We are keeping ourselves busy despite the ongoing political unrest and roadblocks. I’ll try to give some updates on what we’ve been up to lately.
The well house at the upper house is begun. The plan is to finish the well house then to remove the old system, including the tank on the raised platform, so that the house will depend directly on the well. That project will likely take a number of weeks. I had purchased most of the supplies months ago, but we’ll need to get some things along the way.
The lower house lower bathroom is nearing completion. That bathroom has historically had problems with mold and mushrooms, so I’m having Percy hang tile on the ceiling as well as on the living-room-side of the wall. That should help keep moisture from moving through. Caleb installed a ventilation fan as well.
Steph and I got Daisy’s birth certificate. The ladies at the local clinic were very unhappy that we had had a home birth and didn’t want to be helpful, but the midwife from Urubamba was helpful, and we managed to get it done. It was quite a headache to convince all parties involved, honestly, but it happened. Thank the Lord.
Grandaddy Dane has been doing all sorts of little projects since he’s been here, and Little Dane has been his helper. Patching this, tightening that, resealing the kitchen sink, hanging a hammock—all sorts of things are getting done. The thing Steph and I are both most pleased with is that he built a shelf for linens and attatched it to the wall outside the bathroom. There are no closets in this house, so it has been tough to know how to store things at times. This will make it much more pleasant for Steph.
Martha has been working in the garden quite a lot since she’s here. The weeds were starting to take over again, as they are wont to do, but she and the children with Daddy’s help got it looking nice and tidy again. The zucchini is nearly ready to harvest, which makes me excited. The sunflowers are beautiful this year. I’m letting some of last year’s carrots go to seed to see if I can collect the seeds.
We butchered a goat since my in-laws have been here and ground all the meat into sausage. We can’t buy sausage locally, and it’s pretty expensive in Cusco, so we’re glad we can make it at home.
Seth fell off the hammock yesterday and landed on the corner of the tiled porch, gettting a deep cut for his efforts. Steph and I cleaned him up, shaved his head, and glued the cut closed. I have sutures that I could have used, but I don’t have a numbing agent, so I was wary of trying it. He seems to be doing well now.
We had a hot dog fire last night between a hail storm and a rain storm. We got dripped on a bit but too bad before all the hot dogs were roasted.
Dane and Martha did cancel their flight, or rather, they changed it to Saturday. The roads are closed today and covered in protesters in Izcuchaca. This is rather wearying, but we’re trying to make the best of it. We’re praying that they can fly Saturday. Yeni canceled her trip altogether; maybe she will come sometime in the future.
Juan David 