A New Dish to Try & Making Progress on Goals

I've spent the past two days getting caught up on Spring cleaning and pulling together all of the things I will give away or try to sell.  Normally I give everything to the thrift stores but I think this time I will do up an advertisement for Freecycle.  This is where you and like minded people, offer or request things that you want to get rid of, or acquire for free.  Even though there is a local branch, I actually heard of this service through a friend who lives in North Carolina. While I've been a member for quite some time, I've never actually used the service so this will be my first try.  I have a lot to give away: 6 bags of outerwear and linens, one tub of patterns, and two small boxes.

My assortment of stuff for giveaway.

I also did a lot of laundering of things that only get laundered maybe once a year and need special attention.  Lots of things continue to be moved around the apartment and "rejigged" as I get rid of things and make room.  This is a constant "work in progress".  I'm getting fairly close to getting to outstanding paper clutter and going through the 4 drawer file cabinet. I intend to get rid of at least 3 of the 4 drawers of paper but these need to be shredded and that takes time.  Once there is room in the cabinet,  I can add the papers that are currently in boxes I brought home from moms. I have already sorted through these boxes fairly well once when I first brought them to my home but next sort will be the fine tuning one where I decide what is absolutely necessary to keep.  My challenge is that I am the keeper of special or important documents; not just mine but for 3 other adults (family members) who cannot keep it for themselves due to various circumstances.

Another big project out of the way today was a good cleaning of the garden. A friend came over to do the work for me and I was amazed at how much he did in such a short time. It took him about 2 hours to clear away what would normally take me time over a 2 or 3 day period. I'm so pleased to have this work done because it is going to rain for the next few days. Once the rain stops, the bedding plants will at last get planted!  The constant rains and cool weather have really delayed all this work but at least it is getting done now. We did have a few days of sunshine but on those days I was busy. The patio furniture will be cleaned up very soon too and made ready for al fresco dining and relaxing with friends.

I managed to try another new recipe today. Something I've been wanting to try for years. I don't know why but it is one of those dishes that I just never got around to making and I felt intimidated by. I have my blogging friend, Diane at the blog, My Life in the Charente to thank for inspiring me to make the soup at last and I was pleased to find that it is really very easy.  My regular readers know that I only like to make easy recipes.  You can find Diane's recipe for butternut squash soup here.

Butternut Squash Soup

I most often modify recipes according to what I have on hand and today was no exception. In this case, I omitted the dairy, the citrus and the apple; not because I didn't want to add these but I didn't happen to have them on hand even though I normally would have these items in stock! I just made sure I had enough broth and seasoning to ensure the squash and onions were cooked and to ensure that the blended version would be reasonably thick and creamy. It worked out perfectly and it was so tasty! I will definitely try this soup again and also the spinach soup I tried for the first time the other day.

A Thing of Beauty is Joy Forever, Skywatch April 6, 2011

Thank you and welcome to my newest follower, Wren.

Long time readers of this blog know how much I love apple, cherry and plum blossoms. I never, ever get tired of them and they bring such joy to me at this time of year.

Yesterday was an especially nice day to take a walk since it has been raining so much here and we haven't been getting consistent sunshine. I took these two photos to show you the blossoms and also to let you see that there is still fresh snow on the mountains.

Please click on the SkyWatch badge and it will take you to more beautiful skies around the globe. Thanks for stopping by!

Spinach Soup & Bean Salad

Now and then I like to try new recipes. A good part of the time the recipes are from blogging friends. This week I also tried a simple bean salad I've been wanting to make for awhile and somehow never seem to get around to.

About two weeks ago I bought and soaked garbanzo beans and kidney beans intending to make this salad but ended up not doing so. So this week, I went out and bought a large can of mixed beans and a regular sized can of green beans.

I drained and rinsed both cans of beans and put them in a corning ware dish (any serving dish will do).  I then chopped some roasted red peppers and added them to the mix. I wanted to add some chopped red onions but I didn't have any on hand. For the dressing, I mixed some cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar to taste, cracked salt and pepper and whisked them all together. I tossed the dressing and bean mixture and put it all in the fridge to chill for a few hours.

You can tell I was in a hurry because of the splashes of "juices" on the bowl.

I also made a delicious spinach soup from a recipe posted by my friend Jo over at her blog Memorable Meanders. You can find the recipe here at Jo's blog.

Thanks to Jo for sharing the recipe for this wonderful soup. It's a keeper.

