Letter to Erin 20151115

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi Erin!  Is it nice and cold over there?  It was bloody hot this morning.  My okra dried up over the afternoon, even though I gave it plenty of water in the morning.  Some plants are fussy.  If I give my cilantro too much water, it rots.  Right now, it's raining.  Boy, it's raining- it's pelting down cats and dogs.  Well since it's cold over there, at least you have more options in clothing.  Wear a nice suit for me, OK?

I've been trying to grow my own food.  Like okra, mustard greens, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.  I dug up some tapioca for dinner, and boiled it.  I don't usually eat tapioca, but my Mom loves it.  I managed to dig up 2 large roots, so I gave one to my Mom.  I had never boiled tapioca before, so it was first time to process it.  Some parts are woody, and some parts are soft, so I used a hacksaw to separate the parts.  Boiling softens up the tapioca, and boiling it too much turns it into mush.  Hey, you can make a cake with it!  The locals do make a cake with tapioca, it's called "bengkang".  I wonder what it would taste like with chocolate?

Bob Cat and Bat Cat haven't been eating out of my hand lately.  They've acquired a taste for mice, and God knows there's plenty of mice around here.  They work as a team to round up the mice: one brother flushes them out, and the other pins them down.  They don't like the skin and guts, so they leave that lying around the yard.  It's a blessing to have such professional mousers in the family, but mice are poisonous to humans so I have to be careful that my cats don't scratch or bite me.  What great cats, though.  Alhamdulillah.

Well, make sure you bundle up and stay warm, OK?  I love you, Sweetie.  And I need you.