Squatters

Unwelcome trespassers, that's what they are.
I try and try to be kind to all creatures (roaches, spiders, flies, ants and mice are exceptions), but when they take up residence in my home, I have a hard and fast rule about that....they have to go.......by hook or by crook.
I am spending most of my days cleaning my home (both inside and outside) and there hasn't been any time for preparing decent meals recently.  I've been using mostly salads, sandwiches and takeaway.

Okay so I open the pantry door yesterday to reach for the matches to make a quick meal, and I saw a sudden movement on one of the shelves, and when I focused in that area I saw a tail.....WHAT?????
Lunchtime forgotten.
Immediately, I was in "mad woman jamming" mode.  Started removing every item from the shelf in the pantry, and I discovered Squatter numero uno....what we here call a "white lizard" ....common house gecko.....Hemidactylus mabouia.
Now as far as I know geckos are supposed to run along walls and eat any bugs they may find and chill out on patios at night eating more bugs and flying insects that frequent the patio light....not hang out on the third shelf of my pantry....YICK!!

 Hiding behind the box of Glucose and the box of gelatin in the corner.

Thankfully most of the items on that shelf reside in glass jars and bottles, so there was no contamination.
Why on earth would he/she take up residence in my pantry...of all the crazy things to do....they know I don't like them in the house. The patio is fine, but not inside the house.

Okay, so what's a girl to do?  There was no way that Mr.Gecko was going to come running out on his own.  I didn't want to take the chance of having him run amok on the other shelves....soooooo...

I picked up my handy arsenal.....a can of BOP, a local insecticide spray and sprayed....Mr. Gecko came crawling right out and jumped down on the floor and headed straight for the open kitchen door.
Well done.....at least I didn't have to go through the ritual of jumping around and squealing as it darted here there and everywhere.
There is an old wives tale here that states that if these lizards jump on your skin, they have to be surgically removed or burnt off.  They do have suction cups on their toes which allow them to run all over the walls upside down.  I have no interest in testing the old wives tale however.

As if the gecko were not enough, I am now seeing a lot  more of these....

Household case bearing moth larvae

A small tiny reddish worm enclosed in a white oval cocoon with a hole on each end.
They move by extending their heads from the cocoon body and pull themselves forward inching their way along. 
Apparently they are found in homes worldwide and feed on natural animal fibres like pet hair, dust, paper, lint, upholstered furniture etc.
They turn into moths eventually so my research tells me, but I don't recall seeing any small moths knocking around.
I see them mostly in my garage but now they seem intent on migrating to the inside of the house.....I guess because Brownie lives indoors and he does shed....that must be their cue...welcome to the Pet Hair Cafe.
I will have to vacuum more often and I will be getting these additional squatters under control before they take over.
Recently, I have been using a disinfectant to clean my floors but I think I will be returning to a diluted bleach solution.
I can ill afford to have squatters on my property....I would prefer if they paid for their room and board and agreed to other household terms and conditions.

Today I prepared the lunch that I had put on hold yesterday after dealing with the squatters.

Steamed potato wedges with a veggie stew made from salted cod fish, bok choy, red kidney beans and lots of fresh herbs from the garden.....delish.

Breakfast for two

I have been trying as hard as I can to have a breakfast of oats at least every other day to help correct the cholesterol spike that showed up recently.

The man of the house (you know who) waits patiently while I prepare breakfast.

Breakfast for me and breakfast for Mr. BrownBerts.

 

Look at him go!

Boy that was GOOD!!

Let me put on my best begging face.

Please Mum, may I have some more? 

(Oliver Twist impersonation here)

She's ignoring my request...two can play at that game.
(Note how clean the empty dish is)

Don't worry he had a second helping when I did as well.

What coconut allergy?

Most asthmatics like myself are well endowed with all sorts of allergies.  Allergy to this.....allergy to that....allergy to who knows what, we've got them.
It's ironic too that the foods we enjoy the most are the ones that we find ourselves most allergic to....what are the odds?

