Ten thoughts?

I'm sure I can come up with 10 thoughts... I think... maybe. Och, forget it. Here's a regular blog.



I think Katey and Maggie may well be able to relate to this cartoon ; )

We went to see the new house this morning. It's a tiny place, which is more or less what we'd planned for, cost and size-wise. The idea being that, seeing as it's just the two of us, we can downscale, save and get rid of a lot of the junk we've collected in the past 10 years.

The house is in a far quieter road. That's a huge plus. It will be so good to be able to fall asleep in relative quiet and without the persistent smell of diesel fumes. Large aluminium gates lead to the front house. We're at the back. A couple of small flights of stairs later (necessary because of the flood level, if you recall) is our little tiled yard. Not too big, but enough size for now. Up ahead it tapers off. The previous tenants haven't taken their potplants as yet. I'm hoping they leave the gorgeous fern behind. Apparently they may leave the plants, as they're moving into an apartment. It seems plants thrive there though. That is good. A steep, narrow flight of stairs goes up the side of the house to a rooftop laundry area. We may well turn that into a rooftop garden and braai (bbq) area. I can see me sitting up there in the winter sun, reading a book with the dogs at my feet. Hm... wonder what the dogs will do with the stairs.

One of the tasks on Jurgis' to-do list is to make a gate, so the dogs can be kept separate from the main house. He's good with that though.

The inside of the house is not in the least fancy. One bedroom, a main room, which will be our computer room and office, a minuscule bathroom and the smallish kitchen. My biggest concern at this point is how we'll fit the furniture in and we don't have very little as it is. The desks will take up most of the space. We're getting the first month rent-free, as there are repairs to be made on the house. We'll be doing those.

I predict the next month is going to be... interesting...

The rest of the day was spent finishing the scanning of the photos. That goes hand-in-hand with the project I'm busy with that needs to be finished rather urgently. Then there's the packing. Actually, then there's the tossing. We're doing more 'donation pile', 'recycling pile', 'trash pile' than actual getting things into boxes.

Tat's doing well. Her biggest complaint is that the coffee sucks. Katey, what coffee do you drink? She's handling the cold better than most of the other folk there. Simple mind over matter, she said. One guy saw her badge and said, "Oh! You're from South Africa! Where in South Africa?" She replied that she's from Durban, at which he broke into a song he knew about Durban, "Ag please daddy, won't you take us all to Durban...." Tat cracked up! I asked if there are any other Africans there. She mentioned Thandi who was surely South African, but she wasn't sure, as they hadn't had a chance to talk yet, and Sipho from Zim. Sipho is a girl! Whoever heard of a feminine Sipho? For those not familiar with the name, that's like calling a girl 'Peter'.

Anyhow, today was Carnaval. As I said to Jurgis, it's legalised porn, where a lot of the dancers simply have their 'costumes' painted on. One float was even based on the Kama Sutra (or so I heard)... brave even for Brazil. One 'team' was led by a 7 year old girl. She is apparently the daughter of the team 'king'. Child protection tried to get a judge to prohibit her from performing, as she was to be the main dancer, which is usually a highly sultry role. The judge decided to let her participate. Brazil shrugged collectively. The poor little girl started her parade, had the entire media circus pounce on her and promptly dissolved into tears. I had to chuckle at Rio's solution to the toilet situation. They now have enormous fines for men who relieve themselves in the street.

http://img.terra.com.br/i/2010/02/16/1448447-5327-atm14.jpg No, I'm not showing the photo here ; )  You know what irks me? They only ever have solutions for men. I mean... women don't need the bathroom!

 

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