From Cow Horns to Jewelry!

What an amazing way to use cow horns!  

Thursday, The AIC---African International Club

took a field trip to a place that makes jewelry 

out of cow horns. 

 Some ladies in the group.  Jan and Gerta in 2nd row.
7 car loads of ladies and 1 man went. 

                                                   This co-op was started by the Japanese to help Rwandan

                                                street kids have jobs and earn their own way! 

                                               It is housed in one little village house. 

This is the buffer and grinding table.. 

The bracelet in his hands is dark brown and he is polishing it. 

They cut bracelets and necklaces from this kind of horn.

For larger pieces they obviously use larger horns. 

 This was our guide telling us how it all worked.

                              First they take the horns... These are smaller than most.

Actually, these might get be used as forms for making bracelets, I'm not sure. 

Then to make different shapes they first boil the horns or
pieces in old Boiling Motor Oil... Look how the color changes.

          After that they use another horn to shape the bracelet while it is soft.

 Emi and Kyoko helping explain the process in French and English.





Fresh out of the boiling oil....

 The horn after boiling is so flexible
that it can be completely flattened.

In this vice grip there is a concave form so that
when the horn is placed here it forms to be a small
rounded out bowl.

 

     Here you can see the little bowls..( bottom of picture)
   Although the color isn't showing up very well.
       Lots of earring, bracelets, bangles, etc.

                               

                        Some of the necklaces! 

This one was quite interesting!

Wouldn't be surprised if some of you might see these for real someday.... 

when i bring them home. 

They are very unique gifts. 

If anyone out there would like to have something from here-

please tell me and i will try to get it to you!  

They are much prettier in person than in the pictures!

 These are just straight earrings.. i don't know what you call them
but they look like little icicles!  They come in yellow/golds, greens.
blacks and browns.  Each one is totally unique because no 2 cow horns are the same.


The things you learn, huh?

Hope you enjoyed this little field trip today!

love,
margie

ps.  I'm sorry about the overlapping pictures.  On my page they don't appear
that way, but when i look at the review i can't get them in correctly.  Maybe once
published it will correct itself.  

Thunder Cake!!!

Pillip is one of the kids from next door that I tutor in English!  At school he read the book Thunder Cake and came over one day and said,

"We make thunder cake?"

He had brought the recipe and although we didn't make it that night... 

we did the next day.  Pillip is very good in the kitchen! 

This is how it turned out!  

 Not quite finished but on the way!

Now it is done and time to take next door!  

 Pillip was so happy to have his Thundercake! 

 Before we cut the cake!  Bruce said we needed a picture.
This is our neighbor's kitchen... 

 Here's the rest of the family...Juan is hiding to my left.
The cake was amazingly good!
Everyone enjoyed it!

The story is by Patricia Polacco and she tells the tale of her
gramma helping her not be scared of the thunderstorm
by gathering all the ingredients for t hecake as the storm was approaching.

Eggs from the chickens, milk from the cow, etc.. and then
she had to add the secret ingredient... TOMATOES!
Yes, really there are tomatoes in it and i think
they make it perfect.

By the time she was done... the cake was baked and the storm was over.
She had gathered all the things in the middle of the storm....and
she totally forgot about all of her fears!

Never thought about baking when i was fearful of something but
maybe i should give it a try.

If you'd like to make the cake... here is the recipe..


THUNDERCAKE!

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees

Cream together one at a time: 

1 cup shortening

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs separated ( Blend yolks in... Beat whites until they are stiff, then fold in)

Add:  1 cup cold water

         1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

Sift together  (i didn't sift)

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup dry cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 

1 teaspoon salt

Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture.  Bake in two greased and 

floured 8" pans at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Frost with chocolate

butter frosting.  Top with strawberries--  (we didn't have those here)

I also added a creme filling... between the layers! 

If you make it--- your fears will all be gone.... 

                                                          except the fear of eating too much!   

Enjoy!

love,

margie

 

Claude is Going Home!

GUESS WHAT THEY STARTED GIVING CLAUDE YESTERDAY? 

That's right.... they gave him food and now he is eating, sleeping, playing, 

laughing and has been given the green light to go home! 

This is the picture i found of him and Franciose when i went to the hospital today!

     The swelling is gone... and thus the infection must be, too!  He looks like himself.
and i was nebby and read his chart at the foot of the bed.. It said... "Malnourished????"

So, i guess by today they were even wondering!   Hope all goes well tomorrow so that
he really can be released on Thurs.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  Only the Lord
could have gotten through to the powers that be... to allow him to eat.

Early today.. we had Bible Study in a house way up on a hill.  But before we got there
we had to drive on some bad roads.  The scene from the road was this hill.

There are many hills like this in Kigali... but with the new Vision 2020,
people are being moved out further and further and these little
village houses are being torn down and the big homes are going up in their place.

In some ways it is good, but there seem to be no middle income or even low 

income houses going up to replace them.  This will create another struggle here. 

The struggle of how to get up and beyond this income level without higher paying jobs. 

