Not long to go now!

Rolling over block
Inside the shop....one corner
Some of the blocks used to print with.

Hi to all those faithful blog watches and apologies for the lack of new information!! It is not that we haven’t been doing anything of interest but guess we are on wind down to coming home and will need to have something to talk about when we get home! No we have just been slack, Sorry.
We are over the car accident and after making the 2nd page of the local paper almost a full page article the insurance company rang within hours and wanted to right the car off and settle. That was very helpful for us as we at least have some extra money to get a rental when we need it. Amazing what a little publicity can do!! We also featured in the paper the following day having presented a suitcase of school journals to Lautanu’u Primary school along with the Perham-Roselli family. It was a great visit out to the school. The staff and children really appreciated getting the extra resources.
We had a great 2nd trip back to Savaii for Leilani’s birthday but most of that will have to wait till we get back home to tell the stories. She won’t forget her 8th birthday in a hurry.
Emile’s Mum has arrived in Samoa for the next couple of weeks, so it will be nice to have time with her and for the children to have time with their Nana Teresa.
I am still enjoying my time at Plantation House, we had a great visit to learn the fabric printing and Logo posed nicely for the photo. Leilani now has the lavalava to take home as one of her birthday present. Today for Haute Tea (fancy afternoon tea) I served Billy Connelly’s wife, oh to be up with the celebrates, she offered me a sizeable tip, but I refused to take it!! Marita has invited the whole family to Haute Tea next week so the girls are really looking forward to that, as they have sampled Marita’s wonderful cooking on a number of occasions. I will miss my involvement with Plantation House it has been very interesting. The whole family has benefitted from our involvement even the girls have received an income from selling bracelets to Marita. Emile has been making cards for her too.
We had a wonderful weekend away last week to Sunset View Fales on Manono Island, which is exactly as the brochure say’s, a tranquil tropical island with a typical village lifestyle. We walked around the island as there are no roads and no dogs which was a nice change. We saw an umu demonstration so I can stop nagging my husband to do one for us at the village. We watched the men prepare the palusami (coconut cream and young taro leaves) which is cooked in the umu. We went out on the boat to snorkel which was great. The sunset and the full moon kept my husband clicking on the camera all night long but he has some great shoots.
We have a couple more things on our list to achieve before we head home in 20 days time. On the whole we are really looking forward to getting back home and catching up with everyone. Talia and Latia thought the school band might be at the airport to welcome us home. I reminded them that we go home in the school holidays so no children will be at school. Speaking of school, at Savaii Talia and Latia where watching fish and I said that is a ‘school of fish’, they then said where is the teacher! Latia jumps in and says I’ll be the teacher of course there was no fish left to teach.
I’m not sure we will ever be able to cope with the communal living. Last night at 10.30pm we had 3 young adults sitting on our verandah texting and receiving calls on their cellphones. I very politely asked them to go home to their place all 4 mitres away.
Onto a new page so that must be enough rambling for now.
Elizabeth