Happy New Year to everyone! After much deliberation and many
invitations Jim and I ended up having a very restful 10 days at home over
Christmas and New Year.
I had a hot, humid and hectic dash to the north coast to
deliver the wedding cake for a friend getting married in Watamu. I did all the
baking ahead of time in the cool of Nairobi and packaged the tiers up in
insulated cool boxes to transport them. Everything arrived in good order; cakes
intact, equipment undamaged and fondant icing soft but solid! Now I have cooked
in some pretty hot locations but putting together a wedding cake with butter
cream and fondant in the December tropical heat nearly broke me! Everything was
going well until I had to refrigerate layers in between putting them together –
too hot outside the fridge and way too wet inside. My wonderful friend Laurence and her son
Simon, who were holidaying in Watamu drove up to Malindi to talk me through the
final construction and decoration. They are still laughing at the fact that all
I could utter was ‘it’s sweating, it wont stop sweating!’ But we got there in
the end and the drive to Watamu was uneventful. It was a relief to had the
sandcastle over to the responsibility of the lovely staff at Hemmingway’s who
assured me they would look after it and I was finally able to relax with fish
and chips and a G&T at Ocean Sports.
Arriving home on the evening of 22nd I still had
to get dozens of mince pies delivered. I had several orders from the coast
which I had intended to make down there but after trying to roll pastry 3 times
I gave up! Anyway it was quite relaxing to do them with Christmas carols in the
background and Air Kenya got them to their destination unharmed.
This is what 100 iced Christmas Tree biscuits looks like when laid out on your dining room table!
Jim and I had all good intentions of going to midnight mass
but in the end exhaustion prevailed but we did attend the carol singing at
Talisman restaurant and had a lovely time with friends and mulled wine.
Christmas Day was actually relaxing. Lots of delicious food
of course - ham, duck, and pudding – but
not too over indulgent and we both, surprisingly lost a few grams. I am not
sure how but the scales don’t lie! 
Our house all lit up for Christmas and Jim's present in its new home above the mantelshelf - a beautiful Kudu drawing by our good friend Beaver Shaw.
Car trouble saw us remaining at home for New Year. Our good
friends Dave and Pam joined us for dinner on the terrace – mushroom tartlets,
fillet mignon and my grandmother's ‘orange mist pudding’, a wonderful concoction
of cream and orange juice. Maybe due to the champagne consumed (or just the
fact that we are all getting older) after a very late breakfast I was straight
back to sleep and found it quite difficult to do any sensible for the rest of
the day.
The garden is thriving after the late rains but the baboons
are also enjoying the rewards of our labours bur that is a story for another
day. In preparation for the arrival of friends and family later in the year I am having fun making new curtains and other interior decoration for our guest rooms. With the help of Bosco and Bernard we are revitalising the cactus rock garden area just outside the buffalo fence. This also includes clearing some of the undergrowth to make it safer for small people to play (Bosco and I found a lovely hidey hole where we could watch the birds go about their business, such a differenct view from feeding them on the terrace) and also make a definate path down to the lawn area by the river hopefully to encourage us and visitors to use this lovely space more frequently. I am also determined to get my goose /duck pond with occupants this year.
the planned pond site
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