IT IS ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

Hi All

Well time flies, it has been a months since I last updated and a lot has happened. We are now nicely settled into our home and have literally slowed down to crawling pace, it has been a crazy year! So much has happened and who knows what will still happen before December 2010 comes to an end.

As most of you know, Günther's mom had a stroke and is being taken care of in the Prinzessin Rupprecht Frailcare Centre and is doing a lot better, amazing what proper care can do and I sincerely admire the nursing staff they are wonder workers and never gets recognized for their good work. She is still paralyzed on the righthand side and probably will never be able to walk or use her right hand again and the challenge always remains to keep the bloodflow going properly and for the nursing staff that is a challenge but they are amazing. They have a way of getting a laugh out of her that others cannot. She is really looking much better under the circumstances and always look well cared for. She sleeps most of the time but we think, or rather we hope that that is a good thing.

The budgie has gone flying off into the wild world, Mitzi throw his cage off the cupboard and after retrieving him, Günther bumped the cage off and I think by then Boy has just had enough and decided it was the best thing to get out of here as his life is in danger. We are hoping that he joined the avery of budgies that lives freely in the trees at Cafe Anton and will be happy there. Thing is we do not generally like birds in captivity but he was so cute but now I feel ok as he is free and hopefully amongst his own kind so no more feeling bad!

It is almost Christmas and for once I can actually prepare properly for Christmas, most of my shopping foodwise and gifts is almost done, well considering that it will just be Kim, myself and Günther, it was not too serious, but at least I will not have to rush around buying things at 99, well only fresh vegies,and hat else may be needed.

Last night we went to the Advents church service at the Stadtsmission, it was really nice (especially the cookies!), there is so much going on here now in Swakop with Christmas approaching.


Our place is really looking Christmassie, Mitzi helped me with the decorations, it is Günther's responsibility to get the tree, he says that since it is Namibia, we need to get a white thorn tree which is the traditional Namibian Christmas tree, however, I was more thinking in the line of a GREEN tree, everything cactussie and thorny is just too much for me lately but I did say it is his job so lets see what happens.


We even have a Father Christmas, sure hope he brings big presents (although he does not look like your traditional red-cheeked-friendly-faced father Christmas) and a snowman in the middle of the desert (Petra that is still your snowman - do you remember him!).


For some people the effort of getting ready for Christmas is just too much!! Günther was just home for lunch and was telling me that at the Brauhaus they have a big Christmas tree up and I must go have a look, you don't understand, in a small place like Swakop, that is a big event! Shops are running empty now already and I still need to get 1/2 things, thing is in Swakop you have to find out when new stock is arriving, and if there is something you like you have to take it immediately, if you go back tomorrow it will be gone so no "I will sleep on it kinda thing" it will not be there if you go back tomorrow.


I baked and am still baking some Christmas cookies, doing it in stages, Saturday I made Zimtsterne, they are really nice, but they are really not that easy to make and they are really expensive you use a load of nuts and eggs and in the end have only close on sixty cookies, but they are heavenly I must admit even though I have sworn that I will only attempt these at Christmas, the recipe I had omitted to tell you that you have to roll it out on baking paper or clingfilm and it was sticking to the surface and I did not know how to get it right eventually I went onto the internet and my Das Grôße Kochbuch and found out that that actually makes it a lot easy, in fact on clingfilm it is the easiest to do. A lot of effort but well worth it, this is one cookie I will not share so easily, my outydse soetkoekies, gingerbread men, etc. will have to do as gifts!!



I even made little gift packets of decorations for the Christmas tree for a friend's daughters with tags and labels and everything, I really got creative this year, it is just so much fun when you actually have a bit of time on hand!

The biggest gift is that Kim is coming home for Christmas, I am literally counting the days, if I was still little I could create and Advents calender and maybe the days will go faster. It will be so nice to have her here I just cannot wait. This will also be the first Christmas we will be staying at home, for the last 10 years!! we have been on the farm in George on on the river at the Orange or somewhere else (failing memory), this will be a first and we are quite excited hence all the effort with decorating and getting things ready.

