The Afrikan Drums has arrived!

Tuesday Morning 20th June
The last couple of days have really been very hot – so much so that neither of us could sit in the sun for very long. The whole earth seemed to be gently baking! George and Anne Marie visited us in the evening which was wonderful. I guess we were all anxiously waiting for news of Bex and whether she’d managed to get her airline ticket OK. In the event we finally got a text saying that all was well. Sian and I are so grateful to Dan for accompanying her to the airport and for helping her sort out her ticket. In fact the whole Abel family seem to have been involved in some way or another so a very big “thank you” to them all. Dan had to make his way home alone and in the event he arrived there much later than he thought - the train he was on being involved in a fatality – but we are so grateful to him for his help and care of Bex.

So it was an early start – up at 5.15 to take a quick shower and head for Windhoek airport. After enjoying a glorious sunrise en route we arrived there at about 7.30 about 20 minutes or so before Bex. We were so happy to see her. She had a great flight and was able to get quite a lot of sleep – just as well since we had various missions to accomplish in Windhoek before our return to Rehoboth. We dropped the tyre in to get the puncture fixed then off to get some extra plumbing for the storage tanks. Then to order some electrical equipment to begin the wiring of the storage room at the garden and then, with some relief, to the shopping centre for some breakfast and coffee and an opportunity to catch up with events at home and for Bex to catch up with our doings here. Then Bex caught up some more sleep while we collected tyres and cables and stuff before heading back to Rehoboth around lunch time.

Then some reorganisation of the sleeping arrangements took place with the emphasis mainly being on the greatest care being taken that not even the most minute primitive life form could penetrate the defences of Bex’s mosquito net let alone a mozzie. Finally, after a shower and a hair session we headed for the Ark. George spotted us arriving and he made all the older girls come out to the yard with their eyes closed. The next moment Bex disappeared into the middle of a horde of screaming girls all so excited to see her again. Lots of happy reunions followed. One of the girls opened her eyes and screamed “It’s minging, it’s minging” and rushed to meet her. “Minging” was one of Bex’s favourite expressions for anything vaguely distasteful to something horrible and the girls had been amused at Bex’s constant use of it.

So we left her with the girls and Sigrid and while Sian went off to get bread with Anne Marie I went over the garden with George to take the heavy cable. They had been busy chasing out the walls for cables and boxes during the day so we should be able to get on with the wiring tomorrow. One thing I was amazed at was the price of cable. The electrical wholesalers here tell me that the world price of copper has soared in the past could of months and the price of cable is rising almost every day. Just to cheer me up he told me that if I’d bought the cable two weeks ago it would have been less than half the cost now! Anyway, it will probably double by next week so maybe that’s some consolation.

George is hoping to contact a local drilling operator regarding the borehole which we think will now have to be cleaned out (redrilled) and a deeper casing fitted.

We came home reasonably early and headed for bed for a fairly early night. No doubt our friendly neighbourhood donkeys will bray us awake at their usual time of around 6.00 a.m. – slightly more unusual than your usual cockerel I think! Flash and Madge