Well, we are back on the farm and so far life can't get anymore exciting. The day we got here, we had one of those tremendous downpours that keeps On giving and giving. I had the water coming in through the window jams? Because nothing is sealed tight here. Everything comes in freely - rain, bugs, spiders, dust, Small children, etc. We were also informed that two of the maids had been let go because of a theft problem. When I got here, there were many items missing from our house that were supposedly under lock and key. My pots, cups, cleaning sponges, some food items. Alan and I had taken a picture of a the things we left behind so that we would have a record of what was left behind. We should have had a motion detector camera that would have caught the thieves in the act. Oh well, i'll just have to replace things. The next day, Sunday, we had a small electrical fire between our ceiling panels and our roof;bad wiring. Alan climbed up and doused the fire with water, but we had a little smoke in the house. That evening we had a light shower problem, it wouldn't turn off. You can't turn things too tight here, because it breaks the inner workings of the faucet. So our shower was quickly daring all the water from the water tank. Alan went out and snipped the wires to the water pump and then four of them proceeded to fix the faucet. Between our two housing disasters we had lunch, church, and dinner.
The wheat is dry enough and is being harvested. Mark was wondering how dangerous it would be if a body were to get caught in a combine - as in could a body go through and if it would hurt the combine. Alan didn't think a body would get too far, but Bracken was quick to remember that last year Alan sucked up a big rock and really damaged the auger in one of our combines. Finally after much discussion, we asked Mark why he would be worried about somebody getting sucked into a combine. Mark reminded us that last April during planting season, the upset and frustrated farmers would stand in front of the tractors until they would have to stop. He is hoping that the farmers won't try that trick with the combines. The crop is not yielding what Alan is used to getting. We have army worms and the rust fungus to thank for that and too little rain. I believe one drill is being put together, and I will haves to post a pictures of that soon.
Life is never boring here on the farm; frustrating, confusing, crazy, funny, very Ethiopian of course, and we are never bored. There is too much to see and do, too many people to meet and love. Too much to worry about and never enough daylight to get it all done. Remember we have just 12 hours of daylight all year round.
Have a good day, and the next time I post, I promise to post pictures.
Shelley
6 comments:
Wow a fire in the attic! I had one in the oven the other day. I burned some lovely french bread. We were very sad. Glad you are all safe.
So what maids were let go? I feel bad about that and hope that they can find other work. I am glad you are able to have church at a regular time and that the grain is being harvested. I don't want to hear about someone getting caught in the auger of one of the combines. If it is raining so much how are they able to harvest? Can you get your garden underway? HOw long are Claire and Bracken supposed to be there this time?
Too bad about the fire and the shower. It's good that Alan is handy and can fix things. Hopefully the grain will start growing and you can get some new maids that don't have "sticky" fingers.
It was nice to see an update and to hear how things are going even as crazy as it all sounds. I would love to hear how Rome was. Maybe another day. Take Care and I hope that things will calm down.
I was so excited when i saw you email yesterday and it just makes my day to have a new post from you today. I'm sorry about your two maids. I hate to hear that they were not more loyal to you. What an exciting life you have when you are in Ethiopia.
How is the harvest going? This is Ryan in case you were wondering. for some reason my moms blog shows up for mine at the top. Just found out last week that I'm a SAW (m-249) gunner. It's like a heavy duty fully auto M-16 used for suppressing fire. It's fun to shoot.
I can't wait to see some more of your pics. In a way I kind of miss farming. Hope you get the new equipment soon too. They look really nice.
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