7 quick takes

1. Good  morning! I know it’s not Monday, but yesterday I was too busy being send from pillar to post in an attempt to get a new driving licence. The traffic department is definitely not the best organised government department (still trying to find one that is) and it took a lot longer than we expected (nothing new about that, but one keeps on having hope and being open to surprise) so there was definitely no time to write a blog. But now we are home, and it feels like a Monday, so here we are.
2. The traffic department where we went to was in Blantyre. It’s Malawi’s second-biggest city, but we didn’t really know it. We drove through the place once before, but this was the first time we actually got to see it, and it did not disappoint. I liked the many hills and mountains in and around the city, and the girls loved the fact that there are some places with escalators; something you don’t find in the rest of the country. When we move to Monkey Bay, we will be right in the middle between Blantyre and Lilongwe so for our big groceries shopping trips, we can choose where we want to go. The shops seemed much better stocked in Blantyre, but people already told us that that’s a bit deceiving because stock had just come in. Oh well, we were excited about what we could get and will definitely come back.
3. It’s a four-hour journey to Blantyre, and every pothole or bump in the road (there are many of them) was followed by a peeping sound. Doris and Sophie shared the back seat with a wounded little chick. It seems like a cat got hold of one of his legs and when we found him in our chicken coop, he had a big bleeding wound and the leg was broken. We dressed his wounds and took him into the house because he wouldn’t stand a chance if he stayed with the others. We realised that he wouldn’t survive if he stayed home alone, so we took him along on the journey. He’s a well-travelled little chick now. He seems to be doing well, although I have very little hope that, despite our best efforts,  his leg will recover. The girls definitely give him the best treatment possible though. This morning they would follow his siblings as they were foraging for food and every time one of them found a tasty snack, they would catch the chick, take away whatever he had caught so that they could give it to the wounded chick. When they are big, Sophie wants to be a vet and Doris wants to start a bird rescue centre, so they are definitely preparing for their future dreams.
4. I wrote about how Sophie was saving her pocket money to buy a boat. After many fruitless attempts to find a boat that lived up to her expectations, we almost gave up. But then Nota, our gardener, told the girls that an old dug out had washed up on the beach. It became the fulfilment of Sophie’s boat dreams with the help of some planks, nails, a bit of paint and an old bedsheet. I am also quite pleased that it will never float as a play-boat in the garden, feels much safer than Sophie’s initial dream of having a boat that she could take out on the lake.
5. Few things make us happier than mango season. You can imagine how happy we were when we discovered the first mango blossom in the tree. Mangoes are still a few months away, but it’s a start. Mango chutneys, mango milkshake, mango pie, mango nice-cream, mango curry, mango everything...... the countdown is on!
6. While I write my blog, Sophie sits next to me and writes her book. She says that it’s going to be a bestseller because it has everything people want; humour, suspense, and action. It’s about 5 kids who run away from home and then come across a war which forces them to go into hiding with a family of ducks. Oh, and there are two soldiers who always make jokes and mistakes. It sounds exciting enough, but she better names me in the acknowledgements because while she writes, I have to be constantly around to tell her how to spell words or to make the laptop do what she wants. Oh well, there is a lot of learning in writing stories, so I'll count it as school ;-)
7. Time to tackle the rest of mu digital to-do-list. I hope you have a great week. Stay warm/cool (whatever is appropriate) and be kind!

This girl has lost a tooth AND has more wobbly teeth already. Soon she'll overtake her sister. An idea that said sister does not like.