The 24th will see us having a big Christmas dinner, I have a request for a duck from Günther (and I bought one when I was in Windhoek, it is a French duck - well lets hope it taste good!). I wanted a gammon and then we decided on a pork neck as well, we will have meat left until new year but it will be fun and less cooking in the days after Christmas. Tradition here in Swakop is a big family dinner on the 24th and then on the 25th everyone goes off to the beach with friends for the day to have a braai or a potjie, thus far I think we have said it will be a potjie, there goes the kilograms I have worked so hard on shedding - ahh but it is well worth it!

I will update a little more closer to the time and would love to hear how my friends all over the world will be spending their Christmas!

LOL - till later

OUR LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRIARIES .... OOOOPS DESERT!

We have finally finished building and are now busy with the finishing touches, which is fun but I think we have both had enough for this year and would just like to take it a little bit easier. I see boxes in my dreams, boxes being packed and unpacked and still it is not the end - I do not even want to think that in a year or two we will go through the same process again, but then that is life, change is good they say!

Here are pictures of the house, the first one being the front entrance and patio, previously there was nothing here, gate into the garden was on the lefthand side, the walls were low and there was only a path from the gate to the front sliding door and if you were not careful you could fall into the house instead of walking in, it was just so impractical and a little dangerous!

The front garden was previously a cacti garden, all plants with minimum water requirements, but it looked and was a brown and depressing garden with all kinds of stones and little paths, it did not work for us, we wanted green and quickly, and roll-on lawn was the quickest we could get green. Please note the first tree we planted, hopefully it will grow quickly and you cannot see it on this picture very clearly but there are lavenders in the bed where the trees are, we look every morning to see whether they have grown at all! The scullery that we built on is in the corner where the bin is.

The lounge and kitchen, the scullery we have built on and my little office space in the scullery, the kitchen, guest bathroom, etc. It is small but cosy, warm and sunny, we have green lawns an absolute luxury and it is more than enough for the two of us. I have already told Günther that I think we will stay here and eventually rent out the house we are planning to built, this is good enough for me and is in the more sunny part of Swakopmund, closer to the sea it is damp and misty and I think I prefer the more sunny side, the plants do too.

The lounge is small but cosy, and looks out on the front garden, previously with the low walls everyone could look into your lounge and we had absolutely no privacy - the walls had to go up and quick. The lounge was repainted as the colour they had when we moved in, depending on the light had a green tint to it and I do not particularly like green walls so Günther repainted the same colour as our home in Cape Town, much softer and warmer.






The lounge and kitchen flows into each other as with most town-houses but it is nice when you are cooking you have company and can talk to whoever is in the lounge (right now mostly Gunther and Mitzi - not much of a choice!)

The Kitchen is not too bad, there is room for improvement, for example the kitchen tops not ones we would have chosen but they work and one can get used to them. The stove is a free-standing stove but it works pretty well and is basically brand new, the cupboards are not too bad and the tiles are a small grey ceramic tile, not what we would have done either but it will have to do for now.








The Guest Bathroom is quite a nice size for a second bathroom, tiles are not too bad and the accessories are all white which is what we liked about it. The main bedroom bathroom has a shower and is quite a nice size for an en suite, tiles are similar to the guest bathroom.

We had to build the scullery on, without it we would not have been able to bring in the washing machine (which was in the garage), the dishwasher and tumbledrier. The fridge, before we built on was standing in the kitchen but it made the space in the kitchen so much smaller. The fridge is now in the scullery as seen on the picture and we built in the cupboards in the scullery, which is almost the same as in the kithcen. On the left of the picture is the spare bedroom. The bedrooms are quite big, the main and spare bedroom being almost the same size with lots of cupboard space.


The scullery is nice and airy and very sunny, it is north facing so you have sun the whole afternoon. As you can see all the machines fits in perfectly and Günther made a desk for me to work at. The scullery was a must.

Photos I did not include here is of the main bedroom, spare bedroom, main en suite and the garage (Günthers pride!) and the back garden, I will update at another time, just wanted to give you an idea of where we are living!

