The motor king died this morning. Well, it was not completely dead but it would not stay running and it could not pull a load without dying. Steve had to tow it to Solomon, the mechanic. The motor king is a 3 wheeled motorcycle vehicle with a truck bed mounted between the back wheels. Our motor king is old in motor king years. It is 10 years old. It has had a rough life; not telling how much tonnage it has carried over the years. We discussed buying a new one but could not justify the amount of money that would take so we decided to do the next best thing; we bought a new engine for it. Solomon is an expert when it comes to motorcycles. He bought the new engine, swapped it out with the old one and had it back to the mission by 3:30 this afternoon. We took it to him at 11:00 this morning; pretty impressive if I do say so myself. He said that there would be a “breaking in” period of 1 week in which we should only carry half loads; but we should run it as much as possible during that time. He even took it to the electrician and had the starter and a new battery installed so now it does not have to be kick started. Mr. Iddrisu’s leg will appreciate that!
The mason’s started the second bath house this afternoon. The first one is not completed but Dawda wants to do it piece by piece. He wants to get all of the bath houses built before he starts to plaster them. They are consuming more blocks than we expected; it appears we will run out of blocks before we get them all finished. We might have to hire someone to mold more blocks for us. Red has been in charge of that in the past; he might want the job.
Once the motor king was out of commission Steve had to use the green truck to haul block, gravel and sand. He is exhausted because he physically helped load the block and gravel. He will be sore tomorrow; but what else could he do? He had to keep the masons working.
We tried to get the masons to take a small holiday tomorrow because we have to go to Tamale and it will be very difficult to keep them supplied with everything they need but they refused; they want to keep working. We tried to figure out what materials they would need tomorrow and we paid the day laborer today for their work tomorrow. Since they did not want to take the day off they will just have to muddle through the best they can in our absence.
Please keep us and the work in your prayers; please pray that the men working on the property stay safe.
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
Today was wash day; it is one of my favorite days of the week! There is nothing I love better than rolling around in a laundry basket full of dirty clothes! The clothes make me so happy; they smell just like Mom and Dad! I try to dig to the bottom of the basket but I never quite make it. While Mom is sorting the clothes she throws the ones she is not going to wash on top of me; it is great fun digging my way out of the clothes! Sometimes I think I am stuck under the mountain of dirty clothes and then I see a small opening and I am free only to be buried again!
Hanging the clothes is another job altogether! I love jumping on the clothes line and hanging from the socks! I never know when the sock will give way and I will come falling to the ground! I don’t care if I fall; I climb right back up and do it all over again! Mom took a video of me and my nonsense this morning so I guess she enjoys wash day as much as I do.
Taking the clothes off the line is not as much fun as hanging the clothes but I still get into it! I have to hurry if I am going to get to hang on the line very long because Mom and Dad are quick when it comes to taking the clothes down especially if it is sprinkling or threatening to rain. Who knew the old folks could move so quickly!
When I grow up I think I will buy a laundry!
Love, Skeeter
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