Hope you are doing well.

There has been a cooking gas shortage in Cameroon for the past few weeks. Well, I had my own little experience with it recently, and honestly, I didn't expect buying gas to become such an adventure. 😂

Finding Gas Wasn't Easy

I have two gas cylinders at home, but I switched to the second one the last time without getting the first one refilled. So when I needed to refill it, I thought it would be as simple as sending someone to buy it like I used to do.

It wasn't that simple.

The person I sent went to the usual places around, but there was no gas. He had to ask a commercial motorcycle rider to take him somewhere farther to find some.

Thankfully, he eventually found it, but it was 9,000 FCFA. Normally, a 12.5 kg cylinder costs around 6,500 or 7,000 FCFA, depending on what you're used to paying, so 9,000 FCFA was already a lot more than I expected. I expected the price to be higher but not as much as 9,000 FCFA.

And that wasn't even all I had to spend.

He had also spent money on transport while moving around looking for the gas, so I had to reimburse him for that. I also gave him a little extra to appreciate the effort he had made because, honestly, he could have gone to the usual places, found nothing and returned home. Instead, he kept looking until he found somewhere to buy it. In total, I spent 13,000 FCFA to get gas in Yaounde.

I was just happy he found gas.

The thing is, I had been a little worried because I didn't know how long the gas in the cylinder I am currently using would last. What if it finished before he found the other one? Imagine being in the middle of cooking and suddenly having no gas, with the other cylinder not filled. 😅

So when he finally came back with it, I was relieved.

But this whole experience got me thinking about how something as ordinary as buying cooking gas can suddenly become stressful. Usually, you know where to go, how much you're likely to pay, and roughly how long the whole thing will take. You don't expect to spend half your day looking for it or paying extra just to get what you need.

I'd already been seeing people talk about the gas shortage online, but experiencing the difficulty of finding it myself made it feel a little different.

And I kept thinking about what happens when your gas finishes and you can't find a refill. What do you do if you have food to cook and children to feed? Not everyone can keep moving from one place to another looking for gas, especially when transport and the price of gas itself are already eating into the budget.

For me, I was fortunate that the person I sent eventually found some.

Anyway, that's my little gas shortage story.

I hope things get back to normal soon because nobody should have to go through all that to buy cooking gas.

Hope you are doing well.

It's been a little while since I shared a proper life update, so I thought I'd sit down and tell you what's been happening around here lately.

A few things have changed since my last post.

The holiday is officially over, the kids are back in school, I'm trying to get myself back into a few routines, and there are a couple of things I've been working on that are taking much longer than I expected.

So, let's catch up.

And Just Like That, School Is Back

The long holiday went by so quickly.

I know I say this almost every year, but how does a holiday that feels so long when it starts suddenly become over? Lol.

One of the first signs that school has resumed in our house is the living room.

During the holiday, the children's toys seem to slowly take over the place. They spend weeks coming out whenever they want, and somehow there is always something lying around.

Now that school has started, the toys have mostly disappeared to their storage.

They come out on weekends again.

That's how I know we're back to school. 😂

The early mornings are back too.

We're waking up earlier, getting ready, making sure everyone has what they need and trying to get into the rhythm of the new school year.

And honestly, there is quite a bit that comes with starting a new school year.

It's not just about buying school supplies and paying fees. There's also the responsibility of making sure everything is in order and helping the children settle into a new routine.

You want the year to start well.

You want them to have what they need.

You want them to get comfortable with their new classes, teachers and schedules.

And then, of course, you have to get yourself used to the routine too.

After weeks of slower mornings, the alarm suddenly feels very serious again. 😂

I'm Apparently Re-Schooling Myself in Mathematics

Speaking of school, my daughter is now in Level Two of primary school, and I've been getting a little refresher course in primary-school mathematics through her homework.

And honestly, it's funny because there are things I understand now that I definitely did not understand when I was in primary school.

I actually remember struggling with some of these things myself.

I started school quite early, and I think some of the things we were being taught were simply beyond my capacity to understand at that age.

But instead of thinking, I don't understand this yet, I think I developed the mindset that mathematics was just difficult.

And once you decide something is difficult, you can easily carry that belief with you.

So now I'm sitting with my daughter trying to explain some of these things, and I'm looking at the questions thinking, Wait... this is actually not that difficult. 😂

Apparently, I'm re-schooling myself in mathematics thanks to her. By the way, during our time, we called it Arithmetic. We only met mathematics in secondary school lol.

I'm not complaining though.

It's actually been interesting to revisit some of these things as an adult and realise that I understand them differently now.

I Started a 90-Day Challenge

Another thing I've been doing lately is my own little 90-day challenge.

I'd already been thinking about doing something like this before, but then I started seeing people on TikTok talking about their 90-day challenges and sharing what they were trying to accomplish.

It motivated me to take my own idea more seriously.

