Good Reads

This is just a quick post which I have pre-prepared during the time I've been spending with my guest.

I don't have a whole lot of time with my niece on this visit so we will try to fit in an outing or two and spend time relaxing in between.

This post is about my reading goals more than anything. I know many of my blogging friends like to read and I like to encourage more reading :-). I also try to get my friends in the local community to read more and recommend books I read to different people based on their interests.

I met my reading goal some time ago and my revised reading goal last week.  I've revised my goal again so it is now at 40 books. That means I have 10 more books to go. That should keep me busy for another few months. After that I'll see what I should do about the balance of the year.

My two latest books are

The Known World is historic fiction set in antebellum, Virginia.  The story examines the issues regarding the ownership of black slaves by black and white owners alike. I hadn't realized there were black slave owners.  Perhaps I knew it once and didn't pay much attention to the matter. I am still early on in the book.  So far one black slave master has died and the slaves are wondering what will become of them.  The deceased widow makes a speech to the slaves after her husband's passing.  The reader is let in on the fact that much of her speech is insincere and her words unoriginal.  I finding the book quite interesting and I'm sure I will enjoy the rest.

The book, All Change is the 5th book in a series by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I did not read the previous 4 books. So far I am enjoying this book which is set in the 1950s and begins with the death of "Duchy", the beloved matriarch of the Cazalet family.  With her passing comes the end of a by-gone era of grand houses, servants, class and tradition.  The chapters after Duchy's passing deal with each member of the family and the changes they are going through. It is interesting but I have read better written books of a similar nature.

Anyway, if you decide to read one of these books I'd be interested in knowing what you think of them.

Shopping South African Imports

Well friends, it has been a busy week so far and tomorrow (Sunday) I am getting a visitor so I will be busy for another week or so.  I went out today and had a very long day of shopping.  I was looking for some sheets (bed linens) as I have another family guest arriving tomorrow.  After that I ended up on an impromptu get together with a friend when I ran into her at a local coffee shop. We had a very long visit and needless to say I am ready to drop into bed, but first I need to get this post published.

Many of you seemed to enjoy my rather long list of "To Dos" posted for the last week of June. I did make excellent progress on the listed items in the short time I had.  Alas I did not have time to finish the "works-in-progress" or to start any new projects. What was I thinking?!  I don't know how I ever thought I would accomplish all that in one week but there's nothing like giving it a good effort, lol.  I won't likely have time over the next week either but after that things should settle down a bit and give me time to work on more enjoyable things (crochet, quilting and knitting).   I can't tell you how glad I am to have finished an enormous amount of work over the past few months. Now I hope to kick back a bit, enjoy my time with my niece and after that keep plugging away on on-going paperwork and crafting.

Antique store near 4th & Alma.

For those of you who read and enjoyed my post about outreach efforts in Kenya, I ask you to continue to pray for these efforts. Both for strength for those involved more directly in the work (Jonah and the missionaries and church volunteers) and education (Elvis) and for the funds to undertake and/or finish the work.

Today's post has a South African angle.

An interesting store in the area.

For a long time now I've been meaning to get over to what we call 4th Avenue (in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) to take a browse through a shop that imports and sells foods and products from South Africa.  I never seem to get over that way but just over a week ago I had an errand to run in that neighbourhood so I decided to stop there and see what was on offer.

The shop is called African Breese Imports and is located near Alma Street.  There is another location in the North Shore but that is much further away from where I live.

I had an ulterior motive in wanting to go to this shop. I happen to LOVE dried meat and had read on line that this shop sold 3 kinds of biltong (dried meat or jerky). I really love dried moose meat which you cannot buy in the store and is actually very hard to get these days.  I thought I might have a chance to sample some exotic meats from South Africa.

What struck me about the food and products on offer is just how global our world is these days.  Many of the snack products on offer are also available in Kenya and here in Canada. I recognized a lot of the chocolate bar brands, lol. I ended up choosing these snacks:  1 small bottle of bitters (I haven't tried it yet); 1 small chocolate bar called "TV Bar" and 1 small bag of biltong.



The biltong was very good and was seasoned with cilantro and a few others spices. I didn't get any exotic biltong (it was made of beef) because the wild game from South Africa cannot be imported for sale.  I should have known this would be the case because one can't sell moose meat in Canada either.

In any case, I did enjoy the biltong and will stop by and purchase  more whenever I get that way again.

If you happen to come to Vancouver you can find African Breese Imports at 3654 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC.

Note:  I was not compensated for writing this review of the African Breese store. 

I'm linking with Our World Tuesday.

This view looks west. It is a just a few blocks from here to the site of  Vancouver's Annual Folk Festival.