Welcome to February

Hi friends,

Time is flying by. I'm glad to see the backside of January and say 'welcome' February. January ushered in the New Year quite rudely in my life with sickness (a lingering cold and a weird skin infection for which I've gone to the doctor and a specialist), my nephew's near death accident, a compromised credit card (usual process of investigation is ongoing and I have received my new card), very stormy weather in Canada and in my province with road closures due to heavy snowstorms (highways were closed more than once), record rainfall with accompanying landslides and other destruction (one parking lot crumbled behind a restaurant not too far from me and now the powers that be have decided to shut the restaurant down due to the uncertainty of land stability), the onset of the worldwide global health crisis (my province has tested 114 people and confirmed one case of the coronavirus; Canada has 4 cases overall with 3 in Ontario).  I thank God that through it all he has preserved me and my family and I look forward with gratitude to what lies ahead.

I want to thank all of you who have prayed for my nephew's recovery. It is remarkable how God not only preserved him from death but is helping him recover. What was first thought to be a broken shoulder was found to be dislocated and reconnected. He has been released from hospital and is recovering at home.  I ask for continued prayers that he doesn't suffer any long standing damage to bones and tissue from the heavy blow his body and that God would provide for all the needs of his family.  I give thanks to God and those who prayed for him. I do not know how long it will be before he can return to work but he is well on his way to recovery and all of his family is grateful.

In late January my friend Eunice in Kenya also suffered a setback. I somehow feel this may have been deliberate negligence of the hospital which is responsible feeding her the special diet we provide and also giving her medication and water. She became severely dehydrated and we then had to provide several bags of  IV fluid. Private hospitals and hospital in general are notorious for bilking the patients and finding all kinds of reasons for charging more money for this and for that, much of it unnecessary. Now today I learned that over the weekend she has been suffering from cold and I'm not certain whether she has not had enough blankets or whether she has malaria. Jonah has had to camp at the hospital to ensure that she is getting proper care.

This poor woman has been through a lot but through it all God has preserved her. Her blood condition is in fact improving and it is unfortunate that this latest setback had to occur and cause fear and financial loss. Please continue to pray for her. At this point the hospital bill has grown enormously as we can only afford to pay for urgent interventions (IV, special diet, blood, hormone medication) and a privately hired nurse to ensure that we understand everything that we need to understand. Jonah is there to attend to much of Eunice's needs however as a man in his culture he is not permitted to do certain things and that is why we have hired a nurse who is also from Eunice's tribal group. (The Go Fund Me Campaign is still open if you can help with any of Eunice's costs. See side bar to the right of the blog).

I do not have a recent update on Ernest since his last surgery.  However he continues to be monitored at the hospital both for his leg and for the diabetes and to receive his medication each week at the hospital. Thank you to one of my blog readers for assisting us financially so that Ernest can get the food and other care he needs. It has been a huge blessing and a help.  Ernest has monthly food needs and medication which costs about $ 150 US funds monthly ($200 Canadian) at minimum. Once he is nutritionally stronger and he can stand on both legs, we hope he could work again as a barber.  If you feel you can help him on a regular basis, kindly let me know.

Jonah himself was sick and in hospital for about 5-6 days. He contracted some kind of bug from suspected contamination of water. He got very sick and tried OTC medicine before checking into hospital. Then he checked out of hospital to try and save funds. I insisted he return to hospital until the laboratory tests were available which he did and spent a further 2 days in hospital before feeling strong enough to discharge.

Finally, I have reported before about Alvin who is hoping to come to Canada to do a Master's program.  It has been a long and very involved and expensive process to assist Alvin, a young man in Kenya, to submit his applications to a university in BC. He has now submitted to 2 programs one located in Vancouver and another located in the Okanagan.  We are praying he will be accepted and one of the programs.  He is also looking for sources of funding both in Kenya and in Canada to help him pay for his studies and living costs. If anyone would like to help this international student kindly let me know.

