Ishtar News has moved!

After blogging for two seasons, I have decided to set up a blog in my own name. For the continuation of Ishtar News, click here.

See you soon!

Esther aka Ishtar

Just a picture

My mother and I, a little less than a year ago.

Ishtar

From one world to another

Thanks guys for all your support! It means a lot.

The journey went well. I am tired, but have landed in Sweden this morning.

A lot of things (and feelings) have been going through my mind lately, but through it all, I feel joy, peace and happiness. Someone promised me nearly two years ago that if I came to him, he would carry me, day by day. And he has. Day by day.

I am spending the day with my dad and I feel blessed.
Will write more later.

Ishtar

In heaven

My dad called me at 5 am this morning to tell me that my mother had left us. I don't know what to say right now, more than that my intellect and my soul are not in unison.

I will be leaving for Sweden on Monday.

Ishtar

Aichatu

I have a special little friend named Aichatu. She's young and she always has a twinkle in her eyes. She's a big rascal who always gets into trouble with the boys. I don't know how many times I haven't saved her from getting whacked, but it's been a number of times now. Wouldn't want her without that twinkle though!

Ishtar

The sire of her choice

Having worked so much overtime lately, Nettus and I took part of the afternoon off and brought Sahara back to the stallion station to meet with the boys. She was really one thrilled mare as we left the flock (which normally drives her nuts, seeing she's the boss and they should always accompany her in her eyes...). Unfortunately (for us), all the great sires were out of town this week, and the only one left for her to play with was Rio the colt.

Rio the colt turned to be exactly what Sahara the young but dominant mare wanted, and with Nettus being a soft hearted owner, she gave the colt's owner green light for the two of them to do whatever they wanted.

With Rio being the timid one, he took all the time in the world, nibbling her here and there and making sure all the time that she was "safe". And Sahara amazed us all, just standing there and taking it all without so much as budge.

Sahara was so taken by the young male that the hardest part was separating them and going home!

Had she had her way, she would have remained there all day and had lots and lots of fun...

Oh well. So we allowed Sahara to mate with the male of her choice and not the one that would ensure a high offspring value right from the start. Rio is really good runner though, and with his mild temperament, the mix between him and Sahara may actually turn out really well. In any case, we'll just wait for another 21 days before we bring her back, and see if her eagerness has faded or if the mating didn't take. If it didn't, I think I'll be looking out for Aldo, the local champion. Rumor has it that he'll be in town that week, but hey- we're in Africa, so we'll just take every day as it comes!

Ishtar

Meet Lawan the welder

Ali brought us a nice surprise today, and he was called Lawan. He'd come to do some repairs on the horse railing which should have been done yesterday, but which wasn't due to communication complications and lost pride. In any case, Lawan the 2nd (as we will have to call him) was kind, patient and hard working. And the best thing about him was that he regularly asked us if we were happy, or just redo his work by himself when he felt that it wasn't straight enough. We were thrilled! The only little minus what the security issue concerning his gear...

I'm glad no animals (except for the dog) were loose and that Tabita was not!

We are so thrilled the work got done though, and will be using him again. Next time hopefully with some good cables!

Ishtar

Painting the pool

The only thing that remains to see is if the pool paint will keep the water from leaking out of our precious little pool! If it does, I'll almost be looking forward to the warm season, lol!

Ishtar

Busy Busy Saturday

Today was probably the busiest weekend day we've had so far!

First of all, an entrepreneur had come with a team to move the horse fence, so that Arwen will finally have a place of her own and not have to fight to dog over his rice or tear down my plants whenever she suffers from a whim of frustration.

The mason and his assistant were there as well, continuing the work on our store which they started with almost three months ago. He does do a fab job and is worthy of all the patience in the world!

Inside, Magagi the plummer was fixing our leaking sinks, and wow, did they turn out well!

The bathrooms just needed a bit of cleaning first...

The entrepreneur was the only thing that didn't work out that day. He complained about not wanting to have to pay for anything that went wrong, so Nettus and I went out of our way to help him measure and make sure things became as straight as one could require in this particular situation... Working with women however did not seem to be his thing, and after a few incidents of miscommunication (where I should have been the one being offended, if anyone), he "threw in the towel" like we say in Swedish and left the job unfinished. So Nettus and I got to do what I have always loved; maconry work! I just need to become a little bit stronger and get some better technique, so I can turn that concrete (for hours) by myself without getting any muscle ache afterwards!

We did get the rest of the job done, and had a lot of fun doing it! And the biggest perk with doing it ourselves was that we were able to place the railing just as straight as we wanted to, without being told how impossible it was.

Ha, I really need to follow in my father's footsteps and learn to do (most) things myself!

Ishtar

Things Fall Apart

Our house as almost as old as I am, and as with all things, they eventually fall apart. What a shame though that both our sinks (and that would be our only sinks, except for the one in the kitchen) decided to break down at the same time! No big surprise though, when we took a good peak and had a look... Yuk! Will be glad to have it fixed, and in the meantime, we will be brushing our teeth in the shower or over the kitchen sink!

Will be glad to get this stuff fixed, and no, I do not mind replacing large parts!

Ishtar