Last night before we went to bed Steve called Dawda, the mason and told him that part of the wall fell down. He was surprised; he said that he would come first thing this morning and see what could be done. We in turn were surprised when he called at 6:00 and said he was here. We quickly got dressed. It looked worse in the light of day! Dawda started calling people. He said that he was not free today because he had to spray his farm before the tractor came to plow it but he got a couple men to come remove the broken blocks and clean up the neighbor’s yard. The men are also masons so they used a small hammer to knock off the mortar and save as many blocks as they could. Not many were left that were full blocks but Dawda said they would use them when they needed half blocks. He also called a man that has a motor king; we needed blocks hauled to the breach in the wall to make the mason’s work easier. He also moved the water containers to where they would be mixing the cement. Next he called someone to bring a load of sand. We usually have Red haul our sand and gravel but he was on his way to Accra to pick up my brother Paul. Then he called the man that haul’s water. Dawda wanted to go to his farm early but he was kind to us and waited for the men that were clearing away the rubble to get here so he could tell them exactly what needed to be done. It did not take long for them to come and the motor king driver arrived too. It sure is nice to have friends that know how to get something done. The men got all the rubble cleared away today; the motor king driver got half of the blocks moved and went to town for us and bought the cement. Mr. Iddrisu cannot do any hard work for at least another week hence the reason we had to hire someone. The water came this afternoon but we have not seen the sand yet. After the heavy rain we were afraid the water tanker would get stuck but he had no problem off loading the water. The motor king driver got stuck once but the men clearing the rubble helped us push it out of the mud.
Around 5:00 yesterday evening the nurse from the hospital called and said that Adamu still had a fever but she had run out of Tylenol. Really, excuse me! What kind of hospital does not have Tylenol? We put supper on hold and took a bottle up to the hospital. It really is amazing how little the hospitals have to work with. Yendi is actually a teaching hospital so it has more than most.
We worked on payroll all afternoon! We finally finished up a little while ago; it is almost 6:00. Steve said that he was going to go to town to buy a barbecued guinea fowl so I did not have to cook. He heard no complaints from me! He is in the kitchen making an olive oil / garlic dipping sauce for our bread. YUM!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
The Monkey Shines
I am exhausted! What with overseeing the rubble removal and counting money and stuffing envelopes I am just wiped out. I curled up in Mom’s lap and took a nap while she was writing the Yendi Notes. Mom always wears a dress so when I get tired and she does not have time to hold me while I sleep she makes a pouch in her dress and I curl up and sleep; it is like sleeping in a hammock. Hey now that is an idea! I wonder if Mom and Dad could make a hammock for my jail cell? I can see it all now; a burlap sack split open; stitched at the ends and tied diagonally in the corner of my cage. Yes, I think that is an excellent idea; then on those hot summer nights I can sleep outside. Actually it is summer all year long in Ghana.
I told you about the bug problem and that I really did not want to eat any more bugs but I ate more today! This morning I walked with the parents down to check on the progress of the rubble removal; ok I will be honest, I walked part of the way and part of the way I hung onto mom’s dress and she sort of drug me along and part of the time I sat on her foot and held onto her leg. Finally Dad said let me just carry him; that was what I wanted all the time! I digress; back to the bugs. There were lots of grasshoppers and millers in the tall grass; Mom tried to get me interested in catching them! What! I am scared of all things that jump and hop! Besides I heard that there were chiggers in the tall grass; Dad said so and I believe him. There is no way I want to get chigger bites! Mom caught 4 and I ate them all; I actually like grasshoppers, they don’t bite but please no more termites!
Mom was so excited that I have FINALLY learned to drink water like a real monkey! In case you don’t know monkeys don’t lap water like a dog or a cat we drink water like a horse drinks water. We put our full mouth in the water and suck the water up into our mouth’s like a horse does. I used to just try to lick the water or put my hand in the water and suck the water off my fingers but now I can drink properly! I am growing up fast!
Grasshoppers are on the menu!
Love Skeeter
