I'm not sure when I'll next have blogging access so here's the last blog for a while maybe (although this IS England so there should be connections somewhere...)
I'm off down to London in a few moments, to drop HR's car ready for the group's arrival on Friday morning. Then am going to stay with my friend A who has cunningly managed to get us on the guest list for the 'secret' extra Snow Patrol concert at the O2 arena (formerly the Millenium Dome). Only heard Snow Patrol album for first time yesterday but they are not bad at all so I'm sure it will be a great evening...
Please pray for my sister Liz as she's in hospital today for surgery on something that appeared a few weeks ago and hasn't disappeared despite mega antibiotics. Am not going into much detail but she's a bit worried I think. Pray for peace and that the surgery would deal with it all. And that I manage to get up there tomorrow to see her in Ipswich, if nothing else to watch a few DVDs and eat ice-cream (medicinal of course!)
Then, on friday morning early, everyone else arrives from SA! And then it's all go... I'll get some photos, apologies for the lack of photos recently. When I'm back here in a few weeks I'll try and get some loaded on! keep you eyes on the newspapers for news of the YZW's arrival and launch party, or maybe just in 'Hello!' magazine! It's all going to be hectic and crazy and very rock and roll...
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Green and Pleasant Land - Parte the Second
Catching up with friends on Sunday night was great, but it didn't feel like I've been away 10 months, seemed like only last week...
Wandering round Leamington during the afternoon was interesting too. There was a kind of nostalgia accompanied by a definite sense that 'I don't live here anymore', in a neutral kind of way, it wasn't upsetting or exciting, just matter of fact. but that's ok, cos I now live somewhere else...
Starbucks now has a card so you can pay with that. The girl there excitedly told me that it's international, not much use in a country where Starbucks doesn't exist though... perhaps I can use it in Dubai on my return to SA later in the summer?
My niece now remembers who I am (she's nearly 2 so quite small still). She was a little wary at first, but when I let her jump on my bed and fling my teddy bear around she warmed up immediately. It's important to be just plain silly with small people. Some more quality time should follow today...
Monday was overshadowed by my long-overdue dental treatment, which isn't normally a problem. But this time the dentist must have put the needle into a nerve or something, leaving me with pain from my head right down to my shoulder when the anaesthetic wore off... I was not a happy bunny with my head throbbing and my credit card still shaking from the cost of it too. So much money, so much pain... (and the realisation that I should have just gone in hillcrest, after all, months ago).
However, you'll all be pleased to know that I feel much better today, after 12hours sleep and many painkillers. Today I'm back off to Leam to see some more family and get ready for the start of the London trek tomorrow, although I have a couple of days there to prepare for the YZW's arrival on Friday morning.
If you still haven't got tickets to see the Young Zulu Warriors in Concert:
www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk
and click on Latest News
Miss it and you WILL kick yourself....
Right, I'm off to investigate the depths of my wardrobe to see what clothes I left behind here last year, it's quite exciting as I rediscover things I'd forgotten I owned... ;-)
Wandering round Leamington during the afternoon was interesting too. There was a kind of nostalgia accompanied by a definite sense that 'I don't live here anymore', in a neutral kind of way, it wasn't upsetting or exciting, just matter of fact. but that's ok, cos I now live somewhere else...
Starbucks now has a card so you can pay with that. The girl there excitedly told me that it's international, not much use in a country where Starbucks doesn't exist though... perhaps I can use it in Dubai on my return to SA later in the summer?
My niece now remembers who I am (she's nearly 2 so quite small still). She was a little wary at first, but when I let her jump on my bed and fling my teddy bear around she warmed up immediately. It's important to be just plain silly with small people. Some more quality time should follow today...
Monday was overshadowed by my long-overdue dental treatment, which isn't normally a problem. But this time the dentist must have put the needle into a nerve or something, leaving me with pain from my head right down to my shoulder when the anaesthetic wore off... I was not a happy bunny with my head throbbing and my credit card still shaking from the cost of it too. So much money, so much pain... (and the realisation that I should have just gone in hillcrest, after all, months ago).
