It is raining, raining, raining! And it is bitterly cold! I had a warm bath, and are now dressed in two pyjama pants, vest, pyjama top, jersey, and fleecy jacket! In South Africa, before all the climate changes, we never had such long winters, and although the nights were always cold, it was never as cold as this. That is why the older and most new houses, have no heating system, and we have to rely on heaters and fires to warm us up, but as both wood and electricity are very expensive, we maar dress up, and I sleep with two hot water bottles.
 Jan is now almost ready to go to cape Town to live, as most of his stuff had been carted there every time he drove up. My heart is aching, as I will miss both him and the kids something terrible.
But I am on the other hand, a very happy woman! my veggy garden is thriving, that is after I planted my seedlings in furrows lined with shading net. At last I think I have the solution to the ever increasing numbers of the creeper moles that destroys every little plant in their way by tunneling the soil from beneath the roots.
I have also planted my strawberries in the shading net lined furrows, and I now have healthy, sweet strawberries every morning. I have again started making myself a smoothy with fresh fruit and yogart every motning, as there are now more fresh fruit in the shops. In the towns of course there are always fresh fruit, but as I live so far from a town, I have to make do with what I can find.
The onions look to be a complete flop! Bush came back from Zimbabwe on Sunday after an absence of a month, and the onion beds are overgrown with weeds. I have done a lot of weeding, but with the rain we are having, the weeds grow like bally, well, weeds! The onions that I planted in my home garden however are thriving, and I spend a lot of time trying to keep them weed-free.
I do not understand the people here. I got Kevin, who are without work, and whose wife told me he beat her up regularly if she refuses him drink money, to come and do some weeding. He worked till one, told me he was off for his lunch, and never came back. Next morning early he was at my doorstep wanting the money he worked for the previous day. No word of why he never came back, no excuse, just a breathe that almost knocked me over!
Bush came over on Monday, wringing his handas, and told me that we must get the tractor in to plough for the potatoes, but I sent him on his way, as he was not a bussiness partner one can believe in. The rocket that I planted the previous year went completely crazy, and are bent on taking over the whole garden, but as their flowers are quite nice, and the flowers in the garden a bitty on the thin side, I left it to flower. Quite like it, and of course I always have fresh rocket! But a few other flowers are also unfurling, and that shows that in spite of the cold, Spring is definitely here!