Tuesday
Today was the day…
We left Avalon Springs and came home. I had started the day having a last dip while Mike slept in. I had the Jacuzzi all to myself and it was so relaxing. The pools were 15o paces from our room, which made them so convenient. In the pic below, the Jacuzzi is in the foreground…
We pulled out of Montagu around 10am and headed through the roadworks towards Robertson. That was where we stopped to have breakfast. We had a bite to eat at a place called Strictly Coffee. Their coffee was legit. It’s difficult not to think of Julian in such places. There was an Antique shop across the road that was loaded with beautiful furniture, some art and nick knacks. We will have to return that way one day with Julian.
After breakfast we headed on home but instead of going through the tunnel we decided to go the long way round and went over Du Toit’s Kloof pass. The waterfalls off the mountains in the area are spectacular. Melting snow has turned them into quite a sight as they start at the top of the mountain and fall like a long snow white veil to the foot of the berg. Through Worcester there is still snow on the top of the peaks but mostly it’s melted.
As we came down the other side of the pass, I suggested to Mike we turn right up a particular driveway. This was a chance we may not have again for a while. There was no rush for us to be home, so down the familiar driveway we went. It’s amazing how familiar it was. Not much had changed over the years except the road to the house had a few more potholes. The willow trees were without leaves and the garden I remember, not so verdant. But many years have passed since we came this way. It was our home from January 1987 to April 1989. We bought our Stacey home from the hospital to this cottage. It stirs my soul remembering the pleasure of that occasion and the happy years we spent here. The cottage was a stable block about 100 years ago, converted to living quarters during WW2 where we were told it housed prisoners of war.
The window on the right of the front door is the kitchen. The window on the left is the lounge window, and then there’s the bathroom. Further left is another door which opened to our bedroom. Inside, between the bedroom and the lounge there is a short passage with the bathroom on one side and a tiny room that was as long as a bed on the other. It was Stacey’s first bedroom. The lounge is large and L shaped with the part behind the kitchen being the dining area. On the far side of the lounge there is a massive fire place useful in winter. The bin is still outside the front door just as we left it all those years ago! The massive oak tree doesn’t seemed to have changed at all. A lovely memory for us and nice to see it so well maintained.
It’s Leliefontein just outside Paarl at the foot of du Toit’s Kloof Pass.
The sight-seeing over, we headed home and made straight for Echo. Werner had phoned to confirm the tiles for our bathroom floor. I had labelled the boxes in the garage so they were easy to find. I knew that some of those tiles would have been laid and was eager to see them. Legacy House is looking all grown up this 1st day of September…
Some of our bathroom tiles are down and our main cupboards done as well. I’ll take a photo of those soon. The windows are being framed and have their undercoat…
And upstairs Julian’s floors are coming along…
We got home and enjoyed a home made cappuccino. There was load shedding but thanks to solar we didn’t notice.
Then, I went to gym! That was great. I will slowly start getting fit again after losing some of it during lock-down.
Home, dinner and now the wind is picking up ahead of rain expected overnight. Back to work tomorrow.
Corona stats – South Africa – country-wide…
- Friday 24th July – 13944 new cases (maximum we had in a day)– 250 deaths (245 771 recoveries/169 882 active)
- Tues 25th August – new recent low 1567 – 149 deaths
- Wed 26th August – 2684 new cases – 194 deaths
- Thur 27 August – 2585 new cases – 126 deaths
- Fri 28 August – 1,846 new cases – 115 new deaths
- Sat 29 August – 2419 new cases -238 deaths
- Sun 30 August – 2505 new cases – 47 deaths (538604 recoveries/72424 active)
- Mon 31 August – 1985 new cases – 121 deaths (540923 recoveries/71969 active)
Total cases: 627041 Total deaths: 14149
September’s Bible verses are all on Hope. A wonderful topic as we look towards spring in the southern hemisphere.
Psalm 31:24
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
The best is yet to come.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Braces:
1 year and 293 days