I was getting a lot of heart palpitations lately, just looking over to my neigbour's place, as surely and slowly she was turning it into a desolate piece of semi desert! When she had destroyed all the shrubs and flowers, she started destroying the lawn that was always so green and pretty! I sighed, gave her the funny eye, asked her why she was taking out all the beautiful things, and tried not to look over to where the once beautiful garden was no more! Apparently she was going to grow only indigenous plants, but in the meantime she had started to take out all the Agapanthus, which is a plant only found naturally in Southern Africa!
In the meantime the seedlings she had brought from Natal was doing well, most of them anyway, but I was a bit worried for her sake, as she had no clue about the icy cold winters of Haarlem, where the continuous frost simply kills off anything not hardy enough! And she had planted a whole bunch of summer veggies, as Natal, where she had germinated the seeds, had a s a sub tropical  climate, where you can grow stuff right through the year. I could already feel the chill in the air, and the nights had become bitterly cold, so cold that my faithful hot water bottle was now my nightly companion! The days were still okay, as we had a lot of sunshiny days, strange for this time of the year, when it could be wet and nasty!
In the meantime I had harvested some more of my monster like pumpkins. I decided to slice them up, and to then freeze every piece separately, to see if it could be done successfully! And it really works, as I was scared that it would go all soggy like tomatoes, and a few other veggies. I love pumpkin slices that is roasted in the oven, so I tried a frozen slice, and voila, it stayed nice and firm!
I got a raspberry plant from Ronalee, a cultivated one, as my wild one is a wee bitty wayward, sending out tendrils like crazy, but it only made a few flowers that dropped off after a few days. The cultivated one however, after a very slow start, and me wanting to dig it up, suddenly produced masses of flowers, and a few days ago I found the plant covered in beautiful red berries!! Now that is a bonus, as raspberries is not often sold in our supermarkets, and if you do find it, it is very expensive.
Johan came to visit, and I introduced him to my new neigbour, who told him without even a trace of feeling bad, that she was having the 'old Willow' taken out! Poor Johan was caught unawares, and nearly swallowed his pipe from shock, as I had not told anybody that she was having that done. After a moment of coughing and eye rolling, he asked her why she wanted the tree out at all? And, he also told her that it was a very old pepper tree. But she clamped up like a bally musscle, and just did not answer him, but started talking about other things she was going to do.
I was now again very upset, as I had thought that because she never mentioned it again, she had decided not to do it! So I am one very sad woman!
I love the foto where Erna and the kids were making a cake, while my little Emil was SO wanting to have a peep!

I nearly collapsed from pure shock, when my new neigbour told me that the old Willow tree in front of the house will have to go! I stuttered and spluttered, and nearly had one kingsize fit, as the tree she was talking about was a three hundred year old Californian Pepper tree, planted by the first settlers who settled in the village! I begged her to please not cut it down, as it is part of the history of Haarlem! But this woman just looked at me, and said: 'Halo-o-o, my place!!' So I just went back to my own house, but I was a troubled soul indeed, as the tree had so many memories for me, because we as a family sat underneath it so many times, appreciating the dappled shade when the sun was blazing down! But I hoped and prayed that she would come to her senses, and realize the historical value.
Then she got a gardener to help her, and I was aghast when I realized that she was about to rid the whole place of its lovely trees and shrubs! First to go was the roses. She came over, and told me that she had taken out all the roses, and if I want it I can come and collect them! So I went over and dragged all the rosebushes across, and after about six hours, and bleeding from numerous 'wounds' caused by the rose thorns, I stood back, admiring the day's work. It took some real muscle to dig holes deep enough and wide enough, as after about a foot of lovely black soil, I hit the Haarlem clay!  So of course I had to dig really large and deep holes for the roots to grow, and not smother to death!
Tonight the old body is feeling just a wee bitty stiff, and the old back aches like the blazes, but I am a satisfied woman, as I have saved seven rose bushes! now I can only pray that they grow.
