Margo Wayman

 

Nile Word Search C D L A K E V I C T O R I A B E E A S S D E E R A T O U R I S T S B T F H J E C R O C O D I L E D C A F F A R M S I L M A D N A W S A E I G S H A D O O F K M P T O M T S S R T C A R A T A C S U I N U V N H K Q H C R E P E L I N L T L W A B H N O R T H E G Y P T A E L Y E D A A P A P Y R U S F Z P K E G N M R X V I E A R O X U L I A T H A J T C K N W T O U H K P A L L B R E O D T Z A L L A C C U L E F L R G U W H I T E N I L E A S L N U E S M L U C I D R Y F J I O V E E T U T P X T B S S D O O L F D I N I T R A L Z C Q U S E B E H T M I D O K O L B J C A I R O G H W F L E L B H I P P O P O T A M U S P E M A M R O M R Y E N C R U I S E R S L A K E T A N A O X A L E X A N D WORD LIST FOR PUZZLE Felucca  Papyrus Aswan Dam  Crocodile Hippopotamus  Floods Delta  North (flows) Cataract  Khartoum Cairo  Nile perch Tilapia  Luxor Mediterranean Sea  Blue Nile White Nile  Shadoof Lake Victoria  Lake Tana Egypt  Thebes Cruisers  Tourists Farms  Reeds Catfish  Mullet Bolti (fish)  Lotus A Kid's Crossword Puzzle.  Click Here Bird Necklace Below is a simplified version of a beautiful Jeweled Collar found in the Tomb of King Tutankhamen (Tut) (1333-1323 BC) Directions Color the jewels and paste the picture to heavier paper or cardboard. But along the dotted lines.  In order to wear as a necklace, put string through holders.   This Month's Story Six Eggs and a Giggle By Margo Wayman Abdul, the lizard, woke up, stretched and yawned. He looked up at the sky. There was not a cloud in it. It was going to be another hot spring day. He glanced at his surroundings. There wasn’t much to see; a few rocks, some prickly bushes, sand and more sand. Abdul knew he’d be bored again today. For the last few days he’d done nothing but sleep, catch a few flies and chase a beetle or two, but that was all. Today he wanted to do something different. He wanted to do something fun and exciting and see if he could add a little life to this dull day. The lizard scrambled across the sand, heading towards the wide, swift, river. As he ran on the hot sand, he spotted a flamingo’s cone-shaped nest. There was one white egg in it. He paid no attention to it as he scooted on his way. He whipped past an ostrich nest. It was huge. It sat in a depression in the ground and was made of sticks, branches, and some leaves. He ran over to it and looked inside. There were quite a few yellowish-white eggs lying in the middle. After taking a look he ran on, passing an ibis nest that was built among some reeds, a tree with an eagles’ nest in the branches, another tree holding a dove’s nest and yet another with an owl’s nest buried inside the trunk. He also noticed that all the nests were unguarded. The parents must have been down at the river getting a drink or flying about looking for food. Feeling rather mischievous, an idea came to Abdul’s little brain. He thought it would be really fun to switch the eggs around. He could sneak up and take an egg from each nest and put it in another bird’s nest. He quickly ran up one of the trees and grabbed a white egg out of the owl’s nest. He carefully carried it in his long scaly tail and ran down the tree. Now where should he put it? He thought about it carefully. It would be so funny to put the owl’s egg into the flamingo’s nest. He snuck over to the flamingo’s nest and placed the egg inside of it, taking the one large flamingo egg with him. He carried it in his tail. He giggled and snickered as he ran away from the coned nest. He ran towards the tall tree where the eagles’ nest sat, firmly built between two great branches. He ran up the trunk, carefully placed the flamingo’s egg into the eagle’s nest, removed one of the eagles’ two spotted eggs, held it in his long scaly tail and ran down he tree. He giggled and snickered as he ran away. After much thought, he ran across the sand, down to the riverbank where he found the ibis’s nest. It was almost as big as the flamingo’s nest. He dropped the egg inside and took one of the ibis’s eggs. It was greenish blue in color and very pretty. Abdul carried it in his tail and ran up the riverbank. He saw the tree where the flimsily built dove’s nest was, ran up it and put the ibis egg in it. He picked up one of the dove’s pure white eggs. He ran over and put it in the ostrich nest. The egg looked so small compared to the others, but he didn’t think the parents would ever notice. He picked up an ostrich egg. It was creamy colored and much bigger than the other eggs. Abdul realized that he’d not be able to carry it in his tail. Using all his might, he picked the ostrich egg up and held it in his arms. Now there was only one nest without a switched egg and that was the owls. He stood at the bottom of the tree and looked up at the hole. Another bird had pecked it out of the tree. It was a long way up to the nest. Slowly and carefully he carried the huge egg up and placed it in the owl’s nest, being careful not to smash the other eggs. Abdul looked around from the top of the tree and could see all the birds heading back to their nests. He ran down and hid behind a rock. He giggled and snickered. This was going to be very funny. He’d switched eggs from all of their nests. As each of the birds landed back in their nests they saw something