Most of these places have kitchens and baths outdoors... 

some are shared and only 2-3 rooms

in each house.  Others are a bit bigger and of course, there are some smaller.

Windows and doors are rare...Long curtains may protect an entrance. 

So, while those of us living on the top of the hill... lock everything up tighter than a drum.

The people in the village houses can't lock anything even if they wanted to. 

Our village friends that we have met are so welcoming and have brought us

into their homes.  They have so little YET they love so much!   It's been

enriching for me to get to know them and their lives here in Kigali. 

  

And yes, we have a lot of blossoming friendships started here...

i wonder what they will all grow in to??? 

Love,

margie 

Remembering my brother David's Birthday today!  

We will always miss him! 

The King's Palace and the Rwandan Cows!

After seeing Claude at the hospital on Saturday,  Louise joined us and we went to the children's home.  She was going to visit her little boy, Lucky that she sponsors but all the kids know her!  They were all thrilled to see her.  I'll post more on that on another day... but Bruce and I played with the kids for awhile.. until they all went down for nap time and we headed another hour south.... To NYANZA.

This is the place of the last palace of Mwami (the king)...

This palace has been reconstructed on this site not far from where 

the actual palace had been. This is the KING'S HUT!  It is huge inside. The

white rim around the outside was to keep the rain outside of the entrance. 

All of the interior walls are woven mats with patterns. 

They were designed so that you can't see "into" them as you look in from the outside. 

But from the inside out...you can see right through them.
And it lets the light in. Very clever! 

 I think this is where the term "king-sized bed" comes from... This bed was

probably 14' wide by 18' long!  And the baskets around the edges were to hold 

clothes and personal items. The Queen slept here, too.. but entered through a 

different door than the king.... Wonder what that was about? 

 This is 1/2 of the center room inside.

The living room!  

 These are the milk bottles--all wooden except the gourd.

There were 3 huts on this property.
This is the interior of the smaller "Milk Hut".  

A virgin girl would receive the milk from the guy milking the cow at the 

front entrance but only women could enter this tent.  It was just a smaller

version of the King's hut...and sat right behind it.  

This is the place that i thought was funny.. This is the "Beer Hut" and guess who was the only person to enter this place?  A virgin boy.... who tasted all the beer to make sure it hadn't been poisoned before the King would drink it. Banana Beer was a specialty then and i guess it still is today.  Our guide said he was drunk all the time...no wonder...

And then behind the huts were the baby cows....the calves!  

Our guide told us the big cows were out for a walk..  We both laughed...

 HAHAHAHA!

Until we came onto this site and indeed... the cows were out for walk
with their cowhand!  Here's what I learned about these cattle. 

The Ankole-Watusi is a breed of cattle originally native to Africa. Its large, distinctive horns, can reach up to 8 feet (2.4 m) from tip to tip and are used for defense.

Ya gotta love this picture!!! I would love to know what this cow was thinking?

This is my favorite picture that our guide took... of "us and the COW"!  

 Ok.. so photography isn't his thing.  HAHAHA!  He missed the Ankole...
but at least he got one of his horns in the picture.
(Compare it to my arm and you can tell just how big these horns are.)

And can you tell how tall our guide was?  He was shooting down at us.  

 The cows were clam and tame, but if they had a fly on their back
and they swung their head around to get it off you'd better be ready!

                                     
                              He was!



Since i haven't seen bullriding since i left the States this was terrific. I miss the PBR!  No one rode these guys but it was sure great being up close and personal with them!   These were 2 younger ones... look how small their horns are. 

Do you think they have strong necks and shoulders or what?  The horns were even hot to the touch.  They are so beautiful and stately!  I'm bending down to take this picture about
4 feet in front of him. 

  

 Here are the cows right as we approached them.

 The cowhand began singing to the cows to keep them calm and it was great,  

but if you really look closely... i think they were singing, too! 

No i didn't doctor this picture.. this is just want they looked like! 

 

Bruce loved how tame these cows were, and i did too! 

The Ankole cows are the ones that the National Dance Honors!

Aren't they incredible? Still singing here, too!   I could have sat with them all day 

but we had to get back before dark.

   

                So.. away we go.. to see the King's New Palace built in 1932...
           This is in the yard of the Palace.

 Only one king lived in this palace.  It is basically a large
rectangular building with connecting rooms inside.  

This tree was in the backyard and the big house way off in
the distance was the Palace the king had built for himself.
But he didn't live long enough to live there.  I think this is an Edgar
Allen Poe tree.. with the ravens in it!

As we were seeing the garage of the palace this wedding
party showed up.. So, they were gracious and let me take their picture.

We walked back to the front of the palace and the cows
were still enjoying their lazy afternoon free time.

And here comes the whole wedding party.... on their way to be with the cows!

Looks like most were not too sure about getting close.  But what cool wedding
pictures they will have with the Ankole Watusi!

Great Backdrop for wedding pictures or any day pics!

Driving Home...
The little fields of something that looked like wheat...not sure.  

      

 Just Serenity! 

There is just something wonderful about being with animals and nature! 

This was a place and day of rest!!!

love,
margie

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!