My World Has Turned Cold

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful weekend.

After a few days of warmer weather and sunshine, the rain has returned to the coast.

It is also colder than usual for this time of year. Or at least it seems that way but I'm sure it will warm up again before the month is over.

Although the gardening season is now over, I am still enjoying some colour in the container garden. I haven't looked after the garden since about the middle of August & I am amazed it has done as well. I guess it is all the rain we've had. Once the season is well and truly over, I will be cleaning all the garden debris in preparation for Winter.

This past weekend I enjoyed completing the 3 books I posted about last time.  I can now add those to my annual tally.  I'm still 2 books behind schedule.

Right now I'll focus on reading a very cute children's book about Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting.  It was written in the 1920s.   I never learned about Dr. Doolittle as a child and I never did see any of the Dr,. Doolittle movies. I'm reading it now to assess suitability for sending to the boys I sponsor in Africa through Compassion International Canada.

The earlier book  I previewed was too violent and very sad. I didn't want to send that to young boys in Africa who already lead challenging lives. I'm also limited as to what I can send because the books can't be too costly.  They have to be taken apart and shipped in sections as well as meet criteria of thickness and dimension.

I'm also reading Alexander McCall Smith's, The Saturday Big Tent  Wedding Party and making progress on the book, Sweet Dreams by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.  I started the latter some time back but am only just now making progress.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Thank you for stopped by!

Frugal Notes & A Short Update

This week I've been trying to get back into a normal schedule and have had a very busy week.

I've taken out my wall calendar and plotted the appointments I've made for the months of September, October, November and December. Doing this makes me feel more in control and less frazzled and enables me to pace my days and weeks so as not to get too tired. When a friend calls for a get together it is also much easier to see when I can easily get together without feeling too squeezed for time. When I get together with friends I love to have a free day  so I can easily spend time with them and afterwards have a relaxing time of shopping or making my way back home.

It's also been a good week of frugality.  The freebies and good deals are welcome indeed because expenses have been rather high with all the travel and associated expenses to visit mom and the health care and daily essential needs of people in Kenya.

Ways I've saved money this week:

• free haircut and style (another has been booked for November). I colour my own hair as needed and purchase colour on sale. Sometimes I use henna which is much less expensive than hair colour but I don't like all the muck it entails.  Henna is a messy and time consuming process but very frugal.
• free movie (Jason Bourne) using points I've accumulated over several months
• free movie at the local library (Eye in the Sky)
• used a 50% off Subway sandwich coupon today. I purchased a foot long and shared with a new-to-my-street homeless woman. I also gave her some cash and asked her a few questions as well as talked to her about the local shelters.
• free purchase ($85 worth) of vitamins and personal care products using accumulated points at the pharmacy.
• Flyer food shopping. I've saved oodles of money this week buying 2 sides of pork loin that I cut into slices for stir fries, roasts and pork chops. This is an enormous help to the food budget and will last me a very long time.  I had also hoped to get a side of roast beef  on sale so I could do the same.  But the store didn't have the advertised sale when we got there today.
• large heads of cauliflower purchased for less than $2. (the lowest price we can get here and in fact $1. lower than usual). I will be making faux mashed potatoes with it.
• 10 kg bag of flour for less than $6. This will last a long time as I don't do a lot of baking these days.
• Okanagan peaches which cost $2.69 a pound at my local grocer were priced at $1.49 a pound at the produce store a few blocks away. I don't normally purchase peaches but I have a craving for peach cobbler now that cooler weather has arrived.
• Lots of other great deals which will really help with the food budget this month and into next month. I will likely do some menu planning which I haven't done for some time. I want to ensure that all the fruits and vegetables I purchased will not go to waste.
• Bedding linen - I purchased comforter duvet set and 400 TC sheets for a birthday gift. These were a  real steal at 50% off clearance  prices and I know will be used and appreciated by the recipient. 
• Borrowed several books from the library. Inexpensive entertainment and I don't need to store them or give them away once I'm finished.

New Books on My Reading Shelf

First up is The Illegal by Lawrence Hill. I've had this one on my "to read" list but see there are a lot of people waiting for it at the library. I noticed it on the Fast Read shelf this week so picked it up and am enjoying it immensely. It is quite a powerful book and evoked several emotional responses from me already.  You can read more about it here.

Update:  I finished the book on Saturday.  This book deals with the timely issue of undocumented aliens unwanted in the countries where they have sought refuge. It is set in fictional countries. I was moved by the book and thoroughly enjoyed the telling of the story.

I picked up this next book by a new to me author. I  have no idea what it is about but liked the first page when I read it. You can read more about it here.