In Front of the veranda Jan and Nina had planted a few shrubs that wouldn't grow to high, and one of this was a beautiful Cape bottlebrush, and this plant was a marvel, as it sported an enormous amount of red 'brushes' every year. I nearly had another fit when I saw the poor shrub lying just outside her gate, sawn into small pieces, and the poor roots all dried up in the harsh sun. Felt like stalking over and chop this person up and put her outside to dry out! I was so cross, but couldn't say a word, as it is her place.
She came over the next day to tell me that the other shrubs will also be taken out that day, and did I want them. So I started digging again, my poor back complaining by creaking and trying to go into a huge spasm, but I persevered, and when she chucked this beautiful shrubs in front of my gate, I was ready for the planting! I was not very chaffed with my new neigbour at that stage, and went to bed that night wondering what will be the next plants to be destroyed! At least my garden was getting some lovely new plants, and as I love roses, I hope the ones I got from my neigbour would grow as well as mine!

Sometimes it is just so much better to do things yourself. The tomatoe plants had to come out, and that seemed a mammoth task, as they had grown so tall, and the ones I did not stake took over every available space. It was nice to have such an abundance of this tomatoes, but looking at my back garden, and to some extent my front, my courage just sagged down to my shoes as we say in Afrikaans [my moed sak tot in my skoene].
So when I heard this plaintiff 'mevrou! mevrou! 'meaning mrs, mrs,', and I saw the scrawny body of Nicky, who sometimes do some gardening work for me, leaning over the gate, I was quite glad, although I swore never to take him on again. We now have a fixed rate that we have to pay gardeners and domestic workers, and the people are very stern about that, but they don't think it wrong to stand chatting for fifteen minutes with a passing friend, or disappear for fifteen minutes to buy cigarettes.
The last time I had Nicky, he worked for an hour, then told me that he had to fetch his pills from the clinic, and stayed away for about two hours. When he finished later, and I told him that I had deducted the two hours pay, he got really angry, and turned just a bitty nasty.So I asked him to explain to me why, when he had no other work, did he choose to come on a day that he had to go to the clinic! he just muttered something unintelegable, gave me one furious look, and stomped off, and I had not seen him for about six weeks since!
But both our wraths have now wore off, and I said okay, I'll take him for the day, but no chatting, running to the shop, or going to the clinic!
So I showed him the tomato bushes, and told him that there was a lot of plants underneath, and to be careful, and not take them out. He gave me a nasty glare, pulled his back up straight, and told me haughtily that he knew flowers from weeds, thank you! The piece of garden where most of the tomatoes grew, was where I had planted a lot of indigenous plants, as I wanted to convert the whole place, and just plant water wise stuff.
I had a few orders for the bags that I make, so I went on with that, hoping that my cheeky gardener would know which plants to take out. When his teatime came, I made him a cuppa and a sandwich, and decided to have a look at what he was doing. He had started on the part where there was no flowers or other plants, so I told him again to be careful when he got to my indigenous patch.
When he went on lunch I went round to have a peep, and to my bally disgust he had removed every single indigenous plant, even the aloes, leaving only a clump of daisies, and some strawberries that grew on the side!
Almost did him some bodily harm when he came back, but he could not understand what I was making such a fuss about, as, he explained patiently, he had taken out all the weeds! I told him to show me where he ditched them, and there was my beautiful, pampered plants, looking very sad indeed! 'Oh, but that is weeds!' he told me, looking at me with great pity, and I just again realized, do things yourself, or suffer the consequences!!!!

I have never seen a thinner person that is healthy and full of energy, like my new neighbour! She was like a small insect, buzzing around the garden, putting in seedlings all day long. She had brought trays and trays of veggie seedlings from Natal, but I have my doubts about the outcome, as we have freezing winters, while Natal have a sub tropical climate! And with the winter already staring to pinch with its icy cold fingers, I know that the early frost will also start soon.
