Rain Spiders and Jerusalem Crickets, and Beetles, OH MY!

    T-top of the morning to ya!

 

    I am currently scratching myself nervously due to the creepy crawlies... Guys, all of the insects in King Kong are REAL!! They must've done a casting call in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga because alllll of those bugs are living it up in a golf estate and giving a particular welcome to the Whitlocks.

   Recently, to my utter dismay, I heard someone say that if all of the bugs in the world were exterminated, human life would not exist in 50 years... That is just a sad thought. The other sad thought is that the Afrikaners have made me reevaluate my murderous ways. Their rule is if you kill it, you eat it. Otherwise, rescue the bugs and put them back in their natural habitat.

   Problem is, they seem to be naturally inclined to trespass upon the Whitlock premises.

   I didn't blog about the rain spider; but that was a frightening experience. I can handle reptiles and amphibians... Lions and rhinos. Etc. But anything with more than four legs is on my hit-list. I discovered the existence of the rain spider (or the Huntsman spider) when I was using our little powder room a few weeks ago. I was going to wash my hands when I saw eight eyes shift and stare at me. I SCREAMED and sprinted out of that bathroom.

  My brothers wouldn't even get it when they got one look. Dad was out of town. So... We called our superhero and the REAL Spiderman - Shaun Adams - to come up and rescue us. He got a real kick out of "The Americans" and taught Gab (the only brave soul) how to catch spiders. He said you can actually handle these disgusting, 8-legged, hairy man-hand sized creeps.

   I would've taken a photo but I ran out too quickly.

   Today, however, was when it dawned on me just what jurassic creatures we have in our midst. We got home from dinner and saw what was the equivalent to an elephant hiding behind a pillar: a Jerusalem cricket trying to crawl under our front door to hide from us. I don't know why HE was scared.
 
   The one we caught is much much uglier than the photos online. It serves him no justice. He looks like his mother was a half cricket and half ant and his father was a scorpion. HUGE. And my favourite part of the description in our insect guide was the fact that they have a terrible bite. Yes, folks. He's huge, can jump, has the face of a Goliath-an ant, and can BITE. I didn't take a photo of him because I am afraid my faithful iPhone is too small to capture the size of that thing. He is now in a jar and showing himself aggressive to anyone who tips it to get a look.

  So, the moral of my story is: King Kong is realistic. Forget dinosaur days. They all just migrated to Africa and the Middle East.



"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Been there. Done that... Or Have I??

Top of the morning to ya!!

So, people have been asking us here: Have you been to the Kruger Park yet??? 

My prideful self has been thinking: I lived here before and went twice. Who needs to go again???

Well, today we went and took Dad for the first time. I was excited because there's FINALLY something in this world that I had experienced that Dad hadn't. ;-) Other than that, I was thinking, "Bah! Been there. Done that!! This is for Dad."

If you have ever been to a game park, you know already how many HOURS you have to drive around, observe, chat, and think. Today... I did a lot of thinking.

You gotta love the splendour of God's creation. Let me just tell you. Before we passed the Paul Kruger Gate's threshold, we saw about 5 elephants. I've seen them before. But they are just as exciting EVERY time.

Then I got to thinking, "These are animals that are not regulated. You are not guaranteed to see THE BIG FIVE every time you enter the park. This is no zoo."

Did you know??? The term "Big Five" was coined by hunters for the lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, and rhino because they are considered the most difficult to hunt on foot and they are amongst the most dangerous animals??

As a child, I only liked one time I went to the zoo. That was the Pittsburgh Zoo and we went with some orphans from Juarez. My new friend, Karla, and I came up with a game where I learned the spanish word for every animal we passed. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the words. :-/

 Other than that one time, I quickly became bored with the zoos for multiple reasons. I never knew I'd have the chance to go to Africa. It wasn't for snobbery. I just didn't feel right going. Why??

1.) They are predictable. You are sure to see ALL of the animals you want to because they will still be lying in their cage.

2.) The animals are not kept in their natural habitat.

3.) The animals are much smaller in the zoos than in their natural habitats due to health (or bad health).

