How do you sharpen your knives??

Many people use electric knife sharpeners for kitchen knives. Some may even use a whetstone. This is what we use here for sharpening knives, pangas and slashers. (These last 2 are gardening tools.)

This man charged us about $2 to sharpen 4 kitchen knives and the garden tools. What a great deal.

Siraf

In med December when Siraf came to live here, he was the size of Sophie, our cat.

3 months on he is more than ½ the size of Tiger, my female dog.

He loves to play, eat and sleep, not necessarily in that order.

Gracious friends brought toys for him so that our shoes, garden/yard tools and clothes on the line are not toys for him.



On Good Friday, all 3 dogs took off, through an open gate. Simba was caught within an hour, as he couldn't resist stopping for some trash by the edge of the road. Tiger returned on her own about 5 hours later, much the worse for wear – wet to the skin, wounded in her rear leg and moving very carefully and slowly. Siraf was no place to be found.

We hunted, sent out messages to local boda drivers, offering a small reward. Jackson and Ali walked in all the areas where they thought he might have gone. We were heart sick. There are many people here who fear dogs and think nothing of hurting or killing them. There are a few others who really like dogs and feel free to take strays home to their villages.

We prayed and worried for 3 days. On Easter Sunday morning, Samuel called me to say he had found Siraf. He'd spotted a man walking along our road, with a dog following behind. He ran down to the road, called Siraf's name. The puppy came running to him. Samuel brought him home, gave him water. There was much rejoicing, amongst all of us and the big dogs too.

I'm thinking of changing his name to Siraf Ressurection. Or maybe Siraf Prodigal. What do you think?

Here is a today photo of him.

Retreat

Attended an awesome all Church retreat last weekend. It was fun, connecting, powerful, restful, enlighting and, did I say, fun.

Florence and I had gone on women's retreat just 3 weekends before and that one was inspiring as well. It was hard to imagine that another retreat, so soon, could be as good.

But, although different, this one was good for us too. I am discovering that I can speak words of blessing over others that give comfort and encouragement. This coupled with neck and shoulder massages kept me busy and learning in the free time options.

Can hardly wait for the next one.

Easter Dinner 2011

This Easter we had a Christian version of the Seder, a Jewish ritual that commemorates the escape from slavery to freedom for God's people. Alan and Cheryl, from the UK, led the service, providing explanation of the symbolic foods, background information on how we were different from a traditional Seder.

The table was set for 9 people, plus a seat for Elijah (who didn't come btw). It was great fun and educational for all of us too.

Around the table from left, clockwise were: Florence Melody, Rachel, Alan, Cheryl, Donna, Miriam, Deline and me (behind the camera). We ate almost ¾ of a roasted goat, plus salad, greens and dessert, along with the matzah, the charoset, horseradish, hard-boiled eggs and parsley. Sweet red wine or Mirinda fruity were the beverages to choose from. The passion fruit pie and the mango-pawpaw pie left a lot to be desired.

Next year, I'll go back to my traditional buffet with open invitations for all looking for a party.