Monday 8 June.
I made a cup of tea first thing and we had it in bed while we read the newspaper we had downloaded. The internet connection is fine and the 'Telegraph' is on the iPad in seconds. When we got up I went up into the loft and handed down another load of boxes to Moira. There were also a lot of clothes wrapped in sheets of polythene that came down, I think most were my t-shirts from races I had run over the years.
When I had finished, there is about a third more stuff to bring down, I had a shower before making the breakfast. The gardener arrived about then and Moira gave him instructions for cutting and trimming the growth around the awning at the front. Once he had cleared around the satellite dish I got the DSTV control box to check it out but discovered that the power cable was missing. We decided to take it down to the TV shop in the village, get a new cable and have them check if it is still operable.
We waited until about 11 am them the gardener was finished at our house, it is looking a lot tidier. Our first stop was the library where we donated the books we didn't want, the woman wanted to examine them first before accepting them? We selected from books for reading then checked them out. The woman now seemed happy with our gift and we had a chat with her. She has been in charge of the library as long as we have been in 'Tweni and she is very friendly. She has the new style VW Beetle, a red one that sparkles. She had a similar one when we were here before and I asked if she had got a new one the same colour. She said 'No' and that it was the same one that she has had for 15 years, it looks like it has just come out of the show room. She said before that she had a Ford Escort for 25 years and was sorry to part with it!
We went to the TV shop next and the DSTV box checked out OK. I got a new power cable and booked a month on the satellite company's top package. It cost R700 for a month but Moira still had over R100 in the account from before and that reduced what we had to pay. On the way back we stopped at the Spar supermarket and got bread, rolls and milk.
I checked out the DSTV box when I got in but although it was now working it wasn't getting a signal. I went out and the gardeners ladder was still there, I used it to climb up and examine the dish. The arm that holds the LNB receiver was corroded and only hanging on by a thread of metal, it looks like we require a new dish. Moira phoned the shop to get somebody out to get us going. They didn't have anyone available until Wednesday so we will have to wait.
After lunch, we had hamburgers - very nice, Moira began opening the wrapping covering the clothes I had brought down. It was mostly my t-shirts, there was hundreds of them. Some were on the small side, they may have shrunk. I put them in a bin bag and gave them to the gardener, he seemed pleased with the gift. Midway through the afternoon Alison came up to see us. She said she had a client interested in coming to see the house with an view of buying. We told her that we had changed our mind and decided to keep the house. The amount of money we would get felt like we were giving it away; we don't need the money anyway. She told us that Sheila opposite was selling her house, she was very pleased and doesn't like the woman either. I asked if she was selling through her office, she said I must be joking! When Moira said about not getting the TV dish sorted out until Wednesday Alison said she would get an Indian guy from Port Shepstone to ring. He did call later and will come tomorrow morning.
Before dinner Moira discovered that we were out of wine and went to the supermarket for more. While she was out I began to make a cup of coffee when the power went off. They had told us that this power shedding was still a regular occurrence but there hadn't been any last week. I settled down to do the crossword on the iPad, I don't need any light for that and it was fully charged. As I was beginning on the first clue Pat arrived at the door. She had a handful of candles and a box of matches for me. She said the power normally went out for 2 hours, not too bad, we can live with that. I lit the candles before Moira arrived back. She said that the dinner was ready, she had miscalculated the time and had it finished before going out for the wine. It was lasagne and in the microwave. We sat down right away at the candlelit table and had an early dinner. The lasagne was still hot and very nice. We finished off with ice cream.
After washing up in the dark I got back to my crossword and soon had it finished. I then tackled the quick crossword and it was soon complete as well - I'm getting good. The lights came on again at 6 pm, the power was only down for an hour. I was able then to read another 'Rumbole' short story before changing to one of the books from the library. It was ' Bleeding Hearts' by Jack Harvey who is actually Ian Rankin. It is all right so far.
Moira had been a lot better today but as she got tired had another coughing fit. She decided to go to bed and I went as well, about 9 pm. I read for a while before turning in myself.
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