The Good News & The Bad News

Hello friends,

It's my first post in the month of May. Things have been very busy of late and they continue to be so.

I started but didn't finish planting the garden. I should finish the planting soon but had to take a break due to workmen trampling through my garden to clean windows. That is now done for another year as is the annual fire inspection. Next will come the annual carpet cleaning. This year it seems like they are doing everything all at one time.  It's all okay because it is better to get it out of the way IMHO.

The weather here has been fantastic. Perfect blues skies today. I had a wonderfully long walk. Something I haven't done in absolutely ages for many reasons. But today was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful kind of day. Not too hot and not too cold and was just right for strolling.

It allowed me to take a few photos to share for Skywatch Friday. However the sun was very bright so the photos have been touched up a bit. Nothing too fancy though as I don't have Photoshop or such like program.

The sky was a gorgeous blue and not a cloud in sight.

I took an extra long walk today and saw places I haven't seen a long time.

I thought these two old houses were a nice subject.

 

I said I had good news and bad news.

The good news is that the weather has been very lovely.  We've had a few cloudy days but we've also had a few very warm  and sometimes hot days.

I love these two old buildings. The top one with it's bay windows is nice.

The bottom one reminds me of buildings in New York City with the lovely red brick.

 I found this beautiful salmon coloured poppy nearby.

The bad news is the weather has been far too hot for this time of year and we've been shattering temperature records, left right and center all across the land.  It has contributed to raging fires in the far north of my province and in the province next door. There are devastating aftermaths and thousands and thousands of people have had to be evacuated.  I heard on the news today that the only way the fire will be extinguished now is if the rain comes. They will need a lot of it.

In my last post I provided some very brief updates  about the young man that many of you are praying for.  If you missed the post you can read it here.

 I learned that the open wound on the boy's face is caused by the tumour. It was the central point from which the tumour grew out of the boy's face and spread.  It was the "stem" so to speak.

The boys release has been delayed because the doctors are trying to ensure the wound heals first and it isn't healing that quickly so they've been trying to help dry it out.  They have also been watching his blood and giving him medicine or supplements (not quite sure which) to boost his white blood cell count. Some of you will know that white blood cells are important in protecting the body against foreign invaders that would cause illness or infections and are needed for recovery. The doctors have also been administering blood to counter the young man's anemia.

The open wound and scarring have made it difficult for the young man to chew and eat but today I heard he has graduated from runny porridge to mashed potatoes.  A friend in Kenya has also been trying to get the boy's chemotherapy administered in his hometown due to the expense of being in Nairobi for long and the expense of travelling back and forth from his home to the big city with escort.

At last today the hospital has said they would release the boy for treatment in his home community as they are satisfied the public hospital is properly equipped. That means he should be released soon pending health clearance and clearance of the hospital bill (a significant challenge).  This is good news and in the "nick of time" because his escort no longer has a place to stay in the city. He was staying with a helpful student but there have been problems with student unrest and new rules from the university administration strictly prohibits guests.

Please continue to pay for this situation if you feel led to do so.

Thank you for coming along on my walk today.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time, enjoy your weekend.

As for me, I am going to try and work on the garden and join friends for a barbeque.

Joining in with

Skywatch Friday

 Floral Friday Fotos

Short Update - Kenyan Missions

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.  Remember that nothing is certain in this life. Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NLT)

April 30, 2016 Update:  The boy who underwent surgery and is in a Nairobi Hospital has suffered a setback. He was losing blood. He has a rare blood type and it was difficult to find blood for him (Kenya is generally short on blood so you can imagine the dearth of blood for rare blood types). They eventually found two pints. Please continue to pray for this young man. (Context and details below in the main post.).  May 1, 2016 Update:  The boy seems to be doing better today

Hello everyone, 

I hope this post finds you well. Today is Skywatch Friday but I am not linking up because I want to update about the Kenyan missions as some of you have told me you are praying about the needs I wrote about here. Some have asked that I try to update and so I am honouring that request.

The photo below is of the young orphan boy who had a large tumour growing on his neck and throat.

My friend and I got him to Nairobi for surgery. His surgery was originally scheduled for Wednesday April 19th.  During assessment they found him to be anemic so they had to give him blood.  It took longer than anticipated to address his anemia. The surgery was rescheduled to Friday April 22nd.  It went ahead as planned and the boy is now recovering in hospital.

In the photo below you will see the tumour is now removed. You can see the big scar. I am a bit concerned about what looks like an open wound and I hope and pray that no infection sets in. The boy is under medication.

A friend has travelled to Nairobi to be with the boy, his escort and his host. These are all young men of only 18 years of age. They are all from different village communities. They feel lost and abandoned without any senior adult help and few funds to address the various needs.  I'm glad my friend has travelled on short notice to be with and encourage the boys through this trying time. 

