Rean's birthday and other thoughts

Rean's Birthday

Yesteday was Rean's birthday. It was hard for him not to be able to take the day off. Infact, his special day actually started with an unpleasant bang, in the form of a fender bender on the way to work. It is really quite hazardous to stop at a traffic light before it has turned dark red. I don't know what value they attach to an amber light, but stopping is definitely an unexpected thing to do! So the poor man had to spend hours in the sun waiting to be rescued. My big concern (of course after hearing that he was fine and hadn't been hurt) was the 5 carrot cakes that were in the back of the car at the time of the accident. I had spent the previous week baking these cakes so that every one of Rean's colleagues could get a piece.

I have never tried my hand at serious baking, but I must say that these cakes (the first carrot cakes that I have ever baked) turned out deliciously! The guys at the office seemed to be suitably impressed, although it sounds as though they don't associate carrots with cakes, and might have been a bit sceptical at first (I'll include the recipe at the bottom of the post). The ladies of the compound (now there is a topic for discussion!) advised me that the thing to get Rean for his birthday was a massage from Marilyn. That sounds a lot more fun than I meant it to! Marilyn is one of the hairdressers on the compound and she also does nails, facials and massages. I popped into her shop to ask for a gift voucher, and the small chinese lady looked up all our birthdays in a pocket book and determined our Chinese horoscope. I am a dragon and since this is the year of the dragon she said it will be a lucky year for me.So there you go! Mieke is a rabbit baby. At this Marilyn just smiled and nodded, 'strong' she said.

Little Rabbit

Our little rabbit now has four teeth, and the next two are just about peeking out. She manages little walks of about 6 steps on her own before she grabs for support, or gets picked up and directs the route she wants to be taken in. Yesterday the restaurant manager phoned me to say the ladies were all playing Bingo, I must come! So we went to check out Bingo and in the dining hall Mieke held onto my pants and walked very confidently, quite far, not realizing that she was really walking on her own as my pants didn't really support her at all.

She does very well with the interaction with other kids around. We go to the playground every day. At the moment it is freezing cold (about 5 degrees celsius in the mornings), so we often play by ourselves, but in the afternoons we regularly visit with other ladies and kids, and Mieke loves it!

Playing Dress Up with Rowana

 Rowana is a Philipine girl who comes to our house three times a week. She plays with Mieke and helps me with the ironing and cleaning.This lets me get on with work (Limosella is much busier than I expected!), studies and some personal computer time. It is a wonderful solution to just about all my stress. This brings me to another Thought:

My womanliness

A friend recently emailed and asked how I was coping in this inhospitable country and how I was managing to hang on to my 'womanliness'. That is really a bad translation of the Afrikaans 'vrouwees', but I want to talk about more than just femininity. Clarissa Pinkola Estes wrote a book called 'Women Who Run With Wolves'. It is a very complex book but one of the points I thought she was trying to bring across is that a woman's feminine power, or magic, or deep 'womanliness' doesn't have to do with her biological abilities. It is rather a nurturing essence which we can express in our careers, gardening, housekeeping, parenting, partnering etc.In this country I am not allowed to drive and I have to cover my clothes with an Abaya when I leave the compound and to some women this may be felt to be an infringement on their Women's Liberty. What I am experienceing is a feeling that space and time have brought me to a place where I can focus on a more primal womanliness. Now I have the time to watch my baby fall asleep every single day, I can grow a garden in pots and have time to water them every evening. I start cooking a nice supper early on in the day (sometimes it actually does turn out nice, and sometimes it is actually finished by dinnertime!). I have time to keep tabs on my business, and study. I have tea with a lady friend at least once a day, although every now and again I don't feel like going out and stay in my little house. Not being able to wear revealing clothes in public doesn't dent my womanliness right now! Not being able to get around on my own is not so convenient, but it's not the end of the world.

Marilyn might be right, I do think this is a lucky year for me!

Carrot Cake Recipe

This was the first recipe I found on the internet and I can really recommend it (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-cake-iii/)

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans (I used finely chopped almonds, walnuts and raw unsalted pistachios)
•  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8  ( 225g) ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. 
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.