Up to date

A lot of things have been happening since I posted anything of value on this blog so I doubt that anyone is reading anything here!!! (Make a comment and prove me wrong and I will start writing more often. ;-)

Anyway, a quick summary of what we have been up to would be:

Free State, wedding, holiday, Christmas, summer, New Year, Labrador puppy, mom (mamma) and birthdays!

So, we went up to a BIG wedding in the Free State in December. The Free State is vast and flat and consists of mostly farmland with small towns dotted around the countryside, but it was nothing like I had imagined. It was green and lush and also a lot colder than I expected.

The reason for going was that Rene’s cousin Via got married to her (husband) Dani. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome and it was a great party. And when I say it was big I mean BIG: +/- 260 guests.

There is also a tradition in the Free State that is reason enough not to get married (if you are the groom); the grooms speech. This is the usual thank you speech, but with all your friends at the front heckling you and making comments the whole time. I got away lightly at my wedding!

In the Free State

We also met Rene’s father’s family again who were friendly and fantastic hosts!

Christmas, New Year and the summer holiday has come and gone. I think we had a very nice holiday even though we did miss family and friends in Sweden and in the UK. The best thing with celebrating in SA is that we get to celebrate twice; 24 December is celebrated in Sweden and 25 December is the main day in SA. We still only get one set of gifts...

Then on Yew Years Eve my mom (Lena) came to visit us for 3 weeks. It was great to have her here and to show her our new house and spend some time together. We didn’t tour the country but kept it local and went to Worcester and Onrus/Hermanus.

Mamma visiting SA

We also got a dog during my moms stay: a Labrador puppy called “Alfie”. The name comes from Alfred or Alfredsson who is a great Swedish ice hockey player in Ottawa Senators. Our good friend Fraser was the one who first suggested the name and we liked it. (Fraser is a huge Ottawa Senators fan). Here are some photos from when we picked him up.

First day with Alfie

Alfie is very cute and likes to bounce and bite and chew and dig. He is also (sometimes) a brave dog who likes to play with other much bigger dogs, like the Great Danes on the farm in Worcester. He also liked to play with Nala,Craig and Lil’s dog, who is a huge Ridge Back, and a very kind dog.

More of Alfie

I/we would also like to say congratulations to James and Jill who have had a baby boy!

Last but not least a big “Happy Birthday” to every one who has recently had their birthday.

Happy new year!

Lots have happened since I wrote a post last time. So I have a few thing to write about, but some time you just have to do the experience and live your life, rather than just talk about it and plan it on the internet (here ;-) and elsewhere.

Anyway it is now 2008 and I wish you a happy and prosperous new year!

The "things" or stories I was going to write about? They are coming soon together with photos...

Babelas! (A party or two to remember!)

Went to a great party two weekends ago. It was Rene's sister Jules 40th birthday.
Jules had arranged for all her close friends to come and celebrate with her at a B&B outside Hermanus. It was a good location and no one had to drive after the party; we all stayed at the B&B. The food was good, great people and too much to drink! (If there is such a thing ;-) Perfect! The main thing that changes with parties when you get older is that the music do NOT change and your hangovers get worse. This hangover lasted a day and a half! Perhaps one reason is that you never have the luxury to sleep in to the afternoon as you did as a student. Thank you Jules; we had a great time!

And last weekend it was another birthday party. It was Fraser's turn to turn 40. (Just kidding Fraser, it is still a few years to go ;-) Any way... Some times you (I, that is) never learn! Too many drinks again! Or perhaps it is just lack of sleep (again)!? However we had a great time, South Africa won the rugby and the braai was excellent. Thank you for everything Nicole and Fraser! Also want to say thank you to Chandre and Clinton for letting us stay with them. The breakfast alone was worth the trip!

The game of golf the next day was everything but excellent!

I am now looking forward to the Scandinavian Golf tournament which is played on Atlantic Beach on Friday. I will need to improve quickly and stop mixing pars with triple bogeys to have any chance!!!
I will also need to drink less on the following braai to avoid headache the next day. Have I learnt my lesson?

Blackout!

Last night everything electrical just went out!
The first thing I thought had happened was that the electricity had fused in the house.
But the whole street was out. And looking around we could see that the whole area was out.
It was Eskom that had decided that we collectedly needed to save some energy, so they switched the power off.
Could not find any information about this on their website (got a laptop with a working battery), but I got it confirmed today on the radio. Eskom had to do some maintenance and they just don't have any extra power to compensate for the loss while maintaining the equipment. This is understandable (?) but a bit of forward warning would not hurt!
We need to get some touches/flashlights to be prepared for the next time this is happening, because I am sure it will.
Thankfully we had some candles and lanterns so it was quite cosy at one point.

We got a new dishwasher: I am hoping that there will be electricity so I can try it out tonight. Yes, it got the "best" energy and water usage rating there is, so we will be as kind to the environment as we can.

On top of the world!

The Springboks are world champions after beating England in the final in Paris on Saturday.
The result was 15-6 and South Africa was the better team.
Everybody have gone a bit crazy here and we are enjoying the victory.

We also cut down a large poplar tree in our garden.
The tree had already ruined the water and sewage pipes once and caused blockages a number of times for the previous owner and once for us. It had to go! Joggie and a couple of workers from his farm came and helped us take the tree down. So, we had a "chainsaw rally" in our garden around 7.30 in the morning and probably waking up the whole neighborhood (except a few teenagers). Thankfully we (i.e. Rene ;-) went around to our neighbors and warned them the day before.
We now had a truckload with branches and rubble and other garden waste to get rid of. So we filled the farm truck that Joggie brought with him and went to the recycling station. But no luck: we were not allowed in to unload our stuff since we had a truck and that is a too big vehicle. After many phone calls, to managers etc, we were instead directed to another recycling station which would be able to help us. But no luck. Again. Still the same problem: the truck is too big and heavy and is not allowed in to recycling station. While we are arguing with the official working there when a truck, at least twice the size of ours, is entering the recycling station! Of cause this was the truck collecting the rubbish, not dumping it, but the size argument that we accepted as an excuse disappeared...
Last resort was to take the all the branches, leafs etc to the land fill site just outside Cape Town (i.e. the city dump). Luckily this was not too far away. All well and good, we arrive at the land fill site with lots of other trucks and lorries going in and out. Perfect! Now, all we have to do is to pay.
"OK, no problem; where do we pay?"
"Oh, you need a ticket."
"OK, let's buy one then!"
"But we don't sell tickets here and the ticket office is closed on Saturdays!"
"What!!! Can't I pay you?"
"We don't deal with money here! You can come back on Monday"
:-(
I finally got to speak to the manager whom I pleaded with and he did finally let us dump our rubbish!
We would like to thank the guys from the farm and Joggie and Barbara for all the help with our garden. It now looks much better and tidier!

Alex and Tom (my cousin) flew back to Sweden on Sunday after 4 weeks. We hope they enjoyed their stay!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mamma!
It was my mom's birthday on Saturday.
I didn't forget, I have just been slow on updating the blog :-)

Insurance policy

I discovered 2 errors on our insurance policy for one of our cars.
It stated that we didn't have an alarm and immobiliser fitted, but we do have both. It also said that the car is parked behind a locked gate at night, which it is not. One of these is "positive" and one is "negative" for the premium we pay, or so I thought.
It turns out that it is only the "negative" error, that the car is not behind a gate, that affects the premium and makes it more expensive! :-(
First I was surprised, but after thinking about it for abut 1.2 seconds I realised that it always works this way with all insurance companies and banks!