However, you'll all be pleased to know that I feel much better today, after 12hours sleep and many painkillers. Today I'm back off to Leam to see some more family and get ready for the start of the London trek tomorrow, although I have a couple of days there to prepare for the YZW's arrival on Friday morning.
If you still haven't got tickets to see the Young Zulu Warriors in Concert:
www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk
and click on Latest News
Miss it and you WILL kick yourself....
Right, I'm off to investigate the depths of my wardrobe to see what clothes I left behind here last year, it's quite exciting as I rediscover things I'd forgotten I owned... ;-)
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Green and Pleasant Land - Parte the First
I'm back in the UK!!!!
and I am so tired that it's going to take all my concentration not to make a spelling mistake in this post...
As I type, the wonderful aromas of a roasting chicken, gammon AND pork are wafting up the stairs from Mum's kitchen, preparations for a family lunch tomorrow.
My parents made the briefest trip ever to Gatwick this morning, spending just 25 minutes in the place. By 10am we were at home having coffee, wondering why it felt like 6pm already.
After a long flight, during which I slept about 4 hours, and missed seeing the approach to London because I was snoozing, I was quite emotional to arrive back in the UK. Probably exhaustion-fueled emotions. As I closed my eyes with half an hour to go, I didn't think I'd actually sleep again, and I was rudely awoken by an extremely loud thud and the plane jolted. I started to panic, thinking we'd crashed, then I realised we'd just touched down and all was ok... But it was a bit of a shock to the system.
First impressions of being back after 10 months away:
and I am so tired that it's going to take all my concentration not to make a spelling mistake in this post...
As I type, the wonderful aromas of a roasting chicken, gammon AND pork are wafting up the stairs from Mum's kitchen, preparations for a family lunch tomorrow.
My parents made the briefest trip ever to Gatwick this morning, spending just 25 minutes in the place. By 10am we were at home having coffee, wondering why it felt like 6pm already.
After a long flight, during which I slept about 4 hours, and missed seeing the approach to London because I was snoozing, I was quite emotional to arrive back in the UK. Probably exhaustion-fueled emotions. As I closed my eyes with half an hour to go, I didn't think I'd actually sleep again, and I was rudely awoken by an extremely loud thud and the plane jolted. I started to panic, thinking we'd crashed, then I realised we'd just touched down and all was ok... But it was a bit of a shock to the system.
First impressions of being back after 10 months away:
- England does GREY in a way like no other.
- I'm in love with BROADBAND, and my parents' amazing new computer. It's SO fast!!!
- With the exception of the relocation of 'superdrug' and the disappearance of the TellyTubbies shop (woe!), Stratford-upon-Avon remains almost exactly the same as before.
- Home is always 'sweet home' no matter how long you've been away, or how few hours of sleep you've had....
Tomorrow is a day for seeing lots of people, today is a day for recovering from my long journey (and for delicious roast dinner!) nice.
oh and I'm on the same UK cell number as before, if you still have it in your phones, so please give me a call to catch up, especially if I'm not going to see you (but not until at least tomorrow)
on spelling...
apparently I can't spell 'weird'...
tsk tsk, to think that I was once in charge of a school....
tsk tsk, to think that I was once in charge of a school....
Friday, 22 June 2007
vinegar pudding...the truth
no, it really is South African... this is what I found:
Vinegar pudding (or "asynpoeding", as it is known locally)
I found this recipe in an old edition of Woman's Value and although it’s not quite the same as Mama used to make, it is pretty good.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 45 minutes
Oven temperature: 160°C
Serves: 6
Batter
250ml milk
15ml butter
15ml smooth apricot jam
15ml vinegar
1 large egg
155g (185ml) sugar
150g (250ml) cake flour, sifted
5ml bicarbonate of soda
Syrup
250ml cream or evaporated milk
125ml milk
100g butter
100g sugar
Preparation
Batter:Place the milk, butter and jam in a saucepan. Heat to melt the butter and jam. Add the vinegar and set aside.Whisk the egg and sugar in a bowl over hot water until light and fluffy. Stir the milk mixture in then fold in the sifted flour. Quickly fold in the baking powder. Pour the mixture into a greased, square or rectangular 1,5-litre ovenproof dish and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until the mixture shrinks away from the edges of the dish.
