SPIRIT OF PLACE: Drywalls and drainage

The house is really beginning to move forward now. After getting the framing up for the drywalling today the spaces suddenly begin to take on meaning. The Bedroom 2 en suite and the guest toilet are no longer concepts that reside in my head - they are real spaces …………… and we have now been able to finally establish exactly how the drainage, waste water and fitting layouts are going to work in respect of the confined under-floor spaces. The drainage run down to the new septic tank is complete and we start digging the tank hole tomorrow. Meanwhile we will get the guest room shower base in place in the morning and begin fibreglassing so that we can get the wall sheeting into place. Most of the electrical conduiting has been plastered in and by lunch time tomorrow we will begin the wall construction finishing on the bathroom and bedroom 3 en-suite, and get the roof on - hopefully all by the end of the week……………..hold thumbs and wish us luck.

On Saturday last the Ploughman’s had what was ostensibly a “Solstice” party …………. covering as a 55th birthday party for Michelle. They had a really good thrash that followed the rugby - Belly dancers, various other dance idioms by the local ladies, a really hilarious set by Patrick and the guys, a very tasty pig on the spit and some great disco music in the barn. All in all a very enjoyable ‘Jol’.

(As an aside: We took along a salad, a packet of Doritos, our ‘picnic bag’ with plates, knives, forks etc., …………… butter and rolls and so on …….. only to get back to the table to find a lady who had parked off, opened everything, helped herself to a plate, knife and fork, opened the salad and Doritos, used all the butter on a couple of the rolls and well and truly “dug” in to everything we had brought along ……………. and totally un-phased at my query as to how she could do this, simply carried on helping herself with me sitting right there. What do you do?????)

With the Grahamstown National Arts Festival starting next week, exhibitors and artists are beginning to arrive in the area from all over South Africa - and the world ………. and I believe that as always, Bathurst is “first” port of call for drinks and meals, so the next couple of weeks should see quite an influx one way and another. We are busy planning one or two days there ………. co-ordinating shows, exhibitions, concerts and trying to fit everything together so as to get as much as possible in on the days that we will be able to visit……………..hoping against hope that by the time we get round to making our bookings there are still a couple of slots left. Really looking forward to it all …………… though from my point of view, as long as we are able to get into a couple of the jazz cafe gigs I will be entirely happy. Watch this space for updates and reviews!!!!!!!