So I decided to use that energy and give myself a 90-day period to really focus on a few things I want to improve and work on.

The idea is basically to spend September, October and November being more intentional, and then look back at the end of it and see what actually happened.

Of course, getting motivated to start something is one thing.

Keeping up with it is another. 😂

It's very easy to watch a few motivational videos, make a beautiful plan and feel like you're about to transform your entire life by Monday.

Then Monday comes.

And Tuesday.

And suddenly you're like, Okay... let's just take it one step at a time.

So that's where I am with it.

One step at a time.

And Yes, I'm Still Trying to Get Back Into YouTube

Part of this whole "getting back into things" also involves YouTube.

I have footage sitting on my phone from months ago that I still haven't edited.

Meanwhile, we are now in September.

At this point, I don't even know whether to call them old vlogs or historical documents. 😂

But I'm finally trying to get myself back into the rhythm of filming, editing and publishing again.

I'm hoping to start getting them out instead of letting them sit on my phone forever.

I think sometimes the hardest part isn't even starting.

It's getting yourself back into a rhythm after you've fallen out of one.

So that's another thing I'm working on.

Slowly, but surely.

My YouTube Channel.

My Plants Are Doing... Okay

My little plant corner has also been keeping me busy.

The plants I brought back from my trip are now growing, although not all survived.

Some are doing really well.

Some are just surviving.

And some didn't make it at all.

Which, I suppose, is part of gardening.

You can plant something, take care of it, wait patiently and still not get the result you wanted.

But we have new harvests! I'm so excited 😊 

My tomatoes are beginning to get ripe and they are big! I also harvest the last green pepper and hoping it will bear some more of them. I have harvested four big green peppers so far. 

I'm also dealing with a little pest problem at the moment.

Something has been attacking some of my vegetables, especially the tomatoes and green pepper plants.

I've been trying to keep on top of it by cleaning the leaves regularly and removing the pests whenever I find them.

Some of the tomato plants seem to be more affected than others, so I'm still watching them and hoping I can keep them under control.

My snake plants are giving me a completely different problem.

They are growing so much that they're starting to outgrow their container.

And I know what I need to do.

I need to repot them.

Or divide them.

Or separate some of the new shoots.

Something.

But for some reason, I keep overthinking the whole thing.

I look at the container, look at the plants, think about how I'm going to separate everything, think about the soil I'll need, and then somehow I end up doing nothing.

😂

I've been saying for a while that I need to deal with them, so maybe this is the year I finally do it.

I'm Still Figuring Out My Ankara Business

And then there's my Ankara handmade business.

Yes, I'm still working on it.

Well... working on it might be a generous way of putting it because a lot of what I've been doing lately is thinking, planning, changing my mind, thinking some more and trying to figure out exactly what I want to make.

It's taking a while.

Sometimes that bothers me because I really would like to see myself moving faster.

I want to have the ideas, make the things, take the pictures, put them out there and just get on with it.

But I'm also learning that I don't want to rush myself into making things I'm not completely comfortable with.

I'm still figuring out what I actually want this little business to look like and what I would be happy creating and selling.

And I think that's more important to me than simply being able to say, I launched.

So yes, it's taking longer than I thought.

But I don't regret taking the time.

It's not about getting everything perfect.

I just want to feel comfortable and happy with what I'm doing.

And hopefully, I'll have something to show you soon.

That's Life Lately

So that's what's been happening around here.

The holiday is over and the school routine is back.

The toys have returned to their weekend schedule.

I'm apparently re-learning primary-school mathematics.

I'm attempting a 90-day challenge and reminding myself that motivation is great, but consistency is where the real work begins.

I'm trying to get back into YouTube, despite having footage from months ago sitting on my computer.

My plants are growing, fighting pests, outgrowing their containers and generally keeping me entertained.

And I'm still figuring out my Ankara business, one idea at a time.

I'm just getting back into things, paying attention to what feels right, and taking it one step at a time.

See you in the next update. 🌿

Hi my Radiants,

Hope you are doing well. Happy September.

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and honestly, not much has happened. At least, nothing that I thought was important enough to sit down and write about.

But I've been thinking about this blog and what I want to share here, and I've realised that it doesn't always have to be something that happened.

Sometimes it could be something I noticed, I found interesting, or I saw online that made me think, apart from the simple little things that happened in my everyday life that I feel like sharing.

So I'm leaning into that a little more.

And one of the things that has made me particularly happy lately is my little green pepper.

My Green Pepper Finally Grew!

If you've been following my little plant adventures, you might remember this one.

Before I travelled, I had a plant growing in one of my containers and I wasn't even completely sure what it was.

Related: What Happened After We Came Back Home | New Plants, Preserving Food & Settling In

I suspected it was a green pepper, but I wasn't certain.

