Dec 17, 2009 | Guest Posts, South Africa, Top Ten Lists
Hey guys and gals! Â Hope you are doing well today! I am delighted to share that I’m guest posting on my sweet friend Amanda Avery’s blog today, so please check it out! The pictures to go with the post didn’t upload, so I’ve included them here. 🙂 Hope you enjoy. More to come from Bloemfontein soon! xoxoC
Too funny not to share…
He will give you very good price.
Don’t forget to check out Amanda’s blog, or else these pictures won’t make sense!
Thanks for the invitation Amanda! Â I hope we can have you on the show here soon! 🙂
Dec 15, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa, Stories, Travel..ling Tuesdays
My humblest apologies that all has been quiet on the blogging front for a few days now. I was SICK SICK SICK! One of those crazy 24 hour things that makes you despair of life and wonder if it’s really worth going on. (Don’t worry, my one reader with emetophobia, I won’t go into detail!) Fortunately, I am on the other side and incredibly thankful that (yes I did the math) I’ve lived well over 10,000 days so far, and I’ve only had one like that. One in 10,000 — no cause for complaint!
Anywho, after that lengthy introduction, it is Travelling Tuesday! As promised, I have some stories and shots from our travels up to Bloemfontein, where we are spending the holidays with Mark’s parents (and his sister when she arrives!) The roads are very busy and therefore a bit dangerous this time of year, so we decided to come early to avoid the traffic, since we can still do a lot of our work getting Samaritan’s Feet started from here. Modern communications are a wonderful thing! We thought breaking the trip up over three days (staying overnight in a couple different places) would make it an easier journey with the Bear. We were wrong. Yes, it was still cheaper than flying, but dern, it was a lot of travelling! I don’t think the Bear enjoyed his tent being pitched in a new spot each night or finding himself in the car seat again each morning. So next time we’ll probably do the 10+ hour journey in one day. As they say in the South, we oughta just git ‘er done. Lesson learned!
As mentioned, these travelling adventures brought us face to face with many dangerous wild animals. This is Africa people! We stopped off in a place outside Oudtshoorn called Calitzdorp the first night. And just outside our little self-catering hut we spotted a big, scary…
praying mantis!!!!
Okay not so scary. Still, a little creepy. You’ve heard how vociferous the females are, right? Well then, we went for a walk, and we came face to face with a huge, and very dangerous…
Farm-raised ostrich!!!!!!!!
Behind a fence.
But if he got near the fence…and we were too close…seriously people, they can kick like ninjas, beware!! Â Then it got really dangerous. I’m not even joking this time. We came face to face with a grumbly…grizzly…
Wild Bear!!
You’ve given up on me, haven’t you? Africa’s not as wild as you were hoping, mayhaps? Let’s give it one last try. Â The final creature to give us a fright appeared as we were journeying to Nieu Bethesda for our second night’s stay along the way to Bloemfontein. And you do not want to come face to face with one of these. It’s a big, scaly…
Om… likkewaan!!
This creature kind of looks like a gila monster…and was probably like 4 ft. long! The Afrikaans word for it is likkewaan, pronounced LOOK-a-vahn, but the English word is leguan. I wasn’t familiar with either, but the Afrikaans is more fun to say. Sure, I took this picture from the window of the car, but still, he could’ve gone T-Rex on us at any moment! Grrrr. We actually think maybe it was a her…do you think she looks preggers? I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
Well, that’s a taste of our dangerous travels from Gordon’s Bay to Bloemfontein with Calitzdorp and Nieu Bethesda in between. Thank the Lord for Mr. Potato Head safely navigating our passage and never stranding us in the wild among these dangerous creatures!
Happy Trails to you, wherever the road takes you!
Dec 12, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa
We’re here, we’re here! Let the great rumpus begin! After a few days of arduous cross country travel, I am pleased to report that we’ve arrived in Bloemfontein safe and sound. My home away from home!
There are travelling stories to be told, lessons to be shared and pictures to be uploaded, but in the meantime I will simply report that we are glad to be back in the beautiful Free State, where the flowers are in bloom, the sun is shining hot, and one little boy is especially delighted that splashing in his duck tub and living in a diaper are on his schedule every day for the next few weeks. Supporting evidence of these claims is duly attached. More to come.
Dec 9, 2009 | Hometastic Goodness, South Africa, Stories
Yay! I have to share the excitement with you. I really love being in the kitchen, especially when making a mess is involved, but not usually when the dirty dishes are staring back at me. Mark and I spent a wee bit of time making salsa for our neighbours. It was a creative Christmas gift on a budget, and I thought I ought to share!
I have a delightful hodgepodge recipe for Salsa and it is as follows:
- 1 Can of Chopped Tomatoes (chili flavour)
- 1 can of regular chopped tomatoes (in case you want to compare size — they’re 440 grams/15 oz. in my present locale)
- a nice handful of fresh coriander or cilantro
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- lots of freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 finely diced green chili pepper
- and away we go!
But why am I so extra-delighted about salsa? I’ll be honest. It’s the containers. We picked up some fru fru plastic ones that they sold us really cheap off the counter in the deli section at the grocery store. I wasn’t so excited because they were frumpy. I now digress to say my husband loves Coca Cola. And he especially loves it here because it still comes in glass bottles. And he thinks it tastes the very best that way. We had six glass Coke bottles under our sink waiting patiently to be recycled. And we arrive back at salsa. Now in gorgeous, thoroughly cleaned coke bottles. Garnished graciously with ribbon and a wee Christmas card apiece.
