I felt a bit sorry for my kids, who lived for so long in the minimilistic and cleancut style of Skandinavia, specially Nina, who is a Dane, as they now began to realise that coming for a visit over Xmas, and actually living in Haarlem, was two completely different things! They were scratching around all over like two chickens without their heads, but not actually accomplishing much.

The new room to their house was done, but not before my endurance and temper was severely tested, as Skramunkel, being a very clever horse, managed to open the gates a few times a day, then terrorise the poor workmen before she slipped through the hole in the fence, and to freedom! And every now and then I was out there in the dusty road, in hot persuit of the errant horse, yelling and behaving like a bally banshee, with Skramunkel enjoying the chase and making a bally cake of me, as she would suddenly, usually when there was an audience, came up to me all lovey dovey to be led home!
She loved Karel, however, and would follow him around, now and then cuffing him playfully with her head, but never with any intent to hurt, although he sometimes staggered a bit! She was indeed a strange little horse, as I think she thought herself a human, not having known any other horses, only seeing them grazing past, but never interested to interact with them. Sheila's cow Josie was still the most important being in her life, and when the cows pass the gate and she was in the yard, she would thunder up to the fence or the gate, and Josie would actually lick and cuddle her, and she would nudge and cuff the cow! It was indeed a strange love, but if it was not for Josie who almost willed the little horse to live when we first found her, Skramunkel wouldn't have made it.
But I was becoming quite worried about her, as nobody but me and Irma and the kids were allowed in her camp when she was in there, so when we wanted to take people down to the river, she had first to be moved to my place, where she got so lonely, and then gallop round and round, and I was scared that she would hurt herself.
Irma got notice that she had to vacate her house at the Nelson Mandela campus, as it was actually a student's house, and they had an overload of students that had to be housed. That threw all her plans awry, as she was not planning to live at Haarlem permanently yet, as her work was in George. So she, Karel and the kids were all busy decorating and cleaning, and fixing, poor Karel walking around with his spirit level, lamenting the fact that everything, even the walls were skew.
We laughed a lot at Karel, who is a very tall man, as he had to wear some of Irma's working jeans, and that jeans were about a foot too short, making him look funny indeed, but Skramunkel loved him all the same!
Kristani and Kiana was trying to make Skramunkel used to the saddle, as they wanted to ride her. It was an uphill struggle, but after a week of leading her around with the bit in her mouth, and the saddle on her back, she was indeed looking to be  playing along, then they tethered her to the Pepper tree, and took it in turns to just sit on her. After some hectic snorting, the horse capitulated, and they kept that up for another few days, when we all thought that they could try and ride her just in the yard.
She was calm when Kristani climbed on her back, and Kiana loosened the rope, and she then very sedately walked up to the gate that was open, then gave one big snort, and started kicking up her back legs, and neatly got rid of Kristani, who landed in the dirt road with a resounding thud.
As the horse then walked calmly back in, straight to her camp, I was really getting worried. She was not the most good tempered horse, and she had a really vicious way sometimes, and I just did not have the knowledge to curb that!