Cooking up a storm!

We have progress!

This is how we got the hob to fit at last - well this was the moment AFTER the granite was finally cut:

5mm of granite cutting = diabolical mess



 And this is what I wrote into the dust on my dining room table:

Can a single written word be sarcasm at it's best?

 

 I think it may all be worth it though!

But now, as someone just reminded me, I have to cook! Hmmmm but for fun I bake!

Please lets renovate just a little!

When I decided to blog I wanted a place to rant/vent/talk without interruption (love that the most ha ha), and then I wanted to explain the crazy, and then I wanted to get followers, and now I want to explain the crazy again! So a circle it is and the crazy you are going to get!

We are having the house painted!
Well I could just stop there I suppose it is enough to pull your hair out especially when there is zippo privacy as all the windows in the back of the house are being painted, and they are all of the bathrooms in the house and I have had 4 cups of coffee!

Then the stove packs in!
One plate, oven and grill at a time till eventually I manage to convince he, who holds the purse strings for any rather large purchases, that if he ever wants a cooked meal again he was going to have to cough up to have it replaced! And it is built in and who knows what horrors we will find when we try to fit the new one! So dragging the family to the appliance store was last Saturday's Fun Family Outing! We look at the row of shiny new stoves and I ask the Hubby, "Which one do you like?" to which he replies "the Cheap one!" Now why am I not surprised and why did I bother to ask! Can be delivered on Tuesday (and not the cheap one).

Then the Microwave packs in!
Now no stove and no microwave - the universes way to say STOP COOKING!! But the hubby decided to remind me that there is a little company called Mr Microwave around the corner from our house and he bundles it into MY car for repairs the next day - am I not busy enough? Coffee Networking mornings are very important! So luckily for R250 and in 2 hours a very nice man Doug, fixes my microwave so at least we can eat! Damn here I was planning my takeaways for the week!

Daddy Dearest comes to fit the new stove!
He arrives 2 hours late (cannot get good help these days - especially when it is free) and dismantles the old stove with the one remaining hot plate and then finds . . . the new hob does not fit into the old hole! By about 5mm and it is granite! So he tells me to call my granite guy. Is that under G for Granite just after G for God? Where on earth does he think I am going to find a Granite Guy? If I had a granite guy I would not need Daddy Dearest!

The Carpenter!
Here to fix all the wood rot and the bits an bobs that need doing, as well building a shelf for the under counter oven to stand on (no more warming draws in built in ovens you know) tells me that we need to buy a burglar guard for the bathroom window he is replacing as he did not see that the original window has BUILT IN STEEL guards that are the shape of the cottage pane window! Hubby freaks out on the phone, I have to tell The Carpenter that he has to sort it out! The man is 80 if he is a day - how do you fight with the elderly?

Man I need an increase and a bonus!

So we sort out one problem after another, I hit mommy mode and do the school, tennis, rugby, homework thing and the wrestle my eldest into the shower for him to tell me "Mom there is no water coming out of the taps!" According to the water department there is a burst pipe 2 roads up and we have a 6 - 8 hour wait for water and it is 5:30pm!

And I have not even told you about the visit to the Dermatologist yet!

Cleaning is Cathartic!

I am trying hard to be organised! It is not easy as I am a classic hoarder! You NEVER know when you may need something you know! So I keep bits and bobs and thingamajigs and whatchcoms (my granny's word) for the future when you just may need them again.

So I got boxes and a labelling machine as I thought that if I am going to hoard it may as well be in an orderly fashion.

It is working but it is a slow process and I am still not happy to chuck out "stuff". I am also diabolically sentimental so anything that was from my late mom, or my kids, or anyone who loved me enough to give me something is hard to get rid off.

Today I cleaned out the medicine box and thew out 16 bottles of expired meds as well as about 22 blister packs of outdated pills and potions and I have streamlined one part of my life. Wow it feels good and all the waste glass, paper and cardboard went into the recycling which feels good too! What also feels good is that clearly our family is not sick too often.

