Solomon Shower

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, comments and prayers for Millie. I'm pleased to say she is feeling much better today, and may even be ready for school tomorrow (not sure).

With things just getting busier and busier for us, we have employed a lady to do house cleaning. She has been a huge blessing, and we know it will make the next four weeks work better for us. I'm only sorry we can't benefit in the same way back home!

There has been lots happening, and I'm finding it hard to choose what to blog about, (given the fact that I'm oh so tired, and so it has to be quick!)

We have been watching with great interest a pair of Baza Hawks nesting way up high in one of the large rain trees behind our house. We would occasionally get glimpses of the baby as the parent was feeding it, and on Sunday the parents started teaching it to fly. It has all been really fascinating, but on Monday afternoon the local kids came screaming past our place saying that they had caught the baby hawk!

I hurried outside to find out what was going on, and sure enough, some of the kids had caught the baby hawk on the other side of the creek, and to my dismay, were hoping to keep him as their pet! Eventually I put my two bobs worth in, and reminded them that the parents were still in the tree, and how about putting him back there. Eventually, after some persuasion, that is what happened. I wondered if he had been already handled way too much, and would be rejected by his parents, but it is now two days on, and he seems fine.

The baby Baza Hawk

Later on I asked the parents of the kids why they would want to keep a pet hawk, and they told me that they make very good security birds. They learn who is who, and will attack or swoop at an intruder. Interesting stuff, but in my opinion, we have plenty of security dogs, and birds like that need to fly free.




Early this morning we awoke to a torrential downpour - it was deafening on the tin roof, even with my ear plugs in! But it settled down to just grey sky, so Geoff took the girls off to school on the back of the truck, as per usual, just after 7:15am. Unfortunately the rain wasn't finished, and they were caught in a huge 'wall of water'. Geoff returned home at 8am, with some very wet girls in tow!

It was the girls second 'Solomon Shower' (as Geoff calls it) in two days.

Bri has been looking forward to getting her hair done, Solomon style, and this afternoon was the right time for it. Helen, who is one of the wonderful teachers at the Hospital School, is very clever at braiding hair, and she was at the SWIM base this afternoon. It really didn't take Helen long to do all those braids, and Bri was quite pleased with her new hairstyle!

It is hard to believe that Brianna actually has quite a sun tan!