Hi Everyone,
I have no phone at the moment due to it being accidently washed by the boys at Scann, at least its clean. Am working on getting repaired or replaced with a cheapie.
I am sorry it has been a while, things here are a bit low. I am not sure if I have told you that Yasmin, our Trustee in charge at Scann, is undergoing chemo therapy for breast cancer. She is on her second treatment and it really is taking its toll. The staff visited her at home on Friday and we took all the boys to see her on Sunday afternoon to do a very small performance.
Yasmin looked so frail that it really upset the boys, I had prepared myself for how Yasmin was but when the boys broke down it broke my heart. We are all trying to be positive and give her the strength to get through the treatment, she has a long long way to go, after the third treatment she is due for an op. Will keep you all posted.
Scann continues as normally as is possible, the show Edwina put on for Yasmin in her absence has been given to me and caused me a few problems in copying but tomorrow I should be able to go and visit Yasmin again and give her a copy to see at her leisure. The shamba here is growing like crazy not quite sure what I am going to do with everything planted although looking at it all it will be ready in August when I am away. We are looking to dry the maize and take it to be milled into flour for future months supplies. Fresh maize out here kills my teeth and digestion, its so hard.
The chickens have at last started to lay again, Henry keeps suggesting we let the hens sit on the eggs, but I am insisting that there is no way I can afford to feed more chicks, still busy with the last four, two went to the shamba man at Scann. I now have a new sewing machine which I have got up and running, a good job too as it was needed to make more poi for our trip to Yasmin's, it will come in so useful with all the split trousers and shirts that I have seen recently at SCANN.
My love to you all, anyone who wants to see the DVD and photos from the performance I will be sending a copy to Kimberley this week, hopefully with the Kenyan post she may receive it soon, just ask her for a viewing. Take care, and keep well, happy birthday to those that are celebrating this month, you know who you are.
Susannahxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Busy, busy, busy
Hi Everyone,
well there is lot to catch up on but just to let you know am so busy I don't know what to do with myself. I fall into bed and fall asleep before the bedside light is switched off, usually with book in hand unopened.
On Friday we had a show with the boys performing for a group of friends we invited to SCANN to display the new routines that Edwina had been working on with them, including a dance routine to Me and My Shadow, together with hats and canes. It was fabulous and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but the piece de resistance was the poi performance with fire. I will try and send on some photos next time I am at the internet, fire poi is basically a metal chain with a swivel attached which is then fixed on to a small block at the end with a Kevlar wick wrapped around. The boys learn first with practice poi which are cloth and are weighted (here we used a small bean bag) they learn to spin and twirl the poi then the best ones moved on to learning with the fire poi (unlit) then eventually lit poi. The result was an amazing show in the dark with twirling fire. E
veryone was so impressed we managed to video the evening as the event was originally planned to help raise the spirits of Yasmin who is very sick at the moment and on Chemo therapy, but she was too sick to attend. She will receive a copy of the video though and hopefully enjoy it.
Yesterday was a holiday here Madaraka Day, (Independence Day), Edwina and I went to SCANN to entertain the boys with games and a dance off competition. We had a great time and I think the boys did too. Today I saw off Edwina, she is off to a performing arts place in Nairobi (Sarakasi) where my friend Jemo works (he is away in Norway at the moment) I managed to introduce Edwina to Sarakasi and she is going to be there training some of their performers with fire and in return learning some more skills to add to her list, she is hoping for trapeze or another such talent. From there she is visiting our acrobats who are performing Tanzania for a while hopefully getting in some scuba while she is there. She says she will return to Nakuru in July before she heads home in August, we'll see.... the beaches are a strong pull when you spend so much time away from them in Nakuru.
I also said bye to John who has changed his itinerary and is doing a circular safari with my friend Joseph from Mount Kenya, unfortunately, my lack of a visa has put a stop to me going on any of the safaris planned as I would have trouble getting in to the parks. Immigration has assured me that my lack of a visa is no problem, however I would feel a little safer knowing I have a stamp to prove that I am OK here!!!! Be patient they keep saying it is our paperwork problem. Um still not too comfortable, probably find I will be frog marched to the airport and deported as an undesirable.
Edwina and I spent a quiet weekend even though it was a holiday one, as last time we went out on a holiday weekend we spent most of the night breaking up skirmishes with the people we were with, far too much alcohol is consumed by all on these weekends and many many brawls are a result, we stayed in and watched 'girlie movies' on the laptop and ate chocolate. Catherine had travelled home to Nairobi to see her family. The house will be quiet back to Catherine and myself, Henry, the two dogs, paka, one cock, three chickens and 4 large chicks..... (I gave two chicks away to the old shamba man at SCANN he lost his to a virus and I cant afford to keep feeding these chickens!!!!)
My shamba is amazing, I think if I had time I could sit and watch the maize grow........ Henry who is no taller than I am disappeared this morning with his hoe to do some weeding, the only way I knew where he was was the maize moved more than the slight breeze that was blowing. I will be moving myself back into my room today as John has left me....... we had a move around so that John wouldn't have to share the bathroom facilities with so many girlies, I gave him my room with the en suite and I moved into Edwinas, Edwina in turn moved in to share the other room with Catherine, (who apparently snores!) I am much better although I didn't realise how much energy my chest infection had taken out of me.
I am now heading home from seeing off Edwina to do the hand washing of one Queen size bedding and a single bedding together with towels etc etc etc, wish me luck, by the end I hope that my back wont be crook!! This is what you get for being a jack of all trades and unable to employ someone to do it for you!!! Its good for the muscles and keeps me out of mischief. I hope you are all well and happy, I understand that the weather there is much improved, that's a good thing, it will bring more smiles to the UK!
I will love you and leave you. Hugs all round. Oh I am hoping to get a new sewing machine soon from my friend in Nairobi, he kept asking what would benefit the project and the sewing machine definitely would!!!!!!
Susannah
(Typed in haste, please excuse typos and also if it doesn't make sense, need to get home while the sun is still shining to do the washing!!!!) BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
well there is lot to catch up on but just to let you know am so busy I don't know what to do with myself. I fall into bed and fall asleep before the bedside light is switched off, usually with book in hand unopened.
On Friday we had a show with the boys performing for a group of friends we invited to SCANN to display the new routines that Edwina had been working on with them, including a dance routine to Me and My Shadow, together with hats and canes. It was fabulous and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but the piece de resistance was the poi performance with fire. I will try and send on some photos next time I am at the internet, fire poi is basically a metal chain with a swivel attached which is then fixed on to a small block at the end with a Kevlar wick wrapped around. The boys learn first with practice poi which are cloth and are weighted (here we used a small bean bag) they learn to spin and twirl the poi then the best ones moved on to learning with the fire poi (unlit) then eventually lit poi. The result was an amazing show in the dark with twirling fire. E
veryone was so impressed we managed to video the evening as the event was originally planned to help raise the spirits of Yasmin who is very sick at the moment and on Chemo therapy, but she was too sick to attend. She will receive a copy of the video though and hopefully enjoy it.
