It's a New Week

A visit is like rainwater; you pray for it when it stays away and its a problem when it rains too much. ~ -Hebrew Proverb

It's a new week and wow what do we have? More rain!

This was the picture weather-wise this morning. The sky looked ominous.

Rain  means I don't have to manually water the garden which has only recently been planted. I haven't even completed all my container gardening but the geraniums are looking water logged. They should do fine when the sun comes back.

You could no longer see the mountains by afternoon.

The hostas in the garden and in the containers are growing very quickly.  This is the first year I am growing them. I heard they grow easily and they didn't disappoint.

The tomatoe plants are in their cages. I am growing both regular tomatoes and a variety of smaller tomatoes.

The crows have been up to mischief. They pulled the plastic liner out of my planter box. The crows have also been using the bird bath as their personal spa every day.  They have damaged the bird bath and destroyed the finial though I am not sure exactly how.  Perhaps it was actually cold weather that damaged the finial more than the crows.  But the crows are annoying me.  When they are around the little birds do not stay to play and enjoy themselves.

My garden went in very late so it is no where near the mature gardens I am already seeing on line across the nation. The rain will help establish it. I hope it will grow well this year and I'm looking forward to harvesting tomatoes and peppers for salsa, salads and other meals.

Despite the rains I've got a busy week ahead. I've been contemplating lasik surgery and have had several appointments with different laser surgeons as well as my Dr. of Opthamology.  Based on everything I've learned, I don't think I'll be moving forward on laser surgery given my advancing age. The cost involved at a later stage in life when one may soon have to deal with cataract surgery just doesn't make it practical. My Opthamologist suggested early permanent lenses (to avoid cataract surgery later) and though initially appealing, I really don't like the thought of getting my eyes cut until I have to. The laser surgery option would have been what they call "no touch" and somehow I thought that would be better though I realize there are great risks in that approach also.  Not everyone who goes through laser surgery has a good experience and some people come away with lasting damage.  So for now, I put the decision on hold and have gone ahead with getting my year's supply of contacts and a new pair of glasses. My word, I could not believe the cost of glasses since the last time I ordered a pair a few years ago. Unfortunately my prescription has also gone up which increases the cost also.

Some of you may remember my short experiment with vegan eating some time ago. I did enjoy the food but didn't enjoy all the preparation involved. It seemed like all I ever did was buy veggies, wash veggies and chop veggies.  But now it is summer again and in summer I love to eat salads and fruits. I've ordered a book on vegan eating from my local used bookstore.  I only ordered in on Saturday evening and they already called today to say it is in so I hope to pick it up tomorrow.  I can't wait to read and learn  more about vegan eating and to see what recipes I might learn to enjoy.

I've also been busy with a lot of business concerning an upcoming move for my mother. She will be moving into a brand new facility in the not too distant future so there is a lot involved with that. She is excited and I am excited for her.  Though she has only been in her current home for just over 3 years, it really is time for her to move on to hopefully greener pastures. I think that the new place is going to be very different for so many reasons not the least of which is the style and material of the building.  The building where she lives now is quite old and is a sprawling one level building.  The design of the new residence is a multi-story building and has been designed with the landscape in mind.  The design has a lot of natural elements like wood, stone, natural rocks and natural colours. I don't have a photo yet but I've included an architectural drawing.

Besides having a different and brand new, pleasant space, there will also be some nice changes to her services.  Mom will continue to have the usual benefits of a doctor, podiatrist, hair dresser, launderer, meals etc. but she will also have access to a dentist and dry cleaning service which she currently does not have. I only wish that the developer would have incorporated a guest suite or two for visiting family members.  It costs a lot of money to visit on a regular basis and stay in a hotel.  (A day after posting this artist's sketch, I got some photos of the new facility.  The photo below is the front of the building and it looks a lot like the artist's sketch.  However it doesn't have stones on all the exterior walls, only in the center where the entrance is. I have now seen a number of photos from various angles of the building and the structure looks quite enormous. It isn't quite completed but should be soon and most of the parking areas are paved and some of the landscaping and planting of flowers is now complete).

