If I could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be and why?
3 – Featured Bananas
My word would be the phrase, ‘I can’t.’
This phrase is the source of unhappiness, discontent, anger, discouragement, hate, and all negative scenarios that come to mind. When people say ‘I can’t’, they block the way to what can happen. A lot of time is wasted on this phrase, so a future, and a present without the word ‘I can’t’, would lead to wondrous possibilities.
The bananas in the picture are a counter to this phrase and challenge. Since I told someone I can’t feature bananas on a writing blog. Voila! Here is a bunch of bananas hanging on string, and I ate two of them on the way home after taking this picture.
***
My Day 3 is task-oriented, and required an opinion and an action. I enjoyed some bananas thanks to Day 3. May you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
My sister woke me at the crack of dawn today. I don’t do well with mornings without coffee. This determined fire cracker got me out of bed, dressed, and out the door…all these without a cup of coffee. I give her props for the feat. I’m incredibly unsociable without coffee. The world always seems like a serious battle zone, and everyone talking is the enemy racing it at me with battle axes, arrows, swords and machetes. I was a disgruntled zombie. My focus only on what I have to do to get to point B, and anything extra turned into an annoyance.
We were heading to a finance master class my sister runs, the venue today was along Ngong Rd. The matatu driver was plugged to the loudest reggae music I’ve heard yet. The treble in that joint turned into a small torture device. I was a tad disoriented when we arrived at our destination.
Of course, my little task master knows me well. We ended up in the lovely Cakes & Muffins restaurant along Ngong road. Minutes later, I got my hit of house coffee, and the world righted. I’m starting to think coffee can be used as a weapon against me.
The master class started an hour later than we had planned and in the short span of time it ran, the ladies in attendance turned into my inspiration. Women in business inspire me on most days. These ladies were no exception. Starting a small business is often the most difficult task one can take up. The challenges always out weigh the merits, but meeting these group of ladies, the waking up was worth it.
The talk on managing cash flow ensued. You would think the topic would be enough to get them sleeping, but everyone was wide-eyed, and taking notes. Then, the conversation started, and I got a first class seat to women facing real struggles in their businesses. The baking industry has grown in Kenya. Breaking into the industry requires more than bravery. Contenders face stiff competition from fellow bakers, and consumers who are well educated in the type of products they want. Despite the challenges, these ladies are focused, and determined to keep going despite these struggles.
When the class was over, one of the ladies comes up and says, “Thank you, so much. Thank you for doing this, it keeps us going.”
I smiled at my sister, because she’s the determined firecracker who made this day worth it for a half-dozen women, and there is nothing more powerful than that for inspiration.
***
*matatu – public PSV
Day 2, the goal today was to hit 400 words talking about what happened during my day. I had a good time meeting the ladies today at the masterclass, and their stories truly made me smile. Fighting!
A bird whistles in the distance, melodious beauty cuts through the heavy veil of sleep. Senses alert, the freezer in the living room hums to life. A series of mechanical whirls fill the silence of the house. They said the thing would be silent that first day at the showroom. The humming continues, the sound low but hardly silent…score for the sales man. The humming cuts off five minutes later, the silence is surprising…welcome. Once again, the bird living in the tree right outside the house whistles…or was he still whistling?
Sleep beckons, that sweet delicious wave of sleep only found at six in the morning. A glance at the clock—that square-faced, faux-gold piece that is now twenty-five years old, still faithfully counting away the minutes— shows that it’s twenty-five minutes until six-thirty. Eyes close, stubborn will clings to the comfort of warm blankets. Nose buried in the wool-rich blankets, fingers clutching tight to the edges, contentment fills as once again I’m caught in the magical world between awake and dreams.
A heavy weight drops on my legs, and a sigh escapes. Four paws trail a massage up my back, and loud purring fills the quiet. Suki, the cat, is awake…
When the purring doesn’t work, she proceeds to dig her paws into the blankets.
Step, step, dig, dig…Suki’s purring volume increases…wake up, wake up.
Suki steps a rhythm on my back.
I hold the blankets closer. A peek at the clock, and it’s only six fifteen…not time yet. Ignoring Suki’s vicious alarm clock, I close my eyes and desperately cling to that sweet sleep. How was that dream going again…?
Ah yes—
A heavy weight drops on my head, enough to grab me away from sweet bliss. I push the covers away and raise my head slightly. Suki sits on the floor, her dark irises round and large in the morning light. Her gaze is expectant. She thinks she’s won with her hit and run…I smirk.
My head finds the pillow again, this time I turn away from her, and make sure to cover my head well with the blankets. The faithful clock says it is six twenty-five. I’m getting my five minutes in.
My nose is cold. The temperatures are their usual low this early in August. The thought of a shower is not appealing. Closing my eyes, I seek that delicious sleep again…five minutes and then I will wake up.
Two minutes in, the blankets are warm again…the dreams right on the fringe.
Suki jumps on me, again. Her purr is soothing, her weight on my arm friendly. She lulls me further into sleep…and then, she’s pawing at the blankets covering my head. Her claws sink into the heavy blanket and the tips meet skin, I sit up in a hurry and she jumps off fast.
She sits on the floor…smirking at me.
My blankets are thrown aside, the warmth sucked away by the frigid room temperature. There’s no getting that back now. Damn minx has won this round.
