A Few Weeks in Pictures

I haven't been up to my usual schedule for the past few months so I've just been trying to take things slowly.

 There is always time for reading. I like many different types of books.

Always too many books to try and read. I do love to read but can't keep up to what I'd like to read!

...and for a good cup of java or two.

I started practicing knitting on smaller needles. I was making good progress on this baby sweater for my great nephew/niece who will be born in June.  Then I noticed a dropped stitch and had to do some "frogging" (rip it, rip it). Some day I will learn to pick up dropped stitches rather than rip everything out but for now I find the frogging too finicky.  I'll need to learn this helpful skill before I ever start on a  much larger project!

The national taxes are due at the end of the month and I've prepared 4 sets of taxes as a favour to a friend and family members.  I do them on line each year so it is much faster.  But tax preparation is really not my favourite thing. At least none of us owed any more taxes. That is something.

I've still gots lots of paperwork to sort and sift through and action before the month of April is over. This time of year is always a busy time.

We've had to suffer through a lot of inclement weather. But now and then we get some sun and it (almost) makes us forget.

I'm finding the inclement weather a bit tiresome and I long for more sunny days. Over a two day period last week, the city got almost half of it's normal monthly rain fall for the month of April.

Easter weekend was very pleasant at my home with some work done in the patio garden to clear debris, purchase of a new (rectangular) patio table that has yet to be put together, vacuuming and rearranging in the dining area and a nice Easter dinner with family. I wish all weekends were as productive and relaxing.

Whether it is unpleasant or not, sometimes you just have to do errands. The time for running errands is also a time to get a bit of walking exercise in.  If I have time, I like to stop at a coffee shop and read a good book or read the (provided) newspapers.

We have so many great coffee shops here in the city and I try a different one each time.  The cafe in the photo below is popular with students and meet up groups.  I think because it has a big room at the back with plenty of plenty of large tables and chairs and is open all night long. At least it used to be open 24/7.  I'm not sure if it still is.

My favourite time of year is when the sakuru (cherry) blossoms come out. I totally missed it this year. There was just too much rain for me to go gallivanting around looking for cherry blossoms. They didn't even come out that well in some neighbourhoods like mine. I think it was just a little too cold and the rain would have made it less enjoyable for me. I love to gaze at the sakuru blossoms when the sun is shining, the sky is blue and all feels at peace in the world.

Now we are nearing the end of April and we have these pretty pink blossoms (in the photos below). I'm not sure if they are plum or apple blossoms but they sure are pretty and I snapped these photos today. The deep pink tones are lovely, aren't they?

You can see the big garbage bins for collection and the blue recycle bins for paper.

As you can see, the sky is nice and blue.  I'm not getting overly excited because we are back to 80% chance of rain on Thursday.  When I look at the forecast for the week ahead it looks like there will be mixed sunny and cloudy skies. I'm excited about that!

I hope your Spring is a good one wherever you are.

A Special Event on this Sacred Weekend

Hello friends,

It is a special weekend for Christendom when we mark the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as Easter by most people.

The month of April was actually set aside to worship the Anglo Saxon goddess, Eastre, the goddess of birth and fertility. Eastre was symbolized by the rabbit.  Eggs and rabbits symbolize birth and fertility in many cultures but I am not sure how the eggs and rabbits came together to be associated with Easter since rabbits do not lay eggs.

Emperor Constantine gave the edict of the Easter rule in 325 AD whereby Easter had to be celebrated on a Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th.

These days many Christians celebrate Resurrection Sunday rather than the early pagan worship of the goddess Eastre.

This is a special time for me when I remember the sacrifice that God and his son Jesus gave for all mankind that we might have the gift of eternal life.

This year, the holiday weekend has an added significance for me.

A young Kenyan man I call my little brother has become a married man. His name is Enoch and his betrothed's name is Angela.  They are both members of the Kalenjin tribe and come from Bomet, Kenya.