My mini e-reader that I mentioned here, arrived last week and I've set it up to sync with my computer and also put some e-books on hold at the library. It looks like I'll have a wait for the e-books I want but that is okay. Once they are available it will be a simple process of downloading them rather than making a trip to the library to pick them up. Fantastic service!  I was so excited about this that I finally made some efforts to read e-books that I'd previously downloaded once I synced them to my mini-reader. So far I'm reading Tess of the D'ubervilles which I enjoy a lot but haven't made enough time to finish reading it.  I'm also enjoying The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I'm amazed at the genius and creative mind of Mark Twain. I read this book way back in grade 7 but appreciate it in a different way now. If I have time and energy when I'm finished I may have a comment or two about the book, or I may just want to keep reading.  Now that I've got several books on my mini-reader, I'm finding it easier to read a few pages here and there.  When I am on a roll with my reading, I don't like to stop. Is anyone else like that?

Many other things are happening in my world.  Most of it good but just too busy these days.  Too much to get into but just wanted to touch bases with you all. I wish all of you a very wonderful week ahead!

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday today.

Crisis near Kisumu

Hello dear friends,

It has been a long time since I've written about Kenya so I hope you will be touched by these photos and brief report.

It has been raining a lot in Kenya and for a rather long time. Different issues have arisen here and there in the country, primarily flooding and destruction. My friend, Jonah has been in Kisumu, north west of where he lives. There is has been volunteering to try and help some of the flood victims. (Click on photos to enlarge).

(All photos belong to the Kenya Missions of Hope)

The workers had to use  boats to reach out to the people in the far flung islands created by the floods.

Please pray for the rains to stop in Kenya.

The people are praying for help and for the rains to stop.

If you would like to make a contribution to help them, you can send donation of your choice to kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com

If you would pray for the people that would be so encouraging also. Thank you so much. Click on the link to join others for Our World Tuesday.

 

Kobo Quote

The average person reads fewer than 100 books in their lifetime.

How many have you read?
(Kobo quote)

I've read far more than 100 books but not nearly as many books as I'd like to read. That is one of the reasons I now set reading goals every year.  Though my goals are modest in comparison to other readers I find that goals do help me focus and remind me that I need to pick up and read a new book every now and then.  I've also found that reading goals have helped get me into a rhythm and practice of reading and so I've easily met and surpassed my goals both last year and this year.  I can either increase my reading goals or have time for other goals. I like to try and have a balance. Reading goals are also helping me focus more on  Bible studies and other studies.

Many people say that they read a lot more on their e-readers. I have a device that I can read books on but I still read paper books. I don't yet get the same enjoyment from reading on a device but that may change.

Some things I do like about an e-reader is that you can download lots of free books onto it. The other nice thing is you can have many books going at the same time and dog ear the pages. I don't like putting dog ears on paper books so I usually use a book mark or a piece of paper. Often they fall out and I lose my place. Sometimes it takes me awhile to find my place again, lol. Do you have that problem too? I also like the fact that if you go on vacation you can take an e-reader along and it holds far more books than you can carry or read on a holiday.

My e-reader only holds a charge for perhaps just over 2 weeks. I often forget to turn the wi-fi off and so that takes a lot of power. It is actually much more than an -reader. I can check email, play games, take photos and videos, check the news, etc. I have many books on their now but seldom use it for reading.

I've just ordered a mini-reader and I'm waiting for it to come it. It holds a charge for up to a month. That is long enough for most holidays. It also allows me to borrow books from the library. I can do that now with Adobe Digital Edition but I haven't set it up to sync with all my "gadgets".  With my new mini reader it will already be set up to allow me to borrow books.  I  think this is going to be a great feature and I've been adding books to my library "read later" list so I am reader to borrow them when the mini reader arrives.

