Conveniently eggy anytime

 She has been content on her own – scratching under the lucky bean tree, finding termites next to the Zambezi albida, fluffing out her feathers on cool mornings, enjoying white dust baths in the driveway. We noticed her snug nest where she was laying eggs in the thicket of the mile-a-minute creeper – well hidden from the crows and the hawks nestled against the durawall.
A few weeks ago she started to sit – the patient sitting of hatching hens. I would check her as I walked up the driveway in the mornings. Feeling her quiet patient presence. She made me feel contained too. Last week her patience was rewarded with 15 chicks to join her in scratching up termites in the soft dust.
So eggs have been much on my mind. The garden is full of them. As well as the wild grey hen, the domestic hens are sitting and the Guinea fowls are also laying – in a nest on the rockery under the bromeliads. And they don’t do it            quietly – bursts of cackling break out at odd times of day.
The cock seems to keep guard while the hens do their business and apparently tells the world about it. I am not yet fully conversant with guinea fowl speak so most of their outbursts remain a mystery.
But the eggs are delicious – amazing yolks and rich taste. My husband scrambled them for a bright yellow Sunday treat.
Eggs are the ultimate convenience food and my food of choice if I find myself cooking for one – a boiled egg, a quick fried egg, or a bit more ambitiously – omelettes or scrambled which, with the addition of herbs, or smoked salmon, mushrooms, cheese or bacon bits, become a gourmet treat.
Twice this week I have made egg sandwiches for early road travelers to take with them – nutritious and easy to eat on the road.
And ground up egg shells are apparently a miracle cure for arthritis – helping with joint flexibility and mobility. I am treating my ancient dog with egg shell – recommended by the mother of a friend who has been stirring powdered eggshells into her breakfast cereal for years – and at age 87 credits them with her lack of broken bones in spite of a couple of falls.
A common breakfast food, eggs appear in different guises all over the world. Scrambled with spices and chillie in India, hard boiled and dipped into cumin       and salt in Egypt or poached and served with yoghurt    and paprika in the Middle East.
And they go with anything. In Israel they accompany cucumbers and olives. The Chinese serve them with noodles – and a fried egg tops the famous Indonesian rice dish Nasi Goreng, another good breakfast.
A Brazilian buffet breakfast featured delicious chocolate cake, along with fruit and hardboiled eggs!
I have had two breakfast meetings this week – one with eggs, one without.
The Book Café provides a simple, standard English – eggs, sausage, baked beans, tomatoes and toast – usually not before 10am – but good value at US$5 and includes a very good cappuccino.
A full English is US$10 at more upmarket Café Nush – becoming as much of an early morning meeting place as its predecessor the iconic Italian Bakery. We both chose filled croissants –  hers with scrambled eggs and spinach (US$6) mine with smoked salmon and avocado (US$8) – a pretty substantial start to the day. A nice breakfast for two (including tea for her, cappuccino for me) was US$18.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com