Day 17

Technically, these are from the night before, but as it was after midnight it was actually Monday when they were taken, so I'm including them here. These are the plans of the Barn and the exhibits and activities we would like to see go in the Barn, so that it turns from a barn into a proper education centre.

Around 7 hours later, Ines was up as always, to capture the sunrise.

Something I only ever see in photographs

Our 8:30 lift didn't appear, which was fortunate for us as we were all feeling like lizards on a cold morning, and none of us really fancied the long walk down to Hopewell. We were also concerned that if we didn't get a lift back at lunchtime, we might be working for many hours without food. So instead we made use of the time by carrying on working on the Barn plans, Ines and Kira doing the lion's share as they always deal with early mornings better than Max and myself.

We are not morning people

Ines and Kira especially had done a great job on laying out the ideas we thougtht would make for an informative and interesting centre. Our idea is that it would be loosely seperated into three sections; Past, Present and Future. Apart from leaving the two windows near the front and the walls unpainted (but treated so they wouldn't allow in the damp) there would be no clear deliniation between the three sections but a more subtle change from one to the other as people made their way through the exhibits and activities.

The hexagon (yes, that is an 8 sided hexagon...ahem..) represents an activity table, where the front half nearest the entrance would be a sandpit, full of bone, fossils and teeth etc for the children to discover on their in, while the back half would be a worktop for the kids to work and play, for example, working with stamps of animal footprints and making paint and toothbrushes from a type of plant that were used by bushmen hundreds of years ago. There would also be a Bushman Section to the left that would describe what they did and how they did it with examples of the tools they used.

The elephant skull (which Kuzuko already has of one of the elephants would be hung from the ceiling at the actual height of the elephant, with it's footprints embedded in the floor to give a good idea of the scale of the elephant, with the story of it written in those footprints.

The orange areas are where we would like to place stuffed animals, but that is very much determined by whether we could get Gerhard to convince his taxidermist friend to perhaps donate some, as they are generally not cheap to purchase. If we couldn't, then as far as that idea goes, we would be stuffed. (Aha! Stuffed! Geddit? Haha...err... sorry...)

The red lines represent posters full of information relevent to the sections they are placed in, and the little blue squares would be mystery feel boxes, where children can put their hands in without knowing what they are touching. Things like feathers, skulls, horns and bones, etc. Then when they lift up the lid to see what's inside, all the info about them would be on the inside of the lid. Both Max and Kira always loved these when we found them in museums in the UK (probably not so much now they're older ;)

Featuring the world's first 8 sided hexagon

A little later we found Jonathon and asked him to take us down to the Barn, and being the very accomodating chap that he is, willingly obliged. He told us that our planned visit that day to the local school was on hold for some reason, and that Gerhard's friend who does all the building work for him at the Lodge were going to be delayed but should be there that afternoon. Very much looking forward to seeing them so we can get all the jobs that we can't do done asap.

Once there, and after viewing the waterhole - where Ines and the kids played for a while and tried to get each other soaking wet by throwing rocks into the water, and being pleased to see even more animal footprints than previously - we all got on with the usual painiting and varnishing on the Barn.

The unpainted, but varnished windows have kept their old look, but even though the tin said it was a clear varnish it seemed to have darkened the wood, more than we would have liked to be honest, but they still have plenty of character and are at least protected from the elements for a good few years. The back window looks especially good and probably the best of all... just shame it's at the back where not many will see it!

Looks even better in the flesh

Getting almost too big to fit into one shot now!

I didn't join in as I don't being wet and cold!

Interesting to see all the iron deposits as it runs down itno the waterhole

Jonathon arrived at lunchtime, bringing us our meat and pap (not our favourite, it has to be said!), and although somehow we had missed getting our shopping list in, Zander was good enough to sort some basic supplies for us in the meantime, and promised to sort out the rest the next day. More varnishing and painting for the girls, Kira choosing her Roman outfit to work in today, while Max and I replaced another window in the roof.

Then Kira and I started puttying the smaller windows ready to take all the new glass, all the time being watched over by our favourite friendly lizard, Mr Lizard, though he wasn't impressed with my puttying skills at all. Max and Ines also began varnishing the outside of the side door, which is looking really good now.

No! Get back up there and don't come down until you've finished!

Like mother, like toga

Time to put me feet up for a short break

Then back to work

Inside out

One good team...

....deserves another

Our first window in! But it's not that great, tbh

Pah!  I could do better than that... and I'm a lizard

At 5:00 on the dot, Zander, the star that he is, came to pick us up and take us home and gave us our much needed bread and milk. He also informed us that the guys who were coming to help us sort out the Barn were delayed, but should be arriving, if all is well, at some point tomorrow.

Instead of cooking tonight we had a welcome break from it as we were dining at Tammy and Romeo's house tonight, where we had some lovely spag bog, and an entertaining evening literally talking about animals from A to Z, as Tammy has been compiling an impressive book on animal facts for many years. She showed us how much she had got done so far, as well as a small percentage of her many thousands of pictures she'd taken of all sorts of creatures over the years. It was fascinating!

Sadly, Romeo was off home until August 5th the next day, which meant we wouldn't see him again before we left, so we all said our goodbyes, and left to go home. Apart from poor old me, who as usual had to go and update the blog.

Safe journey, Romeo! If ever you can make it to the UK, you'll always be welcome at our house!