Here’s the play by play. If you like it extra spicy, drop the plain can of tomatoes. We tripled the recipe and added one extra can of the chili flavoured tomatoes, and an extra couple of garlic cloves for good measure. Maybe a few extra spices too, who knows. Anyway, start with the happy ingredients listed above.
Mark had to convince me that this tiny food processor was a good idea. And now I use it like it’s my job. I suppose it is. Anyway he is great. So we mince the garlic in this bad larry first by itself, and then the onion follows. Then you can just add all the other tasty stuff.
You might want to put a few slits through the coriander first, or else it might get wrapped around the spinny thing, and not chopped! (Not pictured, but be sure you know we made that mistake!)
Now is a good time to turn on the Wonder Pets, because the baby is probably tired of not getting enough attention, and you still have lots to do.
You’re almost there! We dumped our three and a half batches of salsa together in one big pot, gave it a good couple of stirs, and then began the process of funneling it into our coke bottles.
Big pot…
Funnel… (and use a straw if you get cloggies)
Sorry ladies, that handsome demonstrator is claimed! And this is the final product…
I am pleased to report that the neighbours are really enjoying their spicy salsa Christmas gifts. I was delighted to deliver such a cute product at such a great price! I hope this has your brain-a-storming with creative ideas for being a blessing at Christmas without cursing your wallet! If you do have some Christmas-on-a-budget ideas, please comment away – I would love to hear them!
Dec 8, 2009 | Baby Photos, Hometastic Goodness, South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays
This week’s Travelling Tuesday is of a slightly different persuasion. Instead of the usual travel shots, I thought I’d give you a wee slice of life in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa with the Collies at the moment. It’s probably still travelling for most of you. And if not, please come over for dinner!
We’ll be saying good-bye to some of these sweet views tomorrow as we slowly make our way to visit Mark’s family in Bloemfontein. It reminds me a little of the Christmas story and the donkey trip to Bethlehem. Fortunately we’ve got Mr. Potato Head, and room at the inn already booked along the way. (Can you believe taking three days to drive and staying overnight twice is STILL cheaper than flying?) We’re excited for the change of scene, visiting Mark’s parents and seeing his sister at Christmas, and we are (read: Caroline is especially)Â excited for Mark’s Mom’s bacon-covered cherries that will be on their way to my tummy our tummies very soon…YUM!
So back to the present…at the moment in Gordon’s Bay, the Bear is struggling to decide between football and rugby.
(Football usually wins out because it’s easier to get out of the toy basket.) My door is decorated for the holidays, with ornaments and ribbons I already had from this and that.
(Many thanks to the Nester and Southern Living for that idea!) We spent a few hours at Bikini Beach (here in Gordon’s Bay) on Saturday. I wore a tankini in case you were wondering.
The Bear had a good dig, a good swim, and afterwards, a great nap! And don’t worry, that peely-wally skin had SPF 50 on it, no doubt!
So that’s a slice of life Travelling Tuesday from right outside our door! Hope you enjoyed the journey, and that the road rises to meet you, wherever it takes you next!
Dec 5, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa, Stories
Even when life is tough, I know God is good. But sometimes it’s really nice to give the update that both are good, at the same time. 🙂 I shared with you recently about how settling into this new place has been tough, and how it had been a greater challenge than I expected.
And many of you have asked how I’m doing and been so encouraging, sent emails with words of encouragement, and you’ve prayed for us and for me, which is a wonderful blessing. I just want to give you an update and say thank you for your prayers. The Lord is answering them.
We have settled in at the church we visited when we first arrived. Although I feel certain it was the Lord’s leading for us to take the time to seek His direction about where He would have us, I am really happy that we’ve settled in at the Every Nation Church in Somerset West. We’re beginning to make some lovely friends there, and it is just such water to our souls to be in fellowship again after feeling like nomadic travellers for so long. (Friends, thank the Lord for your friends and your communities and fellowship! Even if it’s sometimes tough to be in community, it is ALWAYS better than NOT being in community, I am convinced.)
We enjoyed attending a Life Group last night, which was actually a big end-of-year Christmas party, and had lots of laughs playing the Bad Santa Christmas game where you draw numbers and get to steal gifts or choose new ones. And Mark stole my homemade brownies, ate one, and gave them back to the person he stole them from after the game. He’s such a hero hubby!
We are also still getting to know our neighbours, which is lovely. We’re making salsa to bring them today as Christmas gifts since we leave for Bloemfontein on Wednesday. And we are networking with other Christians in the community in really exciting ways…meeting with folks from different churches interested in partnering with Samaritan’s Feet, and speaking with people who know people who know about working as a trust…making shoes…and lots of other things that could make our work here just blossom into a powerful ministry for the Kingdom and the glory of God.
We have even been welcomed by believers we’ve met at the gym, and the warm welcome into the community is such sweet water to our souls. So this is a big thank you, from the bottom of my heart (whatever that expression really means…why the bottom) and perhaps from the bottom of Mark’s heart too, and the Bear’s happy bottom… for your prayers and your encouragement. The Lord answers prayers. He is wonderfully good. And I am thankful for your friendship and support, as sometimes a comment on a blog has been enough to get me through a tough moment, here in sunny South Africa, my home 7,500+ miles away from home.
So here’s the big thanks…
THANKS!!!
(Sorry I can’t figure out how to make it any bigger) And I will give the Bear the big kiss I can’t give each of you…
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