Laundry Time!

Okay…I feel a little boring to post about laundry, but now as I am jobless, many of the household chores are now mine ALONE. Eek! House work is not my forte, as many of you know…I used to hate it. But I changed my perception of it when it became my new job. 

Skip (source)

 

So laundry. 

It’s a dirty word in my book.  

Liquid Detergent. First off, there are almost no liquid detergents here. Can you believe it? There is one name-brand, Skip, one Pick N’ Pay brand liquid detergent, and Woolite,  in most grocery stores. I choose to use it still, because it’s what I’ve always used. And I heard that it doesn’t “gunk up” the washing machines here like powder does. 

StaSoft (source)

Fabric softener. It is made for two types of washing. Machine washing and washing by hand; the latter is “no-rinse” to make life easier. I think many people, especially those who love in townships wash clothing by hand. The most popular brand StaSoft, no Downy or Snuggle, like in the USA. Here, you can buy cheaper re-fills that you add water to. It saves money and create less waste. Perfect in my book.

Dryer Sheets. No one has ever heard of them here!! It was unbelievable when we first looked for them. We have only found them in one grocery store, a brand called SpunSoft. And the check-out lady had no clue what it was. The fabric softener here also takes care of the dryer’s needs. We have not used them after a few months. Our clothes are basically the same…

SpunSoft (source)

The washing machines are typically front-load and are smaller than the Bosch we had back in the USA. This means I have to do more loads…waaah! I typically do 1-2 loads ever 2-3 days, it averages out to about 7 loads a week. I’m sure all the mothers out there are laughing at me right now…and that’s ok. I’m preparing myself slowly.

Laundromats. Self-serve Laundromats are few and far between. If you don’t have access to a washing machine and don’t want to hand wash everything, typically, you would bring all your clothing and unmentionables to a Laundromat where they will wash and fold your things for you. We have not done this, but I have taken our doggie bed (a large queen-sized comforter) to one  because it didn’t fit in our washer. It cost me 65 Rand, basically $10! Ugh. Luckily our washer at our new place fits it just right. 

Where is your and dryer? In the USA, I’ve had washers in sheds and in basements. Here, we have had it in a room accessible from the outside, and both fit; in our new place, the washer in in the bathroom and the dryer in the ground floor common room. I know that in Europe, washers are often in the kitchen. I’ve never liked the kitchen idea; the bathroom is growing on me. However I think that most people in the USA do not like it in the bathroom.  What are your thoughts on placement of washers and dryers?

Since moving to our new place, we have a clothesline as well, so I have been using it for some things, to save energy for SA and money for my landlord. I’ve learned that I’d rather tumble dry my towels because they become stiff as a board outside. Sometimes I’ll dry my clothes outside to “nearly dry” them tumble them a bit to get them a little softer. Kinda works.

I know, really deep… haha.

Song of the Post: Hands Clean by Alanis Morissette 

Cooking and Recipes: Part 2

Baking observations:

Baking "from scratch" is something I have yet to really master. Since moving here, I have come accross several obstacles...

Sopapillas (source)

I’m having to figure out new baking recipes because the traditional American ingredients do not exist here (or I don’t know where to find them!)


There is no shortening, only butter and oil.

There is no brown sugar as the USA sells it (white sugar with molasses), just treacle sugar and caramel sugar. Brown sugar is just “unrefined sugar” here. I’m not sure if they taste the same. I’ve looked for molasses and found it in one store- but it was a YEAR past it’s due date!

There are no graham crackers- and I have really wanted to make graham cracker crusts lately. Do you have any suggestions for alternatives. Oreos come in really small packages, so I'd have to buy a lot of them...

The butter isn’t sold in “sticks” as it often is in the USA, but in bigger blocks, so when a recipe calls for one stick of butter, I have to figure out how much that really is in milliliters.

Finally, I have only now realized that my oven is not working right, so I might not get to make these recipes any time soon. 

Emergency Chocolate Cake (source)

Creamy Caramel Sauce (source)

Desserts:

• Creamy Caramel Sauce (My grandmother makes something similar.)
• Emergency Chocolate Cake
• Russian Crème with Fruit Topping
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar (Throwback to childhood!)
• Homemade Ice Cream in a Baggie (This sounds so fun!)
• Cream Cheese Brownies  (Um…Yum?)
• Ice box Butter Cookies
• No-Bake Chocolate and Oatmeal Bars
• Custard Pie (Minus the nutmeg.)
• Chocolate Coconut Bars
• Sopapillas (I like them without cinnamon and sugar, and with honey drizzled on top instead.)
• Corn Flakes Pineapple Cheese Tort (I want to see if Corn Flakes can take the place of graham crackers for a crust- any thoughts?)