was different. The owls looked at the huge egg lying amongst the other ones. They’d never noticed how big it was before, or how it was a different color. It would be a very big owl. They shrugged their shoulders, hooted, and mother owl sat on the eggs. The two doves flew back to their nest in the branches and saw the strange looking egg in their nest. They hadn’t noticed that one of their eggs was greenish blue before. Father dove cooed and flew off, leaving mother dove to sit on the eggs. When the eagles landed in their nest, they saw the odd looking egg . Without giving it another thought, father eagle sat on it while the other one went to find food. The ibis, ostrich and flamingos all reacted the same way. Each of them noticed something different, but didn’t pay much attention to it. Abdul giggled and snickered. This was going to be funny when the eggs hatched. Each day he came back to see if anything had happened. Each day he chuckled. One day there was a great commotion going on at the flamingo’s nest. Abdul scurried over to see what was happening. He watched from a nearby rock as father flamingo picked up his egg. It was hatching. Seeing the look on their faces as the fledgling burst from the shell sent Abdul into stitches, laughing. Father and mother flamingo were shocked. Instead of a little white-feathered baby with a red bill and long pink legs, they held a little bird with a flat face that was covered with brown fluffy down. Abdul lay on his back, his legs up in the air, holding his tummy as he laughed and laughed and laughed. After watching for a little while, he became curious as to what was going on with the other birds. He ran over to the ostrich nest. All the eggs were hatching. There were eight creamy eggs, with little brown-feathered chicks pecking their way out. There was one small white egg. Bursting from the shell, sat a grayish-brown, feathered ball of fluff. The other chicks towered over it. Father and mother ostrich stared at the tiny chick. Mother ostrich picked it up in her hand and stared at it with a puzzling look on her face. Abdul laughed as he saw her looking at her other chicks, then back at the little dove chick. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Still curious, he made his way to the ibis nest down near the river. Two greenish blue eggs had already hatched with two ugly, dull, blackish, down-covered chicks. A bird was pecking its way out of the third egg. When if finally was free of the egg, father and mother ibis stared at it. It didn’t have long legs like the other two. It had sharp talons and a short, sharp beak. Abdul laughed and laughed and laughed. He thought it was so funny. He then went to the tree where the eagle’s nest was. He ran up and hid behind some leaves. The first eagle had hatched from the egg, as had the flamingo chick. Father and mother eagle were squawking, wondering how this odd looking white bird with red bill and pink legs could be theirs. The chick stared up at who he thought was his parents. Abdul laughed and laughed and laughed. He nearly fell from the tree. He ran down the trunk and went over to the owl’s nest. He ran up the trunk until he got to the hole. He peeked inside. There were four eggs in the nest. The first one to hatch was the huge ostrich egg. Mother and father owl hooted. The other three were pecking their way out, but the owls were afraid that the odd looking big bird would smash the others. Abdul laughed and laughed and laughed. He had to hold onto a large piece of bark so he wouldn’t fall. He had one more nest to visit. He thought this was all so funny. He ran to the other tree where the doves had built their flimsy nest. Both chicks were hatching together. The doves looked so happy. When the baby dove hatched, they picked it up and hugged it’s grayish-brown downy feathers, but when the second egg hatched, they began to coo and coo. Instead of another little brown, fluffy ball, was a huge, ugly, blackish-downed bird with long legs. Abdul laughed and laughed and laughed. He’d never had so much fun in his life. Meanwhile, all the father birds, who were so confused, flew down to the river to get a drink of water. They began telling each other about their unusual babies and soon they discovered what had happened. Each father bird went to the other nests, found their babies and took them back to their nests, much to the relief of the mothers. Abdul watched the exchanges. He began to realize that perhaps what he’d done wasn’t that funny after all. He even began to feel sorry for what he’d done. Never again would he switch eggs in the nests. The next week when Abdul went for a walk, he saw the flamingos with their new baby, standing in the river, near the bank. They seemed so happy with their new chick. Abdul smiled. He saw the ostriches with their nine new chicks walking along, bobbing their heads up and down on their long necks. Abdul smiled. The ibis family was down at the river too with all three of their chicks. They were beautiful birds, with their long curved bills. They looked so happy together. Abdul smiled. Up in the air the eagles soared above. The two chicks followed, flapping their wings madly, trying to fly. Abdul smiled. Near the old hole-riddled tree were the owls. Mother and father