(The red symbol "B" shows the location of Bomet in relation to the city of Nairobi at "A". If you travel north and slightly west of Bomet you will get to Kericho. Travel even farther north and slightly west of the Kerio Valley National Park and you will see the location of Eldoret, site of the huge prayer meeting over the weekend).

The wedding was held in Bomet, Kenya.  My friend Jonah had a difficult time getting there on time as it seems he had to compete for public transportation with those heading to Prophet David Owuor's prayer meeting in Eldoret, Kenya.  Matatus (mini-vans which transport the public for a small fee) were in short supply on Good Friday, the day of travel.  Over 500 buses and many matatus were in demand to transport the countless people from all over Kenya and neighbouring countries who flocked to the town of Eldoret to participate in the prayer meeting.

You can see how muddy the village roads are. It has been raining a lot and it is difficult to drive through this mud in the village.

In the end, Jonah made it to the wedding and I was able to get photos of the special day. I'm sharing a few of them here so you can see what it is like to have a wedding in the village.  I am always amazed at how people in general, and women in particular, walk through the mud all dressed up and with heels on and yet they don't seem to get dirty!

Here is the happy couple. I wish them a long and blessed union.

I want to thank those of you who read and commented on my Elvis post. I am still praying for financial supporters who can help make his final term at university a reality.  Time is short. If you can help, please let me know. You can read more at the GoFundMe post at the right of this blog.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

In Kenya

(Click here) Elvis would love to hear from you
God bless those who answer.

Proverbs 31:20
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

Sky Blue

Bluer skies are now returning.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesday

 Wednesday

One Easily Met Goal

Most of my friends know I am quite an avid reader. I always thought of myself as an avid reader anyway until I started keeping track of what I read and realized I am not such an avid reader after all. If I read 20-24 books a year that is a lot for me. Reading this amount of books is not so challenging that all you are doing is reading. In fact you can take long breaks between books and still read that many in a year. I do like to do other things with my time besides reading so 20-24 books each year is enough.

This year I set a goal of 24 books and have already read 22 of them. I hadn't planned on it but the weather has been inclement and I haven't felt much like doing the things I normally spend my time on. So I've made more progress than usual. I will have to increase my reading goal but need to make sure I don't continue to neglect my Bible readings. I got out of the rhythm of the Bible readings when I had to deal with some family matters and then I didn't get back into my routine.  I like to read a little bit out loud while listening to someone (on a Bible app) read the same verses.  It makes the words come alive for me.

I know many of you are readers too.  But if you are not a regular reader, I encourage you to set a modest reading goal for yourself. It's not too late to set a goal for 2014!

I'm also pleased to share this mosaic of today's sky.

I wrote yesterday of the forecasted rain but was pleased to get some breaks in the clouds and rain for even a short while today.

I hope you are are all enjoying your day.  Please do check out my sidebar Go Fund Me appeal for Elvis in Kenya. God bless.

Frugal Notes:  For those that like to save money, this is one of the least expensive hobbies you can find.  Books these days can be purchased super cheaply at your local thrift or second hand store. You can find a lot of popular fiction in these places and you can also find lots of reference materials. Sometimes I even find full sets of Christian reading material that have earlier been purchased from television offers.  If you would rather not spend the funds no matter how little, you can also borrow books from friends or trade something they want of yours or you can borrow books for free from the local library.  Four (4) of the seven (7) books in the photo at the top of this post are from the library.

Have a wonder - ful week!

April Weather

It poured heavy rain today.

This is the weather forecast for the week.

While it appears we have rain for the next two days, I am pleased to see sunshine in the forecast for over a week! This is better than the forecast I saw yesterday which saw very little sunshine in the next week. 

I was so pleased to see beautiful skies earlier this week. It must be getting close to warmer temperatures and more frequent sunny days.

I am hoping to get to the new movie "Noah" tomorrow if my friend doesn't have to go in to work.  Another friend and I will try out a new to us Indian restaurant on Saturday.  I can't wait to taste the food.

I hope you are all enjoying your weather wherever you are.

Skywatch Friday