Month: February 2014

The Economy…  Our corner-shop grocer this morning: “Every day I have to write out a new price list.  When my father looks after the shop he has to have the prices written down, and every time anyone comes to deliver me anything all the prices have gone up.  Yesterday I took a delivery of cold meats and the new wholesale price to me was more than I was charging for retail yesterday.  So now I´m writing the list out again.  And later on today someone else will come by with the dairy products and then I’ll probably have to write it out all over again again…”. 

Inflation is officially 8% here.  In reality it is estimated to be around 30% and rising.  As The Economist columnist observes, better to use an accurate unofficial source than condone the fiction of the official version. 

Fledgling Faith… Joni was delighted by the notion of a God who answers prayers:  “Remember the other night when we were sick and we asked God to make us better so that we would be OK to take our trip to Ecuador, and then no-one got sick anymore…?”  Big grin.

My resolve… It took an hour to set the sewing machine up, followed by twenty minutes to do the sewing.  If I used it more often I would probably figure out how to set it up in five minutes.  But the experience of doing battle is what causes me to hide it in a corner of the office and avoid it for months on end.  I could sell it, but I’m blowed if I’m going to be beaten by a stupid sewing machine.  Although I’m pretty sure it won that round. 

Race against time…  We’re going to Ecuador tonight.  We didn’t start packing yet.  It’ll be fine… 

Here are a few moments from Scout camp:-

   

   

   

It was a good camp as ever, it even went cold for a couple of days so of course no-one had enough clothes, everyone having packed for the forty-plus which has been standard weather for this summer.  Still everyone seems to have survived and all the feedback has been positive so far.  I’ve spent most of this week trying to get used to the idea of being back, catching up with the washing slightly compounded by the washing machine breaking down and having to go away for 24 hours to be fixed, fending off marauding landlords (that wasn’t pretty, but we do at least have a contract agreed for the next two years), and preparing for the turnaround where we set off for Ecuador on Wednesday.  We have just five minutes ago booked the bus tickets for the Buenos Aires leg of that journey in fact. 

Next week in Ecuador is the Latin Link international knees up jamboree assembly which happens every four years.  Previous experience of these things hasn’t been fully positive, but our Southern Cone team meeting last year was an unprecedented success, so I have higher-than-usual hopes for the assembly on the back of that.  And there are people who it will be good to catch up with whatever else happens.  Then we are staying on in Ecuador for an extra week as a family to have some holiday.  We won’t venture as far as the Galapagos (too far, too expensive, kids aren’t old enough to appreciate it anyway), but hopefully we’ll find some fun things to do as a family although at this stage we don’t have anything as radical as an action plan.