owl were hooting, and the four little owls were hooting little hoots. Abdul thought is was so cute. He smiled. The doves came flapping above him. He looked up to see the little grayish brown chicks flapping their wings just like their parents. He felt so happy. All the chicks were back with their families. Abdul smiled. Lost In The Desert By Margo Wayman The rock dropped to the bottom of the well, and landed with a splash when it hit the water. Rabin, a beautiful little girl with dark brown eyes and hair as dark as the midnight sky, laughed when she saw the water geyser up, then watched silently as the rock slowly sank to the stone lined bottom. She raised her eyes and looked around on the ground for another pebble. Seeing no other, Rabin skipped off towards the tent, where she lived. As she approached it she saw that the goatskin walls had been raised to let the air circulate throughout. Summer in the Egyptian desert could be unbearably hot and what breezes came along were precious and to be taken advantage of. Rabin’s tent was one of several in a small village in the arid desert, southwest of Cairo. Not many people ever came to the village to visit, but now and then a camel train would pass through and stop to fill their canteens with fresh water from the well or nearby pond. There weren’t many trees about nor much other vegetation, but an acacia tree sprouted up now and then near the small pond that was formed by springs bubbling forth from the parched earth. Surrounding the village were several dirt paths. Rabin loved to walk down them. One led to the pond, another led to some of the other villager’s tents and one led to where the small black and brown goats grazed. Other paths just seemed to wander off into nowhere. Sometimes she’d ask her friends, Karim and Yasmine, to come and play with her. One day, as they were walking along one of the sandy trails, they came to an area where it was thick with acacia trees. Rabin saw something moving off the side of the path. She looked carefully and saw that it was a furry rabbit. It was brown with gray patches. It looked thin and hungry. She wanted to follow it but her mother had told her never to leave the path; it was dangerous. She’d warned Rabin that she might get hurt or lost and sometimes there were wild animals lingering about. But Rabin wanted to catch that rabbit. Suddenly she ran off the trail, following the rabbit through the rocks that jutted out of the sandy soil. Karim and Yasmine tried to call her back, but she wouldn’t listen. The rabbit hopped over a dead tree, so Rabin followed it. It ran up a small hill, so did Rabin. It leapt through a wide wadi, as did Rabin. It was when the rabbit jumped into some thorny bushes that Rabin lost sight of it. She sat down in the shade of a tree. It felt good to rest. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. In the tree above her hung a rather large beehive. As Rabin sat there, unaware of the hive, she noticed a lot of bees gathering around her. They were buzzing back and forth. She swooshed them away but more kept coming. Rabin didn’t like bees. She jumped up and ran as fast as she could. She ran and ran and ran and soon realized that she was lost. Nothing looked familiar to her. Where were Karim and Yasmine? Why hadn’t she listened to what her mother had said? She should have obeyed her. Now she was lost. She sat down on a rock and started to cry. As she sobbed, she heard a hissing sound. It sounded like air gushing out of a full balloon. She looked around at the ground; then she saw it. It was a cobra. It was coiled up and its tongue was flickering in and out of its mouth. Its head was flat and wobbled back and forth as if dancing to a snake charmer’s flute. Rabin jumped up on top of the rock and watched the snake. It slithered about on the ground. It even went around the bottom of the rock she stood on, but then, much to her relief, it slinked away. Now she really began to cry. She was very frightened. Making sure the cobra was nowhere to be found she hopped off the rock and started running back the way she came. She soon arrived back at the wadi. She walked along its path that had been made many years ago by spring rains flowing towards the Nile River. The water was long gone and all that remained was the dried riverbed. She was walking along and saw something move. Her heart leapt with joy as she thought it was the rabbit. Maybe, if she followed it again, it would lead her back to Yasmine and Karim. She ran over to it and was disappointed to see it was a small fox, reddish brown with a bushy tail. It scurried off into the bushes when she came too close. Feeling sad, she hung her head down and walked along. She noticed tracks in the wadi, odd-looking tracks, like a crocodiles. She couldn’t see a crocodile! There must have been one here when the river was flowing through it. But, not wanting to take a chance that there was still one lingering nearby, she ran quickly down the wadi. After what seemed like hours, Rabin felt tired, hungry and afraid. The sun was beginning to set below the horizon. The sky glowed a beautiful orange and red color, but she didn’t want to be alone in the dark. She sat down in the sand, too tired to move. She lay her head on her hands and fell