Visting a Village

I would like to welcome my newest follower CrystalMary.  So glad to have you on board CM!

When I last left you on my Kenyan safari we were in the town of Marigat. As we left Marigat we proceeded east for about 3 or 4 hours along dirt roads that had huge ruts in them. The earth was parched and in many places we drove through fields where there were no roads at all.  We were "bump bumping" along the road for hours and hours.  We thought it might be a shortcut to where we were going to take this route but in the end, I think it might have taken longer.  I didn't mind. I took it all in stride as an adventure since I've been to Kenya on these "roads" before.

I took many lovely photos but unfortunately most of these are not yet recovered. My regular readers will know that I had problems with the memory card and lost a lot of my photos. I have yet to recover them all.

On this journey there were lots of cacti.

You can see that it is still fairly green where these huts are located.

In my post on Marigat, I mentioned that the town has a Perkerra Irrigation Project. You can see beyond the tree that the fields are lush and green. This is a result of the irrigation project.

I made a special point of capturing this bike parked by the tree in the the middle of seemingly no where.  The irrigated lands are just beyond.

We passed so many cattle and goats along the way though you can't really see water here there is supposed to be the Perkerra River. That is where the water is coming from for the irrigation project.

I love the trees in Kenya.

You can see how dry the earth looks.

We're taking a "shortcut" to the village. Before we can get there we must cross this river.

I decide to cross the river on foot.  It's part of the adventure and will make interesting memories.

I took a lot of photos from the passenger's window as we drove by. Some turned out better than others. Some huts were close together like these while others were much farther apart.

There were several ostriches around the area and they provided a lot of entertainment for me. I  love watching them move across the dusty savannah. One kick from their long legs would certainly knock a person out.

I'm not sure of the name of the place we were headed though I have in fact been there before. It is a village of very far flung huts and not much else. Though there is a church, perhaps more than one.

You can see that the area is rather mountainous and rocky but the flat land is very dry. 

We were on our way to a small place that I had visited approximately 4 years earlier. I had visited the missionary in the area and we were discussing the need for a community borehole. A year after I left this place some contacts I made visited this community with my friend Jonah and committed to raising funds for a borehole. 

This part of our journey was in the main part of the village. We had to drive through the fields to get to our final destination.

I had to take photos of this man because he was walking in a far away village and he was carrying a briefcase. I was fascinated that he had a briefcase. I couldn't fathom what kind of work he might be doing and where he might be going. I imagine he was going home but what office was he leaving?

I zoomed in to get a better look at the briefcase.

Where ever I go I love to see the children.

I also love to see girls and young women being girls and sharing their confidences with one another.

The final leg of our long journey was on roads like this and the field below. These were good roads and easy to travel compared to the first several hours of our trip off the highway.

My next post on the Kenyan safari will take you to the actual village borehole. I hope you will come again soon.

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A Time for Every Purpose

  For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
  A time to be born and a time to die.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2

I went to early morning services this morning at church. I usually go to the late morning service but today the power was being turned off for the morning at my building while they do some kind of maintenance work. It seemed best to be out.

When I got home I was stunned by a phone call from my mother. She reported that Marlene, the wife of the husband and wife team (Tom & Marlene) that looks after my autistic niece and another autistic woman, in addition to their own daughter, has died. 

Marlene died very suddenly yesterday of a massive heart attack. She was only 49 years old. 

While most of us know that death can come to any of us at any time, we are nevertheless shocked when it happens so suddenly to someone in seeming good health.  

After talking with my mom, I called Marlene's husband, Tom and offered my condolences. He is in shock and doing his best to remain positive and focused for the whirlwind that will arrive this week as family and loved ones arrive.  Even in grief he recognizes that my niece also needs comfort as it is like she has lost two moms and I guess she has been saying "Marlene died, like mom".  He told me that he shared with my niece that his wife is now in heaven greeting my sister, my niece's own mom and that the two of them are laughing and sharing stories about my awesome niece.  I guess my nephew has also been there to comfort his sister.

 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn...

Ecclesiastes 3:4

I just heard the news and I am still processing it. I am in a bit of shock and my system is jolted with the sudden and unexpected news.  My heart is grieved for a woman I knew to be a powerhouse in her sphere of influence and she will be greatly missed.

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again...

Ecclesiastes 3:20

I will say some prayers for the family today and gives thanks anew for my daily blessings and the gift of life, a fragile and sometimes fleeting gift.

Love to you and yours.