Biggest slug I have ever seen in my life. Emma was less afraid than I was. EW.
Monday, November 07, 2011
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Masochism, but in a pretty place
So I feel that I just have to share my most recent physical exercise triumph. One of the Dad's at Emma's school is a personal trainer and he does his training on school grounds. In Em's first week one of the Moms was standing in the school yard, "naming and shaming" as she called it for people who should be doing "bootcamp".
Now yes - this is an army town, we have a British Army base here as well as a Kenyan one but still - bootcamp? Pulease!
At least that was my thought. But here is the thing. I am NO good at peer pressure. Standing at a new Mom's meet old Mom's coffee and eating large amounts of sticky iced chocolate cake while self-congratulating other Mom's told me how hard they had just worked and how they deserved the cake, I found myself crumbling, much like the cake in my mouth, and nodding my head vigorously at their comments. (Maybe if I nod hard enough I will work off the chocolate calories and not have to actually, ugh, exercise.)
On top of this my closest friend here keeps sending me damn texts about how she went for a run this evening. YES - you KNOW who you are. THEN, you know the pair of jeans you can always fit into, even when you are in the throes of PMS? Well the button was a challenge. I blame Nutella.
So anyway, I strong-armed Keir into accompanying me. Misery loves company. And we went to a bootcamp session called "get tyred" because you use tractor and car tyres for this particular kind of torture. We literally had to squat and lift and flip TRACTOR TYRES! They are heavy! And they smell! This was a Thursday. On Saturday we went to D's and she lives on the fourth floor with no lift. It took Emma and I 40 minutes to climb, thankfully Emma believes in taking breaks when tackling D's steps. I couldn't pee cos I couldn't sit, and then when I did I had to stay there and take advantage of being down because I couldn't get up again. Squats, with tyres! Oh and did I mention lunges? All kinds. Wanna make me cry? Say to me: "split lunges for 30."
I walked like a geriatric cowboy 'til Tuesday. Then I felt pretty good for two days and went back. Then I went on Tuesday. Today I thought - hey, maybe if I go again only two days after, the punishment will work out Tuesday's kinks? Wrong again chum. New kinks and I have decided water and wine and juice are all overrated. As is peeing.
Oh and the pretty place? We face Mt. Kenya while doing bootcamp. It is a beautiful mountain, often with rain and mist swirling around it. Sometimes cursing and spitting at it is the only thing that gets me through the jump lunges.
Now yes - this is an army town, we have a British Army base here as well as a Kenyan one but still - bootcamp? Pulease!
At least that was my thought. But here is the thing. I am NO good at peer pressure. Standing at a new Mom's meet old Mom's coffee and eating large amounts of sticky iced chocolate cake while self-congratulating other Mom's told me how hard they had just worked and how they deserved the cake, I found myself crumbling, much like the cake in my mouth, and nodding my head vigorously at their comments. (Maybe if I nod hard enough I will work off the chocolate calories and not have to actually, ugh, exercise.)
On top of this my closest friend here keeps sending me damn texts about how she went for a run this evening. YES - you KNOW who you are. THEN, you know the pair of jeans you can always fit into, even when you are in the throes of PMS? Well the button was a challenge. I blame Nutella.
So anyway, I strong-armed Keir into accompanying me. Misery loves company. And we went to a bootcamp session called "get tyred" because you use tractor and car tyres for this particular kind of torture. We literally had to squat and lift and flip TRACTOR TYRES! They are heavy! And they smell! This was a Thursday. On Saturday we went to D's and she lives on the fourth floor with no lift. It took Emma and I 40 minutes to climb, thankfully Emma believes in taking breaks when tackling D's steps. I couldn't pee cos I couldn't sit, and then when I did I had to stay there and take advantage of being down because I couldn't get up again. Squats, with tyres! Oh and did I mention lunges? All kinds. Wanna make me cry? Say to me: "split lunges for 30."
I walked like a geriatric cowboy 'til Tuesday. Then I felt pretty good for two days and went back. Then I went on Tuesday. Today I thought - hey, maybe if I go again only two days after, the punishment will work out Tuesday's kinks? Wrong again chum. New kinks and I have decided water and wine and juice are all overrated. As is peeing.
Oh and the pretty place? We face Mt. Kenya while doing bootcamp. It is a beautiful mountain, often with rain and mist swirling around it. Sometimes cursing and spitting at it is the only thing that gets me through the jump lunges.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
nuttin' much
So I haven't blogged for so long, not really having anything matching the excitement of an eye to eye with a leopard but then today I thought, well Kenya is still an interesting place to live and I should write about that!
Today I went for the first time to a side of the street stall for my veggies. I usually get them from the grocery store where the veggies all look as though they have been there a while and aren't enjoying the visit.
Today's stall is on the same street as Em's school, it is a wood hut with a couple of corrugated iron roofs that make a little porch. On the porch are the veggies. I wondered under the porch and the two ladies shelling peas looked at me suspiciously. Thankfully a man came out of the hut to help me. We had a little tussle over the largest passion fruit I have ever seen as he tried to choose them for me, but I like to choose my own fruit and with a shrug that clearly said "ok Mzungu" he made space.
The best part of the stall are the 8 or so baskets of dried beans. Beans I have never seen before and when I asked, never even heard of. I couldn't resist the pitch black beans that have a white stripe. No idea what I will do with them. Put them in a chili I suppose. The man weighed all my veggies on a scale with actual weights and I paid him what seemed a paltry amount for some really lovely veg. I also feel quite proud of myself for finally feeling comfortable enough here to get out of the car!
Today I went for the first time to a side of the street stall for my veggies. I usually get them from the grocery store where the veggies all look as though they have been there a while and aren't enjoying the visit.
Today's stall is on the same street as Em's school, it is a wood hut with a couple of corrugated iron roofs that make a little porch. On the porch are the veggies. I wondered under the porch and the two ladies shelling peas looked at me suspiciously. Thankfully a man came out of the hut to help me. We had a little tussle over the largest passion fruit I have ever seen as he tried to choose them for me, but I like to choose my own fruit and with a shrug that clearly said "ok Mzungu" he made space.
The best part of the stall are the 8 or so baskets of dried beans. Beans I have never seen before and when I asked, never even heard of. I couldn't resist the pitch black beans that have a white stripe. No idea what I will do with them. Put them in a chili I suppose. The man weighed all my veggies on a scale with actual weights and I paid him what seemed a paltry amount for some really lovely veg. I also feel quite proud of myself for finally feeling comfortable enough here to get out of the car!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Living in Nanyuki
Living in Nanyuki is still an adventure, even if there are no ravening beasts. (The little barkers in the landlord's garden don't count until they actually draw blood.)
When it rains, which has been often recently, the power goes out. When it threatens to rain, which it does on the days it doesn't actually rain, the power goes out. The other day, from 9 til 5 the power went out on the hour for half an hour and then came back on for the second half of the hour. This led to me almost showering, losing power, getting distracted, getting naked for the shower, then losing power and getting distracted... it took me about three hours before I actually figured out there was a pattern. And then there are Thursdays. As a load shedding exercise we are supposed to lose power from 6 til 9 each Thursday night. This translates to the power going out anywhere between 4 and 6 and not coming back til, well anytime really, and sometimes not coming back at all. This makes dinner, bath and tea an entertaining dance. Whenever someone switches on a light Emma exclaims; "Yay! Power's back!"
When it rains, which has been often recently, the power goes out. When it threatens to rain, which it does on the days it doesn't actually rain, the power goes out. The other day, from 9 til 5 the power went out on the hour for half an hour and then came back on for the second half of the hour. This led to me almost showering, losing power, getting distracted, getting naked for the shower, then losing power and getting distracted... it took me about three hours before I actually figured out there was a pattern. And then there are Thursdays. As a load shedding exercise we are supposed to lose power from 6 til 9 each Thursday night. This translates to the power going out anywhere between 4 and 6 and not coming back til, well anytime really, and sometimes not coming back at all. This makes dinner, bath and tea an entertaining dance. Whenever someone switches on a light Emma exclaims; "Yay! Power's back!"
Emma Update
Oh the fun we have had this month!
I asked her if she was my sweet girl and she said; "No! Spicy girl!"
She is continuing her potty training and her bear, froggy, bee and assorted other animals must take their turns on the potty too.
K is trying to teach her to use an f at the beginning of words as well as at the end. She can say "off" just fine but food comes out "dude". The other day she came inside from just such a lesson and said: "Mommy, fffff ffff ffff, DUDE!"
Each toothbrushing session is a game where her toothbrush is "naughty" and apparently leaps out of her mouth. (This happens when she jerks her head) The poor toothbrush gets told sternly how he is not doing the job and put back in the cupboard. This game does lead to some yellow teeth until Mommy comes in and has a "talk" with the toothbrush.
Some of the habits she has brought home from school and as a nearly two year old has latched onto as something to be experimented with are a little challenging. We now must deal with eternal "NO!" as well as "Go away Mommy!" The former I enjoy playing around with and when she says "No" I say "Up!" then she can't figure out whether she should say yes or down? Quite often she just goes for No again. Sigh. When she tells me to go away, I do. It's quite funny how quickly that changes her mind.
Just as much fun as the conversations and games we have with Emma are the conversations that happen between the two parents. How many of you know of Dr. Suess' Yink who drinks ink? Well I was reading the nursery rhyme to Em that goes:
If all the world were apple pie, and all the sea were ink
and all the trees were bread and cheese, what would we have to drink?
K said from the front seat; "We'd all have to be Yinks"
My response; "But it would have to be pink ink wouldn't it... can Yinks drink anything other than pink ink?" and the conversation went from there for quite a long time. This is not the first time we have had such a conversation.
I asked her if she was my sweet girl and she said; "No! Spicy girl!"
She is continuing her potty training and her bear, froggy, bee and assorted other animals must take their turns on the potty too.
K is trying to teach her to use an f at the beginning of words as well as at the end. She can say "off" just fine but food comes out "dude". The other day she came inside from just such a lesson and said: "Mommy, fffff ffff ffff, DUDE!"