asleep. She woke up a little while later to find the rabbit she’d been chasing, standing near her head. Its little black nose was wet and rubbing against her cheek. Rabin stood up slowly. The rabbit didn’t run away. She reached down to pet it and it moved a little further away. It wanted Rabin to follow it. She walked slowly and followed the rabbit back down the wadi, past the crocodile tracks, past the place where she’d seen the fox, past the rock where the cobra had slithered and past the tree filled with angry bees. She followed the hopping rabbit through the rocky soil. The rabbit suddenly stopped. Rabin heard her name being called, "Rabin. Where are you?" It was her father. She called out, "I’m here. I’m here." Soon her father found her, picked her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. ‘Where were you, Rabin? We’ve been worried about you. Yasmine and Karim told us you’d wandered off the path. You know you aren’t supposed to do that," her father scolded. "I know, Father. I am sorry that I disobeyed. I’ll never leave the path again," she apologized. She turned and looked for the rabbit. Where did it go? She saw it running off into the acacia trees. She smiled, took her father’s hand then walked back home. FROG LEGS By Margo Wayman Farso croaked monotonously as he sat on the lotus pad. Flies were buzzing all around him. He thought of trying to catch another with his long, sticky tongue, but it seemed too much of an effort and he didn’t think he could fit one more fly into his tummy. His large, bulgy eyes rolled around in circles as Farso watched all the other frogs. There were tongues going everywhere. In fact there were not only too many flies but there were far too many frogs at that pond. There was no room to leap, no room in the water to cool off and two other frogs shared the same lotus pad as him. It was just too crowded. As Farso sat thinking about this he was kicked in the face by a frog that was trying to hop to another lotus pad. Another leg kicked him in the tummy, which was full of flies, as a frog leapt through the air, trying to catch a huge fly. Everywhere he looked there were frog’s legs. The noise was unbearable. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! It went all day and night. Farso never got any sleep, any peace, or any quiet. He decided that he needed to go and find somewhere else to live. The hot desert sun had dried up most of the once huge pond, leaving just this small, puddle-like spot of water. When another frog landed on top of his head with a splat, Farso knew it was time to leave. He squeezed his way through the mass of slimy, squiggly frogs and hopped off into the bushes. Before he got too far he turned and looked back at the pond. All he could see were frog’s legs. He was glad to leave! Surely he could find another pond, a bigger one somewhere else. Farso leapt across the burning sand. It was so hot. He could feel his moist skin drying up. He knew he needed to find water quickly. He heard some elephants up ahead and knew a watering hole couldn’t be too far away. He hopped quickly, plopping his body on the hot sand. He stopped when he heard a hissing sound. He didn’t move, but stayed completely still, listening. Without moving his head, his large, googly eyes turned and he saw the cobra sitting against a large rock. It was coiled up; its tongue was flickering in and out of its mouth. Farso’s mind started racing. How would he get out of this mess? Cobra’s eat frogs. He mustered all the strength he could and leapt through the air in a huge leap, leaving the ready to strike cobra to wonder where he’d just gone. Farso knew he needed to be more careful and watch where he was going. He soon arrived at a pond. It was much bigger than the last one. He could hear several other frogs, but it wasn’t like the old pond. He jumped through the air, landed in the water and hopped onto a lotus pad. It felt good to have the water rushing over his dried skin. He shut his eyes and rested. Only a few minutes had passed when Farso felt his lotus pad being lifted up into the air. It went higher and higher. He peered down over the edge to see what was happening. A giant hippo had gone under the lotus and stood up. The taller the hippo stood, the higher Farso went. Suddenly the lily pad slid off of the hippo’s back and it, along with Farso, fell right into the pond. The hippo’s huge feet stomped the lily pad to pieces and nearly missed Farso. The frog was scared. He came to the top of the pond and saw that there were hippos everywhere. This pond wasn’t going to be safe. He swam to the shore and hopped away. There were many animals around each of the ponds he came to. He saw elephants, hyenas, a lion or two, a few monitors and tortoises. There were also many birds flying down to quench their thirst at the pond’s edge. Farso needed to be very careful. After hopping for a long, long time, Farso finally arrived at another pond. He couldn’t see any animals there. He didn’t hear any other frogs. He peeked under the water and saw there were no hippos. Feeling safe, he hopped in and sank down into the cool water. He soon fell asleep beneath a dark sky filled with twinkling stars. When he woke up, he had the feeling that he was moving. He opened his large, bulging