To make up for power outages

Excellent things about Cville, VA.

Clumping cat litter actually clumps and truly nuetralises odors.
62 (we counted) different flavours of mustard in one grocery shop.
Really good microbreweries which make excellent beer and so many to choose from.
Hank would be considered a small car. (can't decide if that is good or bad)
Holly trees everywhere.

from Carter Mountain and bending pines

The wind in the pines and not the first world

We such a full day yesterday, woke up late and had scones for breakfast and then dressed up woolly and warm and headed out towards the mountains for a walk. It was just a short walk as the weather was brisk. We walked up to Carter Mountain lookout which looks towards Cville. The amazing thing about the walk was the wind. There was a weather advisory out for extreme windiness so of course we decide to go walk in the woods. At one point we both had to resist running back to the car because the pines which line the pathway are a few stories tall and were bending over under the wind. The rushing sound in the tops of the trees must be like what a flash flood sounds like, loud, elemental and feeding directly to your reptilian brain. When the pines bent over too far you could hear cracking and creaking low down in their trunks and sometimes they bent far over the pathway shedding needles and cones down in front of us. The experience was so heady and intense that we went grocery shopping after to calm down.

When we arrived home the power was out. Which is apparently common in high winds as all the electric cables are above ground. We fluffed around the house all afternoon feeling bereft of our computors and radio. As it started to get dark and the power was still off we assessed how far reaching the lights were out in the neighbourhood (far as the eye could see) and located our headlamps, gas stove and LED wind up lamp. At this point I would like to take a moment to thank C and P for that thoughtful and perhaps prescient gift. They live not far from us, and I begin to wonder if this isn't a common pattern in VA, the loss of electricty due to weather.

K poured us each a beer and we played a close and comptetive game of scrabble by headlamplight. Of course our scrabble dictionary is currently somewhere over the Atlantic ocean so we had to make frequent calls to the ever patient S to settle our challenges. As the scrabble scores mounted we became horribly and terrifyingly (for me anyway) aware that we hadn't heard the furnace come on for some time and that the temperature in the rest of the house had dropped considerably. K had started a roaring fire early in the day so the lounge was still toasty, but the cool from the kitchen was seeping it's way across the wooden floor towards the dining table. I valiantly fetched my gown from the bedroom and pretended it was ok if we froze in our beds. I couldn't contain myself for long though and started pacing the house, assessing the situation from the windows as the lights coming on in the neighbourhood crept closer and closer to Broad Ave, our current place of residence.

Imagine my horror and also indignance when the lights came on all along Cherry rd, our closest neighbour and yet nothing for Broad Ave. K eventually convinced me to desist my pacing by serving me hot pea soup. Thank goodness for our camping gear! We used the last of his laptop energy in watching three-quarters of a CSI and then went to bed.

The night was a true test of the quality of our duvet (very good) as when we awoke this morning, the rest of the house had a layer of frost on every surface. OK OK. not EVERY surface. OK. Not any surface. But it was VERY cold and neither the heat nor anything else was on yet. K kept the bed warm while I popped out and fed the cats. The loo seat was not for the faint of heart, and I was not faint of heart, but in fact full of bladder. Not an experience I wish to repeat. K got up to go to lectures and I poked one hand out of the blankets to call the electric company with a quavering voice. The lovely lady on the other end promised they hadn't forgotten us. I think they did, cos 15 minutes after my call the miraculous music to my ears of the furnace kicking in was heard. Hallelujah I cried and sprung from my bedcovers.

And they call this the first world. Where is eskom when you need them!

The new House

This is the house from the front, also a photo of the lounge, except of course I have changed it already. Will try and post a more up to date photo. Things I love about the house are the shower is intense and hot, the wooden floors are warm and easy to clean, the fireplace is cosy and the afternoon sun streams into most rooms and lights them up.

First Impressions, again.

I feel almost as though I have not lived here before. I am having to relearn everything. It will be some time before I walk around to the correct side for the passenger seat of the car and I hope I relearn the direction to look before I get hit by something. I think the worst was doing grocery shopping. I cannot seem to recall any of the products and brands that I used to buy. I spent about an hour and a half for a few bags of shopping because I was pricing, checking ingredients and mostly just feeling overwhelmed. I did spend the first few days just feeling overwhelmed, like I knew nothing and was completely out of place. Now though, my feeling of adventure is returning. I am looking forward to figuring out which bus to take, and am quite excited about finding the Library downtown, of course, Libraries have always been happy places for me. Things that are strange once again include how big everything is. The highways are huge, they go on forever and they fit so many cars at a time. The cars themselves are generally twice the size of cars in Namibia. It is so strange, I feel a little like Alice in Wonderland and I drank a small-making potion. The trees are huge too. Which is something that I love about this part of the world and I love that we have so many huge trees in our garden. The weather adjustment has actually been quite easy, probably because I have been able to just stay indoors on nasty days. What is strange though is the constant cloud cover. My eyes feel like it is just before sunset all the time. More later when I have explored Cville more.