I bought the mini reader at $20. off the regular price and they are giving me 5 free books($15.00 value) though not exactly books in my favourite genre. I cancelled a book order from Amazon which has been on back order for some time. I found out I can borrow the book I cancelled from the library on my e-reader. Altogether these savings  have virtually paid for my mini-reader and I haven't even started using it yet.

I purchased a black case to go around this mini-reader which is small enough to fit into a man's shirt pocket. It also has different size fonts so you can enlarge to your heart's content.

If you have a mini-reader I'd love to hear how you are enjoying it.

Skywatch Friday - May 17, 2013

Hello friends,

I am on the mend and have a follow up visit with the doctor next week to make sure all is well. In the meantime, I've been very busy going for walks every day and running some errands.

The weather here has been very unsettled since about Saturday when it was pouring rain. Since then we have had pleasant days though not usually too hot or sunny. On Monday it was time to vote for our provincial government representatives.

This was the best day weather-wise all week.

I have no idea what kind of trees these are but I love the red blooms on them. As you can see, the sky was  very clear and the day was sunny and warm.  After voting, I went out for a nice Thai meal of green curry chicken.

 

See all the clouds in the sky on Tuesday. I had gone out for a late walk and no sooner made it to this park when it started to rain. Sadly there was no shelter there from the rain and I had to move on. It didn't rain as badly as the sky portends.

In other news, my small patio garden has been tilled and fertilizer and top soil added several times. This weekend, some plants will finally go into the soil.  I also have to do the container garden and purchased these starter plants.

I love geraniums for container gardening.

Happy Skywatch Friday and may you all have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings and Changing My Reader

My blogging friend, Crystal Mary in Australia has a new book out. Please listen to Crystal's vibrant voice in this short youtube "trailer" she made to promote her book. You might know someone who would like this book and be blessed by it for Mother's Day or an upcoming birthday.

In other news, I've decided to transfer the blogs I follow from Google Reader to Bloglovin so I won't lose any of you that I read faithfully. You can follow me that way too.  See the widget to the right of my blog. I'm still mulling over blog platform options. Stay tuned.

I've been sick for some time and more so over the last weekend and continuing to now. I've asked a few dear souls to pray for me.  I feel that those prayers really helped me because suddenly on Tuesday, things changed.  Matters came to a head on Tuesday after really suffering on Sunday and Monday and I began to feel a little better since then.  Today I finally managed to get to the doctor and am now on a course of antibiotics. I hope it can arrest the infection(s) very soon. I feel very blessed because I know things could have been much worse and I am not out of the woods yet.  More tests are being done in the coming months.  When I was at the doctor's office she asked me why I didn't call the emergency after hours service. I hadn't even thought of it. That's what happens when there is too much infection in the body. You cannot think straight. I've seen it happen with my mother many times and she would even refuse to go to the hospital when in that state.

My mom has also been quite sick and struggling for at least one month with a bad cough and infection.  I've been worried about her because of her compromised immune system.  I asked a few people to pray, I called the prayer line too.  For the last 5 days I prayed that the doctor would reach out to examine her and prescribe her medication, or that somehow a new doctor could take over her case (that would need to be a miracle).

I was just at the point of pressing the matter very soon with someone who could do something to make sure mother was getting medical help and lo and behold, this morning the doctor arrived to see her before she was even out of bed. He soon prescribed antibiotics. I know that God was in this answer because of the inattention of the last month or more. I give praises to God for responding to the prayers.  Thank you to those too who have stood with me in prayer.  Your sacrifice and intercession are noted by God but you also need to  know how MUCH you bless me by this faithful act of friendship.  I also continue to pray for those of you who have asked for a healing or financial touch. God really does answer prayer and we of the faith are to be burden bearers for one another.  Thank you so much and  Praise His Name. xx

This Sunday is Mother's Day.  I am blessed to still have my mother here on earth and hope she is with us for years to come.  Since I just had a visit with her two weeks ago and can't travel right now,  I am sending flowers.  If your mother is still alive, I hope you are able to give her and call and spend a few moments of the day with her if you don't live in her city.

Happy weekend to all!