all cleaned up?

Just to update you on our power pole in the driveway thing. It was cleared out of the way by that afternoon, BUT some random guys just came and clipped the wire (so it wasn't live I guess), and then moved the pole so it was not in our driveway but in our lawn in front of the wall. So look at the picture from the last post and imagine the pole going the other way onto the grass.

That was it. They moved it, so now I feel like a redneck with trash in our lawn. Too bad they can't see how lovely our lawn is behind the wall. Anywho....all is well and we are doing great!

Also, the power line didn't bother our power, because we have a generator that goes 24/7. We are one of the lucky ones here in Harare that have that, others have power on and off all the time. But I'm thinking because it wasn't live, then it didn't affect too many others.

Hit and Run

Last night Tyler and I went to bed as we normally do around 10pm. I was having some fitful sleep, and then right about midnight I heard this crash and bang. It worried me, and then two seconds later I heard another crash and bang sound. I quickly sat up and shook Tyler awake. I knew it came from outside, by the gate. So he looked outside to see if the guard was looking worried. He said he saw him looking over the wall and through the gate to see what was going on.

We weren't too worried, because if it was something serious he would come and get us. So we started to fall back asleep, then Tyler's phone rang. He quickly picked it up and it was Post One, or the Marines post at the Embassy. They said they had heard the chatter on the guards radios about our house, and told us they heard that someone had run into one of the poles outside our house. So it was a car accident. They asked if we were okay, and we said fine. So we went back to sleep.

Well this morning we woke up to see how bad it was, because we knew the car or something was halfway into our driveway. We wanted to see if Tyler would be able to drive out or if the school bus would be able to drive in to get Spencer. Well, this is what we found:

That's the power pole, which has the power line still attached to it and stretching across our whole driveway! So Tyler had to call motorpool from the Embassy to come pick him up, Spencer had to be carried over the power line to get into the car for school. It's crazy!
We found out that person driving the car was coming from the road that T-bones our road (you can see it in the first picture) and was turning the corner, but didn't brake or anything so they went too fast and crashed into the pole. As you can see it isn't dug in very deep, and you can see where the car hit it.
This is what is in our driveway, the light bulbs on top of it shattered in the fall.

Worst thing, we found out from Cosmas, our gardener that the power company hasn't been getting paid so who knows when they will come to fix it. Most likely not any time soon. We are hoping some of the guys from the Embassy are going to come and fix it today though. But I mean, crazy right??

Pretty Flower

I have found by far my most favorite flower here in Zimbabwe! I don't know what the name of it is, but it's gorgeous!

I love how it has the white flower on the outside, but then another purple flower coming from the middle. How does that happen!??! Another thing, they are not always in bloom. I've noticed that it's only on some days that these flowers are full bloom. Other days they are closed up tight.

Another flower that is in our front yard, are these pretty red ones.

BUT...they are on a tree. So the petals are always all over the yard, but they are pretty and vibrant!

Spencerisms 2010 (episode 2)

Conversation tonight with Spencer:

Spencer: I want to have a dinner party.

Mommy and Daddy: Do you know what a dinner party is?

S: Yes, it's where you have dinner and a little party with it. It's kinda like a sleepover but people eat dinner with ya.

Then we got on the subject of him saying he has a girlfriend.

Mommy: Do you know what a girlfriend is?

S: Yes, it's someone you want to spend lots of time with, and you like her.

M &D: Did you tell this girl that she was your girlfriend?

S: Yeah. I told her she was my girlfriend....and I was a little nervous.

M&D: What did she say?

S: She said she didn't want to be my girlfriend.

M&D: So what did you do?

S: I left.

He is so funny and is getting to old for his own good. :)

Geck-oh-no!

So this post isn't quite pleasant, so if you have a weak stomach don't watch the video. :)

We frequently have geckos running through the house. I pay no attention to them because usually they are on the walls, and run away from you. They also eat other bugs that I would rather not have in the house. So I really don't mind them.

Anyway, so here the story starts. I go into our bathroom and I find this albino gecko on our shower door. A little too close to comfort for me, so I call for Tyler.

He comes and I go away because believe it or not geckos are REALLY fast. I tell him to get rid of it, so he plans on just having it run up onto the ceiling (which I don't mind). Well, it didn't quite goes as planned, the gecko ran under one of our scales. It kinda got stuck so Tyler went to lift it up and dropped it, and in turn took off the tail of the gecko. This doesn't hurt them too much, I don't think. And usually the tail grows back. But I had to get on video what the tail did after it was chopped off. It's a little gross, but kinda once in a lifetime thing to see. :) Enjoy!

Woodcarvings-Zim style

We found a great souvenir shop in town and went to see what we could find. It was a great thing that we did because we found our nativity set we wanted from here. We collect them and now have one from Madagascar, Congo, Germany and now Zim! :) I love getting the great woodcarvings here, because they are so detailed. It's amazing what the artist can do!

This is Spencer's hippo he got at the store, and the smallest one out of the 5 or 6 that we sitting there. It's still big enough that Spencer has to carry it with both hands, and the biggest one was probably as big as him if he was down on all fours. He's named this one "hippo".

Steaks and Potatoes

Grilled Steak with Balsamic Rosemary butter with "Old Bay" Grilled Steak Fries

Okay, this picture doesn't necessarily do the meal justice, but it is the best I have. Becca bought me the Bobby Flay "Grill It" cookbook and I am trying out different recipes every few weeks. The first part was the steak with the Rosemary butter, however in my opinion, the butter was too time intensive in relation to the added taste to the steak. The Old Bay Steak Fries turned out pretty good, a little spicy, but good.

Steak w/butter recipe

2 cups balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 teaspoons kosher salt

4 steaks (I used fillet mignon, but you can use your favorite)

1. Combine the vinegar and peppercorns in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally until reduced to 1/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the peppercorns, whisk in the honey and rosemary, and let cool to room temperature.

2. Combine the balsamic mixture with the butter and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set slightly. The balsamic-rosemary butter can be made 1 day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving .

3. Top each steak with a few tablespoons of the butter and garish with rosemary sprigs.

4. Steak:

A. Twenty minutes before grilling, remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let sit, covered, at room temperature.

B. Heat your grill to high

C. Brush the steaks on both sides with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the steaks on the grill and let cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the steaks over and continue grilling for 5 to 6 minutes for medium rare, 7 to 8 minutes for medium, or 9 to 10 minutes for medium well.

D. Remove the steaks to a cutting board or platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

OLD BAY Grilled Steak Fries

1 tble ground bay leaves 1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 1/2 tsp celery salt 1/4 tsp crushed red chile flakes

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika 6 Idaho potatoes scrubbed

1 tsp ground black pepper kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground white pepper 1/2 cup canola oil (I use olive oil)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg chopped fresh chives

1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp ground allspice

1. Combine the bay leaves, celery salt, mustard, paprika, black and white peppers, nutmeg, cloves allspice, ginger, chile flakes, and cardamom in a small bowl

2. Put the potatoes in a pot of salted cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool before cutting each potato lengthwise into 8 thick slices or spears.

3. Heat your grill to high.

4. Brush the potatoes with the oil and season with the spice rub. Grill until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the chives and parsley if desired.