This and That

 Hi friends,

It's been a busy week and I've been fighting a cold. It is something I fight every year in October when the weather transitions from warm autumn to cooler autumn. It's a bummer but it is what it is.

This October I have been busy decluttering and I've written about it in this space from time to time, not just in October but over the past long while. Some weeks and months I do much more in terms of decluttering than other weeks and months.  This  month the kitchen seems to be getting a lot of attention and so far I've gotten rid of many items from my small cupboards.  Metal bake ware, plastics and Tupperware which are long past their prime and lots and lots of glass jars, plastic and metal coffee containers, papers, cardboard and so on have been recycled.  I also got rid of lots of small items from the bathroom and many items from the closet, dresser drawers and shoes I no longer fit or need, have been given away. Several items were taken to the storage unit in the building and one standing fan had to be taken to the recycling center. I also have 2 large metal patio chairs which are past their better days. If they fit in the car they too can go to the recycling center.  Otherwise I'm not sure when I can take them.

In between decluttering jobs, I clean the cobwebs from the corners. Literally.  I did this less than 6 months ago but the cobwebs seem to accumulate very quickly as does the dust. I've been trying to keep on top of it all.  There is still a lot to recycle and to get rid of but I'm starting to see a real difference in the spaces in my home. I will keep at it and when I am all done with the tasks I will see what I can do to free up actual floor space.  I am not aiming for a minimalist home as such. But I am aiming to pare down the items I use and keep only what I actually use.  I intend to keep doing my hobbies too and hobbies tend to take up a lot of space.  I am trying to find a happy balance for daily living and for hobbies, some of which may be more sporadic.

I'm still doing Flylady routines almost every day.  It seems to help everything run more smoothly even though I haven't implemented the full Flylady system. Once I get started on doing things and cleaning things I just keep on going.  It means much more is getting done every week.

The weather here has been beautifully sunny this past week with the exception of Friday when it poured rain.  But it has also been very cold. I took some garden photos on Saturday. I'm sharing what might be the last of my garden photos for this year.

 

It has now been about 2 months since I did any work in the garden so I'm amazed at how well the plants have done though many of them are way past their prime.  This week I noticed that the pansies and the petunias are pretty much done. I think it was simply too cold for them as our temperatures went down to 4 at night. The geraniums are still producing a lot of new blooms but I'm not sure how long that will continue. 

Something was eating the leaves in  my garden this year but they didn't touch the leaves of most of the flowers. This is the first time I've had this happen and I'm not certain whether it is pests, rodents, or my neighbour's cat.

 

In any case, I am hoping that I will put the garden to rest by the end of October and wash and cover the patio chair cushions. I don't have storage for the patio things but I do try to keep the cushions out of the rain over the winter and I move the table umbrella and the table and chairs so they are no so directly impacted by the winter elements. As a side note, I read that the Farmer's Almanac forecast is for a mild November and a very cold winter.  The other day, our local meteorologist said that this year we are experiencing La Niña.  La Niña refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific and is the colder counterpart of El Niño.

The Black Eyed Susans have now lost all their yellow petals.

But the zinnias have new buds! I can't believe it. But they were very late to bloom this year and maybe they are confused.  The photo shows evidence of my neglect of the garden over the past 2 months since summer ended.

When it gets cold outside I usually start baking.  I saw this cinnamon loaf at Mari's Blog called My Little Corner of the World.  Check it out if you like cinnamon and sweets. I misread the recipe and ended up making two loaves but I only put frosting on one of them.  After trying both, I think it is better with frosting.  Overall though, the recipe is to sweet for me and I have to be careful about that due to blood sugar issues.

On Friday I went to the hospital to have a colonoscopy. I had one just under a year ago but the doctor couldn't find the one small cyst she thought she saw during that exam so I had to return in 6 months.  The follow up appointment was delayed due to Covid 19 and I also put off the appointment as long as I could.  But I had to get it over with or forfeit my spot in the GI follow up care and Friday was the day.  This time the doctor had a good look around she discovered I didn't have a cyst after all.  What she saw last time was actually a part of the colon itself. That was good news. 

She did find something, but it wasn't quite a cyst. I'm not sure what it is called but she said they are common and are often left intact. I suggested she cut it out anyway and she agreed. It will be biopsied as per the usual practice. 