Sauce: Combine all the ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and prick the surface of the pudding with a fork. Pour the hot sauce over the pudding and leave to absorb. Serve hot
So now you know... ;-)
Vinegar pudding (or "asynpoeding", as it is known locally)
I found this recipe in an old edition of Woman's Value and although it’s not quite the same as Mama used to make, it is pretty good.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 45 minutes
Oven temperature: 160°C
Serves: 6
Batter
250ml milk
15ml butter
15ml smooth apricot jam
15ml vinegar
1 large egg
155g (185ml) sugar
150g (250ml) cake flour, sifted
5ml bicarbonate of soda
Syrup
250ml cream or evaporated milk
125ml milk
100g butter
100g sugar
Preparation
Batter:Place the milk, butter and jam in a saucepan. Heat to melt the butter and jam. Add the vinegar and set aside.Whisk the egg and sugar in a bowl over hot water until light and fluffy. Stir the milk mixture in then fold in the sifted flour. Quickly fold in the baking powder. Pour the mixture into a greased, square or rectangular 1,5-litre ovenproof dish and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until the mixture shrinks away from the edges of the dish.
Sauce: Combine all the ingredients and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and prick the surface of the pudding with a fork. Pour the hot sauce over the pudding and leave to absorb. Serve hot
So now you know... ;-)
wierd but probably has meaning somewhere
Am now at the airport, waiting to check in. I'm a bit early, I might even get first in the queue...
Yesterday was a very interesting day, with some weirdness attached:
1. At lunchtime the dessert on offer was 'vinegar pudding'. It was a kind of warm sponge pudding with a sauce which must have contained vinegar as it did smell quite a bit. But it also had a sort of gingery taste to it. Kim and I were brave enough to try it, and it wasn't that bad actually. None of the South Africans would lay claim to it being a speciality of any particular province so I assume it must be an 'alien' pudding... Maybe I'll look it up on google later...
2. The afternoon session I attended was entitled 'Using art as a healing process with children'.
It was always going to be practical session and we weren't disappointed.
We did an exercise on listening to others and I ended up having to talk with a Zulu guy about life for 5 minutes whilst maintaining eye contact. Other Zulus in the rooms who were all doing this exercise complained that eye contact is a sign of disrespect, but they still did it. It felt somewhat like speed-dating, a concept as yet unknown in this Southern country. But it was amusing nonetheless...
The second half of the workshop was practical art, took me right back to my school days and how much fun art was. The facilitator brought out lots of scrap materials: fabrics, buttons, wool, newspaper, glue, scissors etc and set us free in creating dolls to describe whatever we wanted to tell in a story.
Right from the word go I had no desire to make a doll, the only thing I wanted to create was a mouse. So I was relieved when she said we could also make animals.... And it's a great mouse too... (currently in my hand luggage, hoping it will make it through security here at JHB!). Very creative. In the feedback time afterwards, people presented the beginnings of elaborate stories as to what their creations represent, it was fascinating... why don't we do these things more often?
And my mouse? Well, maybe I'm feeling small. Maybe it's like the lion and the mouse aesop's fable about the small mouse freeing the lion from a snare. Maybe I'm just fed up of only seeing decapitated rodents on my doorstep as presents from my ever-thoughtful cats.... maybe it's the rats in Bidford that I'm returning to (real ones in the garden, not family members!??!)... A psychoanalyst could go on forever with these stories...
3. (This wasn't that weird but kind of cool) Had dinner with R, a friend here in JHB. We found a Christian restaurant in Lakeside, Benoni. There was extremely nice decor, except for the slightly weird paintings of Jesus with his heart out and the similar one of Mary... They projected Hillsongs live worship videos onto one of the walls, but with the music set at an appropriate level... And in the sofa corner there was Christian TV. But it was all very subtle and not in your face Christian... Everyone was very friendly and the food was good. It was very cool actually... Don't know which church set it up, there was nothing in the menu, except 'Entertainment Fellowship'...
So now my laptop battery is fading and I must get ready to check in... In a few hours I'll be back in the UK. Weird to think that I haven't left South Africa since last September, don't think I remember ever staying that long in one country (except England)!
