Yesterday, we decided we needed to go to town to get groceries and a few other supplies. The house was empty except for the most basic things, like rice.
China offered to keep the children so Steph and I could take Caleb and Belinda to town together. We went to Rafael’s first to get some paint and other things. Caleb’s want to do just a bit to the upper house before moving in.
We then went to get tanks of gas, as we had nothing but empty tanks at home. The gas has almost doubled in price recently, but thankfully it is still available. Cooking would be another matter if we were doing it over a fire.
We left the truck at Rafael’s and walked downtown, stopping first to get chicken and rice for lunch. We all had a hearty lunch for a grand total of $8. It’s a different world here.
We walked and shopped and shopped and walked. And when we had more than we could carry, I left the other three at the bridge and took a moto up to Rafael’s for the truck. I picked everyone up, and we headed home. We didn’t get any vegetables because it was too much to do in one run; we were all tired.
In the afternoon, Caleb’s moved their suitcases up to the upper house and began work on some painting. They’ll be sleeping at our place while they work at their place for a few days, probably.
Yesterday morning during chores, I checked on all our animals and was mostly pleased. I wish they were all fatter, but the rains are here now, and the grass is already growing.
I was surprised to find that Agnes had a kid. Percy said she had kidded a couple weeks ago, but he forgot to tell me. I was also surprised that she had only one doeling as she’s always had twins before. But I was even more surprised later when I found a kid drowned in the well.
Apparently, Agnes did have twins, but in the last couple days, one of them fell into the well. Caleb helped me bury the kid.
Another surprise was seeing Fran kidding in the afternoon! I hadn’t realized she was bred. She had a cute black buckling to replace the one we buried just that morning. That was special to me.
We have eight goats in milk right now. Percy said they weren’t giving much, and we found that true. But they have been steadily increasing milk production the past few days, which is exciting. No one cares for the flock quite like the goatherd himself, I guess.
Speaking of surprises, I was able to pull off a surprise for Steph, thanks to Percy. I asked him to reskin the porches with concrete and then tile them. He called me and sent me pictures of tile choices while we were in the States, and I’m very pleased with it. And Steph was delighted.
It’s good to be back.
Juan David 