Yesterday was a holiday here Madaraka Day, (Independence Day), Edwina and I went to SCANN to entertain the boys with games and a dance off competition. We had a great time and I think the boys did too. Today I saw off Edwina, she is off to a performing arts place in Nairobi (Sarakasi) where my friend Jemo works (he is away in Norway at the moment) I managed to introduce Edwina to Sarakasi and she is going to be there training some of their performers with fire and in return learning some more skills to add to her list, she is hoping for trapeze or another such talent. From there she is visiting our acrobats who are performing Tanzania for a while hopefully getting in some scuba while she is there. She says she will return to Nakuru in July before she heads home in August, we'll see.... the beaches are a strong pull when you spend so much time away from them in Nakuru.
I also said bye to John who has changed his itinerary and is doing a circular safari with my friend Joseph from Mount Kenya, unfortunately, my lack of a visa has put a stop to me going on any of the safaris planned as I would have trouble getting in to the parks. Immigration has assured me that my lack of a visa is no problem, however I would feel a little safer knowing I have a stamp to prove that I am OK here!!!! Be patient they keep saying it is our paperwork problem. Um still not too comfortable, probably find I will be frog marched to the airport and deported as an undesirable.
Edwina and I spent a quiet weekend even though it was a holiday one, as last time we went out on a holiday weekend we spent most of the night breaking up skirmishes with the people we were with, far too much alcohol is consumed by all on these weekends and many many brawls are a result, we stayed in and watched 'girlie movies' on the laptop and ate chocolate. Catherine had travelled home to Nairobi to see her family. The house will be quiet back to Catherine and myself, Henry, the two dogs, paka, one cock, three chickens and 4 large chicks..... (I gave two chicks away to the old shamba man at SCANN he lost his to a virus and I cant afford to keep feeding these chickens!!!!)
My shamba is amazing, I think if I had time I could sit and watch the maize grow........ Henry who is no taller than I am disappeared this morning with his hoe to do some weeding, the only way I knew where he was was the maize moved more than the slight breeze that was blowing. I will be moving myself back into my room today as John has left me....... we had a move around so that John wouldn't have to share the bathroom facilities with so many girlies, I gave him my room with the en suite and I moved into Edwinas, Edwina in turn moved in to share the other room with Catherine, (who apparently snores!) I am much better although I didn't realise how much energy my chest infection had taken out of me.
I am now heading home from seeing off Edwina to do the hand washing of one Queen size bedding and a single bedding together with towels etc etc etc, wish me luck, by the end I hope that my back wont be crook!! This is what you get for being a jack of all trades and unable to employ someone to do it for you!!! Its good for the muscles and keeps me out of mischief. I hope you are all well and happy, I understand that the weather there is much improved, that's a good thing, it will bring more smiles to the UK!
I will love you and leave you. Hugs all round. Oh I am hoping to get a new sewing machine soon from my friend in Nairobi, he kept asking what would benefit the project and the sewing machine definitely would!!!!!!
Susannah
(Typed in haste, please excuse typos and also if it doesn't make sense, need to get home while the sun is still shining to do the washing!!!!) BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Still here
Hi Everyone,
just to let you know and still alive and kicking in Kenya. My chest infection has only just cleared and needed steroid tablets to get rid, now I am sporting great muscles.... kidding. I am slowly increasing my energy levels, although two trips to Nairobi, one to collect John an ex colleague and friend from P&O days and to sort my visa.
Since I came in November 2008 I am still trying to sort out my visa, my tourist visa has now expired (don't tell anyone) but the immigration Manager says don't worry as they have the paperwork and it is their problem. Can't say that instills me with confidence as I got a call yesterday saying we need to resubmit the documents as they can't find them. I have decided after many trips to Nairobi to sort this out that I am not leaving until I have my visa approved and in my hand!
The house hold is fine, John has spent 4 days with us and has this morning set out on his 14 day safari to Masai Mara, Mount Kenya, the Lakes and then Samburu, rather him than me, it is very tiring.
At Scann on Friday evening Edwina is holding the show that she and the boys have put together so I am really excited as I haven't seen a lot of the preparations as have been at home. I have however helped with many of the small sewing requirements. Should be a good night. I was at Scann on Saturday helping in the clinic many of the boys are down with sore throats and malaria due to the change in the weather, but nothing serious there.
I managed to introduce Edwina to Sarakasi the performing arts establishment in Nairobi where my friend Jemo works, he is away in Norway, but his associate has agreed to take Edwina for a period of two weeks to train their acrobats etc with Poi and fire in return for her being taught additional circus skills. She is very excited.
On Sunday we took an impromptu visit to Crater, on the outskirts of Nakuru, it is a vast volcanic crater and beauty spot. I decided that as we had to take a taxi to get there we would take the dogs with us for a walk, um sounded like a good plan in my head. Now we had Edwina in the car to drop off en route, John, Henry (askari), myself and Nick driving, together with the two (large) dogs, Kim sat in the front with me and Fatso loitered between the seats but sat at the back. We arrived at Crater and the views were fantastic, but it became apparent that there was no way we would be able to descend from the top lip where we were as the sides were far to steep and the dogs would send us flying.
We walked round the rim instead well away from the edge, we were unable to let the dogs loose as either they would disappear over the edge while playing or one of them would run up to us and send us over the edge. We had a lovely walk and the dogs by the end were exhausted, (mind you I did use them as huskies to pull me back up the slope to the car. We will go back without the dogs and descend the crater which apparently takes two hours to get to the base and about 3 to climb back up..........um not quite ready for that.
Just to let you know if you are not already, Kimberley and her Grandmother managed to safely complete the jump from the plane yesterday, they are both apparently still buzzing with adrenaline and happy they were mad enough to do it. What next I ask!!!!!!!
Love to all, hope you are all well.
Susannah
just to let you know and still alive and kicking in Kenya. My chest infection has only just cleared and needed steroid tablets to get rid, now I am sporting great muscles.... kidding. I am slowly increasing my energy levels, although two trips to Nairobi, one to collect John an ex colleague and friend from P&O days and to sort my visa.
Since I came in November 2008 I am still trying to sort out my visa, my tourist visa has now expired (don't tell anyone) but the immigration Manager says don't worry as they have the paperwork and it is their problem. Can't say that instills me with confidence as I got a call yesterday saying we need to resubmit the documents as they can't find them. I have decided after many trips to Nairobi to sort this out that I am not leaving until I have my visa approved and in my hand!
