SpRinG dAy!

Porks and I took Buddy for a walk in the forest and came across these loofahs.
Those of you who knew me when I was still living in Steele Road will remember how green my Daddy's fingers were.  He used to grow these and give them away in their hundreds. I remember doing an oral on loofahs in Standard One!  I still have some at home and am reluctant to use them in case I run out as they are the last crop of my father's vine.  Augustina told me that in Twi these are called "Sapow".

Buddy gets very excited when we go out and goes wild running about madly.  When he is away from me I crouch down and call him and he gallops towards me, with a smile nogal, ears back and his long front legs scissoring.  How he doesn't trip himself up, I don't know.

Porks must have been bitten or stung by something virulent as both his cheeks, earlobes and one neck swelled up, got hard and very itchy.  It worried him for more than a day and he even couldn't sleep! That's saying something!

So we decided to take a walk to the little clinic stationed behind our house on Tuesday evening.  Buddy walked with us and stood at the gate.  Joyce, the clinic sister and Kadek her assistant, competently took Porks' temperature, checked for malaria and measured his blood pressure.  Joyce then administered a weeks' worth of 6 capsules of antibiotics a day, pain killers and sleeping tablets.  While we were waiting, more patients arrived from the village and smilingly most of them greeted Buds with a "Buddy, Buddy, Buddy!"  I went to call him and he ran away from me with fear stricken eyes.  I then realised that he must have thought that the "clinic" was for him and he wasn't going to take that chance and hang around.  As soon as we came out though, he bounded happily towards us with that look of "thank goodness you have left that building!"

I had a bit of a panic on Thursday evening when I received an sms from Africa World Airlines to say that my 16h00 flight from Kumasi to Accra on Sunday was cancelled.  I phoned around trying to get another reservation but the cell phone communications are terrible and one can't hear the other person properly.  I thanked my lucky stars that at one time I had been a travel agent as to try and spell my name, surname and email address to Ghanaians over the tinny phone is ridiculous. "S"... "F?"... "No, S for..." then it all came back to me SIERRA! and we were away! Thank goodness the Starbow flight was available although departing two hours earlier but at least I should get to Accra.

I depart Accra at 22h30 on Sunday and arrive in South Africa on the morning of SpRinG dAy! Until we chat again, take care and stay safe my much loved family and friends.