I myself in the meantime was also busy in the garden, preparing to plant some winter crops. Ronalee had given me a few broadbean seeds, and I was kind of building up a raised bed so that the bally moles can't get to them. I am like a woman demented when it came to the moles, and although it looks like I am getting the upperhand, the battle is far from over. I can deal with the pigs, peacocks, cattle, slugs and other above ground critters, but this spooky creeper moles have me in a state of great hate and I have no greater wish at the moment, but to take revenge for all my plants that have been destryed by them.
After a week of my new neighbour sleeping on the floor of her kitchen, and getting fresh stuff from my freezer every morning, she told me that her furniture will be arriving sometime during the morning. She took out some stuff, which included a large yogurt, a liter of long life milk, a liter of juice, and some cheese and other stuff. I left to do some shopping just as the furniture truck arrived, and the last I saw of her was a smiling and happy face, for now she had her things at last.
I visited with Louise as well, and on coming back I found the furniture truck gone, but a furious looking woman standing at the gate!
I was told that after the truck had left, she found her cold bag open, and the yogurt, as well as the liter of juice gone, and had ordered the truck back so she could deal with the driver and his team. I thought it bizarre that she could order the huge truck back, and that for only a yogurt and a juice, but she informed me coldly that it is her stuff, and she will not allow them to get away with the theft. When at first the driver refused to come back, she told him that in that case she would phone their employer, and let him then deal with it. They must have been scared to be reported, so they turned back, although they were already about sixty kilometers away!
Then followed the most bizarre and comical episode that I have seen in a long time. The huge truck pulled onto the curve, and out climbed this five massive, non smiling and angry Zulus, but Joy gave no sign of being scared, just marched them all onto her veranda! The next few minutes were very enjoyable, only for me I guess, as I took up a stance at my bedroom door, from where I had an excellent view of the proceedings. Joy was like a little cockerel, face red with anger, and the five huge men just standing there, looking at her with stricken faces! She then stopped jumping around from pure rage, and tackled them one by one, and every one of them shaking their heads in denial, so in the end she had to let them go, not very happily, but the men stood there like bloody rocks of Gibraltar, not budging an inch, and not splitting on who-ever had taken the stuff! But they were guilty, otherwise they would not have turned back! The womwn in the foto is my neighbour, but couldn't get her face.

People are strange! Jan had to come and remove the whole bio-gas installation from his old house, because the new owner did not want it! What is wrong with her! She could do all her cooking, fridge, and some lights on that, saving a bag of money. Jan was busy connecting all the rooms to the system for lighting, and now he had to remove it all!So at last one late afternoon, this doctor in Zoology arrived, in a brand new Chevvy truck, and she was small, and very, very thin, with hair cut as short as a man's. I sensed a difficult person the moment she got out of her truck, and strided with a very sure of herself attitude onto her new property.
I saw her come back out after a while, and unloading first some sleeping gear, and a kettle, pots, and a small electrical plate for cooking. So I went out to introduce myself, and found her very pleasant, not at all the sourpuss like I thought her on first laying eyes on her. Then she started unloading plants. It was like unloading the complete stock of a small nursery, as there were hundreds of small seedlings in trays, big enough to be planted out. Then out came bags with cuttings, and soon the whole yard in front of her house were covered in seedlings and cuttings. I was quite astonished, but I kept the old pose, and asked her if she wanted a cuppa, which she said no thank you to, but she then asked if she could keep her yogurt, milk and butter in my fridge, as she had of course no way of keeping it cool.
I watched the scuttling around with interest, and when she brought over her stuff for me to keep cool, she told me that she was going to grow veggies for the market. She wanted to use the barn as a small roadstall, and open it on Saturdays and Sundays, and sell her ware from there.
I told her that she could sleep in my bottom room, as she intended to camp in her house until her furniture arrived, but she was very adamant to sleep in her sleeping bag in her own house. The next morning she came to my house with a cooler bag, which she filled with all the stuff from the fridge that she needed for the day, as she did not want to bother me every time she wanted something.
