A Little Adventure is Good for the Soul

At the fishing competition a couple weeks ago, I met someone else that drove a Defender and built his own little house (with earthen floors) from sandstone collected from a nearby river. Through someone else, I was given the idea of searching for sandstone at the same place, so Tuesday, Sticks and I went looking. Took the wrong road at first, but stopped for directions, and found we were close, but had to go all the way back to the tar road and take another, pretty rough road.

About 2 km in the right direction, down a couple steep drops, we came upon on old (sandstone) farmhouse. We explained what we were looking for (sandstone, that was up for grabs, that this other guy used), and the old man got in the Landy with us, and we drove off to the neighbor's house (through rough roads/pastures). When I explained what we were looking for, again, through his explanation, I realized we should have been talking to the old man! However, a bakkie had followed us the last bit road, turned out to the the police because the old man had reported some stolen stock, and he went off with the policeman! Back at the house, we spoke with the grandmother. She pointed out some sandstone across a small field. We checked it out, and it wasn't much better than what is left on our place. When we got back to the house, she told Sticks about someplace else. We walked part of the way around the koppie (hill) that they live on to a barbed wire fence, and she was talking on and on and pointing off into the distance. Sticks didn't translate much, just that some stone was out that way. Made a plan to come back on Thursday. It didn't look too promising, but thought to go ahead and check it out. It had been nice driving around parts of the surrounding area that I hadn't seen before, and was fun in that way, so even if it didn't work out, it had been a bit of exploring.

Thursday, Sticks and I headed out. At the farmhouse, a young guy joined us to show us where to go. We drove literally through the yard, between a gap 4 meters between the house and a barn. They pulled open a wire gate (these are “temporary” gates, were the wire is cut and some kind of attachment made to allow it to be open and closed) and we started driving off through a pasture. It was fairly rough, and we kept going and going. I was wondering if this was really worth it. We went up a bank, and then I finally saw it. It was a very old, broken down, sandstone house! One gable end of the house was still somewhat standing, probably about 1.75m high, mortared only with earth. On the ground all around were many pieces of squared stone, great for building with. Our guide took us about 50m away to another sandstone rubble pile. Short ways off, there was the rubble of another building! All around me, I was looking at enough sandstone that could have made our stemwall!!

We loaded up quickly and easily, only 15 minutes or so, and made our first delivery to the house. The plan is to cut the stone for windowsills. Laurence, from Rosa, offered his industrial grinder to lend, and Sticks is familiar with cutting stone. So, we made a couple of trips, and got a nice pile here at the house. After lunch, while loading, I looked over aways, and saw cut stone lying out on the ground! We went over to look at it. Some of the standing stonework is just amazing! Our last load was all cut stone, delivered to de la Harpe to help hold down the plastic against my most recent enemy, the wind!

Just impeccable work!
Love the lintel.

Looking at the stone, I felt a bit peculiar taking it away. Taking down stones someone else put up over a hundred years ago just felt odd. However, there is good reason to believe the stone may become “lost,” and might not be recoverable in the near future. So, if we take stone someone worked at so hard, and give it new life in our home, I feel I'm treating the stone with respect. Leading up to where the door was at the first house, there are 4 large stone set in the ground as paving stones. I was thinking of pulling a few out to put as stepping stones at our house. There are a couple pieces that have notches, one where a hole has been carved into the stone 8cm deep or so. Would like to save these pieces too.

The last two weeks we have been really blessed in many ways. Financially, we've had some gifts come through that send us out of surviving into thinking of things we can purchase for our new life here (like an energizer for our electric chicken fence-we'll have chickens soon!) To come across this much great stone is another blessing. We would some day like to build a guest house, and now we just might be able to get enough sandstone for the stemwall. The next several weeks will have me driving back and forth, collecting sandstone, with a smile on my face.

This is 3 loads worth of stone.

Village Advantage

Last week's main event was taking the Landy in for servicing. I had phoned Ryan at MountainTop Rovers and worked out a swap-he really wanted the ARB diff-air locks on our Landy, and chances are that we would never use them. Counted it as a gem tucked away for preserving the Landy. In exchange, he gives me the 2^nd hand price for them as service, which should last me for a couple years!

Left early Monday morning planning to spend the night as it was going to be a two day deal. At first I was thinking of asking Willem to drive with me down to bring me back, and then pick me up again the second day. However, the cost (and time) of driving down there twice would be as much as a night at a B&B.

Willem and Linda told me about a friend of theirs in Ladybrand that had a café, so after dropping off the Landy, and Ryan lending me the garage's Freeland, and thought to first check out the place two blocks away that supposedly had great cheesecake. Turns out, it belonged to the friends of Willem and Linda! It was a little pricier than what I was anticipating, but felt like I should stay there. On the second day, late in the afternoon, Nicol and I finally got to chat. On my way to get the Landy, which I was sure would be ready, they said I could stay a second night, no charge, if I needed to. Got to the garage at 6pm, and the diff swap was done, but not the rest of the servicing! So, I went back to LivingLife for night #2, and had another great breakfast in the morning.

My room at Living Life.  I didn't use the tub!

Garden/playground-next time we service the Landy, I'm bring the family,
we'll have lunch and Shiloh can play on the cool swing.

