We did a few things on the house front - put up the outside light in the back,

put up the lounge curtains (yay!)

when we get the folks’ lounge suite - the lounge is really going to look good.

Poor Wouter hurt his arm quite badly when we re-potted the yuka tree

which rendered him unable to do anything, which in turn meant he was bored out of his mind, that is until he got a call from Pieter - apparently it’s a typical De Waal thing to do - break ones car and then get rescued.

I love my cat…and it’s wonderful having him home again…. you’re waiting for the but, aren’t you? BUT! the fool is going to be the death of me. He is an amazingly sweet cat and we’ve had no problems with him moving from Bellville to Fish Hoek. He’s been going outside since his second day here and apart from picking up a slight cold he’s settled in really well.  So why the but? Because the damn fool sleeps all day and then wakes up at 3am, which would be fine if he didn’t feel that everyone else has to be awake as well. He wakes up and then meows… not a little ‘hi, you awake?’ meow… more a ‘WAKE UP EVERYONE - LETS GO PLAY’ meow. (As an aside, Wouter put a catflap in our bathroom door for him - suffice to say…. he hasn’t quite cottoned on yet) So this morning at 3:22 I showed him the catflap…. nope, not interested. I put him outside the front door.   Two minutes later, he’s back inside (through the lounge window) insisting I get up. I “gently” shove him out my bathroom door (catflap be damned)…. ah bliss, back to sleep again.  Ten minutes later he’s back inside only this time he’s wise… he quietly jumps back on the bed. Five minutes later ‘WAKE UP EVERYONE, LETS GO PLAY’ Now the game is on.. I get out the bed to grab him, he’s off running into the lounge. I mutter under my breath about a certain cat losing several of his nine lives and climb back into bed. He figures perhaps he’s pushing his luck and jumps back onto the bed again.  Damn cat had the indecency to look at me when the alarm went off as if to say ‘what the *beep*?’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My xmas present from my in-laws.

Despite it being rather hectic (both Wouter and I worked Xmas eve) we had a good Xmas dinner. It was lacking a few things - brussel sprouts, bread sauce, yorkshire puds - still we had a good time. We opened presents, drank bubbly and watched Dinner for One.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Xmas, yes a lot of that has to do with the presents under the tree, but it isn’t just that. For me Xmas is when everyone gets together and you have a jolly good time. This year it’s a bit lean though - the kids are off to their Dad on Xmas morning leaving my folks,  Wouter and I to spend our first Xmas in the new house.  This is why we’ve decided to have our Xmas dinner and present opening on Xmas eve. I know a lot of people already do this, but for me (and my side of the family) it’s quite a foreign concept. It does mean we get to open our presents a day early… whoohoo!  It also means we’re putting quite a bit of pressure on ourselves because Wouter and I are still working tomorrow and I’ve decided that Gymmie (our terribly sweet but rather delinquent cat) needs to move in at the same time. I’m also a traditionalist…. xmas isn’t xmas without the turkey, brussel sprouts, gravy, roast potatoes, assorted veggies, xmas pud, xmas cake, trifle, mince pies etc. etc. Without all that - well it just isn’t xmas.  If you’re feeling sympathetic towards Wouter - it’s entirely justified.

 

For the last umpteen years or so the kids and I have put up a rather diminutive tree - never had the space for anything more, this year I was able to borrow Mom’s.  I’m also battling to take a really decent picture of it.

Progress on the house front plods along….. two major milestones (well one and a half really) - I had the first shower in our shower… and it was fantastic.

And we finally have handles on the kitchen cupboards (well some of the cupboards - we haven’t finished putting all of them on yet).

I’m sure these pictures speak for themselves…..

 

It’s no wonder we felt a bit jaded driving down to Knysna the next morning.

Wouter mentioned we drove through to pick up a dining room table from my folks - they upgraded theirs and we seized the opportunity to finally be able to eat without having to sit on the floor first.

Eventually I’d like to change the chairs for something that goes with the table but for now they’re fine.

Spotted this flower in the garden in Bellville.

On the way to work this morning - yet another one of those moments where you wonder what the hell the person did.  Signs tacked to lamp posts just past the Kirstenbosch turn off…. *Sorry* *Honey* *I was* *wrong* *learning husband* - would love  to know what he did *grin*.