Till next time LOL!

BEACH, CAT AND HOME - OCTOBER 2010

Prior to us starting to build we went for our last fishing and day at the beach trip! It would be a while before we will be free on Sundays, so we decided to have a last braai and relaxing Sunday.

That is the nice thing here in Swakop, you can go to the beach and literally set up camp and have a lovely braai whilst trying to catch some fish, the beaches are so long that you can be totally alone with no-one around for kms, we love it and it is my time to sit and read and relax while I am silently praying that today Günther will catch a fish. We normally go very early (yes 6 a.m.a!!!) in the morning and then start braaiing at about 11 so by 2 p.m. when the wind comes up we can pack up and head home and still have a Sunday afternoon snooze.

Here everyone is well prepared, with wind shelters, umbrellas, tables, chairs, fridges and everything, we normally just take the necessary, but even we are starting to collect more and more to make it comfortable out there, many people will stay over on the beach at night, but that I have vowed, I will not do.

Well what can I say, time flies!! No understatement, has been a month since I last updated my blogspot and a lot has happened: We have finished the final building and are now slowly doing the little things that makes a house a home!

That is the fun part and there is no rush, it can take years!

On the 12th of October, we have adopted a little Mitzi (who I believe is in teenage stage - terrible moods!) from the SPCA and he is keeping us on our toes.

I have forgotten what it is like to have a kitten in the house, Tati was so docile and did her own thing, this little guy however, constantly wants to eat and wants to be cuddled and demands attention, thinks this house is his domain!

Was actually quite scary though, when I saw him at the SPCA, he was so lovely and playful, he had a 1x2m cage with mesh wire and low walls, and when I got him home he was petrified, not use to high walls and he kept on staring up the walls, we thought he was a little mental, furthermore, he constantly tried to hide for two days I had to search for him in every little hole where he could possibly crawl in, especially in the spare bedroom as everything was stored in there during the building and had lots of hiding space.

His favourite place was the lawnmower tray, he crawls in there and sleeps, one Saturday evening, Wulf, Imogen, myself and Günther had to walk around the complex looking for him as we could not find him in the house, eventually we gave up and went back home, to find Mitzi looking at us through the sliding doors. Only the next day did Günther and I find out were he was, we heard a racket in the garage and saw him lying in the mower tray!

During the name-giving stage I thought we should call him Hodini! However, in the end Günther decided it will be Mitzi! Unlike Tati (I know strange names for cats) who always was fiercely independent, this one wants to cuddle up inbetween us at night, first night I threw him off the bed a 100 times but he just kept on crawling back and I thought, eventually, for either of us to get sleep I will just have to let him sleep there, talk about pajama drill!

The first week was trying we thought there was something wrong with him, as he was so scared of everything, Günther said he did not want a crazy cat - but I could never take him back to the SPCA, now he is settling in slowly but surely, still petrified of things and some people...... but he is getting more adventurous, he has now learned to climb through the bedroom window and has come to terms with the lawn, was a strange thing for him too and plants were something he has to investigate to the extent that I am now fighting with him as he is climbing on them and sitting on top of them, my poor yuka which was growing so beautifully he seemed to have taken a liking to!

Boy, the budgie also had to look out because he would run up to Boy and bump his cage but a couple of times' shouting and chasing soon made him realize that boy is not to be played with - one thing about this cat, he learns very quickly, a very very bright kitten. One day we put him in the bedroom and closed the doors as the painters were busy in the lounge, next moment we heard someone opening the door and out came Mitzi looking at us as if to say how can you lock me up - so now we lock doors! In the two weeks that he has been here he has crawled into our bed and our hearts, being alone at home he drives me mad at times but he talks all the time. He had his little operation to make sure he does not go and wander around and his shots, it is the one thing the SPCA actually insists on, soon Mitzi will have to go for another round of shots costing us a total of R600 on medical! Who said cats cost you nothing!

