Building all coming together

I've not posted abotut the building project for the past ten days. I managed to get up to the site last Saturday and again this Sunday past.

The electric boxes were in when I went the first time. The roof trusses are above and looking sturdy. The walls have been plastered. 

Electric boxes are in

 The walls are plastered 

 Roof trusses sturdy and suppotive 

 Grant checking out of the back door

 There will be retaining walls for the banks 

On Sunday after I'd closed up the shop, we drove up to Caroline's  to meet her brother, Nick who'd come from Durban for the day. We clicked immediately with this school teacher who loves the outdoors. We sat and drank tea and ate carrot cake on Caroline's front veranda. 

 The view from the property - this will be our front view too, if we wish  

 Grant and Nick discuss where the outside door to Caroline's laundry will go. Caroline looks on.  I will access this room from the veranda to do my laundry 

 The hot water system which we call a geyser is installed at our cottage 

 The plumbing is installed

 The indoor outlet pipes are in; the electric cables are fitted 

 A nest of wires hanging from where the DB board will be installed 

 The electric cables are overhead and waiting to be connected 

There will be downlights and ceiling fans in the open plan area and in our bedroom 

Yesterday the windows were fitted and the sliding door is in. 

Next,  the ceilings will go in. The plumber will tile the shower and kitchen. 

When I next post, the floor will have been screeded; the walls will be painted. The laminated flooring will be fitted. 

As I write, the cabinet maker has the materials and will fit Caroline's kitchen with new cupboards. The cupboards he's removing from her kitchen will immediately be fitted into my kitchen. 

How long since the very first day when the TLB leveled the ground? 

Six weeks! 

It's all coming together very nicely! 

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here

HAPPY TUESDAY TO YOU ALL! 

Pink Bra Walk for Cancer

On Friday 27th October, Winterton held its annual Pink Bra Walk for Cancer . It was a freezing cold and drizzly day (in the middle of our summer) and I wondered whether Grant would still be keen to do the walk we'd discussed earlier. 

I dressed in my Parkrun gear - pink top, pink tee over that, pink track top and black pants. My socks had a pink border and my walking shoes were black. 

I was busy with the animals and when I turned around, Grant had got dressed except for the pink bra. Naturally I had to help him with this. 

Take a look: 

 Grant doing his bit for breast cancer by wearing a pink bra and doing the 5km walk last Friday night

 John Muirhead and Grant share a joke. John was wearing his wife, Ronnie's pink track top 

 Joanine and Ann set up for the charity walk: these two ladies are stalwarts at all events; including the weekly Parkrun 

 This youngster and his dog firm supporters of the breast cancer walk

 Doggies always abound at the Parkrun venue which was where the Pink Bra walk for Cancer took place last week  

 Ann, with pink hair and hat and the supportive youngster (wearing a bra) helping her 

 The men turned out wearing pink headgear, tutus, skirts, bras and shirts 

 Pink is the predominant color in this cheerful (and cold) crowd of walkers 

 Walking along the dam. Note Ant (my Parkrun partner)striding along wearing pink shorts and a blue top 

This gorgeous young couple hail from London. They were on honeymoon in the Drakensberg and attended the walk dressed appropriately for a bridal couple! 

My friend (and hairdresser) Lynette and I walked together. On the last kilometer she took a photo of the tree in the middle of the dam. Unfortunately I caused a photo bomb by almost losing my balance 

Everbody had entered into the spirit of the thing! 

Grant, Craig (a hiking partner) Lynetter, Ant and moi!

Grant won a prize for the effort he made to dress for the occasion. The people loved the kilt, leather waistcoat, the Akubra and of course the pink bra. One lady came up to him and felt his hair and asked if it was real ! 

Grant collecting his prize which is Sunday lunch for two at our favorite hotel, the Nest Hotel 

When I decided to shut up shop early on Friday and enter this event, I was thinking about the people I knew who had been taken by cancer. My maternal grandmother, my own dear mom and my dad all died after suffering with cancer. In my youth, I lost a dear friend to breast cancer. Then I suddenly remembered that I was the lucky one (I'd not given this a thought for 50 years) I had survived cancer as a teenager and lived to tell the tale. At the event after Joanine had welcomed everyone, she said she had a box of cancer survivor tags. You could collect one if you were one. 