The good news is I don't need to have another procedure for 5 years and I'm very happy about that.  Not only do I dislike the preparation but I get very nervous about the procedure itself. They sedate me but I am wide awake as per my preference. Due to the light sedation I didn't even need 10 minute recovery afterward.  They let me go but not before making sure my ride was there as stated.  I took a few photos but haven't posted any with people due to privacy issues.

Photo of the nursing station

Photo of the recovery room before they start bringing the patients in for recovery.

We had snow in the north and at higher elevations (none in the city) for the past two weekends. The record snowfall  created havoc on the highways and some serious accidents as well.

 

 

 

On Saturday we also had a provincial election. I voted by mail in ballot along with almost 700,000 other people.  Approximately 500,000 people returned their mail in ballots on time to be counted but the counting doesn't start until November 2nd.  Even without the mail in ballots, the election was handily won by our incumbent Premier John Horgan.  He now has a majority government by which to rule.  That was his goal when he took a gamble and called an election a year earlier than required. His win is historic in that it is the very first time that the New Democratic Party (NDP) has won 2 consecutive elections in the province.

 

In other big political news, the Opposition Party of Canada,  brought a "No Confidence" motion against the Prime Minister of Canada on October 21.  They wanted to create a special committee to probe the government's ethics and spending in response to the pandemic and a scandal related to the WE Charity.  Members of Parliament (MPs) voted 180-146 to defeat the opposition motion, with the NDP, Greens and Independent MPs voting with the Liberals.  It means we will not have a snap federal election this fall.

I hope things can settle down for awhile with all the politics here.  People want and stable governments to help steer the nation while we recover from the pandemic.

Thanks for reading my post today. Stay safe everyone and do what you can to stay happy and high in spirits. May you be blessed today and each day hereafter. May you and your loved ones have continued health or improving health. May you have the material things and the finances you need and last but not least, may you have the strength and confidence to handle whatever comes in your path. 

 

At the Half Way Mark in the Month

I had a super busy day on Monday, October 19th (approximately the half way point of the month) and it was the start of a very busy week.  While I ran my errands the rain stopped and sun came out so I snapped a few photos to share on Skywatch Friday this week.  I hope you enjoy. 

Dinner was quick:  stir fried pork cubes with Swiss chard from my garden and daikon radish (and spices) and a dish of stir fried noodles with a variety of vegetables and chili garlic oil.  I ended the day with a clean sink and all the dishes put away. I mostly wash the evening dishes, cutlery and pots and pans but I don't always finish the job. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf because everything put away makes the evening and the morning much nicer.

This month is flying by so quickly. We had two family birthdays a month apart (and celebrated them differently due to Covid).  We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada on October 12th and cooking a traditional dinner takes time whether it is for 2 people or 10 people .  I'm doing a major declutter of paper.  I've been going through a long, long process of fully decluttering my home and I am  now on the paper files. I've got so many that accumulated mostly while my late mom was ill. I didn't want to throw anything out. Now I've got to sort through it all and keep only what I really need of hers, my late sisters and also my own paperwork.  It feels good to finally get rid of paper that have been cluttering my space and my mind for so long. 

I have also been getting rid of larger items, not just items from the kitchen cabinet and closets. I could finally be offloading the very large power wheelchair which is taking up a lot of space near the entry way.  Friends of mine have been fund raising to replace the battery and charger and ultimately gift the chair to a paraplegic lady who can really make use of it. The fund raising efforts are very slow.  But it sounds like they have more than enough now to at least have a technician come over to evaluate everything.  I will know more in a week or two.

I've also been busy learning a new routine for running the household and though I'm not fully on board with the program it is a big help. I suppose any method one uses to keep on top of the household is helpful. I never found the household maintenance to be very difficult when I was younger.  I guess I have slowed down a lot because these days the running of the household seems to take up more time. I think the key is to find an approach you like and stick with it and consistently apply the routines.  If anyone is interested, check out FlyLady or Diane in Denmark, both of whom are on You Tube. Diane actually was a Fly Lady mentor for many years and still teaches others how to implement the system.  I enjoy her sparkly personality and motivational pep talks.  What I like about the system so far is that many things are done in 15 minute increments.  As they like to say, "you can do almost anything in 15 minute increments".

I'll be linking up with Skywatch Friday later this week. I send you my best wishes for a beautiful and safe weekend. If you missed my post about Kenya you can read it here.

Saturday's Critters ~ Another Exotic Adventure

 

This  is my post for Saturday's Critters.  If you came for Skywatch Friday, please click here.

