Cheers to the simple life

The warm weather is doing its magic.. spirits are lifting and family time is shifting into high gear.
Here are some pictures from the family fishing trip to the the lake formerly known as Lake Seward. Which is a mile from from our front door.
The thre older kids and hubby climbed into his small aluminum fishing boat and went fly fishing. they caught bunches of pan fish. Monday night we having a fish fry! Isn't it beautiful out here?

Life ALWAYS goes on

Last sunday my favorite Uncle died suddenly. He had a heart attack. The fallout from his passing has been immense. Apparantly I have a huge gathering of firt and second cousins here in the US. This tragedy brought me back into their sphere. It also brought back the realization that I really miss Kenya. I miss my family, I miss my friends and I miss feeling like Kenya. That doesn't mean that I feel like an American.. all I am saying I miss feeling like a Kenyan simply. For the past few months I have been slowly calling and emailing old friends-- trying to reconnect. I have also visited many blogs written by Kenyans. I am not sure what to think. Kenya has changed so much since my last visit in 1991. My parents live in an area I don't even recall. Its hard to visual my sisters house. In summary with Uncle Alfreds passing I have been feeling homesick... feeling so unconnected. It is about time I made a trip to Kenya.

Well here is a picture of a portion of the house I grew up in Kenya. Last I hear the new owner demolished the house to big a bigger house in it its place.

Driving Around Town

Picture One was taken on the drive up Hooker mountain on way back from picking daughter number 2 from Kiddie College. The Footbridge is on our property. The grassy knoll is where the driveway will be. The car bridge will be further up stream and more substantial-- I hope.


It was a beautiful spring day today. It is one of those days that I am glad to be alive! I love this neck of the woods. Scenery everywhere. I bet the folks that drive by on the highway look out the windows of their speeding cars and admire the scenery. I get to live in this eden.

The Laundry Bandit

Someone has been adding clean clothes to the laundry baskets. No wonder the laundry NEVER gets done.

Some positive signs of spring ( I need to be less technical while planting bulbs - I think everything is in a straight line and placed geometrically!)

A Day at the Zoo

We drove 1 hour to the Binghampton Zoo. The journey was filled with "are we there yet?" It was one of the saddest zoos I have ever seen. Thoughts of Free Willie kept crossin my mind. The kids enjoyed the play grounds at zoo.

spring is finally here

There is hope!

I took this picture 2 weeks ago, the flower bed looks better now. Its filled with all kinds of bulbs. Daffodils, crocuses, tulips, irises, and lilies. I will update the picture soon.

I have been spending time outside today. I planted some tulips (over 100 to be exact). They eed to be divided but will do that in the fall. NOw I am just hoping that they survive. I also planted some Jacobs ladders and a scented rose. I still have some dahlias and clematis to plant. Not sure how many annuals I am gona plant this year. I have to turn my attention to Memorial garden at the church. HAPPY SPRING everyone!

The Little Truck that could..

My hubby invested in this little truck to drive uncle up the hill behind our future home site. It is a very steep and anrrow loggin road that goes up our little mountain. In the first picture you can about see the expansive view from up there and the second picture you can see the smallness of the truck. It is so small that when he changed the tires on it he did not need a jack! He just picked up the back. Needles to say tha truck is drawing ALOT of attention of people driving by.

I am so looking forward to moving out there though. It is so beautiful and quiet. SO much room to roam around. I do not like living on main street in town. I am an out door person and private person. I like sipping hot tea on my porch without watching cars drive by. I like sitting on my swing in the backyard without seeing the neighbor in her kitchen. I can't wait...

Sometimes it snows in April

My neighbors yard with the dusting of snow from last night. At least the sun is shinning today. ALong the edge of her yard she has tons of blackberries. The kids and I had a blast last year picking blackberries in her yard. We were going to make some jelly but the berries never made it home! SHe told me her mom used to pick them and sell them infront of their house.

That is one thing I miss about being in Kenya is the abundance of fruits. In our yard we had guavas, mangoes, mulberries, loquats, custard apples, and berries just to name a few. I miss all those tropical fruits! When we lived in Florida I saw some passion fruits in the store. I was so excited I picked them all. The cashier put them on her weighing machine and the price came up to $11.49 for 8 passion fruits! SHOCKING! (I wonder how many passion fruits you can get for 12 bucks in NBI?) But I bought them anyway... I wanted the taste of home. One the property (Future home site) we have many apple trees. Probably atleast 15 trees maybe even more... and wild raspberries. I intend to plant every fruit possible that can survive in this zone...

Dreaming of Spring..

On Sunday I was out in the dirt... YEAH! Cutting back perennials, uncovering sleeping sedums. It was great. Everything was looking great. Crocous are up in yellows, whites and purples. My miniature tulips are getting ready to bloom. The weather was so good that the entire clan went for a walk through the park by the creek. I started planning out the memorial garden at the church and my gardening plans. I have a blueberry bush, a rose bush, a viburnum, some dahlias and lilies waiting to be planted...

This morning I woke up to an inch of snow! Go figure.