Bad Friend

I have a friend who has just returned to full time work. She is really struggling with the hours and time management of her family plus the stress of learning a new job.

And she complains about it.

Constantly.

Continuously.

On and on and on and on she goes.

I have started avoiding go to her house for lunch. I have been telling myself what a good friend I am because I have refrained from telling her to suck it up and get over it (which is what I have been thinking). I know all about working full time and the pressures and stresses that brings. Does she think she is the only person in the world who has to deal with this?

I had a realisation in the shower this morning (sorry for that mental image people! Sharon in the shower is not a pretty sight!). I am not a good friend. Instead of listening begrudgingly and muttering under my breath I should be offering support. I have been listening, but not really listening. When she starts on this line of coversation I have been inwardly rolling my eyes and thinking "here we go again". I have to stop and think about what a big adjustment this is for her, and stop thinking about me.

So, tomorrow I will have lunch with her and I will listen empathetically. I will tell her she is doing a great job, and that it will get easier.

Thank you Lord for bringing my faults to my attention again. Forgive me for my impatience and help me to be a supportive and encouraging friend.

My blogging voice

In browsing through my favourite blogs this week I've come across a bit of a theme. What is my motive for blogging? Is it about me or is it about Jesus? Also is the blogging me the real me?

Upon pondering these questions I think I've come up with some answers. When I orginally started blogging it was purely for me. It was an avenue for me to share my thoughts, prayer requests and general happenings. It wasn't long before I discovered that through my blog I could bless others, and that has been an amazing experience. Having said that, I think I need to work on my blog becoming more Christ centred. Because I need to work on becoming more Christ centred.

As for my blog being the real me. I like to think it is. It's a more eloquent version of me because I have always been far better at expressing myself through the written word. I have people I know who read this blog and they haven't started viewing me as though I have a split personality so I'm hoping that's a good sign!

I read other's blogs and they bless my walk with the Lord so much. I truly beleive that the Lord led me to the blogging world (with a little help from Lightening!) so that I could come into contact with some amazing, honest and Christ centred women. I don't feel that I am spiritually mature enough to hand out advice, but I'm really enjoying gaining knowledge and encouragement from you lovely ladies. I hope to one day be able to contribute to others lives in the same way that you have blessed mine.

Lord, thankyou for introducing me to this wonderful blogging family. I pray that I can let you dwell in my heart permanently, and that I can learn to look to you in all things. I pray that I can come to a place where I know for certain that my decisions and my life is led by you.

Camp Oven Tea

First you need a camp oven. These can be bought from camping and outdoor shops and are usually made of cast iron. Ours is home made by Fisherman out of a cut down stainless steele beer keg. It's quite a bit larger than the standard ones you buy, and we are thinking of getting one of those. This one is great for feeding a crowd but a bit big for just the family.
We light a fire (didn't show you a photo of that, I'm pretty sure you have all seen a fire before!) and let it burn down to hot coals. Then dig a hole and put some hot coals in the bottom.

Then we put the bottom half of the camp oven in, add some water in the bottom of that to keep the meat moist and sit the meat on top of a rack. Here we have chicken, beef and lamb ready to be slow roasted.

Here you can see Fisherman putting the lid on and making sure it is sealed.

Then he puts some more hot coals on top. It takes about 4 hours for the meat to roast and Fisherman checks it every now and again. If its cooking too fast he takes some coals away, too slow means he adds some more.

And there you go. It's pretty simple really. I meant to take a photo of the finished product but I got side tracked with eating it! You can cook almost anything in a camp oven. I have steamed puddings, made lovely slow cooked casseroles and some lovely damper.

We all enjoyed our dinner and the lovely time of sitting outside around a camp fire on a cold winters night. The weather was calm and clear which was just perfect. We got the kids to make banana dream boats for dessert which they all enjoyed. For those of you who don't know you make a banana dream boat by slitting the banana down the middle (with the skin still on) poking alternate marshmallows and chocolate squares in the slit, then wrapping it in alfoil. Then you put in in the hot coals to let the banana go all squishy and the chocolate and marshmallows melt all through it. Served with icecream it's really really really yummy. Not to mention extremely bad for you! But sometimes its best not to think about that!

Something to look forward to

I decided earlier in the week that it would be a good idea to give Pink something to look forward to on the weekend.

So, with that in mind we have invited two wonderful families with teenage children to our place for tea on Saturday night, since we have no football/netball this week. Pink is really looking forward to it, and so will I, once I have the house tidy!

We have decided to have a camp oven tea. A camp oven is like a dutch oven, made of cast iron. You light a fire and once it has burned down to coals you dig a hole and put your camp oven inside, then let it slowly cook for about 5 hours. We are going to roast some lamb and chicken and vegetables in one camp oven, and in the other I'm planning on steaming a golden syrup pudding.

Being able to have a camp fire is one of the many benefits of living where we do. There is nothing quite like sitting around a fire on a cold night, toasting marshmallows and just catching up.

Hopefully it will do the trick, and give Pink a lift. The families we have invited are the parents of two of her dearest friends so she should have fun. And so should we!

I'm hoping to take photo's (if I remember) and post the whole camp oven process tomorrow.

But first.....I have to clean the house! Nothing like inviting guests to make you clean properly!