I started this book on Saturday. It is a book about a man newly diagnosed with dementia. He travels from England to Spain where his newly separated son is living in Lomaverde, a Spanish utopia for expats.

Last but not least is

Dr. Zentner has herself struggled with weight loss and is currently an internal medicine specialist in Vancouver where she works with obese patients. In the book, Dr. Zentner defines and offers specific tips for those who fall under various eating personalities: the emotional eater, the calorie drinker, the fast-food junkie, the all-or-nothing dieter, the portion distorter and the sitting duck. Her book is a practical guide for how to address obstacles to weight loss for each of the  eating personalities.

I'm now reading about the portion distorter and will soon be finished before reaching the recipe section. The book is quite interesting and I think can be useful to anyone who wants to better understand his/her relationship to food and weight gain or loss.

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The weather here has turned from sunshine to rain as of today. In a few days Fall will officially arrive. I'm sad to see the end of the longer days of light but there is always the Spring to look forward to again.

Besides catching up on reading goals I've got a lot to do to catch up on things around the house. I'd  like to paint the master bathroom and get it organized before the Winter arrives. I already purchased shelving and racks, etc. and have painted the shelves.  But still have to purchase paint for the walls and get the shelves and racks put up.  Now that the growing season is over I'd also like to clear the garden in readiness for Spring. Normally I don't do this and just wait for Spring to do all the work but I want to be more organized for the next growing season.  At least that is the plan.  I also have a number of sewing projects (altering clothing for mom and for me) and making progress on works-in-progress (crochet and quilting). Besides all these projects, I have a few personal goals I want to embark on.  I'm still doing research and trying to get a few things in place. We'll see how far I get.

Update on Mom:  Mom is more or less the same. She calls me most mornings and struggles valiantly to speak. I notice that when I talk to her about relatives or family she is able to respond with clearer speech. My brother who lives in far north will be visiting her this weekend so I will delay my next trip to see her for another week or two.

Update on Eunice in Kenya:  Eunice's son took her to the hospital where she was treated after her stroke for her one week follow up visit. They kept her for several days which was unexpected. But whatever they are doing seems to be helping her. She is now able to walk a bit using the aid of a cane.  Unlike my mother, Eunice is able to speak.

Please continue to keep these women in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Interesting Skies Before Fall Arrives

I captured this interesting series of sky photos with my cell phone a few days ago.

I haven't been out with my camera lately so have had to rely on my smartphone.

I need to try and make some time to get out with the camera but the days seem so busy.

September is fully booked with errands, appointments and things that really need to get done.

Then it will be October and Thanksgiving which comes a bit early (it seems) but it is always on the 2nd Monday of October.

A friend will be visiting from Toronto, Ontario and has offered to make the dinner.
He is a great cook who once owned his own restaurant so it is no sweat for him to do so.

 Many people have a day off work on the second Monday of October. They often use the three-day Thanksgiving weekend to visit family or friends who live far away, or to receive them in their own homes. Many people also prepare a special meal to eat at some point during the long weekend. Traditionally, this included roast turkey and seasonal produce, such as pumpkin, corn ears and pecan nuts. Now, the meal may consist of other foods, particularly if the family is of non-European descent.

My friend will also be visiting several other of his friends in the City and staying with each of us for a night or two. Though he has offered to make the meal things might change at the last minute so I need to be ready to step in.

I always enjoy Thanksgiving as a day to give thanks for my many blessings.

What about you dear reader?

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

If so, how do you celebrate?

I am joining in with Skywatch Friday 

and

Friday Foto Friends

this week.

Thank you for dropping by and paying me a visit.

Enjoy your weekend.

Changes

Every year at this time I am amazed at how the weather dramatically shifts from Summer to Fall. 

 Overnight the temperature goes from warm to chilly once September arrives. It never fails though often once that happens we continue with much warmer weather into September and sometimes even October.

Soon we will be singing this song (Fall officially begins on September 22nd this year)

These dramatic sky shots were taken with my smartphone while in the car home to Vancouver from visiting my mom in the Interior of the province.

Once in Vancouver it was also cloudy and has been cloudy and a bit rainy every day since.

Before I left for a week to see my mother I put most of  my potted plants in the shade and watered them.

They held up well but the season for growing is pretty much over, especially as far as pansies (violas) go.

 I took this horizon shot yesterday.

Today is the first day back to school for all university students and anyone in grade school.

The weather forecaster predicted rain until around noon but I think it seems to have stayed dry.  At least in my neighbourhood.

After the events of the past few weeks I am still recovering my energy levels.

