Still Scorchio

I really need a book on bugs. I have been amazed at the variety of ants... from teeny tiny ones that decided to drown themselves in the cats water to some huge ones - that looked as if they could carry the cats off! The cats have great fun hunting mothzillas at night and crunching their way through the various mantis type bugs that appear every now and then. And I found this dead locust type thing in the patio the other morning. ... picture posted at last

Now what I want to know is - what is that stinger is for? and don't say popping eyeballs!

The latest worry is huge spiders. I am normally OK with spiders and given that they eat flies (the enemy of my enemy is my friend) I usually let them live and build their webs.... but I know that there are some in Morocco that can give us (and presumably the cats) a serious problem if they bite. Which ones? There are some scarily big ones and I am ashamed to say I am resorting to stomping on them - assuming I can catch them.

ps I have now had my first close encounter with a live scorpion.... late the other night just back from Taroudannt I walked across the patio into the kitchen, came out of the kitchen and there it was in the middle of the patio! One shout of "Mohamed Scorpion!" and he came running and stomped it. So in response to the request for more pictures of the bugs.... yes as long as they don't come running at me when I have the camera on them! I just edited a bit here in case I never get any visitors.... :)

Well it is getting really hard going with the heat ... we have been sleeping out on the patio for over a week now but it is still really hot at night. The poor cats are all under the bed panting... sadly it is too small a space for me to join them as it probably is the coolest place just now. But not for long.... after spending a fair bit of time at the weekend in Marjane because it is cool we decided to buy an air conditioner. Unfortunately so did everyone else in Agadir. It took us all day yesterday to find one and now we are on the hunt for a technician to fit it.

Scorchio!

Phew it has been hot.... Sunday and Monday were super heated - must have been over 40! Too hot to sleep on Sunday night so was feeling very wabbit on Monday morning. Then we had a power cut and then I got stung by a wasp.

We headed off to the coast and had a cool swim which was lovely. Very stupidly I forgot I was wearing my glasses and they got swept away by the surf! Somewhere in the Atlantic now.

When we got home we had a flood of phone calls from Taroudant. Rashid's daughter Aziza had been in an accident. She fell off the ladder (to the roof) and had to go off to hospital in Agadir. The phone calls (translated by Mohamed) had it that she was in a coma and had damage to her head and eye.... so it was a terrible worry. Yesterday morning we headed out to pick them up at the Hospital as Aziza was now conscious and being sent home. Although it must have been a terrible shock, Aziza had not been as ill as I thought... she was unconscious for a while - not in a coma! Apparently she has a hairline fracture but no permanent damage. She is going to have a stonking black eye and was a a bit shocked by it all... but by the time we got back to Taroudant she was starting to get some of her bounce back.

Getting back to Taroudant took a while - we first of all had to go back to the flat where Rashid and his brother and sister (Mohamed and R'kosh) had spent the night. So we had to have tea... and then it was nearly lunchtime so we had to have lunch! We finally set off and then had a puncture and had to stop by the side of the road and change the tyre. Aziza, R'kosh and I sat under a tree and found some argan nuts which we opened. The nut itself is not edible - well probably not enjoyable is more accurate. It has quite a small amount of flesh which has a soaplike texture. You need to shell a lot of argan to get any amount of oil out of them

In the village here, most houses have argan fruit drying on the roof and they use the shells in their ovens. We will have to buy some local argan oil this year.

As I said it was around 5 pm when we finally made it to Taroudant. J'mia and Mina were just about besides themselves with anxiety but everyone was much relieved to see her up and about. J'mia's dad had been feeling dreadful as Aziza had climbed up to the roof to see him - they were sleeping up there to try and catch some cool breezes. No doubt the story of Aziza falling will be retold again and again whenever there is a family get together.

Mohamed and I headed off to the flat and did some more packing and came back to Wikaren around midnight with another car load of stuff. There is still a lot to move .... and of course some cleaning to do.... but it shouldn't take long now. The little house here is now full to overflowing and I don't know where anything is or where to put anything else!

Settling in

Marmela has found her favourite place to sit and watch the world/patio (which you will see if I can get a picture to load).

Despite Elvis going missing for 36 hours (there were tears) and Honey being awol for a time this morning ..... the cats are all very settled and happy here. Though I realised the other day that Elvis has stopped shouting at us - which is a bit sad as I miss our conversations.