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In several of my trips to Kenya, I travelled to some very small villages to the east of Marigat, Kenya. 

The first two photos are of the small town of Marigat.

 

I've circled two areas in the map below. One is the town of Marigat which you see in the photos above. The second is the approximate area of where we travelled (click on the map for a larger view) and which are captured in the photos below.

On this particular trip we were headed to a very dry area to learn about the water needs of the people. They wanted to show me the area and explain the vision for the project to bring water to the community. I don't know why they thought I could help as I am just one person.  But as I believe in a good God, I gladly accepted their invitation and went to visit them.  After we explored the area we prayed over the area and for the needs. Sometimes you just have to step out in faith, take the first step and not worry about how things will get done. Just believe that they will and do what you can and let God do the rest. So it was that day.

Along the way, I also did some sightseeing at Lake Bogoria and Lake Baringo before we reached our final destination. One thing I learned early on in my Kenyan travels is that if you are going somewhere you better be prepared for a very bumpy ride.  You also need to start out early in the morning say by the break of day since it isn't advisable for foreigners to travel after the sun goes down.  The sun rises and sets like clock work each day and the sun goes down about 6 p.m every day.  the other thing to bear in mind is that it takes a lot longer to travel shorter distances than it does in North America.  I think this is due to heavy traffic and frequent traffic jams, road blocks and road checks by police, unforeseen roads conditions and so on.  Since my first trip to Kenya in 2007, the highway infrastructure has been very much improved.  But those improvements don't extend to the backwoods and back roads. Starting off early and getting to your final destination by 6 p.m. is still advisable. Otherwise be prepared with a place to spend the night.

In the first photo we are driving eastward out of Marigat and into the back country. Notice the road and we are not even out of town boundaries.

 

Despite how dry the area obviously is I found it quite beautiful.  It was very slow to travel and very dusty because we were travelling over the land and not always on roads. The earth was also very soft.

The man in the white shirt in the next photo is the local pastor, my host and escort for the tour of the borehole area.  The man in the blue shirt is my driver. They were discussing whether we should cross the stream.  In the end I walked across since the water wasn't that deep and I wanted to cool my feet.

I am absolutely fascinated by how a place can look uninhabited yet people will seemingly come out of nowhere. I'm also fascinated by where and people live and you see homes dotted everywhere in what seems to me like unlikely places but the people have probably been living there for centuries.

The inhabitants of the hut in the photo below had just done laundry and laid the items outside to dry.  It is the practice in the rural areas of Kenya to lay freshly washed clothes on the bushes and on the grass to dry rather than on a clothes line.  In the city they hang the laundered clothing on the line.  It doesn't take long for the clothes to dry in the heat. All over the countryside you will see people's washed clothes lying on the bushes or grass to dry.

I went into one of the thatched huts and was very impressed by how cool it was despite the blazing heat of the day.

The walls of the hut were decorated with news paper cut outs, the first I'd seen in a village home. Often I did see newspaper lining the walls like wallpaper, but not hung loosely as a decorative elements with the cut out designs.  I can tell by the items hanging on the wall like the kerosene lamp, the calendar with pictures, the alphabet letters and shopping bags, that this person really cared for her home. The hut was very small inside and was one round room.  It was also very cool inside.  What a relief it was to be out of the intense heat for few minutes on that very hot, dry day.

I am always delighted to see the local animals, both wild and domestic. I am not sure what kind of cows these are.   There appears to be several varieties of cattle in these photos.

 

After my visit to this area, I spent a few years trying to help these people get a borehole. Through my contacts in Kenya we found a consultant to produce a report to locate where the water was and identify where to build the borehole. 

All of this was rather expensive and I could not progress much further in the project with just my own finances.  I tried unsuccessfully to find donors through the local churches, including my own and also through my blog. I was finally able to find a group of service oriented Christians in Jamaica.  The Jamaicans travelled to Kenya for their own reconnaissance mission and the Kenyans thoroughly enjoyed hosting them, meeting them and travelling with them. The Jamaicans committed to getting the borehole completed and they were in fact able to move it along but they ultimately did not complete the project. I believe it proved too expensive for them and the major donor they were counting on in their church had to draw back. It took time and persistence but the local community in Kenya finally managed to get a group of believers in Israel to step in and bring the project to successful conclusion.

This huge ostrich was running around in the village. You don't want to get to close to an ostrich. I understand they have a very powerful kick.
 

