Gearing Up for Christmas

Hello friends,

I hope you are doing fine on this blessed Sunday. It has been awhile since I've posted. I've been feeling very tired this week so have been trying to get as much rest as possible.

Yesterday was the day of our civic elections and voting was very brisk. I went out to cast my vote  just a few hours before the voting stations closed. I overheard a number of the workers telling voters that the turn out for voting was very good and that there had been long line-ups much of the day.Later, on the news I heard the same report about long line-ups at many other voting stations. So that is the good news.

I cast my vote for mayor, city council, school trustees and the parks board. We were also asked to vote "yes" or "no" to a variety of big spending schemes. I didn't get the results I wanted but that is okay. I am just glad that so many turned out to vote.  We will see where we are at in 4 years time and in the meantime, I hope our city gets the kind of leadership and vision that we need and deserve.

Weather here has turned very nippy. Last night as I went out to vote at the station a few blocks from where I live, I ran into my neighbour who was coming back from work. She said it was very cold. As I got out and started walking I could see that the ground was covered in a lot of frost. We had frost earlier in the week but it has gotten even colder. I was properly dressed with scarf, gloves and warm jacket.

A few posts ago I said I would share some old videos I had made and so today I'm sharing one I made years ago.

It is just a very short clip of street boys near Kericho, Kenya at a Rehabilitation Center. These are young boys that get into trouble and most have no parents. My friend Jonah worked with them a lot over the years and would bring Vacation Bible School (VBS) to the children.

I would sponsor the event and helped pay the teachers who Jonah would recruit from the local Bible school and make sure they had food to eat for the week of the VSB as well as teaching materials and small gifts for the children to be handed out during the closing ceremonies. On the day in the video, I had made a trip to Kenya while the VSB was being held and I was attending the closing. I was so touched by these children and their heartfelt singing.  My short clip was taken on my digital camera in the days when the pixels were still not that large so forgive the quality.

Christmas is drawing near once again, I would like to do something for the orphans or the community of needy people in and near Kericho, Kenya.

One year I sponsored a small, fun outing for village children to join festivities in town.

 

In another, we took Christmas to the local prisons.

Jonah meeting and greeting one of the prison heads.

Men at the prison gathering.

Women at the prison gathering.

Another year Jonah brought cheer to the local hospital.

 

In Kenya when you are in hospital, you have to have family help you and make sure they bring you food. Jonah and helpers were taking different food treats to the patients.

For several years we brought Christmas cheer to the internally displaced people of Kenya.

 These are Kenyan who lost their homes and material possessions through civic strife after one of the elections.

These small shelters are how they have to live. There is no protection.

A close up of one of the shelters.

 It is heartbreaking to see the conditions in which the people have to live while they wait for justice. . They have been waiting years for new land where they can live safely. 

No child or grandchild should have to live like this but what choice do the parents have?

Each and every day and every year there are so many ways that one can help the people of Kenya. Christmas is an especially good time to remember them.

I will remember them this year once again and would be so pleased if you could join me.

I can assure you the funds will be put to good use. 

(You can find my email on my profile page if you would like to help out).

God bless. xx

My World This Week

There has been a lot of rain over the past week or two. I got wet on two days last week and ended up feeling poorly. I took Friday to recover as Saturday and Sunday were full of commitments. Having the one day to do nothing but rest really helped a lot though am still dealing with phlegm and fatigue.

I managed to capture a few scenes to illustrate some of my week.

I am at Heather Street taking a photo but am really in the area to shop.

I always love this view toward the city from Broadway on Heather Street.

Taking a walk in another part of town  after having some Vietnamese Pho Soup.

There is still some lovely colour in the tree leaves.

Many of the Fall leaves now blanket the streets and sidewalks.

A friend and I spent the entire day together on Sunday after attending church together.  She is an out-of- town friend and was here for a mini-vacation. We had a great time together but she ended up getting two parking tickets in one afternoon! It turned out to be an expensive day for me , paying for our lunch and one of the parking tickets.  I don't go out to lunch terribly often  so this splurge for someone I don't see too often is okay. I told her it will be our Christmas lunch since I won't see her at Christmas.

We got our second ticket just before 6 p.m. on Sunday night.  It was pitch black but we were looking out over the city lights from Queen Elizabeth Park. It was very pretty but I'm afraid my cell phone camera doesn't do it justice.

Looking out over the City of Vancouver from Queen Elizabeth Park.

This city has gone beserk with parking rates and meters everywhere.  This and lack of consultation on rapidly accelerating development will cause me to vote for a new mayor next weekend. He promises to do reduce paid parking hours, put a bit of a brake on the fast pace of development and find a way to do real consultations with communities.  If he wins the race (it's a close race), the citizens of the city will have an opportunity to see whether he made good on his promises.

I managed to squeeze in a few days of reading in this week.   After finishing a very satisfying read,  The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland, I quickly moved on to The Juggler's Children.  The latter book is a story of one woman's search for her family roots and her use of DNA testing to piece together her very interesting family background. When I borrowed the book last Thursday I didn't notice that it was a fast read so it's a good thing I had time to read it right away. I will return both books on Thursday.

When the year opened, I set myself a modest reading goal of  35 books.  I passed the goal some time ago.  I've been slightly adjusting the goal upward. every time I surpass it by 3-5 books.  My current goal is 52 books.  A few pages from now I will have read 51 books. I'm not sure what I shall read for my 52nd book and would love to hear your suggestions.

Are any of you reading a good book right now?

I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday this week.

Nostalgia & Gratitude

Hi friends, It is Sunday night and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. I was looking at old videos I had made. They are rather amateur but I would like to share some in the next few weeks.

