I still did not have the keys to the main house, so I had no idea what was going on inside. The week-end before I left for Scotland we all went down to Haarlem, where the only reasonably habitable place was Irma's house. I however had a shower and a bath, but no hot water.
So that first sleep-over in Haarlem was quite an adventure, as the floorplanks were full of holes, and you could hear creatures moving underneath, not very good for a good night's sleep. Hannes and Manda were sleeping in one bedroom, and us lot, that is Irma and her two kids, kristani and Kiana, in the other room. But first we scouted around for some planks to put over the holes, with the camping mattresses over that, all to prevent the creatures living in the dark from knibbling at us! The house was a mess, and it took ages to clear away all the empty wine and beer bottels that the previous lot had left us.
But in spite of all the drawbacks we all slept soundly, and Hannes and myself were up early, watching the sun come up over the mountains. It was so beautiful, and with a lot of different birds joyfully serenading the first rays of the upcoming sun, and our hot steaming coffee smelling like heaven, we were very content. Then we heard two different faint voices calling, and it was Irma and Manda demanding coffee.

I did not do much that day, as I could not stay in my house for longer than two minutes at a time, thanks to the creosote, but Hannes, a very handy and artistic man, fabricated the most gorgeous gates and fences from thin poplar twigs. Typically Irma, instead of having brought stuff to renovate the house, like maybe scraping a wall or two, had brought her paintbox, and converted the two pillars in her sittingroom from flaky and dirty, to two fake marble collumns straight from Rome! She is a marvel with paint effects, but we all had a good laugh at her crazy logic that only wants to beautify!
I just loved to walk around on my grounds, dreaming about what I would do when I come back.
For breakfast we made a big pot of maize porridge, and while the others had their's with milk and sugar and butter, I had mine with grated cheese and milk. Yummy! I was sad to leave that day, as I would not be back for seven months. But as always I had a wonderful time in Scotland, where I had a nice job, nice friends, and a lot of freedom to roam the lochs and rivers and mountains. I get this wildness from my mum, who could never be tamed, and had a lot of fights with my dads mum on the farm, as she would pack a food basket, and as soon as my dad left to see to his cattle, we would creep passed granny's house and spend the day up in the mountains.