malaria and croup

Hello darlings
Well it's been a time of trial out here in the sweltering tropics! It went like this:
Eddie got malaria
Ben got malaria (while Eddie was still not well with his malaria)
Eddie got croup (while Ben was still not well with his malaria)
Ben got croup (while he was still not well with the malaria)
Ben got chest infection
Clive got sore throat
Trace got exhausted...
But it's all over now, except that Ben is still taking antibiotics and they both cough all night.
Ben had never been sick for more than a day before this and kept waking up from his coughing and screaming "I'm dying!" Very dramatic and heart-rending at first and very tiring on the 95th yell!
Thankfully I could take a day off yesterday on his last day in bed (had them alternating days on a mattress in my office, or I worked from our room.) He watched a medley of Gummi Bears (american gunk which they love!) and Eddie went back to school and they both felt fine in the afternoon so I banished them onto the verandah to play lego with Zoda and I retired to my bed with the Sex in the City extended movie (crap) and my beloved white fan and a packet of expired orange puffy cheese chips. Felt foul thereafter naturally - theory always better than practice! Both right as rain now and full of new games and fight moves after watching Kung Fu Panda...
Otherwise have been embroiled in a little local politics. After a large meeting of all parties involved in tourism pursuits here in the village (the National Parks, lodge owners, curio vendors and 'beach boys' (local term for fellows who speak in fake American accents, wear board shorts and t-shirts with the sleeves cut off and have dreads - who mainly take local boat tours around the place and sell weed)) it was reported back to me that the vendors had a problem with our shop on Mumbo. I got almost tearful, because I have been so careful to buy from a whole range of people to spread the cash around a bit. Anyway, I consulted our new managers (4 guys on the Malawian staff who have moved up a level: Edward, Franklin, Sutha and Joseph) to get advice and Joe went off to consult with Mr Chimombo (Eddie's friend who made his model of Nankappa and is vendor representative) and reported back that in fact that was incorrect, thank God!, and they just wanted to show some of their wares here at Base, and to have us encourage visitors to go out into the road to visit their stalls. Fair enough, so we all shook hands amicably and there was no further need for lumps in throat.
Otherwise life rolls on, sweatily. (Have discovered those deodorant crystal sticks though and can vouch for their efficacy, but sadly one cannot apply them over the entire mortal frame and especially not to the old visage, which beams shinily like a moon these days.)
It's odd, having grey hair has made me feel my age (or perhaps even older). I have no desire at all to party on down at the three local bars or to go out at all. Probably not a good thing and certainly a bone of contention with my ever-youthful and happy-to-party husband! I have been told the salt and pepper makes me look distinguished - and let's face it, no babe of twenty, or even, thirty is ever told that. Clearly I look my age too!
But there is no going back to the bottle or the henna goo - the effort and cost is not worth it I think.
I have accepted this stage in my life here as being very insular and simple. Work and kids and the hammock on the verandah - and the many happy interactions with both guests and staff are enough for me this year. And I have a great sense of accomplishment about what we've done so far too.
But I still haven't managed to start a tree-growing project. That is my obsession, as the deforestation of this country is scary. Have just bought 3 bags of tree seeds and now need to find a place to grow them into seedlings and then my plan is give every member of our staff 2 seedlings and a bag of manure (from our dry composter loos on the islands!) and hopefully everyone will have two big trees soon. Maybe we need to do it every year so that when one is chopped for firewood there is another to take its place. I am also not buying any ebony for our shop or for myself as ebony trees take 30 years to mature and there are almost none left. Our carver, James, says that in two years they will all be cut. So he and I have started to use Mtumbu, the 'fence post tree' for carvings and, though it is not as hard, it has a beautiful grain and is good for carvings.
Today in Cape Town in the Noordhoek Country Fair, where, 3 years ago, my stylish friend Belinda and I had our first second-hand clothes stall. I am so sad to be missing it. B is selling my Monkey Bay treasures for me, but I so wish I could be there too - we had such fun doing it and meeting all those women who went off happy with our finds.