I am finally going to meet a friend today.

We will see the new movie

The Light Between the Oceans.

(if you click on the linked title you can read all about ir and/or see a trailer).

I haven't read the book yet but I'm sure I'll enjoy the movie.

Update on mom:  She has improved the use of her right hand/arm and continues valiantly to speak. Some days it is hard to make sense of what she is saying but I know she is working hard at it. I find if I just ask her a question she can answer 'yes' or 'no' and that way she doesn't have to get frustrated. I know she has asked for prayer to speak again and I've assured her that is what we are praying for.

Update on Eunice in Kenya: Eunice underwent surgery late last week and returned home yesterday.  Thank God.

I don't know much more than that or even whether she can speak. I hope to find out more later.

I'm linking up to Our World Tuesday and later in the week, Skywatch Friday.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Happy 80th Birthday!

The last time I posted here my mother had had a serious stroke and was admitted to hospital. 

 I'm happy to say she was discharged to her home last Saturday.  We spent a few extra days visiting and making sure she was settling in okay,drinking adequate fluids and eating.

She is currently on a pureed diet and on gel like water flavoured with honey and lemon.
She likes the flavoured water much better than the plain old thickened water they had at the hospital.

On August 31st we were able to celebrate her 80th birthday. It was a real joy to see her be able to mark the occasion and in her own residence.

We usually have a dinner and cake and a few family members gather with her to celebrate.  We planned to do the same this year but had to forego that idea for now because mom cannot eat a normal meal. In fact, we were not even sure she would make it to her birthday.  We are pleased with her progress and have promised we will have a proper dinner and cake when she is stronger and able to eat regular food. For now we had the very small cake with candles so we could sing "Happy Birthday" and take photos.

When I arrived at the care home I was so surprised to find mom dressed, sitting in her wheelchair and driving herself.  She had also had her hair done by the in house hair dresser.  Last Sunday evening when I left her she was lying in bed and we didn't know if she would be able to drive or feed herself. She is now doing all of the above.

Mom is not yet able to speak clearly on a regular basis.  She does put several words together into short sentences and can often do so in two different languages. She can also say some things very clearly at times.  I was surprised she could do this at all because it is her left brain that has been affected.  The left side of the brain deals with thinking and speaking (language).  She does have days when she is tired and cannot communicate very well and evenings seem more difficult in general. But she also has other days where she is almost her old self.  In fact, my very first day with her in hospital she was alert, talkative, funny and cracking jokes. I was simply amazed.

Several close family members made the  32 hour round trip to visit with her while she was in hospital.  She was very happy and I'm sure it aided in her recovery.  She really loves to see all her relatives at any time but most cannot visit very often.  The journey is so long and expensive and there is no way to fly directly from where they live to where mom lives so a road trip is the primary way to visit. 

My brother was at the hospital the entire time mom was admitted and making sure to advocate for her since she could not speak for herself.  By the time I joined him, he needed a bit of rest.  We both stayed until mom made the transition back to her residence but I took over the visiting and dealing with hospital and residence staff while he did his thing,  relaxed and updated people.  We are both very pleased with her progress so far and will be checking in on her again soon.

Your kind comments, prayers and wishes of support for my mother and I are very much appreciated.

All your words and well wishes meant a lot.

Sadly, just as my mother was getting better, the mother of a very dear friend in Kenya is going through the same thing with his mother.

His mother's name is Eunice.  She is in serious condition in hospital several hours away from her home. 

I humbly ask for prayers for Eunice and her family members all of whom have gone through an awful lot this past year.

Many blessings to all of you.

Difficult Times

Hello dear friends,

I'm just stopping in to let you know I may be missing in action for awhile.

My mom had a massive stroke yesterday.  

Thankfully she is still with us and alert.  She knows what is happening but she can no longer speak
though she can  mumble a few words and move her hands a bit.

She is undergoing more tests and observation at the hospital.
Today she received a feeding tube. Today she failed the swallow test to receive a feeding tube but it seems like she may have had a slight improvement by end of day. No more tests will be done until next week as specialists are gone now for the weekend.

 I don't have much more information to share at this time.

Since I'll be busy dealing with her needs and responding to family and friends, I won't be here updating on a regular basis.

If you wish to keep her and the family in prayer that will be much appreciated.

 Thank you.

A Profusion of Colour

It's been a busy time preparing for guests and doing deep cleaning in advance of arrival.
I'm glad all the cleaning is basically done because it is going to get far too hot for it in a few days.

After days of cleaning, I relaxed by taking photos and catching up on my reading goals. I've become very behind on my reading goals for the year and needed to make progress.

