Simple Pleasures

"That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest." ~ Thoreau 

"Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires."  ~ Lao-Tzu

Hello friends,

How are you today? I hope you are all having a fantastic week. I have been busy doing a little knitting and a lot of crocheting.  Today was a good day as I took a break from that.  Yesterday was a good day too as I had a chance to clean my kitchen floors and do some laundry.  It felt good to 'catch up' on house work for a day.  Do you ever notice how housekeeping feels good when you haven't had time to do it and you get a chance to catch up? Or is that just me?

I just got back from errands and grocery shopping.  I sent my mother a small care package of a hot water bottle wrapped in a cosy leopard print cover and a toothbrush.  Since the weather turned cool she has been complaining of being very cold.  No amount of blankets and wraps seems to help.   I can totally understand as I've been feeling a bit that way myself. The weather changed suddenly this year rather than gradually and no doubt we are both feeling the brunt of it.  I thought a hot water bottle might help her as she is not allowed to use an electric blanket for safety reasons.  She also needed a new toothbrush. Even though she has two somewhere in her room or bathroom, the staff never seem to be able to find anything.  Poor mom has also been having a lot of breathing issues lately.  She is using an inhaler but it doesn't seem to help much. If you would say a prayer for her that would mean so much to me.

At the post office I also weighed all the hand crafted items I've been making for my Etsy shop.  Some of you will have seen a few of the items I've been making.  I'm hoping to raise funds for the Missions of Hope through the sales.

Right now I'm making a quick dinner of stir-fried ground beef (minced beef) with chopped vegetables (baby carrots, onions, celery and fresh green beans). I like to stir-fry all this with soy sauce and put it on top of small new potatoes with skins on.  I don't know if they have new potatoes outside of North America. They are just basically small, immature potatoes.  The skin is not yet hardened and thick and they are quite delicious!  I also have some baby greens, English cucumber, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and a yellow apple for a basic salad.

After a few days of being mostly indoors and feeling oh so tired, it is such a joy to have a nice simple day where I don't feel too bad.  Adding to my feeling of joy is a short letter I received from one of my sponsored boys, named John. John lives in a slum near Nairobi, Kenya. He is 9 years old and today the letter I received is one he wrote me all by himself.  Usually someone else writes a letter for him.  John wrote his letter in English and I am so proud of his nice, neat printing.

I was also blessed to receive a letter from the daughter of my childhood Sunday School teacher.  My former teacher is about 90 years old and though she is in good physical condition, her memory is no longer good. Her daughter is packing up her mother's things and moving her into her home to look after her better.  While she was packing her mother's things she came across a note I sent back in November 2011 and decided to write me.  I'm so glad she did.  I'm also glad I've been writing to my former teacher while her memory was still intact.  It was one of my goals to let her know how much she meant to me and how her faithfulness impacted my life in a positive way.

The weekend starts tomorrow.  

My wish for you is that you have time for some simple pleasures.

Blessings and hugs.

Missing Summer

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Ode To Fall

I was at the university over the past weekend for dinner and enjoyed the lovely Fall colours despite the overcast skies.

 Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.”

William Cullen Bryant

 

I think the colour of the leaves on this tree is stunning.

 

This scene reminds me of the small forest near where I grew up as a child and taking walks through it to the small watering hole for horses at the end of the trail. I spent time with different family members on those walks and they remain part of my happy memories.  This typical Fall scene always reminds me of the Robert Frost poem below.

 The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I'm glad I captured the autumn photos when I did. Little did I know that within 48 hours we would experience this snowfall.

The snow on the mountains makes a  beautiful scene and I've decided to use the photos for my Winter season blog banner. But the snow also brought cold temperatures today.

Please join with others for Our World Tuesday.

Blue Monday

I made this little baby bib with the multi-coloured blue and green yarn. I just need to add a button.

The colours are more vivid than in this photo which was taken in poor night light.

  Joining up with Smiling Sally at Blue Monday.

Our First Snow

This photo was taken in the early afternoon (Sunday). You can click to enlarge it.

The next two photos were taken about 4:30 p.m. when the sun came out for a short while.

Scenic Sunday link

Weekend Plans

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored. Earl Nightingale 

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun. Ecclesiastes 8:15

It's Saturday today and I'm looking forward to it. It's been raining a lot over the past two weeks.  Not every day but almost every day and I've been spending a lot of time indoors.  It works out perfectly because it gives me a chance to make a lot of hats.  Some of you know that I'm planning to sell them to raise funds for my favourite charity, Missions of Hope (MOH, see button link on side bar).  I think I'll have enough inventory soon to sell and hope to spend some time in the near future to write up the descriptions and describe each hat/beanie and size, etc.  I'm hoping to make a badge too (just thought of that) and if you want to support the MOH, you can place the badge on your own blog. It will link to my Etsy shop for those that want to purchase.  Not only will a person be buying a hat but they will also support the needs of poor villagers in Kenya.

So far I've got 2 berets, 1 tam and 2 beanies for a woman, 3 beanies for toddlers and 3 for babies. I will be adding more colours and sizes but am also trying to use up what I already have.

Even though I was busy, I did manage to get out for coffee with a new friend.  We both had a good laugh when we realized that our paths almost crossed many years ago through mutual friends but we didn't meet until decades later!   At the Diabetes Clinic I attend, I was finally able to get some help with my broken glucometer.  Now I can start testing myself more consistently.  I need to monitor the blood sugars consistently to see if the new medicine I've been given will help my sugar levels which are still too high despite all my best efforts.  I do hope it works.

Last week,  I purchased alpaca yarn at the yarn store and mother of pearl buttons at the bead store. I need to go back to both of these stores to purchase another skein or two of yarn, as well as exchange some of mother of pearl buttons.

A few of the buttons are too thin on one side (see lower right of photo).  Buttons are so expensive these days with these ones being $4. (Canadian) a piece.  The owner let me have them for $2. each and about 4 of them are not of good quality.  I've never had this problem with a button before.

I've always loved mother of pearl buttons.  Do you like them too? 

These buttons are quite large.  I'm thinking of using them for embellishment on cowls and hats, or perhaps on a sweater.

Once the errands are done, I 'm heading out for dinner with my nephew and his girlfriend.  It will be the first time I've seen their new apartment so I will take them a draceana plant as a house warming.  I checked with them first if they wanted it.  I thought they might be too busy to care for a plant or not that interested but they seemed eager to have it.  I think they like the fact that it will grow quite high over time.

After my dinner, I am meeting up with a Ph.D. student from Kenya.  He also teaches and tutors in the Swahili language and I'm thinking of hiring him as my tutor.  This might work out better better than taking classes once a year.  The classes don't always fit into my schedule and the sessions are so short that one can't learn a whole lot before the sessions are all over.

Sunday I am hoping to hear from a new Brazilian friend, Maria, whom I met here last week when I went for a foot reflexology session (heaven).  Maria is a psychologist and she will be returning briefly to Vancouver after a tour to the Rocky Mountains.

I hope you all have plans for a good meal and or joining up with friends. Enjoy!

Today's Sky

It has been raining a lot here over the past two weeks and the sun has only been seen 2 or 3 times for a brief period. Today it was a beautiful Friday with glorious sun and partly blue skies.

I love the bright orange of the tree in the background (as seen between the branches of the tree).

If you have a few moments please read news of Kenya here.

I'm joining up with Skywatch Friday today. You can also enjoy a lot of submissions from around the world if you click here.