So the building part of the house is finished, it was wonderful not to have people here all day long, in and out and making a mess, it is the nicest feeling to have your privacy back again, especially if you are living in a small space. Some of the work was done very well others Günther had to fight and shout and insist they redo, mostly though we had some good labour and it went very quickly, however, never will I ever live in a house where renovations are being made to it! Insanity, you are constantly cleaning and washing and yet you go to sleep with the dust, with time you mellow and sort of deal with it but never accept it.

The best time was when they came to lay the lawn, now for those who have been to Swakop, you will know that greenery is a luxury, what with the shortage of water and desert all around, mostly you see browns and beiges and it gets to you!

Both Günther and I love green lawns, they day they came to lay our 30 square metres (front and back) the two of us had huge smiles, we could not stop looking at it, at present the lawn is lovely, Günther waters it religiously twice a day. The wind here dries everything out and you have to, yet you have to be careful as water is quite pricey here. They have sewage water that you can use for watering lawns, etc. only but where we are that water is not available, so we are grateful for the postage patch lawns we have. Never have I thought so much about the miracle of greenery, God surely knows what he was doing, it is so soft on the eye and the most beautiful thing - ok I know I am going on about it but when you look around you in every direction, it is just desert sand - ABSOLUTELY NO GREENERY! The town obviously has gardens, palms, etc. but other than that we have sand - lots of it!

So we are settling down nicely - a bit of bad news, however, is that Günthers mom had a stroke, she is 85 and we had to put her into frailcare at Prinzessin Rupprecht Heim, a lovely frailcare facility, the gardens are amazing for Swakopmund, a real English type garden, with poppies, cockleshells, kappertjies, roses, you name it and it is growing there, it is so beautiful and i could not believe some of the flowers growing there. The care given is also very good and we know she is well looked after, we do not know whether she will ever get better, she is lame on the righthand side and cannot talk, but she does recognize us, so we pray that she will get better and hope that she does not have too much pain. All this makes you think about the fact that we will not be young forever. Edda and Gerd came up for the week to help sort out all the papers, etc. another thing that made me realized one should be prepared!

Right now I am on my way to Cafe Anton, for cake and coffee, Edda and Gerd's last coffee and cake at Café Anton for a while.

Till next time LOL!

Estelle: My Vriendin op haar 60ste Verjaarsdag - 26 September 2010!

Waar begin mens om aan 'n wonderlike vriendin te sê wat sy vir jou beteken, mens sê dit nie elke dag nie, mens aanvaar dit net dat jy daar is en dat jy my vriendin is!

Mens vra jouself gedurig af wat is vriendskap eintlik, in vandag se tye sê almal hulle is vriende, ek dink, in die mens se soeke na aanvaarding en om te behoort sien hulle kennisse as vriende, maar daar is tog 'n wêreldwye verskil. Die volgende uittreksel sê dit baie mooi en dit is wat vriendskap vir my beteken:

Friendship

"A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need." Prov. 17 : 7

I went outside to find a friend but could not find one there.

I went outside to BE a friend,

and friends were everywhere!

Friendship lives in the heart

It grows in the mind

It travels in the speech

It shines out through the countenance

It pronounces a benediction to the

troubled soul

Friendship is a surety of peace
A seal of Love

A rest of perfect undestanding

An experience of joy

Ek sal nooit vergeet die oggend toe jy by Dr. Gerntholtz begin werk het, waar ek jou leer ken het, jy moes laat inkom .... en ons was so nuuskierig om te weet wie hierdie nuwe persoon is wat nou hier gaan begin werk, gaan sy inpas, gaan ons van haar hou? Ons het so versigtig versigtig jou van nader bekyk en daar was niks te vrese nie, jy was onmiddelik deel van ons en sou my beste vriendin word. André was nog maar in matriek, 'n mooi seun met die mooiste blonde hare en ek het gewonder waar kry die mense die mooie kind!