The house hold is fine, John has spent 4 days with us and has this morning set out on his 14 day safari to Masai Mara, Mount Kenya, the Lakes and then Samburu, rather him than me, it is very tiring.
At Scann on Friday evening Edwina is holding the show that she and the boys have put together so I am really excited as I haven't seen a lot of the preparations as have been at home. I have however helped with many of the small sewing requirements. Should be a good night. I was at Scann on Saturday helping in the clinic many of the boys are down with sore throats and malaria due to the change in the weather, but nothing serious there.
I managed to introduce Edwina to Sarakasi the performing arts establishment in Nairobi where my friend Jemo works, he is away in Norway, but his associate has agreed to take Edwina for a period of two weeks to train their acrobats etc with Poi and fire in return for her being taught additional circus skills. She is very excited.
On Sunday we took an impromptu visit to Crater, on the outskirts of Nakuru, it is a vast volcanic crater and beauty spot. I decided that as we had to take a taxi to get there we would take the dogs with us for a walk, um sounded like a good plan in my head. Now we had Edwina in the car to drop off en route, John, Henry (askari), myself and Nick driving, together with the two (large) dogs, Kim sat in the front with me and Fatso loitered between the seats but sat at the back. We arrived at Crater and the views were fantastic, but it became apparent that there was no way we would be able to descend from the top lip where we were as the sides were far to steep and the dogs would send us flying.
We walked round the rim instead well away from the edge, we were unable to let the dogs loose as either they would disappear over the edge while playing or one of them would run up to us and send us over the edge. We had a lovely walk and the dogs by the end were exhausted, (mind you I did use them as huskies to pull me back up the slope to the car. We will go back without the dogs and descend the crater which apparently takes two hours to get to the base and about 3 to climb back up..........um not quite ready for that.
Just to let you know if you are not already, Kimberley and her Grandmother managed to safely complete the jump from the plane yesterday, they are both apparently still buzzing with adrenaline and happy they were mad enough to do it. What next I ask!!!!!!!
Love to all, hope you are all well.
Susannah
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Still coughing
Hi Everyone,
just thought as I came into town for the doctors today that I would drop into the internet and send you a quick email (not something I am used to).
I haven't been to Scann all week and have been told by Edwina that the boys are missing me like crazy and keep asking for me, unfortunately it is a bad time as Yasmin who is in charge of the project has been having Chemo for newly diagnosed breast cancer, so me not being around either is making them worry more.
I am on medication for allergic bronchitis and pharyngitis (spelling kindly provided by my brother but forgotten by me!!) I keep having bad coughing fits that exhaust me and are brought on by talking, laughing, moving around and basically any form of exertion. SO staying at home seems like a good idea, am looking at joining them at Scann on Monday.
Edwina is busy putting together her show which should be fab and we hope to put it on when Yasmin is well enough to come to visit the project. I had a surprise visit (I think it was on Tuesday) from three of the acrobats who went to China then left Scann and have been performing in Tanzania. They are so good they are now getting people interested in booking them including Circ de Soleil (they were already working a contract in Tanzania but are looking to get back in touch when they are completed). The three boys came to visit and then said they were staying with me when I asked where they would be. They also had three friends with them, one boy who was joining their troupe. They were lovely and between Edwina and myself we managed to scrounge enough food to feed them all. It was a house full but we managed for the two days they were with us.
They performed various dance routines and acrobatic shows for us and Edwina showed them her performance with poi although there wasn't enough time to teach them. They made time to go to Scann and see their 'brothers' and perform for them too, they never forget where they came from and try to let the boys know that hard work does pay off in the end. I provided them with costumes that my good friend Doris had made for them and some DJ T-shirts for their hat juggling performances that they loved. I have been left as custodian for two huge suitcases full of their clothes that they want me to look after while they return to Tanzania to fulfill their contract. They all call me 'Mum' and it was an emotional parting when they left especially as they new I wasn't feeling too good, I managed to keep them awake all night coughing!!!!
Anyway, not a lot more to report.
Love to you all,
Susannah
just thought as I came into town for the doctors today that I would drop into the internet and send you a quick email (not something I am used to).
I haven't been to Scann all week and have been told by Edwina that the boys are missing me like crazy and keep asking for me, unfortunately it is a bad time as Yasmin who is in charge of the project has been having Chemo for newly diagnosed breast cancer, so me not being around either is making them worry more.
I am on medication for allergic bronchitis and pharyngitis (spelling kindly provided by my brother but forgotten by me!!) I keep having bad coughing fits that exhaust me and are brought on by talking, laughing, moving around and basically any form of exertion. SO staying at home seems like a good idea, am looking at joining them at Scann on Monday.
Edwina is busy putting together her show which should be fab and we hope to put it on when Yasmin is well enough to come to visit the project. I had a surprise visit (I think it was on Tuesday) from three of the acrobats who went to China then left Scann and have been performing in Tanzania. They are so good they are now getting people interested in booking them including Circ de Soleil (they were already working a contract in Tanzania but are looking to get back in touch when they are completed). The three boys came to visit and then said they were staying with me when I asked where they would be. They also had three friends with them, one boy who was joining their troupe. They were lovely and between Edwina and myself we managed to scrounge enough food to feed them all. It was a house full but we managed for the two days they were with us.
They performed various dance routines and acrobatic shows for us and Edwina showed them her performance with poi although there wasn't enough time to teach them. They made time to go to Scann and see their 'brothers' and perform for them too, they never forget where they came from and try to let the boys know that hard work does pay off in the end. I provided them with costumes that my good friend Doris had made for them and some DJ T-shirts for their hat juggling performances that they loved. I have been left as custodian for two huge suitcases full of their clothes that they want me to look after while they return to Tanzania to fulfill their contract. They all call me 'Mum' and it was an emotional parting when they left especially as they new I wasn't feeling too good, I managed to keep them awake all night coughing!!!!
Anyway, not a lot more to report.
Love to you all,
Susannah
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Sorry - War and Peace - Mombassa a freebie
Hi Everyone,
at last someone in Kenya has treated me!!!!! A surprise trip….. Mombassa , sun, sea and lots of sand! Tried to keep it short but you know me!
Faisal, an old acquaintance from 2006 suddenly appeared when we were out a couple of weeks ago. Since then he has been in touch quite a lot…. I think he has a thing for Edwina. He asked where we hadn’t been and what plans we had for the holiday weekend. Not difficult answers we hadn’t been to many places in Kenya and we had no plans for the weekend, we decided that Mombassa was top on the list of places that we would like to go to.
