Such a wonderful gift

While I was off having a wonderful time playing and loving on children, Jeri and Gary were working themselves to the bone doing projects for me. The team from New Orleans brought me some screening material and a couple of kits to custom make frames for window screens. Jeri and Gary made screens for my front and rear doors, my bedroom and the living room windows. Gary said his fingers up to his knuckles were scratched from the metal screening material. They are great (both the screens and Jeri and Gary)! Right now they are anchored to the metal window frames with duct tape, but we're hoping we can find some magnetic tape, velcro and weather stripping somewhere so they will be better and be easier to take off and on so that I can open and close the window.

After that trying task, they tackled laying cement to patch up the area that was taken out when there was a sewage leak outside my place last March. The maintenance guys fixed the sewer but didn't replace the cement they dug up. Rev. Nyameka said the guys who do the yard maintenance couldn't understand what I wanted. As if it was so difficult...just put back what you tore up. It sounds like it was quite a task, between having to dig up some of the hard, compacted dirt and then making several trips to so called hardware stores to find what they needed to complete the job. Gary said he was amazed that there were so many stores in Manzini that claimed to be hardware stores. He said they weren't anything like a hardware store in the US and I reminded him that we aren't in Kansas anymor (toto).

Jeri and Gary said that my neighbors couldn't figure out what they were doing to the doors. They had never heard of or seen window and door screens and couldn't figure out why I need them. Jeri said one neighbor did say they had heard that some mosquitos carry some sort of disease. All of the neighbors were so thrilled that the sidewalk was finally fixed so that the water will drain properly and they won't have to walk through the mud.

I am so blessed to have two such wonderful people who are so giving become a part of my life.

The screen for my back door, which is the one I use all the time.

It is hard to see, but this is the screen for my living room window.

This may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it is HUGE! Now when it rains, the water won't pool outside my door it can drain down and around the side of the house. And I can stand at my laundry tub again without standing in dirt and mud.

Isn't this sweet? There will be a reminder forever of the the wonderful gift Jeri and Gary gave me.

Siyabonga nKosi!