11 days later ;-)

Well good morning world ! Been a while since the last blog and been out of touch for a bit during this period.. Concentrating on the finishing of the cottage.. which of course was not ready when I had to 'vacate' my house in Sea Point... building and renovating always takes a bit longer than one would want...

So moving 'house' was not quite what I anticipated.. packing with help and driving it all out myself was quite a bigger mission and should have done that differently, but once things got underway, there was no turning back.. Rented a 2 ton trailer and with the space in the bakkie I thought it would be a few drives and a done deal... well,,, the few drives turned out to be 5 drives in total (2 hrs out, half hour unloading, 2 hrs back with that heavy thing through mountainous terrain, limits your speed) so one drive was done saturday 5 march, and thinking it would be a quick drive, hardly traffic, we (Ronald my house help and me) drove straight into a huge traffic jam near Grabouw, where, due to an even huger accident, we were re routed through a small village, all traffic off the highway.. well.. that took anohter hour and a half, so once on the farm, we unloaded all in my double garage with no doors.. the Plan was to store my stuff in the big shed of my neighbor here, but alas.. the keys were there, the neighbor was not, and slid his sliding door the wrong way and it almost tumbled off its wheels.. Got it closed, but only just, and decided to dump all my furniture on my own smallholding. .... where, after a week, all is still standing, under a roof, yes, in between walls, yes, and that's about it.. hmm, not to be repeated either..   Only day before yesterday the concrete floor was 'thrown' in the cottage..

The floor is level now, there was a difference from the back of the cottage to the front of almost 10 cm !

Makes it quite wet inside and the humidity even creeps up the, now finished, walls.. well, it has to dry slightly more and to morrow, Monday, the top layer will finally be put on.. That needs to dry for a bit, but thinking of putting my furniture in next weekend, on a cement floor, which will be finished in black, with the walls and ceilings white.. This is what it looks like, on the 13th of March..

Potted plants outside the future guest cottage ;)))) What a difference a plant makes....

But.. back to the move, which was finally done on the 8th of March..  and I was quite tired I can tell you.. never ever again will I attempt to do it myself.. ! It would have been difficult if not impossible for a moving truck to reach the garage here on the property, but thinking back I should have let that truck drive as far as it could go, and then reload onto the bakkie (pickup truck) and unload from there..  Much shorter distances indeed to go back and forth.. this was clearly a moment of not thinking clearly.. and now I have difficulty finding my stuff in the over 40 boxes that are stacked up, between the 8 bedsets, couches, chars, dining tables and what have you.. hmmm... will take that easy and simply not 'miss' anything, its then nice when you find what you have not been looking for.. The pantry is taking shape, if not quite the way I want it in the end, but, the fridge works, the washing machine and dishwasher work, and the oven/microwave is connected... what a luxury ! The first batch of clothes is on the washing line and the first batch of sheets is happily churning away in the machine as I write this, what a wonderful sound !

Herewith pic of the pantry the way it is..

Pantry in progress.. machines working, the most important one.. the coffee machine of course ;-))))

So very very slowly life is getting a bit more comfortable on die plaas here.. ! And then the  9th of March.. which is the memorial day for Roland, he passed away that day exactly a year ago, and I moved 'officially' onto the small holding on that very same date a year later... coincidence ?.. I don't know about that.. but strange it is indeed, of all the 365 days in a year, I move into the country on that very day..

That day I drove out to Cape Town again, picked up his sister Gini who was lucky enough to be on a flight out of Amsterdam (she is a stewardess), and together with Mirella and Gooitzen, I was a passenger for a change, we drove out to Cape Point, to visit the place where Roland's ashes lie scattered.. And what a great day it turned out to be.. .. we spent quality time at Cape Point just chatting, and sometimes just being quiet and having our own thoughts at that beautiful spot, where we laid roses and a beautiful Protea.. his favorite flower..

Me at Roland's spot.. time to reflect and remember..

 We had a lovely lunch in Kalk Bay on the way back to Cape Town.. and from there, loaded the very last stuff into the bakkie and off to the farm I went again.. after a wonderful day, with great friends, thanks !!

And now, first weekend on the small holding.. strange feeling that the home in Cape Town now really has been swapped for being at home over here.. finally after a long time, on a farm of my own..  Its still far from finished but the first guests have already visited.. Two friends from Rotterdam brought their two friends and a lovely afternoon/evening with braai and fieldwalks was had last thursday, that was just great and a better 'roof wetting' could not be had.! Thanks Jasper and Dik, Ron and Dennis !!

Will have roof wettings with all who come and visit of course.. and the second visitors were my MD and in the meantime friend, with his husband, Ashraf and Kim... that was on Saturday early afternoon and they brought the best home made chicken/veggie something soup with stunning bread and butter! Lovely company, and what a great afternoon.. they wanted to see some small holdings in the area, so the agent came after lunch and off we went to see some 'plots' in this area.. That kept us busy for a few hours and after all the viewings, we were thirsty so we finished the very last white wine (Kim and me that is, Ashraf had some fruit juice ;-) It would be great of course if they could find something to their liking in this area, but for now they have a weekend getaway not too far from me, about half an hour drive direction Hermanus.. where I could come visit as well, if it weren't for the fact that its in a bird sanctuary where no dogs are allowed.. so have to make a plan when that is on the cards..

So on to the next week.. when Scott and Lloyd, who are in SA from London will visit and see what this idiot is up to again  .... ! Cant wait ! And of course Monday lunch with the girls from the horse riding group, in Cape Town.. great so I can sort out some remaining stuff in the City while there....

Going to take it easy this Sunday and relax for a bit and maybe try to locate my clipper, since my facial hair could do with a trim by now ! Shaving does not do the trick anymore ;-)

Enjoy your Sunday everyone !!!

xx
Rick