No sooner said than done, he arranged for a ‘business trip’ to coincide with the weekend. To our benefit he was driving down and took Catherine, Edwina and I with him. The preparation was mad, we bought Catherine a bikini from the matumba (second had stalls) got it washed and dried before we left, I had to locate my ‘holiday’ clothes including doing a bit of alteration to my bikinis which had grown baggy in the bottom as mine has reduced! The animals were provided food for and Henry was left in charge, I did have to get Joe my friendly electrician in to add a switch outside so Henry could turn on the security lights himself as all the switches are inside the house, this was completed as we loaded the car with our bags ready to leave.
Bags packed and loaded we left Nakuru at approx 7.30pm for a night drive down to the coast in the cool of the night and without a lot of traffic in order to make the most of the Friday and Saturday for the beach and the Faizals business transactions. En route he had arranged to collect a ‘new to him’ car in Nairobi this little rendezvous was interesting as we had to offload all our things out of one car into another in the dark in a petrol station…… looked dodgy if I have to say so myself.
We stopped a couple of times en route for required toilet stops, food and drink, a truck breakdown (his business), we arrived in Mombassa at 5.30am only a 10 hour drive and then started the hunt for somewhere to stay, this minor arrangement hadn’t been made as Faizal wasn’t sure where we wanted to be, we had no idea either, other than by the beach.
After many attempts of finding somewhere we could afford, ie v. cheap he called someone he knew who ran a chalet hotel resort and got us booked in and paid for. We checked out the room which had 4 beds and were told the 4th would be removed… we all sighed a sigh of relief….. were worried Faizal had planned on joining us but were wrong! We went straight to the supermarket and collected supplied of munchies, a 5 ltr bottle of water and fruit, we still had some scotch pancakes and chapattis that we had cooked for the trip.
Faizal left us at Alloha where we explored our surroundings…. At this point we found that we were right on the beach which was white sand as far as you could see. We went back to the room and put on out swimmers and headed to the beach for a well earned soak in the sea to relax our aching bodies from the drive.
Catherine is a non swimmer who has been no where near a pool or beach….. it took some convincing to get her to stand in the water let alone ‘play’ in it…. She was on a mission to learn to swim though……. We only had two days! After a couple of hours (it was now 11ish) we decided to go back to the room and nap as it was getting too hot and the beach boys had honed in on us as the beach was deserted.
We had a nap after fighting with the fans and the aircon, sleep was a struggle but what we got was definitely needed. We lounged around and read until the heat of the mid day had passed, we then went back to the beach, played and got Catherine practicing floating in the shallows (no mean feat). We were a constant attraction to the men selling rides on:- camels, sail boats, glass bottom boats, jet skis, sailboards and gigolo's, not to mention the ladies offering massage, fruit and henna tattoos.
Needless to say the tourism market has suffered badly and even Mombassa is suffering as an example we managed to get a ride for all three of us for an hour on a Dhow for 500ks total, we had been asked by most people for 1,500ks each as a starting price. The guys we went with were really nice and happy to take us when they found we were broke volunteers with lots of stories and no money, besides we told them that three ‘babes’ would help promote their boat. They were very decent and not in the slightest with other things on their agenda. It was a fabulous hour and we were sorry that it ended, even Catherine began to relax by the end of it and was smiling and happy. We had lots of long long long walks along the shallows, which were bath water temperature, the outside temp being 33degrees C by the cars readout. We were in heaven, this trip was a long dreamt of trip that I could never manage to afford to arrange.
Faizal picked us up in the evening we weren’t sure if we were eating or clubbing afterwards, we dressed up for the occasion and found that he took us to the ‘old town’ we wished he had told us as being so Muslim our dress code was definitely not suitable. We refused to get out of the car at the first place he pulled up at as it was full of women clad from head to toe in black burkas, there was NO WAY we would have got out of there alive, besides which we felt so disrespectful to their heavy requirement for good dress code, something that Faizal was oblivious to even though he is Muslim, his defence was that he was struck by the fact that we were so gorgeous he didn’t think.
He took us to another place that was a pavement food bar where he pre ordered the food and when it arrived it was a plate full of goat kabab, something that we all tried in vain to eat and none of us enjoyed other than FAIZAL……. When asked if they did salad or vegetables he said what chicken, none of us quite understood that, but, no they didn’t do either. We were still gawped at by all the other families who were sitting at the tables to the degree that we asked to leave as it was too uncomfortable to stay any longer. We then left and went on a FAIZAL challenge to find fresh coconuts to drink the milk, duly found we were given one each to down followed by a large slice of palm heart, neither of which sat well on top of the forced swallowing of the kebabs. We returned to our chalet with a reluctant FAIZAL who had been busy chewing Myrrah all evening, (a plant stem which is chewed by many men by the kilo bags in order to help them stay awake and functioning all night), he was ready to head to the nearest nightclub, we on the other hand were ready for a good sleep after a day at the beach, we won, he headed off to visit his relatives for a night of more Myrrah chewing.
Next morning (Saturday) we got up for an interesting breakfast…. Fawlty Towers re-run. We went for a long long walk again on the beach accompanied by many interested parties, how many camels can they get on a beach and how many times must you say you don’t want a trip to a lonely beach cove for ‘swimming for two’.
This was the day that we got our Dhow trip and walked along the beach for lunch at a fish b-b-q, Catherine and I had Coconut rice instead as the fish smelt so so so bad, but Edwina said it was fab! We also checked out a place called Pirates that we had been told did music and dancing in the evening. We wandered back to the room and slept ready for our evening of dancing to which we did invite Faizal along, he said he would join us later as he was busy.
We decided to dress down for this occasion after the reception we got the night before, we opened our treasured bottle of merlot that we had treated ourselves to in the supermarket, we preened ourselves, which in the heat was a total waste of time. I ended up with amazing ringlets due to the shower water being salt water but we were sweating buckets which had a detrimental effect on our appearances, makeup just slid. We decided it was dark and no one would notice, in traditional girls night out, don’t give a dam attitude.
The walk up the beach was interesting after dark there were NO beach boys for a start and all the hotels, bars and restaurants had their variety of lights illuminating the beach so we were never in total darkness, other than the spot that I found to answer a nature call. We arrived at Pirates some half an hour later wandered in and made ourselves at home in a prime seat by the door at the beach side of the building, we then joined the dancing throng, some short time later we realised that no one was over 21! We had come so early it was junior disco and no one had let us know, we joined in anyway.
