Good Day "34"

Hello everyone, hopefully you're all well and having a good day. Our electricity just came on again after a 6 hour outage - the 6th one in 3 weeks. What a place this is. Infrastructure is slowly but surely falling apart. No one can drive in a straight line in this city any more because we have to dodge potholes. Instead of fixing them they just errect signs warning that there are potholes. As the transatlantic cousins would say, "go figure!" People are now successfully sueing the local council for damages caused by crumbling roads and potholes. If you have low profile tyres and alloy wheels you definitely don't want to let a wheel hit a pothole.

After 2 or 3 warm days it is cold again today. Why does the electricity always fail on cold days? It can't be due to demand because there's high demand on hot days too due to air conditioners. Maybe they have a warped sense of humour and just turn it off to annoy everyone. 

By the way Ron, me old mate, how is Anna's dad doing? Improving I hope.

Bye for now, I need to go and boil some water for tea seeing as there is power again!

Was wondering that myself Ron, how the father in-law was doing.

Syd..our first winter was one of streets not yet in place and houses still being built...our downstairs had the insulation but not sheet rock, the upstairs was finished off though....and your right..we have the modern new underground wiring...which is hooked to poles that down the street going into town that blew transformers like popping balloons...so we were without everything. But from that, we added an wood stove...and an propane BBQ to cook on outisde the door year around...and I buy bottled water to drink...and I keep my pantry.Our being scouts see's us with plenty of sleeping bags also...and camping supplies. We have an few portable propane type space heaters also. My hubby got an small snow blower as his Christmas present last year. Grandkids come into my house for the day if there's no school where they live also. I would like an generator for at least one freezer to help with that and maybe our electronics.I have no problem stringing an clothes line across my garage if need be either. In short, we have prepared about the best we can since that first winter, and we take things into consideration of how we do them, I'm thinking of building an against the house  plastic type greenhouse to grow some of our leafy salad veggies over winter also.I do buy more things in canned goods though as i've lost my freezers for one reason or another several times now. I have an LOT of ice chests around here....if I can keep one freezer in ice....I have no problem with that either...as long as the temps dip under 50 degrees most anything can sit outside if covered an be considered as refrigerated...my sister in-law use to do that all the time up in Washington State with the left overs from her Thanksgiving dinner.Besides the propane BBQ to cook on, I have other such devices for heating water with...or I keep my old ones...one for coffee and hot chocolate...and one for just hot water. I buy some disposables to eat out of so we can burn those also and not have to do dishes. I have our boat right out my door so as to not get flooded, but we have been challlenged by that already also, so I know where the water would run...and it's in my neighbors to the north of me. One of the last owners there put in an extra grate across the driveway to help stop that also.  Trees we work on now, cutting them and trimming them...and hopefully they can make it. I don't worry about ever buying to much food...as I share it with my sister or my kids to keep it rotated. Lights I don't worry about to much either, with camping laterns and the fireplaces, we can survive. Those book lights work good while reading an book...bundled up an an blanket and sipping on something warm to drink...yes, we have tea also..all the way up the side of the wall next to the microwave oven. My dad at one time lived off the grid, no outside utility needs. He started with an wood stove in his dining room near the table to cook on and keep warm. Our biggest problem is the re-forestation of the trees after the forrest fires every year...they do very little of it and in the kind of trees suitable. But dad told us an long time ago to line our wood stove with bricks to help us...as they heat up and retain it after the fire goes down. Did you know one of the world's biggest concerns is enough growing trees for third world countries to make fires?..it is Much of these type of people are still living daily off fires like we would in "camping"...they walk many miles in some cases to find enough wood to cook their dinners daily..for lack of trees..

Am in luck today...the guys showed up to replace the house gutters. I hope all goes well, as this was an concern for over this winter to us also...in preparation of having them repaired. So next comes the oral surgery in an couple of days and then my hubby's leg fixed before the Holdiays....knee replacement and I guess we have things back up to running order an bit better.  We could stand to have our truck repainted also, and be saving some money to replace the car with an better one also in the days ahead. I work at it...am always at work on some kind of something around here. It seems to never stop.With that...I go for today...see what I can get done also...Have an good day everyone!

Busy as ever I see Shirley!  

Nice to hear from you Syd - what roads?  We've been lucky with the electricity but water has been a bit of a problem recently!! 

Glad to hear Don is happy and comfortable and wonder what more one could hope for at this time.

Hope you are all having a good day/evening! 

After reading the " Blue Crystal Skul"l in an book and it being in England...started reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Lady of Avalon"...also based in England AD 98-118...looks like she just returned from watching her sister and husband killed and has taken in their 10 year old son under her protection to raise..he's got some special significance to his birthing. I also got so busy Catherine that I fell  to sleep and napped for three hours after the repair people left.

Hubby went to the doctor today about his knee replacement...in a about four weeks from now...they are working now to set it all up..he will  do some of this on his yearly "vacation" days....as to his recuperating time. I was able to do some grocery shopping and clean out the refrigerator an bit after the guys left, before the nap.....Going to read some more now..so talk later on. Added mushroom soup...an case of chili and half an case of corn to the Pantry today also.

Hi Syd!  We lived in Pietermaritzburg from 1974-1986, very gracious and attractive City it was then!!  Last time I went through there I said it would be the last time I went through!!  How very sad to see everywhere declining, neglected and trashed!

Your roads MUST be REALLY bad if you think the ones up here are better!

Not sure what the cops would do anywhere when badly outnumbered by armed gangs, whether they be rioters, looters, strikers, etc.  The two Union factions are so Politically motivated, so who knows what lengths they might go to?? 

Forgot to wish you all a very good day - we are already half way through another week! 

Do you realise it is just over 18 weeks until Christmas??  lol, thought you would enjoy that piece of information!!