Trevor Morris »
Precipitation preoccupation
Posted on 9:00am Saturday 22nd November 2008
AS a nation there are certain things that we like to believe about ourselves: a love of fair play and kindness to animals, to name but two.
Allan & Rose Davies »
Es el Lunes por la mañana, yo me desayuno en la terraza y el sol brill, qué
Posted on 10:07am Wednesday 19th November 2008
How time flies when you’re enjoying yourself, or so the saying goes. The last four or five weeks have been a blur of work and getting the jobs done for the winter, or at least the more temperate part of the year. But now I find myself lounging around again with time on my hands until the next flurry of jobs, if any, come in. it’s nice to have the luxury of choice when picking the work that most suits my mood though as they say, money is money and though the majority of the jobs I’m taking on at the moment are far removed from anything connected with my career of the last thirty five years or so, they’re certainly more enjoyable and interesting and they pay well.
Author Unknown »
Para que no olvidamos!
Posted on 8:30am Monday 17th November 2008
This morning saw us pick the first orange of winter off one of our trees. Although we only have a few fruit bushes, it usually produces a small harvest which will last until the spring's second crop. Add to this the extremely long summer this year which has thrown a number of fruit and veg harvests out of sync and you have an unexpected bounty of all things summery in the form of the exotic foodstuffs expected to flood the Christmas markets, now that is a good sign!
Trevor Morris »
The Threshold of History
Posted on 9:00am Saturday 15th November 2008
‘HOW extraordinary’. Those are about the only words that I can come up with to describe the events in world affairs that have unfolded this week.
Allan & Rose Davies »
That’s it, time to move further south!
Posted on 8:30am Monday 10th November 2008
A week of rain and I’m not a happy bunny, though everyone says I’m ungrateful as we need the rain to rejuvenate the land and refill the reservoirs after the extremely long hot summer we have just had. Well, okay, I’ll give it another year then, though today being Saturday usually means local market shopping, hustle and bustle in the town, doing those little jobs for people only available at weekends, but not today.
Trevor Morris »
The main points again
Posted on 9:00am Saturday 8th November 2008
Patrice the plumber's life flashes before his eyes...
Steve Blackmore »
The Source of the Nile - Bahir Dar 31 Oct
Posted on 10:59am Tuesday 4th November 2008
I awoke early as the sun was coming up. I think it was a tapping on the window. I peered out to see a sea of grinning black faces peering in at us as we slept on the bus. Where the hell do they all come from ? No matter where you park in Ethiopia, within a few minutes your double decker bus will be surrounded by chattering, excitable Ethiopians.
Steve Blackmore »
The Mexican Standoff - Gonder 30 Oct
Posted on 10:56am Tuesday 4th November 2008
With the bus still not well, I was up in good time to go over to the mechanics. He wanted me there at 9am when he contacted his mate in Addis to get a price for a seal. That's a rubber part, not the aquatic animal. Bill was expecting a price of a few pounds. I was a little taken aback when he quoted 6800 birr, that's about £425. He made the final total about £950. It gave me some serious questions. Was it financially viable to carry on to Addis ? What was the alternative ? I would be gutted to get this far and not actually make it to our final destination. The mechanic would still want paying for the work done so far and the bus isn't moveable now the old, damaged seals have been ripped out. We were at the mercy of the mechanic. He could offer us what he wanted for a non working bus in his yard and we would be obliged to accept what he offered.
Steve Blackmore »
The Never Ending Road
Posted on 10:53am Tuesday 4th November 2008
I awoke to hear people moving around outside and looked out to see hussle and bustle of a huge number of people. Why ? Its 6am, the border is still closed and there is nowhere for people to go. We had a disagreement with the bloke who sold us the beer. We hadn't drunk it all and he wanted the empties back or he wanted us to pay another 2 Sudanese pounds each bottle. We had only paid 3 for a full one.
Steve Blackmore »
Khartoum Nightmare - Abu Dom to Ethiopian Border 27 Oct
Posted on 10:16am Tuesday 4th November 2008
I was tasked with driving down the fairly new section of road from Abu Dom towards Khartoum. No great hardship, in fact a doddle after the last 2 days. It was wonderful knowing we were actually putting some real distance on the clock. My concerns on the tight timescale were getting worse. Previously I was working in days until we had to be at Bahir Dar to meet Jo and Sean. Now I was counting hours and realising that we could only make the deadline by driving constantly at speed.
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Trevor Morris and his wife Sue left Charlton Down in 2002 for the Tarn region of southern France, where Trevor renovates old properties. In his spare moments he writes a weekly column about his experiences for the Dorset Echo Weekend Magazine.
