Tuesday-

We received another day with really warm weather and no rain (92 degrees) with a clear sky. The stars are all out and bright tonight, Bella pointed out Venus and Jupiter on our walk to the cho in the dark.

 

The painting continued today over in the church while Steve tried his hand at plastering around the baptistery door. Some of the girls were painting the window frames and the bars in the window frame along with some of the doors. Brent got another door put up over in the house. It is slow going on the doors because everything has to be done by hand. He mentioned that it is very tedious work and I would definitely agree. We get one door done in a day and that is good progress.

 

Tonight we had a blazing fire in the fire place courtesy of Jonah. We had blue flames shooting up it was so hot and ended up opening the door up. On days like today that are 85-90 it was just too hot in the house and the drinking water was actually warm. But I would sure appreciate that fire on the cool rainy days that we have when everyone grabs sweatshirts and warm pants.

 

Teresa is busy making banana muffins for breakfast in the morning and they smell really good. Angie made lemon pudding and hot carob drink for dinner along with some potato and bean ugali that Miriam made. At lunch I made macaroni and cheese and this time it turned out better but the noodles still get really soft no matter what. So we have come to the conclusion it is the altitude here. We had beans with beef tvp and rice along with fresh cabbage salad and pie crust sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. So you can tell that we eat very well here.

 

Last night Bella spiked a high fever in the night and her cough got worse so we gave her fever medicine and cough medicine. Then I kept a cool cloth on her forehead and the back of her neck. Then I told her that we had to check her for malaria because her fever came out of nowhere and she was a little distraught. I showed her all the pieces of the test kit and explained what they were, except the lancet (the old crude lancets). Finally, it came down to where I needed to poke her finger so of course she saw it and jerked her hand back. Then she announced that she could do it herself so I gave it to her. She tortured herself about 10 minutes of slowly poking into her skin but not enough to break the skin. So when daddy said he would come and hold her hand down she very gladly presented her finger and I poked her so fast that she didn’t have time to think. She never cried at all and we had a good blood sample. Bella really liked watching the test work and I explained it to her. She came out negative which was a relief! Her fever dropped off for the rest of the night and she was able to sleep.

I am still fighting the residual cold symptoms that mainly rear their ugly head at night (figure that). I was so stuffed up last night that I could hardly breathe so I gave in and took cold medicine and then I was wired and could not sleep. Finally after hearing a rooster crow at about 3:30 in the morning I dozed off. The roosters are all confused because the moon is so bright that it lights up the sky and they crow from about 2am on.

I was awaken this morning by Chris shaking me and asking me to get a tub because he felt sick to his stomach. I said you are sick too? Then he said he was having kidney pain and proceeded to whine and writhe on the bed. I got up and got him the tub and water then I went and found Steve to get some vicodin. Chris took 2 of them and kept hyperventilating and rolling around on the bed. He had quite history of kidney and bladder stones but he has not had one in a long time. About 15 minutes after he took the pills the pain started to subside and then it was gone. He said it had passed from his kidney down to his bladder so now we are all awaiting the final passing. Jon was teasing him about being a baby and we were all laughing.

Both Chris and Bella had a good day with Bella’s fever coming and going. Poor thing Isabel’s front teeth are almost in and her gums are very swollen. She complains about them a few times each day but I told her we will throw a party when she gets her front teeth in. They have been gone for 5 ½ years!

 

The girls got their blouses and skirts today and they were all smiles. They tried them on and showed some of the other girls. As each of the girls here get something made they run and show all the others so they all get excited to see what’s made.

Mat played soccer again this evening with the local boys and made 2 goals. It is definitely a rough game and the girls don’t play because they would be hurt fairly quickly. Sometimes the men play but not tonight. Mat, Jonah, and Sam were all playing around with the wheel barrow today giving each other rides. Most of the time they work very hard so it is funny to see them come up with ideas that they think are fun to get out of work for a while.

Today Pepere took off from Dar and is on his way back home. Tomorrow Memere begins her journey back to Kibidula and then on out to here. She should arrive back here on Thursday and then we will push hard to get done what we can by next Tuesday. We take off first thing Wednesday morning for Kibidula and the kids are excited to have rest time. I am excited to have a bed there to sleep in and have some good homemade cooking.