 

At twilight the sky is serene.

It's hard to get a good night shot.

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This week has been rather warm but it is going to get very hot by Thursday. I'll probably be looking to go to a mall or movie just to sit somewhere cool

Reading Progress This Week

The Temptress by Paul Spicer. This book attempts to solve the mystery of who murdered Lord Erroll in colonial Kenya.  I read this book primarily to learn more about the life and times of the early British and American settlers in Kenya. I enjoyed the quick read.

The other book,  West With The Night,  is the memoir of Beryl Markham.  It doesn't follow a chronological order of events in her life. Instead it focuses on  her life as an aviatrix and to a lesser degree on her experience as a horse trainer. I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot.  About half way through I got tired of  the style of writing and the lack of detail about other facets of her life.

However, Beryl Markham had high praise from the well known author, Ernest Hemingway who had this to say about her book

  "Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? ...She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade b*, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers ... it really is a bloody wonderful book."

 ~~~~~

 I  also made some good progress on a few of the books on raw food eating that I took out of the library a few weeks ago.

New Book Started

 The new book I've started is a musical memoir written by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

I'm joining Lady Fi and others at Our World Tuesday.

Have a great week everyone!

(Note: Blogger seems to be doing funny things. It published my post twice but failed to publish several comments I've approved. I apologize to Melanie, Joanne, Teresa, Eileen and Sally. I don't know why your comments will not publish.  Thank you for taking time to leave a comment. I'm hoping they will yet appear).

It's a Great Friday

Hi friends,

It is summer and I'm doing all my Spring cleaning now! LOL. Each time I've been preparing for summer guests, it has given me an opportunity to do some cleaning, organizing and generally getting things refreshed. 

Today I re-arranged my living room. I haven't done that for awhile. Because my home is on the small side and I have a lot of stuff, it takes awhile to accomplish anything. Things are constantly being moved from here to there.

But I am very pleased with progress made over the past few days both indoors and outdoors just generally getting rid of garbage and freshening things. I have some plans to freshen paint in the master bath too but had to delay on that for a few days as I ran out of time.

The photos I'm sharing today were taken a  few weeks ago when I was out and about in another part of the city. I haven't had a chance to share them until now.

I like the flower pots on the top floor.

These are all taken with my cell phone camera.

Some people don't like telephone wires but they are a fixture in cities and towns everywhere and bring us our much needed electricity (unless you have solar power). so I leave them in the photo.

It looks cloudy in the photo but it didn't rain that day.

 However it has rained on and off since that day in early July.

Now suddenly yesterday it turned blazing hot. I don't think the hot temperatures will last very long.

I'm grateful that we haven't had many scorching days like last summer.

If you missed the Swahili worship music video I posted last night you can catch it here if you have time.

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday 

and Friday Foto Friends  today.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Wewe Ni Bwana by Dorcus Ndambuki

Enjoy the song (sung in Swahili).

If you like it, I posted another song of similar name here along with translation.

Thank you for your visit.

My World in First Week of August

It's turned out to be a quiet but busy few days of  this and that.  Doing the usual things that one does on weekends to catch up around the house.

I'm still a little under the weather so continue to occupy myself with indoor activities. 

It's not all work though. 

At times like this I enjoy my small garden more than usual and look for opportunities to take more photos, especially after a rain. See some samples (click here)  if interested.

Earlier this week.

I've been catching to watching many of my recorded television programs so I can delete them and make room for more.

 I watch Masterpiece theatre and have almost caught up to the several different series I've been following. 

 A few months ago I was enjoying, "Jewel in the Crown" series, the  final season of "Downton Abbey" (I was a latecomer to the series), "Selfridges" and "The Paradise". 

 I think my favourite series so far is "Jewel in the Crown".

Now I'm watching "Inspector Lewis" but seem to have come in at the last season of this "new-to-me" series. I get these programs from  the PBS station in Washington State to the south of me.  The station gets a lot of viewer support from Canadians.

What about you dear reader?

Do you have public television or do you watch any of these series on TV or on line?

~~~~~~~~~

Another activity that's been keeping me very busy is "online window shopping".   I'm looking to coordinate a simple yet stylish and budget friendly outfit that I need for a daytime casual event.  I want to be comfortable and cool and be able to wear the clothing again as separates or altogether. I'm thinking of an all white, all natural tones, or a combination of white and off-white.

