting through a box of family personal papers. Things I need to save for my nephew and his sister.  Once I get through this, I can get back to sorting my own papers. I still have a lot to discard but it is pretty well sorted now and that will make it a bit easier to go through.

On My Way North of Nairobi~ My World Tuesday

Click here to read Part 1 in this series. It starts with my stopover in Nairobi, Kenya.
Click here to read Part 2 in this series in Kenya. It continues with my sojourn in Nairobi, Kenya.

There was much more to see and do in Nairobi and many photos too.  But as I mentioned in an earlier post, I lost so many photos. I am still working on recovering them but this will take some time yet. Later I hope to add more posts and photos about things done in Nairobi, Kenya.

Right now I am taking you on a journey north to the City of Nakuru, Kenya. Before we get there we stop at this magnificent look out spot.

I always stop at this site when I visit Kenya and go north.  It is a place to take photos of Mount Longonot and the surrounding valley and to purchase curios and souvenirs.

This man makes me nervous sitting atop this rickety fence. It is a long drop to the bottom if it should fail him.

These are just some of the curio shops that sit by the roadside.

Last time I was through here I purchased a sheep skin for my mattress. This time I bought a small carved soapstone plate.

I understand that there are actually two highways, at different elevations,  that overlook this valley. The vista is really quite stunning. Much more than my photos can show you.  The look out is also much higher up than it looks.

This is the plate I bought. I think it's great! On this side it has a picture map of the area. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Turn the plate over and you see this beautiful red and black design along with key phrases/words in Swahili. There is a decorative element also. See the top of the plate. That is a row of carved elements.

For more of what others are doing around the world, join My World Tuesday.