 

I took down all the fabric and measurements to the sewing class today and things are under way. I am very curious to see how this all goes since many of the requests today are for girls back home and they were not actually here to be measured. I was assured by Brent that they use inches not centimeters but I am going first thing in the morning because I have this fear that they are not reading the measurements as inches but the other.

 

Wednesday-

We were up bright and early and everyone seemed to have a good night’s rest for a change. I actually slept most of the night and could breathe. Bella had to have fever medicine one time through the night and Chris is great.

Teresa’s muffins were good this morning and we had fresh plums from one of the little girls that visit us (her dad brought them). Today Miriam’s parents visited and brought us more fresh plums.

The sewing school is humming right along with the projects and they brought up my skirts today which turned out nice. There was a slight miscommunication over the measurements so the dress for Andrea has now become the dress for Jenesis. They misread the measurements but it is all straightened out now. I am excited to see the finished products.

We all painted over in the church today and I have to say it is the worst paint I have ever used. The primer actually didn’t smell too bad but the cream colored paint that goes over the top is terrible. It gave me a migraine and made my throat sore for a couple hours and my voice croaky. I finally had to get out of the church and take a shower; luckily it was my turn to cook dinner so I had an excuse to go over to the house. The reddish brown paint for the windows and doors is so thick you can barely paint it on, yet it will drip. I can’t figure that one out! None the less the painting is coming along and the church is looking great.

For our dinner tonight I made several packs of the Korean Ramen, opened up gobs of seaweed and cut it up, and sliced bread and oranges. I asked Miriam to make rice and to fry the whole potatoes and they were delicious. Everyone enjoyed the food and every pot was emptied. The Waggoners were invited to eat with us and they really enjoyed the fare. For dessert I broke out several packs of M&M’s which made the kids extremely happy. Poor Jon and Steve don’t like the seaweed but they had to eat it in their ramen. The seaweed in the soup comes dried in the seasonings and it has a really good flavor with some spice to it. So we ended the day with good food and everyone was full.

Meanwhile the boys and Chris and Steve were out playing the nightly soccer game. I took video of part of the game and I got quite a kick out of watching it.

Hannah did a good job painting today and playing with the kids that visit us.

Mat and the boys moved bricks all day and worked very hard. Isabel helped Miriam peel potatoes and played with Leila and the other kids that visit.

There is another little girl named Leila that visits us here and Bella always gets her up in her lap and the little girl falls asleep. I looked out the window and there Bella was on a stool balancing this little girl who was sleeping on her lap. After lunch Bella was babied by Christina and Bethany which she really enjoyed.

Hannah helped me prepare dinner and Mat kept coming and begging for food before dinner. I should say all the boys because they are starving all the time.

 

Memere was in Iringa today when we contacted her and she is getting more paint for us. She told Angie that she found lentils and mung beans for us and we were very excited! She will be bringing more fruit and veggies for us; I asked for more beets because they are so good.

 

Hopefully we can get most of the painting done before Sabbath this week and we are tentatively planning a huge church potluck since this is our last one here.

We are talking about having a thanksgiving meal at Kibidula but I’m not sure it will happen because its lots of work. I know my family is gearing up for thanksgiving and getting ready to feast on a huge assortment of foods. I actually am glad that we will miss over eating this year and the only thing that I am hungry for is pumpkin pie and my kids say chocolate pie.

Alanna- to use the brine, yes use apple cider and water and use a clean 5 gallon bucket with lid. I cook the cider or whatever it says with the spice then I use cold water and ice and put the turkey into the bucket for 24 hours (I set my sealed bucket on the back deck overnight just keep the ice in it). Then I stuff it with oranges, onions, celery, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme or whatever herbs you like. I also make herb butter and place it in a baggie and squish it all to the bottom of the bag to create a log shape. Then you freeze that over night-take it out when you have done everything else and cut up into slices and I slide that under the skin all over the turkey. You can do what you want but that is what I did.

My family no longer eats meat as of last Thanksgiving but we used to enjoy the turkey with our family, now we enjoy vegetarian fare.

I wish all my family and friends a very nice holiday- I know it is early but I don’t want to forget later.