Hi from Philly

I am part way through a 2 week vacation in Philly. It is nice to be here and things are going well. I have spent time in a book store almost every day. There are a number near where I am staying - Barnes and Noble, Boaders, the Penn Bookstore (also a Barnes and Nobel but geared more towards a university community). I have shared meals with a number of friends and spent today with my oldest grandson (Saveen, 12). We ate Korean food, went to The Academy of Natural Sciences (visited the butterfly house and a exhibition on the work of Gregor Mendal - who discovered genetics. He was very interested in the latter. At the museum bookstore we got a small 3-D puzzle of a dinosaur with 20 pieces which I needed help help with. After that we had icecream and then played farkle - a fun game using 6 dice. I am going to try to get some pictures on line.

GRANVENTA de PATIO *** PATIO SALE

Yesterday and today a number of us prepared for the Giant Garage sale. Not in a garage but in the parish hall Saint Paul's. There were a number of volunteers and we unpacked, priced, hung up (after a church member putup some wire for us to use).

The big sale is tomorrow and I'll write about it later. I have a lot of pictures --- so hope to be able to get them posted soon - I just need a little help!

Good News

Today was Graciela´s monthly appointment and good news - her hemoglobin is increasing. Now it is 9.8 - it was down to 5 once and 6.2 more recently and she had to have two blood transfusions. Now with a different brand of one of her important medications she is making her own hemoglobin again.

I have lots of pictures but need some help in getting them into the computer - so please be patient.

Fire Cat

To see a picture of Fire Cat do back to my January 1st entry.

Fire Cat

To see a picture of Fire Cat do back to my January 1st entry.

Back from Bocas and more

Friday morning, still in Bocas, I went to a beautiful, new , botanical Garden and had a great tour with the owner and creator. You can enjoy it too:  www.botanicalgardenbocasdeltoro.com    It was a wonderful two hours because it is a beautiful place with 40 varieties of heliconia, lots of different ginger plants, lots of palm tree from around the world - including 4 or 5 travelers' palm which are 4 years old. We saw monkeys. Another great thing was that I learned that I can make a two hour slow walk, some of open ground, up some hills and down, using my cane!  That is like opening a new world for me. (the cane is for my aching knees).

I got back to the hotel before 11 and had a quick lunch from the gourmet shop next door, showered, checked out, and headed walking to a water taxi that would take me to Changuinola in an hour. I now can consider doing something in a boat.  The trip was delightful, through an inland waterway - not bumpy. It left me at Finca 60 - that is a banana finca - and then I took a taxi to the airport. Graciela and her mother showed up in pleanty of time and then came two or three brothers to send her aff back to Panama. I got a promise form Roberto (brother closest to her age) to come back with me to Panama City in January to talk to her doctor and have some preliminary tests to see if he could be a candidate to donate a kidney to her. Pray for us.

Yesterday, Saturday, was fairly regular. I often help a university student with English on Saturday afternoon - and I did this day too. Went out to lunch with a friend and then drove to Gamboa to vist the friends I aften visit on weekends - the Leighs, their three cats and two dogs, and my special cat friend, firecat.

Today was church. Next Saturday is our big Patio Sale - aimed at providing clothes for the people who live in the neighborhood and the people who part of our food for the hungry program.  We gave between 20 and 30 people a snadwhich, juice and cookies to have for the supper on Sunday.  They get a bag of food on the 4th Sunday. They themselves help with the distribution of the food and also with packing the bags on the morning of the 4th Sunday. Several also help out on Sunday morning mopping up spills, sweeping, and moving things in and out of the kitchen. One of the youth group makes the sandwiches and another woman packs the juice and cookies in a bag to give out. Today when wecame down from the service I couldn't find the juice and cookies and said to my friend who packs them ' someone stole the juice and cookies!'  She said no, she had hidden them (in the oven!).