Air temp 32degC, pool temp 30degC

Having our first really hot day of Spring today. No wind yet, sea turquoise. Days like this I really know why we like living here. Ask me again tomorrow when the South-Easter is howling, and I may have to think about it.

Cape Cobra

When we came back from the beach yesterday morning, Sarah shouted "Tommy's got a snake!" when she got the beginning of our path (first, as always). I thought it must just be a large lizard, and that she probably just saw the tail-end of it. But no. It was a small Cape Cobra. Tommy (Sarah's cat) either just saw it, or had been annoying it, but Sarah said he jumped a foot or two backwards into the air. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have been bitten, and he ran off without having to be closed up. Common sense. We closed Honey up just to be sure she didn't get too close.

I got a pole and the braai-tongs and a bucket and thought I'd do a Crocodile Hunter impersonation. Unfortunately, the little snake (30cm or so) was under a bush, so I couldn't get to it easily. I know you have to hold them down behind the head so that they can't bite, but doing that on soft sand didn't sound that easy. The snake had it's head up and flattened and was striking at the pole when I got too close. I just couldn't get to the back of its head with the braai-tongs (which handle was also a bit short for my liking).

So I forgot about Crocodile Hunter and did Damsel in Distress instead. I phoned the neighbours. I told them I wanted to try to catch the snake rather then kill it, but when they arrived with only a sharp spade, I knew the poor snake was history. Long story short, they confirmed that it was indeed a Cape Cobra (very poisonous), and killed it.

I am so, so cross with myself about this. The poor snake was only looking for a mouse or something, and ended up dead. Of course, I am justifying it to myself that I won't be very comfortable with kids and cats all over the place, thinking that there could be a deadly snake in the garden. Not that I would know if there are any anyway, as they obviously lay low most of the time (pun not intended).

In our 5 years here, I've never seen a snake close to the house, so maybe this poor little one had strayed a bit farther than normal from it's territory (are snakes territorial?). Let's hope the rest of its family stay away from our dune. It's horrible to just kill a snake on sight (even if you KNOW it's dangerous). There's no line that says "your space", "my space" and because of my ignorance of what to do, the snake ended up dead. It might just happily have slithered away never to be seen again, but just because I DON'T KNOW anything about snakes and their manner, I can make myself believe that killing it was the only option. People fool themselves about all sorts of things all the time. Ignorance is bliss and all that....

Flying Spiders

We've got spiders flying all over the place this morning. Nice still day (so far), and very hot so there are nice thermals for them get up into the air. When you look up into the sky, there are little strands of white spiderweb all over the place. There are a few swallows flying amongst the spiderwebs too, but the little spiders are so tiny, I don't know if they make much of a snack. The other day when we were driving back from Vredenburg, there were strands of spiderweb blowing from the telephone-lines all along the road. I wonder where all these little spiders hatched and where they are going to end up. Some of them are really high up in the sky so they could end up far, far from here.

I don't know anything about which kind of spiders do this, or if they all do. The only reason I know that spiders do this at all if from Charlotte's Web (the movie). Must look it up. They more you learn about things, the more you discover how little you know. Life is one long learning experience.

Forget WII, just give the kids a box

The kids have dragged the fridge's box off the rubbish heap in the driveway, and have happily been turning it into a house in the garden. They even have a granite offcut for a kitchen counter and a kitchen cupboard offcut for a shelf. Having a ball. So much for hi-tech. :-)

Some more pics too.

Keep waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel....

I should probably be dusting something or putting something away, but since there's still not any other rooms finished-finished, it's a bit of a waste of time. The minute we dust and polish something, someone seems to find a reason to sand something in that vicinity and it has to be cleaned all over again. Wasted effort.

The kitchen is ALMOST done. The granite went in yesterday, which has made quite a difference. The kitchen people are still fiddling around here trying to finish off the kitchen in the guest suite. As far as I knew they only had to put glass in 2 doors and put on 3 drawer-fronts and an extraction fan, so heaven knows what is taking so long. In our kitchen there's a few things that aren't right, but over-all it's looking like a completely different kitchen (which it is). I will keep the things that I'm unhappy with for the snag list, and not bore you to tears with it. I should probably clean and repack the kitchen tonight. Must see if there's any of Stewart's wine that I can drink for some motivation.

The paving has progressed quite a lot today, and is looking good. None of the 'grout' has been done yet, but they may get to that tomorrow and then it will look even better. I hope it doesn't take too long to set, as the pool is getting cleaned tomorrow and I will then run out of reasons to keep the kids out of the pool. Except that the water will still be very cold. That reminds me, I'd better go and look for a hosepipe to fill the pool to the brim as per the pool guy's instructions.

The painters are hard at work, but they still haven't finished any of the rooms. They hope to finish on Friday, so here's hoping. They varnished our wooden floor today, so it's off limits for a while. Tonight I officially have nowhere to sleep. Will have to have a sleepover with Shannon. Will probably have to wear Shannon's clothes too since I can't get to our wardrobe. Now that will be a sight to behold.

PG Glass has been to install the shower doors. The one in the guest suite looks fine, but the one on our bathroom has a big gap on the one side. They ran away very quickly before I could even check, so I will have to get them back here tomorrow. Fortunately, we've only paid the deposit so they have some incentive to come and fix it.

The plumber has installed our toilet, basin tap and shower-head. I've hoping it looks nice, but I can't get into the bathroom to see because it's full of bedroom furniture. The shower floor has been grouted, and all the other bathroom tiling done too. Some of the border tiles are a bit on the wonky side, but I will happily live with it if I can just have my bathroom back. It's been quite nice having a bath (in Shannon's bathroom) in the morning actually -- it's seem like a more relaxing way to start the day than having a quick shower.

Some more photos

Getting somewhere at last?

Don't want to sound prematurely optimistic, but it does seem that this week things have been moving forward a bit. The kitchen people haven't finished yet, but will come and do the last few things when the granite guy comes to do the countertops. They said that some of the drawerfronts didn't fit, so have to be made from scratch. My cookbookshelf is also still missing, and some of the drawer handles have to be done. I thought they would be finishing tomorrow but they obviously have to wait for the new doors and drawerfronts. Don't know when they discovered this but the people who spray the panels are very slow. I was hoping that I could pack things back into the kitchen, but that will have to wait a bit longer. The guest suite kitchenette in not that far from finished -- missing drawerfronts, glass in some of the doors and the extraction fan.

The painters have been busy in our room and on the staircase. The first coat of paint is on, so maybe they will finish that tomorrow. Lets hope they don't get distracted by something else. The floor still has to be sanded, so no moving back into our room for now. Would be nice to not have to dress out of a washing basket every day. Strange how you stat appreciating the small things in life -- like wardrobes! :-)

The windshield wall by the studio doors has been built and most of the one wall out to where the driveway gates have to go. One of the painters gave most of the new boundary walls its undercoat.

Buks has been busy tiling in our bathroom. It's looking rather nice so far. Unfortunately, we've now run out of the border tiles. We were planning at some stage to tile the shower differently, so I didn't measure in there for the border. Damn. Will have to get those sent up quickly before Buks goes off in a huff.