The next thing my friend is working on is trying to arrange for chemotherapy as the boys cannot stay in Nairobi indefinitely. The boys release from hospital is expected early next week pending clearance of the bill.

Keep these boys in your prayers.

Also right now it is rainy season in Kenya. There have been more floods and deaths and buildings collapsing in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya.

 Prayer needs:

1) That all material and financial needs will be met

2) Workable arrangements for chemotherapy

3) Freedom from infections and side effects

4) Safety from floods and rains
5) Peace and comfort.

I appreciate those of you who are interested in praying for these young men. May God bless you.

A Brief Change in Weather

Thank you to all who took the time to comment on my last post here and say you would offer prayers. It is very much appreciated on behalf of the young boy in Nairobi hospital and for Jonah and John, who are recovering from the after effects of snake bites.

This week we've had very hot weather. It seemed to go from cold to hot virtually overnight. It was a nice change but given how hot it was I am a bit concerned that it might become overly hot and dry like last summer.  In fact, it was so hot and dry and we had so little rain that we had months of heavy duty water restrictions.

Having said that, it is nice to feel the warm of the sun. It has allowed me a bit of time to get out and try and prepare the garden despite it not being my favourite thing to do.  There is still much more to do before it will be finished but with the help of a good friend, the hardest parts are done.  I have to pace myself as I'm still recovering from illness which seems to have gone on plenty long enough.  As I read different blogs I see that there are many suffering too. I hope and pray that you all recover well from the colds and flu bugs.  Where my mom lives there has been an outbreak of the flu and a quarantine has been in place for some weeks. Just when they contain one area, there is an outbreak in another area. Unfortunately it affects the visitation for the residents but what can you do?  I digress.

The sunny and hot weather was short lived.  Tonight there is a change in the air and in the skies.  I see that there is also an 80% chance of rain tomorrow. I don't actually mind because the soil in my garden could do with a good watering before I finish working on it.

Early in the week I shared this beautiful sky

The next photos were taken after garden clean up tonight.

The rain is only expected to last one day and it is expected to be light rain.

I actually hope it rains a little harder than expected :-)

Today I am linking up with the good hosts at Skywatch Friday
and
Friday Foto Friends with Debbie.

Thank you for your visit and your comments.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Updates & A Walk

Hello dear readers,

I hope you are all doing fine and enjoying the Spring if you are in the Northern Hemisphere.  I know my friends in different countries in Africa are now moving into their cooler weather while we are just gearing up for gardening season where I live in Canada.

The weather has been quite nice for awhile now though every few days it is cloudy and sometimes raining. Some of you know that I've been trying to recover from a bad bout of bronchitis so I haven't been on line as much as usual. It means I haven't been blogging as consistently as usual or visiting your blogs.

Anyway, without further ado I wanted to provide an update you on a few missions efforts in Kenya. Someone asked me to keep them updated about the young man I wrote about in my  last post here.  I also wanted to update about the current condition of  the Pokot man who had been bitten by the black mamba snake early in the new year.  Finally I wanted to share a few photos I took on Monday as it seems like forever since I posted any new pics.

The young man I wrote about last time is an orphan who has been brought up by an aunt.  They have been trying to raise the funds to travel from a village near Narok, Kenya to some place where the young man can get treatment for the cancerous tumour on his face and neck.  They asked for prayers to meet all their financial needs.  After learning about this man's predicament and seeing how large the tumour was getting,  I decided I would help this young man get to Nairobi and ensure he didn't have to wait any longer for treatment.

Within a week he travelled to Nairobi with a medical escort, a member of his extended family.  A friend based in Kenya and I put our heads together to make a plan.  A private car had to be hired to drive these two men to the City of Nairobi. Due to the man's disfigured face he was not allowed in public transport which was our original plan.  We also ran into difficulties in finding a place to billet the young men.  Parents were reluctant to open their homes because their children might understandably be frightened.  Thankfully we were able to find accommodation through a young student I met some time ago in Kericho, Kenya.  He is now studying in Nairobi  and was only too happy to help. I remember long ago holding this very same student in my arms as he was crying and offering him chocolates as a way to make him happy. It is amazing to me how the story has come back to him.

Once the young patient and his escort arrived in Nairobi we ensured they were able to purchase bedding (mattress and blankets), towels, toiletries and some food.  The accommodations where they are staying are simple and the host is a student who is obviously on limited income. After getting settled, the pair of young men immediately went to hospital where they were expected by doctors for assessment. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday Nairobi time).  After that I expect that chemotherapy will be administered.  I  have no idea how long they will need to stay in Nairobi but I expect it will be too expensive go to back and forth from village to Nairobi for treatment.

