Advertisement
Published: November 29th 2009
Thursday, November 26th
The Bus-Rat was back for a visit last night, but ran off when we got up to see if we could spot him. After breakfast we put on some music and started working on the van with a vengeance. We needed it done by Saturday morning because we still have to clear the rest of the building site and cut up the remaining logs for fire wood.
It was a blisteringly hot day, but we made great progress on the van. At tea time Talita baked delicious sweet-corn bread that we enjoyed for lunch. We called it a day around 8pm. We were knackered and our lower backs were killing us from all the bending over. We had a shower, cooked a yummy dinner, had a glass or two of wine and headed for bed. There’s nothing quite like that satisfied feeling after a productive and successful day.
Today’s highlights:
1. Talita’s first sweet-corn bread.
2. Great progress on the van.
Friday, November 27th
The Bus-Rat was at it again this morning. We had plugged both gaps next to the fridge with blankets so that it couldn’t get to its favourite gnawing spot. It ended
Sweet-corn bread in the making
The sticky tasty dough swallowed her handup exploring the rest of the bus, rustling through bags and some of our stuff. We got up, but he disappeared again. One cool thing about the Mr Rat and his nightly visits is that it makes us get up and enjoy these clear night skies. Ferdi spent a few minutes taking pictures of the moon before heading back to bed.
In the morning we continued the job on the van, fitting the sink and tap (thanks again Karen & Colin!), and building the rest of the cupboards. We were pushing to get it all done today, but we ran out of varnish halfway through the day. Unfortunately in the rush to get it done the cupboard doors ended up being a little wonky. Ferdi was not pleased, but too exhausted to care. It’s a good lesson though: don’t rush Ferdi! He decided to redo the doors ASAP. Most of the van was done now. Only a few little things still needed doing, but we were too tired to continue. We called it a day around 8pm, showered, cooked, groomed and hit the hay.
Barely an hour after we fell asleep the Bus-Rat was at it again! We’d
removed the blankets and it was back at his favourite spot again. It hadn’t had its daily gnawing session last night so he started early tonight. We got the bag and the stick, totally focussed on catching Mr. Rat. When Ferdi had the bag positioned to his satisfaction by the left gap, Talita poked the stick into the right-hand side gap. Mr Rat made his appearance, but stopped short when he saw the bag. Talita poked more vigorously and Mr Rat decided that the bag was better than the stick. He jumped in the bag and we had him caught… for about two seconds! When Ferdi closed the top of the bag Mr Rat tore through the bottom and went scurrying off! Ahrggggg! So close! We couldn’t believe it! Mr Rat lives to gnaw another day.
Today’s highlights:
1. Getting most of the van interior done.
2. Almost catching Mr Rat.
Thought for the day:
How much more creativity would there be in the world if nobody was afraid of failing or being laughed at? Saturday, November 28th
We woke to a very wet morning. When Ferdi ventured out to feed the chickens he had a good
laugh; they were both soaking wet and looked hilarious, almost like wet walking feather-dusters. Since we couldn’t work on the van in the rain we headed into town. Talita needed a few ingredients for her daily baking session; koeksisters! We were very surprised at how high the rivers were; they nearly washed over the road in two different places.
Soon after we arrived back home Bruce made his appearance. He came from the holiday park and said that when he crossed the same rivers we had 30mins before; he was up to his bike pedals in water. Seems we’d just made it. Looking into the valley we could see the river had spilled its banks and most of the pastures were down there were flooded.
We made pancakes for lunch and Bruce headed home to his kitty. When the drizzle stopped we did a bit more work on the van, then made koeksisters. It was Talita’s first stab at it and with a bit of teamwork the results were delicious. It reminded Talita of her childhood years when her mom made koeksisters. Mom would give us kids a piece of dough to create our own shapes. These didn’t
look anything like a koeksister, but it sure tasted like it!
Today’s highlights:
1. Not getting caught in the flood.
2. Talita’s first koeksisters batch.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.052s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0244s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
ma minty
non-member comment
Koeksisters
Geluk my kind! Jou koeksisters lyk fantasties!