Happy Chapattis!

What IS a happy chapatti, let alone how do you make one?! A happy chapatti is one which puffs up during cooking. It is an indication that your bread will be light and fluffy and will pull apart into neat pieces which allow you to scoop up your other food easily. Yum!

I have to confess to never having tried to make chapattis, despite being a reasonable cook in other areas. Cooking with yeast is a challenge, in my book and not one I have yet taken up! But I have been paying close attention, against the day.

Once you have pulled off a ball of dough, rolled it, flattened it with the heel of your hands, you then slap it around a bit to flatten it out. Good therapy for dealing with latent aggression, I should think! Next you place your dough on a board begin rolling it to the required size.


When it's ready, flip it onto a preheated dry griddle and allow it to brown on one side.

Turn it over, taking care not to burn yourself.

If the chapatti puffs up - as shown - it is called a 'happy chapatti' and you're home and hosed!

Only thing left to do is gobble it up while it's still hot with delicious spiced veggies or curry! Sigh! Memories are made of this!

School Outing in South Africa

I have been browsing through old photo albums - the sort where there are actually pages with pictures pasted onto them and tracing paper between the leaves to keep them from sticking. Very old fashioned! But thank goodness for technology, because I was able to upload this one from a visit my family in South Africa a few years ago.

My sister Joan was teaching at a Primary School and she invited me to accompany her on one of the buses with the children on their end-of-year outing. All the little ones had backpacks overflowing with goodies to eat and drink for the day. I have vivid memories of this because we suspected one little boy of having tucked in on the bus. Just as we drew up in the parking lot of Gold Reef City (the mock 18th century mining town from Johannesburg's history) he vomited luxuriously all over himself. He was cleaned up by one of the teaching staff. How happy I was to be the visitor that day! Poor little fellow! It was the result of breakfast eaten in a hurry and the excitement of the day we discovered.

It was a lovely day, seeing the bubbling joy of the children as they raced around together. On the way home, I snapped this little tot sleeping. It had been so exciting and exhausting that he couldn't even finish his snack!

Bibles for Gulu

This is the church at Opit Refugee Centre just outside Gulu where I held a teaching seminar in 2008. They asked me to bring them Bibles if I returned. I have made it a priority and can joyfully report that money has already begun to come in for this project. I have received a significant donation which will buy 50 Bibles. There are 99 in a box, I've been told by the Bible Society, and there were 80 people present when the request was made to me.
I know the joy will bubble up in me when I have the privilege of being the messenger who delivers the Bibles! Thank you to Jesus and His people!

"I'm playing cowb's, Mum!"

I am travelling back in time now, through the foggy mists of memory. My Aunt Joan was married in 1951 at the Anglican Cathedral in what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. She had one bridesmaid, three flowergirls and two page boys. My sisters and I were the flowergirls and two cousins the page boys.
Our dresses were so cute! Full length with pointy puffed sleeves, with two belts at the waist which were fashioned into a sweet little bow over our bottoms. A coronet of flowers in our hair and a posy of fresh flowers completed the ensemble. The fabric was grainy to touch, but shiny and exotic. Mine was pale green, not milky and insipid. I thought it was gorgeous! At five years old, I was already a confirmed tomboy, so that was saying a lot! My eldest sister's was pale pink and my next oldest sister's a light blue. We were all very satisfied with the colours we'd been allocated - our favourite colours.

The wedding reception was held at the Old Forces Club, Hatfield, set amongtst huge granite boulders which held a particular allure for us children. It seems we played the ever popular 'Cowboys and Indians'. I loved that game! The dresses Mum made for me always had the tie belts and they doubled as spendid reigns if I needed to be a horse in an action piece.
At some point I found it necessary to return to my Mothers side. I was probably hungry or thirsty. It was ever thus with children. My Mother recalls the moment with clarity, for it left her aghast. The coronet and posy were long gone. The bodice of my dress was detached from the skirt and holes worn in the fabric where it had been crushed against the bounders, leaving a black residue. My Mother, who was a good dressmaker, was unable to salvage the dress. Washing never dislodged the black marks and no darning could fix the scraped holes! Looking at me in disbelief that I could have wrought so much damage in so little time, she asked "What have you been doing?!"
"I've been playing cowb's, Mum," I bubbled happily.