Hoeveel jaar is dit, ek is nie heeltemal seker nie maar dit voel asof jy maar altyd deel van my lewe was deur die GOEIE en die SLEGTE. Jy oordeel nooit, jy luister altyd en probeer altyd dinge van alle kante bekyk en verduidelik, ek bewonder jou vir jou lojaliteit, jou eerbaarheid, jou liefde en respek vir almal, jou geduld en bystand in tye toe jy my seker eintlik met 'n pan oor die kop wou slaan en sê kom by! Ek waardeer ook dat ek jou altyd kon vertrou met enige inligting en hartseer en opgewondenheid en nooit hoef ons vir mekaar te gesê het: "onthou moet vir niemand vertel nie"

- dit was net so!

As ek begin dink aan alles wat ons vanaf daardie dag toe jy by Dr. Gerntholtz begin werk meegemaak het, mekaar se trane so nou en dan probeer afvee het en bemoediging en aanmoediging uitgedeel het, lekker saam gelag het so tussen die harde werk en frustrasie deur. Jy was soos 'n ma vir Kim en die insluiting van ons in jou lewe was vir ons spesiaal. Jy is altyd belangstellend en dis die mooi van jou jy het altyd meer tyd vir ander as vir jouself.

Ek dink jy is seker een van die min mense met wie ek op vakansie sal gaan, sal ek Mauritius vergeet, ons plakkies was deurgeloop om 'n rand te bespaar! Saam het ons gebudget en probeer om die goedkoopste akkommodasie te kry en 'n paar Rand te bespaar. Hoeveel kere het ons nie goete bevoel en gewik en geweeg, gekoop en Maandag teruggeneem winkels toe! Dieselfde was toe ons in Londen by André gekuier het, alles was net so maklik, jou aanvaarding en tog subtiele manier van oorreding wanneer jy iets gedoen wil hê, maar met jou was niks nooit 'n "issue" nie dit was net. Sal ek al die hikes vergeet wat ons saam deurgemaak het, jy het sommer so aan die slaap geraak in die middel van die paadjie, ''n baie groot sterkpunt van jou die geslapery in enige plek!

Ek mis...
jou lag maklik en spontaan,

jou belangstelling in alles wat ek sê,

ons Saterdag inkopies (dankie Viv vir die tyd!),

jou bystand en bemoediging in moeilike tye,

jou raad,

Ek mis.....

ons verjaarsdagpartytjies wat ek dink jy of ek nie eenkeer gemis het nie??
ons baie lekker tye saam,

ons gesprekke oor alles en wat, letterlik die ure wat ons omgepraat en gelag en gehuil het,

jou tee, die beste koppies tee wat ek nog gehad het, ek maak nou nog die teepot warm en roer die sakkies...

jou resepte wat ek nou uiteindelik in my boek gesit het en dit sê Stella se Bobotie, ens.

Ek mis....

ja selfs jou ou brein skoentjies,

en 'n menige dinge wat jou vriendskap so besonders maak...

So my vriendin, op die mylpaal in jou lewe drink ek 'n glasie op jou (en ek gaan!), ek wens jou alles van die beste toe vir jou pad na 'n verdere sestig jaar en wens jou alles wat mooi is vir die toekoms. Vir my is jy nie oud nie (deesdae is 60 in elk geval nie) as ek vir vreemde mense van jou vertel, vertel ek vir hulle van hierdie vriendin van my wat menige 20-jariges stof in die oë sal kan skop wanneer dit kom by lewenslus en energie, so onthou:

Age is a quality of mind.

If you have left your dreams behind,

if hope is cold,

If you no longer look ahead,

If your ambitions' fires are dead,

Then you are old.

But if from life you take the best,

And if in life you keep the jest,

if love you hold;

n0 matter how the years go by,

No matter how the birthdays fly-

You are not old.

Ek is ver weg van jou op hierdie een, maar in my hart is ek by jou, en ek sit nou al dae en dink wat ek jou kan sê wat jou sal laat besef hoe baie jy vir my beteken as vriendin, jy is meer as 'n vriendin jy is familie, so ek wil graag die onderstaande met jou deel:

"It is Magnificent to Grow Old, if one keeps Young"

There is no reason to dread the passage of time. Age is, or should be, the rich and happy fulfilment of life - the shining consummation of all that has gone before.

