August 5 is one of those dates that I randomly memorized as a child, because it was a milestone for me. It was the day that I arrived at Sakeji as a student for the first time. We’d only been in the country for a few days. And here I am 58 years later . . .
After our road trip yesterday and staying up late talking, we didn’t climb out of our nice warm bed until almost 8:00 today! I can’t ever sleep later than that because I take my meds at 8:00.
Danny and the kids stayed home today as Rachel is still fighting a cough and Danny felt unwell after having anesthesia for her dental work on Saturday. So we had a boisterous breakfast with the kids:
And then I was able to do some writing while our clothes went through the washing machine. When they were done, both Danny and Walter helped me hang them all up so it went quite quickly.
The last time we were here, I had improvised a chicken marinade, and apparently it was a hit because Danny wanted to know how to make it. So we put our heads together and cobbled together something that I hoped would be similar!
By then it was getting on toward lunchtime, and Danny had one more of those “Texan” steaks that Tim had bought in town, so she asked me if I could grill it and I said yes. I mean, I’m not saying no to grilled steak . . .
So the ladies got the charcoal lit in the grill:
And I checked on it frequently until the coals were good and hot. Here’s what I did not admit to anyone: I have never in my life grilled a steak before. I’ve only been cooking steak (when I can get it on sale) for a few months now, and I always do it in one of my trusty cast-iron skillets, because I’ve got that technique down pretty well. I had every intention of eventually learning to grill steak over charcoal, but hadn’t got around to it—until today, when I rose to the occasion and faked it.
And you know what? It turned out pretty well. Nobody complained. Well, except we adults when the cat ran off with a piece of the meat. Such a naughty cat. It’s not the one who judged me so severely during our last stay. He, sadly, was killed by the dogs during our absence. The remaining cat is lonely, needy, and very whiny.
I rested for a while after lunch while Walter helped the kids count all the money in their piggy banks. What a challenge!
I showed Rachel how to make a water wheel with their plastic building set, and she thought I was a genius. “How did you know it would work?”
Danny had asked me for the Sakeji fudge recipe, as it’s a favorite of Tim’s, so she decided to make it this afternoon. We took turns stirring and I kept checking the temperature with the candy thermometer. Well, guess what? The thermometer was off by quite a lot. Before it ever even reached the correct temperature on the thermometer, it was clear the fudge was burning so we went ahead and poured it out. I should have stuck to the classic “soft ball” way of testing it!
The finished product was kind of hard and a tiny bit burnt, but you know what? That just makes it more authentic. Tim was thrilled.
The chicken turned out okay and we had a good supper. We knew we’d be staying up late so I allowed myself to doze a little afterward. Everyone else also took a nap. As I write this it is just a few minutes before the big event. Tim and Sammy’s sister Jemimah is getting married in Canada today, and we plan to watch the livestream.
Parting Shot:
I brought this little silicone muffin cup with me on this trip, as I do on every trip, because it’s so darn handy as a teabag squeezer and as a holder for my meds or a little snack, or whatever. When we were here before, John saw my little purple cup and thought it was a toy, so he played with it, but then couldn’t remember where he left it. We all searched and searched! And John was in tears when he had to come tell me that he had lost it. So I’ve done without it for the last couple of weeks.
This morning, while the ladies were cleaning the playroom, I heard my name and moments later they brought me the missing purple thing. I have to admit I was pretty happy about it. It’s so useful.