I'm back!

I've been wanting to post the whole week and its not like I've had nothing to say but I couldn't gather my thoughts into constructive sentences.

Anyway I've got it together now so here's the news update!

Dael's collarbone is healing but it has given him the excuse to do nothing! It doesn't stop him riding to his friend's house or the shop but he cannot help out at home. Bradley is in the final stretch of the school year writing exams at the moment (Grade 6). I am just trying to get him to read through his work (forget studying) so that something is fresh in his head when he writes. Roll on the end of the year - only another few days left!!

The family that has been staying with me is just about to move. The father (my ex) has been working up in Gauteng since mid-June and is doing very well now after a difficult few months. I have helped him find a townhouse for the family and mom and the two girls and the puppy will be moving at the end of November.

Oh yes! You don't know about the puppy. I had previously banned the ex from getting any more pets (after having to take in several of his previous pets) but he was offered and accepted a miniature Doberman by some people he got to know in Pretoria. It's about 9 weeks old now and as cute as a button. Now how did it get from Gauteng to Kwazulu Natal...you may ask? Well, my ex got paid and decided to make the 6 hour trip down to see the kids and yes - to drop the dog off because it is getting in his way while he's working (he is a subcontractor). The dog was supposed to be his companion and drive around with him but is already getting in the way after one week. So I'm puppysitting until the end of the month.

So I'm going to get my house back again at the end of the month. The family has been with me since May 2007! The little girl was only 5 months old when they moved in and now is almost two! I will miss the baby but I just can't wait to get my space back again and Bradley will be able to use the bedroom they are occupying instead of sleeping on the couch. Yay!

The kittens are 12 days old and thriving. Good mommy cat. She is very dedicated and stays with them until they sleep. Their eyes are just opening. Moe asked me why they are different colours. Tortoiseshell cats are black with colours i.e. orange, grey and white. When they have kits any of these colours can come out. My previous tortoiseshell, Tiggy, had 6 kittens - 1 orange, 1 beige, 1 plain grey, 1 grey/white, 1 tortoiseshell like her and one light tortoiseshell (grey with colours). This mommy has had kits in 2 different shades of beige (1 light and 1 darker), 1 plain grey with a white face and 1 white with grey tabby colouring on its back).

My daughter, Robynne in Cape Town wanted to get a kitten now that she's moved into a duplex with a little garden but her housemate has a bird and wouldn't let her. So she has adopted a dwarf Angora bunny called Thumper who is her new best friend! Apparently Thumper knows her own mind and is a very determined bunny!

Aren't her little pink ears cute?

My weekend was rather stressed what with having the old ex ball and chain around and Bradley was grounded this weekend. I don't generally like to ground the kids because then I feel like I'm being punished as well but I persisted because I needed to make the point. Bradley decided that he didn't need to go to school last Tuesday because it was Diwali and 'nobody' would be going to school. So instead of screaming I said to him 'fine' but then you're grounded this weekend. He wasn't allowed to go to the local teen hangout 'The Pav' shopping mall and the skatepark with his brother but instead got to hang out with his mother. He literally nagged the whole weekend and stretched my non-existent patience to the limit but I think he got the message that if you decide to take off school you decide to do without the fun stuff too.

So this week we will start packing up the other family and sorting out accumulated junk. Let the fun and games begin!!