I getting to the title of this post now . . . this morning I was thinking about the differences between life here and in the US (someone at tennis yesterday asked me why we came back to South Africa, most whites don't understand). I thought if I had been in the US, I would have stayed at a cheaper hotel while on a similar type of errand, and they wouldn't have been understanding of my situation and I would have had to pay for a second night. Down at Rosa, most locals have an account. Micah can go down for free wifi, and have her mochacinno, and we don't have worry about having cash on hand. When business is done on a person-to-person basis, it seems like a better world.     

Reading List

Shiloh gave me the idea for a reading list blog with his blog the other week (africathroughachildseyes.blogspot.com). I started thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more thoughts I had. It is the books I'm reading now; the most important to me the last year.

The first book I read since arriving here that really changed the way I think is When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson. Mark and Andrea lent it to me, and I am very grateful! It put into words some thoughts I've had, then there were things new to me. I was never comfortable with the thought of “it's all going to burn up anyways” that I've heard from some Christians. To me it just seems like God is more in the redemption business, and the book follows the thinking that God's plan is for man to be His co-worker in bringing God's Kingdom to earth. He could have wiped out Satan with a word, but He choose to defeat him through mankind. I think in the end times the Church will be glorious, people will be drawn to the goodness of God.

For my birthday, Corné got me two more Bill Johnson books.

Hosting the Presence: Unveiling Heaven's Agenda is about our purpose to live in God's presence. The more we seek him, the more he is with us, and the more he accomplishes His purposes through us. We are transformed in His presence, and that impacts the world around us. Adam and Eve were to rule the earth as God's ambassadors from the overflow of being with Him. Something else that has become clear is spiritual warfare. A candle doesn't struggle against the darkness. Johnson admits it, and so do I , that sometimes I got over focused on the fight, rather than drawing closer to God. All actions come from one of two emotions, fear or love, and we need to examine why/how we feel we must fight. Anyways, there are all kinds of nuggets in this book!

The second book Corné gave me was Face to Face with God. Along the same lines as Hosting the Presence, with more insights. Four cornerstones of thought: God is good, nothing is impossible, we fight from the victory of Christ, and I am significant. This last thought is something I have really grown in since coming to SA. There is also a chapter about other people's encounters with God, the only one still living is Heidi Baker. What is amazing is that many are widely know, but their experience in the physical presence of God seems to have been minimized and tucked away. I believe with Johnson that we are entering a time when the more we are in God's presence, the more we will show the face of God and draw people to Him.

In a totally different line, I felt God leading me back to forex trading. I was doing that for a year and half before we moved, and was just too busy (and didn't have enough internet access) to start again. Also felt that it just wasn't time. Two weeks ago I felt like it was time to get back in, and I reread one of the best trading books I've found, Bird Watching in Lion Country. What I think he admits, which helps him gain an edge, is that the markets are random in the short term. Trying to get in at the perfect price, and then expecting the trade to go your way immediately is really unreasonable. He trades with the general trend, but lets trades go negative for quite a while. He can, because he doesn't put much into each position, so there isn't pain at each point against you. It is true, I've gotten out of many trades for a loss, only to see it come back my way sometimes several hours later, or maybe even a day or two. I was trading with too much leverage, and it was too painful. Now, I am trading much smaller positions, and think my trading career is taking a big step forward.

Lastly, I've been reading Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb (author) of The Black Swan. I think he understands the modern world better than any other thinker out there. He understands randomness, probability, Black Swans, better than anyone else. One of his thoughts is that we are now living in Extremistan-failures of systems have exponentially worse effects now; 1% of the books published make up 99% of sales (one example). Humans are terrible at predicting, and at linking causal relationships. All kinds of insights that are amazing: Switzerland, one of the most successful countries, has a very low level of university educated people, and it's government is a locally run based one-most Swiss can't tell you who their president is, but can tell you local officials, opposite of the US. This links to his main premise-the more centrally planned, federal type of system, the more fragile it is. Organic, small organizations/business/government make more mistakes, but the mistakes are small, and the learning experience from it actually makes it stronger. Trail and error should be encouraged in all areas, not perfection. Having options make one more antifragile, in all areas of life. Another tidbit: “We notice what varies and changes more than what plays a large role but doesn't change. We rely more on water than on cell phones but because water does not change and cell phones do, we are prone to thinking that cell phones play a larger role than they do.” He goes on to point out that life hasn't really changed from his evening plans-we use shoes invented thousands of years ago to walk to a restaurant, use silverware, a Mesopotamian technology, drink wine, like others for the last 6 thousands years, from glasses innovated by the Phoenicians, eat cheese-a young technology, prepared in a kitchen with pots and pans not too different from what has been used for a couple thousand years. There is much more to this book, but I'll end with this quote: “If you don't take risks, there is nothing you can do that makes you grand, nothing.”

Last book, which I don't know how I got, so it must be a God thing!  I noticed over a year ago, must have bookmarked it on my Kindle, but never bought or downloaded it until two weeks ago, when downloading Antifragility, this book downloaded too!  It is Five Wealth Secrets 96% of Us Don't Know.  Best and easiest to read book on personal finances I've ever read, and it's changed the way I think about some things, and gives me a plan for things I hadn't quite clearly  expressed.  It came at the right time!

