Empty Space-s

To borrow a title from another blogger (thanks Wolfie). I have been busy lately segregating, sorting, and simplifying our stuff. Which has resulted in this.

The study being packed

and this

The kitchen being packed

and this.

This the sewing room and most of the guest room.

On Tuesday 3 gentlemen, Louis, Franco and Aaron, arrived to start the packing process. They got here around 9 and by 4 just about everything was boxed that would be going by Sea Freight.

Today, the same 3 arrived at about 8:30, I served them tea and then they got busy and completed the boxing by 10. Then the big truck came, with an additional 4 men. Stanford, Paul, Bob and Charles. Again I served tea and the business of loading the truck got started.

We arrived with 4 containers and we will be leaving with 4 containers.

By noon, the truck was loaded, the boxes were closed and labeled and tied down. I made them lunch… and that was it. 

We are Packed Out!

Sewing room on the left and guest bedroom on the right

The crew!

The only things we have left are the Air Freight and the luggage items. Simple living for the next 3 weeks and then the fun begins! House hunting, car shopping and worrying about the dogs and their adventure which is separate from ours. They will be leaving a day or so after us, stopping over in Amsterdam… for a ‘rest stop’ of about 8 hours and then continuing on to Washington DC, where they will be met by an expediter and whisked away to a kennel for a night and a bath.

More Later-  Beth

Weather

We are having a true taste of weather!!! Here, where we are on the verge of the Southern Hemisphere spring and we have winter. REAL winter. Cold -bone chilling cold. Winds with a bit of ice in them… that make the cold air even colder and cuts right through to your bones. And snow! Yep, snow flurries.

There are places in South Africa that see some snow in the winter, every winter. But for Johannesburg and Pretoria to see snow flakes, that is a bit more unusual. Sort of like snow in San Diego California.

Taken with my phone… on my way home….

On Tuesday, when I got home… I let the dogs out into the yard. Axel, who has of course seen snow was very excited… he ran and rolled and played. Linzi, didn’t even notice…. Pretoria did not have any accumulation and the little that accumulated near Johannesburg, melted shortly after the sun appeared.

It is cold here! Not as cold as dead of winter in the northern plains of the USA. But here where the temperatures are milder, where homes are brick without insulation, windows are single glazed and weather stripping is non existent… central heat is not available and add to that high energy costs (and an overloaded energy grid)… well it’s cold inside and out! Burr.

More Later-

Beth