We then ventured outside and danced in the sand and then the surf…… bad move dropped camera in the sea……oops! Kind of put a dampers on the evening cried loads at the foolishness of it all and the wine didn't help. Faizal came to pick us up at 11.30pm to go to another club but our spirits had plunged to an all time low because of the camera. We went home. Faizal went off to the club by himself and apparently spent a fab night chewing myrrah. Got up in the morning and with a clear head looked at the camera..... turned out to be Catherine's brothers camera, I was horrified and relieved all in one, pleased that I didn't lose mine but so so upset that I had dropped his camera and I also had to break the news to Catherine. I called her brother and told him later, better I did it than Catherine I think!
We checked out at 10am after breakfast and a walk on the beach, two hours later Faizal, after many phone calls, appeared to pick us up, he had been out until 7am and he was driving home or so we thought………. We went shopping en route for various items that he wanted for stocking his kitchen cupboards, things that I had no idea what they were called or how to cook them……… the places we went to to buy them were even more interesting and we were haggled by up to 6 people at a time for best buys and didn’t once leave the car to go in a shop! We on the other hand bought coconuts to give as gifts. We stocked up at supermarket for lunch things, and Faizal leapt out of the car to have a biryani en route that he had ordered, he left us in the car with the a/c going and engine running, which caused the alarm to go off and he was no where to be seen, we eventually managed to stop the alarm but had no engine or ac and were parked in full sunshine, Faizal appeared unperturbed a little while later and we set off home in daylight, so much for our early start, it was now 3pm.
We were rewarded by views of the landscape that we had missed when we came as it was night-time, unusual baobab trees that looked fabulous and brought back memories of a story I read as a child. The roadside villages and terrain with flat stretches of land with rolling hills surrounding it. We drove through the heat of the sun and then intermittent torrential rain which ran along the sides of the roads in deep fast running natural gullies of red soil, the vegetation looked so vivid green after the rains almost surreal in appearance against the Mombassa red soil and the blue skies.
The locals who were walking in the middle of no where were unperturbed by the heavy rains and just continued their journeys as if it were still sunshine, their destination the only thing on their minds. We arrived in Nairobi at about 9pm where Catherine met up with her brother, they went together to her mothers as she was unwell. We continued our journey also picking up Faizals brother to take him with us to Nakuru, we also managed to stop for Pizza (well needed) whilst waiting for him aprox 2 hours.
Edwina and I slept the last part of the journey got home about 12.30am, emptied the bags from the car, Faizal and his brother left, I said hi to the dogs and cat and dived into bed, with paka who was pleased to see me return even though I was exhausted.
The cough I have had for about 2 weeks is still with me and didn't get left in Mombassa as I had hoped, in actual fact it is worse than ever, I must be driving everyone crazy, I know it is me.
Mombassa mission had been accomplished and only spent 1,000ks (10 pounds roughly).
at last someone in Kenya has treated me!!!!! A surprise trip….. Mombassa , sun, sea and lots of sand! Tried to keep it short but you know me!
Faisal, an old acquaintance from 2006 suddenly appeared when we were out a couple of weeks ago. Since then he has been in touch quite a lot…. I think he has a thing for Edwina. He asked where we hadn’t been and what plans we had for the holiday weekend. Not difficult answers we hadn’t been to many places in Kenya and we had no plans for the weekend, we decided that Mombassa was top on the list of places that we would like to go to.
No sooner said than done, he arranged for a ‘business trip’ to coincide with the weekend. To our benefit he was driving down and took Catherine, Edwina and I with him. The preparation was mad, we bought Catherine a bikini from the matumba (second had stalls) got it washed and dried before we left, I had to locate my ‘holiday’ clothes including doing a bit of alteration to my bikinis which had grown baggy in the bottom as mine has reduced! The animals were provided food for and Henry was left in charge, I did have to get Joe my friendly electrician in to add a switch outside so Henry could turn on the security lights himself as all the switches are inside the house, this was completed as we loaded the car with our bags ready to leave.
Bags packed and loaded we left Nakuru at approx 7.30pm for a night drive down to the coast in the cool of the night and without a lot of traffic in order to make the most of the Friday and Saturday for the beach and the Faizals business transactions. En route he had arranged to collect a ‘new to him’ car in Nairobi this little rendezvous was interesting as we had to offload all our things out of one car into another in the dark in a petrol station…… looked dodgy if I have to say so myself.
We stopped a couple of times en route for required toilet stops, food and drink, a truck breakdown (his business), we arrived in Mombassa at 5.30am only a 10 hour drive and then started the hunt for somewhere to stay, this minor arrangement hadn’t been made as Faizal wasn’t sure where we wanted to be, we had no idea either, other than by the beach.
After many attempts of finding somewhere we could afford, ie v. cheap he called someone he knew who ran a chalet hotel resort and got us booked in and paid for. We checked out the room which had 4 beds and were told the 4th would be removed… we all sighed a sigh of relief….. were worried Faizal had planned on joining us but were wrong! We went straight to the supermarket and collected supplied of munchies, a 5 ltr bottle of water and fruit, we still had some scotch pancakes and chapattis that we had cooked for the trip.
Faizal left us at Alloha where we explored our surroundings…. At this point we found that we were right on the beach which was white sand as far as you could see. We went back to the room and put on out swimmers and headed to the beach for a well earned soak in the sea to relax our aching bodies from the drive.
Catherine is a non swimmer who has been no where near a pool or beach….. it took some convincing to get her to stand in the water let alone ‘play’ in it…. She was on a mission to learn to swim though……. We only had two days! After a couple of hours (it was now 11ish) we decided to go back to the room and nap as it was getting too hot and the beach boys had honed in on us as the beach was deserted.
We had a nap after fighting with the fans and the aircon, sleep was a struggle but what we got was definitely needed. We lounged around and read until the heat of the mid day had passed, we then went back to the beach, played and got Catherine practicing floating in the shallows (no mean feat). We were a constant attraction to the men selling rides on:- camels, sail boats, glass bottom boats, jet skis, sailboards and gigolo's, not to mention the ladies offering massage, fruit and henna tattoos.
Needless to say the tourism market has suffered badly and even Mombassa is suffering as an example we managed to get a ride for all three of us for an hour on a Dhow for 500ks total, we had been asked by most people for 1,500ks each as a starting price. The guys we went with were really nice and happy to take us when they found we were broke volunteers with lots of stories and no money, besides we told them that three ‘babes’ would help promote their boat. They were very decent and not in the slightest with other things on their agenda. It was a fabulous hour and we were sorry that it ended, even Catherine began to relax by the end of it and was smiling and happy. We had lots of long long long walks along the shallows, which were bath water temperature, the outside temp being 33degrees C by the cars readout. We were in heaven, this trip was a long dreamt of trip that I could never manage to afford to arrange.
