This time I had proof!

I will still at work just after 5pm yesterday, not in a hurry to rush into the traffic when I received a text message from Dael. "Pick me up from R". This is their cousin who lives in the centre of town whereas I normally pop down the back way which brings me out where I live. I reply okay and leave the office.

I arrive at the flat, one of the other occupants recognises me and lets me in. I text Dael "I'm here" and go up to greet his aunt and uncle. As I enter the house, I ask "Is my eldest son here?" and am met with blank stares from everyone. "No." Then another text comes from Dael, "You're not here" and "at C's house". I told him that he had told me he collect him from his cousin not his friend. His friend would have been easier as he lives in the same suburb as us. I saved his messages as proof because he wouldn't believe me that he gave me wrong information but tried to make out I was wrong. Then I had coffee and visited a little!

After visiting the local shop for supplies, I picked Dael up and waved my phone in front of his and C's faces because they were still taunting me. They were forced to eat their words. Who's the old one now? At least I would have an excuse for getting it wrong with 25 years seniority on Mr Dael!

At home, we had leftovers from two nights this week so I made the official decision that it was leftover night and I wasn't cooking and made an early night of it. In between drifting in and out of sleep I became aware that my bedroom door was closed probably because the boys were making a noise with the Playstation. However, in the early hours, even that closed door wasn't enough for me to sleep through a loud bang. I flew up and out of my room and discovered that Dael had heard cats screeching and in his effort to stop whatever fight was happening, had banged on one of the small panes of glass in the french doors and shattered a hole clean through the middle of it. He had a small scratch on his knuckle which was bleeding. I cleaned up the glass while he sorted out his hand. He was lucky as it could have been worse. So now we have two panes out in that one door. The 'hole' further down is used as a cat and dog 'door' but I think that two panes out is a bit much and we're going to have to sort out the whole thing now.

Incidentally why Dael reacted so violently to the sound of the cat fight was that he had heard a cat screeching the night that our one kitten Spidey went missing and we think that he was wandering and got caught by dogs. Last night was a territorial cat fight though with a lot of male yowling going on. Dael in his haste couldn't distinguish between the sounds and thought that another one of the cats was in trouble. He maintains that the glass has become fragile and gave me a technical reason of glass being still in a 'liquid' state although it seems solid but I think he just doesn't realise his own strength!

Bradley has the privilege of staying off today, Friday as the school has officially closed for Diwali. This is a first with this school but they now have a different headmaster. So now the kids are missing yet another day of school. Its not even an official school or public holiday so we will still see if the Education Dept has anything to say about schools going this route as I believe there was a communication from the Dept advising that schools were supposed to open per normal. Again Bradley is not complaining...4 day weeks are becoming the norm!

Happy weekend and watch your animals during the fireworks and 'big bangs' displays!

Seen on the streets - Plant Man

Driving down my street with Bradley, we first went one way to get to the shop and then we returned along our street on the way to the school. On our first trip down the road we passed a ragged fellow who seemed to be holding an armload of junk including some plants in small containers. When we returned along the road, he seemed to be talking or fighting with a large bush on the bank. He then recoiled from the plant, throwing his arms in the air. Bradley had to run up to the house again before we moved on and I waited in the car, watching this fellow. He was staggering around the street gesturing towards my neighbours as they emerged from their driveways. As Bradley and I drove past him, he was picking small somethings off the kerb and holding them in the air as if he had found some priceless treasure and was examining it.

He was obviously suffering from some form of delusion and my first instinct was to be a bit suspicious of him, not knowing what his next move was or what he was capable of. Strange and a bit disturbing to come across an individual like this who probably fends for himself in a world he probably doesn't relate to or understand!

Out and About - Weekend Edition Two

The sun was shining as we left the exhibition and we decided to take a drive up to the city suburbs and buy lunch at mom and dads favourite bakery which is right next to the city's Botanical Gardens. We bought pies and colddrinks and found a shady parking at the park. As we entered the park we became aware of a lady, mid-thirties, walking distractedly around, up and down paths calling someone's name. We realised that she was looking for someone and as we approached her we asked her what was wrong. "I can't find my daughter, she's only five, she's wearing a pink tutu!" I told her to go to the exit and that we would look out for her as we were walking in the other direction to her. As soon as she hurried off, I thrust the pies at my mom and said to my brother "Lets spread out and look for her". He and I rushed off and I took an adjoining path just behind some other walkers. I asked these people if they had seen this little girl and they said they had just passed her further down the path that Greg was taking by the duck pond. They stood and pointed her out as they could still see her from where they were standing. I called to Greg to fetch the child and went to find her mom. The mom was still by the entrance/exit calling hysterically for her daughter. I called out and her son, a boy of about 8 came running over to me. I sent him off to his sister and as mom came up to me I could see she was very broken by this trauma. She had tears and mascara streaming down her face. I hugged her and told her that we had found her child. In the meantime Greg and mom had taken the opportunity to give the little girl a pep talk about running away from her mother. It was definitely a wake up call for mom to not rely on her daughter to keep close to her but to watch her all the time. Children can go missing in the blink of an eye. Every mom's worst nightmare!

