Hello Everyone!

The theme for this week has definitely been CHICKENS!!!

So, since before we even left Seattle, Catherine has been trying to find chickens to buy for the new coop. Specifically, they are called 'layers' which means they are 18-20 weeks old and ready to start laying eggs.  She and now I haven't been able to find anyone in Lesotho whose stock isn't committed for many months out.
So finally, I have found a poultry farm in South Africa who will sell little chics that will have to be raised an extra couple months before they are ready to lay eggs.

Off we went to the Dept of Agriculture to get the required Import Permit.  Of course it was Friday and they only issue them on Tuesdays between 8 and 10 am.....
We'll be first in line on Tuesday, and if issued, I'll be picking up 700 little chics from the airport in Bloemfontein, SA in the van.....with Catherine to deal with customs.
Should be a noisy 3 hour ride back but everyone here is excited to feed and play with the little ones!
Yes, we'll take pictures!!!

Yesterday we finally got the first half of our delivery of the right size of gravel to start the bridge concrete pour.  I say half, because the second truck got stuck in the mud of a roadway detour and isn't coming until Monday.  Today we set the shoring legs, made of scaffolding sections, into concrete (temporary) which was a fun accomplishment because now you can really see where the bridge will be going.

For the last 3 days, all of us joined Maggie and Claire's fence building team so we could get the south property line secured.  Even with our trigger happy security guard, it's a big area for him to watch and we needed to narrow down our exposure to possible 'issues'.  The new fence is tall, sharp and impressive.  It feels great to be helping with the sense of security among students and staff. They are very proud of their work with us and some of the hole-digging has been with double toothpicks.

Emily and her team are just beginning to set the window buck-outs in the new chicken coop.  Now with little chics on the way there is another level of excitement getting it ready for them. The chics will initially be housed in the old coop, which we stripped out of all cages this week.  We are building roosting/laying boxes within the buildings and giving them free run.

Demolition of a wall adjacent to the library where the new computer lab will go is also underway.  This is a good 'rained out day' project, of which we had another stormy one just a few days ago.

Theresa arrived along with David last week and that means we have a cook!!!!!!   Oh yeah, and a great carpenter!

Have a wonderful week,
Rome
Project Photos