Week 15 - 8.7.12

A short week this week due to our Nsobe holiday.

We arrived back late Tuesday night. Clement had accomplished so much whilst we were away. He has put in some plants around the larpa and put some sugar cane in along the back fence. We are trying to build a screen as our back fence boarders a main walkway. It will be nice when all the cane and creepers grow to give us some privacy. Phil feels as though he is in a fish bowl when he sits outside. I'm use to it now, but it will be nice to have some privacy back.

On Wednesday, I thought I'd better get started on Laura's cake. As we can't get a lot of marshmallow here on site, I decided to try and make my own, then thought I could use that for marshmallow fondant. Would not recommend doing this. I thought it was going well until I tried using it on Thursday. Unfortunately, it was not pliable, just a dry mass of sugar. I did however get the fairy castle made out of it, but not the fairy. Such a shame, but better luck next time. Laura still liked her cake.

Wednesday also saw me finish the stabilisation of the cubby house. Then on Thursday, Clement and his friend Wilson, moved it to it's final spot. He was then able to build the stand and place the cubby house up on top, to then start on the floor. I was a bit disappointed as I was going to give the floor a go myself, but Clement wanted to do it, so I let him go ahead. I don't think I would have been able to get it done by Friday as he did. It looks good. Now we just need to pretty it up.

Friday arrived and I was exhausted. For the last few days I've had 5 kids playing at the house all day. Thank goodness for Carol, as I would never have managed to get everything ready for Laura's party and drinks. I again volunteered to have Friday drinks here, as I thought it would be easy to combine Laura's party with the    drinks and Maree and Meagan's farewell. I ended up having to tell the kids to go and play somewhere else, as they just kept messing up my organised chaos. I think I sat down at 2:50pm and everyone was due to arrive at 3pm. It all went well. The kids had fun in between injuries and us adults had fun also. Laura's finished cake looked good and the castle had a few nice comments.

There have been a couple of new families on site. Brenda arrived with Sonya (4) and Henry (3mths), her husband was already here. Anke and her tribe of 4 boys (Jean 6, Fabian 4, Sebastian and Guillome 1)and husband have been here a couple of weeks. So the girls bought their kids up for the party. They are both lovely and their kids will be a great addition to Tom's class. I am sure we will be spending a bit of time together.

Saturday was Laura's actual birthday. Hard to believe my baby is 3. She opened her presents in the morning and then proceeded to be cheeky all day. She has basically given up her day sleeps and so plays with the boys all day getting as filthy as they do! We had dinner outside around the fire to celebrate which was lovely. Sorry to rub it in about the weather, but it really is wonderful sitting around in shorts and t-shirts by the fire watching the sun set and the beginning of a chill just coming into the air. How cold is it back home in Oz? Lol.

I also saved a banana palm yesterday. Unfortunately when someone leaves, their garden does not get watered and so starts to die. I saw a couple of plants the other day and decided to relocate them to our garden. We are also trying to extend our side fence, to stop people from wandering through (as mentioned , we are on a main walkway). So I planted the palm down the side and built on a fence extension. I can't wait until we can pick our own banana's. Although I have been told it could take 2 years. We also went to the local chicken farm, which also sells plants and bought a few more varieties to go around the larpa. Can't wait to see what our garden looks like after the first wet season.

Phil is having to work today. So this morning I took the kids down to the dam today to see if we could find some animal footprints. Whilst out walking lately, we have come across quite a few. Today however, there weren't many which was a bit disappointing. So Tom decided to create some strange footprints to scare the walkers. 

Today is also a sad day. Meagan and the kids leave. We are just about to head down and say goodbye. The kids are really going to miss Lachie. I will miss my friend and neighbour also, but we wish them all the best for a wonderful future.

The time we spend here will be very interesting, as we are going to be welcoming people regularly as well as wishing others goodbye. I wonder how long we will be here and how interesting it will be to look back on our time here and the friends we make.