Recommended Reading

I finished reading Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker and am giving it 5 stars. It is the story of Neely and his wife's struggle to adopt a child in Zimbabwe. It is well-written, poignant, informative (Africa and AIDS), and will surely move you and make you more aware of the tragedy that is happening in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. I am even more passionate about the Bears to Zimbabwe project. A friend loaned me the book but I am considering buying it just to get it into the hands of other people.

It is fall break at the university so a bit of a holiday for us. We have been working on some landscaping projects around the house. I would like to restore the part of the woods that was ruined when the excavation was done for our home. Also, our woods is largely maple trees with a few oak, ash, and elm thrown in there. We need to cut down some of the smaller maple trees and get some native trees to bring more balance to the woodland. The photo shows what the woods looked like about a year ago.

I have 2 new piping tunes to learn this week and I haven't worked on them enough.

Zimbabwe Project

Today I worked on a knitted teddy bear that wil be going to Zimbabwe. I've made 3 so far and have a group of knitters who are also making them. Some of these ladies haven't knitted in a long time so they have needed remedial help. Some of them knit prayer shawls in a group I started over 3 years ago. The Prayer Shawl Ministry has been very rewarding. http://www.shawlministry.com The bears are a fun diversion! It is exciting to think that the bears we make will be placed into the arms of a child in Zimbabwe. Many of these children have very little, not only in terms of material objects but also emotional support. Some are heads of households at a very young age, having lost both parents to AIDS. The average lifespan of a person in Zimbabwe now is about 34-36 yr. 80% of the population is unemployed and 1 in 4 have the AIDS virus. Anything we can do to help is important.

These little guys are so cute. Each one has its own personality. I find the facial features the trickiest part.

The pattern we are using is from Teddies for Tragedies. http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org.uk/

Tonight is pipeband practice from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. We have that competition on Saturday. The practice before a competition is always critical.