"Don't be ashamed of your grey hair!" write William Lyon Phelphs, when he himself was 62! "Wear it proudly, like a flag .... Grow old eagerly, triumphantly!"

With age come wisdom and understanding. With age come many joys and compensations. "each part of life has its own abundant harvest, to be garnered in season", said Cicero. "Old age is rich in blessings".

All through history we find convincing proof that mental powers increase with age, that artistic and intellectual powers are often intensified in later years. Michelangelo was still producing materpieces at 89! Goethe completed the second part of Faust when he was eighty-two. Wagner finished Parsifal at sixty-nine, and Voltaire wrote Candide at sixty-five. Handel was still composing beautiful music, Longfellow was still writing immortal poetry, after seventy. Some of the greatest tasks ever undertaken by men were begun and carried through in what are called life's declining years. In "Life begins at Forty",, Pitkin points out that nine-tenths of the world's best work has been done by older people, well past their prime. "To know how to grow old is a masterwork of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living", wrote Henri F. Amiel in his famous Journal. This is truer today than it has ever been, with the life span lengthened and the opportunities for older people greater than ever before in history.!!

So daar het jy dit Stella, onthou net die volgende, en ek maak staat op jou:

remember that the greatest things have not yet been done,

the greatest discoveries in science have not been made,

the greatest advances in social life have not been achieved,

the greatest triumphs of the spirit have not been won.

They wait the coming of the right men and women.

SO YOU GO GIRL!

GLO JY SAL 'N WONDERLIKE VERJAARSDAG Hê!

LIEF VIR JOU!

ONS ALDRIE DRINK 'N GLASIE OP JOU!

LIFE CONTINUES IN NAMIBIA - NEW HOME AND KOAKOVELDT

It has been a while since I have written on my "spot" but the time just never seemed right or I had absolutely no idea what to write about and when I did, well the time was not right. Actually I have to admit, I only wrote once since I started this site, shocking!

Where to start, a lot has happened since I last wrote we have done several trips in Namibia and I have made two trips down to Cape Town, one in April and one in July to finally go and pack the house up. It was emotional and stressful, what with the fact that even though the house is not sold yet, it is now final, we are renting but the house will definitely remain in the market to be sold a.s.a.p. It was sad because this was it I will not be going back, well not soon anyway, but on the other hand, it was time, we needed to move on and not have one foot in Namibia and one in Cape Town and everything else "dangling" inbetween. It was time to get settled, various things pushed us to finally go out and buy a little townhouse of our own and what followed was a tremendous amount of moving (and poor Günther staying behind, earning the money, and sorting out all the admin so that we could move in end July). Where to start, well I went to Cape Town, packed up the house, fixed up an exploding floor of tiles! Loaded our furniture in Etosha transport's truck and finally stood in an empty house, echoing the sadness that I felt, good thing I was alone at that time, the house and its memories will stay with us for always, it may change ownership but not memories.

It just felt so strange to have someone moving into your house where you lived all the time, renting the flat out was ok, we never really lived in it! I think the worst is the agents coming in and inspecting your house as if it is the worst house on the market and that after you have spent days cleaning and scrubbing. mowing the lawn, fixing the garden up, washing windows, touching up those bad spots on the walls, etc. Everything was spotless when I finally handed over the key, the only thing she could find a fault with was the plates in the extractor fan, I omitted to dust and wash that (and that was only because I could not get it out, that was Günther's job when he was at home and besides I was just too tired)! I could finally spent time with my sister, who helped me tremendously, running around looking for tiles that would match the claytiles which we could not find anywhere as they do not import it anymore, keeping me calm when I thought the whole house was going to collapse (it was just the tiles!) and just being there with me through it all, knowing full well that in a month or two when she packs up I will not be there to help her made me appreciate it even more, a lot to say for family..... I finally could spend an evening with my very best friends, Estelle and Viennatjie, Steve and Christene and my sister having a lovely braai at Christene and Steve's house and just relax, it was all done! The bakkie was loaded to the brim with things I had to take up, which included a brand new Stealth kayak (men's toys!), helicopters, plants, odds and ends leftover from the load, bedding, luggage, tools, you name it, there was not a spot left for anything else. Christa drove back up with me and I was so grateful for that, it is a long, very straight and lonely road with only music and your thoughts to keep you busy. We stayed over just across the border at Grünau and was up early the next morning on our way to Swakop. My sister stayed for a couple of days and flew back on the Sunday, was nice to have her and spend time with her and nice to have "someone of your own" to walk around town and go shopping and drink coffee, same places, same streets, different mood and feeling! Also the fact that she would leave for Germany shortly and not knowing when you will see them again!

