Old, Tired Furniture

Yes, this furniture has certainly seen better days! It belonged first to Dwight’s folks and served them well in Transkei (part of South Africa). Then when we moved to Mozambique, we brought it with us. This furniture has traveled every step of our +/- 3000 km adventure with us. It has bounced and bumped along the potholed roads and can attest to the fact that they’re a killer to travel on! They’ve been teethed on, jumped on by kids, slept on by pets (who weren’t supposed to be up there), and sat on by many. They’ve been squeezed through more doorways than most, and have provided a place to sit in many odd places.

During this last move our friends said, “It’s time to chuck that old stuff out!” We agreed with them, but there are a few hurdles between them and the junk heap.

Mozambique has precious little replacement furniture to offer…tired furniture is better than no furniture.
If you flip the cushions over, it doesn’t look as bad…maybe we could just recover it?
It’s difficult to part with stuff that so many memories are attached to. It’s just plain difficult.

Two lazy boy chairs currently stand in our yard because there is simply no place to put them in our small living quarters. They’ve been sitting there for over 3 months, and I think they’ll be there a few months more. By the time rainy season rolls around we’ll need to have a decision one way or the other. I have a hunch they’ll end up on our back veranda, and in time, they’ll once again be squeezed through doorways where they’ll carry on with their purpose in life. Truth is, they’re not much to look at but they still work (sort of). That + 1 + 2 + 3 (above) = 0 new furniture in the near future. (Lynn’s furniture replacement assessing formula). I think I better google “Reviving Old Furniture”. I don’t think this furniture’s adventure is over yet!

Some Things That Bug Me

Now that the Prairie team is gone it's safe to post these photos! I was going to post these for Royden (my neice's husband) last month but then I thought, "Why scare the girls with these photos just before they come?!" So I saved them until now. Heh. Pictured above is a Stick Bug (very official name). And below is one of the many beetles we find here. I loved the polka dots.

This tarantula was in our old pool's filter. No water had run through the filter basket in a long time and this guy must have figured it was a GREAT place to live. Like a ready-made web. Real strong too! Dwight was provoking him with the end of a coat hanger here, so that gives you an idea of his size. As you can tell, he was quite ready for a fight!

Here's lookin' at you too Mr. Praying Mantis. We get lots of these visiting us inside every summer.

Another thing that bugged me a few days ago was the poisonous Twig snake I nearly stepped on (what was he doing on the ground anyway?!). I was merrily walking down a path, minding my own business when a "stick" in front of me moved. He headed up a tree about as quickly as I stepped back. Raimundo tried to kill him (since he was very close to the house) while Mushu went berserk at the prospect of a great hunt that I was holding him from! Some prey are best left alone Mushu.

Tomorrow we plan to leave on a 2+ week trip to South Africa. There is quite a bit of business to tend to, but we're hoping to squeeze in some R&R too! TTYL

Team Work

We have now reached the 2nd and final week of Prairie’s visit with us, and although it was busy and tiresome for everyone at times, it has been a great week! The team of 18 was divied up into 3 teams of 6 which rotated through 3 different work sites for about 3 days each. Yes, it was a bit like juggling, but things have gone very well and I think I can safely say that despite the expected bumps here and there, good experiences have been had by ALL and many lives have been touched. We leave on Sunday morning to take them through a game park then on to Beira where they will catch their flights back to Canada on Tuesday morning. We will certainly miss this gang! Here are a few more moments of this week:

Assessing a 12 year old with pneumonia (the mat is her bed).

BP check…judging by the smiles I’d say it was okay!

Treating a leg wound.

Cheering during “Day of the Child” celebrations.
And this…is mischief, pure and simple. Team rivalry between two Canadian teams who were here at the same time surely created a huge amount of suspense. Here Nat’s bed and items from his kitchen got duct taped into a tree and clothesline. I have a new respect for duct tape!

I'll sign off for now. Our door got duct-taped the other day so I think I better keep an eye on our bed! And a certain couple team members had better be watching their backs... TTYL.