Thursday, November 06, 2008

This is my cuzzy Maurine - taken on October 25 - at her house - we are fonduing. Thanks for the fondue - was so yummy. Brings back many wonderful memories - and not because the pot and some of the dishes are mine - LOL - we joked that if I were to move back to Canada we would have to have joint custody of the the dishes.

This is a picture of Chris (Maurine's hubby) and Maurghan (their daughter) enjoying the fondue. Notice Chris's left arm - quite the contraption on it - he managed to trip over a tire at work and break his arm - and instead of a cast they put an outer device on it.

Have been back in Egypt for a little over a week - have yet to have the pleasure of my husband's company. From promising he would be here to pick me up at the airport - to having no idea when he will be around - why am I not too terribly surprised - upset - but not surprised.

Arrived safely bright and early Wednesday morning - the 29th of October. Was met by Aymn's best buddy Mohammed - thank God for him - he can be counted on. He brought me home and dropped me off.

Came into the house and was met by a plethora of very busy spiders and moths - have been busy killing moths as soon as I see them - my moth killing skill have come back and I am very good. The spiders are slowly but surely being brought down to a controllable number. Interesting the room where I 'left' my gecko has very few cobwebs and not many spiders have I seen - I think I need to get myself an army of geckos.

Wednesday I did a bit of unpacking then got a few hours of sleep - then phoned Sharon and we were off - made the mistake of driving down the corniche - what a zoo - had thought it would be down to a manageable 'roar' - but not so - seems the idiot's convention has lasted a lot longer than planned and some of them cannot find their way home - OMG. One of the benefits of everyone being eligible for a car loan - will be interesting to see what happens as the economy continues to nose dive. Must admit I certainly do miss the orderly driving in Canada. Made it to Fathalla and got a few groceries that I had to have.

Have been attempting to get my kitchen in some semblance of order - but it is tough when there are not nearly enough shelves in the cupboards - piling stuff just does not seem to work very well - would love to get more shelves in the cupboards - Aymn has said it can be done - but the big question is 'will' it get done - I doubt it. I have managed - with the help of a 'shelf' that I bought in Calgary got my spice cupboard in some semblance of order - of course would be great if there were more shelves - we shall see.

Even have managed to get the fridge dunged out - had to find room in the freezer for meat that I had purchased on Tuesday - had not much for meat in the house - besides canned tuna - also got the fridge nice and clean - must admit there were a few experiments that went awry - but all is good now - and hopefully I can keep things on the up and up.

Unfortunately Aymn's business has taken a serious nosedive along with the economy - he had 85% of his eggs in one basket - copper - and copper has dropped by just about 50% - so ..... he is madly scrambling in another direction - but the price of scrap metal has also plummeted - so he is madly running around trying to catch his tail - good luck on that one.
It is cauliflower season here - and I must admit the cauliflower tastes like nothing I have ever tasted before - it is 'buttery' - I bought a head of it and must get busy and make some soup. Also need to boil some eggs for pickled eggs - but for some strange reason my cooking desires have up and left me - but must push myself. Today on the list is to get the last two upper cupboards dunged out and tidied up. Then all I have left is the lower cabinets - not a big rush on them - but should get at them as well - clean out the cobwebs and whatever creatures have made their homes there.

Weather has been wonderful - warm and sunny - athough I must admit the humidity is taking a bit of getting used to - quite enjoyed the aridity (?) of Calgary - not much sweating going one - except when I was working out - but no snow. Garden - well the weeds are thriving - plants are holding their own. In one of the pots there are some volunteer sweet peas coming - so I guess I should get busy and plant some more seeds. Seems strange to be seeding in November - but such is life here in Egypt. Also want to try to grow some tiny tomatoes - they are so yummy - and do not take a lot of space - just a couple of pots.

I want to thank all my friends in Canada for their warm welcome - I had so much fun. These pictures were taken at my friend Tina's place - she bought me the hat - as you can tell I LOVE walking to the beat of my own drum - if Aymn had met me at the airport I would have worn one of my new 'hats' - but I restrained myself as Mohammed would not have been amused and he is a nice guy so would not want to embarras him - whereas Aymn deserves it - I am so mean.





5 comments:

Simply Eva said...

laughing like a lunatic @ "seems the idiot's convention has lasted a lot longer than planned and some of them cannot find their way home - OMG"!!! That is soooooo funny! And a great description of drivers all over Egypt!

Strange about the cauliflower and your cooking adventures. I too made cauliflower soup and also breaded and friend some of course--was tooo yummy. Also amazingly just made pickled beets and added hard-bolied eggs. That concoction is now cooling in the fridge!

I lost your salty biscuit recipe--can u send it again plz? I think you and I would have a ball in the kitchen. I am forever cooking and canning and freezing yummies. Made a kick-butt pineapple upside down cake too. And my spice shelf needs reorganizing too. Wish I had a shelf 1/2 the height of my current one but I'm not even going to hope to get that done.

Hoping things improve with Ayman---any chance you might be coming to Cairo anytime soon?

Lynn said...

LOL! I am laughing too. Mostly at your last comment. Love the hat!!

THanks for sharing some pics of your stay. That is truly a STRANGE contraption on your cousin - in -law's hand. YIKES!! That can't be fun for him OR your cousin for sure. I bet she has double the kids in just one moment. The moment he fell.

Speaking of spiders....is that a FAKE one for Halloween on your cousin's floor in the picture? Cause if it ain't.....MY goodness they are HUGE there!!!

Glad you made it home safe and sound. Sorry about Ayman not being there or his business not doing well. Thank goodness for constant busy-ness to keep you busy. You certainly have been!

on the edge said...

Quit killing your self cleaning and get the BAWAB to find you a maid for a day to help do some of this stuff . Then you will be able to go visiting all your buddies that missed you !

Glade you are home and sorry that Ayman can't seem to remember that your are .Loved the pictures.

Maurine said...

To Lynn -
Your comments made me laugh! You are so right about having double the kids - sheesh. And the spider on the floor was my daughter's for Halloween - though as we have a dirt basement, some of the spiders we have had in this house looked to be pretty close to that size - eek.

Rhonda C. said...

Hey girl! Behind on my blog reading and just sent u an email wondering how you are? Also wondering if you feel like you are home in Egypt? And Amyn not coming to see you yet? I don't know, perhaps he is really worried about his business. I think he would have come if he could have. I hope so, if not...then he is an ass and you should get rid of him. IMHO