In the meantime dad had continued meandering down to his favourite bench overlooking the duck lake. He doesn't get involved in his family's doings, just continues on his way - the stable one! We ate our lunch while looking at a family of 9 ducklings with their mom as well as a family of young Egyptian geese and some Ibis being fed bits of bread by a young couple. On the other side of the lake was a wedding entourage, the wedding attendants clad brightly in orange which was clashing with the pink and yellow flowers which they were using for a photo backdrop. Two little flowergirls clad identically in frilly white dresses and Maryjane shoes were balancing precariously on the giant roots of a pondside tree and leaning over the water to try for a better view of the ducklings. I kept expecting one or both to fall in but luckily they lost interest.

Families picnicking and playing games, vivid and varied birdlife, young folks and old, a variety of locals who obviously use the park extensively as a break from city life. An oasis in the middle of the city. And all the while the sun shone, drying up the mud and rain from the morning. We sat for a while and then strolled through the indigenous plant house which also has an array of beadwork creatures such as ladybugs and lizards, which the kids take great pleasure in spotting amongst the greenery and then on to the orchid house which has been in existence since I was a child and every time that we have been there has has an array of colourful and exotic orchids, palms and ferns on display. They have a water feature with a waterfall and a pond holding fish and...freshwater crabs.

After that it was time to go after an enjoyable day out!

On our return to my folks place, I got a text from Dael asking "Are you going to stay away the whole day then?"

Sometimes its good for the parents to go out and the kids to stay home!

Out and About - Weekend Edition One

After helping out my dad with some banking matters, my parents invited my brother and myself to go with them to a local home and garden exhibition which was being held in Durban. I had left the boys at home and just texted them to let them know that I would be gone for a while.

Mom sat in the front passenger next to dad who was driving with Greg and me in the back. As soon as we entered Durban with the Saturday morning shopping frenzy, my mom started freaking out. She was berating my dad for not having left her at home in peace "I don't need this", she was praying out loud, instructing my dad to allow any taxi driver to do whatever he wanted, "If he hangs his arm out the window, just let him come in. Just don't have an attitude with them". My dad quite reasonably pointed out that he doesn't usually overreact when driving, its my mom who has road rage! Hats off to my dad for keeping his patience through this tirade although he's had almost 46 years of marriage to practice. I was battling to keep patient because obviously all this lamenting is very distracting for the driver and I did comment at one stage that I don't like to see mom like this, limiting herself from going to different places because of her fears. I eventually kept my counsel so as to not cause a fight. We navigated the city centre traffic with mom in one piece although decidedly grumpy and moody by the time we had arrived at our destination.

The exhibition was set up along the usual lines of lots of lovely things for lots of money. We wandered around collecting brochures, snacking on unusual but tasty honey-roasted nuts. Very moreish! As we wandered past one particular stand, the Indian presenter demanded our cellphones. "Give me your phone!" My dad and I both said "NO!" but mom and Greg handed their phones over to be fitted for a cover which is touted as basically a protective skin (see-through cover) x R75.00 each - quick sale - good salesman!

My mom and brother both found captive audiences to talk to as they both love talking. Greg felt sorry for one salesman (something to do with swimming pools) and went over and kept him talking for 15 mins. Mom found her talking partner by some exclusive patio furniture.

I wandered off and spotted something quite innovative in the corner by the entrance. A small van beautifully signwritten with a built-in ATM and steps up to the ATM - quite useful and just pack up and go when the exhibition is over. Except it was Out of Order! The number of people that climbed those steps and tried to draw money before realising that it wasn't working was quite comical. People are mostly not very observant.

We stayed until the hunger pangs set in and then decided to leave because the food was just too overpriced at the show and we had seen everything by that stage. As we left, the sun was shining after a morning of rain and a quick decision was made on our next destination...