We all came down to East London last week as I had two days of meetings and Sonja wanted to use the opportunity to buy a few things and get some stuff done.
Circumstances beyond our control have meant that we have needed to stay here at least 8 days and if all goes well, the soonest we will be able to head back is on Thursday.
So we have had to survive 8 days with 2 days clothing and not much in the way of underwear.
We have been very lucky having Gwyneth and Mark very kindly make their beach cottage available to us, and they even threw in half a days baby sitting. Thanks guys. Had we been stuck in a hotel or motel room for 8 days with all the kids things would have been much worse.
We are both itching to get back and are feeling a bit under the weather and like caged animals.
We are doing our best to keep up with home schooling and work, and even though everybody has been so hospitable and friendly, we are homesick for our little cottage and look forward to getting home.
We are close to the beach and try and get down for walks as much as we can, but we so miss our little home on the hill. Leaks, donkeys, dung floors and all.
Now I feel like somebody you would meet in a trailer park home, with our dirty clothes, barefoot children and living out of three or four shopping bags.
Not sure if it is my imagination, but the sky seems low and grey, the wind grating, and the weather claustrophobic.
Time to get back.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Things that go bump in the night.
At about 2am last week I was awoken by the sound of something scratching through our gear outside the house. If I was living in the city I would have pressed the panic button and waited for ADT armed response to arrive.
My first thought was dogs.
I grabbed my torch and snuck up to our door, undid the twine that serves as a security latch, and burst outside.
There she stood.
My sieve that I use for baking chewed and squashed in her mouth.
A bloody great donkey.
I shoo'd her off, and after a couple more mouthfulls, she stared hard at me and ambled off.
Not in any rush.
The second day we were here, I had spent the morning putting new glass panes in the windows. Just as I had finshed, who should call to check out my work, bu the mother donkey.
The donkeys here really are funny and full of character. There is a mother and baby that seem to live around our hut. They act in the most un-donkey like manner. They spend a lot of time lying on the ground sleeping, and are more like a couple of lazy dogs sleeping in the sun.
Not only dogs, they also think they are roosters, and most mornings, start braying as soon as the first rooster crows.
Needless to say Mila's request for a birthday present is a donkey. It might not be a bad idea. Cheap to buy, cheap to keep, and small enough for the two youngest to ride without having to fall to far to the ground. It is the closest they will come to a horse I can promise you.
And as long as they are what goes bump in the night, we are not complaining.
My first thought was dogs.
I grabbed my torch and snuck up to our door, undid the twine that serves as a security latch, and burst outside.
There she stood.
My sieve that I use for baking chewed and squashed in her mouth.
A bloody great donkey.
I shoo'd her off, and after a couple more mouthfulls, she stared hard at me and ambled off.
Not in any rush.
The second day we were here, I had spent the morning putting new glass panes in the windows. Just as I had finshed, who should call to check out my work, bu the mother donkey.
The donkeys here really are funny and full of character. There is a mother and baby that seem to live around our hut. They act in the most un-donkey like manner. They spend a lot of time lying on the ground sleeping, and are more like a couple of lazy dogs sleeping in the sun.
Not only dogs, they also think they are roosters, and most mornings, start braying as soon as the first rooster crows.
Needless to say Mila's request for a birthday present is a donkey. It might not be a bad idea. Cheap to buy, cheap to keep, and small enough for the two youngest to ride without having to fall to far to the ground. It is the closest they will come to a horse I can promise you.
And as long as they are what goes bump in the night, we are not complaining.
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