When is a computer not a computer?

As most of you know I am a bit of a 'pink' girl - I LOVE my pink caterpillar boots, I just have to put on lipstick & mascara before going out & I like my nails to be painted. But time is often so short & life so busy, I've learnt to put my make-up on in just 3 minutes so I can grab an iced coffee before heading out the door in the morning & now I've found the ultimate 'appliance' for drying my nails so I don't have to wave my hands in the air for hours! It's my computer!!!!!! The other night I got home late but my nails were in desperate need of a bit more than just a cursory touch up with nail polish. So after carefully removing the old polish (yeah right! - just soak cotton wool in remover & swash it around your nails), applying a coat of colour & a coat of clear it was nearly 11pm. On top of that I had the sudden urge to go to the loo - impossible with wet nails. Needing a distraction I decided to check my e-mails & have a scoot around the Internet & then WHAM! It struck me how I could still work & be constructive & yet dry my nail polish - THE FAN ON MY COMPUTER!!!! Wafting 1 hand over the computer fan I was still able to type etc with the other - so much easier than the alternative of the hairdryer & so much quieter too. Brilliant!!!
So, apart from drying my nails with my computer what else have I been doing this week? I had the joy(?) of attending a circumcision party & taking 2 groups of 4 & 5 year olds (on separate days) to the zoo. The cook at the kindergarten's 2 sons were being snipped along with 3 of their cousins but unlike most places around the world this is not done when the boys are babies but when the family can afford a grand party or when the boy is really too old to wait any longer. The eldest lad at this weeks circumcision was a strapping 14 year old (the youngest just 2). All through the party I just kept thinking 'OUCH!' Still, it didn't distract from the dancing.
The zoo was a lot less painful, thankfully. At my church women's meeting I asked for prayer for a safe day at the zoo to which my pastor asked whether I meant for the kids or the animals - thinking for a little over 1 second I had to admit it had better be for both!!! (& I meant it) Praise God I returned with exactly the same amount of kids as I took (both times) with only a small bruise from a fall on 1 child & all the animals were in their cages & intact when we left. Thank you, Lord.
I think on reflection that I have had a very productive & successful week this week.

back in kosove

Well I've spent 3 & 1/2 weeks in England & got back to Kosove last Monday evening. I left the UK in sunshine & heat, wearing a t-shirt & sunglasses & landed in Kosove needing a jacket & definitely not wearing sunglasses! (it's better now, though!!)

I was thoroughly spoilt during my UK stay with dad cooking dinner for me every night, as well as many trips out - Borough market, Woburn safari park, lots of garden centres, Wisley etc. Actually this was the first time I had seen Wisley in spring/summer - full of bloom, a colourful riot, fragrant etc. For those not in the know Wisley is the Royal Horticultural Society garden & is the most beautiful place especially on a wonderful warm spring afternoon, well worth a visit.



My 'home' church, St Barnabas, is amazing - the summer 'community fun day' was very much that - a fun day. As well as the usual stalls there was a visiting farm in the vicarage garden! Sheep, goats, pigs & ducks were well behaved in their pen, happily munching the grass & being very fed by the children whilst the rabbits & guineapig kept escaping! Who needs a lawn mower when you have goats, eh!

Last Sunday 7 people were confirmed & they all wrote their story of how they came to confirmation. I started to read the sheet of paper with their stories on before the service began & had to dash to the loo for toilet paper as tears of joy couldn't be held in! What a day!



Thanks everyone for making my stay in the UK so wonderful & restful. Now back to work.......

How to discern an ugly cow.

How do you know when you've lived in Kosova too long? Firstly you see a cart of wood (for the fire) going down the road & you think "mmm, good wood" ie it's a good size for chopping into logs that will fit in your wood burning stove & it looks fairly dry which means it will light easily but burn for quite a time. Secondly you pass a cow & think (or in my case say out loud) "nice cow".
I have found this comment usually leads to my travelling companions giving me strange glances & laughing - but let me explain what I mean....please be patient with me.