I glance at the clock and scowl, Suki won at six twenty-seven. She meows, the sound of it urgent. She’s hungry and wants food, now. I feel robbed of three delicious minutes of sleep. Giving a loud yawn in answer, I get up and chuckle when Suki leads the way to the kitchen.
***
This is Day One of the writing challenge…came up with this in fifteen minutes. I think it went ok. Will see how it goes tomorrow. ^_^
Adventures in Nairobi led me to a wonderful community center in Eastleigh that does pottery to help fund their projects and support the less privileged. The Eastleigh Community Center has a full-fledged Pottery Workshop that produces gorgeous pottery pieces they sell to support the center.
We got the chance to walk through the pottery shop where they sell their finished products. Of course, the motto was walk with care. I kept praying my clumsiness would stay put, the shelves were so gorgeously full of delicate art. The staff was busy packing for an exhibition, so I only got one shot of the packed shelves. I’m told you can visit the Center if you would like to view the pottery before you purchase.
More pottery on shelves…these jugs remind me of the ones I see in old Egyptian paintings, or Greek art. Imagine yourself filling your jug with water, or milk, and placing it on the work table. So beautiful….get one here.
The picture above is a collection of mugs in the process of creation, before they go back in to the kiln for another burn.
This little plant pot absolutely stole my heart. Yes, part of it is the Biscuit written on the side, but it is just so cute, I want one!
Outside the Eastleigh Community Center offices is a line of potted plants that make me want to go back to their shop and purchase a few for our compound.
The Eastleigh Community Center displays their pottery work at different expos around Nairobi. You might run into them at Yaya Center, the Maasai Market, or at the Sarit Center Expos…and many other trade shows.
As always, resolutions are flying around me, from friends and family, I sincerely hope they are met. I love a new year. It always feels like a time to leave the old behind and embrace the new. New things, ideas and meet new people. It’s also a time to change the view on old things, old ideas and old relationships.
This writer wishes all her readers the best of the best this year. And, unmovable resolve in getting those resolutions done. Meet new people, create inspiring new ideas, try new things, visit new places…go to old places and see them like new…..Live.
Fridays are my favorite, they always seem like holidays waiting to happen. Plus, everyone is in a great mood on Fridays, so I love them. I sat at my desk at some point today, and had absolutely nothing to say, my cursor was blinking at me, and I would just click out of Word and head on to check mail. Doesn’t matter how many friends you have on social media, if you check notifications every two seconds, there won’t be any. That’s when you know it’s time to refocus energy, so I got up and instead went snooping in the kitchen.
My sister is the baker in the family, no matter what, she’s the perfectionist there. We have a bunch of peanut butter at home, because we’re those organic people who make peanut butter from scratch and sell…..^_^, however there is the imperfect peanut butter that gets left behind, and I had a craving for peanut butter cookies. So, I found a recipe and decided to make peanut butter cookies. Insanity ensued of course, because when you start finding ingredient something is always missing on the list. Today was margarine, and after a trip to the shop to get that, the baking continued on. It was the end result that had me laughing.
It always looks perfect before the baking…^_^
My sister bakes and things come out perfect, I got those peanut butter cookies out, and I had a few with dark edges. Mind you, I was watching for them every two seconds, so maybe I was over eager.
Everyone in the house wanted a piece when it was done and on the table, so I suppose the burnt edges were only obvious to me.
The cat got the burnt one..^_^
This whole exercise today got me thinking about procrastination in general. The imperfect peanut butter on the shelf finally got a use, we’ve all been meaning to use it somehow, but not knowing what to do with it. My procrastinating from writing got that sorted out pretty good since I used it all up. We can make new peanut butter without feeling guilty about the old one. The house has cookies to eat for breakfast, lunch or whenever…and I’m back at the desk having lots to say about procrastinating.
It’s what you do with your time, isn’t it?
Fridays are still my favorite day, so I hope you have a good one.
On a lazy Saturday Afternoon, my sister and I decided to see what the Ubantu Festival was about. The festival was held in the now familiar Uhuru Gardens along Langata road. This time however, no cake to eat, just loads of creativity, and wonderful art. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
My Sis, lovin’ the art, the Avocado was her favorite
A lot of expression on this one
And that’s that… beautiful art, beautiful beaded jewelry..
I hope the next Ubantu Festival is even more lively.
Saturday was one of those days you just want to forget because nothing is going right. From work, to interacting with people, to commuting, everything was just whack! I got home, and I just wanted to bury myself under the blankets for at least twenty-four hours. Alas, it was during the day, and sleeping with the sun up, is just hard for me. So, my mum dragged me out of the house and we went digging up the flower garden. There is nothing like sinking your fingers in dirt. Stress, all annoyed and disturbed thoughts just disappear. Our garden is right in front of the house, and the old flowers were getting boring. We decided to gut them out and decided to replant some new ones.
Separating Aloe Vera plantlets
This is the garden after we were done planting the Aloe Vera and a pretty flower called Florentine Iris. It looks pretty puny right now, but the rains are here, and they’ll shoot up fast. The Florentine Iris is especially pretty when it grows flowers.
I can’t wait to see a garden full of these↑ flowers.
This little exercise had me forgetting the seriously disturbing events of my day. It was gardening for the soul, ^_^!
On a side note, this huge tree grows outside our house too. Every year, it gets these white flowers that bloom for like a day, before they fall down to the ground covering the whole area. Pretty isn’t it.
My Day 3 is task-oriented, and required an opinion and an action. I enjoyed some bananas thanks to Day 3. May you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Stories and Book Talk 