As a young adult, I remember my mum taking me to see the Allergist to be tested.  He was a nice doctor who told me that the Allergy Test pricks would not hurt but I would feel just a little sting.
He chatted away, asking me what foods I liked etc, and I told him all my favourite foods.
He said, "Well let's hope that you are not allergic to any of your favourite foods."
"As long as coconut is not one of them, I'm happy," I answered him.
He proceeded to test me for everything: coconut, corn, tomatoes, dust, weeds, and a whole lot more.
Well what do you know?  The coconut test on my arm had the biggest reaction.
Go figure.
Me and coconut were not friends, and according to his results, neither were corn, shellfish, eggs or tomatoes.
Tomatoes?  I can't have my fries without ketchup, what gives?
Anyway, I made up my mind there and then, that I was never going to stop being coconut's friend.  I would give our friendship just a little space, and that is what I did.
Instead of eating a lot of coconut pastries and breads like turnovers, I would have just a small taste.

 Coconut bread cake

My mum's words echoed in my mind, "Everything in moderation.  Too much of a good thing is no good."
I've lived my life up to now, still having a little bit of coconut every now and again.
Yesterday, however, I decided I would make some coconut ice cream.

 

 In the blender, I mixed, one tin of coconut milk with  one tin of condensed milk and about six tablespoons of grated coconut.

Freeze, and then blend a second time, freeze again, and it's all ready to eat. 
So far I've only had a small spoonful to taste......honest.

Nelson Mandela

 

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela "Madiba"

July 18, 1918- December 5, 2013

Anti-apartheid icon

Nobel Peace Prize Winner (1993)

South Africa's greatest son

Great leader

South Africa's first black democratically elected president

“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity,”  quote by Mandela in an interview for the 1994 "Mandela" documentary.  

Rest in Peace.

Golden Apples

Golden apples are the sweetest apples on earth, in my opinion.
We use them in juices, jams and chutneys mostly, but we also eat them ripe with the juices running down our hands.  The taste can be likened to a cross between a mango and an orange.
My neighbour on the corner has a huge golden apple tree, and when it bears fruit between November and January, I am privy to a big bag full of both ripe and unripe apples.....lucky me.

Picking the fruit was easy with the long stick attached to the fruit picker.


I decided I would make some juice and some ice cream.

Golden apples - Spondias dulcis 

Known as Pomme cythere in Trinidad, Dominica, and Martinique and Guadeloupe.
In Jamaica it is known as the June plum.
It is also known as Ambarella.
This mango relative is another fruit brought to the islands by the infamous Captain Bligh. 

The apples can be enjoyed at various stages of maturity.
When unripe, it can be used to make jellies, jams, pickles and juices.
A good source of Vitamin C and rich in iron, it is believed to help diabetes, heart conditions, high blood pressure and urinary troubles.

  

First the apples have to be peeled (some folks leave the skin on which gives a more distinct taste to the juice)

 Cut pieces off the apple leaving the fibrous spiny seed behind

It's time to blend the apple pieces.  Add a cup of warm water to the blender to get them going.

Yes I did plug the blender in.

I made the ice cream first with half of the blended mixture.  I added a can of condensed milk and a tablespoon of almond essence.

Blended it all together nicely.

 Poured it into a plastic container, and placed in the freezer.  After about 4 hours when the mixture had frozen, I took it back out and blended it again to make it nice and creamy.

Poured it back into the container and replaced it in the freezer.

This was the first time I was making the golden apple ice cream and I was pleased with the result.

Next it was time to finish making the juice with the other half of the blended pulp.   I poured it into a strainer so that all the goodness of the juice would flow out.

I added a couple tablespoons of sugar and a tablespoon of almond essence, and put it all back into the blender.

What I ended up with was a lovely sized pitcher of concentrated golden apple juice.

A glass filled with ice cubes came to my rescue.

 

Delicious golden apple juice.....just what I needed after a day like the one I'd just had.

In case you're wondering how the ripe apples are used, we eat them by peeling the skin off, and sit or stand to eat the scrumptious tasting fruit with a little salt to enhance the flavour.  Sometimes, I stand over the kitchen sink and enjoy the apples with the juices running down my hands to my elbows....they're that juicy when ripe.

I can never only eat just one, so I load up my plate with two apples at one go.

Peel the skin off

Sprinkle on a few dashes of salt and gobble off the first one.

Eat the second one just as quickly... leaving the two seeds behind.
That was easy wasn't it?