I collected mine... 

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL! 

Life's good for the Hedges pets

Hi Bozo and Mum's blog readers; this is Ambrose and life is GOOD for all of us! 
Even when it was cold and rainy last week, we had warm places to sleep. 

Today the sun is out and later when Mum returns we kitties will go out and lie in the sun. The doggie, Skabenga will go walking with Mum.

 Unca Shadow having a drink of water 

 Here I, Ambrose watch Unca Shadow playing on the mouse scratching post 

 Aunty Chappie sits on the table watching us! 

 Dad Ginger took a swipe at Unca Shadow for coming to near to him 

 Skabenga smiles up at our yoomen dad

Outside the sun is shining and Skabenga waits in his pen until Mum returns from work

For more cute pet posts, please click here

Critters from my archive

Being in the art shop all day, I regularly speak about Muthi, the Jack Russell between the meerkats in one of Steve's very famous paintings. While looking for a member's photos in my archives I came across the meerkats I'd photographed earlier this year. 

Meerkat 

The meerkat or suricate (Suricata suricatta) is a small carnavoran belonging to the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It is the only member of the genus Suricata.^[ Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild. (Wikipedia) 

I'm linking to Saturday Critters with Eileen here

Glossy Starling

I'm not getting out and birding as much as I'd like.

But... as my SIL Shelley taught me way back in 2005, birding is so convenient; you can bird anywhere. And I have: while sitting at outdoor restaurants; while waiting in the departure lounge at the airport and even here from my quaint little art shop, I manage to bird.

Last week a Glossy Starling flew onto the railing on the veranda. Grant wanted to throw it a tidbit from our lunch box but it flew down onto the parking area. And snaffled something else up...

 Not sure what it was...

 ... but at least...

...I got photos! 

For more bird posts, please visit Stewart's blog here

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL! 

Too true

For more Wordless Wednesday please click here

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL! 

Diddly Squat Shack

We've been on Steve and Estelle's property for three weeks; living in their holiday accommodation. We live in Diddly Squat with the four cats who sleep there all day being let out in the afternoon. Skabenga stays in his large pen with plenty of shade and his plodging bowl and comes in to sleep next to Grant at night. 

Diddly Squat has been built and furnished exactly like a sqatter's shack. I've posted photos of the interior here below and also how this specific shack is built partly underground. This is the cats' delight as they can get onto the roof of "their" house straight from the lawn! 

 The entrance to our temporary home: Diddly Squat

 Here the roof is at knee-level to me

 A warm area for the kitties to enjoy their afternoon outing 

 Here you can see how easy it is for the cats to hop onto the roof from the garden  

There is passage around the shack; the works for the solar system and batteries are kept here. It's also where Chappie was stuck the first day we moved there. The window under the roof eves looks into the kitchen.

 Shadow and Ambrose jump from the grassy bank into the kitchen through this window.  Ginger and Chappie are unable to perform this acrobatic feat and enter through the door !

 Chappie on top of the roof 

 Resting in the warm sunshine 

The shack's interior is typical of one in a squatter's settlement. This is the kitchen

 The tiny  bedroom

The shower, wash hand basin and loo is "open plan" 

Diddly Squat is ideal for us as a stopgap while we wait for the cottage building to be completed. We are deeply grateful to Estelle and Steve for providing this for us when we needed it.

When we vacate it, Estelle will be able to rent the shack out as holiday accommodation again. It's very popular with people from the city and with foreigners. 

However, the reality of squatter shacks in South Africa (and globally) is harsh. A decade of democracy in South Africa and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and homes and now live in squatters' settlements. 

 A typical squatter's shack on the outskirts of a large South Africa city 

The interior of a real squatter shack

This situation is the same for all races in South Africa that have fallen on hard times. 

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here