Busy house and a Birthday Girl!

Its been raining again since Sunday. Its not much fun at the coast anymore. Whats the use of the beach if its always raining!

On Friday evening, Bradley discovered a patch of dampness on the bed and as it was the second time, with me having found a little damp patch before, I decided that the kittens had to move. I took their whole box and put it in a corner of the kitchen. They are like different kittens now, interacting with the other kitties, playing and jumping and stalking, using the litter box and sampling the other food. I can think of no better way to train the littlies than to let them watch the bigger cats and copy them. They are also getting socialised and used to all the strange cats! Amazingly, its their own older siblings who were the most averse to them, hissing when they came near but all seem to be getting used to each other.

A good thing about the wet weather is that is forces Sabrina to stay inside and there's no sun to burn her ears and nose. She is healing nicely now but it will be an ongoing effort to make sure she doesn't damage herself again.

Saturday was spent in cleaning house due to the imminent arrival of my son and his father from Jhb as well as helper, Ishmael. I did a bit of shopping in the irritatingly crowded shopping centre in town and then popped in to see my parents on my way home. I didn't think I would get a chance to pop in on Sunday as my visitors were arriving then and my parents are away for a short holiday this week.

After another morning of Springcleaning (really with this rainy weather, what else is there to do), my visitors from Jhb arrived. Dael was hyped to come back home to Durban but after three days of rain, he wants to go back to the sun in Jhb.

It is little Rachael's 3rd birthday today and her mom phoned through this morning so she could speak to her dad. After he had wished her and chatted about her toys, I got on the line and spoke to her. She loves cellphones. I sang Happy Birthday to her, my voice cracking with emotion as I tried not to cry. She was giggling, so happy to hear the birthday song sung for her and trying to sing along at the same time. Unfortunately it is her second birthday that he has been away from home for, due to working away from home at the time but her mom and her big sister and I always try and keep the magic alive so that it is a memorable occasion for all the kids.

Rachael, the Birthday Girl! Happy Birthday, cheeky monkey!

All going well with the job, the Jhb gang should be returning to Jhb on Thursday, dragging with them Bradley and Chris, who has asked to hitch a lift to his relatives in Jhb for Christmas. Bradley is all packed and raring to go. He thought that the return trip would be today so prematurely packed what seems to be every item in his cupboard in two overflowing bags.

I cooked a big meal for the hardworking crew last night. Pork sausages left whole in a stew of cubed potato, butternut and baked beans, all dished over mashed potatoes - wholesome and filling. Supper was ready as they walked in the door and was shovelled down fast. Thank goodness I am used to cooking for a multitude so am able to make a little go a long way. I'm buying macaroni and bacon bits tonight to make macaroni cheese with bacon, always a favourite with all and usually eaten with fresh buttered bread on the side. Yum! Don't know how much genuine cooking I'll be doing once the mob has gone. Its probably going to be easier to just join my mom's table a couple of times a week.

Robynne phoned me late yesterday afternoon to tell me that her car was leaking petrol...fast. She is the one responsible for fetching Trish and the two little girls in the absence of her father and now her car was playing up again. She had left the office on her way to pick up the family, discovered the problem and managed to limp her car back to her office. She was almost crying in frustration at having another problem with her car but had secured a lift home with the office driver and had phoned Trish to let her know that she had to make alternative arrangements to pick up the kids and get home. I chatted with her for a while and then had to leave myself as I still had to get to the shops and pharmacy and get home. A while later, she phoned me at home to say that the clever company driver had crawled under her car and discovered a pipe that was half out and causing petrol to spill out. She had also spoken to her dad and he was of the opinion that someone had tried to steal her petrol. Now she had been doing stocktaking earlier that day at her company's warehouse and her car had been parked outside on the street during this time so it is a likely probability. She reckons she lost about R100 worth of petrol. She was extremely thrilled that it wasn't another serious problem but obviously she is now aware that you just cannot leave your car on any street in Jhb and expect it to remain unmolested! How sad and just plain wrong. We have an alternative career choice in good ol' RSA and that is Car Guard and sometimes they are the only deterrent that you have against car molesters!

More later...