Timing, Nice Gift for Thsepo

We seem to be in the season of learning God's timing. We really experienced it when we first arrived-things/events would just fall into place. Then came a schedule or regular working and the timing issue would fall into the background except for the occasional event, like how quickly we got this house to live in. It's been a bit hard lately, as we haven't put any cob on the house for almost two months now. It was making progress so nicely over the winter, and now has stopped, except for the window frame making (which is necessary, but doesn't have the same feeling of accomplishment). We've wondered if we've done something wrong, or what?

Last week Tuesday our support money came into our account. It's not enough to start us building again, but covered most of the necessities. We felt a little flush (for our terms), so we told the children we'd got to pizza night at Rosa on Wednesday. When we arrived, Laurence (owner) stopped us and we had this long conversation before even sitting down. We'd heard about a couple getting married in Rosendal in February, and Rosa hosting the reception. He's from Europe, she's originally South African but living in Australia now, and instead of receiving gifts, the couple wanted the guest to contribute to a community project. Thsepo was mentioned, but we didn't know much else. This was a couple months ago. Well, Laurence told us the bride-to-be was in town with her parents, he had taken them by the church that morning (no one was there) to give them more of an idea about Tshepo, and might even come in that night. If they did, he would introduce us!

We had our delicious pizza, like always (we like the Meerkat or the Popeye), and nearly done when Laurence came over and introduced us to Laura, the bride-to-be! She was very excited to meet us. We were able to explain the vision, and she was able to put a face to the people she'd heard about. When we came home, I burned a DVD of a slideshow we have made of Thsepo and took it back to the them. We chatted some more, and it was all very encouraging. We didn't put much expectations when we first heard of the possibility, we've been learning there are lots of people that love what you are doing and say they will help one way or another, but then they never do. This time however, it looks like things will come together!

Two days later, we had less than $50 in our accounts again, and the thought of going to Rosa for dinner would have to take a back seat again. What we realized in hindsight, was that had we got our support money earlier, there would have been a good chance we would have missed meeting Laura. God knows what He's doing, and that has to be our comfort when things like the house just seem to be on hold for the moment.

Cinnabuns in Rosendal!

A lady here in town has some connection to Cinnabuns. In the past, we've received a couple zip-lock bags of frozen cinnamonrolls, just enough for each child to get a two-bite piece. Today, however, she brought a large amount, everyone got close to half a cinnabun! I was just thinking about the whole thing, and it's complex. . . the nearest Cinnabun shop is at least 3 hours away. I think these come from Jo'burg, so that's 4 hours. Most of these children don't travel much. Two of the ladies that help have never been further than Senekal or Ficksburg, both just a half hour away. The largest body of water they've seen is only 100 meters across. Never seen the ocean. Or a town with more than 5 stop lights. Anyways, these buns are something special. It's a pleasure just to watch them savor every bite. The thing is, I was also savoring every bite! It is nice to get a surprise like this. What I also realized is how temporal our problems are. Two days ago, we couldn't afford a Coke. Today, I was eating half a Cinnabun!

I had been working at de la Harpe and pulled a few carrots from our garden. They were in the back when we dropped off a couple people. A young girl, 1^st grade or so, asked to have one. I gave her and her friend each one, and was just thinking to myself that my own children won't eat the carrots we've grown, and here these children ask for them! Makes me a little crazy.

Corné planted acorns last Fall. Now we have a mini oak forrest. Quite chuffed with all the seedlings! I know they will take a long time to become a big, beautiful tree, but it will mark the time we moved here, and continue on down the generations!

Finished with Frames; a little Tshepo news

Today, Corné and I finished the last rough window frame! It took a little longer than I thought, but we did work at a slow pace. Last week I had some kind of virus, turns out other people in town had it too. Was feverish and chilly in the evening, and then the fever would break around 1 or 2 in the morning. Then I would be wide awake for an hour or two! Anyways, with my sleep interrupted, I was a bit tired and not feeling great till early afternoon. We usually got at least one frame done a day, so we still made progress. It was just the two of us, as we didn't have money to give to the guys. It's a little frustrating, because even though it's not that much, it puts food on their table. Without it, I don't know what they do.

All the windows for our house will
slide inside these frames when the house is done.

I did get to spend a bit more time at Tshepo last week, which was nice. We had a guest from Jo'burg. Penny was a speech therapist and developed a system of teaching sounds through drawings of face that showed the position of the lips and whether it was a vibrated sound or not. Apparently, it really helps young children learn a second language. So she came and did some training/demonstrations, and she was quite impressed with the children of Tshepo. I was a bit skeptical when I heard about it, but when I learned more about it, I changed my mind. Sotho has just 5 vowel sound, and English has around 11. What happens is that when someone not familiar with all the sounds of English comes to a sound they don't know, often they substitute a sound they do know. This program is suppose to eliminate that.

I've been reading The Essential Guide to Healing by Johnson and Clark, and am ready to see some things happen! Penny has Cerebral Palsy, as well as being in 2 car accidents in the last year that put her in a scooter. I really felt to pray for her, and was hoping we would see a miracle. When the opportunity came, Pastor John and I prayed for her there at Tshepo. She felt warmth (the Holy Spirit), and when John shared that he saw a river flowing from her, she said she also felt like she was in a rainbow river. So no major healing, but God was doing something. Just have to keep trying!!