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I didn't get a chance to review 2019 and post my reflections. Too much time has passed for that so I only wish to state I was looking forward to 2020 and an opportunity to work on new goals. I am making slow but steady progress on them.

I also wanted to share this little graphic about my reading goal for 2019. Some of you might remember my reading goals for 2019 was a modest 25 books. I deliberately set it low so that I could focus on real enjoyment of reading and if I read more that was a bonus.In 2020 amongst other goals I hope to read 45 books and am off to a good start.

I spent a lot of time in January cooking and trying new dishes. I also made a lot of bread as a way to reduce spending on groceries. I like to make yeast bread but as any of you who make bread knows, the process can take a long time out of one's day. I found this new to me recipe that allows you to make artisanal bread in just about one hour. I then experimented with it to make regular loaves of read for toast and sandwiches.  I'm quite pleased with how the bread has turned out in my experiments. These bread baking experiments are allowing me to use a large bag of flour, a lot of expired yeast (which is still proofing properly), save money on bread buying and enjoy some home baking.

These are the artisanal style loaves.

I shaped the dough into regular loaves but had to add more flour. I let it rise one extra time.

This recipe is No Knead, No Time Bread and only takes an hour or an hour and some minutes from start to finish. 

The bread turned out quite well after figuring out how to work with the sticky dough.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it.

In closing I leave you with a view of the mountains today. The sky had a pretty pink glow.
Click photos to enlarge.

Short Update

Hi friends,

This will be a very brief update to let you know why I have been silent.

My eldest nephew, the horseman was in a very bad accident yesterday (Sunday) in Kamloops (5 hours north of where I live).  The weather was very cold and stormy which is unusual weather for Kamloops even at this time of year. He was hit by a train while out looking for horses in distress.  My nephew's horse took the brunt of the force from the train and my nephew was thrown into the air and then the ground. The horse is dead and my nephew suffered physical damage but he is alive. He is awake and he is talking but cannot remember much. Please keep him in your prayers or send good thoughts. It is a miracle he survived the accident.

My my nephew and his wife (Photo credit: Candace C)

Also yesterday I learned that one of my primary credit cards was compromised. I signed up for email alerts every time my card is charged so I learned about this fraudulent charge almost right away.  The charge was significant and made to a university in England, a university I have never even heard of before.   I had to spend some time with the bank yesterday and it being Sunday it took more waiting time than usual. But at least the card is cancelled.

The weather is very bad across the province right now. It means that the mountain highways will be very dangerous. In Vancouver where I live, we have had snow off and on since last Friday.  The first snowfalls of the year.  There was even a warning to keep off the city roads if you were not prepared for challenging driving.  In this city the roads become like ice rinks once the temperatures drop given the dampness of the climate.  My brother and I are hoping that once the new card arrives and the snow and wind storms pass through the province we will make a quick trip to see my nephew.  He needs a few days to rest and get stronger before he would be comfortable with visitors anyway though I understand he had some today.

Downtown Kamloops in snowstorm

My general neighbourhood, note the ice on the streets.

In Vancouver we do salt or sand the roads and sidewalks but things still get very messy and icy.

* None of the photos were taken by me.

In Kenya, Jonah who I've been working with for many years has contracted some kind of bacterial infections likely caused  by contaminated food. He has been in hospital since late last week and now that lab tests are back he is on the proper medication and has also received IV fluids. My friend Eunice is still in hospital and so no one has been able to attend to her while Jonah has been sick. Still praying for her recovery. If anyone can assist with her medical costs the Go Fund Me page is still open (see the side bar at the right). Ernest, the man with the injured leg had to have a 2nd surgery as his leg was not straight after the first surgery and months of healing. I don't have an update on how he is doing at the moment but will update when I can. Last but not least, my young friend Alvin, has been busy preparing his university applications for study in Canada, study scholarships and is looking for work in Kenya. I pray for his success.


Thank you for stopping by. I hope regular posts can resume before the end of the month.