Our Guest Cottage

The farm guest cottage - the clouds behind her are where Kilimanjaro lies (on a clear day, that is !)

Dibble, Zonde, Josie & Mbwenya thoroughly enjoyed their walk. Here they are sniffing something beside a field of wheat.

On Sunday my husband was working on and off for most of the day – he had been hoping to have the day off, but some crop disease problems kept him busy as he had to spray to try and curb the disease (which seems to be under control now, thank goodness).

Instead of moping around the house (Sunday’s are traditionally family days for us and I really look forward to having my husband at home !) my daughter and I took the dogs for a short walk to the farm guest cottage which I told you about last week. I wanted to take some photo’s of it for the blog ! So, here is a photo above of the guest cottage ……

A couple of years ago my husband decided that it would be nice to paint the outside of the farm house green. He ran it by me first, and I agreed - as long as it was a pale green though, I said. When the paint arrived, it was a dark sea green colour (awful !) so I refused to allow him to paint the house with it ! As a result, the guest cottage was painted with it instead. Thankfully, over the years the green colour has faded in the relentless African sun, and last year we put a coat of white paint over it. But the green still shines through a little as it really still needs a second coat, which I plan to get Nelson (painter/handyman) to do soon. Then the green will be gone forever !

The guest cottage lies on the far side of the farm workshops, not very far from our house and is a good walk to do on a Sunday as there are not too many staff around this area so I can take the dogs with me without too many problems, as long as I don’t go far. (To read about the strange reason why I can't easily walk on the farm, click here.)

Next time I’ll take some interior photo’s to put on the blog. We had a student here last year who is an excellent artist, and she did a stunning black & white elephant painting which takes up one entire wall of the dining room/lounge area, and is really quite unique.

Creamy Tomato & Basil Soup

I used a deep purple coloured basil to make the soup, and left some of this whole in the soup, as you can see (or - was I just being lazy & not liquidzing it for long enough ?!)

The temperature is dropping on our side of the world, as we enter our chilly Winter months and the days get shorter.

Ever since I was a child, I have absolutely LOVED Winter - it is my most favourite season of the year ! There’s just something about crisp, cool air and long, cold nights that make me feel so … alive, and cozy.

Our Winter temperatures here can drop to as low as 7 ‘C at night and average around 15 – 18’C during the day (I know – not nearly as cold as Winter in other parts of the world – but cold by African standards !). We usually have a huge log fire burning in the lounge at night, and duck down duvets on the beds – both of which help to take the chill off the air. I cannot run electric blankets off our battery power at night, so hot water bottles are good substitutes. All the dogs and cats have foam cushions and blankets to sleep snuggly on – well, the cats sleep on the beds and if I am really honest, the dogs creep up onto the couches once we go to bed and I have extra blankets and cushions out on the veranda for the village strays. (They creep up onto the veranda at sunset for a little warmth, and are gone again by dawn.)

Winter months also mean warm, comforting food and one of our favourites is soup. We eat it often for lunch during Winter as it is filling, nourishing and easy to make.

So, here is my own recipe for Creamy Tomato and Basil Soup. (I made this last week when I realised how much basil I had in my herb pots which was begging to be used) -:


Creamy Tomato & Basil Soup

2 tins (400 gm each) peeled Tomatoes
2 vegetable Stock Cubes, dissolved in
2 tins boiling Water (use the empty Tomato tins to measure)
2 tbsp chopped Basil
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup Milk (you can use full cream – I usually use skim & it works just fine)

Place all the ingredients in a pot (except the milk) and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. Remove from heat, stir in the milk and liquidize.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil poured over the surface, and some croutons. To make the croutons, I simply cut shapes with a small pastry cutter into slices of bread (the older the better) and quickly shallow fry in some olive oil, drain, and add to the soup. If you don’t have a tiny pastry cutter, simply cut the bread into squares instead. The croutons add a lovely crunch to the smoothness of the soup.

A Snake At Sunset

The snake was lying on the low white wall to the right of the photo. The windows above that, are my kitchen windows, where the cats come in for their food. You can see the thick foilage below the windows which the snake disappeared into. Ugh !

