Great day all around.

Joh, Peter, This night was just typical. Ingrid began in the bunker as the wind was blowing and some time during the night she was upstairs in the bed next to me. Not too bad until 05h00 when the rain visited. Pelting the roof like a thousand drummers at the Edinburgh Tattoo. Deafening! So we were awake. I do not know how long it lasted, but we did fall asleep again and were out of bed performing the ritual kettle boiling and coffee ceremony. Justin was also awake early and so was Riley.

Wet and windy this morning, but mostly wet. Time for Plan B. Puzzle time. Ingrid and Justin sat down and got their spatial minds into gear and off they went. A little later the man with the hammer, Justin and his box of tools was looking at one of the door locks as last night he managed to lock himself in the room. This because the lock (not the lock itself, but the thingy that comes out and latches into the other door frame did not return enough to allow the door to re-open. Fiddle and fiddle, but it was in it's moer (lightly translated - broken or F...ked). A whole new inner locky thingy was required. 

Seeing as it was before 09h00 we did not expect things to be open, but the local building supply store was open and Justin bumped into the store manager whom he knew from kids at school and we were given some solid advice about a whole deboned chicken that was only available at the market once a week. We were advised to be there early as Nana sold out within an hour. Good to know. Market was postponed last weekend, so Nana must have left over stock! Internal lock in the pocket.

Next stop was the village supermarket for some supplies. Granular coffee is quite big here in South Africa and we needed to restock. Brother showed us the ropes and we got the refil which is cheaper per kilogram than buying a new bottle. In the pocket. Water, water, my kingdom for some water. In the pocket. Off once again to Baker Barry for another round of Grazers Lasagne. It was good last week and we were sure that Brother would enjoy it with some grass fed bovine, as would I. Last stop was the bottle store for a bit of beer for later.

Breakfast was served. Once again Toast, bacon and eggs with cheese for Justin and I, and Ingrid enjoyed a yoghurt with berries and stuff.  "Maagies vol, oogies toe".  Full stomach = Eyes shut.  I lay on the bed with Ingrid, but we both could not find the darkness. After a bit we got up and had some tea.

By now the weather had cleared and it was looking gorgeous out. A very light next to nothing wind, and due to the wind direction as very calm sea. I put the surfski on the roof and set off for main beach for a lovely paddle out to the point and perhaps a little ways beyond, but there were a few surfers out behind the break and I paddled past them and turned around to catch a wave before setting off for the point. the afternoon and the waves and the weather was absolutely to order. Who would have thought after this morning and the puzzle marathon? 

I think that I could have caught waves till eternity as they were so perfect for my surfski. What bliss! I could have stayed there all day, but decided to paddle to the point as intended. Lovely to pass a surfer and ask him or her how they were enjoying it and getting those just lovely beaming people who were at that moment one with our Mother.

Last wave back to the beach and Ingrid was sitting on the beach waiting. She had walked from Jackpot along the beach to main beach and was sitting watching me. On coming back from the point I once again caught a large wave, but i got turned over in the white water and had to climb on again. No problem in the Vault.

I asked Ingrid if she had her bikini with her. She had, but no towel with her. I had one in the car, so she changed into her bikini and took a swim. Justin suited up for his surf and once Ingrid was done we sat on the grass and watched Justin and others catching waves whilst looking after Riley. When Justin came out of the water we had a little chat and I packed up and set off for home with Ingrid.

When we got home I noticed that 2 of my beers were missing, but also 2 of Justin's beers. Ships, he had packed a few beers into a cooler bag and taken them with him to the beach. Had I known that I would have popped one open at main beach. Not complaining as I popped a top and sat at the front of the house on the steps and enjoyed a nice cold beer in the afternoon sun. Perfect!

Justin came home and I told him that he should have let us know that he had beers with him at the beach! A typical response from him, "You did not ask". Truth he speaks. It would have been a sin to stay at home, so we bundled into the car and set off once again for main beach to sit and watch the ocean and enjoy the view  whilst sipping on a cold one. I think that I could have stayed there for 46 years. It was just wonderful. Other than the fact that it would turn dark at some stage (Stage x  load shedding, heeehee), I could not think of anything negative. Just sublime! Picture it! One could not ask for better.

I forgot that I had my first business appointment this Sabattical at 10h30. Forgot that we were an hour ahead, but realised on time that I would have to wait an hour longer before the meeting began. Confirmed with meeting delegate. 10h30 and we were having Monday morning blues. Delegate was instructing me what to do and was telling me that I had to click on something that was just not on my screen. Technical issues. It took about 15-20 minutes and with plan B we were online and talking. He ran me through the steps and stages and I could follow quite easily. Total time was over an hour and we are ready to begin with our joint venture. I am fully confident that this is a good option for our business. Let's do this!

I honestly could not tear myself away from the beach and the wonderful care free feeling that I think all 3 of us were having, but load shedding was going in at 19h00 and we needed to cook the grazer lasagne in the oven. Into the oven it went and I started the fire for the bovine accompaniment. Our timing was pretty close with both dishes and we sat in the front of the house on the steps eating supper. I made a comment about the lasagne being a lovely cheese sauce that went so well with the bovine pieces. Brother even went back for more "cheese sauce". Scrumptious!

Ingrid has taken position in front of the TV for her series and Justin and dog lady have gone to bed. It is dark here in Africa. Dark outside as the sun is on load shedding for 12 hours or so and dark inside as Eskom is on load shedding too. Lol. I see a bunch of employees sitting on bicycle and peddling like mad and then they get a break for lunch or dinner etc and boom, out goes the power! Heehee. It is pretty sweet that the laptop has a battery that lasts for a little longer than it takesto sit here and type this blog. Oftentimes I am reliant on the battery, so make sure that it gets charged when possible.

Speaking of that, my Dad phoned brother this evening about his laptop not having any power. Is it plugged in? Always the most common fix, but according to Dad he had thought of that. Lol. I think that the problem was in the connection between the wire running from the black box (transformer) to the laptop. Often that will jiggle loose and then laptop does not charge. I am not sure what he did but it started to charge again and he could start the dead laptop. I am not sure if he got it all the way to 100% revival, but at least he had power and that would charge the battery. I will ask him tomorrow.

My Mother had called on the whatsapp line, so I called her back after dinner. No news is good news, Same old, same old. We speak quite often. Ingrid had spoken to her parents yeaterday, so the Opa's and Oma's were up to speed. Bo was in Lille yesterday and today and had a sugar low this afternoon and we diagnosed and sorted out the problem. She is okay now and safely home. 

Yesterday Fleur sent out an SOS and Ingrid called her back. Fender bender (Blik schade). She had had a minor accident at the local supermarket in the parking lot and had damaged someone elses car. Thankfully nobody was hurt except their car. Our car apparently has no damage. Trauma for the kid, but she wrapped her head around it and got it sorted. I am sure that at home she may have hugged Toby extra tight....

Today she let her Mom know that it was a great day. After rain,comes sun! I guess we all had a good day today. Cheers to today!