I had planted some green pepper seeds a while ago and, after waiting for what felt like forever, I eventually forgot about them. I had completely given up on seeing anything grow.

Then one day, this little plant appeared.

When it started growing, I became curious because the leaves looked much bigger than the regular pepper plant I had grown before. The plant's whole structure also looked different.

So I had my suspicions.

Maybe this was actually the green pepper I had been waiting for.

Then I travelled.

Before leaving, I was worried about my plants because I didn't know how long I would be away or how I would keep them watered. I tried to figure out a way to give them a regular supply of water, but it didn't work out the way I had hoped.

So I moved them to the more open part of my balcony where they could at least get some rain if it rained.

When I came back, some of the plants were looking a little weak because it hadn't rained for a while.

Related: Holiday Days, Travel, Family Time Food & Little Things | Life Lately In Cameroon

I watered them and started taking care of them again.

And then, sometime after that, I noticed flowers.

I was excited because I thought, okay, this is it. Now we'll finally know what this plant is.

And eventually, two of the flowers produced fruit.

That's when I knew.

It really was a green pepper!

I was so happy. 😂

There were actually several flowers, but most of them didn't make it. They would appear, start growing, and then turn yellow and fall off.

But these two survived.

And I got to use my very own homegrown green pepper to cook.

The first one I used was fine and tasted just like a green pepper should.

The second one was interesting because it had a surprisingly strong pepper smell. It actually smelled more like the hot pepper we usually use here.

I don't know if that was because it was grown naturally or if that's just how that particular pepper was, but I used it anyway.

I put it in my stew and later used it to make jollof rice.

And honestly, I was just happy that I had grown something that I could actually eat.

I wish the other flowers had survived because I would have had quite a little harvest by now.

But I'm grateful for these two.

Hopefully, the plant will produce more.

The Other Plants

My other plants have been having their own little stories too.

The plants I brought back from my trip have now been planted.

Unfortunately, not all of them survived.

Some tried to germinate but eventually withered and died. Others seem to have settled in quite well, though, so I'm hoping they continue growing.

I also have tomatoes growing.

I didn't even intentionally plant them.

They just appeared.

Now the tomatoes are growing and flowering too, and I'm waiting to see what happens next.

The End of the Holiday

And just like that, the long holiday is coming to an end.

This is actually the last week of the holiday, and school starts next week.

So we're back to preparing for the new school year and putting together the last few things the kids need before school starts.

But honestly, it's been a good holiday.

The kids have had a good time, we've rested, and they've also spent a lot of time at home learning little things along the way.

Sometimes they come into the kitchen while I'm cooking and watch what I'm doing.

They've also been willing to help, which I really enjoy.

There is something nice about watching them learn these little everyday things at home.

So even though the routine is about to start again and we'll soon have to wake up earlier and get everyone ready for school, I'm grateful for the holiday we've had.

It was a chill one.

And I think we needed that.

And Yes, I've Been Drinking More Tea

I've also been drinking a lot more tea lately.

Remember when I took out my teapot again and started making tea?

Well, tea has officially become one of my regular favourite things lately.

I've been having it quite often, sometimes even twice a day.

I travelled with my tea the last time. 😂

And now that I'm back, I've been enjoying different kinds.

I've been making tea from some of the herbs I brought back from the trip, and I've also been making different drinks with the green tea leaves I have.

There's something about having a warm cup of tea that I really enjoy, especially when I'm at home and everything is quiet.

So yes, tea has somehow become part of life again lately.

Hi my Radiants,

Hope you are doing well.

After spending some days away with family, we eventually came back home, and one of the first things I wanted to check was my plants.

Before I left, I had moved most of them from the front of the house to the back where they would be more exposed to rain. I had initially tried to figure out how to keep them watered while I was away, but that wasn't really working out the way I had hoped.

Since I wasn't sure how long I would be away, I thought it was better to leave them somewhere they could at least get some water if it rained.

So when I came back, I was curious to see how they were doing.

Thankfully, they were doing quite well.

My plants when I returned

My plants before I left

Ready to to be frozen

Plants looking tired from the journey and maybe because I didn't plant them immediately

See the soil I was managing. I need more soil

Sorted the plants by type

I really want this flower to grow.

This one too.

I wish I had more soil, I would have given this yam another chance.

It was already evening when I was done planting. I tried o

It looks good now, but figuring out how to plant it was such a task

After all the plant business, I also had some food to deal with.

I came back with some potatoes, and I eventually used some of them to make pomme pilé.

If you're not familiar with it, ponpilé is a Cameroonian dish made with Irish potatoes and beans, which are pounded together.

The kids really enjoyed it.

They ate it so well that I was happy I had made it.

I also really like the way I make mine, so if you'd like to try it, I have shared my recipe for the best pomme pilé here:

Related: Pomme Pilee Recipe 

Yum

So that was life after coming back home. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in my next one.