Each toothbrushing session is a game where her toothbrush is "naughty" and apparently leaps out of her mouth. (This happens when she jerks her head) The poor toothbrush gets told sternly how he is not doing the job and put back in the cupboard. This game does lead to some yellow teeth until Mommy comes in and has a "talk" with the toothbrush.
Some of the habits she has brought home from school and as a nearly two year old has latched onto as something to be experimented with are a little challenging. We now must deal with eternal "NO!" as well as "Go away Mommy!" The former I enjoy playing around with and when she says "No" I say "Up!" then she can't figure out whether she should say yes or down? Quite often she just goes for No again. Sigh. When she tells me to go away, I do. It's quite funny how quickly that changes her mind.
Just as much fun as the conversations and games we have with Emma are the conversations that happen between the two parents. How many of you know of Dr. Suess' Yink who drinks ink? Well I was reading the nursery rhyme to Em that goes:
If all the world were apple pie, and all the sea were ink
and all the trees were bread and cheese, what would we have to drink?
K said from the front seat; "We'd all have to be Yinks"
My response; "But it would have to be pink ink wouldn't it... can Yinks drink anything other than pink ink?" and the conversation went from there for quite a long time. This is not the first time we have had such a conversation.
Natural Blue Light Shows
At the beach this year I went swimming at night. It was about 9 O'clock and the water was so black except for the edge of foam where the waves lapped against the shore. We went swimming because the phosphorescence was in the water. These are tiny algae that glow when you move in the water.
I floated there in the black with one of the cousins, looking up at the far lights of the stars, and the nearer lights of the welcoming houses on the beach. It was an experience that brought me into an acute awareness of my body as well as a wish to use every part of it. With each swish under the water my skin was alight with a ghostly blue shimmer. My legs kicked and the colour flowed down my leg and off my toes. My fingers twinkled like I was making magic.
Just a few weeks later Emma and I were in Windhoek. The air there was very dry. Each night at about 3am the air chilled. When I moved a blanket over Emma her crib lit up with eerie blue sparks jumping off the blanket and rebounding around her.
I floated there in the black with one of the cousins, looking up at the far lights of the stars, and the nearer lights of the welcoming houses on the beach. It was an experience that brought me into an acute awareness of my body as well as a wish to use every part of it. With each swish under the water my skin was alight with a ghostly blue shimmer. My legs kicked and the colour flowed down my leg and off my toes. My fingers twinkled like I was making magic.
Just a few weeks later Emma and I were in Windhoek. The air there was very dry. Each night at about 3am the air chilled. When I moved a blanket over Emma her crib lit up with eerie blue sparks jumping off the blanket and rebounding around her.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Emma update, long over-due!
So much has happened and so much has grown in our lives. We are now settled into Nanyuki after plenty of travel, lots of wonderful time with family and friends, and for Keir, a trip around France and Spain.
Emma is occupied with watching, as she calls it, a movie. It's about a Bear in a big blue house who teaches his wee companions to use the potty. I love it because she is inevitably thrilled about using the potty during or after a viewing.
It is just impossible to explain how grown she is, how she is a personality and smart and thoughtful and working everything out but then also so small and so tiny and you remember that she has only been in the world for two years.
She has started school! She goes three days a week for two and half hours each morning. It's really not long but just long enough as we come home and she heads straight to bed! We started off with me staying with her and then leaving for longer and longer periods at a time. Now she is so confident and knows the routines of her classroom. Her favourite of all is painting where she is quick to cover her hands and feet in paint and use her whole body as a paintbrush. Each Thursday they wear their swimsuits and have water play, which is so much fun with all the kids in and out of the tubs and in and out of the sand pit.
She has 5 other children who are in class with her, some days there are only two of them and some days all the children come in. You can tell how many by how ragged the teachers look. Hehe.
She is also slowly working on the potty training. We are still in the stages of familiarising her with the idea and she luuurves to sit and read on the potty. She also (like any good quinn girl) likes to run around with no diaper, which makes her Daddy very anxious and we had to get rid of the lounge carpet in case of accidents.
She is still incredibly cuddly and lovely and every moment with her is fun and special and active. But we really do have to keep her brain working or she gets bored and then the frustrated two year old comes out and it is NOT pretty!
Emma is occupied with watching, as she calls it, a movie. It's about a Bear in a big blue house who teaches his wee companions to use the potty. I love it because she is inevitably thrilled about using the potty during or after a viewing.
It is just impossible to explain how grown she is, how she is a personality and smart and thoughtful and working everything out but then also so small and so tiny and you remember that she has only been in the world for two years.
She has started school! She goes three days a week for two and half hours each morning. It's really not long but just long enough as we come home and she heads straight to bed! We started off with me staying with her and then leaving for longer and longer periods at a time. Now she is so confident and knows the routines of her classroom. Her favourite of all is painting where she is quick to cover her hands and feet in paint and use her whole body as a paintbrush. Each Thursday they wear their swimsuits and have water play, which is so much fun with all the kids in and out of the tubs and in and out of the sand pit.
She has 5 other children who are in class with her, some days there are only two of them and some days all the children come in. You can tell how many by how ragged the teachers look. Hehe.
She is also slowly working on the potty training. We are still in the stages of familiarising her with the idea and she luuurves to sit and read on the potty. She also (like any good quinn girl) likes to run around with no diaper, which makes her Daddy very anxious and we had to get rid of the lounge carpet in case of accidents.
She is still incredibly cuddly and lovely and every moment with her is fun and special and active. But we really do have to keep her brain working or she gets bored and then the frustrated two year old comes out and it is NOT pretty!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
poop of all kinds
Emma has started to talk about things that have happened weeks ago and her memory is quite exacting. We must talk about the entire incident once she has remembered it, repeating the most salient points multiple times.
One example of this is from a visit we made to a farm with Grandma and Dad. At the farm we watched a sheep having his tummy sheared to keep him clean until his whole body was ready to be sheared. Now every time we see a sheep or sing Baa Baa Black Sheep we must go over how the "Teep's" "tummy" was "cup" (cut) and keeps him "keen" (clean).
THEN last week Daddy took her to the zoo. There they saw a panda. The panda ambled over to where Em and Daddy had their noses pressed to the glass and took a spectacular poop. Apparently panda's poop is bright pink, and somewhere between the consistency of cow pats and dog poop, as K named it: panda pate! Upon observing the panda vent his bowels Emma cried heartily. Since then, we discussed at length how "pana's poop" on the "gound" and how "I cried" when that happened.
The panda pooping on the ground has also sparked discussion of where everyone else poops. Mommy and Daddy poop in the "toilo" and Emma poops in the toilo and the diaper. This conversation happens almost always in public places and very loudly. On one particular incident where K was taking her into the bathroom with him, she said at the top of her voice: "Daddo poop toilo?"
One example of this is from a visit we made to a farm with Grandma and Dad. At the farm we watched a sheep having his tummy sheared to keep him clean until his whole body was ready to be sheared. Now every time we see a sheep or sing Baa Baa Black Sheep we must go over how the "Teep's" "tummy" was "cup" (cut) and keeps him "keen" (clean).
THEN last week Daddy took her to the zoo. There they saw a panda. The panda ambled over to where Em and Daddy had their noses pressed to the glass and took a spectacular poop. Apparently panda's poop is bright pink, and somewhere between the consistency of cow pats and dog poop, as K named it: panda pate! Upon observing the panda vent his bowels Emma cried heartily. Since then, we discussed at length how "pana's poop" on the "gound" and how "I cried" when that happened.
The panda pooping on the ground has also sparked discussion of where everyone else poops. Mommy and Daddy poop in the "toilo" and Emma poops in the toilo and the diaper. This conversation happens almost always in public places and very loudly. On one particular incident where K was taking her into the bathroom with him, she said at the top of her voice: "Daddo poop toilo?"
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Upon your return
I have paused in my umpacking from our epic trip to the states. Paused partly to have a cup of tea and partly to take stock of life.
This morning we have had multiple power cuts and there are extremely suspicious spiders all over the house that have met the wrong end of my slipper. We had a terrible sleeping night last night as Emma adjusts to another house and another bed. Also my internet is soooooo slooooow.
BUT! The sun is shining into the house, I boiled the kettle for tea between power outs and Em and I have already had a romp in the garden. Last year was tough in some ways but looking at pictures now I remember the really amazing ways it was good.
I find myself anticipating with some excitement what is to come this year. But as with all things in Kenya I am also glad that it is only for a year and this too will end.
I'll leave you with some of the pics from the year:
This morning we have had multiple power cuts and there are extremely suspicious spiders all over the house that have met the wrong end of my slipper. We had a terrible sleeping night last night as Emma adjusts to another house and another bed. Also my internet is soooooo slooooow.
BUT! The sun is shining into the house, I boiled the kettle for tea between power outs and Em and I have already had a romp in the garden. Last year was tough in some ways but looking at pictures now I remember the really amazing ways it was good.
I find myself anticipating with some excitement what is to come this year. But as with all things in Kenya I am also glad that it is only for a year and this too will end.
I'll leave you with some of the pics from the year:
Friday, August 12, 2011
Emma update
Man is she cute! Below are things that are cute that she did in a cute way:
On the metro today she pointed at a little boy and said loudly: "What is dat?" When I told her it was a boy she said: "Hiiii boi". UHOH!
When we arrived at the Grandparents' house and she was introduced to the cats she got right down on the floor in Utter Kharma's face and said: "Hiii Kiddy" about a hundred times 'til Atta got bored and left.
A few nights ago she found the clean cat bowls and took them to the bottom of the stairs. There she stood at the baby gate and called up to the cats who were hiding out on the second floor: "Ca-aaats, bllablllbib your Du-ude*".
*translation: Cats, come get your food.
She is insistent that she know where everyone in the house is at all times, so there is the endless question: "Ooh is Gampa, Gam'ma, Daddie, Cats?"
While we visited with a friend now known to us as 'Bina, Em found her Crocs and wore them around and around the house all week. A few days ago she woke up from her nap demanding 'Bina's Doos, So now we are sure that she does dream.
