from me to you

there's something extra special about handwritten notes

Signs around home

Thought you might like to see a collection of nearby sign photos I snapped on a walk last month.

Just down the road, past our church building.

Down the road (opposite direction), near Bishop's house.

On the way to town (when we're walking) we pass Choma Hospital.

Welcome to my world. Follow the signs and you'll be here!

The junction of our road and Choma Secondary Road.

Close up of the sign at the junction.

Juicy New Year

It’s hard to beat fresh tomato slices in January.

Neither Heather or I are “hamburger people,” if you know what I mean. Sure, I enjoy an occasional grilled burger, but I don’t remember the last time I had a craving for a restaurant burger (fast food or otherwise).

We agreed to splurge on New Year’s Day and enjoy two giant hamburgers. I baked the buns, and Heather mixed, patted, and cooked the burgers. After our morning in the garden, we came in to a holiday lunch.

We were excited about our burgers; I felt like such an American!

We ate those two giant burgers, just the two of us. But considering that the last time I ate a hamburger was Labor Day, and that we skipped dinner after our generous New Year’s lunch, I didn’t feel quite so guilty.

ps- I must also confess that on New Year’s Day I made a delectable discovery when I combined a bag of frozen milk, a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup, and a hint of mint in the blender. This too left me feeling like an American.

Stylish

Heather weeding our beans on New Year's morning.

Conrad (a local farmer friend who works with Compassionate Ministries and practices conservation farming techniques) says our yellow bean plants are stylish. Heather and I decided to be non-conventional and plant the bean plants in two circular rows around some marigolds and the nitrogen tree (yes, I know… lots of nitrogen).

We’re more than happy to share our abundant harvest if you want to enjoy yellow beans too!

Recently planted our garden: sweet corn, spinach, and cucumbers.

Recently harvested: yellow beans, two heads of cauliflower, one last cucumber (from the last planting), and one last carrot (from the last planting).

Hosting

One thing I love about having a large house is having the space to host friends.

Our friends the Sakalas came for lunch just after Christmas. We told them we’d make American food (how descriptive, right?!)

We made tortillas and served tacos, sans sour cream, hot peppers, olives, or lettuce. They were very interested to learn how to eat tacos. It’s also ironic to teach a Zambian friend how to say, “tortilla,” in English.

After having recently learned that “taco” has a negative connotation in Tonga, we were hesitant to tell our guests the name of the meal we were serving! We might have to re-name Zambian tacos. Any suggestions?

Zesco (our electricity) came back a while after lunch, giving me enough time to mix and bake the cake I had sitting on the counter. Before our friends left, we enjoyed tea and cake in the living room.

72 Ounces!

Part of the package Heather's Mom sent her!

Auntie Heather

Heather and Frey