Trying to blend in

Sometimes I do not write because I feel as if I have no pictures to go along with the words, and pictures reveal less than words, so they are easier to share.  Real people, who really know me, read this, and it is all they hear from me, and they know me, so my writing voice has to sound like my speaking voice.

Sometimes I do not write because I am too busy.

Sometimes I do not write because I am in a difficult patch, and a bit moody, and it seems wrong to sit down and write cheerily about crafts and such while I really feel as if parenting is far too difficult and all those people with clean, neat houses have their priorities all wrong.  They, too, should spend hours aimlessly browsing or taking pictures with their iPhones.

But tonight I have a few pictures to show, at least:

(The tablecloth was a gift from my mother, with printed South African flowers)

(Jacques' sweater was a gift from his mother, hand knit.)

(Wow, they are big!) A week or two ago we did not have bread in the house, and I have not replenished my pantry completely since we came back, so I had no bread flour.  Martinus was distraught - do we not have ingredients either?!  So I fell back on good old white flour, eggs, milk and butter.  And baking powder, of course. I used a scones recipe, but instead of making individual scones (by the time I started to panic it was 1 pm), I just made a big round scone and cut it into eights.  I know this is how many Americans do it, I have never seen it in this shape growing up.  We pulled out the good old Lyle's Golden Syrup and Marmite, and added butter and cheese.  Lunch!

Back in South Africa, walking though the aisles of the Spar, I felt so happy.  Everything I loved was just there, so easy, no hard thinking about what to do with it once I brought it home.  My sister bought me the syrup, in Namibia.  I found the Marmite at a World Market.  Today I found a site that sells many South African products, and decided to buy some Ouma Rusks, Mrs Balls Chutney, Iwisa Maize Flour (for breakfast pap, and it is not the same as grits, I promise you) and Handy Andy.  As if there isn't enough cleaning liquids in the US.  But I was on all fours under the kitchen table, yesterday, wiping up sticky brownie crumbs, and wishing that I had Handy Andy - just because I know how to use it.  I also bought some sweet chili sauce, Wellington's.  Because it really is not available here, and I eat it on everything.

In other news, we are buying a house!  The same one we saw in October and thought we could not get because we would not be in a position to close before April 2013.  We have signed the final contract, and the date of closing is specified as April 30.  We went back to look at it again, measured the rooms, and we still love it, I think I love it even more.  It may be our "forever house".  It looks big in this picture, but it is not that big - 2200 square feet (205 square meters).  Four bedrooms, two living areas and a breakfast nook next to the kitchen.

This is the view from the back of the house, that fence is part of an enclosed area behind the house.  (The Alpaca pasture?)  How funny, I never noticed the wires and poles when we were there, you get so used to them here in Texas.  It is a good sign, it means that you do not have to bury everything to prevent it from being stolen.

(As I write, it started to rain, and I hear some thunder.  What a rare treat to listen to thunder and rain in the darkness, when everyone has gone to bed but me and my poor husband who has a deadline coming up next week...)

And now I just want to show you what I have been doing with my iPhone, and Hipstamatic, my favorite app so far:

And these ones are spooky, but I like them:

 I like things that appear to be old.  I treasure the hand-me-downs from friends; I love to know that it had once been their mom's or an uncles', even the second hand homeschooling books with names written into them in the front gives me a sense of belonging.  Blending and mixing as much of the old with as much of the new as I can.