Please continue to pray that the surgery would go well and that all the remaining needs for medical care would be met.

Some of you will remember that I also wrote about a man from Pokot (northwestern Kenya) and my friend Jonah; both of whom were bitten by black mamba snakes in late 2015. Since then both men have gone through enormous challenges in recovery and the cost of medical treatment has been very high.

Made in January 2016

Jonah has been in and out of hospital but seems to be doing fine now. The other man, John, has been in hospital with no release since his admittance.  That is almost 4 months!  During that time he almost died twice due to not having the funds to get proper treatment. Thankfully we were able to get him the most urgent of help on these occasions and I'm happy to report that he seems to be doing fine now.  He cannot leave hospital until his bill is fully paid.  We are trying to make arrangements for the county government to assist John so he can go home to his family.

Made in April 2016

Here at home, I've been very busy this week.  Though not fully recovered, I've been well enough to do some sewing in anticipation of a visit to mom.  This time I made one dress (purple animal print) and 3 slips (turquoise, mauve and olive green). I just made several slips not so terribly long ago.  But  one has been ruined when someone on staff tried to cut it to modify it. It now looks like a rag.  Another slip was bleached out by the laundry department. I hope these new slips will last for awhile but I probably still need to make at least one or two in a fabric that will stand up better to hot water washing.  I'm thinking a light t-shirt material would be best because it stretches and bends with movement. It would also do much better in the laundry. In January I made 3 dresses.  At the time mom requested a purple dress. The pink/purple/black/white combo (in the photo above, far right) was the closest I could come to her request. Now I found a nice purple print (photo above, left). I hope she likes it!

I had an  nice outing the other day after being cooped up for so long indoors. Oh my, the weather was very hot! I met my friend in a coffee shop which was ice cold with the air conditioning going. We came outside shivering after 2 hours and were greeted by the balmy weather.  I captured these photos on my return home.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday.

Thank you for your visit and your comments.

WARNING: This May Be Disturbing: Prayers Requested

In my last post I said I wouldn't be blogging for awhile.

But this photo was sent to me later in the day along with 

a request for prayers.

The village family and community are trying to raise funds to go to Nairobi hospital to have the tumour removed from this young man's neck..

The fundraising target is 150,000 Kenyan Shillings (approximately $1500 US; $1920 Canadian; $1300 Euros).

They request prayers to help them achieve the goal.

Once they have the funds they will head to Nairobi or try to get the assistance of the government

to send this young man abroad.  Going abroad for treatment is common in Kenya if one can raise the funds. 
The country of Kenya is sorely lacking in cancer treatment options and equipment.

Thank you for reading and offering your prayers.

Warmer Weather

I'm still under the weather. 
 We've been having such marvellous weather this past week.
 I've missed most of it because of being indoors but I did manage to get this shot on Friday.

 On Friday I passed by the same street where I took (click highlighted words to see) these photos in March.

 This time the trees were in bloom again but with different blossoms.

How can that be? 

It's a mystery.

But I'm pretty certain there are not two varieties of trees all up and down the street which are blooming at different times.  If I get a chance, I'll try to get back there and take photos before the blossoms are gone.

When warmer weather arrives it is nice to enjoy these delicious salads.

~~

I'm not sure how much I will be blogging in the immediate future or how much time I will have to visit your blogs.
 I will surely try but  I'm so far behind in things.
 I need to focus on getting  well.  Then I need to focus on the things I haven't had time for while convalescing.
Don't be surprised though if you see me pop in to this blog or yours now and then.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday this week.
Thank you for your kind visit.
Have a fabulous week! 

Update: 
I returned to the street where I took photos last month of all the blossoms. 
The trees are entirely bare. The whole street!
The 2nd blooms didn't last long at all.
Fortunately there are still some blossoms on other trees but they've lost the vibrant colour they had last week and look like they won't be lasting much long.
Not to worry. The leaves on all the deciduous trees are now coming out.
Soon everything will be green.

Awesome Blues

It was such a beautiful day on Easter Monday when I took these photos. The sky was an awesome blue and the clouds were so wispy.

Happy Skywatch Friday!

Enjoy your weekend.

My World April 5, 2016

The big crane is on the horizon. A huge high rise is going in on a busy street despite many protests.

The tall crane on the horizon lets me know that big changes are coming to my view. I've long known this was happening but never really thought of it's impacts on me since I don't live so close to where the high rise is being built.  In the past week though I've seen the crane there every day.  It is there to stay until it's done it's work and it is clear that the finished work, a high rise, will interfere with my view.  Residents in the immediate vicinity of the new building protested long and hard against the new building because it is the first requiring a change to the density of the area. Vancouver is out of land so all new buildings are going upwards rather than outwards. That is a sign of the current times.

