New year doings

So we're back in Cairo after spending Christmas in the UK and we're busy doing things.
We're 'project people' and can't help but do things to fill our time!
So what have we been up to in the week-or-so that we've been back?

• We didn't take so long unpacking our bags. This was mainly because we weren't cramming quite as many things into them as we normally do! We flew EgyptAir and they allow two bags each (twice the BA allowance). We took three bags total back to the UK as we had various things we wanted to put into storage (but managed to do a clear-out of our storage to make room for them!), but only brought two bags back here with us. We didn't even cram loads of extras into our hand luggage! Is this because we're getting more settled out here, don't have the desire for lots of UK things - or are tired of lugging huge cases around airports? Who knows, although having a Kindle has certainly reduced the number of books we bring back. We did come back with some lovely Xmas pressies though (thank you!), and a few essential supplies. We'll top up supplies in Feb when we realise what we maybe should have packed!
• We fitted a new shower head onto the shower. Scotty had the brainwave in the UK to buy a new shower head from Argos (reserve online and they text an order number to your mobile - so good we did it twice!) and so brought this over with us when we came back. Once fitted with a new washer it managed to transform our shower from being mediocre, to being quite powerful. Goes to show that you don't need a power shower, but a decent shower head will make the difference. Seems silly that after three-and-a-half years of living here and thinking we've got crap water pressure we find out that it's not half bad at all (see post a few months ago of when Scotty managed to fix our tap problems!)
• We got the heater out. Yes we're back and it's cold here. I know Egypt is meant to be warm all year round, but 18C here is a lot colder than 18C in the UK I promise you! Luckily our AC can heat as well as cool and so we have that on in the evening once it gets dark out. We only have it on a few degrees, but we are sitting around in a few jumpers too. Then we have the heater in the bedroom on just before going to bed. Work is cold too. We both wearing suit jackets all day for the first time in years!
  
• We made a beef and homebrewed-ale stew. We'd been saving two bottles of our dark homebrew (named Sandy Claws as it was our Christmas brew for people last year) and decided that with the weather being what it is (cold) we should make a hearty stew! So we bought two packs of beef cubes from Gourmet Egypt and cooked that up with some onions, carrots and mushrooms. We wanted to add more root veg, but there aren't many options out here so we added  a sweet potato and then another few potatoes into the stew and left it for hours in the oven. Yum yum!
• Ali made a strawberry crumble. I was surprised to find in Saveway that they have strawberries now. It seems that strawberry season is earlier this year than it was last and I'm determined to make the most of it. I've got pectin (thanks mummyp) and so will get round to attempting jam again at some point, but I wanted to start by using the strawbs for a pudding. I found a strawberry crumble recipe that seemed perfect because a) it uses strawberries b) a crumble is nice and warming in winter c) it also used almonds which Scotty loves. The recipe said to keep the strawberries whole, and you can probably do that with British strawbs, but the Egyptian ones are massive so I did cut them. It was a bit of a botched job as the dish was a little too big, but it tasted yummy and everyone said they liked it. I want to make it again before the strawbs go out of season (or it gets too warm!)
• We had a games night. We were invited round to the Prebs place for a games night and we took along Ingenious. Only four of us could play at a time, but it was good fun with the five of us as it left one person to point out that you had mis-counted your score. It was good fun to catch up after the break and they enjoyed the game (so much that they have now downloaded a copy onto the ipad!). Looking forward to another games night soon - maybe playing our new game!
  
• We started a new project. We're not totally ready to reveal the project yet, but it's an idea that Ali has been thinking about since September. We spent most of the weekend working on it; Friday as a draft project and Saturday on the real thing. We're nearly ready to introduce it to friends and then after a while maybe more. It's exciting to have something to work on together.
  
• We're back in to the Wii. I don't know when it was, but some time last year we just stopped playing the wii. We'd had great fun at the start of the year on the Scooby game, but then after that it dropped off our things-to-do. We got a few new games for Christmas that are good (including a new Scooby
• We got a plumber round to sort out the flush on the toilet. Visitors will know that our main toilet has been a bit dodgy when it comes to flushing for ages. First it would only occasionally flush, so after a while we changed it to a pull-string instead of using the mechanism. Then the plunger part wouldn't always seal and so after flushing water would drip through to the bowl instead of filling the cistern. It's never not been 'usable' but has been long overdue getting someone to look at it. The tipping point was when the plunger wouldn't seal at all despite all our efforts. So we called "TG Services" who we'd heard were good for expats and they came round that evening (even phoning 30 minutes before to check we still wanted them to come). The two guys didn't speak much English, but were methodical with working through the various problems with the toilet. About an hour (and many tests) later they were done and even tried to leave without us giving them a tip! You now use the handle to flush the toilet - how modern!
• Scotty's a number one podcaster. Scotty has been doing some more of his revision podcasts and saw the online iTunes charts which have his podcasts as number one!

So that's kind of it for now. Next thing is the "25th Jan" anniversary coming up, so we'll see what that brings and let you know!