4.) The animals are fatter than their wild counterparts. 

Etc.! Etc.! Etc.!

Today we were stopped in traffic (At a game park??? Who'd a thunk it??!), stopped in a herd of HUNDREDS of Cape Buffalos crossing the road, stopped because an elephant just decided he wanted to stand guard in the centre of the road, ate lunch looking out at LOADS of sleeping hippos and crocs, watched big sis baboon babysitting numerous little ones, saw baby giraffes eating together, and were awed by the incredibly massive size of the Kudu!!! The list goes on... But my favourite was the wreaking giraffe carcass surrounded by Ground Horn Bills.

Graham: "I have never smelled a carcass that big."

Before we even saw this one, we could smell something AWFUL. A few cars were stopped and people were snapping photos. Disgusting! ... But incredible too. 

I love Kruger! The scene constantly changes. You can go one day and see absolutely NOTHING... (Well, you might see a rhino, a few giraffes, zebras and gazelles... and more zebras and gazelles... and even more zebras and gazelles.) 

Other days you can go and see lions, hyenas, and if you get there at the precise/exact/perfect/on time moment... A leopard or a cheetah. Neither of which I have seen yet. 

With this perspective in mind, I had loads of fun. As I marveled at His creation, I found myself praying to God; thanking Him for animals in their natural habitats that we feel honoured to observe and wonder at. I had a lovely day... And I look forward to going again!

"Well... That's all I have to say about that!"

Random Photo: Mo and I saw this grocery shopping at Spar.... Notice the "Best Buy" tag. TIA, folks. TIA.

Past Week's Highlights

  Top of the morning to ya!

   I'm not setting a very good record. It has been shamefully long since I have posted and I've already broken my resolution to be consistent. 

   It's been quite a busy week or so and we are currently honoured with the presence of friends who are expecting their first baby and daughter today or tomorrow. (I will make a post soon about them.) They say watch pots never boil... Try waiting for a baby!  Granted, it's only 16:15hrs and today is her due date; but I am impatient to see this gorgeous baby. (And I am positive that Sarah is even more ready to have her baby than I am.)  ... On top of that, I have added baby-holding competition because Grandma flew in from the states. I have a feeling I've been drastically bumped down in pecking order. ;-)

    In the meantime, I have preoccupied myself with different baking brainstorms. Besides their passion for meats and braais, South Africans (or at least Afrikaners) love their puddings and custards. They also eat a lot of cake. So, I decided to take it upon myself to come up with a vanilla cake with custard filling. So, I made a custard using a simple online recipe I found. (Tasted like glorified sweetened condensed milk.) Then I googled a good vanilla cake recipe. And finally, I just made some basic buttercream frosting with the usual butter, confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt for good measure. 

   This is how it went:

     

And we have the cake batter...

One of the two layers. I could already tell from the first one (I had to bake them separately because I only had one pan) that these were going to be pretty dense. A lot of factors contributed to it's texture and weight. Trial and error. Trial and error. I just have to remind myself of Thomas Edison.  ;-) 

Morgan - my darling perfectionist sister - did the honours of leveling the cake.

Voila! The final product. Strawberry formation is a courtesy of my brother, Craig. (He wants full credit for that one and rightly so.)

Oven oat pancakes with Bulgarian plain yoghurt (!!!!), strawberry jam, and honey or syrup. This was one of our breakfasts. I had to do the recipe from memory because I couldn't find it online. It comes from the *amazing* cookbook Hearth and Home. Excellent quick, healthful breakfast. A winner for our family and guests.

 And my personal favorite breakfast: cinnamon pancakes with sauteed cinnamon-sugar apples. 

"Well... that's all I have to say about that."

It's a Wonderful Life!

   Top of the morning to ya!

   

   It's no longer morning here; but tradition is tradition and I'm stickin' to it! ;-)

   This is the second to last day of a South African long weekend. Sadly enough, they have bought the feminist lie and we are "celebrating" Women's Day... for four days. The great side is that we were able to relax and enjoy great fellowship.