A strange thing this moving, at the beginning you pack with all the energy and drive and really think and rethink what you are going to keep and what not, but, towards the end, you just want this done and that is the time when you cannot imagine keeping the things you originally thought you cannot live without, it just had to go - no more clutter! No more clutter - wonder how many times I have used those words in the last couple of months, and mostly it was when I was extremely tired and at my lowest and thought that I just can't move one more box! A good thing you forget about all of that, packing and moving makes you do and say things you would never think about under normal circumstances. It is draining and tiring and for the first time in many years I felt my age, I just couldn't do what I did when I was in my twenties and thirties!

Two weeks later we started packing to move into our new place, No. 29 Santorini, Kramersdorf(nothing Greek about it, no white sand and lovely beaches, to the contrary, lots 0f sand and brown as we are surrounded by the desert), it was exhausting to pack and clean once again but this time it was into our own place and that makes it all worth it. While my sister was still here our furniture arrived from SA and we stored everything in a container, now we had to do two moves, from the container and from the flatlet where we stayed, I could not believe that in the year we have been here, that we have collected so much in that small little place, it is ridiculous what hoarders humans are. The house was not clean and I scrubbed and rubbed and carried on so that we can move in, you know the thing us women normally do - the call it nesting! Finally everything was in the garage and the first Saturday night even though everything was still pretty chaotic and no curtains we decided to sleep here, we wanted to be in our own place and just could not wait anymore. I quickly put up some curtains, all wringled and crinkled and made the bed, funny how that is always the first thing I make sure is ready, the bedroom, once again women practicality and after a pizza we flopped exhausted but happy into our own bed! It took us the whole of that weekend to unpack, sort and decide on what we were going to keep and what needs to go back to the container while we did the building. Yes, we are still going to build on, we needed a scullery, a door through to the lounge from the garage, a patio in the front and back, the walls around the property definitely needed to go up, my neighbour could look straight into my bathroom, both actually and that would not do not for them and definitely not for us! Tiling and painting and fixing up in general. Our little place, 29 Santorini is a mess at the moment, but sunny and warm and we are happy here, finally I am using my own things, we can start gardening (be it a small garden), do things in the place and know it is yours, we have a budgie (called boy, originally Pipit but Boy seems to come more naturally) and we plan to get a kitten as soon as the building is finished and things are done (the argument is about where it will sleep, Günther says with him in bed and I say no on a cushion! In the end I think the cat will decide). We are almost there now, door has been put in and painted (my husband is a wonderful painter- German precision!), the patios have been made, one has been tiled halfway, finishing tomorrow, the back patio is done, the path packed with pavers, the scullery is there, roof up, door in, electricity done, walls screeted and tiling being done tomorrow, the cupboards should be put in next week and the painter is coming in, the tilers will finish up tomorrow and we are almost done, then we start inside, the nicer part, all worth it! Lawn is expected from Windhoek somewhere in October and then there will be something green, you really need something green here!

During all the building, I had to marvel at the black African spirit - sometimes one can actually learn a lot from people far less fortunate, doing really hard, physical and labour intensive work. All through the work, they talk, they are worse than woman, they do not stop, and sometimes you will hear bursts of laughter and all through the whole process no aggression, anger or irritation. Just once did I see a leader getting upset and had to reprimand one of his young workers who tried to steal a nap on the bench in the back garden, 5 minutes later they were laughing again and all the time singing, the singing never stops, one will stop and someone else will pick up where he left offf. At 7.30 they are there and commence with a smile! Having said all that though, you have to constantly monitor and watch that no short-cuts are taken and have to ask them to redo the mistakes, Günther took control of all of this and at least this minimized the mistakes.

