I am Happy the Sun Came Out

Dear friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you enjoy the sky photos today. I was very happy to see the sun and the break in the gray skies. I can feel Spring in the air.

Sky

The early blooming pansies are surviving.

Reading and Projects

I continue to be busy with the personal family digital project. This weekend I will fine tune it and put the final touches on the first phase of it. I will be happy when it is completely done and I estimate completion by the end of February.

I haven't had much time or mental energy for reading while working on the project which also requires a lot of mental energy.  Sadly I have decided to discontinue reading The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a classic novel on which the movie, Sir Lawrence of Arabia is based. Truthfully I find it a big bore.  I've plodded through 150 pages and it's taken me at least 10 tries to get that far. I can't remember much of anything I've read so it will go back to the library in a few days.  I hope I don't offend anyone who read it and enjoyed it.  Maybe I will try reading it again one day because i think it's important to try and read the classics but for now I'm aborting my efforts. I did very much enjoy The Book of Lost Names however. This is the 4th book I've read by the same author. I do enjoy her stories. Click on the book titled where I've linked to Amazon for more information. I have a new book to pick up at the library sometime soon.
 

I spent a bit of time knitting a few new dishcloths. I'm not very good at it as my tension is uneven but I find it relaxing when I cannot read.

 Kenya

I'm thinking about my friends in Kenya this week and reminiscing about the many travels and projects I've worked on with various friends. In the first photo there is my friend Jo from South Africa. This photo is taken in Nakuru, Kenya when she and I met there in 2011 while she was living and working with her late husband Grant in the Kerio Valley. Jo has her own blog. In case you haven't read it yet it's called Memorable Meanders and there she writes about her various homes in Africa and her daily life with her many pets.

On that day in Nakuru I was meeting with the boys in the photo, feeding them and encouraging them in life as they were basically street boys and trying to live a clean life with many daily challenges. On this day we were all happy but at the end I cried as I did not know when I would be able to return to Kenya and see them again. I knew they would have many hardships after my leaving and I was not in a financial position to set them up in a better situation since the work I do is all funded from my own resources as a retired person. We prayed and encouraged them, bought some warm coats and a solar lamp and food stuffs and then we had to depart. To this day I have not seen them again and I pray that God would look after them. They will be young men now.

If you are wanting to help the poverty stricken and the very destitute and you want to know your money is truly getting to those that are in great need due to hunger and lack of finances, please feel free to contact me (kerichojoy[at]gmail]dot.com). I have been helping those at the grassroots level for going on 17 15 years (sorry incorrect math).  There are so many needs that every month I must pick and choose who I can help. I work through local leaders in the villages and communities and when I travel to Kenya I meet as many of the beneficiaries as I am able.

Take care everyone and have a blessed and safe weekend. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday.

Summarizing Current Life Happenings

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

 

I hope all of you are doing well. I've been seeing that many countries have experienced huge snowfalls over the past week. Where I live we were also expecting snow but it never arrived in my neighbourhood.

Sky this Week

The sky this week has been heavy with rain.  I was actually hoping for some snow for a change of pace but it looks like rain in the forecast for the next few days at least.

The sky on Tuesday, January 25, 2021

 

I got this little surprise on Monday, January 18, 2021. These pansy blooms popped up in a long neglected pot.

The sky on Monday, January 24, 2021

 Cooking

Cooking is a daily need for most of us. Here are a few of the things that have been on the menu this past week.

 

Cabbage and navy bean soup in tomato broth

Shrimp and vegetable stir fry over steamed rice

Spaghettini and Parmesan cheese with Kielbasa sausage and vegetables

Ham and pea soup with freshly baked bread rolls

I baked some bread and gave a loaf to my nephew.

Christmas Wrap Up

 

Mail has been slower than usual over the Christmas rush due to Covid protocols. But all mail did eventually arrive.

The winter Pea Coat I bought for my nephew arrived and he came to try it on. Thankfully it fit him perfectly and he liked it very much so I won't be needing to return it.

 

Two lovely little books arrived from my online friend in Folkestone, England. I enjoyed reading The Little Book of Mindfulness and the gratitude journal will be very useful. I'll start using it when I can get through my major project and a few other things so I can be more mindful when writing in it.This time of year is always super busy with the Annual General Meeting of the Strata (key things being annual budgets and inevitable strata fee increases), city property assessments, property taxes, property vacancy declarations and filing of federal and provincial taxes.

 

 Gifts from a friend, Joy in 

Nottingham, England

She always sends wonderful packages of interesting things.

 Reading

I haven't really gotten into reading yet. But these books are currently in my 'to read' pile.

Slowly making my way through this book.

I borrowed, The New Bohemians Handbook thinking I would get to see a lot of lovely decorating photos. I was disappointed that the photos are so small.

This is a newly borrowed book by Kristin Harmel. I read two of her books just before Christmas and enjoyed them so much so I'm looking forward to this one.
 

Home Improvements

Before Christmas I mentioned that I will be making a few home improvements mainly to help things function better for daily living and to assess what might be needed or detracted from my home as I continue with the decluttering.  Some of it is minor maintenance.  

The first improvement was painting one wall in the entry way and moving a small Asian chest/armoire from the living room to the freshly painted wall.  I also touched up the door to my bedroom and master bathroom (more to come in those areas later). The second improvement was to install a new range hood. I've gone without one for so long and I could not keep up to the accumulating grime on various surfaces. I was very happy when my brother bought me a new range hood and installed it for me as my Christmas gift. Before he did that I cleaned behind the kitchen stove and painted.  I laughed when I saw the upside down bow he placed on the range hood after installation. He wanted to make sure it looked like a Christmas present, lol.

 

The third item was to order some shelving for the kitchen to address the lack of a pantry. I have been wanting to order one of these shelving units for the longest time and have been checking them out both on line and in the retail outlets. I wanted a particular specs and I finally found one on Amazon which I ordered and received just after Christmas. I tried once shortly thereafter to set it up and it fell apart. I never tried again until last night and I'm pleased it went much more smoothly and seems sturdy.  I am very pleased with it and think I should have got one a lot sooner.

This is a work in progress. I am still rearranging and deciding what goes on these shelves.

But so far I'm loving it! It's a huge improvement ton having food on the floor and a small cart where everything was forever overflowing (as in the below photo).

 

Kenyan Missions

Over the past week we managed to get a new smart phone for Pastor Jonah. It will soon be time to send monthly medical, food, nutrition support and seeds and fertilizer to a few families. If you can help at all, please send your  donation via Pay Pal to kerichojoy[at]gmail]com (taking out square brackets). Otherwise we would appreciate if you could continue praying for the needs of the villagers. Thanks so much! 

Over the next while I'm continuing to work on my digital project. I don't expect to be back to regular blogging until it's finished but I pop in to read blogs here and there. I hope all of you continue to stay as safe as you can while we all await vaccinations. I don't expect to get mine until at least the middle of summer, possibly a bit later depending on how the roll out of vaccinations goes and whether our country gets the vaccinations that have been ordered for us.

Take care.

Note: I had trouble uploading tonight and the fonts kept going awry. I tried to fix it.