Wouter spotted a Yucca tree being advertised on freecycle and as he’d always wanted one - leapt at the chance.  Well leap is a bit strong - took the crazy lady who was freecycling it some time to actually agree to part with it. Not sure what it is about the deep Southern Suburbs, but they’re a crazy lot. He then had Frank and a couple of his buddies help him collect it.

As Yucca trees go - the poor thing is a bit brow beaten, scrappy and in serious need of TLC but does give our place a bit of a tropical feel to it.

Being Fish Hoek Wouter needed to do a little bit of macgyvering to make sure it didn’t blow over.

Apparently it doesn’t need much watering - this is a good thing.

We invited friends over last night for supper and I had the grand idea of having a chocolate fondue for dessert. I love fondues - they’re fun. Well this one would have been if Wouter hadn’t burnt the chocolate! (still bummed at having to miss out on the swiss melted chocolate). It would seem that once one has melted the chocolate on the stove… one must not put it on a lit burner to keep warm - all that does is burn the chocolate in about 2 seconds flat.

Looks pretty though?  And yes we *still* haven’t got our diningroom table - that is this weekend’s mission.

I have a major, MAJOR gripe with our South African Revenue Service. I registered for efiling the previous tax season but never managed to get it to work properly so I submitted my tax forms the conventional way, manually filled them in and dropped them off at their offices.  This year with much pomp and ceremony they announced their new system - which is supposed to make submitting our tax forms easier and faster.   I have been trying to submit my form for the last couple of months with ZERO success.  I can see my ‘already filled in for me’ tax form on the website, I can even open it to a certain extent… but I cannot fill it in and submit. And I haven’t just tried one computer - I have tried several, I have downloaded and installed the latest adobe reader as per their instructions - it *still* doesn’t work, I have even gone to the lengths of phoning their helpline only to be told I have a technical problem and should email their tech support people.  I am STILL waiting for a reply.  A colleague of mine in desperation went to their offices yesterday morning - they were offline.

How the friggen hell are we supposed to avoid becoming tax evaders if they can’t get their bloody system to work?

I think the “end of year” syndrome is starting to take serious effect in the Hubbard/Blake/de Waal household. There just doesn’t seem to be any energy left to do anything, and the will/desire to do things seems to have gone on an early holiday. In fairness Wouter hasn’t been feeling great and spent quite a bit of the weekend sleeping. I on the other hand spent most of it reading… not very productive at all. It wasn’t even a very good book, one of the many John Grisham’s (Testament). I apologise to any Grisham fan, but seriously it was a real pot boiler.

Despite the lethargy we did manage to get a few things done. On Saturday we went to Builder’s Warehouse ostensibly to find a bath, I clambered into the first small one there and decided it was perfect. My feet could touch the other side - my whole foot, not just the tip of my big toe! We then went into Eagles Lighting and found a fitting for the lounge and my (erm our) bathroom.

Pretty isn’t it? We’re going to put in down lighters/spots (never sure what the hell to call them) in the ceiling, so this light is really just for show.

 

I figured we couldn’t get too ornate a light for the bathroom otherwise it would compete with my light and that just isn’t on.

Would you believe we finally got the shower door? After waiting who knows how long - poor Wouter the things he does for this house.

As with everything else in the house nothing goes according to plan the first time around. We installed most of the shower door but the door doesn’t fit nicely - something to do with the professional tiler screwing up. I’m sure Wouter will blog in more detail.

Handyman tip of the week - if you’re in a hurry whilst defrosting your fridge (there was an iceberg in there bigger than the one that sunk the Titannic) and the heat gun isn’t doing the job properly… take the angle grinder to it - works like a charm.

Oh and we (ok Wouter) made sushi on Friday night. Jessica decided she felt like sushi and Wouter decided he felt like making it - perfect combination. Some of it was a little rough around the edges but it sure did taste good.

‘k so the ‘table’ isn’t the most elegant one around - it served the purpose.

Sunday we went to the airport to say goodbye to Odette and sprogs (my sister-in-law and kids) they’re off to join my brother in Australia. Brave woman travelling all that way with two kids under the age of 6 and no sign of drugs to ease the way (for her!! Lest someone think I’m advocating drugging kids on long haul flights). Mind you…