KAOKOVELDt, KUNENE RIVER AND EPUPA FALLS

Prior to the packing and house building in July Kim came to visit and we went to the Kunene River Lodge on the Kunene River and border between Angola and Namibia. We went to the Epupa falls and drove about in the Kaokoveldt for a couple of days. The Epupa Falls and Kunene River is beautiful, the whole area is magnificent and home to the Himba people. When you stand on the bank of the river, you can almost touch Angola, it is so close. We did a lot of driving, Günther on his motorbike and Kim and I in the support vehicle. The strangeness of the country and the people there is something to behold, the Himbas although still keeping to the traditional ways, know very much the value of money and sweeties and European things, they will take your clothing off your back if you let them and at times it can be a bit over-whelming this is unfortunately the downside of tourism. Still, there is a certain magic to it all, and it will be a sad day when that disappears. The Kaokoveldt, is beautiful but because of the wars which were fought there and on the border, there is absolutely no animals for miles to be seen, you really have to go into the more rugged areas to look for elephant and game, we saw one kudu and the odd little buck here and there, still the countryside is awesome. At Epupa tented lodge, we were told that recently they had, for the first time in many years, elephants coming to the camps there, problem is they destroy the locals' gardens and therefore are being chased and shot at, which they are trying to stop, mention was also made of the possibility of the government re-introducing animals into those areas, it will be wonderful to see that. The Kunene River and Epupa falls are awesome we had a great time, had a braai in one of the camps we visited for the day and were told some horror stories about the crocodiles in the area obviously making me totally paranoid, I would not even go within two metres of the river in case some monstrous crocodile attacks me, but.... it does happen! On our way back we stayed at Palmwag, this is of course all in Damaraland, harsh country but scenic and beautiful, the sunsets are unbelievable. Palmwag is nice, it is the second time we have camped there, but it was a little windy and cold and we were exhausted from driving, the roads in Damaraland not that great and can be pretty trying at times. Just before Palmwag a goat jumped in front of Günthers bike, and, by the time we got there after a photo session with the Himbas which cost us N$20 a loaf of bread and sweeties, but it would probably the last Himbas we will see (except for the tourist attractions in Swakop and Windhoek!) for a long time and Kim needed photos, he was already up and standing there looking a bit dazed but he was in a far better state than the goat!

For obvious reasons, we decided to try and get to Palmwag as soon as we can, it was getting late and we still needed to get the tent up, Günther's arm and many other spots were quite badly grazed but he was tough (thats my man) and rode the bike with scew handles and all to Palmwag. We made a braai and had an early night, so that we could be up and heading back towards the Skeleton Coast and then from there back to Henties and eventually Swakopmund.

The sunsets at Palmwag are amazing, and we sat there for a while looking at the vivid colours and were surrounded by Dutch, Spanish, Italian and German tourist all flashing there big lenses (cameras that is)! We loaded the bike on the back of the bakkie and we set off for the coast. We had breakfast on a hill and had beautiful views from there over the whole area. When we got to the gate of the Skeleton Coast park we had a flat, we pumped it full of magic foam and manage to drive home with it without incident and very heavily loaded with the bike and all the camping equipment.

We got home on the Friday afternoon and Kim and I had to unpack and repack to go to Cape Town on Sunday lunch time. We had such a great time together, it was so nice to have Kim doing a trip with us again, we miss her so much and it felt like old times when we used to do the trips into the Karoo and she was still a little girl then, how times have changed!

So we are almost at the end of all our nest creation, but knowing us it will be ongoing, hopefully soon the house will sell in Cape Town and we will be able to start building on our house. I told Günther the other day, by the time we can built, we are going to be so nicely settled in here we may not even want to move!

I promise, photos of everything once we are done - the photos of our trip to Kaokoveldt is a bit mixed up, however, I am still trying to master the art of proper blogging, so bare with me!

Till next time! LOL