Seriously ...

I sometimes cannot believe that people have the audacity to do what it is that they do! I can't understand how they think that they are correct, have done nothing wrong, or do not deserve certain things happening to them and play at shock or horror or whatever other emotion they choose.

Example 1: We have a house in Windhoek that we have rented out for the last four years to a family. In the first two years the property seemed well-maintained and cared for. I was recently there to view the house and discuss them moving out as we are moving back to Windhoek, only to find that the property has been all but destroyed. Some bedrooms are painted awful colors, bathrooms mirrors are broken, the stove is broken, cupboard doors missing, and to top off the disgusting mess that the garden has been left in (full of rubble and shopping trolleys) they have burnt a gigantic hole in the solid meranti wooden deck ... 

I am quite proud of myself, I didn't lose my cool on the spot and jump up and down, nor have I since. The house is so disgusting I am shuddering at the thought of having to move back into it, but am out of choices really. Even the estate agent was shocked when she saw it and suggested that some repairs be done before attempting to sell, so I asked nicely for the lessors to mend the damage done and to ensure the property is in a fit state by the time that they move out.

Pffftttt!!!! We all know how that's going to go.

So now we live in Swakop, and after being here for three years we decide to buy the beautiful old house we are living in, as we can afford it if we rent out the 3-bedroom flat. This we do, and the people that move in seems just as lovely as anyone. They even warn me up front that there is the POSSIBILITY that they might not be able to pay the full rent for a couple of months due to a financial situation, but if it in any way is not possible they would pay in full, all I had to do was say. They would also then pay all outstanding money as soon as they received their pay-out.

So, I agree. The first two months are super, rent paid. After that it goes down to less than half the rent and no electricity. They are nice people and I don't bother them but rather try to help. Then comes the day I need to say, please pay your rent in full now as it's affecting my budget - I get an email simply saying they can't pay and want to move out. Sod the contract, sod two months notice as agreed, sod everything, just a flat we cannot pay and want to move. 

I am not overly impressed and say fine, move out mid-September, at least that gives me 2 weeks to renovate the flat yet AGAIN because they have badly damaged the paint and heaven only knows what else. I get ignored, and only after threatening a law-suit do I get a response, only to say that they have paid a little of what is owed and I must take the rest out of the deposit and they will then pay the remaining amount when they can. Amusing, as they never even paid a full deposit and seem to be full of righteous indignation that I have dared to ask them for rent!

So the story goes. I am going to make best buds with my lawyers soon enough!!

 

I Did It!

Ok, it's not much, I just made my first sale on the plants I have taken out of my garden. I take babies and cutting out of the garden and have had them sitting in neat little black bags for months, trying to get the courage together to sell them. I have Arum lilies, Spider plants, ferns, and some kind of cactus thing that I don't know the name of. 

 

I keep them separate for so long just to make sure they haven't gotten worms or snails or any other bug in them that people might be annoyed about and then come back to complain! I know for a fact that these haven't, are healthy and growing like bombs. Poor things aer growing out of their bags and I have roots creeping scross concrete and between paving stones.

My garden is a big and ongoing project. I thought I was clever and allowed some beautiful ground cover to grow inbetween my grass, not realizing that it would indeed take over and kill said grass. I have since had to butcher my lawn and chop out all the grass that was infected with evil ground cover and start again; this has taken weeks on hands and knees digging up the soil to get every last root out, as the evil stuff grows out of nowhere it seems. There was also no distinction between grass and flower beds, so I moved the flower beds right in, took some plants out, and have been planting grass all around them as well.

I had the palm trees shaved, and now with them all clean and nice, the beds shaped, and grass planted (although not yet growing) it is starting to look like something. It still needs a lot of work, and a lot of moving around, and if we stay here in Swakop and don't move to Windhoek I am going to put in some beautiful vegetable and herb gardens. I have already planted everything I want from seed, and am praying that they grow! Seeds are a little more difficult than seedlings already grown.

As I now have made my first sale, the money is going straight back into my garden. I need more grass seed, and would love some bright flowers as my garden is very green at the moment, especially just outside the back door. Some beautiful color wouldn't go wrong at all! So I might make a trip to the nursery this morning and see what I can spend my first sale on!

Do they honestly need all that????

I mean really, do they???? 

Yesterday morning I finally bit the big, scary bullet and phoned three different numbers to try and find out if I could apply for a 5-year family visa to visit the UK. This means that I would then be able to fly in and out on holidays and not have to worry about applying for a visa every time, and if there should happen to be an emergency I wouldn't have to go through months of an application process before being able to fly. 

I phoned the British Council - no answer ten calls later. I phone the British High Commission - please phone back after 10am. I phone back after 10 am - please phone our visa office. I phone the visa office - they can't actually tell me if I can apply for the Family Visa or much of anything really. Pretty useless. So I go print off the forms and have a read through - all ten pages of them that must be filled out in blue or black ink. 

So I make a cup of coffee and get started ...  details details details .... parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, telephone numbers, addresses, passport details, residence details, and so the list winds on ... my poor Mother has been tasked with getting copies of everyone's passports as well as details of their own private lives and letters saying that they would love to have me come stay!

And just try explaining in a 2cm square box that your boyfriend supports you, you don't work as you are not living in the country of your passport, but in another country altogether and don't yet have a visa! I can sense a ten-page letter coming on which will have to be attached to said visa form, which undoubtedly won't be read and sadly means I might not be lucky enough to get my Family Visa ... sigh. The box that they give you to fill in for other things that they should "consider" whilst looking at your application is rather small too.