The next few days was like a strange comedy playing off in her yard. I marvelled at the speed that she could work up with a large consignment of plants stacked up high in her thin arms, her little legs buckling under the weight, and wondered how she found her way through the small gate leading to Jan's old veggie patch, as she surely could not see a thing in front of her. She was like a very busy bee, buzzing around like mad, sweat running down her face!
I was wondering about the seedlings that she had brought from Natal, which had a subtropical climate, and with our freezing winter just around the corner, the chances of any of that surviving was quite slim, or so I thought.

It was the strangest wedding ceremony ever! With the poor bridal couple hanging on to the gazebo, and the wedding official hanging onto the table arrangements, it was like some bizarre comedy, and I am sure I wasn't the only guest having a struggle to keep a straight face! But what made it even stranger, was that the gusts would stop for a few seconds, then,  every time when Jan tried to put the ring on Erna's finger, up would jump the wind, and the couple had to grab hold of the gazebo again. After a few seconds the gust would die down, the couple pulled their clothes and their dignity straight, and the official would hold out the ring again. And time after time the same thing happened, and I had the most bizarre thought, and that was that Nina was cross with Jan getting married again, and was trying to prevent the marriage! Afterwards Trienkie told me that she had the same thoughts! Weird!
That made us remember again something strange that happened a day or two after Nina died. We were all sitting in my sitting room, very sad and in shock, when a toy that was lying on the dresser, far from any of us, and that said a few sentences when pressed on its tummy, suddenly said: 'Pickaboo, I see you!' Gosh, we were so shocked, and until today we can't work out how the toy came to talk, with not one of us near it!
After the wedding, which in the end was quite a rushed affair, we all drove out to a wine farm just out of Noordhoek where the couple live, and had a most delicious picnic meal. Erna has a beautiful, caring family, and they are so nice to Jan's kids. I am sure that it will be a very happy marriage.
As the couple could not go on honeymoon at the moment, I volunteered to look after the kids for the rest of the week-end so that they could at least have a few days on their own.
Then it was back to Haarlem, but before I could leave we had another death, this time my best friend Edythe's husband Cliffie. That was so sad, as he was the most beautiful and honorable man ever, and I knew that Edythe would have a hard time living alone, as she is definitely not one for that. So I had to stay in Cape Town till the funeral, which was very, very sad, But they are in their eighties, and had a good innings! On the foto Cliffie and Edythe came to visit me, but the weather was so cold they had to be covered up all day long, and that was mid summer. Haarlem has a stranger than strange climate!
Haarlem was hot and dry, and I found most of my plants in bad shape, and my poor hanging plants quite dead. Luckily I had no veggies planted, so I didn't cry too much.
I was now waiting in suspense for my new neighbor to arrive, and was quite eager to meet her, as, according to Ronalee and the agent, she was a very strange woman indeed!

So I am in cape Town, and the traffic is driving me mad. When your traffic jams are usually a few pigs wandering across the road, or a few cows standing gazing at you with their liquid brown eyes, refusing to budge, or a few horses, or a donkey or two, you get a bitty flustered if suddenly there are cars coming at you and towards you at speeds that threatens to stop your heart, one feels a strong inclination to turn tail and go home!
 But I have a present to get, and as both Jan and Erna had their own homes for many years, and that houses are now thrown together, with the result that there are no mod cons that they do not have. I think, although I hate the impersonal way of giving money, that I will just resort to that, and be done. As it is the end of the month also, the parking at the malls are packed, and maybe if I was a wee mouse I could shuffle in somewhere.
In the end that is what I did, and now we are getting dressed for the wedding. It will be a very simple affair that will happen in a park near to Erna's house, with just close friends and family attending. Jan had never been one for huge gatherings, and it seems that Erna is of the same mind.