I don't have an updated photo of the borehole as I was not directly involved at that stage of the process.  I was an interested person from afar and Pastor Jonah kept me generally updated through his contacts in that community.  I was unable to travel to the community again in my last visit to Kenya due to being very sick for much of my time there.

 

 

I did have one other connection to the pastor and his wife a few years later when they were in hospital ready to deliver their new baby, a first child. There were some complications and high medical costs and it was my privilege to be able to assist at the time. Since then most of the missions efforts have been focussed on assisting individual with the exorbitant medical costs they incur when seeking medical treatment.  The needs are very great and the available helpers is very small but the helps are extremely necessary.

In conclusion, I am very happy for the people who got their borehole after years of struggle and belief.  They have so little in the way of material things but now they have water and their daily lives have improved.  I am also happy that I didn't run away from such a big need and project. Though I cannot say that I did a lot;  I did what I could and I believe that big things come from small beginnings.  The people needed someone to listen to them, hold their hands, believe with them and try to find supporters for them so that they could one day have water. I was able to do some of those things and get them the consultant report which they really needed.  In the end, it was their sheer persistence, dogged determination, faith and their prayers and the many prayers of others, that helped to complete the project.

This is a post for Saturday's Critters.  It became about much more than the animals after I realized that the cows I was going to post about were a window into a much bigger story and I could not let the story go untold.

I hope you enjoyed it and that it inspires you to branch out in your dreams and visions of helping people.  Even small things are a huge help to someone.

 Thank you for stopping by. Have a safe weekend.

 

It's Another Friday

 This is what it looked like on our Thanksgiving Day last Monday.

I already forgot what it was like on Tuesday and Wednesday but I know yesterday it was quite nice and the sun came out. I was able to do some errands like deposit funds at the bank and pay some bills. My local branch is still  not open and the ATM is only available until 6 p.m. on most days. I did see staff in the branch but I'm not sure if the branch was open to the public or staff was just working in there. If you want to do in person banking you have to go to a different branch.  I also dropped off my back pack for stitching and stopped off for some groceries and a quick stop at McD's. I didn't have time to stop at the dispensary to get refills on body wash because the shop closed earlier due to Covid like most places. 

I pick up my back pack today so I'll stop off for the body wash as well. Before that I have some parcels to pick up at the post office. Hopefully they are there. The tracking information tells me they should be there today but maybe not until late in the day.

Today it's a rather dull, gray day and it will probably start raining very soon. I checked the long range forecast and it doesn't look much different for the rest of the month. I guess I left the clean up of the garden for too long. If I do it soon I will most likely be working in the rain. I've found it cold indoors this week. I turned my heating on in the bedroom and living room for the first time last night. I didn't leave it on overnight. 

Here is the sky photo for today. It looks almost the same as Monday's sky.  It is 9°C or about 49°F. As we transition from late autumn to winter, the sky will not vary much unless there is a sunny break.  Then we could see some more interesting cloud cover.

As they say in Copenhagen, 'you make our own sunshine'. I never hear anyone say that where I live, lol. We love to talk about the weather and complain about it, then we laugh. I like the Danish view of bad weather.

While I was out running errands the sun came out for awhile.  It's always nice when that happens. It tends to make me forget about the rain even if it rains later.  When I snapped the next few photos the sun was gone again but at least there was colour in the trees.

 

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today. Have a happy and safe weekend.

Missed Opportunity - Car Story

 Hi friends, 

This is just a quick post to update about my car and a few other matters. 

The car tires needed to be changed today from summer to winter. They get changed again in spring from winter to summer.  Of course all this costs money but is also a good time to find out whether the car needs this or that.  Last year at this time, the front brakes needed to be replaced and the conclusion was that the rear brakes looked good. This time they said the rear brakes need to be replaced and the car would not make it another 6 months.  The lug nuts also need to be replaced.

All in all, the car has been kept up to date over the years with oil changes, tire needs, windshield replacements due to highway stones putting cracks in the windshield, windshield wiper replacements and a little maintenance here and there.  Total costs for this year's tire and brake jobs is about $1600 which is not that bad.

The car is now getting old by car standards (2013) and due to declining sales the Ford company has decided to discontinue the model. In August 2020, the Ford company announced it was pulling the plug on making Ford Fusion cars and would instead focus on SUVs, crossovers, pick ups and the iconic Mustang. I missed my chance for a trade in while the car could still bring in a good penny for trade in value.  I  don't believe in paying a whole lot of money to get a car of my dreams since they depreciate so quickly.  That means I will probably keep the car as long as I can continue to repair it at a reasonable cost.