Months ago we decided to start instituting time out. Emma thought this was an excellent and hilarious game. She would engage in the naughty activity and then put herself in time out, telling herself sternly; "No! No!" K and I were laughing hysterically into the couch cushions. It's hard to be stern yourself in these moments.
There are hundreds more but now I can't remember them. Oh well... another post, another day.
On the metro today she pointed at a little boy and said loudly: "What is dat?" When I told her it was a boy she said: "Hiiii boi". UHOH!
When we arrived at the Grandparents' house and she was introduced to the cats she got right down on the floor in Utter Kharma's face and said: "Hiii Kiddy" about a hundred times 'til Atta got bored and left.
A few nights ago she found the clean cat bowls and took them to the bottom of the stairs. There she stood at the baby gate and called up to the cats who were hiding out on the second floor: "Ca-aaats, bllablllbib your Du-ude*".
*translation: Cats, come get your food.
She is insistent that she know where everyone in the house is at all times, so there is the endless question: "Ooh is Gampa, Gam'ma, Daddie, Cats?"
While we visited with a friend now known to us as 'Bina, Em found her Crocs and wore them around and around the house all week. A few days ago she woke up from her nap demanding 'Bina's Doos, So now we are sure that she does dream.
Months ago we decided to start instituting time out. Emma thought this was an excellent and hilarious game. She would engage in the naughty activity and then put herself in time out, telling herself sternly; "No! No!" K and I were laughing hysterically into the couch cushions. It's hard to be stern yourself in these moments.
There are hundreds more but now I can't remember them. Oh well... another post, another day.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Emma Update
Couldn't wait to share this. We have spent the week at the beach in North Carolina and Emma has loved every second. From all the attention from grandparents to digging in the sand with her cousin who is only two weeks older to playing in the waves with Mommy and Daddy.
Today was the last day at the beach and we had a slow start this morning as Emma woke at 3am and never really went back to sleep. So K and I were having breakfast while checking out mail and as we were almost done I casually said to K across the room: "Shall we head down to the beach?" Emma flung down her toy and barreled across the room shouting: "go, go, go, go BEACH!" It was adorable.
Today was the last day at the beach and we had a slow start this morning as Emma woke at 3am and never really went back to sleep. So K and I were having breakfast while checking out mail and as we were almost done I casually said to K across the room: "Shall we head down to the beach?" Emma flung down her toy and barreled across the room shouting: "go, go, go, go BEACH!" It was adorable.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
States side
Well we have successfully negotiated the very long trip across the pond. Amsterdam airport got massive thumbs up from us as a stopover. Not only do they have a play area with slides and "tree-houses" where Emma could stand and watch screaming, running, playing children with what can only be described as horror but they also have a quiet baby room. In this room there are curtained booths with cribs and cushioned couches for babies to take naps and parents to nap or check their email. This room also comes equipped with a microwave and actual baby baths with actual clean, hot, first world water. It was heaven.
K's Mom picked us up from the airport and we drove on the most fabulous roads. TARRED roads, roads with LINES and SIDEWALKS. Where people did not try to KILL YOU with their cars, motorbikes, bicycles or COWS.
Then this afternoon we went to pick up a few essentials at the grocery store and I made K walk up and down each aisle so that I could bask in the Americanness of things like individual size (as in for one meal) spices and 12 different kinds of M&M's.
Other wonderful things about the first world include not having to use drinking water to boil potatoes. But the BEST thing is being around my kitties again. Henry is giving me love right now and attempting to hijack the keyboard and Oleo is squeaking at everyone in the hope that someone will take pity on a poor starving cat. I have to leave ya'll now and go give them a group hug.
K's Mom picked us up from the airport and we drove on the most fabulous roads. TARRED roads, roads with LINES and SIDEWALKS. Where people did not try to KILL YOU with their cars, motorbikes, bicycles or COWS.
Then this afternoon we went to pick up a few essentials at the grocery store and I made K walk up and down each aisle so that I could bask in the Americanness of things like individual size (as in for one meal) spices and 12 different kinds of M&M's.
Other wonderful things about the first world include not having to use drinking water to boil potatoes. But the BEST thing is being around my kitties again. Henry is giving me love right now and attempting to hijack the keyboard and Oleo is squeaking at everyone in the hope that someone will take pity on a poor starving cat. I have to leave ya'll now and go give them a group hug.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
0;0'7"
We are still living in the southern hemisphere in our new little Nanyuki house. Which is a small fact that makes me as happy as all the other small facts about this house do.
Emma can run out of the house, out of the little gate and into a lovely lush garden. We spend a few hours each day playing outside with her balls or looking at crickets and grass and puddles and all kinds of good things.
The house has three bedrooms, one of which functions as K's office, a little dining room, excellent for playing Carcasonne and a large sunken lounge which opens onto the porch. The whole house has very quickly started to feel like home and I was surprised at how much less stressed I am here. I can leave my doors open and there is no Vervet to threaten Emma. She can run outside and no rabid hyena or curious leopard will steal her off the porch.
Also - and it seems like a small thing until you are without it for months - the shower is heavenly. Hot water, clean water and as much of it as you want. Emma's Grandma asked us if Emma liked bubble baths and we don't know as we have never had enough water to do a bubble bath!
So really, it turns out that I am a town mouse and not a country mouse as I have always thought myself to be.
Emma can run out of the house, out of the little gate and into a lovely lush garden. We spend a few hours each day playing outside with her balls or looking at crickets and grass and puddles and all kinds of good things.
The house has three bedrooms, one of which functions as K's office, a little dining room, excellent for playing Carcasonne and a large sunken lounge which opens onto the porch. The whole house has very quickly started to feel like home and I was surprised at how much less stressed I am here. I can leave my doors open and there is no Vervet to threaten Emma. She can run outside and no rabid hyena or curious leopard will steal her off the porch.
Also - and it seems like a small thing until you are without it for months - the shower is heavenly. Hot water, clean water and as much of it as you want. Emma's Grandma asked us if Emma liked bubble baths and we don't know as we have never had enough water to do a bubble bath!
So really, it turns out that I am a town mouse and not a country mouse as I have always thought myself to be.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Taking a shower is an amusing endeavor these days. The borehole pump is broken and we have river water in our taps. Initially this was fine, the water was the colour of weak tea and you still felt like you were clean when you got done. In the past couple of weeks it has bucketed down and the river has swelled.
Now the water is more like builders tea, with leaves in it. Apparently the trick is not to use conditioner. A lesson I did not learn. The conditioner binds the mud to your hair and you are instantly blessed with dreads.
Emma is a bathwater drinker so you can imagine our reticence to bathing her in the tea. So we have come up with an overly complex plan. We take rain water and boil it in a pot, then use a UV light on it and then filter it. Then we re-boil it to be warm enough for her to bath in. We use just two liters for each bath and put her in the pool donated by a friendly visiting Mom.
This lovely clean water is too good to resist so often I take a bath in it too. Initially I would try and sit in her pool with my legs hanging over the end and pretty much just my butt in the water. When that proved ineffectual except for having a clean bottom I decided to stand in the water and use an empty yoghurt tub to "shower". In this way I get relatively clean.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Miscellany
There have been some large grey Heron's hanging around the Center recently and we have been speculating as to what they could be doing here. It has not been that wet that there could be an over abundance of frogs. Well Emma and I saw the answer in technicolour and up close a few days ago.
The heron was stalking the large pile of stones that protects the cistern up from up our house and suddenly it speared into the long grass with its beak. It held a mouse dangling from by the tail and let it wriggle there for a while.
Emma and I watched in fascinated horror, and on my part a little queasiness as the heron swung the mouse around and got him head first inside his beak. At this point the mouse started squeaking in pain or fright and I wondered at the wisdom of letting Emma witness this. I was so transfixed though that I couldn't move. A few beak snaps later and the mouse was in the Heron's gizzard where we could watch it wiggling and turning trying to get out.
Then the final horror as the Heron swallowed and we watched the still wriggling mouse get pushed down the gullet swallow by swallow. Even now, remembering and writing this down I feel a little like throwing up. Poor mouse, lucky Heron.
The heron was stalking the large pile of stones that protects the cistern up from up our house and suddenly it speared into the long grass with its beak. It held a mouse dangling from by the tail and let it wriggle there for a while.
Emma and I watched in fascinated horror, and on my part a little queasiness as the heron swung the mouse around and got him head first inside his beak. At this point the mouse started squeaking in pain or fright and I wondered at the wisdom of letting Emma witness this. I was so transfixed though that I couldn't move. A few beak snaps later and the mouse was in the Heron's gizzard where we could watch it wiggling and turning trying to get out.
Then the final horror as the Heron swallowed and we watched the still wriggling mouse get pushed down the gullet swallow by swallow. Even now, remembering and writing this down I feel a little like throwing up. Poor mouse, lucky Heron.
Emma update
Emma is now at 106 words and adding new ones every day! Her favourite of the week is Pawpaw. She has a little board book of fruits and we think she just loves the word rather than the fruit. She is also using "another one" and loves to point out things where there is another one; another one car, another one shoe, another one pigeon.
We are most excited that she is starting to string words together. Her first "sentence" being; "Emma come Dadad" when she wanted to go to K's arms. She can also count to three and when there are many of a particular thing she says; " wa, doo, tee, hamammam" as she can't seem to remember four.
We are most excited that she is starting to string words together. Her first "sentence" being; "Emma come Dadad" when she wanted to go to K's arms. She can also count to three and when there are many of a particular thing she says; " wa, doo, tee, hamammam" as she can't seem to remember four.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
How to drive yourself crazy
You could either do it a-la Jane in Coupling and open the fridge again and again to make sure the light has gone off or you can take the route I took last night as laid out below.
Settle your daughter back to sleep in the middle of the night. Then lie awake in your bed staring at the mosquito net and listening to the roof. Imagine that each conk, thud and nnk is the sound of a large and hungry predatory leopard crossing the roof to eat your baby. Then imagine you hear a noise outside that sounds like a leopard jumping off the roof. Leap out of bed, fight the mosquito net and dash to the window to peer out into the dark fearfully. Stand there for a while slapping at the mozzies munching your adrenaline fueled flesh and try and make cat shapes out of the bushes. Then convince yourself they were just the usual roof noises and there are no shapes in the bushes. Go back to bed. Rinse, repeat.