Cream Cheese Brownies (source)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar (source)

 Song of the Post: Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie by Jay and the Techniques.

 Please ignore the cheesy audience! And the track suit...

Cooking and Recipies: Part 1

I have started developing an interest in cooking more interesting things lately. However I am always looking for quick, and low ingredient recipes.If its healthy, that's a plus!

Sour Cream Enchiladas (source)

Since moving to a country that uses the Metric system and measures temperature in Celsius, I have had to convert many recipes to make them work here. I had to buy a measuring cup that had milliliters and cups on it, and then convert the temperature to its equivalent in degrees Celsius. 

I’m the type of person that bookmarks yummy recipes when I come across them, so I have a lot waiting to be tested. There are many recipes that I just cannot make because I don’t have the ingredients here. I’m slowly finding recipes made in South Africa and other countries that have ingredients that I can find in SA.

So here are some of the meals that I am planning on making sometime in the future (they aren’t that healthy though):

Butternut Squash Fries (source)

• Sour Cream Pancakes
• “Army” Roasted Chicken
• Camembert Mashed Potatoes (I have actually made this- but it was so yummy, we have to eat it again!)
• Cheeseburger Soup
• Butternut Squash Fries
• Curried Chicken
• Couscous with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes
• Buttermilk Baked Chicken (did you know you could make your own buttermilk easily?)
• Three Ingredient Fettuccine Alfredo
• Sour Cream Enchiladas (If you haven’t checked out Pioneer Woman’s web site or book, you should!)
• Crust-less Spinach, Onion, and Feta Quiche (Crust-less, easy-peasy, right?) 

Buttermilk Baked Chicken (source)

"Army" Chicken (source)

Buffalo Chicken Dip (source)

Dips:

• Creamy Jalapeno Dip
• Blue Cheese Dip
• Hot Spinach Dip
• Hot Pizza Dip (I had this at one of my going away parties and I nearly ate half of it- so good!)
• Buffalo Chicken Dip  

I’ll make an entirely separate post with all the dessert recipes!

What are some recipes that you want to make soon? I’d love to see what you’ve got planned for the table!

P.S.- I misspelled recipe every time I wrote it- apparently I like to spell it recipie. Thanks spell chnck!

Song of the Post: Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet.

Camps Bay Beach and Loneliness.

I’ve been missing my people! 

I have a long history of not keeping up with friends over summer vacation, moving across the country, or moving across the world. Not many people have kept up with me either, so I’m not sure if I’m just friends with people who have the same communication style, or whether its “out of sight, out of mind.”

Homeless woman with holes in her socks.

I try not to be lonely here, but it is hard. 

Really hard sometimes. This is what I didn’t expect about my move...

I sent out e-mails to people last week, and only one person responded (thanks auntie!). 

Many sea shells!

Trash on the beach; green vuvuzela.

Part of the reason that I haven’t e-mailed people much is that I use this blog as a medium of communication. Early on, my friends and family commented, but most have stopped commenting now.

My hubby, playing.

I have a widget that tells me which cities across the world have looked at my blog, and I can tell that not many of my friends or family has checked it out very often. 

I can’t help it, I feel forgotten. 

 

Family playing.

Foot print. Toe print?

 

  

But at the same time, I KNOW that it is up to ME to keep up with people through e-mail, facebook, or telephone. 

Me, playing.

  Enough that they want to share with me too, of their own accord.

There was a kid/young adult surfing competition going on that day.

We have not gotten any mail from the USA (except from Chase Bank, animal control, and junk mail)- no letters or care packages.

New friends.

 

 I do have a local AZ number through Skype, so it’s not that hard to call (and if you ask, I’ll give it to you)! 

Kong.

 

I hate thinking like this; feeling "whiny"; and I hate making people feel guilty…but this is my reality and I need to communicate it. 

 

Throw the ball!

PLEASE help me.
Please help me feel connected and not so alone. Even just one e-mail or call a month to keep me going and feed my soul.

So this is my promise: I will be contacting all my friends and family in the next week. I hope that I will get some positive responses…

I miss you!!

P.S. Thank you so much to those few who have kept in touch through e-mail and telephone!! It is amazing.

Song of the Post: A song by The Beatles, With a Little help from My Friends as sung by Joe Cocker.