I often peruse all the deals at home and afar on line and try to see the styles and prices that capture my interest.  If the store is local I then go out to the brick and mortar store if I have time and try things on.  This kind of  activity is very time consuming.  But it beats in person shopping and not knowing in advance what is out there though certainly one can often finds nice things that aren't even on line.  The on line cost comparison is a frugal activity I like to undertake. Once I know what is on line and in stores I calculate the costs of buying in person or on line, factoring in shipping costs, taxes, my time, bus fares, etc. At the end of the day I prefer to support local shops as much as possible.

I'm mulling over several outfit possibilities. One possibility is a long, straight skirt. Here is a photo. Sorry it looks like a screen is over the image because I've taken the photo of the photo. The site wouldn't let me save an image.

The skirt has a bit of sparkle and I like that. I'm thinking of pairing a tank top similar to the one in the photo which I'll have to source from elsewhere because it doesn't seem to be on the website. I'm also thinking of a long sleeveless waterfall vest. But that is only one idea. The skirt is currently on sale.  On of that there is a time limited 25% discount so right now it is only half price. I don't go out shopping until Tuesday but I might order the skirt tonight because I like it that much.  I've never seen one like it in  the places where I tend to shop. (Update: I did try to order the skirt but wasn't happy about the price after shipping, customs and other charges were added. I also didn't like that I couldn't see the breakdown of costs before completing a whole lot of information on line. It might just be better to take a quick trip across the border and check the skirt in person.  Before I do that I will want to make sure that the discount will still be applicable because it is a time-limited offer.  To make it worth my while I would also check a few other shops nearby).

I have several other ideas for an outfit. which include:

- white top, style to be determined + white gaucho pants and long white waterfall vest
- white top, style to be determined (tank or Turkish tunic) + mid-calf skirt and long, white waterfall, sleeveless vest
- long white sleeveless or cap sleeve dress with long, white, waterfall, sleeveless vest

I also made a bit of progress in reading goals this week.  In an earlier post I mentioned finishing the book entitled "Circling with the Sun".  The book is about Beryl Markham, an early colonial settler to what is now the nation of Kenya.  Ms. Markham was a  pioneer in horse training and aviation and made her mark in both fields.

The book book was a very enjoyable read.  It gave me an insight into the life of  early British settlers to Kenya.  It opened my eyes to the lifestyle of the rich and famous in those days. The lifestyle of the rich and famous seems to be much the same today.  Aside from that,  Beryl Markham was a truly remarkable woman and very ahead of her time. She the first licensed female horse trainer and pilot in Kenya and became highly accomplished in both fields. She has the distinction of flying solo over the Atlantic Ocean from East to West (considered more challenging than West to East).  She is also credited with pioneering the use of small aircraft in safaris, a mode which is very popular today for those that have little time but more money.

 
After completing the books I'm currently reading  I will still be a few books behind in my readings goals for the year.  This year I set a modest reading goal because my focus this year is rest.  Even so, I got behind in my reading  due to being sick for much of the first quarter of the year with one cold after another. I've had another cold this past week but it isn't as bad as the winter colds. I don't recall a time when I've ever had quite so many colds as I have this year.  I think getting better sleep will help and I am working doing just that.

This book is about a young Palestinian man who builds a music school and develops an orchestra in Palestine.

This is an interesting book about a bookseller who has a store on a barge. He dispenses wisdom & appropriate books to readers.

What about you dear reader?

Are you reading any good or interesting books?

Do you set any reading goals for yourself or at least keep track of how many books you've read?

I never used to keep track of the books I read and have long forgotten many of them.

I now find it interesting to go back and see what I've read over the past few years and the types of books.

It seems that a lot of books I choose are of the historical fiction genre. 

~~~~~~~~~

My nephew called and paid a brief visit on Saturday.  He is on the way to a conference in Montreal where he will present a paper on Wednesday afternoon. I'm very proud of him as he is in the final year of his Master's Program in Psychology. He has been undertaking laboratory research for about 4 years and  has already been to several conferences in the USA and Canada to present his research findings.  He is a very busy young man juggling work, research, studies and a committed relationship. I haven't had a chance to visit with him much over the last year.  In  less than a year he will be finished his Masters degree before embarking on the final leg of his educational journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday morning I captured the beautiful sunrise to the east.  I went out to capture this after hearing the sad news about the young man in Kenya who passed away a few days ago from complications of cancer.

The colours in the sky were exceptionally beautiful.

My camera and I did not do full justice to the scene.

The morning reminded me of the wonders and beauty of creation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's only a few more days before my last guest of the summer arrives.
So much to do before she arrives but I made excellent progress today in the preparations.
Enjoy your week!

Linking up with Lady Fi over at Our World Tuesday
and
NC Sue over at image-in-ing

Thank you for visiting.