Bon Voyage

We gave Dave a send off last night. He should be near to Montreal by now, I would think. He wanted to have his girls over for the long awaited coconut cream pie. Yes, he really does make it all by himself! So Tam and Kim came to eat pie and say good bye. Pam was invited as well but she had tickets to Miss Saigon.

The Fiddlehead

It's time to start gardening. The weather is starting to cool, the sun not so hot, and I'm ready to plant some seeds and get some annual color on my patio. Dave had not been to the nursery out by the camel race track so we made the trip this morning. I think he was impressed by the rows and rows of green houses full of seedlings, and large mature plants. It is still a bit early for them, I think, because there wasn't a great selection and many of the seedlings were very tiny. I found some marigolds and coleus, as well as another plant with a pink flower--not sure the name. My prize, though, was a large plant for my entry way, to replace one that deteriorated beyond recovery during the summer. It looks a bit like a fern, but the leaves are not feathery. In the center are new, not yet emerged, leaves that are curled up like fiddle heads. I could not resist. It makes a lovely addition to my plant collection, and reminds me of home.

They are also building new green houses out there. I found it interesting that they had to chew their way through the cement like earth in order to prepare the place for them.

The Staff of Life

It is difficult to find a really good loaf of bread in Doha. The Arabic bread is great but it is a flat bread and can't compare to the soft, crusty loaves that we make in N. B. Dave is always telling me about the bread that he whips up in the bread maker and I feel so envious. So this week we went to Lulu and bought a bread maker for the villa. Dave has had a great time this week trying out recipes that he has found on the internet. He's mixing up an Italian garlic bread right now to have with the chili that we will make for supper. He's also had good luck with the oatmeal nut bread like he usually makes at home.


It has been so good having Dave here this past week. I didn't have chores saved up for him but his second wife, Kimberly, did. We went to her villa this morning after church and finished up her little jobs. Oh no, there is one more thing Dave has to do for Kim--bake a coconut cream pie!

Ethiopian Food

These pictures are for my friend Sheila who loves food pictures almost as much as she loves food.

Pictures of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

We were back at work for only two and a half weeks before we had our first Eid break. What a great country!

Kimberly and I had decided that we wanted to make ourselves useful on this break and had spent the summer planning a trip to Addis Ababa to do some work for the Ethiopian Nurses' Association. We were put to work on Monday and Tuesday but on Sunday nd Thursday we were able to see a bit of the country. We hope that our association with the nurses in Ethiopia will be long-lived and productive.

Leaving Home

People always ask me, "Do you dread going back?" And I always reply,"Not at all. I look forward to getting back to Doha, to work, to all my friends and to new adventures." No, I don't dread going back, but I do hate to leave.
The weather in New Brunswick this summer was beautiful--warm, and sunny, perfect pool weather. I spent the summer watching the garden and the grass grow from my sunny veranda and biking back and forth from town.
I also made some new friends. A catbird couple had taken up residence in a shrub next to the deck and they visited me every day. The male would meow, meow in warning whenever I got too close to their home. He would hop onto the fence surrounding the pool and watch, his tail flicking up and down. I enjoyed their antics all summer, and finally got some pictures just before I returned to Doha.