No hot water on the farm, so we couldn’t bath last night. By this morning there was still no hot water. (this isn’t a common problem on the farm …) As Rochelle was supposed to be going into town for pilates, we decided to have a shower at the gym before going into Pietermartizburg (better known as just Maritzburg) for a shopping trip. I bought some gorgeous things and spent some money (not all on me). Rochelle managed to spend all her earnings from the strawberry day. But I think she spent it very wisely … and bought some pretty good bargains.

We got home and assembled all the purchases, and I must admit they look pretty fantastic. Next was time for me to find the confirmation for tomorrow’s trip in my email. They are still on a dial-up. I have forgotten how slow the internet can be. I will never complain again when my broadband is taking a bit of time to load …..

The rest of the evening was spent being completely silly with the kids. The first thing we did was spell our names with our bottoms, which always gets everyone laughing, we told the kids funny stories from our youth, trumpeted through our noses, and laughed at silly dreams we’d had. By the end of all this, it was way way past the kids’ bed times.

Andy managed to sort out the hot water problem, so there is hot water again, but I didn’t want to wait for him and Rochelle to finish (you can only run one bath at a time), so I have come to bed dirty after all. I think it is acceptable on the farm. I will have a bath in the morning before we leave for our pamper day /night. I am so looking forward to it, but can’t believe that I have only 2 more days with my sister and 1 day with the kids before it is time to head back to Pretoria. I really miss them so much and will miss them again desperately once I am back in “cold grey Country”! I really hope that they will be able to come and visit us too one day.

A cricket has just started it’s chirping. It is really making quite a racket, but I love it. Bed time!