Frames, More Healing, Fire, and More

Window Frames

Corné and I spent another week working on the frames for the windows. I gave the guys the week off as Corné and I wanted to work on the frames together (our idea was to build the house together, and it's been more of me and the guys), as well as we didn't really have cash to give them, for this past week or the week ahead. Feel the worst for Lerato, his wife hasn't been paid for two months and she's expecting. We were able to help last month with groceries, but not this time.

Another nice aspect of just the two of us working on the frames is that the pace is slower and we get to evaluate each step. We've changed the size of a couple windows, and then changed another back from a “medium” to a “large.” What has been on both of our minds is how light the house will be. We want it bright, but can't have windows everywhere, it is the cob holding up the walls and the roof! Cob homes supposedly have more “dramatic” light since the walls are thick and direct the light more than a thin wall. In the end, it should be light enough, and in the back of the house, if it's dark, we'll add a solar tube. We did drop one south window in the lounge (the darker side in the southern hemisphere), and added a smaller window to the west wall.

Not many princesses can handle a
circular saw.

More on Healing

Two weeks ago when we went to Bethlehem, I previously mentioned Corné's thumbs being healed. I didn't mention that I also got prayer. Since moving to town, I started struggling with anxiety when going to sleep. Before Daniel started praying for people, we spoke of things he believed God wanted to heal. He mentioned that there are people who are struggling with anxiousness, who have irrational thoughts that are keeping them from sleeping. That was definitely me! Since that night, I've slept normally! A couple nights ago, I couldn't sleep, but wasn't anxious, and I even could listen to music that previously would have made me melancholy (as mentioned in a previous post). Think God healed me more than I realized.

Fire on the Mountain

Living in town where we can see the Witteberg Mountains, we have seen the fire on the mountains drama this season. A couple weeks ago, one the mountains was on fire but didn't get a decent photo of it. This week, on the second night of the fire on the mountains, I went out to see it, and saw the glow in the sky! It was a bit frightening. In the photo, the glow is a bit brighter than it was in reality, but it was still an awesome sight. What wasn't helping was the crazy wind of the last few days.

Solar Panel Shed

While in Bethlehem the other week, I visited the Solar Guy. I asked him about security, theft is a problem here. He said some people put the panel in a shed and rolled them out. The more I've thought about it, the more I like the idea. We'll built a low cob shed and put the panels on a wheeled holder. Several advantages: 1. We can lock up the panels at night and when we are not home. 2. We'll be able to rotate the panels throughout the day. We saw the difference at Mosamane while living on one panel. It does boost the power quite a bit. Also, the way our house it facing-Northeast, in the summer the panels would get very little or no sun the last 3-4 hours of the day. 3. When there is a possibility of hail, we can wheel the panels in to safety. My mother-in-law is pretty good at predicting hail, you get a feel for it over time. When there is a storm, just to be on the safe side, we can put them away.

Reaping where we haven't sown

Several weeks ago I noticed grass growing beside the storeroom and thought I should maybe pull it out sometime.  Of course, it was low on the priority list, so it didn't get done.  Then about two weeks ago, notice grain heads forming!  I was wondering how in the world that happened.  Then I realized we used wheat straw bales to stand on while building, and there were plenty of grain heads in the straw.  Some got loose and into the soil and grew!  So now the storeroom is surrounded by a thin row of wheat.  Pretty cool.  Pray it is prophetic for us, and that we will reap where we haven't sown!

Burnin' the Backyard

The house we live in didn't have the lawn mowed for months, and we don't have a lawn mower. So, our best option was the tradition of burning the dry grass.  We watered down a perimeter and borrowed a fire swatter (looks like someone made a wig of a piece of car tire).  We lit a batch of thick grass, and it started to burn quickly!  In 20-30 seconds I could feel the heat on my face, and the amount of smoke was much more than I anticipated!  Was a bit concerned, as we didn't have a permit (I remembered Michael telling me after July a permit is needed, kinda remembered a bit late!), and the Municipality office is across the corner from us.  The cloud of smoke was huge for just a bit of grass, maybe 3-4 square meters!   We cut back our goal of 30 or so square meters to just burning under the laundry line.  Not that I didn't respect fire before, but I now have an even better healthy fear of field fires.  Found out a couple days later someone did see the smoke and called our neighbor, thinking her house was on fire!

Option number two is using animals.  At first we had a few cows stop by, and we even gave them water to encourage them to stay.   The last couple of days, we've had a visiting herd!  Lawn does look much better.  

Burning did help us find the septic tank, which I think I'm going to have to dig up, as our toilets are blocked up.  Can't just inform the landlady and expect her to fix it, as she's letting us stay for so little, and now we have brought a sewage/septic problem to light which would have remained unknown if she had just left the house empty till she sold the house.  The house is suppose to be connected to the sewer system, but I think it's still on the old septic system.

Window Frames!