Another cost factor in car ownership is cost of car insurance and petrol/gas,  Where I live the cost of car insurance for one year is through the roof.  Almost a year ago I paid more than a return flight to Kenya for the car insurance and would have  paid much, much more were it not for a long and good driving history which gave a 40%  discount. I don't know how young people were able to manage the costs. I had read horror stories like the one about one young woman who was working as a waitress while to university and her car insurance was going to cost $5000. Petrol or gas as we call it, is also extremely expensive. The cost was $1.40 a litre pre-Covid ($1.06 US). Right now it is about $1.20 a litre (.91 cents/litre or $4.54 per gallon US). For the longest time, the cost was about $1.30 a litre so it has come down now that people are not driving so much.

The government runs the car insurance program here so it has a monopoly and there is no competition (it's different in other provinces). They say the high cost of our car insurance is due to ballooning cost of motor vehicle related litigation and court judgements in such cases. Quite recently our provincial Attorney General put forward legislation which limited the kind of payouts one could get for certain types of injuries and the legislation was passed.  This change is supposed to lead to reduced car insurance rates and possible rebates next year in 2021.  I hope that  this intended result really happens in my case as far too often I hear how this or that has been reduced only to discover later that the benefit doesn't accrue to me for one reason or another.

Below is a photo of the make and colour of  my car.  It isn't my car but this is what it looks like.  I love it because of the look and because it is roomy and comfortable and has many places to put your drinks in both the front and back.  This is very convenient when travelling out of the city.  The trunk is large and the seats can be put down in the back if you need more room to transport things. 

 

I do not need a SUV or a pick up so this car does what I need for the most part. It took me back and forth for years in the last few years of looking after my mom. It has also made 3 long trips to the north country.  Mainly though the car is used for local jaunts on an intermittent basis not a daily basis.  It is not used for going back and forth every day and that is why the car insurance is such an issue for me. In 2020 I paid over $2000 Canadian dollars for a car driven for pleasure and not for work.

Everyone has a different way of approaching vehicle needs and much of it is tied into our other expenditures and income levels as well as insurance costs.  What about you dear reader? Do you have a car which you really love? Are you the type that splashes out on top model cars, leased cars or used cars?  Or do you buy a new car and repair until it is no longer feasible?

It's been that kind of day trying to get odd jobs done. Besides the car repairs, I needed to call the telephone company and try to get a deal on my internet and television needs. My contract expired one month ago. I spent an hours on the phone talking with two different people and we were about 2/3 finished when the call ended. The representative called me back while I was trying to call her. She said she could hear me but I couldn't hear her. So frustrating as that is time lost and I will have to explain it all and listen to someone else try to explain their complicated pricing and discounts again.

At least one thing went as planned today. I baked a ham the other day and saved a bunch for soup.  Today I made ham and lentil soup to go with the home made French bread I made last night. This is the second time I've made French bread in the last week. After this bread is gone that will be it for the bread making for awhile. I eat too much of it.

The soup was just right. Not too salty and I put cabbage and red pepper in it to use up leftover veggies.  Normally I only put onions, celery, carrots and potatoes.

I wrote before about a backpack my nephew bought me when we travelled to Paris together. I have enjoyed using the backpack a lot but a strap broke off on the weekend. I took the pack apart so I could restitch it and discovered my sewing machine will not sew through the thickness of 4 layers. I now need to find a seamstress with an industrial machine or a shoe cobbler. I prefer to find a seamstress.  The last cobbler I went to charged me $40 Canadian to sew a few stitches in 4 different straps. I can do it all myself if I just had the right equipment.

I hope all is well with you and life is treating you well. In my corner of the world I will be keeping busy trying to get things done. It seems like never ending list of things to do.

Bye for now and stay safe.

Update:  I found a seamstress who will reattach both straps, sew the opening on the inside and reattach the binding. She will do it for $21. Canadian and have it ready on Friday afternoon. I thought it was a fair deal as it saves me from running around trying to find someone to do it at a fair price and someone who will do it quickly. It also saves me dealing with 'fiddly work'.  I use this backpack daily when I go out so I would like it soon. It reminded me that I have a cross body purse that also needs repair so I'll have to get that done and have it as my back up. I have a lot of bags of various kinds but few purses with straps that will allow me to go about 'hands free'.