Housebreaking!

No, not break-in - breaking, as in breaking down the house. The First Mate's uncle is an architect, and he has drawn plans for how this old ugly house should look. So, we've started. First, the main bedroom.

New door-frame in the passage, (old WC visible behind that, which will be broken down):


And a couple of pics showing how the bedroom looks at the moment:


The WC in the first pic is behind the big blue wall in the other two pics, above and below...


Much noise for the next week or so...

:(

:)

Suzy, R.I.P.

An e-mail I sent to a friend this morning, after his concerned enquiry as to our Suzy:

Suzy always suffered from allergies, and it more-or-less affected her whole system, to the extent that she would wee/poo whenever needed, not matter where she was at the time. That's the main reason all the internal doors in the house are kept closed, to try and contain her to one area. Rachel's going to start exploring soon, and we had to do something - and after talking to animal welfare and the vet, we were really only left with one option.

Tough one, and I don't feel good about it, but we think it was best for all, including Suzy who never really had fun in life.

Jack and Oscar know something's changed, even though they never really interacted with Suzy, and they're both suddenly a bit more 'needy' the past day or so. Still, if it makes them come into the house a bit more, then hopefully things will be better for them too. Sometimes I think they got a raw deal being moved here, unfamiliar place and all, then have to contend with an over-affectionate dog that keeps chasing them into the boat. They never saw eye-to-eye over in London, with Jack's territory being outside and Oscar's being inside, with both defending their spot from each other (sometimes quite violently), with the only truce being at dinner time. Now they are sleeping next to each other in the kitchen.


She will be missed.

:(

And here it is:

1.4 litre, 3 years old and only 40,000km (24,800 miles) on the clock!! Only just run in, really...


:)

New car - coming soon.

Y'all might not know, but the First Mate is a UK qualified driving instructor, and is setting up shop here.

To this end we have acquired a newish CitiGolf, which is really the original VW Golf MkI, still being manufactured in SA. I wonder if it still being made anywhere else?

Anyway, we should have it sometime this week, and get the signage done to make it all look professional, and away she goes!!

Photo to follow!!

:)

Edit, to add CitiGolf info from Wikipedia: CITIGOLF (clicky)

THUMP!

I did a trip to De Kelders on the VFR, and hey! The whales are playing!!!

I spotted about eight today. I say 'about' as they keep moving around and it's difficult to keep count or avoid double-counting.


What's the sound a 100 tonne whale makes when breaching? Silence, followed by THUMP as they hit the water!!

BIG THUMP!!!



:) :) :)

Playing in the sea.

Some of the whales have now calved (saw one mother and calf this morning) and are starting to feel frisky again. The last few weeks the ones we have seen have been fairly docile, but today this one was playing around a bit more than usual.


Within the next few weeks I expect them to start breaching fairly regularly, and THAT is quite something to see!

:)

Bugs!

Found this in the garden this afternoon:


:)

300 metres!

That is how far one must keep from whales here, as far as I understand.

Clearly, this boat doesn't think the law applies to him (picture taken on Friday):


Or this swimmer, picture taken this morning...


Though, I'd loved to have been there - it must have been quite an experience!!

:) :(

How green is my Valley?

Winter is the "green season" and well worth travelling a bit to see it. It's also the time that the proteas come out, and where we are is an area of "scientific interest" - you may not be able to see it, but within that out-of-focus area of the picture are probably more plant species than exist in the entire North American continent.

I kid you not!!




Just a couple of pics from today's drive-around...

;) ;)

Visitors.

Well, we spent last weekend in Cape Town, glorious weather for the middle of winter; around 22ºC or so - I could get used to this!!

While there we went to Simonstown for lunch with good friends, and boy, do they have a view to die for!!! (Yes, that's snow on the mountains in the distance!)


One thing that takes a bit of a mind adjustment, is seeing a US warship in a South African naval base - in this case USS Arleigh Burke (I looked up the number on Wikipedia), probably with enough firepower to take out Cape Town...



:) :)