I just have to vent! The government built a brand-new road from Yendi to Tamale; there is not a pothole in sight! We were so excited when we found out that they were making a new road, not just patching the old one. The problem with the road is that they have put rumble strips and speed ramps in every village all the way to Tamale! Not just a few speed ramps, some villages have as many as 5. We thought that once the potholes were gone, we would be able to get to Tamale faster but with all these speed ramps it takes just as long to get there as it did with the potholes. These speed ramps are so tall that you have to almost stop to climb over them. If you hit one unawares your head will hit the ceiling and the under belly of the vehicle will scrap. We decided to count the speed ramps and rumble strips. It is 60 miles from Yendi to Tamale. Yesterday we counted 263 of these annoying things! Imagine 263 in 60 miles! And they wonder why the vehicles don’t last! They say that they put the speed ramps and rumble strips in to slow the vehicles down so they do not run over their goats, sheep and other animals. Here’s a novel idea for them, “TIE OR FENCE YOUR ANIMALS!”
Steve got the employee tax and the withholding tax figured and paid today. When he went to town to pay the taxes he stopped and picked up the church benches he commissioned to be built. The benches looked good. He only had to repair one; the bench had split. Steve glued and clamped it. He will let it sit and dry overnight.
It actually rained a little bit last night. It usually rains once or twice this time of the year; these are just pop-up showers. The real rain will not start until the middle to the end of April. It rained for about 30 minutes. The rain on the tin roof woke me up. I was so excited to see the rain even if it was short-lived. It started at 1:30 am. I got up and went out to block the openings to the cistern. We never harvest the full first rain because our last rain was in October so the roof is terribly dirty; not only with dust but also with bird dropping, leaves and seeds. It took about 20 minutes for the water to become semi-clear. I caught the last 10 minutes of the rain. This rain added a few inches to the cistern. It was cooler this morning when we went for our walk and it was nice that the rain had settled the dust and our feet were not so dusty.
Zorash came to the mission house this morning; she was on her way to the grinding mill to grind soybeans to make tofu for tofu kabobs. She likes to make the tofu and share it with us because we in turn give her the oil she needs to fry the tofu and make the sauce. We are going to have soybean (tofu) kabobs for supper. YUM!
Thank you for all you do for us!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
You know that I love ketchup! Every once in a while, Mom will give me one of those little packets of ketchup. She never opens them; it takes lots of tugging and pulling to get a small hole in the packet. Well, today Mom was making a sauce for the soybean kabobs and she gave me tomato paste on a spoon! How delightful that was! Yummy stuff! I like the soybean kabobs too.
Mom had a bucket of water sitting beside me this morning; she was in the process of washing clothes. I decided that I was thirsty so I got a drink of water. Then I decided that I needed to jump on the bucket; I thought I was going to be able to knock the bucket over and spill the water but it was too heavy for me! Then I put my hand in the water! Mom dropped a spoon in the bottom of the bucket, raisins and a pair of blunt nosed scissors. I stuck my hand in and got the spoon; I tried for the scissors but I was getting too wet. I hate to be wet; it reminds me of taking a bath! I climbed up on the cabinet and tried to dry my arms and legs off by licking them. It was not working and I was stressing out. When I get stressed, I rub my face and eyebrows and yawn! Monkeys don’t usually yawn when they are tired; they yawn when they are stressed and confused. I was definitely stressed when I could not get that water off my fur! Mom got a towel and dried me off; I felt much better.
No more half baths for me!
Love, Skeeter
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