If you like, you can add the following:
Lie awake in your bed composing this blog and diligently ignoring the noises on the roof which really do sound ominous this time.
Settle your daughter back to sleep in the middle of the night. Then lie awake in your bed staring at the mosquito net and listening to the roof. Imagine that each conk, thud and nnk is the sound of a large and hungry predatory leopard crossing the roof to eat your baby. Then imagine you hear a noise outside that sounds like a leopard jumping off the roof. Leap out of bed, fight the mosquito net and dash to the window to peer out into the dark fearfully. Stand there for a while slapping at the mozzies munching your adrenaline fueled flesh and try and make cat shapes out of the bushes. Then convince yourself they were just the usual roof noises and there are no shapes in the bushes. Go back to bed. Rinse, repeat.
If you like, you can add the following:
Lie awake in your bed composing this blog and diligently ignoring the noises on the roof which really do sound ominous this time.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
It's just not cricket.
Yesterday we went into Nanyuki to sign our lease and then stayed in town for a fundraising day of cricket. The cricket was to happen at the Braeburn school and of course we turned up on time but everyone else was on Kenyan time. So we took ourselves off to a coffee shop to waste a little time.
When we went back it was so a lovely scene. I have always loved cricket watched live. The hushed conversations of the fans on the sides, the quiet consultations in the middle of the pitch by the players and the muted thwack and occasional thud of the ball and bat connecting always makes me feel calm inside. In this scene the grass was a brilliant green and the players slow moving white against it. Behind them, and ignored was the statuesque mountain, wreathed in clouds and looking down ominously on the field.
We had a lovely morning of meeting new people and catching up with old friends but I also realised that this year is going to be hard work. It is always hard work to make new friends and meet new people. The first task of which is to remember their names, which neither K nor I are any good at. Ironically though, we are really good at remembering people's dogs names!
When we went back it was so a lovely scene. I have always loved cricket watched live. The hushed conversations of the fans on the sides, the quiet consultations in the middle of the pitch by the players and the muted thwack and occasional thud of the ball and bat connecting always makes me feel calm inside. In this scene the grass was a brilliant green and the players slow moving white against it. Behind them, and ignored was the statuesque mountain, wreathed in clouds and looking down ominously on the field.
We had a lovely morning of meeting new people and catching up with old friends but I also realised that this year is going to be hard work. It is always hard work to make new friends and meet new people. The first task of which is to remember their names, which neither K nor I are any good at. Ironically though, we are really good at remembering people's dogs names!
What's Next?
This is a question our little family has been asking every year since we got married. Four countries and ten houses in ten years. Last year this question led us to Kenya and this year it has led to us staying in Kenya for another year.
We will be moving to Nanyuki which is the nearest town and K will commute into Mpala three days a week. The little house we have found is on the same street as the Police Commissioner, which I am told means that when we lose power, have potholes etc, it is not for long. The house is much smaller and darker than our incredible house at Mpala but has the bonus of constant electricity and (Hallelujah!!!) hot water in the taps. No more splishing and splashing in Emma's used two inches of slightly chilled bathwater. The house has a lovely garden and porch so we will still have an outdoors to enjoy and we always have the option of going into Mpala with Keir for a day to visit our dikdiks and hornbills.
Most excitingly we have found a little school for Emma to attend, it is the Braeburn Nanyuki. The school has a lovely campus, in the shadow of Mt. Kenya with ranch style individual classrooms organised around gardens of different kinds and plenty of outdoor space for the kids to play in. There is also a petting zoo complete with turkeys! She will go for four hours, three days a week and initially I will go with her. It is really more like a play group than formal schooling and they focus on helping the children with language and social skills.
Walking around the school and watching Emma watch the other children and realising that we will be separated from one another gave me a heart stopping feeling of sadness and excitement. She is going to have so much fun being around the other children and having stimulation other than that which I give her. It also signifies a change in our lives, one where K and I are no longer the most important people in her life. I now understand this feeling of time fleeting by you that I noticed all adults have but did not feel as a child. It is knowing how precious and notable every single second of your child's life is, and knowing you will not remember each one but that they will come and go so quickly and never again be found.
We will be moving to Nanyuki which is the nearest town and K will commute into Mpala three days a week. The little house we have found is on the same street as the Police Commissioner, which I am told means that when we lose power, have potholes etc, it is not for long. The house is much smaller and darker than our incredible house at Mpala but has the bonus of constant electricity and (Hallelujah!!!) hot water in the taps. No more splishing and splashing in Emma's used two inches of slightly chilled bathwater. The house has a lovely garden and porch so we will still have an outdoors to enjoy and we always have the option of going into Mpala with Keir for a day to visit our dikdiks and hornbills.
Most excitingly we have found a little school for Emma to attend, it is the Braeburn Nanyuki. The school has a lovely campus, in the shadow of Mt. Kenya with ranch style individual classrooms organised around gardens of different kinds and plenty of outdoor space for the kids to play in. There is also a petting zoo complete with turkeys! She will go for four hours, three days a week and initially I will go with her. It is really more like a play group than formal schooling and they focus on helping the children with language and social skills.
Walking around the school and watching Emma watch the other children and realising that we will be separated from one another gave me a heart stopping feeling of sadness and excitement. She is going to have so much fun being around the other children and having stimulation other than that which I give her. It also signifies a change in our lives, one where K and I are no longer the most important people in her life. I now understand this feeling of time fleeting by you that I noticed all adults have but did not feel as a child. It is knowing how precious and notable every single second of your child's life is, and knowing you will not remember each one but that they will come and go so quickly and never again be found.
Emma update
She is so excited about using words. Her current favourite is cow, which means cow, car and cloud. You know which one she means by the sounds she makes to accompany it. She has also become a big fan of pretending to drive the car, so we spend happy hours sitting in the car (when it isn't too hot) with her driving and me reading my book and making sure she doesn't break anything permanent. When she wants to tell me we should go in the car she points to her foot, which means go and then says cow until I break down and take her.
My current favourite is "whoops" that she says as "aaps". She says it for all kinds of occasions. When she drops something accidentally, when you drop something or even when she purposely drops something.
She has also discovered "no". She says it in such a cute way. You ask if you can have kisses and she tilts her head, shakes her curls and says; "Nooooooooooo".
My current favourite is "whoops" that she says as "aaps". She says it for all kinds of occasions. When she drops something accidentally, when you drop something or even when she purposely drops something.
She has also discovered "no". She says it in such a cute way. You ask if you can have kisses and she tilts her head, shakes her curls and says; "Nooooooooooo".
Friday, May 20, 2011
Have you decided?
So the day after the leopard peered into E's bedroom window the head of security told us a scary story. A few years ago, the neighbouring house had a dog. There was a leopard who broke the glass in a window to get to the dog. Naturally we then moved E's crib back into our bedroom so that now she is just a foot away from me.
We have been taking the screens out of the windows, locking the doors and cringing at every ping or pong the roof makes. It is not a healthy way to live! Other news that I cannot decide if it makes me feel worse or better; leopards hang out around the center a lot and have probably been around before when we didn't know it.
We have been taking the screens out of the windows, locking the doors and cringing at every ping or pong the roof makes. It is not a healthy way to live! Other news that I cannot decide if it makes me feel worse or better; leopards hang out around the center a lot and have probably been around before when we didn't know it.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Ask yourself: are you predator, or prey?
It's 11:19, 41 minutes from midnight. My legs are shaking, I have the beginnings of an adreneline headache and I feel like my whole body is twitching.
Just 10 minutes ago, Emma stirred in her bed, then woke fully and cried for me. I got up to go to her and as I did there was a really loud thumpety thump on the roof. It sounded like something really heavy landing and then running across the roof to the other side of the house. I went in to Emma, picked her up and shushed her, then lay her down. During this time there were a few quieter thuds as whatever it was moved back to our side of the roof.
It's full moon so I went to the partially closed curtain to look out at the landscape washed into pale shadows. My heart stopped. Something moved underneath the window. I thought at first it was the monkey that has been plaguing us. Then it slunk under the window ledge, from one window to the other. A full grown leopard! Shoulders tall as the window sill, heavy, muscled, soft and quiet. It's head perfectly balanced between it's shoulders and it's long tail hanging loose and straight behind. I quickly stepped behind the closed curtain and the leopard stood up on the sill and peered and snuffed at the crack in the closed window.
For a heartbeat we stood as we were, with just window panes and curtains between us. Then it stepped down and moved back under the window and around the corner. I dashed next door to our room, whisper-yelled to K to get in the room with me. He woke in a panic and came in with me. I felt the need to close and lock the door and then explained to him what I had seen. He appeared disbelieving but claimed to believe me. We stood for a while at the window, looking out, exclaiming in hushed tones at one another when suddenly I saw the unmistakable white butt of the monkey. It was up the pathway from the house, having just descended from the water tower. It froze, looking over its shoulder at the house. We froze too.
We could see the shadow of the roof on the ground, and it undulated as something slipped noiselessly along it. Then the gutter gave it away with a groan and the monkey sped up the pathway and into the bush. The leopard ran along the rest of the house, lept off the roof and onto the water tank, then down in a one-two-three motion and was off up the path as fast as a slip of the tongue.
Oh! Another thud on the roof as I type! We are both locked into Emma's bedroom, thankfully there is another bed in here. K has managed to fall back to sleep and I can hear his breathing in tandem with Emma's coming from her crib but I do not think I will be able to sleep. I will be lying waiting for tell-tale creaks and thumps from above.
Just 10 minutes ago, Emma stirred in her bed, then woke fully and cried for me. I got up to go to her and as I did there was a really loud thumpety thump on the roof. It sounded like something really heavy landing and then running across the roof to the other side of the house. I went in to Emma, picked her up and shushed her, then lay her down. During this time there were a few quieter thuds as whatever it was moved back to our side of the roof.
