The guy that is in charge of the stool tax / ground rent showed up this morning. He had figured the stool tax at the new rate and it was almost 3 times what it was the last time that we paid it. Originally, we had planned on paying for 3 years but we were afraid that we would run out of Cedis if we paid for 3 years so we just paid for 1 year. We could have written them a check but he said that he could not issue a receipt until the check cleared and that could take a couple weeks. Please! We will be long gone before that check clears; we did not want to pay and not get a receipt.
Amama and Zorash came to work today as planned. They were a tremendous help! If they had not helped us, we would have had to be up until the wee hours of the morning. We still have a few things to get down but at this point everything is doable!
They helped us package Skeeter food and clean out the refrigerators. They are always happy when it is time to clean out the refrigerator because they become the recipients of all the food that will not last for the next 2 months. Today they got eggs, bread, and vegetables. A couple days ago we divided the yams with them. Amama and Zorash said that they made fufu with their yams (the yams are boiled and then pounded until it turns into what looks like a dough ball).
Timothy stopped by this afternoon and brought a couple of the potholders he had made. They looked very nice. We visited with him for a little while discussing the land situation and the taxes. Timothy does not have land papers on the property where he built his house many years ago. The man from the stool lands made it very clear that if a person does not have land papers of some sort the land they are sitting on can be taken and given to someone else.
Steve made several trips to town today trying to tie up loose ends. He was supposed to buy red paint to repaint the 4-foot square water containers but he forgot. There is no real hurry on getting them painted since they are sitting on the cement slab and are dry; they will probably be dry for several more months because no one is expecting rain. Once in a while we will have a pop-up shower but mostly everyone in this area will remain dry.
We will go to Accra tomorrow. Please pray for us and for a safe trip home!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I was out for the whole day! I did not even have to go back into my jail cell when the parents ate lunch. I was happily playing outside on the veranda and in the big mango tree so Mom brought me my lunch bottle and a dish of fruit. I was full and happy while they ate their lunch. After lunch Mom brought me in their room; I made a big mess; I took every toy out of my toy basket. Mom was working on the receipts and Dad was running around covering up everything and vacuuming. That man loves to run the vacuum cleaner. I hate the vacuum cleaner! You know that thing sucks stuff right up off of the floor; I am afraid that if I get too close to it, I will get sucked up too! I can’t stand the noise it makes either. Mom invented a new game for me this afternoon. She has a fuzzy pillowcase that has a zipper on it. She put all my favorite toys inside the pillowcase and I had to work really hard to get them out! It was great fun! She did not zip the pillowcase shut but I think that I could probably figure out how to unzip it if I could figure out how to keep it from falling off the bed!
Mid-way through the afternoon I had a sinking spell and started to cry and beg for someone to lay down on the bed with me so I could take a nap. Dad finally got to a stopping point and we snuggled down for a nap. I could not go to sleep until I had groomed him; I always hope that I will find some creepy crawlies on him but I never find anything but that does not keep me from looking! Sometimes I pull his hair just for good measure and to see him squirm!
Life is good!
Love, Skeeter