eyes and looked around. It was pouring rain, and he was being carried down river by a huge wall of water. He looked up. There was no longer a pond. He was now in the wide, raging river surrounded by steep banks on both sides. He grabbed hold of some reeds that had been uprooted and were caught in the strong current, and held on to them as he was carried further and further away. Finally the water calmed down. Instead of a raging torrent it was now a smooth flowing river. Farso swam over to the riverbank and sat on the sand. After resting, he hopped around, looking to see where he was. He saw some elephants. They were standing in the shallow edge of the river, their trunks sucking in water and blowing it up in the air at each other. He saw the hippos swimming lazily in the middle of the deep river. Many birds were landing in the water, catching fish in their beaks. He reached a shallow area filled with lotus pads. He hopped onto one. There was now plenty of room for all the frogs and the other animals. There would be no more frog’s legs kicking him and no more frog’s legs bumping him off his lily pad. He let out a loud croak of contentment and stuck out his long, sticky tongue, trying to catch flies. Nile Recipes Felucca Fudge 2 c. butter 5 ½ c. sugar 1 14oz can evaporated milk 24 oz bag chocolate chips 2oz unsweetened chocolate squares 3 t. vanilla Place the butter, chips, squares and vanilla into a bowl that is all right when it heats up. In a saucepan combine the milk and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Be very careful. Let it boil for exactly 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour this mixture over the other ingredients in the bowl. Stir. Pour into a large 13x9x2" cake pan and let cool. Cut into squares. Aswan Apple Surprise Get one apple for each person you are fixing dessert for. Peel the skin off. Take an apple corer and take the center out of each apple. Mix ½ c. raisins with some sugar for each apple. Fill the cored apples with this. Sprinkle sugar on the outside of the apple. Bake 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. The sugar will caramelize. Let stand for about ten minutes. During this time make up your favorite vanilla pudding, warm, and then pour over each apple. Cataract Candied Sausages Take your favorite sausages, Polish, Italian, which ever you enjoy the most. Cut them up into small slices about ¼" thick, and place in large pot. Add as many cans of cola as it takes to cover the sausage. For each can of cola used, add 1 c. packed brown sugar and 1 T. crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer until sauce is syrupy. Serve in a shallow casserole dish, over rice, noodles or potatoes. Thebes Tortoise Cookies Crust: 2 c. flour 1 c. packed brown sugar ½ c. softened butter Caramel layer: 2/3 c. butter ½ c. packed brown sugar 1 c. whole pecan halves 1 pkg. chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take out a 13x9x2 pan, don’t grease it. In a bowl combine the crust ingredients. Mix. Pat firmly into pan and sprinkle pecans evenly over unbaked crust. Prepare caramel mixture and pour over pecans and crust. Bake 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven immediately and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let them sit and melt for a few minutes. Cool and cut. To prepare the caramel mixture: in heavy pan combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat stirring until boils. Boil 1 minute. Papyrus Potato Pancakes 1 med. Onion 2 big baking potatoes 1 egg 4 T. flour ½ t. salt Peel onions and potatoes. Chop onion, grate potatoes. Add salt. Pour into a bowl and add the egg and flour. Heat some oil in griddle. Place spoonfuls of potato onto griddle. Fry till brown, turn over, fry other side. Remove, drain, serve as a side dish with your favorite meal. Crocodile Lovers Cherry Cake 1 c. sugar 2 c. flour 2 t. baking powder ½ stick butter 1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz) Add sugar, flour, baking powder together. Stir, Cut in butter and work till crumbly. Mix in egg. Place ½ of this mix on bottom of 8x10 pan. Spread cherry pie filling on top. Find some little plastic crocodiles and put as surprises on top of filling. Cover with remaining mix. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool and drizzle icing on top. Be sure to tell children to watch out for the crocodiles in their river of cherry filling. Luxor Coffee Cake Mix : ½ c. margarine 3 eggs 2 c. sugar 1 c. buttermilk Add: 4 c. flour 1 t. baking soda 1 t. sugar 3 t. baking powder 1 c. buttermilk Pour into two greased loaf pans. Mix together and sprinkle with: 1 ½ c. flour ¾ c. sugar 6 T. margarine Bake for 50-60 minutes at 375 degrees. White Nile Fruit Pie 1.2 c. melted butter 1 c. sugar 2 beaten eggs ½ c. raisins ½ c. nuts (your favorite) ½ c. coconut 1 T. white vinegar Mix all ingredients together and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Chill and serve. Lotus Lovelies 1 12 oz bag chocolate chips 1 12 oz bag butterscotch chips 1 5oz can chow mein noodles 2 c. salted nuts Melt chips in pan over low heat. Stir in noodles and peanuts. Drop onto wax paper by teaspoonfuls. Allow to cool. Serve on a lotus flower with lily pad that you’ve cut out of construction paper.