Look at my medicine box now:

I have a friend who knows me too well. She told me that "Shoving stuff into a cupboard is not actually cleaning!" Nice one Jax!

Water water everywhere . . . . .

3 weeks ago:

"Hello, I would like to report a leaking water meter"

"blah blah blah - here is your reference and someone will attend to it within 48 hours"

2 weeks ago:

Ding Dong

"Hello Mrs W, this is your neighbour. Do you know you have a leak coming from your water meter?"

"Hello, I would like to report a leaking water meter"

"blah blah blah - here is your reference and someone will attend to it within 48 hours"

"I have a reference from last week"

"Ah yes I see they came out and repaired it then"

"Well I never did see them and it is still leaking, actually it is pouring out!"

"blah blah blah - take down your reference and someone will attend to it within 48 hours"

1 week ago:

"Hello, I would like to do a follow up report on my leaking water meter"

"According to the reference the plumber came out and they sad it was rain wate

"Well it must still be raining as it is still pouring out"

"blah blah blah - here is your reference and someone will attend to it within 48 hours. Can we confirm it is number 22?"

"No we are number 27!"

"Aahh well they have fixed number 22's water meter"

"There is no number 22 in our road!"

"blah blah blah - here is your reference and someone will attend to it within 48 hours"

Saturday night - 8pm

Ding Dong

"Who is it?"

"It's the Plumber - we have come to fix the pipes"

After the job was completed it was great to hear these words

"The water leading into your house has been contaminated by dirty groundwater and it is technically not fit for domestic consumption!"

FABULOUS!

Just another Manic Friday!

LI had such a crazy start!

Money for the school Swim-a-thon had to be in by TODAY - so I borrowed the money from my son (who hoards his cash at age 7) to pay the school. Money for the gardener - I borrowed from my hubby's wallet! Well it is his garden too!

Grade 2 Awards Assembly at the crack of dawn (only one cup of coffee under my belt) oh yes all dressed in green as the house colours for the other school is green - will get to that later! Camera in hand I watch the precious kids singing their hearts out waited as and the kids got their certificates . . . and waited and waited and waited . . . and my son will be getting his at the next assembly to be held next school term!

Off to school 2 for the inter house gala hence the need for the green get up! It is hot today! It is humid today! It rained last night so it is VERY humid today and we sit in the stands in the sun and it is  . . . you got it HOT and HUMID and the sweat is pouring off us as my son partakes in his first senior primary school gala! He is in one race. It is race 4 which is wonderful but there are 42 races in the gala.

But he swam like I have never seen him swim before and not only did he win the leg of the relay he was in but his team won the race.  I screamed like a lunatic, took 472664 photos and jumped up and down - I may not be let back into the school for galas again.

The next 38 races took about  . . .OK I can't lie I left the school after 22 races and dashed home for a shower and a second cup of coffee - in the space where I live it is never too hot for coffee or soup!

The next port of call was the another school date- the Junior Primary dance and movement display - The school OT's have said that all kids will benefit from doing dance and movement and the music teacher has asked me to to make a DVD of the 300 little munchkins dancing on the school field! Remember that 300 kids = 600 parents and grannies and siblings who all want the best spot - and I am in that with the video cam! I am so busy I cant even find my little guy and eventually we manage the mommies, we dance, we record and we get to take out little ones home - only mine has a party so with a quick change in the classroom with his friend "Guarding the doors against GIRLS" I bundle mine off with a friend and I head to the next function . . .

The U10E cricket match at the big school - now this match was played at the same at as the SA vs NZ match and I cannot decide which was more exciting - the U10E's who lost 47 for 2 (sob) with my son being cleaned bowled for 0 or the SA game which knocked us out of the World Cup! Either way a wasted afternoon of cricket in the still hot and humid afternoon!

Luckily I have a wonderful friend who will bring my little one home from a party, and a friend who was at home needing to share her wine with me after I had rounded up the troops - that is how I managed to survive the crazy!

Did I mention that I have a sick husband?