Cows here wander around everywhere, freely. It is usually the responsibility of a young teenage son to walk the family's cows (just like you would walk your dog in the UK). They reluctantly take the small herd of cows out for a walk to find good grass for the cows to eat so the family can have plenty of milk & cheese. The problem is that Kosovar boys are no different than UK boys - they don't want to look after the cows and would rather be off playing football with their friends. So they do. They go off to play football with their friends leaving their cows happily munching on some lush green grass. But cows get bored too, so they go off for a wander - usually along the road by themselves. Cows aren't really savvy about the green cross code or the highway code & have a wonderful habit of just standing in the road looking at your vehicle coming towards it. As cows are somewhat stubborn & can seriously damage your car if you hit them you have to slow down dramatically & swerve violently to miss them. This puts you in very close proximity to said cow, close enough to observe them. Hence the comment "nice cow". To me a 'pretty' cow is fairly light in even-toned brown, has a good rump on her & is not covered in what looks like mud but isn't (please - use your imagination!) But I have also had the recent revelation as to what that little something extra is that makes a cow good looking - it's the eyelashes!!! Ugly cows have white eyelashes & pale hair (or is it fur on a cow?) around their eyes, whereas pretty cows have natural dark eye liner & long, fluttering, dark eyelashes. How this revelation came to me I cannot say, it was just one of those 'light bulb' moments. So now when we are driving & trying not to have a fatal vehicle Vs cow encounter & I suddenly exclaim 'nice cow' I can explain myself! Man, I wish I had 'nice cow' eyes.......

say 'aaahhhhh'

Well, it's not quite 'aaaaahhhh' but really 'R'. My Albanian language teacher keeps telling me off for not pronouncing my 'R's correctly, she actually says I don't pronounce them at all - not in English, not in Albanian. Now I'm being corrected by Judah - a 3 year old!!! An American!!!! (but I forgive him that, he can't help it!)

The other day he was playing with his lorry (or truck if you are American) & I commented to him on it's nice trailer. "hey, Lesley, it's not 'traila', it's trailerrrrrrr". I can't win! So now I've been over emphasising my 'R's which sounds awful to me but I have been receiving favourable comments from all my Albanian friends (OK & the Americans too).

I shouldn't be too harsh on the Yanks as everyone here seems to understand their English a whole lot easier than mine, so much so that I now 'speak' some American without even thinking about it ... I now say truck (lorry), diaper (nappy), garbage (rubbish), cookies (biscuits), candies (sweets) as well as pronouncing some words the American way.

But now Judah also says some words the English way, much to his parent's annoyance. He say blue as in bloooo, flu as in fluuuuu, glue likewise & a really posh 'ballooooon' & an absolutely darling 'gorgeous'. I'm really sad to think I only have another 2 weeks to correct, oops sorry corrupt, him before he moves back to the States. And only another 2 weeks to continue feeding his baby brother, Caleb, that wonderful English staple food Marmite. America will be all the richer having these 2 gorgeous boys living there. And I will cry buckets when they go.

in the beginning God created blogging

well, after 4 years i've finally decided to deal with my technophobia & do a blog. i couldn't have done this without the step-by-step walk through of my friend Amber - thanks babe - as i really am the most aweful doofus when it comes to gadgets (esp computers), i can't count the number of times i've managed to wipe my i-tunes off my computer (thanks Alice for all the fixing - sorry but i need your expertise again!). i've been forced to do this now as amber & co (her husband & my darlings, her boys) are leaving kosova in 4 weeks time - boy will i miss them all.
keep reading my future blogs to follow my adventures here, to really see what i'm doing, to hear my highs & lows of life in kosova (like when my bathroom ceiling leaks (which is now), when there is no electricity (not so frequent these days), & when i have cooking successes & disasters!)
for now though i'm having a rare day off, it's raining, i've actually washed up today, i'm listening to mind melting classical music & am going to have my fav smoked chicken salad for lunch & probably another coffee (yes i know i'm not supposed to drink it as it makes me 'float' but i love the taste & anyway - I HAVE THE DAY OFF!!!)