A few Random things said around our house lately that were probably not heard around yours

Can someone please bring the yogurt in from the car? I think is it done curing……

I make my own yogurt and it is a great snack for the kids and awesome on homemade granola for breakfast. I used to have an oven with a pilot light, but don’t have that now, so have tried to figure out ways to cure the yogurt to make it set. Recently, a missionary friend shared a tip of setting it in the car, because it gets so hot in there. I decided to try it – and it worked great!!! Yeah for solar energy!

Someone shot a porcupine – do we want to buy some meat?

Last week, my friend brought some meat that was for sale. That happens fairly regularly and so we have to make a decision about whether or not to buy it. We try to determine if it is fresh (if I can smell it walking down the porch steps- that will be a “no”), if the price is good (just what is the going rate for a kilo of porcupine?), and what kind of meat it is. We had a little trouble at first with this one because they were using a name we had not heard before. Fortunately (?), the foot was still attached so we were able to figure it out.

Now, I know my mom fixed porcupine when I was a kid (remember, I grew up in Africa)- so I have eaten it before. But, those of you who know me well, know that I don’t relish the job of butchering meat. (Remember, I like to cut it up and then put it in the freezer and forget it for a while and then pretend that I bought it at the store.) Anyway, our freezer is fairly empty and we are trying to stretch the meat we have to last until 2 ½ weeks from now when we go to CKY. So, we decided to go ahead and buy it. My husband graciously butchered the meat for us and put it in the fridge. But I kept thinking about it – all the while, feeling the bile in my throat. (The quills had been removed and the skin burned so that smell was in my mind.) But, since “I’m every woman”, I tried my best.

I pressured it (gagging as I put it in the pot) and decided to make barbeque beef with it. The “meat” was tough, and I was still feeling the bile in my throat as I prepared it. But I pressed on! It was a crazy busy night with sick people on the porch and so I sent the boys in to heat up the meat. Unfortunately, one of the boys said (really loudly), “Is this that porcupine?” which horrified Hannah, who then refused to eat it. (I do much better with her if she doesn’t know what was being served.)

Frankly, I was thankful for an excuse not to eat the meat either, and fortunately, I had a little bit of leftover chicken in the fridge, so Hannah and I split that. I realize completely that it is all a mental issue ( really, what is the difference in chicken or beef and porcupine, other than the fact that it is a rodent. :^) ) – but I figure as long as I know that, I am okay. Last night, we got some deer meat – which now needs to be pressured into – you guessed it, BBQ sandwiches. :^)

Can someone please pull the clothes off the fence and fold them?

Up until last week, I had no clothesline. So all of our laundry was hung up over the stick fence in the back yard. It actually worked okay and was a lot faster than using clothespins. There were some hazards, like splinters in the underwear, but as long as you were careful, they could be found and tragedy avoided. Then, last week, my husband gave me a gift of love and put up my clothesline. It is great.

Yesterday, I did about 5 loads of clothes and my lines were full of clean clothes, flapping in the breeze. It was a beautiful sight. I need to buy more clothespins in CKY – I have some plastic ones that are quickly dying – probably due to the fact that they were cheap and can’t take the equatorial sun beating down on them. My neighbors no doubt wonder why I would waste good rope that could tied up a cow to hang my clothes on when I could just throw them over the fence or lay them on the ground to dry, like they do. White women are very needy! :^)

I couldn’t bring the bandage for you to wrap my leg because the cow ate it.

I heard that excuse for the first time last week, when I was doing wound care on a little girl with a sore on her leg. It struck me so funny – the African equivalent to “the dog ate my homework.” When I care for a bigger wound, I put medicine and gauze on the wound, and then wrap it with strips of cloth – like the old bandages from WW 1 and WW 2. Each patient gets 2 – so we can rotate and they can wash one and have the other in use. The system works great – except if there are cows wandering through the village – which there always are.

They are fairly destructive and will eat just about anything! Life here for medical things is just rough. Often I am told that a child’s medical carnet (a little booklet with a record of vaccines and medicines) cannot be produced (for my viewing pleasure)for a variety of reasons: my kid dropped it a. in the fire b. in the water c. on the road. Or, my kid peed on it (that is by far the most often heard excuse.) Or, I lost it.

I have been pleased to see that my villagers are quickly catching on to the fact that they MUST bring back the piece of paper I give them with a list of the medicines that they have received here, or I will not see their child again. I hear them telling each other to not lose it and bring it back – as I am treating other patients. Now, if I could just get the cows to cooperate!