SPIRIT OF PLACE: FRUSTRATIONS AND SATISFACTIONS

A week of frustrations and satisfactions indeed. Plenty went wrong (but quite a bit went right as well)………… primarily as a result of individuals not listening when given instructions and barreling ahead without taking my idiosyncrasies into account: things must be straight - they must be level - they must balance ……………. there is simply no room for compromise, and if you don’t do it the way I instruct you to it is going to have to be done again. Despite all of this - and despite having to do virtually everything we tackled during the week twice - significant progress has been made and the end of this coming week should see the house pretty damn close to liveable. The Solar Water Heating frame worked out well and is in position on the kitchen roof with the geyser plumbed and mounted in place. Monday should see the Solar Panel fitted and plumbed in - and ‘Voila’ - we will have hot water. We should also have the kitchen and bathroom ceilings in and all of the fittings in the guest toilet and guest en-suite bathroom installed…….. and with a bit of luck, the main en-suite as well.

While I tidied up the garden today and spent a good couple of hours cutting the grass, Petrus did a sterling job sealing, jointing and prepping both the guest toilet and the en-suite bathroom panels for painting on Monday. Once I had finished cutting the grass I strolled across to the Cafe and bought myself a bottle of cold Dry White. Bumping into Carl Penn, the Pig ’n Whistle Chef on my way back I invited him to join me in the garden for a tipple …………… what an absolutely pleasant experience for both of us: the peace in the garden was palpable - punctuated only by the Tsh tsh tsh ….. brrrrr - brrrrr - brrrr of the sprinkler and myriad birdsong from at least five or six different species as we sat there. My favourite little Chorister Robin-Chat hung about as we chatted, having perched himself on the handlebar of the mower while I was busy cutting earlier …………. seemingly determined to garner my attention at every possible chance. Our breeding pair of Ha Da Da’s that have their nest high above the lawn in the Coral Tree also simply sat and contemplated us there way below them. Sunbirds, Drongos, and Black-Headed Bul-Buls flitted back and forth, and a black-headed Oriole with its loud, liquid “Kleeeeeuuuu” also parked off above us in the Coral Tree. Four or five crowned Hornbills made a brief - if somewhat noisy - stopover high above us before zooming off to greener pastures elsewhere. Quite simply a very special afternoon - my first real sojourn in this garden that I fell in love with the first time I saw it, and one that I know is going to bring us a great many very happy hours in the future.

Bernard, Hartson and Luke left from Grahamstown for Cape Town last week Saturday by Intercity bus. Their parting was bittersweet in many ways…………they would have loved to have stayed on if work here was guaranteed, but I couldn’t make them that promise, and they weren’t prepared to take the risk of having to live with the very low daily wages here compared with what I have been paying them these past few years, and what they are able to earn in Cape Town - even if it is somewhat less than what I pay them. Petrus on the other hand loves it up here and is prepared to take his chances with me, believing that we will find the work to keep the ship afloat. Goodonya Petrus …….. lets hope that it all works out for the good and that we can get the other guys back sooner rather than later.

We did complete our first contract in Port Alfred around the middle of last week to the absolute satisfaction of the client ………… and we do have a few more tenders out - all we can do now is keep on punting our services and hold thumbs that everything comes together. We don’t take shortcuts, which is one of the virtues that has kept us happily busy in Newlands and Cape Town generally these past 20 odd years …………… So - if you are reading this and are in the Bathurst / Port Alfred / Kenton / Grahamstown / Southwell general area and are in need of having some work done - then please - take a chance on us ……… we won’t let you down.

This coming week sees the Bathurst Country Affair taking place from the 9th - 12th August, and it looks like it is going to be a real humdinger. There is plenty planned, and a BCA Times has also been published around the event with coverage of everything that can be expected. If you happen to be anywhere close by be sure to pop in and make the most of what promises to be a Village Event to remember.