A Peep into Another Culture - Pakistan

Badji Shameem's Kebab Recipe
1/2 kg cooked potatoes, mashed
2 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
a little fresh coriander, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 green chillies, chopped (optional)
pinch red chilli powder

Mix all ingredients together, dip in beaten egg and shallow fry in a little oil.

A peep into a village kitchen in rural Pakistan

Badji is a common word used in Pakistan usually in deference to a lady older than oneself - a sister, aunt, close friend or even a stranger. Badji Shameem is known for her excellent cooking! Enjoy!

Harmony

Poplars and sweetpeas, a hedge of brigalows as a backdrop - I love the contrasts. A gnarled old fig tree, green with age, sports one leaf and one small fig to manifest its identity. It sits squat in the dirt, spreading its fingery branches around it as though ready to catch onto a passer-by for support in its old age.

The gardener, mute, dogged, plods up and down with the mower, spurning the powdery rain. A floppy brim stands guard over his specs, directing the drops off his collar. He has ankle guards over his socks, a sure sign he has bush Australian background.

At the foot of a powerful gum tree, a friendly monsterio has softened its companion's bed with a mass of cuddly leaves and long ago, crawled up into the branches for a chat. They look well together - civilisation resting in the arms of the bush. Perhaps 'cultivated' is a better word than 'civilized'. One thing is obvious, they have been together a long time and have established a friendship. I gaze, sipping in the harmony.

Africa Here I Come!

Children in the Gulu church, 2008

Imagine how heavy the baby would feel after 5 minutes?!

Writing a newsletter is a lengthy task. I found a great template, which helps, but it is so important to me to let friends and family know the details of the mission trips because their prayers are so vital. I was able to email it off today. It is such a blessing to have messages of encouragement come back! Thanks!

I will be away for six weeks. Peter will mind the fort. My time will be divided equally between South Africa, Uganda and Kenya, but I will have time to be with my family first. Mum turned 86 last December, so it will be good to see her again after a two-year break. I have two sisters living in South Africa plus a deal of extended clan members! We are many!

In Uganda I will spend the first week with Operation Uganda in Kampala and Ps Russ has indicated that we will also travel to some outlying districts for ministry. I will go to Gulu for the second week to distribute the Bibles I hope to access to the people who asked for them on my last trip. However, my main task will be to cooperate with Watoto to teach in their Discipleship programme. We have not yet settled on exactly what form this will take.

It is just a hop-skip-and jump into Kenya. I am working out how I'll travel once there. Getting to Nairobi is not a problem, but from there things begin to get murky. Shall I then fly to Kisumu then take a 4x4 or a bus south? Should I try to fly to Masai Mara and find transport from there? What will I do for transport once I'm in the right town? I have been promised very clean accommodation, but there is no indoor plumbing. I can cope with that as the "no paper rule" in India is much trickier! I have tentitively enquired about a mozzie net, wondering if it would be prudent to take my own. They were freely available in Gulu, so probably will also be in Kenya, except that Pastor Alice says they are "very remote!" Mmmm! Decisions! Decisions!

Pre-Easter Break

Charlesworth Bay, Coffs Harbour, NSW

Coffs Harbour, NSW

Peter and I have just come home from three days at Coffs Harbour. What a magnificent place?! All one can do is kick back and enjoy God's handiwork! We were there in the week before Easter and expected the place to be full of tourists, but were pleasantly surprised to have plenty of space to ourselves. When we left Queensland, there had been plenty of rain about because of the cyclones buzzing around up north. It was with pleasure that we relished two sunshiney blue days and only on the third did the clouds and rain descend. Not enough to damp our spirits, however. We swam, ate fresh raspberries and cream, listened to music and generally had a deliciously peaceful time.