The past week has been another week of variety. Monday we came home from Bethlehem after a fantastic weekend there. A guest speaker from Bethel Church in California was at Bethlehem Christian Center that ministered in a fresh, new way. Liked his Healing Meeting. He didn't pray for anyone, so it wasn't about getting prayed for by the special guest. He named off several issues, people raised their hands. Then he asked those people to stand, and the people seated to find someone to pray for! Then he asked the people requesting prayer to try something they couldn't do before. Four people got healed even before we prayed, including Corné! Anyways, got home half an hour before Tshepo, so quickly unloaded our shopping, and then took Corné over. I then went and got the Wii from storage, took it home and set it up. The children were very chuffed!! Sad thing is, the next day had to change the voltage transformer, I had to use it, and used an older, small one. It burnt out the power chord! So just after they got a taste of playing Wii again, it was gone. There is a happy ending- Andrea found a 220v Wii power chord in Bethlehem and our new friends, Jeremy and Linda, brought it with them on Saturday. It is very nice to have, especially because Micah and Shiloh play together on it so nicely.

Well, regarding the house, Tuesday we started on making frames. These are rough frames that are basically to hold the cob back and leave an opening into which later we can insert a finished window. I wish I had a carpenter here to help us. The smaller ones are easier to get right, but the larger ones are challenging. One reason is that my carpentry skills are just ok, not great. Another reason is that the boards aren't perfect. They are a little twisted or bowed. We do our best.

I visited a local builder for some tips on making these frames, and he was actually quite helpful. He lent me a tool that will hold two boards together at a right angle, so you can then nail or screw them together by yourself. He also lent me a draw knife (I think that's what it's called). It's a blade with two handles at each end that you pull toward yourself, as in to cut the bark off trees. Needed one of these! I actually had asked him about making one, he makes knifes, and he just offered it. Do like how people help each other out in a small community. On Thursday the guys trimmed all the bark off two large Popular logs I had cut at Mosamane. Will do the same to the boards going into the walls for the door frames.

Popular logs.  One will be used to hold up the loft at one end in the living room.

I tried making a larger frame myself on Thursday. It ended up very askew. Took it apart the next day and replaced a board, it looks better now. What I think is that with the rough frames being wood, and the windows also made of wood, if the window doesn't fit, we can sand one or the other to get it in there. Truthfully, this is another part of the building process that I'm not crazy about, but I do enjoy it much more than building the stem wall! It has to be done anyways. We don't have crusher dust at the moment, and until we can afford a load, we can't do any cobbing. So, we'll take our time making these frames and spend a little time getting the spring garden in. Actually, Thursday, Lerato and I got 4 beds ready. The last compost pile I made turned out pretty well, mixed that into the soil, should get decent results this summer!

Walking the Plank

Last weekend, winter gave us one last reminder that it's not summer yet.  We had radichicco cabbage going very nicely in the garden-it was all wiped out, with only a couple weeks to go.  Very sad.  Our root crops are alright, but also lost the sweet peas that were starting to bloom.

Monday morning was still cold, and windy, so we didn't work.  Tuesday however, I took Mtshbeshbe with me down to  Ficksburg.  Through one person leading me on to another, I finally got to Will, the operator of a mill on top of the mountain above Ficksburg.  We spoke a couple times on the phone, and I asked him this last time  if I couldn't go up to get the rejects.  He was fine, so that was the plan.

View from on top, looking at the township by Ficksburg

I had driven up the mountain once before, and it wasn't too fun.  It is a cement single road going up the mountain, with multiple steep switchbacks and only a railing here or there!  This was the drive my mother-in-law had to get out of the Landy!  The second time wasn't so bad, did seem easier, but knew coming down with a trailer of wood pushing us would be another challenge.  When we arrived there, a younger guy (the foreman wasn't there that day) showed us a nice pile of rejects where we could start.  The pieces are 3m long, about 20cm wide, and 10cm thick!  Very nice pieces for window lintels.  We got the best of those, found more longer, thinner pieces, and were loaded in an hour.  Took half an hour to get down the mountain.  Put it in low 2nd gear, and let the transmission let us down at a walking pace.  No problem.  Drove to de la Harpe, dropped them off, then went back.  The young guy said he talked to the boss, and we couldn't take anymore from the 2 piles we had been working!!  Bit bummed, but we climbed up on the piles(over 2m high) and started searching out pieces.  Took us much longer, but got another load.  Only got back to Rosendal at 5:30!  A long day with lots of driving, but well worth it!

First load, only R50!

Lumber yard.  We pulled rejects from the back piles.

We went back the next day for one last load.  Took most of the day since we had to scratch for every board.  Was climbing over the piles, feeling like a lumberjack!  Love the smell too of freshly cut wood. Got a nice coffee table piece, 1m long, almost 50cm wide, and 12 cm thick!  Also got many more thick, shorter lintel pieces, so think we have enough both to make the window frames, door frames, and lintels.  These aren't perfect pieces, but to buy the same wood from the co-op, I figure I would have spent R12-15000!  I paid R150 for the wood, and around R500 in diesel!  A real blessing.  I had a feeling we would get $1000 this past week.  We didn't get it in cash, but in wood and steaks!  A farming couple brought us a box full of meat, nicely done too (they use to own a butchery, so know how to do it right!)  They gave us a dozen T-bone steaks, beef sausage for 10 meals, and mince to make another 10 meals!  Truth is, we've only had steak once or twice since we've been here.  God knows what we were craving.  Learning at a conference this weekend that God loves to give us these things, and it's nothing we've done.  He just loves us.  Been a good week.

Beautiful, thick beams from the last load.