It's full moon so I went to the partially closed curtain to look out at the landscape washed into pale shadows. My heart stopped. Something moved underneath the window. I thought at first it was the monkey that has been plaguing us. Then it slunk under the window ledge, from one window to the other. A full grown leopard! Shoulders tall as the window sill, heavy, muscled, soft and quiet. It's head perfectly balanced between it's shoulders and it's long tail hanging loose and straight behind. I quickly stepped behind the closed curtain and the leopard stood up on the sill and peered and snuffed at the crack in the closed window.
For a heartbeat we stood as we were, with just window panes and curtains between us. Then it stepped down and moved back under the window and around the corner. I dashed next door to our room, whisper-yelled to K to get in the room with me. He woke in a panic and came in with me. I felt the need to close and lock the door and then explained to him what I had seen. He appeared disbelieving but claimed to believe me. We stood for a while at the window, looking out, exclaiming in hushed tones at one another when suddenly I saw the unmistakable white butt of the monkey. It was up the pathway from the house, having just descended from the water tower. It froze, looking over its shoulder at the house. We froze too.
We could see the shadow of the roof on the ground, and it undulated as something slipped noiselessly along it. Then the gutter gave it away with a groan and the monkey sped up the pathway and into the bush. The leopard ran along the rest of the house, lept off the roof and onto the water tank, then down in a one-two-three motion and was off up the path as fast as a slip of the tongue.
Oh! Another thud on the roof as I type! We are both locked into Emma's bedroom, thankfully there is another bed in here. K has managed to fall back to sleep and I can hear his breathing in tandem with Emma's coming from her crib but I do not think I will be able to sleep. I will be lying waiting for tell-tale creaks and thumps from above.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Hippo pools - not just hippos.
Our friends came out from the UK recently and we decided to stop at Hippo pools to see what could be seen on our way to visit the Ranch house. The pools kept us entranced for hours and we never made it to the Ranch house.
As we rounded the corner on the drive to the pools, we could see the opposite bank between the thorn trees. It looked like there were large, slightly purple rocks covering the bank and as we came all the way around the corner we couldn't believe our luck. 14 hippos were out sunning themselves. What awe inspiring creatures they are! Purplish black except under their chins and bellies where they are a startling pink. Their heads are no less than a third the size of their bodies and their yawns remind you of how deadly those yellowed arm-width teeth can be. We watched the hippos for a long time. The adults watching long after the children had completely lost interest. They put on a perfect show for us, not just lounging around but also having occasional farts, rumbles, and laughs and even one disturbance when a young one got up before nap time was over.
When the children became too restless we decided to walk over to the falls on the other side of the curve in the river and when we came back we were stopped in our tracks as a large bull elephant took our breath away. He was also on the opposite bank, thankfully and we were able to go and stand safely close to the car and watch him drink. We quickly realised he was accompanied by another chap who also came down to drink. We were amused with watching them for at least an hour, during which time Emma's new bff "drove" the car and Emma had a fat nap in the back of the car. At one point the first elephant just had an itch he had to scratch and hilariously rubbed his not-insubstantial backside vigorously back and forth against a fallen tree.
While the elephants were there a zebra and some impala just couldn't get up the nerve to come down to the water. A few large warthog had no such compunction and rooted around in the dirt behind the elephants. Once the elephants left we started to notice the birds around the pools. A stunning pied kingfisher was darting about and making dives. A yellow billed stork was fishing with dedicated skill until he caught one that was just too large to fit in his mouth, no matter which way he tossed it in the air and he eventually lost it.
Into this scene of tranquility came the most graceful beast in Africa. Five giraffe, hesitantly came down to the river and drank. Or, in some cases, tried to drink. One couldn't get himself down far enough to dip into the water from the bank. They were very cautious about coming down to the water and when you see how they have to prostrate themselves, legs wide open to get to the water you can see why it takes them so long to come to the river. And also why they leave so quickly if disturbed.
This was easily my most pleasant morning spent at Mpala and I was so lucky to share it with really good friends. The day was topped off by large afternoon naps and a Thunderstorm that turned our driveway and front yard into a river. Mpala bliss I call it.
As we rounded the corner on the drive to the pools, we could see the opposite bank between the thorn trees. It looked like there were large, slightly purple rocks covering the bank and as we came all the way around the corner we couldn't believe our luck. 14 hippos were out sunning themselves. What awe inspiring creatures they are! Purplish black except under their chins and bellies where they are a startling pink. Their heads are no less than a third the size of their bodies and their yawns remind you of how deadly those yellowed arm-width teeth can be. We watched the hippos for a long time. The adults watching long after the children had completely lost interest. They put on a perfect show for us, not just lounging around but also having occasional farts, rumbles, and laughs and even one disturbance when a young one got up before nap time was over.
When the children became too restless we decided to walk over to the falls on the other side of the curve in the river and when we came back we were stopped in our tracks as a large bull elephant took our breath away. He was also on the opposite bank, thankfully and we were able to go and stand safely close to the car and watch him drink. We quickly realised he was accompanied by another chap who also came down to drink. We were amused with watching them for at least an hour, during which time Emma's new bff "drove" the car and Emma had a fat nap in the back of the car. At one point the first elephant just had an itch he had to scratch and hilariously rubbed his not-insubstantial backside vigorously back and forth against a fallen tree.
While the elephants were there a zebra and some impala just couldn't get up the nerve to come down to the water. A few large warthog had no such compunction and rooted around in the dirt behind the elephants. Once the elephants left we started to notice the birds around the pools. A stunning pied kingfisher was darting about and making dives. A yellow billed stork was fishing with dedicated skill until he caught one that was just too large to fit in his mouth, no matter which way he tossed it in the air and he eventually lost it.
Into this scene of tranquility came the most graceful beast in Africa. Five giraffe, hesitantly came down to the river and drank. Or, in some cases, tried to drink. One couldn't get himself down far enough to dip into the water from the bank. They were very cautious about coming down to the water and when you see how they have to prostrate themselves, legs wide open to get to the water you can see why it takes them so long to come to the river. And also why they leave so quickly if disturbed.
This was easily my most pleasant morning spent at Mpala and I was so lucky to share it with really good friends. The day was topped off by large afternoon naps and a Thunderstorm that turned our driveway and front yard into a river. Mpala bliss I call it.
Vanquished: a tale of the final battle
This was the final straw. A beautiful new bowl for my birthday, some ripening tropical fruit and a rat-faced, fluffy tailed, flea-infested fruit bowl violater. Spiro came into the house, he sampled and was chased out by my irate self. He then came back with his little buddies and the three of them had a partaay on my mangos.
I decided it was time, no more Mr. Nice Guy, no more tolerance. I borrowed traps, I baited them with the self same mangoes they had already destroyed and I set them just inside the door. Hah! Snap! Bang! Caught four of the little blighters.
Oh the pleasure I took in finding them new homes. One lovely spot down at the river, all the Fever tree they could climb. On the road to Nanyuki, just a few more kms and they could become town squirrels. Plus on the way to the tower where they could flick their tails at passing researchers.
What bliss, what heaven, what open windows and doors!
But lo, there is a fly in my ointmenteth! Now a Vervet, large, unafraid and aggressive with balls the colour of the Windhoek Swimming Pool has found my bowl, and the stash of Avos on top of the fridge. This time there will be no mercy, I will give no quarter. We have already set the traps. He has eluded them, but I have at least .2% more genetics than he does in my favour!
Emma update
We had visitors recently who have a two and half year old boy. Emma was so in love with him. She followed him around and stared, learning as much as she could from him. The biggest development being that now she understands how to use words to communicate. Her babbling has changed from just chatter to being directed, She really wants you to listen and understand.
The other day she climbed up in my lap, looked at me with sparkling eyes and a smile and said "more booze?" I KNOW she didn't mean alcohol so we spent a frustrating 20 mins trying to work out what booze means. I never did figure it out.
She also learned the sign for more, which is to bump your fingers together. She does this while saying more. She has also learned the word for cheese. So anyone who has watched Wallace and Gromit will have a lovely visual when I say that she bumps her hands together and says "more cheeeeese"
At last her canines are showing themselves so now only the last molars and we are done! Cannot wait for that pain to be over.
Her little two year old friend had lovely wellies and we went stomping through the mud and puddles with him. She loved it so much that she regularly requests puddles and we are looking for wellies for her.
The other day she climbed up in my lap, looked at me with sparkling eyes and a smile and said "more booze?" I KNOW she didn't mean alcohol so we spent a frustrating 20 mins trying to work out what booze means. I never did figure it out.
She also learned the sign for more, which is to bump your fingers together. She does this while saying more. She has also learned the word for cheese. So anyone who has watched Wallace and Gromit will have a lovely visual when I say that she bumps her hands together and says "more cheeeeese"
At last her canines are showing themselves so now only the last molars and we are done! Cannot wait for that pain to be over.
Her little two year old friend had lovely wellies and we went stomping through the mud and puddles with him. She loved it so much that she regularly requests puddles and we are looking for wellies for her.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cooking!
I had an exciting day! I made jam for the first time. Deliscious, scrumptious Mango Jam. It is such an easy recipe I don't think we will ever have to buy jam again.
Mango Jam Recipe
3 mangos
1 C water
1 ½ C sugar
1 Tbs vinegar
pinch salt
Peel and cut mangos into 1/2 inch pieces. Put in blender with water Bring to a boil on medium high. Then reduce heat to medium and boil slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.
Move pot from stove and set aside to cool.
Transfer into boiled jars.
This recipe makes about 12 ounces.
Of course you can increase the amount if you need to.
Mango Jam Recipe
3 mangos
1 C water
1 ½ C sugar
1 Tbs vinegar
pinch salt
Peel and cut mangos into 1/2 inch pieces. Put in blender with water Bring to a boil on medium high. Then reduce heat to medium and boil slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.
Move pot from stove and set aside to cool.
Transfer into boiled jars.
This recipe makes about 12 ounces.
Of course you can increase the amount if you need to.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Emma update
She is really getting into saying words. This week she has been interested in words beginning with "m" or with the sound "oo"in them. Of course, Moo was a natural starter but she has also started saying Broom, Room, Poop and Mole. Mole because I have a mole on my knee and she wanted to know (repeatedly) what it was. Then I showed her that she has one too and from there she just loves the word. Poop came from the large cowpats dotting the center recently and anyone who knows me, knows where broom comes from.
