I once lived in Welkom

Indeed I did once live in Welkom. 

For those of my blog readers not in the know, it is a gold mining town right in the middle of South Africa.

Set up and laid out by Ernest Oppenheimer who said at the time, that the gold would last 50 years.

And that's exactly what happened.

50 years is over now.

We lived in Welkom  for 12  years, it was a wonderful experience for us.

Good schools, good lifestyle, nice people.

Amazingly cosmopolitan.

It's sad that Welkom is now in a decline, but there was always a sell by date. 

It was  an interesting time indeed.

We survived a tornado, earthquakes, floods, droughts and fires.

Dust storms and hailstorms, escaped rhinos, it was an interesting life! 

For The Famous Brother, who started his career in Welkom, couldn't have been better! 

There is a Facebook page called , indeed, "I Once Lived in Welkom. "

A very nice member of the group takes the time to post the weather report.

 I know, and indeed knew when I lived there, that it gets very cold and very hot.

But now that I live in the UK...

From 1 degree to 22 degrees is OUR  ENTIRE year's weather! 

Not just all in one day! 

Bloody hell.

The only thing that consoles me is that we now have central heating and double glazing.

We did not have this in Welkom when it was -5 and we got dressed in our beds with the electric blanket switched on.....

Many friends from Welkom are in the UK now.

If  I think back,  I think our time in Welkom was amazing.

Sonic the Hedgehog

This is Dear  Sonic . He has taken to visiting the garden every evening around 6.

Of course, I have been feeding him, he is too cute for words. 

He creeps under the back gate, ambles up the path, climbs up onto the deck and eats his dinner.

The Hubby and I are quite charmed by him.

However, The Hubby is at the shops at the minute.

Sonic arrived, and against the express wishes of The Hubby , I thought I might just try and pick Sonic up.

I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea. 

This is what I have learnt today.

Those prickles are really really sharp.

Multi purpose vinyl household gloves are no good, although I did only use them for hygienic purposes.

Luckily, because , yes, hedgehogs are covered in fleas. 

This hedgehog weighs about the same as a brick. 

So now I have three bleeding fingertips, a flea that ran up my arm and a cross hedgehog.

All those sites I googled that said they were lovely and made good pets and could be trained to use a litterbox and would SIT ON YOUR KNEE....they have not seen Sonic. 

He is HUGE.

In future I shall just watch him.

Give me a squirrel any day.

Summer!

And,suddenly summer!

See? It's not good to  complain about the weather.

Just wait long enough......

Today was good.

I decided not to be such a sissy baby and actually went to the dry cleaners and just pretended I had not made a terrible faux pas and was embarrassed.

The dry cleaners in turn pretended that I was not mad.

So, all good. I can go back again.

The car stalled and flashed terrible red warning lights, but when I came home (carefully) and phoned Merc, they said not to worry , was probably just a glitch.

So , good there too.

Couldn't ask The Hubby as he is still on Jury Duty and totally uncontactable.

Jury Duty means that I can actually clean his Bat Cave. (AKA The Study) 

Good there too.

What a day! 

Yay! 

Now I can go  and iron and watch The Jeremy Kyle Show without The Hubby Tut tutting at me.

Stupid show , I know, but gives me great insight into Pom Culture and requires not too much attention, which is good, as my iron makes loud steamy swooshing noises.

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

Summer?

It is cold. It is cloudy. It is windy. In short, it is not summer.

Not even close.

So, in view of this crap weather, we are watching the ENTIRE series of Vikings on love film.

Love film is not great, but to be honest, it's not all that bad.

We have a special deal, 3 months trial for £4.99

This allows us , if nothing else to watch Dexter, Vikings and other movies and (older) boxed sets.

The Hubby has gone out to buy popcorn, water and something for supper.

Am considering getting the TV blanket back down from the loft.

Ha ha ha

Heinz means beanz

I love these.

Not that I particularly like baked beans, but The Hubby does.

