Everywhere around the compound was over grown
with weed. Mum has been taking care of this while attending to dad when he was sick but mama has returned back to the village and my sister is too busy to have time for that. This is one thing that I and mama share in common. We hold a philosophy of leaving a place or people we come in contact with better than we met them. In this regard, mama does too much though. Mama loves farm. If given an opportunity, she'd break up the tiles in the house and grow crops inside the house. I'm so concerned about her because she's getting old and she complains of back and waist pains every other day. I've tried talking her out of this habit severally; to take it easy for her health sake but she wouldn't listen.
I wasn't comfortable with the look of the compound but I couldn't address the issue as soon as I came down some two weeks ago because there was so much work to be done in preparation for dad's celebration of life and some needs were more pressing and attention demanding. The week had been hectic but I still managed to push through.
So today being Saturday, I decided to begin the day by assisting with maintenance of the house compound. I had a very hectic Friday, the day before. I woke up quite late this morning with a backache. I didn't allow that to stop me. So, I went for the shovel. Usually, in this part of Africa, hoe is commonly used for weeding but then, I hated using hoe especially when it involves maintaining the house surroundings. I preferred using the shovel because of its flat and wide metal surface.
Let's get down to work. While maintaining the compound, some church folks came around to assist too. My sister told them in church the previous night to come around. They were taking care of the front surrounding while I concentrated on the back. Haven done the much I could, I had to assist with arranging the firewood that some of the boys helped in splitting.
I was worn out from the accumulated stress over the week but I wasn't done. I had started making a dress for my sister and myself during the week. After taking breakfast, I had to continue from where I stopped. Thank God, Victoria a friend and family relative was around. She had to take over the kitchen ministry to give me enough room to concentrate on my work. Glad I was able to complete my sister's and sewed mine half way. It was evening already and I was tired to my bones but still there was church service and I couldn't stay back. If I had my way, I wouldn't have attended but I had to. Glad I did anyways.
As soon as they service was over, I had to go home together with my sister and her kids in her car. I couldn't stay beyond an hour before sleep took its course. Thank you 