   We had a braai at our place and my photographer (*cough* Gabbi) lost sight of the goal and I am afraid that I cannot show you interesting photos from that. I'll give her some slack, though, because who could resist holding two brand new adorable babies in our fellowship??!! ;-)

    Even though this is primarily a food blog, I want to share our party/fellowship/braai photos and other shenanigans to give you a glimpse into our life here, as well. However, I did manage to take a few photos over the weekend that give an idea of what we've been up to.

Dad was brave enough to teach Mo and me how to drive his manual beastly vehicle... Mo did better than I did. I definitely am thankful for automatic! (I want to conquer this, though.)

I made some chicken and veggie curry Friday night. It was really good, if I might say so myself. I am not a huge fan of curry chicken because I've never really had one that made me just crave it. However, I wanted to make this taste as best as possible and I got good feedback from the fam. :-) Made my day!

I sauteed the veggies in a separate pan and then added the chicken and coconut milk to this. Let me tell you, butternut squash makes an excellent sweet contrast with this!

Pip chilling out on the couch next to me... Too funny!

Gab trying to take all the credit for the brownies. I was taking photos of each step and she ran up. She's a hoot! ... We had to improvise quite a bit since we're using what was already in the house to make everything. This tub-like mixing bowl was a blessing because every other bowl in the kitchen is not meant for cooking for a family of 7. 

These are not ribs... This is the delicious brownie batter. I folded in milk chocolate bar chunks since I have to find this baking store that supposedly has chocolate chips. They turned out to be delectable... Even to our Afrikaaner guests. :-)

Stole this finished product photo from my mom! So glad she took this because I had to leave the house before they were done in the oven and, therefore, did not get a photo.

This is the view once you step out of our back sliding doors. Spectacular... You see all kinds of gorgeous birds, various types of deer, the neighbours' dogs, men golfing, etc. We have one squirrel too. Ha! 

And of course it is the ideal reading spot.  I can't imagine the splendour of Eden, because this is absolutely breath-taking!

Soaking in the winter sun.

"Well... That's all I have to say about that."

Top of the Morning!

View on the way to a friend's farm.

    Oi!! My name is Caelyn. I've recently relocated with my family to South Africa for business. If you have never been to South Africa, I HIGHLY recommend it. I am American; but southern Africa, in general, is my heart's home. The saying holds true and I am living proof that Africa gets in your blood.  

   

 Incredible view from Kaapsehoot where we went to see the wild descendants of abandoned horses.

  However, most importantly I am the daughter of the Most High King, Yeshua the Messiah. The fact that He cleansed me of my unrighteousness and made me holy (set apart for His Glory, alone) is something that I take very personally.  - With His grace and mercy in mind, I am able to enjoy His creation and the gifts and resources He has allowed us to create with. 

Not to make you jealous or anything, but I just want to give you every angle. :-)

    

    I love any creative outlet (e.g. fashion, baking, decorating, etc.). As a Whitlock (which my mom is convinced means something like, "consumer of much food"), I am also very passionate about gourmet cooking and baking. 

When you wake up to views like this, you can't help but wake up and glorify God for His splendid work!

   

   Breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day. Hence my choosing the title "Top of the Morning!!". I was elated when an Israeli friend confirmed that breakfast is to be eaten like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. (Although I think mine is more like: breakfast like a king, lunch like a king, and dinner like...a king.) 

"Breakfast," as Sesame Street muppets sang it, "Is the most important meal of the day."

   

   

   Before you make a decision to follow me, I must say this: you gotta love food... And if you don't share a passion for food... well... this is the place for you too. :-) 

   My father was a Ranger in the United States Army and one of their prerogatives is, "Never leave a man behind." - I don't intend to. Anytime I run into someone who merely eats to live, I feel an overwhelming compassion for them. Then my innate marketing side comes out as I take on the task of showing this obviously (in my opinion) sheltered person that there is "a whole new world" out there. You just have to open your eyes!

   So... With all that said: welcome! Enjoy the ride and participate through comments and support, if you feel so led. It'll be a bumpy ride; but I can guarantee an adventurous one, as well.

'Whelp... That's all I have to say about that.'