So, small enough portion, pop in the microwave for 1 min, no mess no fuss,no waste, no can opener...

£2

Priceless

Please note, Dr Lauren, reduced sugar and salt.

Although I do cover them with pepper.

Sunday Rant

On my walk to the shop today, I saw a car with the most stupid baby on board sign. I wish I had been able to take a photo of it. It was pink and fluffy and had the writing embroidered, looked like a toy.

A bit like this equally stupid one

A Baby on Board sign should look like this

It is on your car to alert emergency people in the event of a bad accident that they should look for a baby.

It is not there to announce that you actually have a baby girl , or to make other drivers drive more carefully around you. It also should not be stuck on your window to obscure your view.

Anyone buying gifts for my new grandchild had better run them past me first! 

Adverts

When I first came to the UK I was not at all  impressed with their adverts.

I missed the Saffa adverts, especially the Nandos ads .

I know Nandos is in the UK as well, but it is really not the same thing at all. And there are no Nandos ads on TV or radio here.

At all . Ever .

But never mind.  More to life than Nandos, and actually, I don't eat chicken anyway.

Either I have become a Pom ( probably) or the ads have improved. ( probably not)

The Specsaver  ads  crack me up. They are so funny. 

I seem to spend  my life saying " Should  have gone to Specsavers"

Although every TV ad is hysterical....

My best one is a radio ad.

So, it is about breakfast.

The guy comes in for a special breakfast that he has seen advertised. 

Full English.

This is what he says to the waitress:

 Guy : Is there no bacon?

Waitress : No,  that's extra

Guy : No Sausage, beans...mushrooms?

Waitress: Sorry darling, no 

( we have very lovely and polite waitrons here) 

( they don't ever call them waitrons actually )

Guy: No toast? 

Waitress : No....

Guy: This is just an egg.

Should have gone to Specsavers.

At this point  I laugh and laugh until The Hubby rolls his eyes and leaves the  room.

It is on the radio everyday.

Never gets old! 

Even writing this is making me laugh my head off! 

This is just an egg!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha 

Dry Cleaning

This was the conversation today in the Dry Cleaners.

There was me, and them. 

Them being two women, who, as it turns out, are sisters.

Me:   I see you are now open on a Wednesday, and have a new name , are you under new           management? 

Them:  Yes , we are!  Open all week now. 

Then , various chit chatting ensued.

Me:  Well,  this is most pleasant! So nice to chat! Must be all new staff as well, as before now, nobody has been very friendly.

Them: (looking confused). Oh no, same staff...

Me:     ( back peddling  big time) No, have never seen you two before, usually older lady? Grumpy? Not chatty? 

Them:  That is our mum.

From now on, The Hubby gets to take his own Dry Cleaning in. I am never going there again.

Also, obviously on a roll today, it was not actually Reading Group, that would be the SECOND Thursday of the month.

On the upside, taking books back into the charity shop, they still have the "Fill a bag for £5 " special.

So, I took 6 books in, came out with 11.

Hello *warmer* weather

Today I saw a swallow. I was quite excited, until, unbidden, into my head , came the warning ...

"One swallow doth not a summer make"

Aristotle.

Don't be too impressed, I thought it was Shakespeare, I had to google it.

I have spent the rest of today looking for more swallows, but alas, nope.

Nonetheless, it has been a lovely day.

I mowed the lawns and trimmed the edges.

Trimmed the edges by hand because I am still scared of that strimmer that nearly amputated my leg.

Also, again, mowed the neighbour's  half of the lawn.

For my Saffa readers, I know this sounds odd, but in a semi detached, one often shares a piece of lawn.

I also edged and weeded his half.

Mainly because it seems ridiculous to just do half of a garden, also because he doesn't do it and it looks like shit.

Dr Lauren says that I am NOT the garden police.

( I am also not the Facebook police, the Bus Timetable  Police or the Waitress  Police)

I still go with " If you do not tell them, how will they know?"

Don't tell her that.

She is in a delicate condition.