Not Quite Nigella

The cake was decadently aromatic, gorgeously both aesthetically and gastronomically desirable with a resonant tang ... so this time I was thinking of Nigella Lawson, domestic goddess, as I made my cakes. No, the cake wasn't at all as described and I was about as far as one can get from a glamorous Nigella and as for the stylish, well-equipped kitchen ...! Actually the one "Nigella" element I would have liked would be the non-live element; a "CUT" and "... which I prepared earlier" would have been much appreciated! But it was good fun and although the cake was not as good as the practise cakes it tasted good and the women (and also the men and children who came to have a taste) were all happy! I think my problem must be down to the serious lack of measuring or putting too much of the charcoal on the top or maybe I can just blame extreme humid and hot temperatures (it is incredibly hot there now and especially at night very uncomfortable!) Now they are keen to learn to make things with the bananas and oranges so we will do that next time, along with more wedding cakes as there are some women who missed the morning and want to try.

Mixing

Cooking ... seriously hot and sweaty!

Eating!

Seriously not "glam!"

We met with a number of the stoves group after the service on Sunday but first here is my confession .... during the service I was nudged by the lady next to me to as I was losing the battle to keep my eyes open! Tim and the girls won't let me forget it, but my excuse it is that it was extremely hot sitting there on my low piece of wood and I was not understanding a word of the sermon (it wasn't Tim!) and was actually quite tired ... good enough? Moving right along now, the good news is that we seem to be "cracking" the clay problem! The clay we have been using has been terribly difficult and the stoves cracking despite all kinds of attempts at mixing and finding other clay. We think we have found a better clay and have five new stoves that seem better. We talked about how to move the group to new levels and came up with some good ideas.

We had a great time on Monday evening with the guys meeting to study the Bible and go through leadership issues. They are so keen - it's fantastic! We met with several people and also visited the secondary school to talk about the kitchen gardens project that the Canada team will be starting in March. We talked about the possibilities and the potential problems and they are keen to go for it. We will need to work hard at communicating the importance of watering and using dirty water for the job. The water situation there is unfortunately still not good. The system is in the process of being sorted out but in the meantime the water supply is incredibly dirty. There is also a problem for the farms as the river is currently very low. The first rains finished and it has been dry for too long for the crops just planted. They are waiting for the next rains to come next month, but it is a worry and a struggle. We are trying to figure out how many litres of water we will need to take with us for the team when they come as we must take all our drinking and cooking water with us these days. But talking about water, it's not much better for us here in town. A shower has become rather a lovely surprise and you need to grab the moment when there is water to take it! And recently the water, when it does come out of the tap, has been an unsightly brown colour!

Corn green two weeks ago



What a difference two weeks makes! Corn is dead.



We are now preparing for and eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Wingfield family who arrive with their latest addition, Bethany, on Friday! And still eagerly awaiting a car ... which brings us to the car news this week ... the shock absorber bolt sheared off as I drove us home from Magozi!