Fixing up the house.

Monday 15 June.

 

We went out for another walk this morning after breakfast. I had a very good night's sleep last night and only had to get up once during the night for the loo. It was another lovely day as we set out just before 10 am. We walked to the left as we left Lourie Gardens and made our way over to the main road that runs up from the Bowling Club. We turned up that busy road which fortunately had a hard shoulder and a grass verge to keep us away from the traffic. At the first junction, joining the top part of Old Faith Road, we turned there and it led us back to our house. It wasn't as long a walk as yesterday but it is pleasant, lovely strolling along the tree lined lanes. We didn't see many other people out walking but anyone we did see, black or white, were very friendly and responded cheerfully to our 'good mornings'. We hadn't seen many monkeys about since our return to SA but a lot came scampering across the road at one point and when we go home there was a big one sitting on our fence.

A friendly visitor

 

 

When we got in Moira came across some of the bulbs in a cupboard for the down-lights in the lounge. She only found two but four had gone. I replaced the two and we decided to go into Port Shepstone after lunch to do some shopping and pick up more while we were there. We had hamburgers on rolls for lunch but neither the meat or the rolls were very good; we can't seem to get nice crispy rolls here, they have about half a dozen different varieties but so far the ones we have tried are soft and doughy.

 

We went to Pick-n-Pay first and did the weekly shop. There wasn't much to get as Moira had stocked up well last week. We couldn't see the type of bulbs we needed in the supermarket so went to an old style electrician's shop in town. Before going there we filled up with petrol, well I didn't fill up as they still have attendants in. SA to do it for you. The petrol is R13/litre, quite cheap, that's about £0.70. It cost R420 to fill the tank, about £23. Next at the electrician's we got the bulbs plus a spot light bulb for the hall that had gone. The three bulbs cost only R70, say £4.

 

Moira had parked in the car park that was for the customers of the large butchers and the fabric shop next door. It was quite legitimate to park as Moira wanted net material for the windows, the old ones were either worn or faded. She got enough to do all the windows and again it was a bargain at under £1 per metre. Before going I checked at the butchers to see if they had any ostrich meat but he said they don't supply ostrich.

 

Our next stop was the large tile centre on the outskirts at the top of the town. After coming here to sell the house and clear it out we are now replacing net curtains and looking at retiling the whole place. A lot of the tiles are cracked and loose. Most of the residents in the complex have had the same problem, it was a fault with the original laying of them. I would have thought that it should have been covered by the builder's insurance but Pat had tried to claim and was told it wasn't a building fault or some other excuse. We looked at the tiles and the ones we liked were between R80 and R100 per sq metre. We asked a woman at the desk about names of people who lay tiles and what they were likely to charge. She was very knowledgeable, she had names of people available, how much they would charge; between R40 and R60 per sq metre. We explained what was happening to our tiles and she went into a lengthy explanation of what could have been the fault, from wrong adhesive or not enough of it to the floor not being level or dried out sufficiently. She knew so much about the job I wondered if she did tiling herself on the side. The floor space of the house is about 100 sq metres so at the top end it would cost; R100 for tiles, R60 for laying, times 100 sq metres; R16000. That's under £1000, not bad at all.

 

When we left the tile centre we walked across the road to a builders merchants. I wanted to price high pressure water cleaners. The back brick patio is very dirty and needs the high pressure water to move the dirt. If I got one I could use it to clean the outside walls as well, the paint work is still good but there are a few marks and stains. Unfortunately they didn't have them though a couple of assistants searched everywhere for them. After that we had had enough for the day and made our way home. There is a large hardware shop at the South Coast Mall where we can try later for the cleaner.

 

Tonight we had pork stir fry for dinner. I was able to eat a bit more, my appetite is improving. There wasn't anything on TV that was worth watching and I couldn't be bothered with the recorder, most of the stuff on it we have seen before. I did the main crossword in the 'Sunday Times' then settled down to read another of the short stories from 'Rumpole of the Bailey'. I finished reading just after 10 pm and then got to bed. My ear is feeling much better but I took a couple of painkillers anyway and they also helped me to have a good night's sleep.

 

 

 

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