Then we made brownies (really yummy simple recipe from Sanitarium Recipe of the Week - does that mean it is more healthy?). The biggest challenge was stopping the girls eat the chocolate bits during the mixing. I had to hide them in the end. They also learned that while a mixture of cocoa powder, olive oil, margarine and milk may look like a yummy chocolate sauce it tastes pretty bad without the sugar! Note the pretty aprons I got from an Australia Day market stall in Bendigo.
Then we played dress-ups. Alesia is wearing her current favourite princess dress. It is a birthday present from Aunty Emily that arrived this week. We needed a medieval outfit to go with the fluffy princess dresses we have. Alesia loves it and wants to know if she can wear it outside this summer.
After all this activity we summoned Daddy up for lunch via Skype (only took 10 minutes of nagging). We served him a yummy lunch of baked corn and zucchini cakes (another recipe from Sanitarium) with Mongolian sour cream, accompanied by a salad of new season radish with cucumber, fresh coriander, a touch of sesame oil and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. This was followed by desert of warm brownies. I was impressed myself! There will be nothing special for dinner tonight though...Then we all started to wait for Nyamaa, who said she would be back from the dentist by lunch time. Keira amused herself by going through her books......
We have had blackouts for most of last night and today. This afternoon our generator decided it needed a break so overheated. We took the girls outside to the sandpit and Nymaa arrived at 3:30pm, puffy faced but happy to stay for the rest of the afternoon. With no power Chris, Terence and I held a strategic meeting of ADRA Mongolia directors at a local cafe. We wandered back from our high level discussions at about 5pm - only to find that the power had come back on at 4! Oh well....
On the weekend Chris and I built another no-dig garden bed. This one was a bit slower to build, with Chris nursing his arm (hopefully the stitches are coming out tomorrow). We also made structural modifications to the first no-dig bed (that is the problem with being married to an engineer). We now have two structurally sound no-dig garden beds. On Sunday half the ADRA staff seemed to be at work at some point during the day (many dragging a child behind them into the office). So we have had plenty of discussions about what we are doing with our garden. My seedlings are two weeks old now, and going strong. Everything looks small and green in the photo, but I have lettuce, basil, kale, kohlrabi, beets, carrots and strawberries.
On the weekend Chris and I built another no-dig garden bed. This one was a bit slower to build, with Chris nursing his arm (hopefully the stitches are coming out tomorrow). We also made structural modifications to the first no-dig bed (that is the problem with being married to an engineer). We now have two structurally sound no-dig garden beds. On Sunday half the ADRA staff seemed to be at work at some point during the day (many dragging a child behind them into the office). So we have had plenty of discussions about what we are doing with our garden. My seedlings are two weeks old now, and going strong. Everything looks small and green in the photo, but I have lettuce, basil, kale, kohlrabi, beets, carrots and strawberries.
I am really happy with the tomatoes. They are loving life and have shot up nicely. I found small flower heads today, so I am looking forward to early home grown tomatoes in the near future. I am growing some in home-made self watering containers, and some in normal pots. They seem to like the self watering containers much more, so if anyone wants to know how to make these send me an email and I will send you the instructions I found on the web. In the photo below you can also see my basil and rosemary.
We have had three days of weather in the mid to high 20s. Yesterday was 28, and the heating was still on inside. The heating is off now....and it is predicted to be 12 with maybe snow on the weekend. I have done the clothing transition and put all our winter gear in storage and got all the summer clothes out. Alesia is loving wearing dresses every day, even outside. Anyway, that's the news for today, not very adventurous or exotic, but still a good day none-the-less :-)
