memorablemeanders.blogspot.com

Friday, November 21, 2008

Moving

My daughter-in-law getting really clean with swimming pool water!

Two weeks ago our older son, his wife and our two precious grandchildren came to stay. Because of the dry conditions we’re currently experiencing, the town’s reservoir ran dry and we were without water for the whole day! By the evening, we were hot, sticky and extremely grubby (imagine two young children, 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 years old -ergh!) we loaded the children, soap, towels and fresh clothing into my litttle pick-up truck and drove over to my son’s house. We needed to get clean and and the only way was to bath in their swimming pool. The house sale had already gone through the day before but my son's furniture and effects were still on the premises. We didn’t think that the new owners would have minded (they were 500 km / 312 miles away in Johannesburg anyway!) Those of you reading my posts have obviously realised that life in a small town is very relaxed...
Everyone joined in the fun as can be seen by the barking dog and children climbling poles!

The next day my son had to make the final move out of his house and place his furniture in storage. A friend has kindly offered him secure storage space in two rooms off the side of his house.

While the move was not far (one block down the road), it was still very stressful. Moving always is. My daughter-in-law told me she felt very strange knowing she was packing her possessions into boxes but had no vision for the future when and where she would unpack them.


I arranged for my two gardeners who, with my son’s two gardeners, moved everything out of the house and into storage without any dents, chips or breakages. The piano which I gave to my daughter-in-law in 2006, and which I’d had for forty years, (a story for a later date) was brought back into my house with great difficulty. My husband and I had the two little ones for the day which helped their parents to move easier without children underfoot.


My hubby and I took the children out for milkshakes

After doing our own chores here at home, we loaded the children into “granddad’s sports car” and with the top down; we took them out to the local restaurant for a milkshake. Incidently our granddaughter lost her first tooth during the week and the Tooth Mouse rewarded her in the Drakensberg where it happened but also here in Marquard at Granny and Granddad’s house. She wanted to buy tea and milkshakes for all of us, but my husband expplained to her that she could save her money and spend it later because he wanted to treat us all.

There's nothing like lunch out in the garden to lift tired spirits!

At lunch-time my son, daughter-in-law and their helpers took a break. The four men stayed on at my son’s house to keep an eye on the stuff, much of which was still standing on the lawn, while they ate their lunch. We as a family had lunch in my garden. I served a simple meal of spaghetti with Lynda's tomato –based sauce, (which you can see here grated parmesan and brown bread. A Greek salad rounded off the meal.

Everyone was rejuvinated and re-energised after a relaxing Al Fresco lunch, and my son could complete the task of moving before sunset that evening.

6 comments:

  1. Nice story, am really impressed by that milkshake - Wow! Oh, and you mentioned a "tooth mouse"? Here it's the tooth fairy. I wonder if they know each other?

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  2. Is that a Jack Russell Terrier? Looks like. Ohhhh I LOVE JRT's!

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  3. ROFL Toni! Tooth mouse must be South African but I've read about the Tooth Fairy. The children were beside themselves with the promise of milkshake and the little guy never actually drank his! He was too interested in going on the Jumping Castle in the garden of the restaurant. The waitron (everyone knows each other in this town) put it in a take away cup and my d.i.l. had it later! Thanks for always visiting. I read all your posts but have not had much time to comment. I will rectify that tonight. Hugs Jo

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  4. Welcome to my blog Tami! Nice to meet you. Yes, Eddy is a JRT - her name comes from a [dog??] on Frasier. I don't have TV so don't know the series. Anyway, Eddy has moved to another province with our children who are on a discipleship course. Apparently there are 9 JRT's on campus/the farm and Eddy has become Head Honcho already. She is a long haired Terrier and highly intelligent. My hubby wanted to take her over but we were worried about our many cats being chased. (one of Eddy's favourite hobbies - chasing cats!) Thanks for popping in. Hugs Jo

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  5. I would rather go without electricity than water, anyday ! I'm glad that you managed to make a plan & use the swimming pool ! How sweet & kind of your granddaughter to want to treat you all with her tooth mouse money ! I must say those milkshakes look divine - the 'real deal' & not some watered down version, masquerading as the real thing - yum :)

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  6. Yes, Lynda that was our feeling then as well. Much easier to boil a pot of water on the gas cooker than to have NO water to even boil. Errgh. Yes, I believe the milkshakes are divine (my granddaughter always drinks hers, gs could not drink all his and opted for a sip of Granddad's coffee instead!) Hugs Jo xxx

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