Down to Rubble

So, this looks set to be a rough week. Last weekend I got a call from Daddio on Friday evening, telling me my grandfather (his dad) was not doing so well. We recently (in Jan) moved him down from Natal (where the family used to live) to Montagu (where my uncle now lives). It didn't make sense for him to stay so far away from anyone in the family. Originally he'd been opposed to moving but I think that is old-aged stubbornness.

Daddio and The Peeb went up to Montagu to visit him this weekend. Things are not good. So not good that I am probably going to be making an emergency trip to Cape Town before the end of the week, although I won't get to see him again before he dies. Seems he stopped eating a week and a half ago (Dad says if he has a teaspoon of yogurt a day it's a lot!) and is just skin and bone. Sleeping thru his last few days. It is time. I am sad, but I know he's tired and has had enough of this life. He has been saying he's had enough for quite some time now. It's still sad, but only for us. Not for him. They're giving him some pain meds (in case, since they don't really know if he's in pain) and the doctor says his kidney's have started to fail. Mom has cancelled her birthday party which was supposed to be this coming Saturday.

It feels like a weird limbo. I haven't really made plans since we're spending most of our time on the renovations (which sadly means The Trucker will not be able to join me when I go home for the funeral), but I still feel like we're just quietly waiting now.

But, aside from the damper that put on my Sunday, the rest of the weekend was pretty good. Well, Friday was Valentines Day but that didn't go so swimmingly.

The Trucker and I started out the day with a bit of a fight. Not a screaming shouting one, but a Whatsapp back and forth "discussion". No wishing of Valentines Day here :P But then I got home in the afternoon and we sorted everything out and got on with things as planned. Luckily by the end of the evening we were definitely full of the loves for each other again.

Usually I just do a simple dinner at home for the two of us, both times an outdoor dinner with candles and what not. I decided this year that we should celebrate at the new house. Although the inside of the house was a giant pile of rubble, the outside stoep was clear and we went down early to enjoy the sunset.

I took along a bottle of pink Pongratz and ordered a Pepperoni Pizza (ah, memories of America) from Pizza Perfect since we needed something easy to eat and, of course, red Lindt balls for dessert. It turned out to be a lovely evening in the end.



On Saturday morning, he headed to the new house to get started on clearing the rubble (they'd spent the last 2 days chipping out tiles, taking out flooring and the kitchen and bedroom cupboards). I popped down before I headed off to brunch. The place is such a mess! It's insane what they've done already. Yip, gutted the whole place (I have included some photos from Renovation Day 3, from Saturday morning: Above is the view of the kitchen & lounge and to the right is the main bathroom toilet & shower).

On Sunday they built the new kitchen wall and today they'll plaster it while another guy finishes chipping out the bathroom tiles and The Trucker paints the walls where the new bedroom cupboards are going. This afternoon I'll probably start painting the feature wall in the bedroom (it's a slightly darker colour and we're using that suede paint). There is not a lot I can do to help here ...

And then I headed to brunch at Papachino's where I met up with @louisabouwer, @Arkwife and @RubyLetters. Awe, so awesome to see the girls! And their kiddies (how beautiful is that photo I took of @Arkwife's newest addition? Too gorgeous.). A fabulous way to spend a morning :)

After that I ran around, getting the guys clearing the rubble some lunch and checking out some nursery's for the trees we want for the garden. We're putting in Acacia's and some Potato Tree bushes. The Trucker wants a Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (he loves that plant!) and I went to look for the ground cover they've got at the place we're staying now that seems to have survived the bunnies :)

And then I went to actually do some gardening for the rest of the afternoon. I cut away so much of the overgrowth. Yoh.

We were exhausted by the time we got home, the rest of the evening was spent in front of the TV. We watched The Thomas Crown Affair again. I love that movie. We'd heard the trademark song (Sinnerman by Nina Simone) on an episode of The Blacklist during the week and it triggered us both wanting to watch the movie again! Still brilliant.

On Sunday morning we headed to breakfast and then straight to Builder's Warehouse to buy the paint. After that, I did the grocery shopping while The Trucker went to check on the building of the new kitchen wall.

In the afternoon, I tagged along to watch his LMS Cricket game. It's been ages since I went, but I didn't want to be home alone yesterday afternoon. It was a really nice (although long) afternoon.