So Mother has been sent a list of things that she needs to do and then courier to me before I can even send in my application, and in the meantime I will try and take on the Home Office here to at least give me a letter stating that I have applied for a visa and am legal here. It's all rather daunting really - here's hoping tomorrow it won't seem so bad!

Hope's Sprog

We first learned that my sister Hope was pregnant with her first child in March when my parents were visiting me from the UK. This was very unexpected but on the other hand we all know Hope will be the perfect mother so of course were all very happy for her ... secretly though a little sad as I knew this meant a very long delay before she would be able to come to me for a holiday again.

But nevertheless, my Mother and I went shopping for a variety of baby goodies and cute things that they wouldn't be able to get in England (like a Springbok baby grow lol) and packed them all into Mother's bulging suitcase to send home with her.

Hope and I have been communicating mostly over Skype, which at most times is totally useless, but I do get the occasional email when she has the strength to do so! I prefer emails as there is more I can read and quite frankly, remember. When I forget it means that I can go back and read it again - and here Hope is complaining about her baby-brain and not remembering anything ... 

Here is a scan of "The Bean" at 5 weeks and 5 days:

So with these things I honestly think that its only the parents that can ever see anything ... or is that just me??? I once had someone show me a scan like this and then gushed at me how the baby was actually waving at her. I mean really, actually waving. OK whatever, over-enthusiastic mother! All I could see was a dot much like this one. Although I must admit that when this is full screen I can actually make out the bean that is meant to be a baby :-D!!

So now that hope is progressing at an alarmingly fast rate and I must really get my rear into gear and get my visa sorted so that I can go visit them in November and hopefully be there for the birth around the 18th - although we all are well aware how Murphy works in our life! So I am quite sure I will miss it no matter when I fly, even though Hope is sure it will be early. 

Here are a couple more pics from the 5th July - Hope is now around 20 weeks in:

Here you can actually see Little One's arms, head and ribs, which is just too cute and amazing! Hope's comments were: 

"The cheeky little thing wouldn't stop moving during the scan, I can feel her moving often, but to actually see it happening on a screen was rather amazing. Today I am 20 weeks and 4 days, every Saturday is a new week. That makes me past the halfway mark now. Only another 19 and something weeks to go, but I get the feeling it will be early. I am being kicked now as I am typing. The scan wasn't clear enough to see the sex, but I am sure it is going to be a girl. Dad thinks so too."

I commented that us Jones's always have boys first, 2 in fact, and only then girls, so I am betting on a boy.

"Hi,

 

The Jones' may have boys, but this one is a Bloy! Every person I speak to looks at me and says, "that's a girl". It's thinking of names next. Luckily I have not painted anything. We are planning to move out of this house when the lease expires so it is a waste of money doing it up.

The due date was given as the 18 November, however all of mom's were prem, and I don't think the scan dating is accurate, so I am preparing myself for earlier. 

 

The weather here is awful, no rain, we are having a drought. Seriously, the corn and maize has barely grown at all this year. My grass is dead in the back garden, all plants need to be watered every day. 

 

Anyway, I am supposed to be cleaning the house, but I might have a sleep for 20 minutes first. Little one is kicking me and making my stomach feel like it is turning inside out. lol.

 

Talk soon.

 

P.S. Darren keeps talking about going to Namibia for a holiday......we will see if he gets the courage for it."

Darren is terrified of flying, so am really not getting my hopes up there. Our Aunt Anita mailed me recently too and said that they are taking bets on the boy/girl issue as now no one knows what color to buy or knit or embroider etc.  The concerns of being an Aunt or a Grandmother ha ha ha!

The latest correspondence from Dopey - received this morning, reads as follows:

"Hello,

 

I have to apologize, I never get around to keeping in touch.

 

Well the top of the uterus has now grown to above my belly button and so I am starting to really look pregnant. I have some pain as my ligaments are stretching, and my hips are loosening, which keeps me awake at night, its quite painful. I also have an itchy belly as my skin is stretching, so i have to keep it well moisturized in the hope of keeping stretch marks at bay. And then don't forget the baby brain which makes me drop everything i pick up, and forget everything that is said to me or what I did 5 minutes ago.

 

The baby is fully formed now, it has all it's organs......heart, lungs, bladder, the works. All fully functioning. It has fingernails, eyelids and eyebrows. And it is starting to produce a layer of fat under its thin skin. Apparently I could go into labor at any point from now. Baby can hear loud sounds and already knows my voice, poor child. Baby is about 28 cm's from crown to heel, and weighs about 450 gms.

 

And I am so tired I think that is all I am going to be able to write!

 

Dad is doing ok, still having a few pains. But he is off to see the doc on wed.

 

Hope all is well your side."

Lets hope that she doesn't go into labor anytime soon ... we still need to wring another 18 weeks out of her! Our Dad keeps giving everyone the fright of our lives by going into hospital with chest pains after his recent heart attack so lots to worry about when so far away :( but am really looking forward to November and seeing everyone - that means get my butt into gear and get this visa sorted out!!

2011

And so a New Year begins! I always thought that depending on how you start the New Year is how it should go; if that's true then I'm in some serious kak! I think it was possibly the worst New Year's Eve ever for me although Joani and Saskia made it great. It started off good enough and then slowly took a downward spiral from which my poor car has not yet recovered.

So to start a New Year badly always feels like a really bad downer but hopefully we can get past that and move forward. For some inspiration from The Purple Hat by Erma Bombeck and to try and live this year by these rules:

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day be cause my hair had just been done.
 
I would have sat on the lawn and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it, and really see it . . live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what
Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.