Cool things

Not a lot of time for a coherent blog in the run up to Christmas,  so this fortnight you get a random selection of  things we think are just great!

The pump house. Having seen foundations laid, blockwork in progress, and a corrugated roof going on we had a go ourselves. Lyd and I built this little hut over the course of two days to keep our water-pump and booster protected, and make them quieter. We're very proud parents.

Friends!!! Adam and Rach were here for two weeks and loved Ghana. Beers on the balcony and trips to the local lake side resort are even more fun with friends around. And now James and Alex have joined us for Christmas!

Adam and Rachael enjoying the view at Alos Bay

James and Alex with Lyd at Head Office in Accra

Full size beer. On the left, a Ghanaian beer bottle (90p) next to a normal size UK bottle (which you can buy out here if you go searching). The gin is surprisingly good too, and at 1.80p for a full 1L bottle you can have a party here without spending much.

The office (in the sewing center) is complete!!! Lydia is taking credit for the two coats of neat paint that give the room a fresh new look. I'm taking credit for the flashing multi-coloured 6-way multisocket adapter mounted on the wall with individual on off buttons. One took more work than the other.

Car insurance. For roughly 14 quid a year a car is insured for any driver. I've no idea how the insurance company makes money as there are a lot of accidents out here, but it means we can drive 4x4s and pickups as needed.

Ben! Dave and Renae adopted a gorgeous little two year old three days ago. He's had a rough couple of years up to now, but is so well behaved and is in for a superb boost in life. Lucky little lad.

The sea view. Waking up in the cool morning air and listening to the waves crash in.

The view from our porch

That's a wrap. Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Tim and Lyd xxx

Cracking on

With the sickness behind us and a sewing and batiking centre ahead, we’ve had our heads down for the past two weeks pressing on with the job at hand.

 On the left, the back house which will become the sewing centre, alongside the outside covered areas, under which the ladies will batik

The roofing is now complete. After my being stopped by the police twice with 20 8ft long roofing sheets ‘strapped’ to the top of the car, our man Vincent here stepped up and nailed them into place for us. He’s the brother of our cook, a trained welder, and has potential to be a future production manager on the site. One to watch.

The electricians are in, giving us lights, sockets and replacing the stolen wires. They aren’t cheap but we got them down from 1300 GHC to 570 GHC with some negotiation. Lydia is ‘contract managing’ like the best of them…

Carpentry, including making doors fit, chiseling, putting in locks and bolts, replacing ceiling mounts and building shelves, falls to Lyd and I to keep costs down…

As does the glass work in the windows. Look at this perfect example of the old ‘score and snap’ technique…

As ever we like to do our own plumbing. We've traced the lines, replaced the broken pipe, but for some reason water doesn't flow to the house toilets or taps. We’re hoping it’s just because the mains are dry at the moment, next week they’ll come back to life and we will know for certain. If it’s a broken PVC pipe in the concrete underground we’re going to have our work cut out finding it, let alone getting it sorted…

There’s still much to do, notably now purchasing all the equipment and raw materials needed to get 2 batikers and 2 seamstresses up and running from 11th Jan. The meeting with potential ‘start-up’ mamas today went well, we know we have 3 out of 4 qualified ladies lined up for the first day. One more to find.

Sweating all day has never been so much fun.

Tim & Lyd x