Elvis: Raalph
Me: What's that Elvis?
Elvis: Rawaaalph
Me: Really Elvis?
Elvis: Let me out you idiot or I will spray all over the house (ralph)!

I have had a really miserable week - you will have to forgive me in advance for feeling sorry for myself.

I overdid the moving boxes and strained my back, which was aggravated by all the water drawing and bending over that is required in this house.... so sore back. Then I ate or drank something (I think I might have got the drinking water mixed with the washing water) and came down with a seemingly never-ending (though it felt terminal at times) bout of diarrhoea - and of course we have a squat toilet.

As you dry your eyes (from sympathy and not from laughing I hope) you will be pleased to know that I am feeling much better.

On Wednesday I had to go to Taroudannt to get my Carte Sejour temporary form stamped for another month. This turned out to be good timing as Mohamed's sister Khadija had just had her baby. She is in Ait Iazza for the summer as usual but had complications so had to go in to Taroudannt to have the baby, I think they thought she might need a caesarean. She ended up delivering a normal healthy little girl all by herself!

As I drove home in the evening it felt nice to be coming back here. I passed a herd of camels grazing the argan woods around us and the village looked really peaceful from the road as the sun set behind the hills.

Of course I had forgotten to take my camera with me so I can't share those images with you.

Busy busy

As promised some photos of the house building. The walls are made from local stone "stuck" together with local mud.. .though we are using concrete and steel uprights to give it a bit more strength.

You can see why it is called "the place of stones".

Because of the lie of the land we have decided to add some basement rooms - these will be much cooler in the summer. They are just about finished building the walls now and should start filling in the land to level it ready for the platform.

Mohamed came home on Monday night really pleased with himself. He had gone off with one of our builders who had spotted a bee hive lodged between some rocks along the hillside, so they went and raided some honey. Mohamed came back here late at night with a few honeycombs and the next morning I woke up to a patio full of angry bees..... I don't know if they were the same bees or not but there must be some proverb about "he who steals the honey must face the bee"..... (yes of course Mohamed was sent to deal with them!)

Mohamed is also trying to get the village together to get a better water supply. They sank a well last year which has lots of water but it is apparently not quite drinkable so they just left it. He is going to see if he can get an association together to buy a filter for the water and even if it is not good enough for human drinking it will do for animals and for washing etc.

I had 3 goats on the roof the other day! I think every one here keeps goats and what with their bleats (and the patter of their hooves on the roof) the donkeys complaining about something or other and the insects (I keep thinking I have left the pressure cooker on) life is never quiet in the village. Mohamed has been talking about getting a goat or two but we will see if we can buy a bit more ground for garden and goatpen or not and I would rather have a donkey than a goat.

Apart from that all goes on as normal... weather is hot, cats are sleeping all day and roaming at night and I am just about managing to work despite a terrible internet connection. My Maroc telecom mobile has a really bad signal in this house. I discovered the other day that I could only make a phone call if I stood on a chair in the corner of the patio, held the phone above my head and shouted into it! I think the signal is better up at the top of the village. We also heard that the Hotel along the road had started to lobby Maroc Telecom for a fixed line but they said it wasn't worth it for one customer. Perhaps with us and the French guy living in the village also lobbying we might even get a fixed line in? I must be feeling particularly optimistic this morning.

Just a quickie

I am here in Wikaren now....trying to adjust to life without running water (apart from me running backwards and forwards with buckets). We have electricity (borrowed from neighbour and with lots of extension leads) and internet... though it can be quite slow. Here is the kitchen

Note the built in cupboards and handy supply of argan nut shells for burning in the oven. (I might have to leave posting the picture till later as it is taking ages to upload - watch this space)

The cats are loving it.. I kept them locked in a room the first night (what was left after moving) and let them out one at a time the next day ... but they are really happy being free to roam at night defending the rooftop from all comers and finding cool spots to sleep in during the day. So far Honey has caught a lizard.

I have a load of stuff still to move from Taroudant and then work out where I am putting it.... and trying to work out what I can live without for a few months till the house is built.

Work is progressing on that ... will try and get some pictures to post soon.

So basically you can't contact me by the old phone number but my mobile still works (though it is not great reception in this house).

Hope you are all well