look good, do good

I was at a bookstore here about a week ago and ended up buying something other than books for Brendan and myself.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria receives $1 from the sale of each bracelet (each costs approximately $3.50), and that money is specifically used for malaria prevention efforts. Malaria is the number one cause of death of children under five in Africa, with 850,000 preventable deaths occurring each year. The money helps provide things like mosquito nets, and each net protects two children for up to three years. Ending malaria will improve maternal and child health, education and will significantly reduce poverty in Africa. Plus, the bracelets are handmade as an employment project for people without work, many of whom are HIV/AIDS survivors or caretakers of AIDS orphans. So proceeds from these bracelets are helping in more than one way.

So if you are in South Africa, you can find them at Exclusive Books. If you are not in SA, but would like one, let me know and we can make a plan!

african shirts

Before Bluebell came into my life and freed me to roam the streets of Cape Town, I spent some of my free time making shirts of a whole bunch of people I love. Spoiler alert for my aunt Cathi: don't show this to the kiddos because their shirts are still en route.

I made one for Brendan

One for Hannah

One for Wyatt and one for Cassidy (in their favorite color schemes)

And a matching set for each of my favorite little meerkittens, James and Matthew

I also made one ages ago for my cousin Nolan, but I forget to get a picture of it...doh!

They are made using this stuff called fusible webbing, which crafty people like my friend Krissy use for making appliques and the like. It irons on for a permanent transfer and is machine washable and dry-able. I am clearly embracing my new homeland, at least when it comes to attire!

first days in Cape Town

We have been living a very charmed life during our first few days in Cape Town, and this charmed life has not been conducive to blog posts. We've enjoyed settling in, eating all our favorite South African treats, seeing friends, and waking up to views of Table Mountain and Lion's Head each morning.

But let's start at the beginning...

My parents met us at JFK to see us off. We arrived at the airport hotel after a bit of a fistfight with our car battery. It decided to be difficult and stop working the day we were leaving. The nice AAA man who replaced it got a big hug and a tip from me.

Away we went. This photo was taken approximately two hours before the nasty man in the seat behind me decided to shove my seat as hard as he could (causing my forehead to nearly collide with the seat in front of me). When I spun around to ask him what the heck his problem was, he informed me that I could not put my seat back because he did not have enough room. I gave him an earful, with some backup from the South African Airways flight attendant. I also tried to plead my way into an upgrade. Sadly, those efforts bore no fruit. 18 hours, 2 inflight movies, and a complimentary mini-bottle of sparking wine later we were in Cape Town. 

Two hours after our arrival we returned to the airport to fetch Parker. He was delayed, so we went and got a red latte to share. They are lattes made with a rooibus tea "espresso" and are just fabulous. We thought it was a bit of a good omen that the barista used the foam and honey to draw a cat face on ours. 

These are our views from our bedroom windows each morning. It isn't possible to wake up and see Table Mountain and Lion's Head and not feel happy to be alive and in Cape Town. 

Our darling cat had perhaps the most harrowing of all our trips. Thankfully he is settling in wonderfully, even if he is a little bewildered by the new view. I took him out onto Candice's balcony to scope out his new hood. 

Here is evidence of Parker's happy state. Candice's work seat is his new favorite spot to sun himself. It is a race to see who gets their bum into the chair to claim it first for the day. 

This past Sunday we went to Kalk Bay, a lovely bohemian little town on the sea. We went with a singular vision: breakfast at Olympia Cafe. My word, this place is like Cape Town's version of the lovely Tartine in San Francisco. We shared a mushroom and mozzarella croissant with some scrambled eggs, and then another croissant with jam for dessert. 

Swoon. It was too good for words. My face hurt when we left because I was smiling so much. 

After breakfast, we walked down the main road and window shopped. We ended with a walk along the pier, looking at the boats and chatting to a fisherman here and there. 

And this little house? This place, dear friends, is the the result of good fortune smiling upon us once more, because this is the house we are moving into next week. A colleague of Brendan's at the University has to leave suddenly for England to care for an ailing family member and has offered to rent her darling Victorian house to us. It has a wonderful sunny courtyard, a spare bedroom (book your tickets, folks), and a new kitchen. And there is a bathtub!! We haven't had one of those for 3 years. We are feeling so happy and fortunate and thrilled. Update addresses and such will follow, along with a virtual tour next week.

So life is great. We are embracing life in the Mother City in a big way, and there is no sight of decreased excitement in the near future. The weeks ahead will bring driving lessons for me (should be good for a comical blog post), settling into work life, a new sweet little baby niece, a visit from Brendan's parents, and lots and lots more guava yogurt for yours truly. Man, I just can't get enough of the stuff. 

last post from this side

Well, this is it! We are sitting in the Sheraton at JFK getting ready for our final night's sleep in the USA for a while. Was a bit of an eventful day (finding out your car has a dead battery the day you are leaving is not stress reducing), but it ended well (help from great friends and a new battery) and here we are. Parker has no idea what is in store for him, but is enjoying looking out the window from our 5th floor room.

We'll keep you all posted from the other side, once we are settled into our new CT of Cape Town. Thanks for all the love, support, encouragement, and good wishes everyone has shared!!

Over and out!

cleared for takeoff

Parker is now fully and officially free to fly, but it has not been neither easy nor inexpensive to get to this point. Thank heavens it has all worked out because I don't know what we would do without our

editor,

workout buddy,

sewing companion,

watchman,

lion hunter,

sandpapery kisser,

taste tester,

 and blog assistant.