Faizal picked us up in the evening we weren’t sure if we were eating or clubbing afterwards, we dressed up for the occasion and found that he took us to the ‘old town’ we wished he had told us as being so Muslim our dress code was definitely not suitable. We refused to get out of the car at the first place he pulled up at as it was full of women clad from head to toe in black burkas, there was NO WAY we would have got out of there alive, besides which we felt so disrespectful to their heavy requirement for good dress code, something that Faizal was oblivious to even though he is Muslim, his defence was that he was struck by the fact that we were so gorgeous he didn’t think.
He took us to another place that was a pavement food bar where he pre ordered the food and when it arrived it was a plate full of goat kabab, something that we all tried in vain to eat and none of us enjoyed other than FAIZAL……. When asked if they did salad or vegetables he said what chicken, none of us quite understood that, but, no they didn’t do either. We were still gawped at by all the other families who were sitting at the tables to the degree that we asked to leave as it was too uncomfortable to stay any longer. We then left and went on a FAIZAL challenge to find fresh coconuts to drink the milk, duly found we were given one each to down followed by a large slice of palm heart, neither of which sat well on top of the forced swallowing of the kebabs. We returned to our chalet with a reluctant FAIZAL who had been busy chewing Myrrah all evening, (a plant stem which is chewed by many men by the kilo bags in order to help them stay awake and functioning all night), he was ready to head to the nearest nightclub, we on the other hand were ready for a good sleep after a day at the beach, we won, he headed off to visit his relatives for a night of more Myrrah chewing.
Next morning (Saturday) we got up for an interesting breakfast…. Fawlty Towers re-run. We went for a long long walk again on the beach accompanied by many interested parties, how many camels can they get on a beach and how many times must you say you don’t want a trip to a lonely beach cove for ‘swimming for two’.
This was the day that we got our Dhow trip and walked along the beach for lunch at a fish b-b-q, Catherine and I had Coconut rice instead as the fish smelt so so so bad, but Edwina said it was fab! We also checked out a place called Pirates that we had been told did music and dancing in the evening. We wandered back to the room and slept ready for our evening of dancing to which we did invite Faizal along, he said he would join us later as he was busy.
We decided to dress down for this occasion after the reception we got the night before, we opened our treasured bottle of merlot that we had treated ourselves to in the supermarket, we preened ourselves, which in the heat was a total waste of time. I ended up with amazing ringlets due to the shower water being salt water but we were sweating buckets which had a detrimental effect on our appearances, makeup just slid. We decided it was dark and no one would notice, in traditional girls night out, don’t give a dam attitude.
The walk up the beach was interesting after dark there were NO beach boys for a start and all the hotels, bars and restaurants had their variety of lights illuminating the beach so we were never in total darkness, other than the spot that I found to answer a nature call. We arrived at Pirates some half an hour later wandered in and made ourselves at home in a prime seat by the door at the beach side of the building, we then joined the dancing throng, some short time later we realised that no one was over 21! We had come so early it was junior disco and no one had let us know, we joined in anyway.
We then ventured outside and danced in the sand and then the surf…… bad move dropped camera in the sea……oops! Kind of put a dampers on the evening cried loads at the foolishness of it all and the wine didn't help. Faizal came to pick us up at 11.30pm to go to another club but our spirits had plunged to an all time low because of the camera. We went home. Faizal went off to the club by himself and apparently spent a fab night chewing myrrah. Got up in the morning and with a clear head looked at the camera..... turned out to be Catherine's brothers camera, I was horrified and relieved all in one, pleased that I didn't lose mine but so so upset that I had dropped his camera and I also had to break the news to Catherine. I called her brother and told him later, better I did it than Catherine I think!
We checked out at 10am after breakfast and a walk on the beach, two hours later Faizal, after many phone calls, appeared to pick us up, he had been out until 7am and he was driving home or so we thought………. We went shopping en route for various items that he wanted for stocking his kitchen cupboards, things that I had no idea what they were called or how to cook them……… the places we went to to buy them were even more interesting and we were haggled by up to 6 people at a time for best buys and didn’t once leave the car to go in a shop! We on the other hand bought coconuts to give as gifts. We stocked up at supermarket for lunch things, and Faizal leapt out of the car to have a biryani en route that he had ordered, he left us in the car with the a/c going and engine running, which caused the alarm to go off and he was no where to be seen, we eventually managed to stop the alarm but had no engine or ac and were parked in full sunshine, Faizal appeared unperturbed a little while later and we set off home in daylight, so much for our early start, it was now 3pm.
We were rewarded by views of the landscape that we had missed when we came as it was night-time, unusual baobab trees that looked fabulous and brought back memories of a story I read as a child. The roadside villages and terrain with flat stretches of land with rolling hills surrounding it. We drove through the heat of the sun and then intermittent torrential rain which ran along the sides of the roads in deep fast running natural gullies of red soil, the vegetation looked so vivid green after the rains almost surreal in appearance against the Mombassa red soil and the blue skies.
The locals who were walking in the middle of no where were unperturbed by the heavy rains and just continued their journeys as if it were still sunshine, their destination the only thing on their minds. We arrived in Nairobi at about 9pm where Catherine met up with her brother, they went together to her mothers as she was unwell. We continued our journey also picking up Faizals brother to take him with us to Nakuru, we also managed to stop for Pizza (well needed) whilst waiting for him aprox 2 hours.
Edwina and I slept the last part of the journey got home about 12.30am, emptied the bags from the car, Faizal and his brother left, I said hi to the dogs and cat and dived into bed, with paka who was pleased to see me return even though I was exhausted.
The cough I have had for about 2 weeks is still with me and didn't get left in Mombassa as I had hoped, in actual fact it is worse than ever, I must be driving everyone crazy, I know it is me.
Mombassa mission had been accomplished and only spent 1,000ks (10 pounds roughly).
Monday, 27 April 2009
Naked Chef - maybe worth thinking about
It’s a damp, misty and cold morning here in Nakuru.
Well the stories from this week….
I think I reported that Fatso had made the great escape and was no where to be found, I printed posters and enquired via the neighbours but to no avail. Kim spent the week being pampered, spending time indoors in the evening until she was up for guard duty. On Sunday Henry went off to church on his bike and wasn’t due back until about 7pm, he appeared at 2pm with a lot of noise, he had found Kim in Free Area with a man who claimed to be her owner. Apparently a fight ensued and Henry won, Fatso didn’t look too happy after her adventure and Kim didn’t seem to be too happy that Fatso was back, her days of being spoilt were soon to come to an end, one dog in the house is OK two crazy ones impossible.
