I’m back!  Wow.  It is a New Year!!  I sort of got lost in the activities of life it seems.  Or the non-activities of life.  I guess you could say I stepped out for a bit and decided to stop and gaze at the mountains.  Watch the birds.  Hang out with the goats.  Walk around in nature with my dogs.  Just Be.  Just Breathe.  Even doing that, a lot of things have happened in a sort of low key way since last posting almost 6 months ago. 

The most important thing it seems is that I got a new cat!!! Haha.  Giorgio Purrari appeared in my life the end of September 2023 as my rodent control helper for our village home.  It had gotten almost unbearable and unlivable due to the rodent infestation and I was not having any luck with traps and I will not use poison.  Giorgio was a kitten in Nairobi that almost died from having ingested a piece of broken  ballon, but after he finally vomited it out, much to the surprise of his rescuers who had thought he was dying, he survived and thrived.  I brought him home to Ngurunit on October 1^st and he had taken to village life like he was meant to be here.  The house was cleared of rodents down to a livable level within a month and cleaned up spic and span before Christmas and the New Year!!

2024 started with visitors, fun and lots of time at the rock slides and pools up the mountain.  This was possible because from the end of October 2023 the drought finally ended with lots and lots and lots of rain.  Yay!!  As all things in great quantities, the rain has also had it’s down side.  Our latrine sunk into the waterlogged soil, prompting us to have to build a new one in December.  Many roads have been damaged making traveling slightly more challenging.  Those are manageable issues next to the huge benefits of lots of pasture and a river that has been flowing down past the town for months now.  It is so beautiful.  Just the other day I had visitors at our tourist camp and we spent a day up at the rock pools having a wonderful time cooling off from the February heat.  The river is still flowing strong!!! Yay!!

2024 is the FAO declared year of the camelid.  I haven’t seen much happening yet, but my video is on the last approval stage.  Once it gets through that, it will be uploaded to the FAO YouTube channel.  Watch this space for the link. 

As far as project activities are concerned, things are still at a go-slow period.  I’m feeling my way forward for new projects and activities.  It is good to take the time to assess where I have been in life and where I want to go.  Exploring possibilities and finding the best way forward.  Environmental concerns seem to be something that is grabbing my attention.  Income generation for women groups is still important.  I’m looking at new strategies for improvement and increasing markets.  Water is an ever-present concern.  A new borehole water well is in my sights.  The ever-present question of where to get the funding is also front and center at the moment. 

So, I take each day at a time.  Step by step on my life path.  Breathing.  Being.  Watching for the best
way forward as things unfold as they will.  I’m enjoying life.  Lots of new lambs and kids (baby goats) at the moment.  Taking care of Mouse dog, my little old lady these days (over 12 years old and a few health issues to deal with).  Sunrises and sunsets.  The moon waxing and waning.  The rhythms of life around me.  Peace to you all.  Until next time….