This first video is probably the best video I made and also one of my first ones. The sound quality seems to be much better than some of the later ones I uploaded.

I hope you enjoy.  There is soothing music to go along with it the photos.  It is raining here today and far from the beautiful bright days you see in the video. Nonetheless I had a good day because I was able to sleep in, rest, catch up on computer work, connect by text with a number of friends, connect with my mom and help her out by prayer and advocacy.  I also got to make plans to meet two friends,  later this week; one who is from out of town.  I'm looking forward to seeing both of  them.  I also have a busy week of appointments, errands, phone calls and will be grateful to make it through the week intact and not too tired.

Graphic credit: 30 Days of Gratitude

Whenever I have a lot to do I try to plan out my days carefully. I plan out the time so that I can accomplish what is in my calendar at a steady pace rather than a hectic pace. It usually works out well.  I also try to work in rest periods, coffee or lunch stops and time to read a bit of whatever book I'm reading. This week I must return books and need to try and finish one of them which I started long ago. It's called Currency Wars by James Rickards. Very interesting but I can only digest a few pages at a time.  I recommend you catch the author on youtube if you don't want to read the book.

Much love to you all and thank you for stopping by to visit.  I send you all loving thoughts for a beautiful week ahead.

This Is A Good Day!

Photo Credit:  Crosscards e-card

This and That Kind of Week

 Hi friends,




It continues to be a busy time around here.  One thing that keeps me very busy most weeks is my "secret" activity which I hinted at in earlier posts.  It deserves a post of it's own as it keeps me fairly busy.  That post will likely come in the new year after I've had enough time to assess the full benefits.

I've also been catching up to household chores (dish washing by hand, sweeping and mopping floors, laundry and general tidying). In between I am running errands and/or reading a good book.It's been awhile since I've shared what new books I've read. I've put photos on this page showing you my current reading.

Another thing that keep me busy is looking for savings every week. This week I've been looking for savings on staples for the house and kitchen. I got a great deal on liquid laundry soap for high efficiency washers at Safeway.  On top of the financial savings, I got some great bonus Air-miles points. I wanted 4 big jugs of laundry detergent which the store didn't have but they gave me a rain check and will honor the bonus Air-miles.

I also kept my eyes open for other deals. This week the best deal has to be on Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (439 grams per box) at $1.98 each.  A savings of $4.00 per box!!  I also bought 4 cans of milk at 99 cents a can. The price of evaporated milk has soared in the recent years to well over $2.00 per can.  That means the sale price is more than 50% off. It is rare to find evaporated milk at 99 cents a can these days. My other great deals of the week are: 10 kg. of Robin Hood Flour @ $9.98 and Folgers Coffee for $7.98. I usually buy Maxwell House at $6.99 per can but I haven't seen it on sale for a few months.

I also bought a bag of small eggplant (6-7 in the bag) for $1.00. They were used right away in a stir fry. Romaine lettuce, spinach and English cucumbers were this week's purchases on sale (all prices in Canadian dollars). I used the greens in smoothies. The cucumbers are for salad.

I don't have to buy any meat right now.  My eldest nephew gave me some elk meat (prepared by the butcher into ground meat, sausages, garlic coil and steaks). He also gave me some wild salmon which he caught and vacuum packed. Originally I was to get this in August but just brought it home the week before last.

I didn't mean to turn this post into "what I bought this week on sale", lol.  But as I was typing this post I realized that I spend a good deal of my time researching sale prices on each and everything I buy. Food and household shopping takes up the bulk of this time.

I try to time my purchases to get store points or Air-miles (reward miles) whenever I can so that adds more time to the planning aspect of shopping.  I kind of enjoy this aspect because it seems to multiple my savings so much.  Next I will likely buy paper towels and toilet paper at Safeway.  There is a sale on these items for a few days starting Friday.  An added incentive is that they are having another bonus Air-miles promotion.  John of John's Island asked what I will use the Air-miles for but at this moment I am not sure. It takes quite a awhile to build up points to anything of value. But I did manage to get two nights at a hotel in New York (actually New Jersey a short train ride away) last summer.

Another activity I spend a lot of time on each week is trying to improve my health.  I'm trying out this new to me powdered herb blend called Daily Turmeric. It is supposed to help with inflammation. I thought I would try one month of this blended turmeric and see if I notice anything different. I know turmeric is supposed to be good for arthritis. I do have turmeric I use in my curries and soups but this blend appealed to me.

It is quite a strong tasting blend. I tried it at the health food store where they put it in juice but I seldom drink store bought juice.  Instead I put a serving in my romaine-strawberry-orange smoothie today. I could probably just use my own turmeric powder but I don't have the black cherry to add to it in powdered form. I also do use turmeric spice in my cooking. Once I run out of the Daily Turmeric I will try just adding regular turmeric spice to my smoothies. It will be a lot less expensive.

Tonight, I have to get out my sewing machine and make an adjustment to a robe my nephew wants to wear tomorrow when he and his girlfriend go out for Halloween. He will be dressing as a judge and has his white wig ready to go.  On the news today I heard that Halloween is now 2nd only to Christmas in terms of retail sales profits.

I don't celebrate Halloween because of my faith. It's made a bit easier by the fact I never get children coming to my door for treats. My nephew says he wouldn't celebrate either but for his girlfriend who wants to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of their meeting. He is a good boyfriend; always very considerate of his lovely girlfriend. I could pass on helping with his costume but he relies on me and I love him so I will do this small favor (of course he also gets my opinions, lol).

If any of you are going out with children or friends on Halloween, please take care and stay warm and safe.