Random news and Brown Volcano Story

Volunteers

We wouldn't be where we are at without the guys that have volunteered. I can't afford to pay them a real wage, I can only give them about enough to cover their lunch, so it's not like they are employees that I can make demands of. In the morning when I pick them up, sometimes they are 10 minutes late. Back when we lived at Mosamane, they would sometimes miss the ride that I arranged for them (to save me both time and diesel). Then I would have to drive in to get them. That was frustrating.

I bring hot water and have coffee in the little storeroom, so after we get to the house site, there is a before work coffee break. I can usually water the garden during that time! I have to remind myself, that without them, I'd be working at a snail's pace. Something else I'm learning is that relationships are the most important thing. Yelling at them to get started would only bring an oppressive atmosphere. I know a good bit of it is cultural. Work expectations here are different from the US. When summer comes, I'd like to start around 7:30. Going to propose to the guys if we do, we'll stop earlier. I just don't know what time I'd actually pick them up.

The Mine

Since we are basically out of crusher dust, most of our work this week has been in the mine digging out soil and clay. It's not fun work, but it has to be done. Friday a cold front arrived, it was windy and cold, so we only worked till lunch. We do have lots of supplies set up, both soil and clay, so once we get crusher dust, we'll be able to mix cob for 10 days at least, maybe more.

Two dirt piles to the left,
and clay pit and clay pile to the right.

Nice dirt pile on left, clay on the right.

Lumber

We are also at the point of the windows on many walls, so been waiting to get lumber. I found a mill on top of the mountain at Ficksburg a while ago, and the guy was suppose to call me, but never did. I called him again this week, and asked about his reject pieces (with bark on one side, or knots, whatever). This is fine for us because the wood is going to be covered by cob, it just needs to be solid to attach the windows when we are near finished. The good news is that for one ton of rejects, it only cost R100/$10. I'd love to get several tons, it's transporting them to de la Harpe that is a little challenging.

Other work

Plugged drain, with peep-hole.
You can see the outer ring that broke off to the left.

We lived in 3 places here so far, and had toilet issues in 2 of them. One of the toilets in our current place backed up, so on my Friday afternoon off, I was on toilet duty. Toilets here, most of the time, are placed against an outside wall and the pipe comes straight out, and where it turns downward, there is a peep-hole you can open. However, the pipes had been painted over when the house was painted, so it was a struggle getting them open. Actually broke one of them getting it off. The one was clear, the other was blocked up to the point of the opening. I wasn't able to buy a plunger, but was able to get a bottle of “Free-Flow.” I was going to pour this straight into the pipe where I could see the blockage. I looked at the bottle again, 98% sulphuric acid! Fortunately I had some thick rubber gloves. Put them on, and poured just a little bit. Combining sulphuric acid and sewage results in a bubbling, steaming, brown volcano!! Unfortunately, it didn't loosen things up completely. This morning (the next day), the level has dropped another 8 inches or so, but still there. Going to check at the co-op if they have another bottle in the back, as the one I got was the last one the shelf. Corné and I both said that once in our house, we won't have any toilet leaking/blocking up issues. Another advantage of compost toilets-simple and effective!

Crusher Dust Blues

I knew our gravel was getting low, and fortunately we had money set aside from our last provision.  I called this morning to order it, but the guy told me he was having trouble getting crusher dust, and it would be a week or two!  A bit of a setback, but there's still work we can do.  On the other hand, good news yesterday was that I called the man with the lumber mill on the mountain in Ficksburg.  He said I can come next week and get a ton for R100 ($10)!!  With that wood, I'll be able to make window frames and door frames, so that will be the work for next week.

The last of the crusher dust dust,
before we mixed today.

Yesterday we were all a bit slow.  Don't know why!  Most of the time I feel like we are making good progress on the house, but the last two days, I just wish it was all done!  Was thinking that a year from now, my life will be different!  I still might be building-either for the school or for the guys, but at least be living in our house.  

Electricity
We have pre-paid electricity, which is nice in a way, no surprise large bills!  However, it is turning out much more expensive than we thought.  Almost spending as much on electricity as our rent! (But we aren't paying market rate.)  Most of it is the geyser, which makes no sense why more people haven't gone solar.  I figure we payed R600 for hot water this month.  A solar water heater is R10k.  Seems like it would pay for itself in just a few years.  Another reason we are going off the grid!

Stem wall all covered up!

Last weekend, since provision came in and we needed a little break, went to Bethlehem and visited with the van der Wals. Always a very blessed time to be with them. Got to see their photos from their trip to Ireland, and had many Kingdom discussions that were encouraging to all (even some mammoth stories)!

The angels are helping us, because with interuptions, still lots of cob done! Monday as I was going to get Corné from Tshepo, my father-in-called saying he was stuck in Ficksburg. He took his bakkie (truck) in, and it wouldn't be finished in time for him to drive home. So I quickly got Corné, dropped her off at home, drove to Ficksburg, picked him up and grabbed some groceries. Could actually buy ice cream since our freezer is now in our house, and not 1km away! That was a first time in many months. The next day I was suppose to drive him to pick it up, so stopped work early, drove to Kranskop to get him, and he just got off the phone and it wouldn't be ready till the next day! So Wednesday stopped early again, took him in, got a few errands done.

Western kitchen wall.

However, with all the short days, still rose the kitchen wall high as I want to go right now. About to the level where the dining window will sit, so stopping for the moment.