On Friday evening my daughter and I were alone at the house. My husband was on his way back from the city (he’d had to go in to collect chemicals and spares earlier on during the day) and all the staff had gone home for the day.

I went into the garden just before sunset, to call my daughter in for her bath. It was as we were on our way back inside and walking on to the veranda that in the blurred light of dusk, I noticed a long, dark snake draped in an “S” shape along the low white wall just to the left of the front door. I stopped, caught my breath and told my daughter (as calmly as I could) that she must keep very still and quiet, and that I was going to pick her up. A million thoughts rushed through my head in a matter of seconds … should I walk up to the workshop to call one of the askari (guards) to help me ? No, I thought - by that time the snake would be gone and either hiding in the thick bougainvillea around the front windows or – perish the thought - slithering in to the house through one of the open windows.

I had to act quickly. I got my daughter and the dogs inside. Now my mind was buzzing, the adrenaline was pumping - a stick, I needed a stick. But not a broom or mop stick. They are cheaply made here and break on impact. I needed something stronger. I ran to the store (pantry), climbed up to a high shelf and found a metal moisture prod ‘thingy’ that you put into the soil to test moisture levels. That should do it. I ordered my daughter to STAY INSIDE AND NOT MOVE and out I went.

The snake had moved – it was now lazily slithering into the bougainvillea, towards the open kitchen windows. Only about one third of it’s body was still on the wall. If I didn’t move quickly, it would be gone – hidden in the dense foliage. I know that the best way to kill a snake is to give it a single, sharp blow to the back of the head. You have to be quick though. If you miss, and depending on what type of snake it is, it could rear up at you, angered and dangerous. But it’s head was not visible – what should I do ? My mouth was dry, my skin prickling - I brought the metal pole down quickly, with all my might, right across it’s back and I felt the jarring vibrate through my body as the metal pole hit the brick wall. The snake slithered away quickly - into the bougainvillea. Had I killed it ? I didn’t think so. Oh, no !

I went back inside, grabbed my daughter, and, keeping her safely to the side of my body, returned outside with a torch (flashlight) which I shone down into the area I’d seen the snake disappear into once I’d hit it. Nothing. I could see nothing. The snake had gone. It was worse than I’d thought - an injured snake, no doubt now aggressive, so close to the house – that’s all I needed. It couldn’t be worse.

I came inside, quickly shut all the windows on that side of the house, made sure the dogs were all still in, locked the front door – and burst into tears from the sheer emotion of it all ! (I gave up smoking 4 years ago but let me tell you, all I wanted at that stage was a cigarette to calm my nerves !)

Living in Africa, I’ve had my fair share of snakes. This is the 3rd snake I’ve had to kill myself. I know that there are many people out there who will disagree with me killing an innocent creature and yes, I do feel bad about it as the snake was probably harmless but as a mother, my first instinct was to protect my child – and my animals. How would I have felt if the next day, my daughter had been playing and had been bitten by the snake ? How would I have felt if one of my cats had died a slow and lingering death from a snake bite ? I just did what I had to at the time, although I am not proud of it, and I do feel bad. But I just couldn’t take a chance.

When my husband finally got home about an hour later, he went out to see if he could find the snake …. we were planning on getting the askari to come and help search for it. I felt quite ill with worry.

You can imagine my surprise then, when a few minutes later I heard my husband say “Well. You got it. I’ve just found half a snake” and I went out to see exactly that – half a snake, neatly chopped in the middle (but with the head section missing). I obviously DID kill it with my first blow. The next thing my husband said, in absolute joy and relief as he picked up the metal pole was …… “Oh my goodness, that’s GREAT where did you find this moisture prodder ? I’ve been looking for it EVERWHERE” and then “Phew, I think I need a beer now !” I mean ….. really ! (Typical male, eh ?!)

I suppose what I’d really like to tell you is that this will be the last snake story I ever relate on the blog. But, this being Africa – well, nothing’s predictable ….. and anything’s possible.

So I guess you’ll just have to watch this space, and in the meantime, I’ll make sure that the metal moisture prod ‘thingy’ is never far from my reach. (But that the cigarettes are …!)