Normal

We got back to Honduras on the 19th (our 18th wedding anniversary as it happened) and jumped straight back into the thick of things...Not the least of which includes our home, which had the entire roof removed while we were gone, replaced, and dealing with the ongoing work (electrical, painting...even some old and new leaks in the roof that are still being "tweaked")  It has made for an interesting home life for the last week.  We just got internet access back yesterday.

 

So what is up?  I have not been able to get out and about to the Churches to physically see things, but have been in contact with all the pastors....the good things we will get to chat about eventually, but as is normal, most of the time I get the bad/emergency/problem news:

 

1.  Helped Jose Luis in Talanga with another loan to get his truck back on the road (needed transmission replacement)

2.  Working with Jonathan for some lights and other things for the upcoming 5th anniversary service in Cantaranas (ok...that is overall pretty good news, right?)

3.  Alfonso called from Sampedrana...a big wind storm knocked the tree that runs through the mission house porch to put a hole in the roof and put the second floor slightly off kilter.  How much off kilter...we will have to get up there to see and figure out where to go from there.

4.  Talked to Javier in Las Botijas about getting them some pay for the ongoing coffee work up there

 

I got our two vehicles started after a few months of really no use (other than to be moved to avoid the construction issues and trees being cut down.)  Neither one would start normally...and we have no available jumper cables here (Fords both up at the clinic) so again owning manual transmission vehicles pays off since I could push start them.  One works fine, the other we had to call Roberto to get some alternator and starter issues addressed.  Shortly thereafter I discovered the mission Land Cruiser needing a few things fixed as well, most of those have now been addressed.  Hmmmm, I have not tried to start either of the Fords yet.   

 

Around the clinic, Valerie jumped very quickly back into the administrative pile while also seeing a very high volume of very interesting/challenging patients that had been waiting for her return. 

 

Leaving Valerie to the clinic tasks for the most part on the first floor, I went to talk with Miguel and see what the groups did physically during the summer on the second floor, as well as got to see some impressive ground work they did, concrete pouring, and this great gutter work.  Eventually we will be able to channel the rain water to a cistern to get free water...what a concept!  We collect quite a bit from the mission house roof when it rains...and this roof is over three times the size.

 

The groups also put together quite a few walls for the second floor of the clinic, which Miguel has been slowly installing in the last month.  I made some necessary tweaks to the plan that Miguel was working from for the installation to make everything fit, and talked about the possibly plan for the groups in September and October how they can help us get further along in the process...that could be interesting, as we might be putting up dry wall on one side while the electrician is working from the other side in places!  Still, just seeing the interior walls going up looks so good, very encouraging progress.

 

Also some reinforcements to the container wall were done....more than I originally envisioned, but they look great, and by that I mean...very substantial and strong.  That should eliminate any shifting worries we have for quite some time.  The bonus is of course that the wall now looks like a centipede.  For those waiting for the inauguration of the TSP, we are still waiting for the deed work from the Church, they are making progress there, but it will still likely be a while yet before we are ready for that big step which we are all very anxious to see happen.

 

 

As we continue to try to cultivate some beautiful plants, and at least a few trees, we have been working with some fertilizer to get the trees taking off (I should get a picture of the avocado tree near the man cave...wow!), started using an actual weed wacker to try to cut down the weeds and make everything more presentable...but also have had to invest in quite a bit of powerful insecticide for the very quick, voracious ant populations that seem to pop up overnight again and again.  So, another part of errand running this week was the dangerous bag pictured here that I was trying to match. 

Emailing, roof leaks, buying poison, different kinds of supervision, floor planning, accounting, delegation, vehicle repair (and now blogging)...all just normal activities back in the normal flow here!