Gateway to the village - and to the New Year!

The whistling thorn or ant-galled acacia

A storm approaches

Masai beadwork

Happy lady!

The women are selling their beadwork.

The Masai villagers have gathered to greet us.

Masai village in the valley

Variable sunbird, cinnyris venustus

Malachite sunbird, nectarinia famosa

Superb starling

Kori bustard

Hamerkop, scopus umbretta

White-browed coucal, centropus superciliosus

Bare-faced go-away-bird, corythaixoides personata

von der Decken's Hornbill, tockus,deckeni

Pale chanting goshawk, melierax poliopterus

Secretary Bird, sagittarius serpentarius

Kori Bustard, ardeotis kori

Red and Yellow Barbet, trachyphonus erythocephalus

This one was having a sand bath in the road.

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Bycanistes brevis

Long-crested eagle, lophaetus occipitalis

Could be a Scarlet-Chested Sunbird Cholcomitra senegalensis

Superb Starling, spreo superbus

The Kitchen

Today the glass at the back of the hob has been fitted. With the new back door, the kitchen looks finished. We know that there are extra shelves, a plinth and some curtains/ blinds still to come, but really, everyone can see the finished project, more or less. Hurrah! Its only taken 20 weeks and some days to get here! I hope you like it.

Watching us as we watch her

Striding out

Pushing and shoving!

They really have a go at each other

Challenging for leader

The Gathering

Digging

Looking very worried

Week 19

Last weekend we had our first visitors and so there was a massive effort to get things on. The kitchen has its replacement worktop and the last cupboard was fitted. A ceiling light had to be moved to accomodate it, though, with the accompanying hole in the ceiling needing replastering. The backdoor is a problem as a new door handle is difficult to find - that is one that matches the other satin chrome finished handles. The new door is also somewhat short! Apparently the hole for the door is taller than standard. (No one thought to measure it before buying the new door.) We still have the old one with cat flap in place. A template for the glass behind the hob has been measured and that will arrive in December - its getting perilously close to Christmas! All this progress meant we could finish off the new flooring, which looks fabulous.
The two guest loos are finished. Their mirrors have been installed and the handles put on the little cupboard doors. But not such good news in the bathrooms. The top floor shower has no mirror and some finishing touches are neede for the towel rail. There are a couple of door knobs, too. But the master suite is so frustrating. The large mirror is in place covering the wires etc. but the glass doors to the cupboards didn't fit for about the fourth time of trying. What is going on!
But even so, we have had a big clean up and we used the sitting room at the weekend, without being surrounded by boxes; Mel and Nick could sleep in the guest bedroom and use the new shower room with a temporary mirror - and we had moved lots of stuff into the kitchen cupboards, so we had breakfast at the new 'island' and Sunday lunch in the dining room.
We are so close to completion - and hope that the plastic can come off the kitchen cupboards very soon!