Lida Rose

The last time I brought a blueberry scone home Lida Rose managed to get it out of a bag that was in another bag and ate the whole thing. I managed to get this one on my plate and did share a small piece with her. Bernie in the background didn't know what all the fuss was about as she prefers seafood to baked goods.

Jackfruit Tacos

I got these delicious jackfruit tacos from the Ripe Cuisine food truck at the Rice Farmer's Market. I'm amazed that some of the best food I've ever eaten comes from a food truck.
Lida Rose went with me and she got some cookies from Bones on the Go.

Weekend with Bernie (and Friends)

We had a fun weekend despite the rain. It was an excuse to have bagels and have some lap time with Lida Rose and Bernie. We also managed to get a walk in with friends. We walked down to Poe Elementary and Lida stood in front of the cow she used to be afraid of. It started raining so we found shelter until it stopped. I also managed to get rid of a whole bookshelf of books in anticipation of our move to a smaller unit in the complex.

On our way to Rice

On our way to the Farmers Market at Rice yesterday.

Picking out Cookies at the Farmer's Market

The nice lady from Bones on the Go helped us pick out some yummy cookies yesterday.

Lida Rose and Bernie

Bernie is the happiest when she is cuddling up next to Lida Rose.

Pugs not Drugs

Bernie (The cat)

It turns out Bernie is a girl. I had already gotten used to the name Bernie so now it's just short for Bernadette. Bernie and Lida Rose are adjusting to each other better than expected.

Bernie

This little tuxedo cat showed up on my patio last weekend and it looks like he has found a new home. I named him Bernie.

A Fun Weekend

On Saturday Lida Rose and I were joined by my neighbor and her 2 dogs at the Pughearts adoption event at Hugs and Donuts in the Heights. I didn't end up adopting another pug and Lida Rose was very happy about that. She was also happy that people shared donuts with her. My neighbor came over on Sunday and the pups got to visit again. We had smoothies and the pups had dinner at my house. It pretty much rained all weekend but we managed to get a few walk in anyway.

Lida Rose

My Kiva Portfolio

Since learning about Kiva I have made 15 loans totaling $375 to people or groups in Honduras, Kenya, Peru, The Philippines, Uganda, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Ecuador. The loans have been for Education (almost 50%), Agriculture, Food, Retail, Services, and Health.
https://www.kiva.org/

2 New Kiva Loans

My daughter sent me a gift certificate to Kiva for Mother's Day. Kiva is a non-profit that loans money to people and institutions who have little or no access to traditional banking systems. I like Kiva because you can pick the area of the world you want to help, the sector, such as education or agriculture, and any other attributes such as green, fair trade, or water and sanitation. When the loan is re-paid you can choose another borrower.

Here are the 2 loans I choose. The photos and descriptions are from the Kiva website.


Greetings from Uganda! This is Godfrey. He is the Head Teacher of Timuna S. School, a mixed school in the rural area of Nakaseke with 350 students. Timuna S. School has requested a loan to cover the cost of installing and maintaining a UV water filtration system to provide clean drinking water for its students.
The school does not currently have access to consistent clean drinking water and therefore has to spend a considerable portion of its budget on firewood, which is used to boil water for the children. Installing a water filtration system will therefore save the school money in the long-term as the cost of firewood will be reduced. The loan will enable the school to purchase a UV water treatment system with a 1,000 liter tank, which will be big enough to store clean drinking water for the students every day.
Timuna S. School will repay their loan from their school fees, which they collect each term. Godfrey ultimately hopes that having access to safe drinking water will improve his student’s concentration and attendance by reducing the number of children that fall sick from water-borne diseases as well as increase the number of students coming to the school.



Erlyn is a 23 year old, young man who lives in the city of Tegucigalpa. He currently lives alone as his family lives in his birth town, outside the city limits. He is studying medicine and is in the last years of his program. With great effort he has been able to reach his goal.

He comes from a close knit, very united and very hardworking family, made up of his mother and his ten year old brother. From a very young age they faced very difficult situations as they lost their father to a terminal illness. This required Erlyn to work and fight for his family. Today his situation has worsened, due to the demands his university studies place on his time.

His mother is a dressmaker, but due to health issues cannot work. She has inspired him to continue on this long road. Erlyn is a respectful, responsible young man. He is enterprising and enthusiastic, and motivated by a desire to succeed in order to reach his academic goals. This will help his younger brother in the future to fight for his own dreams, as Erlyn plans to support him in his studies.

Erlyn wants to contribute to the development of his country through the health field, offering his talent to others and his family, by providing better conditions of life, health, food and education, leading to a more prosperous life and success. Erlyn has been marked by the difficult stages illness has caused his family. One of these took the life of his father, and caused his mother to suffer. Little by little she recovered her faith and hope in both the love of God and the love of her children, in order to continue being the pillar of her family.

Erlyn's future goals are to work, to strive to move his family forward, to provide his mother the care she needs, and to provide his brother the education he deserves.
His mother,the person who is very proud of her son and with a wish to always grow, she is Francisca and accompanies Erlyn in the profile picture.

The first two pictures were taken at Rice during the BARK for BARC Pet Walk sponsored by the BARC Foundation. It was pouring down rain earlier in the morning but the rain stopped just in time for the walk.
The next two pictures are just Lida Rose being cute on our daily walks.

Lida Rose with Friends