The best thing about the US of A

Tissues with lotion and ... wait for it... vicks! Oh yeah... it's soooo good. you breathe in, it clears you up, you blow out and it clears you up and no sore, red and chapped nostrils. What a wonderful thing.

crazy for crockpot!

There is so much to say about being back in the states, and I will get there. But for now let me talk about the simple wonder in a crockpot. S gave me one that she wasn't using and I am inordinately excited about trying it out. I have gathered together the ingredients for Chilli, vegetarian of course. The beans are soaking overnight and they look gorgeous with their deep and fresh colours in my bright green bowl. tomorrow early I will set everything cooking and hopefully by sometime in the afternoon the whole house will smell edible like when Mom made various deliscious things for meat eaters in her slow cooker. Next I will try three potato soup and maybe even eggplant parmigiana! Will let you know how the chilli works out.

and another one

lovely sunday!

Cat's Bday

My Garden after a rain

Today a monkey got married. The sun was shining into my garden when all of a sudden the sounds of fat raindrops hit my ears. I looked out and each drop was shining on it's way down till it plopped in the dust. After the cloud passed onto the next garden I couldn't resist taking a few photos!

'cos he's just too freakin' cute!

henry makes sure he gets packed too.

Things I wish I'd known before I started to mow the lawn

- WHERE is the double adapter? Did we already give it away?
- Wear long pants, not shorts in order to avoid changing the colour of your legs to green and also to avoid nasty sticks and equivalent hard things thrown at velocity.
- Ditto glasses of some kind.
- Rake the lawn first so you can reach the grass through the dead leaves, this will also reduce aforementioned hard things.
- build muscles with push ups before attempting holding onto mower while it runs across the lawn.
- Do lawn often cos it is FUN!

Keir hard at work

So many samples, so little time.

More craft days!

Who knew fabric paint had so much potential for fun! Unfortunately, my impatience got the better of me. I couldn't wait for the paint to dry on mine, so that I could do the back. I put the shirt outside on the table. Of course I forgot that it has been raining and the table is wet. So while everyone else is wearing their craftiness, I am re-learning the lessons of my childhood.

paradise in a pool

We have been trying to go swimming every two days, and I just can't resist showing off to those of you who are in the Northern Hemisphere.

The water is just the right kind of cold where it is hard to get into but you feel refreshed for the rest of the day!

That's what holidays are for!

Yesterday we pulled out Mom's sewing machine and all the gear that goes with it. I had bought "african" print material to make gifts for various people and C had a special project. Mom was trying to iron but spent so much time showing us how to measure, thread, cut and sew that the ironing took her all day! We eventually sucked her in though and now she is making a pair of trousers, which is far fancier than either C or I could manage. I LOVE craft days!

the Human Jungle Gym

Thought I'd share these. We taught two small and dear people how to play twister. They loved it, but it soon was not enough and poor K was challenged to go through the game with Sheena on his back! It was MUY entertaining! He of course ended up on his butt splayed across the twister board, but he managed not to squish Sheena.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

This is easily my most favourite of the American holidays, it is Christmas without the religion and without the commercialism. It is all about friends and family and reflecting on your life and focusing on the good things about it. It's like the government has given Americans three days to just be together with their favourite people and enjoy each other.

Our usual thanksgiving is for Keir to make the turkey (a Happy one) and everyone to bring sides, I make the Tofurkey - yum - and then we eat till we can't. Then we all lie around or play baord games and perhaps manage a roll around the block before we face the dishes. Of course, here in Namibia no-one has the day off, but K and I took it off. We shopped from a list that reached my knees and then we chopped, peeled and mixed to our hearts content.

There were of course some of the usual mix-ups. I completely forgot to do the peas and we had to use philo pastry for the pies! Plus it never even occurred to me to make Gravy! Essential to all large dinners, shock horror. Then there were the uniquely Namibian hiccups. No Turkey... well, no WHOLE turkey. The closest we could come was to find four pre-cooked turkey legs, which looked very funny lying side by side in our roasting pan. We were all left to wonder where the rest of the Turkey's were. Perhaps they were only eating turkey breast for thanksgiving in Zambia, and only thighs in Botswana? Of course, if we only managed to find turkey legs, what was the chance of finding a tofurkey... Sigh!

The dinner itself was so wonderful. Somehow it still had the feel of thanksgiving, even though it was hot and the Bird carcass was missing from the middle of the table. I was so thankful to be sitting at a table with my Mom and Sisters. The whole evening had this lovely feeling of companionship and contentment that I always associate with Thanksgiving.

K made the most amazing pumpkin pie from scratch! From an actual pumpkin! I really enjoyed it, but he felt like it tasted too much like pumpkin and not enough like pie. Also - HUGE shoutout to KO for the stuffing recipe. Sooooo Good. I think it's the thyme - apricot combination that make it!

Of course all this has left me feeling very thankful for thanksgiving.