Christmas craziness

                  Too much time in the Kitchen cooking can make us women crazy you know!!!!

Some a little more crazy than others!

180 Sugar cookies for the Missionaries!

So, this year, we decided to break tradition and go out to eat for Christmas Day.  It was a great idea!

Dessert first?  hmmm....

A monster size fish cooked with all the parts attached... I think I'll pass.

Christmas dinner at the Bean Hotel.  Fa- ra- ra- ra- ra!

This is what the inside of a large cocobean shell looks like.  Its kind of sticky and the beans are inside of the creamy colored pod you see here.  They remove the cocobeans, dry them and then sell them to companies to make chocolate.  It didn't taste chocolaty to me...more bitter like cacao which is chocolate in the raw.

...Santa's favorite place.

Our hostess.

The end of the year celebration at our Branch in Agona was well attended this year....mostly kids.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Craftsmanship of the people of Ghana

I want to share some of the beautiful art pieces here in Ghana so.....here goes!

Deluxe Umbrellas for sale

They have beautiful basket weaving here.  The baskets are called Bolga baskets, named after the town Bolgatanga which is in the upper northern region where the weaving originated many years ago

An interesting piece of artwork at the Bean Hotel.

Our Christmas splurge....what could be more beautiful?

You will often see the men here dressed in these shirts on Sundays.  They're made of Kente woven cloth and are heavy.  They are very wide and have ties at the side.  There are several hanging here for sale.  The booth to the left is lottery.

Beautiful woodworking

Same bowl, different side

Another traditional type of men's clothing.  Usually worn on the weekends to funerals.  These robes may be from Kente cloth or just colorful Ghanaian weaves.  I think we need to get Elder H. one of these...

Market Days

Today we Sisters decided to kick off 2016 in a fun way!  We spent the day going from one craft vendor to another just to see what's out there.   That's not usually a normal activity for us but, we were all game for and adventure and we really enjoyed our day!
                                                                           

Welcome 2016!

Car parts anyone?  These guys are selling parts.....

....everywhere.

Roadside Marketing

We took a wrong turn.  Now we are headed into the market place near Adum.  Each town has their own market days.  It happened to be on this day.  I told Sister Cosgrave that I love to go with her on her adventures because I get to see lots of places that Elder Halladay would never go!  :-)

See the men in uniform, they are policemen.  They carry loaded rifles everywhere they go.  I'm not sure why they think they have to go to that extreme.  Its a show of force I guess.

Market Vendors set up everywhere.  Mind you, we are trying to drive on this road.

  The crowds were unbelievable.  It was of course extremely crowded because of market day there.  The wall you see is covered with shorts and shirts.  I'm not sure how they make them stick there.  Maybe they're on bars or something.

See the cute little child in the metal wash pan?  This was on a side street that was a bit less crowded.  I love that these women seem to be taking a break together in their busy day.  The women here work very hard all day long!

Kente village weaving stations in the village of  Bonwire (pronounced bone ray).

We visited the wood carving village where there are many different carvers that all want you to view and purchase their products.  There's lots to see there!  Every shop is packed full of beautiful carved canes, benches, masks, bowls, animals, etc
The wood carvers all swarm you because they want to show you their items for sale.  It can get a bit crazy!  One man got pretty upset with me because I didn't follow him to his shop.  He wanted to know when I'd come again so I told him MAYBE Saturday.....he said he'd be waiting for our return.  :-/   I think I'm gonna need a nap...

Kente Cloth

This is a photo of several different colored shuttles to be used in Kente Cloth weaving.

This is one of the colors loaded in the shuttle that the weavers use.  There is a very thin piece of wood that goes through the center of the spool of thread and a small hole on one side where the thread comes out.  You can see the thread protruding from the hole at the bottom of the shuttle.  The thread will be tied to the long strands of the loom and then the weaver weaves back and forth horizontally to make the beautiful designs.

This is a Kente loom.  The view is from the weavers seat.  You can see the threads stretch out about 50 yards in front of the loom.  They make the cloth in strips of about 5 x 60".  They will then sew strips together to make a larger piece for clothing, bedspreads, table cloths or blankets.

These men are all kente weavers.  They have a nice shady spot they made by putting up posts and then fastening pieces of corrugated tin to the top.  There were four men working under this particular shelter.

This is a beautiful display of Kente cloth that is for sale.  Kente cloth is a specialty cloth made here in Ghana.  We pass many of the shops where this cloth is sold each Sunday on our way to our Branch in Agona.

This man is a Kente Cloth weaver.  Kente cloth is a special cloth made by hand here in Ghana.  Its made on a loom by shuttling a wooden bobbin back and forth by hand in front of the weaver.  Each design represents something different.  The first cloth was woven in the 1700's.  Its a very durable cloth and is used for many things including the heavy robes worn by the men of Ghana.  This particular piece is being made especially for the King.  This piece will not be duplicated or ever be for sale.  The weaver told me it will take him 8 months to complete the piece he is making.

Catching up!

Our friend Faith in the middle holding her new nephew, Gabriel. She had not seen her brother for over two years.

This is called Harmattan and comes from over 1000 miles away
The Harmattan is a cold-dry and dusty trade wind, blowing over the West African subcontinent. This northeasterly wind blows from the Sahara Desert into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter). The name comes from or is related to an Akan cognate.

This the sun, not the moon!

Departing missionaries in early December

Elder Ballard and Elder Bernasko. Elder Ballard is from Lehi and his Bishop is a good friend, Robert Peck.

Elders Halladay (the elder and the younger) and Sister Halladay

Pretty creative way to show off a water melon!

Ditto

Battery powered fans that run over 15 hours. With the power out so much it can get pretty hot in our Missionaries apartments. We are trying to get one of these for each companionship.

Sister Halladay with the District Relief Society President's 8th baby, Isaac!

District Conference. Outdoor pavilion at a local school. No microphones because the acoustics (metal roof) magnified every sound.

And the rooster that kept wandering through and crowing! I finally got up and chased him off a good distance.

Fa ra ra ra ra! Christmas Dinner! (you had to see the movie)

Christmas brunch with the other couples!
We had fish, shrimp, goat, and even some skinny turkey, along with lots of fruit and veggies.