Most of her other "words" are sounds that are close to the word but the same sounds for a number of words.
"Ow!" for when she gets hurt and also "ow" for out.
"oh" for discovering something new and also for "open"
She has become far happier about letting me change her diaper and will even go into her room and climb up on the bed saying "Di" when I say it is time for a change. K yesterday told her that we would be going to Aunty D's house and she very excitedly said "Di!"
Most of her other "words" are sounds that are close to the word but the same sounds for a number of words.
"Ow!" for when she gets hurt and also "ow" for out.
"oh" for discovering something new and also for "open"
She has become far happier about letting me change her diaper and will even go into her room and climb up on the bed saying "Di" when I say it is time for a change. K yesterday told her that we would be going to Aunty D's house and she very excitedly said "Di!"
Miscelleny
Chocoholic
I decided that the size of my belly needs massive reduction and so I banned chocolate from the house. This has been a massive failure the size of... well of my belly. As I sit here I have in my mouth an empty spoon. What was in it? Nutella. I have raided all forms of chocolate in our house to get my fix. I even baked brownies one night. This is a lesson to me. Give up something else. And please - until you have played ring-a-rosie with Emma sixty-eight times in a row, don't tell me to get more exercise.
Boo
There is a group of students studying at the Center at the moment. They are very young and make me feel very old. Things that they do that make me feel old include the boys throwing water balloons at the girls and the girls not wearing enough clothing on chilly evenings. (Or warm evenings) A few of them like to jog around the ring road at dusk, and it makes me tut-tut that they could get eaten or gored by some creature. But here is the thing. It brings out the evil in me. I really want to hide behind a bush and then LEAP out at them with a ROAR. Even thinking about it I am giggling in a mini-me kind of way. See, you can feel old and still be completely juvenile.
The African Jungle
Recently our dining chairs were re-upholstered with a lovely giraffe print. Our couch is currently covered in some hideous palm tree sort of thing and we are going to get it re-upholstered too. I really want to do it in a zebra print to go with the giraffe. It is a large couch and it could be REALLY bad. There is a part of me, (perhaps I have some Mob wife in my heritage) that just wants a zebra covered couch. Emma and I can pretend to look at it through the binoculars, or pet it like we are in a zoo. I could make some fluffy lime green throw pillows to go on it. OOooh, I LIKE that!
Progeny
I think our Dikdik has had a baby. There was another family around but they never responded to my calls. Today I saw a family of dikdiks and when I called the female took a few steps towards me but didn't come any closer. We did think she was awfully fat for a dikdik, but had put that down to the banana peels we had been feeding her during Emma's dinners.
I decided that the size of my belly needs massive reduction and so I banned chocolate from the house. This has been a massive failure the size of... well of my belly. As I sit here I have in my mouth an empty spoon. What was in it? Nutella. I have raided all forms of chocolate in our house to get my fix. I even baked brownies one night. This is a lesson to me. Give up something else. And please - until you have played ring-a-rosie with Emma sixty-eight times in a row, don't tell me to get more exercise.
Boo
There is a group of students studying at the Center at the moment. They are very young and make me feel very old. Things that they do that make me feel old include the boys throwing water balloons at the girls and the girls not wearing enough clothing on chilly evenings. (Or warm evenings) A few of them like to jog around the ring road at dusk, and it makes me tut-tut that they could get eaten or gored by some creature. But here is the thing. It brings out the evil in me. I really want to hide behind a bush and then LEAP out at them with a ROAR. Even thinking about it I am giggling in a mini-me kind of way. See, you can feel old and still be completely juvenile.
The African Jungle
Recently our dining chairs were re-upholstered with a lovely giraffe print. Our couch is currently covered in some hideous palm tree sort of thing and we are going to get it re-upholstered too. I really want to do it in a zebra print to go with the giraffe. It is a large couch and it could be REALLY bad. There is a part of me, (perhaps I have some Mob wife in my heritage) that just wants a zebra covered couch. Emma and I can pretend to look at it through the binoculars, or pet it like we are in a zoo. I could make some fluffy lime green throw pillows to go on it. OOooh, I LIKE that!
Progeny
I think our Dikdik has had a baby. There was another family around but they never responded to my calls. Today I saw a family of dikdiks and when I called the female took a few steps towards me but didn't come any closer. We did think she was awfully fat for a dikdik, but had put that down to the banana peels we had been feeding her during Emma's dinners.
The Ants went marching two by two... Hurrah! Hurrah!
For months we have been plagued, literally plagued, as in, like a plague on our house, by ants. So many ants, millions, nay gagillions of ants. They have even been coming in through the cracks in the walls and floors of the house.
This is how bad they have been:
- When Emma has a cracker and is walking around the house eating it - you can hear them chanting: Crumbs! Crumbs! Crumbs! Crumbs!
- K, after cooking dinner one night, said to me: with all these ants around it's best just to cook with a lot of black pepper.
- They were in the fridge!
- anything left in the kitchen not immersed in water became immediately black instead of green/yellow/etc.
- We have not been able to give Emma milk at night because the ants climb INSIDE her bottle or sippy cup.
- If Emma spills food down her front, we have to change her clothes because the ants will climb her to get to it.
I instituted some house rules. Emma eats outside or in her chair and nowhere else. Dishes are immersed in soapy water immediately. All food products go into tupperwares. The drain in the back of the fridge where the ants were coming in is corked and released only periodically. All cracks in the house are gummed up with caulk.
Then at last some rain came. Oh blessed heaven, the ants have left! But, don't heave a sigh of relief yet! They have been replaced with beetles! Thin ones, thick ones, black ones, red ones. Ones as fat as your thumb! Beetles that click, beetles that clack and beetles you find in your bed! Also... beetles you find in your food. It's much harder to pretend; "oh my, that was a crunchy piece of black pepper dear!"
This is how bad they have been:
- When Emma has a cracker and is walking around the house eating it - you can hear them chanting: Crumbs! Crumbs! Crumbs! Crumbs!
- K, after cooking dinner one night, said to me: with all these ants around it's best just to cook with a lot of black pepper.
- They were in the fridge!
- anything left in the kitchen not immersed in water became immediately black instead of green/yellow/etc.
- We have not been able to give Emma milk at night because the ants climb INSIDE her bottle or sippy cup.
- If Emma spills food down her front, we have to change her clothes because the ants will climb her to get to it.
I instituted some house rules. Emma eats outside or in her chair and nowhere else. Dishes are immersed in soapy water immediately. All food products go into tupperwares. The drain in the back of the fridge where the ants were coming in is corked and released only periodically. All cracks in the house are gummed up with caulk.
Then at last some rain came. Oh blessed heaven, the ants have left! But, don't heave a sigh of relief yet! They have been replaced with beetles! Thin ones, thick ones, black ones, red ones. Ones as fat as your thumb! Beetles that click, beetles that clack and beetles you find in your bed! Also... beetles you find in your food. It's much harder to pretend; "oh my, that was a crunchy piece of black pepper dear!"
Sunday, March 27, 2011
And a good moo-ning to you too Sirrah!
It has been so dry around Mpala that the ranch's cows have come down to the Center and our house to graze. This has been a fabulous opportunity for Emma to learn about cows and she is fascinated and excited each time they come through and has even learned to moo in a deep voice just like they do.
Yesterday they came through the yard slowly, crunching the grass and lowing almost mournfully. Emma and I dashed out as we do and sat in the comfy chairs to watch them go by. Presently the Askari who tends them came past the front of the porch where we were sitting. He was startled by us and looked askance in our direction but kept going. He collected the cows around the side of the house and while doing so kept looking our way. Then he moved across the driveway to the cows there but still kept looking at us. I was starting to wonder if perhaps he had not seen many mzungu (white) women and children and what was so fascinating about us.
Finally the cows and the staring Askari moved off and Emma and I sat in silence for a while looking at the view. Then it hit me. We were sitting in silence. For about half an hour we had been mooing in ominous tones, at the tops of our voices and with great gusto! The poor Askari - never mind mzungu... maybe just nuts!
Mmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Yesterday they came through the yard slowly, crunching the grass and lowing almost mournfully. Emma and I dashed out as we do and sat in the comfy chairs to watch them go by. Presently the Askari who tends them came past the front of the porch where we were sitting. He was startled by us and looked askance in our direction but kept going. He collected the cows around the side of the house and while doing so kept looking our way. Then he moved across the driveway to the cows there but still kept looking at us. I was starting to wonder if perhaps he had not seen many mzungu (white) women and children and what was so fascinating about us.
Finally the cows and the staring Askari moved off and Emma and I sat in silence for a while looking at the view. Then it hit me. We were sitting in silence. For about half an hour we had been mooing in ominous tones, at the tops of our voices and with great gusto! The poor Askari - never mind mzungu... maybe just nuts!
Mmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Belly Buttons and Umbilical Cords
Recently Emma has become even more obsessed with belly buttons, lifting everyone's shirts to see if they have one, what shape it is, and how fast they can suck in their belly when it is exposed to view. She also lifts her shirt to show you she has one too and pokes her bony little finger in as far as she can to whichever button is closest.
She still likes to put her finger in mine as she nurses to sleep. This slight discomfort gives me more than ample time to contemplate something I really would not think about at all. And truly, it is possible that belly buttons are in fact profound.
Of course our entire being exists because of our Mother and her body's ability to grow a human being, complete with passions, happinesses and toenails but here on each of our bodies is a very specific spot that, if we take a moment, reminds us of all that.
No matter your relationship with your mother or how grown you are, you can always put your finger in your belly button and remember that you reverberated with her heartbeat, bounced in each of her steps and had her love flowing down the umbilical cord and into you.
She still likes to put her finger in mine as she nurses to sleep. This slight discomfort gives me more than ample time to contemplate something I really would not think about at all. And truly, it is possible that belly buttons are in fact profound.
