Playing catch up...

I meant to write a blog entry at the end of last week, but I got side-tracked and went away for the weekend, so what with one thing and another I get to cover two weeks news at once!

Last week one of my big projects was to host a ladies tea with Jill for a local bible study. We had a lot of fun setting up a nice table, making some goodies, and then serving these sweet ladies.

In all there were thirteen ladies and a baby who came; notice how packed the Patrol was!

I was so tickled to hear them singing away at the top of their voices as they arrived at the school and went back to their village. What a privilege to share an afternoon with God’s people!

Last weekend I was able to get off station for a little while by going to the next mission station over and be spoiled by the lovely Marilyn. I got to enjoy sitting on their lovely porch and enjoy the view of the hill. Sadly, the weekend was over all too soon and it was bumpity bump back to Sakeji with three barrels of av gas in the back of the truck!

This week I’ve been trying to get as many of my projects off my list as possible, start the ‘hard core’ prep for the term, and getting to know/cooking for the two new short termers who arrived early this week.

A major project that I have been tackling is tracking down all the music for the end of term show—easier said than done when you have to rely on digital downloads only! I think I’ve pretty much got things sorted, and since one of the things Jill and I did last weekend was finalize the program, we’re actually in really good shape.

Another major project that I’ve been working on is getting my handwork supplies organized. My girls are going to be making the ornaments that will adorn our school Christmas tree, so I’ve been doing a lot of plastic canvass cutting!

I’m also working on refining the stocking requirement to make this as easy of a process as possible. I continually learn as I teach these 3rd and 4th grade girls…

Parting Shot: I’m working on my redneck porch decorating scheme…

This week of holiday

* Hazel, my dog, hurt her back foot, so she has been doing a three-legged hop around the station. This setback does not in any way deter her from her sworn duty to chase lizards, bark a lot at the grass on the other side of the playing field, and play with the visiting kids. Thankfully she’s mostly healed now, so I expect to see her back to her usual speedy self.

* I made breadsticks and English muffins for the first time this week. They both turned out well, and it was good to get to know my new oven a little better.

* I went on a ‘shopping’ trip with Jill into Ikelenge to buy some flour and margarine. I also, much to my surprise, found a lady selling some microfiber cloths in one of the little stalls, so I’m trying those out in my house to see how they do.

* We had a big bonfire last night to get ride of some old books and papers from the music shelf. Jill and I have been tripping over those boxes of trash for months now, and it was so nice to just be outside by the fire, watching the kids roast marshmallows (an interesting revelation of character!), and then talking with Jill.

I’ve had a request for some more pictures of the remodeled sitting room, so here they are. It’s starting to take shape, but there is still a lot of finishing work to do.

Parting shot: My dog ended up with a southern lady eyebrow somehow...

New Stove!

Well, on Saturday Tanis arrived at Sakeji safely, and on Sunday afternoon my new stove was unpacked and hooked up!

I made bread today as well as enjoying my first hot lunch in several days, and it worked beautifully! Praise the Lord for His goodness and provision!

Parting Shot: The eastern sky the last few nights as they burned off a big section of the bush.

BOOM!

Well, I have had a long love/hate relationship with my stove over the almost 5 years that I have lived in this house. This stove has always been temperamental—not for the faint of heart, but until a few days ago we had a good working relationship. Yes, I have had to turn the propane off at the bottle outside (my to my guests confusion as to why I whip in and out of the kitchen so much) because otherwise it leaks into the kitchen. Yes, most of the knobs have melted to uselessness so I have to keep pliers beside the stove to operate the knobs, but all of those things are work aroundable.

Last Friday I wanted to make pizza for Janette and myself, so I grabbed the pliers to turn on the oven as normal. The knob wouldn’t turn more than just barely on—maximum heat! I fought with it awhile, then exasperatedly managed to produce edible pizza despite the less than ideal conditions. On Monday of this week the fix-it guy comes in, so he took a look at it, did some banging around, and pronounced it good. After he fixed it I deep cleaned it since I realized that was a long overdue chore, and come to think of it I cooked lunch on the stove top on Tuesday. Tuesday evening was when things got interesting…

Jill had just come back from Kalene, so I decided to cook supper for her. I went to light the oven, thought there was more propane smell than usual, but chalked it up to the service. Well, when the propane on the oven ‘poofed’ and the area under the burners lit on fire, I went scurrying out to turn off the propane at the bottle. Not cool! I took the top off the stove, looked around to see if I could find any damage, carefully lit the stove top, and decided it was just the oven. Well, this morning I was doing down some veggies. I had just put the peas into the cold water and had turned away from the stove to grab something when BOOM! there was a big propane explosion! The pot of boiling water was flung across the kitchen as all the burners leapt off the stove top. The closed kitchen door was blown open taking part of the plate with it, (this as after we removed the dangerous bit of loose metal)

pictures flew off the fridge, a plastic bag was partially melted when either the pot or the water hit it, and a window in the dining room that I have never been able to open the whole time I’ve lived here was blown open! Where was I? Right in front of all this! I flew out the door (not noticing that it was open—I was rather shaken), turned off the propane, and shook a little while my gardener gave me a startled look and said, “Eee!” I went back inside and found this:

I don’t know how God worked it out, but even though I was right in front of the blast, I was NOT HURT. The hair on my right arm is a little singed, but with the flame, boiling water, and all the other things flinging about, I was fine! God is so good! When I get to heaven, I want to watch that video replay…

So, it looks like I’ll be needing a new stove… Either that, or the repair guy is trying to kill me! However, it looks like God has that all under control as well—I’ll be sure to post an update later. Right now I’m just so thankful to be alive and unscathed despite being so close to a big explosion!