Tickets

Our tickets have been booked, so we are going home in January. Yooooo Hooooo!!  I think I understand about boarding school rules though.  Boarders are not allowed to go home before settling in properly (6 weeks at some schools) otherwise they might not want to go back to school again.  Going home any sooner and perhaps I might feel the same way!

When I get a comment on my blog it comes through to my blackberry as well as my computer. I sometimes reply on my phone when my computer is off.  Kelly has told me that I didn't reply to one of her comments and I had.  I have replied to every comment that I have received, so if you didn't get a reply from me, that is probably why and I apologise.  From now on, I'll only answer on my computer. Sorry!

I have found a more interesting way to walk around the house.  Every 5 minutes I change direction! I'm klever hey?

John Mahama, who is already in charge, has been voted in as the President of Ghana.

Tony's children's names are Michael, Phillip, Cynthia and Paul......excuuuuse me!  These are the two younger ones.  He told me that there are about 3000 people in Bantama, 1450 of whom are registered to vote.



Sunday:
We had to go and check on the burning and clearing in the bush this afternoon and within seconds of turning off the main road we were stuck.

We had to winch ourselves to a tree and pull ourselves out.

Thank goodness for Porks and thank goodnesser for the available tree!

It took about 20 minutes but by the time we had finished, all three of us were wet through.
Ghanaians do not use sickles to clear the land, they use "cutlasses".

We then took a drive to Tony's farm where we found out about rice. They plant in the rainy season and it takes three months to grow to maturity.  Rice is planted only once a year.

The seeds are picked and then boiled and the husks come off and the rice is inside.

I only know rice being planted in wet, muddy paddy fields, so this was a bit of a surprise for me. 

Yams are grown in a similar way to potatoes. The seed yam is planted in a hump of soil and then three months later, dug up.
Tony can get a supply of yams twice a year. 




 


 


Potatoes and sweet potatoes do not grow well here unfortunately. We really miss potatoes they are so much more tasty and versatile.

Groundnuts (peanuts) are grown in.... the ground, and reaped after three months.  They can plant groundnuts twice a year.  Tony told us he gets about 30 - 40 nuts on one little bush.

 

We had asked Josephine who works at the office to find us some roasted groundnuts and she arrived last night with about 2 and a half kgs.  They cost 8 Cedis but Porks paid 10 as R50 is still reasonable for this amount.

                                                           A pub in Bantama.

 

I can think of another one!