Wednesday we started on the last corner of the house with no cob- the lounge and bathroom walls. The first layer is always a bit tricky as the cob needs to overhang the outer part of the stem wall about an inch/2 cm. That way when rain flows down the wall, it will drip off the overhang, and not get stuck where the cob meets the stone. If it did, the cob could get wetter and wetter, and possibly fail. However, making mud stick out sideways isn't easy! The bathroom stem wall is a bit low, so it actually was easy to put up sticks of firewood to support the cob till it firms up (a couple hours).

Support first layer of cob.

Mixing extra cob for Monday.

A view we don't normally see, as it is outside the fence.
Looking here at the bathroom and lounge walls.

Bathroom wall, with kitchen in background.

Thursday we got a good rhythm, got two layers done. Friday, our 5 man day, I was a little bummed because we didn't have dirt ready to use on the one side of the house. So, we began the day in the mine getting loads of dirt. Once making cob, the guys outdid themselves, and were mixing on 5 tarps! I could never catch up! At lunch, there were mixes resting in the tarps. After lunch, we covered the whole lounge and bathroom walls in less than an hour and half! I thought it was much later. We put some cob on one of the kitchen walls, while the guys mixed more. Ended the day a bit early, with four mixes of cob covered up, waiting for Monday morning!

End with a Blast

The week ended with a big push! Lerato told me about lunch time that he told the guys they needed to work hard to make up for the week, and they did! Monday we took off because the weather was cold and windy. Tuesday we started late (because of the cold) and went up on the koppie to get more stone to fill the old compost planned gaps in the wall. We actually found quite a bit in a short time. Didn't start any cob because the forecast was for several degrees below freezing. Since I got home early, I made my first “gringo block.” It's four pieces of wood screwed together to make a frame of sorts, and then placed in the wall with one side exposed to attach something too. In this case, the bottom door hinge.

Gringo block face showing itself.

 Added a bit to the bottom of the center wall where it joins the outer wall.  Want to raise it 30cm or so, then raise the whole wall up to make it level.  Think it's best to put 30cm or so of cob at a time.  Otherwise, if it's gotten hard, takes time to wet it to workability again.

My awesome team, without them, it would take a couple
years to build the house.
(L to R) Rasusu, Lerato, Matsebetsbe, and Notsi.

Wednesday was pretty cool again, so we worked in the “mine” digging dirt and clay out and quit early because Lerato was definitely not feeling well. I was inspired by Mr. Timmons from Larkrise to Candleford, we had watched the episode when he carved the angel in stone, and there has been a stone in the stem-wall that slopes outwards and has been bothering me ever since I noticed it. The problem is that the cob will want to slip down it. Was thinking of borrowing a grinder and generator to cut grooves in the stone, which is all a hassle, so I tried cutting grooves with a small chisel, and it worked! Doesn't look pretty, but it satisfies me. Not worried about the cob wanting to slip off.

My chiseling work.
Photo doesn't do it justice.

So, we only got to doing cob on Thursday, and started the kitchen wall. Friday, we were five, and the magic happened. About 10:30 I noticed they were working 3 tarps, and later there were 4 tarps in some state of use. Notsi was continuously feeding me cob from 10:30 onwards. They guys were just mixing and moving! Days like this make me think the house could be done quickly.

This near corner (kitchen wall) was all done in 2 days,
besides adding to the back wall and center piece
mentioned above.

Ministry

On Thursday, we actually called it an early day as Corné and I were going out to meet Om Koos and Tanie Gussie (in South Africa, elders are respectfully called uncle and aunt). I heard last week that he was having real problems sleeping, and I could relate to that from my anxiety both before and after moving here. When I heard about that, I immediately felt like I should pray for him (that was last week). So we went out to their farm and prayed, and really felt the Holy Spirit there. This morning Tanie Gussie stopped by to say he slept really well last night! Praise God.

Another great thing is that some people gave us a nice bit of support money! We can pay for more electricity, have money for diesel, give a little bonus to the guys.  God is supplying us as we need it.  Not an easy (fun) road to walk, but the best kind of road!

Switch

I'm moving my posting day from Friday to Saturday.  Rasusu only comes on Friday, plus, since we are in town, I can ride down to Rosa Saturday morning to post.

A Little Storm

Sunday night we had a storm come through with lots of wind and then some rain.  The rain was actually good, there was a fire on the mountain behind Rosendal and a little rain helps keep the dust down.  However, I didn't have all the walls covered, didn't have enough plastic, so a couple walls were solid dry and left in the open.

This is the side of the bathroom wall
that suffered the brunt of the storm. You
can see how the rain has postmarked the wall.

This is the other side of the same wall,
can still see the saw marks.

There's really not much damage.  The cob at the top of the rained on walls is a bit crumbly/dusty, so I'm  going to scrap off the top and brush off.

Went up on the koppie today to get some more sandstone to fill the gaps with the change in compost toilet plans!  Had a view of the house don't usually have!  Cob is visible from quite far away.

Saturday night while at Rosa to post on the blog, ran into Derek!  He is the one I met back in March that offered wood for the floors and use of the chainsaw mill.  He was quite friendly, and said we should come visit him and his wife in Natal.  Waiting for a trailer we can borrow, then will make the trip as soon as we can.  He might be able to cut us timber for the window lintels as well.  Would be great to come back with a nice load of wood!  He also will show us his yogurt and keffir, and give us some keffir starter.  Looking forward to the trip!