It was a windy day, and when we got to the rendevouz, we found a gazebo had been erected, but this thing was threatening to blow away, and the woman who was going to marry them, and Erna's friend who were responsible for the arrangements, were hanging onto this with all their strength. So we offered our help, as the two women still had to dress the table with all the adornments. In the first place the beautiful white cloth intended for the table kept on blowing away, and while Trienkie and self hung onto the gazebo for dear life, Stephan and the wedding woman sprinted across the fields chasing down the tablecloth, the bunch of flowers that were now not a bunch anymore, and other smaller items. I had really serious doubts about the wedding taking place in this park, but then the wind dropped a wee bit, with occasional gusts fluttering everything into a bit of chaos, but at least it was not that hard,
But the table that was supposed to be so pretty looked just a wee bit moth eaten, and Erna's poor friend had the task of trying to anticipate the next gust, and try to protect the arrangements. The kids enjoyed every minute of this, and were running all over the place, while we were hoping that the gusts would die down before the ceremony!
And  first Jan came, looking so handsome in his wedding clothes, and with him came the wind again, trying to blow everything away. So the poor bridegroom could be seen hanging onto the gazebo, as this time the wind had decided to really play up! My poor child looked very stressed out, and it was quite funny to see the man of the day trying to keep his little 'chapel' standing, while I had my hands full trying to keep little Emil clean!
Then Erna arrived! She looked so beautiful, and I again thank God for sending a woman like that on my child's way after the tragedy he had undergone!

After seeing another older lady, with a head of hair dyed a nice auburn, but with the roots showing starkly white where the hair had grown out, I have decided that I would stop as in immediately with trying to look a bitty younger. Actually, when the roots show up so snowy white, a person looks much older! So I went to a gathering showing off my grey head, and although I am not altogether grey,I got so many compliments that I was quite pleased!
 I am preparing to go To Cape Town, as the big day had almost arrived. This is of course the marriage of Jan and Erna. I am so glad for him, as she is one very nice lady, and the kids love her already!
The timing is fine, as all my veggies have been harvested, and either bottled, dried, or frozen.
The preveous night I had pasta with musscles, and I made the sauce exclusively with my own stuff. Tomatoes, garlic, onions, and herbs were freshly picked, and made into this sauce, and to top it off, I sprinkled some of my sun dried tomatoes over the whole lot, and then some lovely parmesan! Ate myself almost to the point of feeling like a stuffed froggy!
I have one heck of a time trying to keep the hooligans out of Jan's house, and I feel that the time had now come for the new owner to move in. She is a lecturer at the University of Natal, and has to work out her notice time before she could come.
But this neigbourly thing of looking out for the people around one, is getting me down, as not only do I find a new window being broken almost every morning, but now a pipe had gone and burst, and this pipe was spewing out a stream of water, leaving the kitchen floor all soggy. I phoned the agent immediately, as he was there with a plumber to have a look at the plumbing and stuff, and this happened just after they left. What I did find was that somebody had turned off the regulator for the solar panel heating the water. Of course now nobody knows anything about this switch, and I just shake my head in wonder. I knew it was on, as I checked everything in the morning, and as I have no solar panel, I took my shower in this house before the place was in her name. felt a bitty upset about loosing my lovely free shower, as now of course I have to put my electric geyser on again. Expensive!
I am a bit worried about leaving my house, as the nightly visitors who keep on breaking the windows next doors, could decide that my house is an easy target now that there was no soul around. Luckily, and I hoped that it was still the case, the villagers believe that a big snake was living in my roof. When one of them talk about my snake, and ask me how I manage to live with it, I just smile, and told them that we are friends, as I feed the monster. And in all my years of being away to Scotland for my job, nobody had touched my house.
Actually, there are lots of snakes around, and poisonous ones at that. Mainly tree snakes, but as their fangs are situated in their throats, they can't get poison into you, except if they get your finger or toes or some such deep enough into their mouths. Although this snakes have very small heads, their mouths can open alarmingly wide, so I run away very, very fast on encountering one.