Yesterday was a very interesting day, with some weirdness attached:
1. At lunchtime the dessert on offer was 'vinegar pudding'. It was a kind of warm sponge pudding with a sauce which must have contained vinegar as it did smell quite a bit. But it also had a sort of gingery taste to it. Kim and I were brave enough to try it, and it wasn't that bad actually. None of the South Africans would lay claim to it being a speciality of any particular province so I assume it must be an 'alien' pudding... Maybe I'll look it up on google later...
2. The afternoon session I attended was entitled 'Using art as a healing process with children'.
It was always going to be practical session and we weren't disappointed.
We did an exercise on listening to others and I ended up having to talk with a Zulu guy about life for 5 minutes whilst maintaining eye contact. Other Zulus in the rooms who were all doing this exercise complained that eye contact is a sign of disrespect, but they still did it. It felt somewhat like speed-dating, a concept as yet unknown in this Southern country. But it was amusing nonetheless...
The second half of the workshop was practical art, took me right back to my school days and how much fun art was. The facilitator brought out lots of scrap materials: fabrics, buttons, wool, newspaper, glue, scissors etc and set us free in creating dolls to describe whatever we wanted to tell in a story.
Right from the word go I had no desire to make a doll, the only thing I wanted to create was a mouse. So I was relieved when she said we could also make animals.... And it's a great mouse too... (currently in my hand luggage, hoping it will make it through security here at JHB!). Very creative. In the feedback time afterwards, people presented the beginnings of elaborate stories as to what their creations represent, it was fascinating... why don't we do these things more often?
And my mouse? Well, maybe I'm feeling small. Maybe it's like the lion and the mouse aesop's fable about the small mouse freeing the lion from a snare. Maybe I'm just fed up of only seeing decapitated rodents on my doorstep as presents from my ever-thoughtful cats.... maybe it's the rats in Bidford that I'm returning to (real ones in the garden, not family members!??!)... A psychoanalyst could go on forever with these stories...
3. (This wasn't that weird but kind of cool) Had dinner with R, a friend here in JHB. We found a Christian restaurant in Lakeside, Benoni. There was extremely nice decor, except for the slightly weird paintings of Jesus with his heart out and the similar one of Mary... They projected Hillsongs live worship videos onto one of the walls, but with the music set at an appropriate level... And in the sofa corner there was Christian TV. But it was all very subtle and not in your face Christian... Everyone was very friendly and the food was good. It was very cool actually... Don't know which church set it up, there was nothing in the menu, except 'Entertainment Fellowship'...
So now my laptop battery is fading and I must get ready to check in... In a few hours I'll be back in the UK. Weird to think that I haven't left South Africa since last September, don't think I remember ever staying that long in one country (except England)!
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
and we're off...
I'm writing this from my hotel room in Benoni, Joburg... am up for CASNET for the next 2 days, networking with the most amazing people from all over South Africa who are working with children and education and NGOs etc. I always meet the most interesting people here, usually with interesting African names too, that make it hard for me to remember from one meeting to the next.
In any case, we'll be discussing 'psychosocial support' over the next few days.
Then, on Friday night, I'll be heading up to the Northern Hemisphere ;-)
Am rejoicing that have finally managed to pack within the weight limit and feel virtuous. The cabin crew moved my rucksack from the overhead locker on the flight here this afternoon which nearly sent me into a panic as I'd slept most of the flight and to wake up and find your laptop not where you'd put it is quite scary... I nearly shouted 'hey someone's taken my bag!', but then remembered where I was and asked the extremely attractive pilot, who happened to be sitting nearby, to assist me. Nationwide airlines, eh. They are so nice.
In any case, we'll be discussing 'psychosocial support' over the next few days.
Then, on Friday night, I'll be heading up to the Northern Hemisphere ;-)
Am rejoicing that have finally managed to pack within the weight limit and feel virtuous. The cabin crew moved my rucksack from the overhead locker on the flight here this afternoon which nearly sent me into a panic as I'd slept most of the flight and to wake up and find your laptop not where you'd put it is quite scary... I nearly shouted 'hey someone's taken my bag!', but then remembered where I was and asked the extremely attractive pilot, who happened to be sitting nearby, to assist me. Nationwide airlines, eh. They are so nice.
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