Day Trip to Lesotho; Building Ideas

Day Trip

The highlight of the past week was a day trip to Buthe-Butha in Lesotho. Pastor Johann from Bethlehem had invited Pastor John, who invited me to come along. My friend, Mark, had been to one of these prayer meetings before and encouraged me to go the next time possible. He was able to come to this meeting as well, which was a nice bonus as we haven't seen each other for quite a while. We met the Bethlehem group in Fouriesburg, then crossed the border together in to Lesotho.

Not actually praying at the moment here, just recording
 next meeting date on phones.

Met a fellow named Jeremy that lead the meeting. There were 4-5 pastors from Lesotho and 4-5 young men in their 20s. Had a really great time of worship and prayer together. At a tea break, Jeremy asked me to share my testimony. So, after doing that, everyone prayed for us and we got some prophetic encouragement and confirmation for Global Gate (our church), Tshepo, and for us personally. See how God is making more connections for us.

Building

Only worked on the house 3 days this week. Wednesday was the prayer meeting and Friday was a holiday, and even Thursday as we were working the weather turned a bit nasty. Friday wouldn't have been a pleasant day to be working outside. Happy nevertheless, looks really nice. Next week I plan to fill the gaps in the stem wall where we planned the indoor compost toilets. Our plan now is to carry out the waste to a compost pile a terrace or two below the house. After those gaps are filled, we'll start cob on the upper half of the house.

Been thinking the past week about tractor mixing. If we could get the cheap tractor for R10k (that we looked at back in December 2012, but is still in two pieces), we could run it back and forth over the mix like others have done. Think we could mix much more cob. Don't know if it's in the plan or not.

On our trip to Ficksburg this week, stopped at the sandstone place where the guy offered to teach me how to cut windowsills.  He wasn't there, but  talked to his wife and left my number.  After driving away, had a thought to hire one of his guys that knows how to do it.  I'd rather pay someone for a couple days, because he is experienced and can do both a better and a faster job.  Really like the idea.

Chronicle Article

I'm posting this before the story about us comes out in the Citrus Chronicle (features section). If you arrived here because of the article, thank you for visiting!! Take a look back through the previous posts, especially the last one about Tshepo. If you are interested in financially supporting us, we direly need the help to get us started! You can go the calvaryinverness.com and find us listed in the missions section and will be able to donate right through the website. Our friends there have started a 20/20 campaign-we are looking for people to commit to $20 for 20 months. It's small change, and enough people will help us tremendously. Thanks again for visiting, please comment or contact us if you have any questions.

Thsepo Generation

One of the reasons for moving back to South Africa was to help feed the poor as best we could. We thought it was a couple years away after we had our house built and got the hang of gardening. It was so cool how we met Pastor John and Nsoaki and they also had a vision for the same thing. We didn't expect things to happen so quickly, but in early May Thsepo Generation, the soup kitchen, was kicked off. (Thsepo, means hope, and in Sotho, the “h” is usually silent, and “t” sometimes, so it's pronounced “se-po”.)

The first day, at two o'clock, no children showed up. About two hours after they were suppose to arrive, 7 children had their first meal at Thsepo. The goal is to provide children of single, unemployed parents a quality, high protein meal, as well help them with their schooling, some spiritual exposure, and some sport and leadership development. Pastor John originally thought to start with 10-12 children. Well, there was quickly twenty on a regular basis. That moved up to thirty and stayed there for awhile. Lately, there has been around fifty! It's too many for the kitchen now, some children must be outside. When spring gets here, hopefully we can set up some tables outside.

I must say, when I walk into the kitchen, it smells very good. The food is really amazing, the cooks- Mirjiam, Agnes and Evelyn, do an amazing job. The children wipe their plates clean with their fingers! Some of the big boys sit next to little ones, and when they are finished, the big ones swoop in and eat the remainder in a jiffy. A funny thing is that when Corné asked the children for their favorite foods, spinach was number one! Cabbage was second, beans third! Would never hear that in the US! The only meat they get is off the soup bones. We plan to raise rabbits (when we are finally on de la Harpe) which are very high in protein and treat the children to grilled rabbit one day! That will be a real treat.

Another reason Thsepo has been so successful has come from the support of the community. There is one farmer that gives 50kgs/110pds of meilie meal/pap a month; another gives 10 liters of fresh milk a week, and plenty more. It has really been encouraging the way the much of the community has become involved in one way or another. There have been repairs on the stoves, and plans for painting the outside and putting in a cement floor (it's currently just dirt covered with black plastic.).

Recently there was a “wool-storm.” People knitted hats and scarfs and donated them for needy children. They brought these to Thsepo, and the children loved it. Actually, they love clothes donations, which are sorely needed by some. It is hard to look at some of the children in their school uniforms that are torn, have holes in the sweaters, shoes very much past their prime, and collars missing.

God has been so good. This was obviously His plan, and it's come together in such an amazing way. We are really excited about the future. Things we know are that it will grow; we would like to start a reading program-in 3^rd grade all their books are in English, to be academically successful, they need to be fluent in English. Sadly, most aren't. A Christian school is also in the plans, starting with Preschool and Kindergarden next year and adding grades every year afterwards.