When things go wrong ...

... all you can do is soak!

1. After working like a navvy all day to clean out my old house, I started to replace two of light fittings in the lounge - the guy in the store assured me they were easy to install, and they were - except for the minor detail that there was this weird orange wire that connected the two of them! So when I pulled it free of the first one, the second light crashed to the friggin' ground! Now I'll have to get an electrician in after all - :((

2. The second buyer for my old fridge let me down. :(

3. I still don't have a new home for Rappy the Cat .... :((( some more ...

4. Both the kids are sick - daughter has a weird virus that just eats up all your energy, and son is just starting with the flu - the real thing with joint pains, temperature, headaches, cough ...

So that's why today's post - which was going to be of my shiny, well-lit old house - is instead of my exhausted feet soaking in the tub.

The muse has a new home

Our new home has produced some very welcome surprises. I have an actual 'study' to work and write in now, not just a carved out corner of the lounge.

There's built-in bookshelf behind me ...

... and my desk full of writing books in front of me ...

.. and the family computer off to the side, for the kids to use.

It's so cool! I'm loving it!

It's a brand new start!

First it all got dragged out ...

and packed into a funny little local mover's van ....

... then it got dragged up two flights of stairs and into our new home!


Now the unpacking begins!

Last Night at the Old Place

At the end of a final day of packing, there were boxes of every possible size and shape scattered throughout my house ...

... so we added a couple more! :)

Packing ....

.... my writing books. Two boxes full, yikes!

Drunk Driver?

... and Smokey!

She is a Rudyard Kipling kind of cat and doesn't usually let herself be held like some ordinary, common-and-garden variety feline .... and she rules Rappy with a paw of iron, too!

Car Boot Sale

The BEST thing about moving house is that you can clear all the old *&%^ out .... and flog it! Having said that, I've always loved visiting clearing out sales, you get the most amazing bargains! We did pretty good today! And it was fun!

Raptor

Not the Jurassic Park kind though ... when we got him six years ago, one of my kids named him Raptor ... heavens knows why ... and ever since then, he's been Rappy - the names we inflict on our pets, LOL!!

Like Andy, he also needs a new home. I'm still looking ...

Silver Linings

Today's picture is specially for my dear friend Kel, who never seems to forget that even the darkest of clouds can have silver linings... so these 'for real' ones are my gift to you today.

Andy

The place we're moving too doesn't take animals, so we're having to say goodbye to our dog and two cats. Andy was the first to go - he's been adopted my one of my daughter's friends and will be living in the lap of doggy luxury by the sounds of things.

And yes, we miss him already ... :-((

Family Time

Fifteen people arrived to spend family time together in a house by the ocean ....

We slept late, laughed a lot, walked, talked and played ping pong, pool and French cricket ......

Spent time on the beach ....

...ate far too much good food which one of the brothers, who is a master chef, prepared ....

... and generally chilled out looking at ocean and mountain views ....

It was far too short but very sweet to be together as a family again. Here's to next time ....

No posts til Sunday

We're away for three days ...

Fire Update

It's now 9.30 PM and the fire has now come over the top of the mountain.

The entire ridge (seen in the first picture below) is ablaze, from one end to the other. We can see the flames from our house - and we're clear on the other side of the valley. The wind is still gusting strongly, the sirens are still going intermittently, I can see rescue vehicles light's flashing on the road beneath the conflagration, but the helicopters aren't flying ... too dark and dangerous, I guess.

Beneath that ridge lies a smart, upmarket suburb where one of my dearest friends lives. She tells me they have their bags packed (just in case) and all the neighbours have been out helping cut firebreaks behind the houses backing onto fynbos.

It's going to be a long night for them tonight.

February Fires

Every year, January and February bring hot weather, strong winds -- and arsonists. This year is no exception. These shots were taken between 3pm and 6pm this afternoon.

The first signs - smoke billowing up behind the hill

The choppers were soon flying past in droves ...

The fire is not yet out, but the water drops result in a blanket of smoke over the valley and from my house, we can still hear sirens - continuously ...

As the sun sets, there is an eerie beauty to the scene.
We are thankful that only fynbos burned this time.

Little Men

Found at a friend's house yesterday ... little African men.
(I missed posting yesterday thanks to forgetfulness ... )

TweeBuffelsMetEenSkootMorsDoodGeskietFontein

My friends Marc and Lorraine are both wildly creative people. This is their garden (which is awesome!) and it has a funky sign on the back wall which reads:

"TWEEBUFFELSMETEENSKOOTMORSDOODGESKIETFONTEIN.

It's a sign Marc designed for a TV shoot some time ago, and is based on the name of a real town in South Africa. The English translation of the name is:

Two Buffalo Shot Completely Dead With One Bullet Fountain.

(Many towns in SA have 'berg' or 'fontein' tagged on the end of their names .. meaning mountain or fountain ... go figure!)

Fair Division of Labour

My daughter has taken over the cooking every night, which is really cool. She became vegetarian about six months ago, so we eat mainly veg dishes which we both love. Downside of this happy arrangement is I get to wash the dishes - every night. :-(

Pet Therapy

Today, this little dog was brought in to visit one of our elderly residents, a man who is habitually dour and uncommunicative...

Yesterday, Today ...

Yesterday evening, before I could update this blog, we got hit by an eight-hour power outage ... the first day so far with no picture posted ....


So today, just for a change, I played around with light and shade - this is a window in the clinic where I work.