One microchip (how very Jason Bourne), rabies shot, deworming treatment, physical exam, signature and stamp from the USDA Federal Veterinarian in Hartford, new airline approved crate, South African Airways plane reservation, fully completed South African import permit, and several hundred dollars later he is ready to leave. I hope they serve him some nice refreshments on the plane and the traveller next to him doesn't hog the armrest!

lately

Here's a smattering of what we've been up to lately. I must admit that I've forgotten my camera (gasp!) or forgotten to take pictures (double gasp!) of many things. The moral of this story: our life is even more fun than these pictures convey.

Last week I developed a new obsession- Miya's sushi restaurant in New Haven. I had lunch there with two of my nearly-former Peer Health Educators and it has changed my life (mostly because now I want to eat there every day).

I look weird in this picture because I'm trying to hug two people who are a little too far away from me. But they look great. 

Miya's will get its own post later this week. I am also considering going back for some additional research. 

Last week also brought an abundance of pie, which is never a bad thing. My lovely co-workers held a little going away gathering for me feature 6 varieties of my favorite food group.

Naturally, I needed to eat a slice of each.

I have been lucky enough to work with some of the most intelligent, inspiring, fun, fabulous people for the last nearly-four years at Yale. This Thursday (my last day) is going to be a toughie. 

And then, because six pieces of pie on a Friday isn't enough of a treat, we went to Miya's for dinner. Swoon.

We spent Saturday with our friends Krissy and Tim and their ridiculously cute girls. 

Krissy made me the *MOST* lovely apron as a going away gift. It's made of this soft flannel, has corset-style lacing in the back, a tea cup applique on the pocket, and the daintiest ruffles around the edges. I adore it so much, and now am even further convinced that she needs to hurry up and start a business so I can buy every last thing she puts her needle to.

Krissy also makes really cute children, but she won't be selling them in her shop. 

Ella and I played outside for a bit while the food was grilling. 

We had some great salads with our meal. I made a mango slaw and Tim made an orzo salad with sultanas and pine nuts. I'm going to strong arm him into giving me the recipe. 

After sups there was birthday cake for the Krissy. Happy summery times.

In more recent news:

As part of the never-ending stream of work to be done so I can be employed in South Africa, I found out this morning that I needed a full criminal record check and to be fingerprinted. Thankfully I had a friend in the Yale Police Department who could help me out. Now if only I had a friend who really like completing paperwork...

A South African 4th of July

We spent the 4th of July with my dad, Diane, and Grammy in southern Virginia before being joined by the brothers and collectively going on vacation in North Carolina. While it was hardly an appropriately patriotic meal of hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans, and apple pie, we decided to whip up some South African goodies for the fam. The plan was to give everyone a taste of our soon-to-be homeland.  We served...

Bobotie, a Malay-influenced meat dish involving curry, dried fruit, nuts, and an egg custard topping. I know many of you might be thinking "Eww" but I promise you it is anything but eww. It's heavenly. And, if I do say so myself, I make a fabulous bobotie...a few South Africans in my life have told me so. I use this recipe as a guide.

Yellow rice, the traditional accompaniment. Turmeric gives it the great color, and ginger provides an awesome flavor. We had Mrs. Balls' chutney and Nando's peri-peri sauce, the classic condiments. There was cauliflower too, but that's just because it is delish and it's good to eat your vegetables.

And for dessert, a milk tart with some American stars and stripes flair. If my bobotie is good, my milk tart is crazy good. Someday I'll share the recipe. 

And, in the spirit of the day, we cracked off a couple little baby-firework things. 

birthday celebrations, part 2

Friday we zipped out of town to Vermont for the weekend. I love the Green Mountain State and Brendan hadn't been there, so it seemed just the place for a joint birthday getaway. Parker, however, was none too pleased to see us leave. He watched from the window as we packed the car up.

pre-departure snap

we've arrived!

We stayed at a bed and breakfast on an 18th century farm. 

There were chickens, goats, horses...all very delightful and farmy. The B&B was on the Battenkill River and had a few miles of walking trails on site. 

Saturday was Brendan's birthday and we had big plans. I tip toed downstairs to sneak us up some tea in bed, and then he opened presents and got some birthday skype wishes from the fam. After a very hearty farm breakfast we were off for a canoe trip on the Battenkill.

 

It was a lovely warm morning, and we had the river to ourselves for most of the 3 hour journey.

After a quick clean up, we were off to a local pub for the USA vs Ghana game. 

Sadly, the USA is out but it was a great result for the African continent. We resolved henceforward to support Ghana fully. 

That evening there was a birthday dinner, a candle blown out, and a wish made that will hopefully come true.

Sunday brought another walk, another fun farm breakfast, and another game of soccer (England's loss prompted further resolve to root for Ghana). We made a slow trip back home, stopping at all sorts of places along the way, including the famous Vermont Country Store.

This classic old general store-style shop has all sorts of things, ranging from the very useful to the very silly but still fun (I would put their Yodeling Pickle in this category).

The masks also fall into that latter category.

And, it being Vermont, there was plenty of maple syrup to be had.

We tried maple mustard, maple cheese, maple dips, and maple cookies.

There were more stops at farm stalls and country shops picking up goodies (I'll do a separate post on the food later on), and posing for a funny photo here and there.

Our final stop was just outside Brattleboro at a river we spied on the way up. We had a picnic lunch and a dip in the cool water before getting onto the highway. A great end to a lovely weekend.