After our successful attempt at cooking bread in our Bush Oven we decided we wanted to go whole hog and cook a roast dinner. We invited Joe a friend who had done some electrical work for me on the house and were looking forward to a great feast. Not quite that easy…… I had the job of lighting the fire under the oven and taking charge outside……. regulating heat etc… Edwina was in the kitchen preparing the dinner for cooking. We had roast chicken, Mediterranean vegetables and had planned on roast potatoes (the ended up as creamed pots as they over boiled!).
So far so good, except I was a bit concerned with the colour of the sky, a decided grey/black colour was developing……. I hurriedly grabbed a long length of black plastic (Henry had used to cover the seed bed to hasten germination of the seeds), this together with the tall ladder and some clothes pegs. Now my plan was to use the washing line and the ladder to suspend the black plastic over the oven in order to ward off the rain. I was very pleased with the result as no sooner had I secured the cover that the heavens opened, I still managed to man the fire and cook the dinner until the plastic decided it had taken on too much water and sagged badly, this resulted in the ladder toppling towards the oven… I grabbed a long length of wood and quickly thrust upwards dislodging the large amount of water, unfortunately it headed my way and I was soaked from head to toe, the fire on the other had was still roaring away.
The area where I was standing and the oven was positioned was a lake and in order for me to go inside I had to wade ankle deep in water to the house. I had to peel off my soaking clothes and change before I could eat my dinner as I was so, so cold and very, very wet, maybe next time I just forget the clothes and become Kenya's first NAKED CHEF!
Dinner was a great success although minus roast pots and Joe who unfortunately, or fortunately couldn’t make it as he came down with malaria and was confined to bed (he went to great lengths to avoid our cooking!) its Ok though Henry had his share.
Earlier on Friday, Faisal, a friend of mine told me he was going to Nairobi and returning the same day, I asked him to pick up some rhubarb en route at the roadside fruit stalls, (for some reason it is unavailable in Nakuru but abundant in Nairobi). My first difficulty was explaining what rhubarb was to someone who had never seen it, that accomplished he promised to get me some. 11pm Friday night I got a phone call to go to my gate, he appeared from the boot of his car with 4 big bunches of rhubarb, my description worked!
On Saturday I prepared and stewed the rhubarb ready for freezing and the long awaited CRUMBLE! Edwina and I went to Scann prepared to cut hair and Edwina to work on dance routine. Our plans were scuppered as we arrived the boys were called into a prayer assembly for Yasmin Gilani (one of the Trustees who was due to go into hospital for an operation that day). We went in with them and the boys planned and took the assembly themselves, it was lovely, such a lot of singing. I watched the boy’s faces and wandered how come in England there isn’t the heart and soul belief that I was seeing here, they put so much into the prayers and singing that I ended up excusing myself as I was overcome with emotion. The day was not to be a constructive one for Edwina and myself, the boys were concerned for Yasmin and the day was put aside for thoughts of her.
Edwina and I left (I was still feeling drained from being so emotional) we got Nick to pick us up as I needed to stop off for shopping at Highway supermarket. We got home and had soup for dinner made with veg and the carcass of the chicken, it was comfort food, I was actually not feeling too good and decided that hadn’t helped the emotions. I headed to bed early as it was cold and damp.
Sunday, um didn’t see much of Sunday, I got up to the alarm to switch off the security lights at 5.30am as usual. Then at 7am got up to feed chickens and Kim, then went back to bed, slept on and off then on for the majority of the day as I just couldn’t stay awake. Edwina cooked chocolate brownies and crumble, I got up to make the fire for the oven and then went back to bed. At 2pm when Henry appeared with Fatso I forced myself out of bed, had some crumble and sat and watched two James Bond movies with Edwina.
The heavens opened last evening and I really didn’t think they would close again, you could almost feel the drops hitting the ground. It was a good day to spend in bed, a duvet day, (although don’t have a duvet) I don’t regret wasting it as I was still not feeling 100% I know that if I had tried to do anything I would have failed miserable and frustrated.
Today is another day, as I have said at the start it is very misty and damp, bright but not sunny, the sky is that white after rain colour. I looked out the window this morning and thought, this could be any day back in the UK, its UK weather. I am now off to get dressed as at the moment sitting on my bed typing this, Edwina has gone in early to meet up with a friend, I am heading to town to meet up with her and go to the post office and internet before I head to SCANN.
Wishing you all a good start to your week, mine can only get better.
I am attaching the recipe for the bread we made and hopefully some photos too.
Love to you all,
Susannah
BREAD RECIPE!!
Ingredients
Part 1
½ cup of margarine
1 tsp salt
1 small potato
¾ cup of potato water (with the small potato mashed in it)
1/3 cup of sugar
2 eggs
Part 2
½ cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
2 heaped tsp yeast
Part 3
4&½ cups of strong white flour
Method
Part 1
Boil a small potato. Mash it together with the water it was boiled in (¾ cup). Warm this water and pour of margarine, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 well beaten eggs.
Part 2
Mix lukewarm water, sugar and yeast, leave to soak for 10 minutes
Part 3
Mix parts 1 and 2. Add flour and knead well for about 5 minutes (at least 200 times!)
Leave to rise for about an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size.
Knead again and place into bread tins or make into rolls.
Pre heat oven to 180 C
When dough has risen put in the oven. Buns take about 10 minutes, loaves about 25.
When cooked brush with melted butter and put back in for a couple of minutes.
You can substitute milk for potato water. Eggs can be left out if making loaves.
Well the stories from this week….
I think I reported that Fatso had made the great escape and was no where to be found, I printed posters and enquired via the neighbours but to no avail. Kim spent the week being pampered, spending time indoors in the evening until she was up for guard duty. On Sunday Henry went off to church on his bike and wasn’t due back until about 7pm, he appeared at 2pm with a lot of noise, he had found Kim in Free Area with a man who claimed to be her owner. Apparently a fight ensued and Henry won, Fatso didn’t look too happy after her adventure and Kim didn’t seem to be too happy that Fatso was back, her days of being spoilt were soon to come to an end, one dog in the house is OK two crazy ones impossible.
After our successful attempt at cooking bread in our Bush Oven we decided we wanted to go whole hog and cook a roast dinner. We invited Joe a friend who had done some electrical work for me on the house and were looking forward to a great feast. Not quite that easy…… I had the job of lighting the fire under the oven and taking charge outside……. regulating heat etc… Edwina was in the kitchen preparing the dinner for cooking. We had roast chicken, Mediterranean vegetables and had planned on roast potatoes (the ended up as creamed pots as they over boiled!).