My favorite lines:
“What would you do if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, And I'll try not to sing out of key. Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends…”

Monthaversary Five: Our new Home in Pictures.

This last month has meant a lot of changes for us. Primarily, we moved into an adorable little cottage (guest house/granny flat) that was completely dirty. It is now only partially dirty. Haha. Please bear in mind that all the pictures show some of the previous tenants things and some of ours during the moving in process. I'll probably never show "after pictures" so here you go:

The bedroom- not our bedding!

There are so many nooks and crannies and high ceilings that I can’t dust. I’m also realizing how sandy our yard is and how easily we get dog hair, dirt, sand, and grass on our floor. We have 3 exterior doors on the first floor, on the loft, we have two doors. There are three pocket doors on the first floor. The furniture is nothing to brag about. But all in all, this place has a lot of cuteness potential!

The "BICs" (aka built in closets). You can see the "kitchen" in the back.

It has been a HUGE adjustment, moving from a large 2-bedroom house to a tiny cottage. It is the smallest place we have ever shared. The entire footprint of our place is often the size of a bedroom in other homes. We have opened up many of our boxes now that we are in more permanent housing, so that has helped alleviate some of the space issues. Some boxes were half full of paper packaging!

The width of our kitchen. Really.

The sink- if you turn around, you find the stove and microwave.

The bathroom sink and washing machine. Not pictured: the water heater hanging sideways above the sink.

Our toilet- yes really!

Our dogs have had to adjust as well. They love the yard. Love it. Reeces is back to her old self. She can find things to keep herself busy for hours. The hardest part for Etta has been the stairs. The stairs are semi-open air, so sometimes her paws slide right on through and she falters; she has fallen down the stairs a few times. She gets better at them every day. We do try to limit how many times she goes up and down them so that she doesn’t strain herself too much.

The treacherous stairs and the dryer. Ignore the cleaning supplies.

One of the doors upstairs.

See the thatching!? Using the rafters like this is our solution for extra storage.

We celebrated the 4th of July with a Mexican dinner at another American’s house. We made a double batch of tortillas, salsa bandera, and pinto beans. They grilled/braaied some carne asada. I tried my first cup of rooibos tea. It was a nice day.

Doesn't this look idyllic? Pink flowers, Devil's Peak in the background, and a pool in front.

This week, my husband lost his wedding ring. He has lost weight, so the ring had become looser. Since it is winter here, it is cold and his fingers got even thinner. We think he lost it while bike riding home from work. I’m ambivalent about how to feel. I could take it personally and be upset about him losing the symbol of our marriage and love. But I think my ideas about material possessions have changed, and I’m not as upset as I would have been. I’d like him to wear a ring, but does it truly, really matter what type of ring it is? To me, what matters most is his intention to keep his marriage vows true. Everything is else is just icing.

R.I.P. wedding ring....

I made it to 100 followers this month! And I’ve had at least people from 55 countries look at my blog. I think that is amazing!


Thanks.



Song of the month: Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good live version…Such a beautiful love song for children or lovers.

Here is a nice cover of it sung by a young girl.

Highs and Lows for the week of 3/7/11.

Highs:

- We, as a married couple, got along amazingly well for moving and cleaning two homes.

- Our landlord seems really nice and laid back.

- Our dogs love the yard! In Tucson, Reeces loved playing outside.  Here, at our last rental, she always wanted to be inside with me for some reason. I think she hated the yard. At our new cottage, the yard is so full of adventure- she never wants to come inside. It’s nice to see her back to her old self.

- The new neighborhood is wonderful. Absolutely Lovely.

 And now...

Lows:

- Three households share our yard. Not so bad, but…

- We share our yard with a 9 year old boy; I hate to call him ‘annoying,’ but he is. Every time we walk by his door, he has to say something to us! He is constantly trying to engage people in conversation, even when they are in the middle of something. He also tries to play with our dogs constantly, not letting them rest. He’s fed them ‘human food’ when we specifically told him to not feed our dogs. My dogs are like my kids, and I am very protective of them. The landlord told me that the kid has a ‘severe learning disability’ and I think that this is part of the problem. I will have to work on my patience just a little more. That will be a positive outcome, I guess!

My babies!!

 

I'm participating in Life, Crafts, and Whatever's Highs and Lows. Check out my hubby's blog here.

P.S.- I will post pictures of my new cottage and or the crochet project this coming week. Too busy to do it this week!

Song of the day: Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield.