faithful readers

Hello all my faithful readers! I never thought I'd be saying that, as language is way to subjective for my tastes.

There seems to be much interest in the anthill. These anthills dot the landscape and are of various shapes and sizes. One of these days I'll post a picture of the one by the pool. It's quite large: approximately 20 feet tall and has a substantial base. Steps have been carved into the sides for the viewing pleasure of kids on the sick list and adults who wish to remain far away from the splashing kids. The anthill is made by termites and is inactive at this point (this information is from Leah and she followed up with a, "I think so but I'm not sure"). The soil here is sandy clay and somehow the soil within the anthill has been changed to dense clay. The Africans make bricks out of this clay by either sun drying it or baking it in a kiln.

The structural components of the buildings here are all either this brick or concrete, the brick being cheaper and therefore seen more frequently. There are two types of roofs that I've seen: dried hay supported by wood strapping and wood trusses with steel sheeting (In most cases anchored on with not enough screws so that every gust of wind causes the steel to bang against the trusses. For some unknown reason they also have a leakage problem.)

Congratulations to any of you who made it through the last paragraph. I also plan on taking a picture of the different types of roofs, as I know you are all just itching to see them!

Back to the anthill: They have cut big tractor tires up and they lay the rubber down the anthill and into the pool. They then pump water to the top of the anthill and VOILA! a waterslide! The flying fox is a wire strung between two poles with a handled gizmo that allows you to launch yourself into water from an extreme height. The extreme height being the top of this much talked about anthill. The kids quite enjoyed this exhilaration of the afternoon. Yes you heard right- I had no desire to launch myself off a hill or ride down a hill on my stomach while an audience, including a video camera, watched me. Next half term I may attempt it if I can either sneak down there by my lonesome or there are no recording devices present.

Shawna- Raquel can use my dresser as long as I get it back, I need all the furniture I can get. I love beautiful you too and would return said hug with immense pleasure! On that note, does anyone own kitchen table, chairs, sofas etc that they need to get rid of? Think about it.

I have this weekend off so maybe I'll post some pictures. No promises though.

Dad (and anyone else who happens to be a settlers addict)- you need to buy the 'Cities and Knights' addition pack for 'Settlers'. I haven't attempted it yet but it looks seriously fun and super complicated! Anything with lots of directions must be fun right?!

Today I baked this oatmeal fudge layered cookie thing. It was exceptionally yummy. So I ate exceptionally too much. I felt sick. To combat this unexplainable illness I joined the Senior Girls Rally (like Girl Guides) where we played hard core field hockey in the blazing hot humid weather. There were 11 girls on each team. The hard core participation that I referenced was limited to about 6 of us. The rest whined and plodded. (I elbowed one of them in the eye by accident. I tend to get into stick and ball-on-the-ground games.) My level of participation was mostly bellowing at the girls to move, stay on their man, in their position, use the flat side of their stick and randomly calling out anything I deemed missed by the referee. So in summary: I spent the first half of my afternoon eating and reading and the second getting in the way and having a blast.

It was a good day. I can now sleep. Sleep blissful sleep. Goodnight one and all, sleep well. God bless!