Of course our entire being exists because of our Mother and her body's ability to grow a human being, complete with passions, happinesses and toenails but here on each of our bodies is a very specific spot that, if we take a moment, reminds us of all that.
No matter your relationship with your mother or how grown you are, you can always put your finger in your belly button and remember that you reverberated with her heartbeat, bounced in each of her steps and had her love flowing down the umbilical cord and into you.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Emma update
I taught her how to play ring-a-rosie today and she loved it, especially the part where I fall down. It's a slippery slope though, because, as with all things energetic, she wants to play again and again. So I have to get up and fall down about a hundred times before we can move on to another game.
Her words are increasing but mostly she babbles in a language indistinguishable to anyone except her. She can say the following though:
Mom, Dad, cow, cat, there, hi, bye, where and an impressive array of animal noises. These include pounding her own chest and hooting like a gorilla, raising her fists like a boxer and growling like a lion and going bltthhhttt like an elephant.
She loves to play hide and seek, and likes to make you hide with her. This sometimes means that it is she and I hiding behind a door with no-one looking for us. We usually stand for a while, looking through the gap between the frame and door and then jump out at no-one. We were doing just this the other day when I heard her going blthtt like she had something in her mouth that was bad. When I looked down she had her finger on her mouth and was trying to say shhhh. Too cute!
Her words are increasing but mostly she babbles in a language indistinguishable to anyone except her. She can say the following though:
Mom, Dad, cow, cat, there, hi, bye, where and an impressive array of animal noises. These include pounding her own chest and hooting like a gorilla, raising her fists like a boxer and growling like a lion and going bltthhhttt like an elephant.
She loves to play hide and seek, and likes to make you hide with her. This sometimes means that it is she and I hiding behind a door with no-one looking for us. We usually stand for a while, looking through the gap between the frame and door and then jump out at no-one. We were doing just this the other day when I heard her going blthtt like she had something in her mouth that was bad. When I looked down she had her finger on her mouth and was trying to say shhhh. Too cute!
Look around, this is your hometown
Driving around Nakuru I felt I was in a surreal time-warp. Knowing that these were the roads my parents (and I) travelled over 30 years ago. Each building held a possible conversation, a possible meeting, each grocery store could be a place where my mother chose what she would make for dinner. I had few details of where and what they did in Nakuru so the possibilities for connections were endless.
In a way this was good, it allowed me to just absorb the town, to revel in the feeling of strangeness and to try and imagine my parents as young adults with a new baby living in this place.
As a town it is no different from any of the others we have seen in Kenya with terrible drivers, red dust and brightly coloured advertisements every which way you look. So I allowed my imagination to roam free. Here was a clothes shop where Mom got the red and white nightgown she wore 'til the holes in it were so big it no longer provided warmth. Here were the offices that Dad went to visit clients in. Here was the Chemist my grandfather worked in, etc. etc.
It was in the midst of one of these reveries that K and D got very excited and pulled off into a neighbourhood, following signs for the Nakuru War Memorial hospital. We passed a funeral procession, and parked. Here was something I did not need to imagine. Here I was born. Here was a piece of me, of my lore. Perhaps it was my imagination run amuck but I did feel something, something like home, something like the comfort of a place well loved. I also added something new to who I am, here I visited the place of my birth with my husband, and child and best friend.
In a way this was good, it allowed me to just absorb the town, to revel in the feeling of strangeness and to try and imagine my parents as young adults with a new baby living in this place.
As a town it is no different from any of the others we have seen in Kenya with terrible drivers, red dust and brightly coloured advertisements every which way you look. So I allowed my imagination to roam free. Here was a clothes shop where Mom got the red and white nightgown she wore 'til the holes in it were so big it no longer provided warmth. Here were the offices that Dad went to visit clients in. Here was the Chemist my grandfather worked in, etc. etc.
It was in the midst of one of these reveries that K and D got very excited and pulled off into a neighbourhood, following signs for the Nakuru War Memorial hospital. We passed a funeral procession, and parked. Here was something I did not need to imagine. Here I was born. Here was a piece of me, of my lore. Perhaps it was my imagination run amuck but I did feel something, something like home, something like the comfort of a place well loved. I also added something new to who I am, here I visited the place of my birth with my husband, and child and best friend.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
A Crisis of Identity
Conceived in Belize, born in Kenya, raised in Namibia, British passport, in love with an American and lived there for the last ten years and most importantly my child is American, South African mother and British Father. I have in my blood, Irish, English, German, Malaysian, and Hottentot. With all of these names and places to define who I am I have ended up being none.
Growing up in Namibia I was never Namibian because I was not born there and my passport was British, I was reminded of this by people who liked to tease me but I chose to be Namibian in spite of the passport and in spite of the birth. It was the place I was, so how could I be anything but? If I chose one of the others I would always be yearning to leave and never be home. And so, emotionally, I clawed my way into a place where I stood up and claimed the dunes and the cold sea and the sun and the winter wind and made them into the things I loved and longed for.
Then I went to England, and Cape Town and America and always I wished to be back in Namibia, back where I belonged and back home. But now over time the balance has shifted. Many people I knew have moved away, the country has moved on and I have not been there to keep up. My accent has changed, and so has my perspective and those left behind take every pleasure in reminding me of it all. If I ever was Namibian, I can no longer claim to be so.
So now in my soul is a space, a place where who and what I am is blank but also like a puzzle just dumped out of its box. It isn't something that should be so and I must decide. Shall I fill it with everything or will I be able to finally belong to somewhere and some identity alone. Some place that will make me feel like I am home and I will always be home?
Tomorrow, I am going to Nakuru, place of my birth. I hope to stop at places that my parents and grandparents lived and worked, places I visited as a small child. I hope to fill in one more piece of who I am and make clear some of the confusion and loneliness I feel, at least by givng images to stories and places I have heard of throughout my life.
Growing up in Namibia I was never Namibian because I was not born there and my passport was British, I was reminded of this by people who liked to tease me but I chose to be Namibian in spite of the passport and in spite of the birth. It was the place I was, so how could I be anything but? If I chose one of the others I would always be yearning to leave and never be home. And so, emotionally, I clawed my way into a place where I stood up and claimed the dunes and the cold sea and the sun and the winter wind and made them into the things I loved and longed for.
Then I went to England, and Cape Town and America and always I wished to be back in Namibia, back where I belonged and back home. But now over time the balance has shifted. Many people I knew have moved away, the country has moved on and I have not been there to keep up. My accent has changed, and so has my perspective and those left behind take every pleasure in reminding me of it all. If I ever was Namibian, I can no longer claim to be so.
So now in my soul is a space, a place where who and what I am is blank but also like a puzzle just dumped out of its box. It isn't something that should be so and I must decide. Shall I fill it with everything or will I be able to finally belong to somewhere and some identity alone. Some place that will make me feel like I am home and I will always be home?
Tomorrow, I am going to Nakuru, place of my birth. I hope to stop at places that my parents and grandparents lived and worked, places I visited as a small child. I hope to fill in one more piece of who I am and make clear some of the confusion and loneliness I feel, at least by givng images to stories and places I have heard of throughout my life.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A con at governmental levels
Recently we received a parcel from Emma's Great Grandma. It was two very cute little dresses, originally wrapped in pink tissue paper. When K picked it up from the Post Office he was told the following little story and then charged a fee for the package.
When international packages come in, apparently Customs is allowed to charge an import duty. To deduce the amount that this duty should be, a customs official opens the package in front of a postal employee, unwraps any gifts and assigns value to the gifts. Then they charge you some percentage of that value. Yes... that's right... they OPEN the package and UNWRAP the gifts. All sanctioned by LAW. I love this country, where even postal theft is governed.
I wonder, do they read the birthday card too? I am now tempted to have someone send me ribbed condoms and body chocolate and write salacious things in the card. Would that be 50 shillings? Or would that be free?
When international packages come in, apparently Customs is allowed to charge an import duty. To deduce the amount that this duty should be, a customs official opens the package in front of a postal employee, unwraps any gifts and assigns value to the gifts. Then they charge you some percentage of that value. Yes... that's right... they OPEN the package and UNWRAP the gifts. All sanctioned by LAW. I love this country, where even postal theft is governed.
I wonder, do they read the birthday card too? I am now tempted to have someone send me ribbed condoms and body chocolate and write salacious things in the card. Would that be 50 shillings? Or would that be free?
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Emma Update; dance with me darling, sweet and slow
Since she was born we have danced with Emma. Keir dances with her to Opera and Banjo music and I dance with her to 80's music and powerful female artists. Recently when you put on the music while holding her, she will grab your free hand and wave it around to indicate that it is time to dance. When you oblige she giggles, hums and asks to be dipped by throwing herself backwards while you twirl around the room.
You Little Beauty!
When you have read all the books written by a favourite author you can only read them again. But when you started reading their books as a teen and have been reading them for 15 years it's possible there are books you haven't read, or books you have forgotten that you read. Sometimes you think you discover one of these, dusty on your mother's bookshelf. There is an excitement at the familar grouping of letters in the author's name, coupled with the unfamiliar grouping of letters in the title. Perhaps you savour the book, not opening it for a few days, just letting your eye get used to the cover. Finally you settle down, snuggle up and open it. But oh! The terrible suspicion that creeps upon you by page 23. "Don't I know this character?" By page 100; "I do know this plot" by page 212, I recall the ending. You have two choices. Accept that you have read it and enjoy the prose once more, or set it down, unfinished but remembered.
I recently found what I thought had to be one of these. On a bookshelf in the dining hall at Mpala. A graveyard of books where "good" books are quickly snapped up and others grow ever dustier and infested by spiders, mice and other scurrying creatures.
Surely, surely, I have read all Elizabeth George's novels? Page 23 came and went, followed by page 100. Now I am in the deliscious excitement of letting her pull me towards the great reveal at the end, all the while amusing me, educating me and entertaining me. What a pleasure her words are, and how delightful to find new aspects to Tommy Lynley's character.
So now, having put my own words down and shared my find, I will return to the soft pages of my paperback and Ms. George's enlightening diction.
I recently found what I thought had to be one of these. On a bookshelf in the dining hall at Mpala. A graveyard of books where "good" books are quickly snapped up and others grow ever dustier and infested by spiders, mice and other scurrying creatures.
