Friday, June 5, 2015

Not My Garden


(If you missed my sky post which was posted on the same day, you can  see it here.)

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One of my favourite things to do is to take photos of flowers in someone's garden as I walk around doing my errands. 

Mostly I photograph flowers planted by guerrilla gardeners; that is gardeners who plant in public spaces. 
Today's flowers were taken with my phone.

The flowers in this post were planted by a retired Asian man who simply loves gardening.  I often see him out planting and tending to his many flowers.  He is planting in spaces around his condominium building that do not belong to him. I don't know if he has asked for permission or if he just decided to beautify the space and didn't bother seeking approval.

Over the past two years the garden has really mushroomed and is getting quite gorgeous.. 

His flowers seem to grow like weeds compared to mine.  I've notice the soil in the space is very dark and rich compared to what I have in my small patio garden.  Every year I add bags and bags of manure and soil hoping to make the soil nice and rich. It has improved a bit but still has a ways to go.  It is a lot of work to carry the bags of manure and soil required every year for the small garden otherwise I might do a big job of it and get it all over and done with but I have to do it bit by bit.












Do you like to garden dear reader? 
How is your garden growing this year?


Please don't be shy to leave a comment. I love to hear from my readers and always try to return the favour.
 Enjoy your weekend!

Lovely Day for a Pretty Sky

Hi friends,

I am a bit late with posting sky photos today. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed looking at the sky and taking them.











Joining in with Skywatch Friday today.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

A Good Report

 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.
Matthew 10:42 (NIV)

Hello friends,

I hope this post finds you well and in good health. I also hope the weather is agreeable wherever you are. It seems the weather is so unsettling in many places around the world. These days you never know what to expect.

I reported just over a week ago about the abundance of hail we had here in Vancouver. Pictured below is the hail which had accumulated around my newly planted lettuce. Since that day, the lettuce (and other plants) seem to be fine.  However I find the lettuce doesn't grow that fast despite our sunny and very warm weather.  That might just be normal. I haven't grown lettuce for several years and I can't quite remember much about the experience.


The main purpose of today's post is to give you an update about missions work in Kenya.  Many of you have been following the plight of Angel Baby Fidelis pictured in the photo below with her advocate, Joseph Wanjau and the baby's mother.

Joseph has been raising the funds for Angel Baby Fidelis travel to Canada for surgery to remove the growth on her face and brain.  The baby also needs reconstructive surgery.  I am so thrilled to report that through Joseph's efforts and through the support of people near and far, the family is now able to travel to Canada!

Joseph is just waiting for word from the hospital as to when they will be ready to perform the surgery so that travel arrangements can be made.

I ask each of you to continue to pray for this family.  They will be far from home in a foreign land.  They will need to remain in Canada for 4 months for the surgery and recovery process.  I am grateful that they will get to make the trip during Canada's warmer months and not during winter. I only hope they will cope well with the humidity levels in Ontario.

Let us pray they will adapt and that they will have good success in surgery and recovery. Let us also pray for Joseph who is tirelessly working in Kenya to support orphans and to support disabled children and their families through the Hope Foundation for Orphans.

Photo Credit: Joseph Wanjau, Hope Foundation for Orphans ~ L to R, Joseph, Baby Fidelis & her mom

In other news, my good friend Jonah has continued to make his evangelistic outreach and humanitarian visits to the Pokot people of northern Kenya. These people are the Plains Pokot as they live in the dry, infertile plains herding goats, cows, sheep. Often it is too dry to keep the livestock watered and fed properly and the people also go hungry.

It takes a full day of travel to reach these people from home base in Kericho in the Highlands of Kenya. My friend Jonah has a huge heart for the Plains Pokot and has made many missions trips to reach them with the good news of the gospel and with practical food aid.  He does whatever he can and travels with other volunteers from his church about once per month or as funds allow.



You can see the people are very happy to receive their flour.


Some of the local men help to distribute the aid.


Jonah also likes to try and bring treats and fun to the people.

Here you can see them enjoying the succulent watermelon. I can only imagine how good it must taste when you are thirsty in a dry land.




In my last photo you can see the woman having fun blowing bubbles.

Perhaps it is the very first time she has ever experienced the childlike joy of blowing bubbles.

[Photo credits:  All photos of Pokot mission courtesy of Jonah of Missions of Hope, Kenya]


 I can certainly remember how much fun I used to have a child blowing bubbles.

As a grown up I love opportunities to buy bubbles for children just so I can watch them have fun and squeal in delight at such a simple pleasure.

In closing, I want to say that we value your faithful readership and as always we covet your financial and prayer support for the ongoing work to help the Pokot peoples
If you can help donation can be sent
to
kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com

via Pay Pal  

Donations to Hope Foundation can be made at their website.

Thank you.

If you have any problems or need any assistance with making your donation let me know and I will try to help you.

In the coming near future  I will let you know about another great initiative from one of my readers who is very keen to help raise funds for ongoing needs in Kenya.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Taking a Break

Hello dear friends,

I hope this day finds you well and in health.

I am stopping in to let you all know that I will be taking a short blogging break. I've got a number of things that will be occupying my time in the next little while and so I need to organize my time a bit better.

I will still be checking email throughout the days ahead so please do not hesitate to contact me if you like.


Until I see you again the blogosphere, I wish all of you a peaceful and healthy time ahead.


Friday, May 15, 2015

Enjoying May Skies







There have been some lovely skies this month.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

Click on the link and you will see more awesome skies from around the globe.

Have a lovely weekend.

Early Skywatch

This is an early post for Skywatch Friday . It seems I'm sometimes late but never early until today, lol. We've had a spectacular fe...