We knew that our departure date to travel to Seychelles was on the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in the US on November 24, 2022. Thank goodness we aren’t flying to the US since flights will be overbooked. Some Americans may sail with us on the cruise through the islands, and perhaps some may have chosen to travel on this particular holiday when they had a few extra days off work. We shall see soon enough.
In our old lives for many years, Thanksgiving was a big holiday for us. It was a busy time with many family traditions surrounding this holiday and Christmas. Over the years, three of our four children had children of their own, after which those family dinner celebrations at our house occurred less and less often as our kids began to create their traditions. By the time we left in 2012 for our world travels, holidays had become less significant to us.
Once we were on our way, we decided not to celebrate US holidays as we had in our old lives. We observe the significance and spirituality of certain holidays, but we don’t create a series of events and celebrations surrounding them. On a few occasions, while here in Marloth Park, we have celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year with local friends.
But, when in a country. Where we don’t necessarily have many friends, the most we may do is go out for a nice meal at a local restaurant, not necessarily ordering food catering to the traditions of the specific holiday. We are OK with this.
As for birthdays, we’ll be celebrating my 75th birthday this coming February at a bush party. Coincidentally, Tom’s 70th birthday is on December 23. Unfortunately, his birthday is so close to Christmas that gathering enough guests for a party isn’t easy. We’ll do something special that evening, even if it’s only dinner at Jabula with a few friends.
Many of our friends are gone during December to their homes in other countries, and they also prefer to be gone in the hot summer months in the bush due to the heat, humidity, insects, and snakes. We sure understand this. However, this will be the fourth year we’ve celebrated Tom’s birthday and Christmas in the bush.
Also, we decided some time ago not to purchase gifts for one another when we have no room in our luggage, nor is there anything that we would particularly enjoy that is available nearby or online. Postal service is limited, and as we’ve repeatedly mentioned, sending items via UPS, FedEx or DHL is time-consuming, costly, and problematic.
On the few occasions we’ve cooked for Thanksgiving, we haven’t been able to find turkeys or pumpkin pie filling. Our friend Kathy found some small turkeys in Johannesburg or Nelspruit over the past several years, and she brought cans of pumpkin pie filling from the US for the pies. I’d purchased several tins of pumpkin pie spices in the US and brought them here. But traveling with food is nonsensical regularly.
Most likely, I have written about this topic in prior posts. But, after over 3700 posts, it’s difficult not to be repetitive. We only hope that our new readers coming on board may not have read about these topics in the past. The same thing applies to our photos. On occasions, we post a past photo more than once. Most often, we mention this. But the photos we generally post each day are new and have never been published in the past.
Speaking of which, we realize our posts are repetitive in many ways, but as mentioned above, it’s nearly impossible not to be so after writing daily for the past ten years. Let’s face it, life is repetitive, no matter how hard we may strive for unique and exciting experiences. Amid this reality, we attempt to mix it up as much as we can.
Now that load shedding ended one of its four outages today; I am baking a new loaf of my low-carb bread which I use to make avocado and egg toast each morning, a healthy start to each day. Tom doesn’t care for the taste, so I bake other low-carb treats.
It’s time to go to the outdoor laundry room to collect the first two batches to hang on the outdoor rack that Tom always sets up on the veranda when I wash twice a week. Tonight, we’re off to Jabula for dinner and to see Leon and Dawn after their time away to see his oncologist and spend a few restful nights in Nelspruit. They certainly deserve this short break.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, November 18, 2021:
Hi Jess and Tom,
I hope you are both keeping well. I’m really interested in your low carb recipes. I can’t tolerate ordinary wholemeal or white bread, but I eat crispbread. Does your bread freeze well?
Much love
Kez and Dave
Kez and Dave, first off. keto bread freezes well. I take out 2 slices for my breakfast each morning. If you are trying to eat low-carb or keto you may want to avoid crispbread unless it is low-carb without wheat products, sugars, or starches. As for recipes, we have hundreds on our site. You can type “recipe” into the search box to find them. Be careful, since there are a few recipes that don’t fit the low-carb lifestyle but you’ll be able to tell if you look at the ingredients. There are millions of low-carb recipes online you can easily access. If you aren’t sure about the ingredients, feel free to send me the link and I’ll take a look at it for you. It’s a huge learning curb to get it all right but there are countless free resources out there. If you enjoy cooking, it’s fun. If not, the basics are good; meat, poultry, fish, and pork. eggs and non-starchy vegetables all minimally processed high-fat dairy made without added sugars, starch, or grains. Avoid fruit except for unsweetened berries, in moderation. I make bread using almond flour, coconut flour, macadamia nut flour, and other ingredients. Very easy to make in about 10 minutes until its ready for the oven.
Hope this helps.
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom
Warmest regards,
Jess