I’m Home

Okay, I’ve been back in Maine a week.  It’s COLD.  I grew up in Maine.  I lived in Minnesota for 30 years.  I’ve been back in Maine 10 years.  Who knew that in 5 weeks I’d get acclimated to being warm.

It’s snowed a foot and a half since I came home.  My poor puppies are relegated to running down a tunnel of snow from the deck to the maple trees.

 

One bright spot is that I brought home a tajine (a kind of stove-top oven) for cooking tajine (basically a Moroccan stew).  The day after I arrived, I rummaged through my refrigerator and found chicken (in the freezer), some sketchy potatoes and a winter squash.  I ‘refreshed’ the chicken in some cold water while it thawed, peeled the veggies, added a spice that I from one of the three packets of mixes I bought in Rabat with my DIL’s help (can’t remember what’s in them and can’t read Arabic), added chicken broth and a hint of white wine (definitely not in a Moroccan recipe) and Voilà! a tasty dinner with savory smells filling my house, reminding me of North Africa and my beautiful granddaughters.

 So, what’s your favorite food or recipe for cold winter days?

Judi

Très FROID au Maine

Goals for 2011

Sadly, this will be my last blog from Morocco.  I leave for home first thing in the morning tomorrow.

So, I decided to that this opportunity to post my goals rather than penciling them on a scrap of paper that I promptly lose.  So here they are.

Be content with where I am and who I am

Finish Two Moons Rising

Finish revisions on Through All Time

Finish Mirror, Mirror

Find  home for Afternoon Delights

Find a home for Two Moons Rising

Find a home for Whispers in the Heart

Work on Second Chances (Aerial's story)

Set up and maintain a regular writing schedule

Search for a part-time job

Figure out blogging/self-promotions

Remember, I always have enough time because I am always doing what I choose to do.

And for everyone who's been commenting that there are no pictures of me, here I am on the Barbary Coast of pirate fame, looking toward Rabat with Salé in the background 

Hoping everyone has a wonderful 2011

Judi

The Road to Marrakech

So right after Christmas, we spent four days in Marrakech in La Palmeraie--actually a palm grove that's an oasis.

 

Here's the patio of the apartment we stayed in.

And the orange tree just beside it.

Tuesday we went to the souks in the medina.  Marrakech is much more of a tourist destination than Rabat so there are lots of random offerings by guys of stuff to buy--and they're fairly persistently.

Wednesday we drove to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains to Terres d'Amanar, an adventure park--no rides but with adventuring activities for all ages, ranging from a zip cord traversing from one hillside to another across a valley several hundred feet below, to a kid's playground with similar activities that the girls loved.

 

The reception was housed in a reproduction of a Berber tent.

And there was a sheppard tending his flock on the grounds.

 The scenery was spectacular.  Here's No. 1 son.  You can barely see the snow-topped mountain peeking out between the hills in the foreground, the bit of blue mist merging into the sky.

 

At the end of they day, they light a fire to keep away the chill of the desert evening.

 As you might guess, the seeds of a story are planted and growing.

Wishing you une nouvelle année joyeous

Judi