I've been feeling poorly again. I've been sleeping much more than usual and I'm also taking naps. This is very unusual for me. After a few days I discovered it was a chest cold so I'll just have to let it run it's course.

Normally when I'm feeling under the weather I find productive ways to occupy my time.  But in this instance I've really been trying not to push myself." Rest" is my unofficial word of the year. It's unofficial because I didn't choose it until February.  I wasn't going to choose a guiding word for this year.  But this word came to me in mid February or so and somehow it seemed "right".

What about you dear reader? 

Did you choose a guiding word for the year?

After doing virtually nothing but sleep, rest and eat for a few days, I got quite bored.  I finally picked up my e-reader and continued reading a book called, The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.  I didn't know what I was in for when I started to read the novel and I don't want to give anything away.  But I am about 20% into the book and enjoying it so far.

I didn't read any summaries or reviews of the book before started reading it.  Ms. Tan is one of my all time favourite writers and I generally assume I will like any book she writes.  I'm happy to say that I believe this one will be to my liking as well.  I'm not going to write a book review here as I'm still in early stages of the book.  If you are interested at all, I recommend reading a summary here or here (where you can also sample some pages and hear a sample of an audio recorded book).

In addition to making a bit of progress on the book, I also knitted a few dish cloths. I'm trying to use up the bits and bobs of my dwindling cotton yarn stash. I'm taking my time with these latest dishcloths.  When I'm tired I make mistakes and I don't want to have a mess on my hands, lol.

The Solomon's Seal (above and below photos) has doubled in size in 5 days or less.  It's amazing how fast plants grow with the sunshine.  I need to get out and clean the garden soon but that is another thing I don't feel up to and gardening isn't my favourite thing. I only like to look at and admire plants once they are planted and growing.

 The next few shots I was experimenting with the lens focus.

I had a special outing planned for the weekend but I didn't get to it.as planned.
 Now the weather will be a bit inclement for awhile and then I'll be busy with a few other things.

Hopefully I can squeeze it my outing some time soon.  It will provide a lot of wonderful opportunities for photos which I can share with you.
 I hope you are enjoying life where ever you are in this big, wide world.


Thanks for visiting my world today.

I'll be joining Our World Tuesday and

stopping by to see what is happening in your world.

April Sky

 Happy April!

Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week.

Have a fantastic weekend and

thanks for stopping by.♥♥♥

My World Is Turning to Spring

A few days ago the fresh snow was still falling on the mountain tops.

But now the signs of Spring are here. It's even warm enough for windows to be opened to the fresh air.

I don't remember planting these flowers last year. I'm not even sure what they are :-)

The sakura (cherry) blossoms are gone from my neighbourhood. I think they are still in bloom elsewhere in the city.

In my area those pretty blossoms are being replaced by these new buds.

It's all good.

How is your world?

Joining in with Our World Tuesday today and our lovely host, Lady Fi.

Seeing Double

Seeing Double

Hey wait a minute! Now there's only one.

And he's off like the wind for his run while his mama gets her exercise on the bike.

Joining Saturday's Critters with our host, Eileen.

A Few Brave Souls

This was the sky around dinner time in Vancouver on Thursday evening.

I noticed that there were only a few birds on the wire. Usually the wire is full of birds but today only a few "brave souls" were there.

As of 10:10 p.m. it still wasn't raining. 

According to the weather forecast we are supposed to get mixed sun and cloud over the Easter weekend except for  Sunday when rain is expected.

Next week glorious sunshine and warmer temperatures are expected.

Are there any Downtown Abby fans reading my blog?

I never did watch it until the very last season and I enjoyed the last season a lot.

Are any of you now watching Mr. Selfridge? I was on a television marathon catching up on Seasons 1 & 2. I still have 4 episodes to watch of Season 3 before I'm completely caught up. I'm enjoying it a lot and would like to hear your views in the comments section.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday

Thank you for visiting.
May you have a wonderful Easter weekend with family and loved ones ♥

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

Spring Sky

Corporate Headquarters of the provincial BC Hydro (provincial Crown corporation mandated to deal with issues relating to provincial electricity matters.

 

I'm not sure what kind of tree this is but the blossoms are lovely. I think it is a variety of cherry tree with very light blossoms.

 The sky in my city was lovely today. The temperature was also lot warmer than it has been all week.

I'd forgotten that it was St. Patrick's Day today. But if you look closely there are some green items in my first photos (see logo at top of building and the markings on the street).

Thank you for your visit. 

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today.