Moving on up to the Eastside

Let me tell you a story.  A story of great love, adventure and eventually of indoor plumbing.

I firmly believe that all couple should suffer for a short time when they start living together.  This way when you eventually get awesome stuff then you really really appreciate it.  You know, the small things, like indoor plumbing.  You've probably noticed that I've said Indoor Plumbing three times already and if you've ever had to live in a house with an outhouse then you'll understand that Indoor Plumbing is definitely a luxury and not a right.  


So to get back to couples suffering when they first move in together......  Deon and I lived in a very comfortable house in Pretoria *coughhate* and shared it with a *coughdirty* lady.  This lasted 6 months and then we decided to tell Impact meters to take their electricity readings and shove it.  I basically did the same thing with University and off we went on the first of our wonderfully weird adventures.  We lived in Swaziland for a couple of years, then off to Joburg for 3 months, then Parrrrrys! and now we've settled here in Hoedspruit.  I'm feeling the itch to go somewhere again, but I like it here too much.  If someone out there wants to offer us a job that pays a lot and is in the middle of no-where please contact me and we'll see if it's pretty enough where you want to let us live. 


Now what you've been waiting for:  photos of our move up to the eastside.  And just to make sure I'm referring to our move from struggling with outhouses to living in paradise.

Our entire house. I'm sitting on the bed while taking this pic

Monkeys on the roof every day - which was awesome

Our outhous and there at the back our roomhouse

View from the kitchen section of our houseroom

Braaing in the courtyard with our neighbour. You can see his room door

Me sanding down the Outhouse door because it wouldn't close

 This was the most awesome house D and I stayed in.  It was 32 square meters, had no hot water, no storage, no floor coverings, an outside toilet that we shared with 4 other people, only a basin with a cold tap, loads of power points and two windows.  But we loved this home with all our heart after I got over myself.  Why do you ask?  Because it was on the mountain called Sheba's Breast and walking distance from work.  But most of all we were 100% and absolutely free here.


So when we left SD we moved to Joburg waiting for a job to come through so we stayed with my sister in law Moya in her townhouse in a security complex.  Lovely place but I don't have any photos of it.


Now after staying in Joburg waiting in vain for a job for three months does tend to break the bank.  So we sold our Kruger Rand and moved off to Parys.  Where we found a house in our price range:  R 1450.00 per month water included.  As you can imagine it was on the wrong side of the tracks and definitely in the slums.  We got broken into 11 times in 9 months and we shared the yard with a neighbor who woke us up in the early hours of the mornings with pumping afrikaans sokkie treffers.

Mmmmm backyard

Damm you photorotation button! but this was our  washing line.  No lawnmower

This was our house on the left and our neighbors house on the right

So eventually we begged to be allowed to move into a much nicer place in a retirement village.  They allowed us after making sure we had no kids or pets and off we went!  O the old people stories I can tell you........

Then we moved to Hoedspruit where we lived for a year in the house right next to the one we're living in now.  It used to be a dorm for a guesthouse and we had not one, but three lovely toilets in stall-style right next to each other.  Got 5 guests in our house - no problem! 3 of us can go to the loo at the same time and still have a conversation.

And now, finally, we live in a house we love and you might even call it........ heaven.  We have hot water in the kitchen, indoor plumbing and a lovely private yard.  Now I just need to get a pet and everything will be as I want it to be.  Here are some photographs of my heavenhouse that I love with all my heart.

Our backyard and da boosh just before the first rain

Parking area

What I see from my back door

Busbabies living in my roof


If you read all the way to here - kickass.  I'm going through a little bit of a weird headspace at the moment because of some attunements I got, so I'm not feeling too funny.  So I thought I'd just share with you how Deon and I have missioned when it comes to living in different houses.  Next time I'll do a mullet one - I promise Jeremy!