ngirilover: January 2012

Here In Tanzania Arrival at 11 PM in Tanzania does not tell much of the story of the life and weather. We had been told it was hot, but were unprepared for the ravage of heat + no rain. The garden is pretty much gone

Dead Corn

Topiary Chair-- (Pauli assures me it will live again?????):

Better Days of Topiary Chair.

Green Mamba in the bathroom of our friend Annie M's in 2006. Rose told me that while we were gone a huge (and she emphasized the words Kubwa Sana (very big) green mamba went racing across the back from B4 to our Mango Tree that hangs sort of over the house. At that, I asked Pauli if the chickens were getting a good long walk every day...he opened the kuku house. Thank you Rose The big news of our chickens (I'm sure anyone actually reading this blog will be very interested in this) is that Edness my new black hen, thank you Chrissy, has been accepted by the group. She and Oswald 2nd are pals as much as a hen and rooster ever are, and the other hens are no longer stigmatizing her. Yea!

Nyoka killer

First my brown hen with the black mamba, then being chummy this afternoon with her hen pals

Edness being chummy with her friends So there we are. My back just about done in--

Christmas this year was marked by the death of a great lady. John's mom died after several years of declining health, years that were very hard for this once active, smart, determined and energetic lady. The whole family assembled in Washington and celebrated her life with a post Christmas funeral. All the grandchildren were present and had some part in the service. It seems wrong that the deceased person is not present for the kind words spoken, the beautiful music sung, and the memories bandied around. My mother-in-law would have had many comments about them all. So, though the recollection of Christmas 2011 will always be, "when Nancy/mom/Nana died" the other traditional things created their own memories.

Brother/Uncle/Grandpa Jim Watson's annual Christmas concert at the Cave was once again a highlight. Kids drove all night to get to the concert in time. This year, someone decided to tape it, and unbeknownst to Jim, to video tape it. Though the equipment was odd, and problems with the microphone continued as the breeze blew from the one little window to give any breath of fresh air and apparently distorted said mic, the concert was as good as it always is. Jim's voice doesn't seem to change much from year to year, and the amazing thing is that you look forward to your favorite songs, and have just a little anxiety as he works his way through his list and you haven't heard "your song" yet. The Cave is so packed that you can barely push your way to the bar. Somehow you do, but for better or worse for the Cave, alcohol isn't a requirement of this evening, and even young kids have been permitted to attend, my own starting at a very young age.

This year my godson Geof joined Chrissy and Katrina. It was great to see him and they had a good time catching up.

Not satisfiied with taking pictures of others, Chrissy and Katrina chose to take pictures of themselves!

Annual Christmas Cookie baking consumed the next morning. I as official mother had made only four batches of cookies this year, but it still took 3.5 hours to decorate, cut, and bake all of them. Ella found that it was most fun to dump partial jars of sprinkles on one cookie and to smear frosting. Not surprising. She even joined me in rolling out the dough, though the look of the dough had a distinctive quality to it once her dirty little hands wrapped themselves around the dough balls, and her wild curly hair draped into the rolling pin, and the amount of flour she generously sprinkled on the dough caused great crumbles.

Christmas Day was replete with gift giving, and carrying on about winning gifts, strangest gifts, most creative gifts, and a bit of Grandma Bartlett's eggnog.

The required family picture brought groans, but goodnatured assembly of what I think is a beautiful group. I cannot be prouder!

Christmas night brings a hoard of family, food, and other such delicious items. It is nice to be near family, and best for John and me is that we were able to buy my parents house, so it is sort of by default the gathering place. Makes me very happy.