So far so good, except I was a bit concerned with the colour of the sky, a decided grey/black colour was developing……. I hurriedly grabbed a long length of black plastic (Henry had used to cover the seed bed to hasten germination of the seeds), this together with the tall ladder and some clothes pegs. Now my plan was to use the washing line and the ladder to suspend the black plastic over the oven in order to ward off the rain. I was very pleased with the result as no sooner had I secured the cover that the heavens opened, I still managed to man the fire and cook the dinner until the plastic decided it had taken on too much water and sagged badly, this resulted in the ladder toppling towards the oven… I grabbed a long length of wood and quickly thrust upwards dislodging the large amount of water, unfortunately it headed my way and I was soaked from head to toe, the fire on the other had was still roaring away.
The area where I was standing and the oven was positioned was a lake and in order for me to go inside I had to wade ankle deep in water to the house. I had to peel off my soaking clothes and change before I could eat my dinner as I was so, so cold and very, very wet, maybe next time I just forget the clothes and become Kenya's first NAKED CHEF!
Dinner was a great success although minus roast pots and Joe who unfortunately, or fortunately couldn’t make it as he came down with malaria and was confined to bed (he went to great lengths to avoid our cooking!) its Ok though Henry had his share.
Earlier on Friday, Faisal, a friend of mine told me he was going to Nairobi and returning the same day, I asked him to pick up some rhubarb en route at the roadside fruit stalls, (for some reason it is unavailable in Nakuru but abundant in Nairobi). My first difficulty was explaining what rhubarb was to someone who had never seen it, that accomplished he promised to get me some. 11pm Friday night I got a phone call to go to my gate, he appeared from the boot of his car with 4 big bunches of rhubarb, my description worked!
On Saturday I prepared and stewed the rhubarb ready for freezing and the long awaited CRUMBLE! Edwina and I went to Scann prepared to cut hair and Edwina to work on dance routine. Our plans were scuppered as we arrived the boys were called into a prayer assembly for Yasmin Gilani (one of the Trustees who was due to go into hospital for an operation that day). We went in with them and the boys planned and took the assembly themselves, it was lovely, such a lot of singing. I watched the boy’s faces and wandered how come in England there isn’t the heart and soul belief that I was seeing here, they put so much into the prayers and singing that I ended up excusing myself as I was overcome with emotion. The day was not to be a constructive one for Edwina and myself, the boys were concerned for Yasmin and the day was put aside for thoughts of her.
Edwina and I left (I was still feeling drained from being so emotional) we got Nick to pick us up as I needed to stop off for shopping at Highway supermarket. We got home and had soup for dinner made with veg and the carcass of the chicken, it was comfort food, I was actually not feeling too good and decided that hadn’t helped the emotions. I headed to bed early as it was cold and damp.
Sunday, um didn’t see much of Sunday, I got up to the alarm to switch off the security lights at 5.30am as usual. Then at 7am got up to feed chickens and Kim, then went back to bed, slept on and off then on for the majority of the day as I just couldn’t stay awake. Edwina cooked chocolate brownies and crumble, I got up to make the fire for the oven and then went back to bed. At 2pm when Henry appeared with Fatso I forced myself out of bed, had some crumble and sat and watched two James Bond movies with Edwina.
The heavens opened last evening and I really didn’t think they would close again, you could almost feel the drops hitting the ground. It was a good day to spend in bed, a duvet day, (although don’t have a duvet) I don’t regret wasting it as I was still not feeling 100% I know that if I had tried to do anything I would have failed miserable and frustrated.
Today is another day, as I have said at the start it is very misty and damp, bright but not sunny, the sky is that white after rain colour. I looked out the window this morning and thought, this could be any day back in the UK, its UK weather. I am now off to get dressed as at the moment sitting on my bed typing this, Edwina has gone in early to meet up with a friend, I am heading to town to meet up with her and go to the post office and internet before I head to SCANN.
Wishing you all a good start to your week, mine can only get better.
I am attaching the recipe for the bread we made and hopefully some photos too.
Love to you all,
Susannah
BREAD RECIPE!!
Ingredients
Part 1
½ cup of margarine
1 tsp salt
1 small potato
¾ cup of potato water (with the small potato mashed in it)
1/3 cup of sugar
2 eggs
Part 2
½ cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
2 heaped tsp yeast
Part 3
4&½ cups of strong white flour
Method
Part 1
Boil a small potato. Mash it together with the water it was boiled in (¾ cup). Warm this water and pour of margarine, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 well beaten eggs.
Part 2
Mix lukewarm water, sugar and yeast, leave to soak for 10 minutes
Part 3
Mix parts 1 and 2. Add flour and knead well for about 5 minutes (at least 200 times!)
Leave to rise for about an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size.
Knead again and place into bread tins or make into rolls.
Pre heat oven to 180 C
When dough has risen put in the oven. Buns take about 10 minutes, loaves about 25.
When cooked brush with melted butter and put back in for a couple of minutes.
You can substitute milk for potato water. Eggs can be left out if making loaves.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Bush Oven Heaven
Well, what can I say
.... the bush oven whilst a rough home-made affair is a big big hit. We have had three batches of fabulous bread that is just Divine. We have even managed to cook pizza, although that was done through a rain storm so I got very wet bearing in mind the bush oven is outside!! We made sure that the pizza was dry when it came out as we covered it with an umbrella. Our next endeavour is to bake chocolate brownies, I don't think they will sit around too long.
The chicks are growing well and being a handful, they are eating me out of maize mash very quickly, so we are giving them scraps from the kitchen. Bad news, Fatso the dog went for an unscheduled walk yesterday and hasn't come home no idea where she is.
The boys with help from Edwina are working on a show to display their new found skills of poi and dancing, should be good but no time scale as to when it will be shown yet. I have been suffering for about a week now with a bad sore throat which won't leave me, but am putting it down to the cold weather at night, the days are still hot and then the downpours arrive in the afternoons and night time. I hope you are all well and managing during the hard economic times at home.
Love to you all,
Susannah
.... the bush oven whilst a rough home-made affair is a big big hit. We have had three batches of fabulous bread that is just Divine. We have even managed to cook pizza, although that was done through a rain storm so I got very wet bearing in mind the bush oven is outside!! We made sure that the pizza was dry when it came out as we covered it with an umbrella. Our next endeavour is to bake chocolate brownies, I don't think they will sit around too long.
The chicks are growing well and being a handful, they are eating me out of maize mash very quickly, so we are giving them scraps from the kitchen. Bad news, Fatso the dog went for an unscheduled walk yesterday and hasn't come home no idea where she is.
The boys with help from Edwina are working on a show to display their new found skills of poi and dancing, should be good but no time scale as to when it will be shown yet. I have been suffering for about a week now with a bad sore throat which won't leave me, but am putting it down to the cold weather at night, the days are still hot and then the downpours arrive in the afternoons and night time. I hope you are all well and managing during the hard economic times at home.
Love to you all,
Susannah
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