Surely, surely, I have read all Elizabeth George's novels? Page 23 came and went, followed by page 100. Now I am in the deliscious excitement of letting her pull me towards the great reveal at the end, all the while amusing me, educating me and entertaining me. What a pleasure her words are, and how delightful to find new aspects to Tommy Lynley's character.
So now, having put my own words down and shared my find, I will return to the soft pages of my paperback and Ms. George's enlightening diction.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
follow-up
Since I posted this I have had confirmation from my Mother that the tragic story about Cina and her violent beau was true.
Emma Update
She is really learning how to control the world around her, which includes K and I. She now takes one of our fingers and leads us around, showing us things and getting us to play with her. She has also started helping me with packing away things instead of just unpacking. Her conversation also sounds more and more like she knows exactly what she is saying and it is only us who don't. She will repeat the same "sentence" again and again trying to tell us something and we try and guess what it is she is saying from her body language.
She has started a really strange thing while she nurses, which is to put either her finger or her toe into my belly button. It is so uncomfortable but she is most insistent that this is the way things will be now. I am quite curious as to whether other babies do this, or what her reason is for it. Is it just that it is a perfect big-toe sized hole?
Her memory is also lasting longer as we logged onto Skype with her aunty and uncle and she nearly climbed into the computer in her excitement at seeing them. The last time she had seen them was three weeks before.
She has started a really strange thing while she nurses, which is to put either her finger or her toe into my belly button. It is so uncomfortable but she is most insistent that this is the way things will be now. I am quite curious as to whether other babies do this, or what her reason is for it. Is it just that it is a perfect big-toe sized hole?
Her memory is also lasting longer as we logged onto Skype with her aunty and uncle and she nearly climbed into the computer in her excitement at seeing them. The last time she had seen them was three weeks before.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
cucumber sandwiches anyone?
Today we availed ourselves of a friendly Mpala babysitter and went out for a couple of hours. We played tennis and then had a picnic on top of the Landy at a spot called Hippo Pools.
The tennis courts are up at the original Ranch house which is kept as a place to house VIP guests. It is kept up as it was when it was the home of the white Kenyan ranch owner and fits the bill of a colonial home perfectly. Think "Out of Africa" with shaded porches containing comfortable wicker furniture and sweeping lawns sloping out into the view of Mount Kenya.
The ranch's tennis courts are clay, which I have never played on before. (Actually, if I am honest I have never played tennis at all. I have, on many occasions, batted and swatted and even heaved at a tennis ball with a tennis racket, on a tennis court) The red clay is reflected beyond the court into the savanna which surrounds it, and as you lob the ball up for a serve Mt. Kenya is framed behind it. Quite a venue.
K and I thoroughly enjoyed tooling about on the court and he even made me do some real warm-up exercises. Then we settled in for a "game". Within minutes we abandoned the game and decided to just try and manage to hit the ball to one another. This was quite effective as K is fast enough to run about and catch most of my forehand. My backhand sent birds, dikdiks and monkeys outside the courts scurrying. After a while we decided that we would hit the ball to each other twenty times and then go and get lunch. Then we decided we would hit the ball to each other fifteen times and then go and get lunch. Eventually we decided nine was a little bit like fifteen and left.
Hippo pools is a spot where the Ewaso Nyero river makes a big loop and creates a still pool with a broad bank perfect for Hippos and crocs to pull themselves out of the water. Well, actually just one croc. The bend in the river has created a floodplain where incredibly tall fever trees grow. These are acacia xanthophloea. They are trees with a bright green bark on trunks that grow straight up and tall, and their branches spread out in a thick fan high above. They are graceful trees and their presence at Hippo pools makes it the perfect spot to sit and watch the wildlife and birds. After our exertions we enjoyed our lunch of avo and tomato sandwiches and felt completely vindicated in finishing a whole bar of chocolate.
The tennis courts are up at the original Ranch house which is kept as a place to house VIP guests. It is kept up as it was when it was the home of the white Kenyan ranch owner and fits the bill of a colonial home perfectly. Think "Out of Africa" with shaded porches containing comfortable wicker furniture and sweeping lawns sloping out into the view of Mount Kenya.
The ranch's tennis courts are clay, which I have never played on before. (Actually, if I am honest I have never played tennis at all. I have, on many occasions, batted and swatted and even heaved at a tennis ball with a tennis racket, on a tennis court) The red clay is reflected beyond the court into the savanna which surrounds it, and as you lob the ball up for a serve Mt. Kenya is framed behind it. Quite a venue.
K and I thoroughly enjoyed tooling about on the court and he even made me do some real warm-up exercises. Then we settled in for a "game". Within minutes we abandoned the game and decided to just try and manage to hit the ball to one another. This was quite effective as K is fast enough to run about and catch most of my forehand. My backhand sent birds, dikdiks and monkeys outside the courts scurrying. After a while we decided that we would hit the ball to each other twenty times and then go and get lunch. Then we decided we would hit the ball to each other fifteen times and then go and get lunch. Eventually we decided nine was a little bit like fifteen and left.
Hippo pools is a spot where the Ewaso Nyero river makes a big loop and creates a still pool with a broad bank perfect for Hippos and crocs to pull themselves out of the water. Well, actually just one croc. The bend in the river has created a floodplain where incredibly tall fever trees grow. These are acacia xanthophloea. They are trees with a bright green bark on trunks that grow straight up and tall, and their branches spread out in a thick fan high above. They are graceful trees and their presence at Hippo pools makes it the perfect spot to sit and watch the wildlife and birds. After our exertions we enjoyed our lunch of avo and tomato sandwiches and felt completely vindicated in finishing a whole bar of chocolate.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Emma Update
It is a joy to watch Emma growing in leaps and bounds daily. She lovesto fogure out stuff, especially real stuff rather than toys. She puts lids back on bottles, opens cupboards and drawers, tips up her sippy cup and presses buttons.
She also "talks" on the phone. She loves few things better than to put your cell phone to her ear and walk around, having a chat with someone. She has long conversations which are mostly one-sided and holds one hand out to the side, fingers splayed. What is really funny is that when the phone actually rings she looks at it in horror and gives it to you to take care of the annoying person who dares to talk back.
She has just this week started to love her stuffed animals. She has a number of them and has mostly ignored them. This week she has been carrying two favourites around with her, snuggling them and talking to them. One is a Frog who is bigger than her, named Prince Charming and the other is a soft hound dog named Bond. She adores it when you take all three of them on your lap and cuddle together.
She also "talks" on the phone. She loves few things better than to put your cell phone to her ear and walk around, having a chat with someone. She has long conversations which are mostly one-sided and holds one hand out to the side, fingers splayed. What is really funny is that when the phone actually rings she looks at it in horror and gives it to you to take care of the annoying person who dares to talk back.
She has just this week started to love her stuffed animals. She has a number of them and has mostly ignored them. This week she has been carrying two favourites around with her, snuggling them and talking to them. One is a Frog who is bigger than her, named Prince Charming and the other is a soft hound dog named Bond. She adores it when you take all three of them on your lap and cuddle together.
A Tall Tale?
When I was young my maternal grandmother had a maid who always wore a cloth over her face. She wore it to cover the lower part of her face but her eyes were always kind above it. The cloth made it very hard to understand what she said and her voice sounded raspy, as if she had been smoking since she was as small as I was then.
Her name was Cina and one day I got up enough courage to ask Granny Hazel why Cina wore the cloth. The tale went like this. When Cina was young she was incredibly beautiful with a rosebud mouth and a small pert nose. She had many suitors but eventually she started going with just one very handsome young man. They were well matched and she cared a great deal for him but of course there was a fly in the ointment. Her beau was incredibly jealous of Cina and suspicious of any man who had contact with Cina. One day they went to a braai of a mutual friend and Cina's boyfriend saw her flirting with another friend of theirs. Cina's boyfriend flew into a rage and took up the woodchopper sitting next to the braai. He first chopped at the flirty friend and then swung the chopper and sliced off the front of Cina's face.
Cina tried various kinds of surgery to reconstruct her face but was left with terrible disfigurement and much scarring.
I was utterly horrified at this story and have thought often of it, the details remained very clear in my mind as I grew up. It is only now though that I have examined the tale and thought that it has the resonance of a tale rather than a true story. Do people truly have rosebud mouths combined with pert noses? Is it possible to cleave a persons nose from their face with a woodchopper? My Grandmother always told very good stories and now she is gone I am left to wonder forever if this is just a story, or true and tragic.
Her name was Cina and one day I got up enough courage to ask Granny Hazel why Cina wore the cloth. The tale went like this. When Cina was young she was incredibly beautiful with a rosebud mouth and a small pert nose. She had many suitors but eventually she started going with just one very handsome young man. They were well matched and she cared a great deal for him but of course there was a fly in the ointment. Her beau was incredibly jealous of Cina and suspicious of any man who had contact with Cina. One day they went to a braai of a mutual friend and Cina's boyfriend saw her flirting with another friend of theirs. Cina's boyfriend flew into a rage and took up the woodchopper sitting next to the braai. He first chopped at the flirty friend and then swung the chopper and sliced off the front of Cina's face.
Cina tried various kinds of surgery to reconstruct her face but was left with terrible disfigurement and much scarring.
I was utterly horrified at this story and have thought often of it, the details remained very clear in my mind as I grew up. It is only now though that I have examined the tale and thought that it has the resonance of a tale rather than a true story. Do people truly have rosebud mouths combined with pert noses? Is it possible to cleave a persons nose from their face with a woodchopper? My Grandmother always told very good stories and now she is gone I am left to wonder forever if this is just a story, or true and tragic.
Tru Dat
Our cistern sprung a leak. When the tap is turned on water poured from it in a pretty arc like one of those boy cherubs peeing artfully into a fountain. Our plumber came along to look at it and said that it was fine. After I showed him how to turn the tap on and allowed the leak to flow, he played his hand in the water appreciating the cool on his fingers for a moment. Then he proclaimed; "It is broken" and left. We haven't seen him since.
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