Burst Water Pipe!!!!!

For about a month now I have been saying to Johan and NiQi, that I am sure we have a water leak somewhere.  My reasons for thinking this were, that for the amount of water that was pumped and the frequency of pumping, the tank was emptying far too quickly...and to verify that too - there were a few mornings when I turned the tap on first thing in the morning and there was no water coming out!!!!!

We have walked up and down from the tank to the flat and house umpteen times, looking for wet patches on the ground which would be a clear indication of a leak, however with the rains we have had, and fairly heavy rains too, it has been difficult to detect because the ground is generally damp.  Finally on Sunday morning, Johan's observant eye noticed a patch close to the house that looked more damp than the surrounding soil...aha...it could be the leak I was sure we had.

Thank goodness Johan asked Bongani to come and help clean up in the bird room over the weekend, so when he was finished with that he started digging.  Well Johan's observation was correct and at the 'T' joint leading to the house, the connection had broken and once dug open was spraying water quite fiercely.  Bongani first wrapped the pipes in plastic to try and stop the flow and then found a stick which he stuck in the side where the water leads from the tank, to close it off.

Next thing was to find a piece of water pipe of the same size!!!!!!

We have replaced many lengths of pipe over the years, all of which are different widths and thicknesses so there are loads of spare pieces lying around, but alas, none were the size we needed this time round.  This piece for some unknown reason is small in comparison...but as they say here - 'n boer maak 'n plan'...or 'a farmer makes a plan' - and Johan managed to find an offcut of metal pipe that is the same size.  For the interim it is fine and one day we will end up replacing everything with all the same size pipe...all of it plastic to stop corrossion.

The leak is gone...we hope...and if that was not the only one, then Johan's keen eyesight can pinpoint the next one as it becomes drier...

 Observers...lol  Louis - CF friend and NiQi

 Louis holding the pipe closed till the stick was put in

 Scooping water to get to the pipe

 Stick in the pipe to stop flow of water from tank

The Ladies Guide to Replacing a Broken Window Pane

There comes a time when a lady just has to put aside being a lady and get down and dirty...lol

Yesterday was just one of those days...we have had a broken window pane in Niqi's 'old' bedroom for years now, so long in fact that NiQi was doing home schooling at the time, and she finished with her A levels in 2009!!!!!  What happened was she was in her room trying very hard to study -  and not be distracted at the same time- when Jazza, her aunt's dog kept howling at the gate waiting for them to return and in desperation after shouting at the poor dog for the umpteenth time, she hit her fist against the window pane breaking it at the same time....

There has been many a mention of fixing the window over the years, but sadly it never makes the list when we go to town and only because we forget.  So finally when I went to town earlier in the week, I happened to put glass and putty on my shopping list.  The next step was to find the time to fit it.  Every week I have a list of things to be done and rarely do I finish the list but at least I mange to achieve some things on it.  Yesterday made the cut for window repairs...

Any 'first time ladies' wanting to try their hand at this, here are a few tips for you:

Remove the broken glass and old putty - wear goggles if you have them because if you become quite energetic and enthusiastic in your mission, there may just be pieces that fly up towards your eyes...hehe

Clean the inside of the frame with a wire brush,completely removing any tough pieces of dried, old putty. Wipe down with a damp cloth and dry it off.

Open the putty pack and work a piece in your hands until it is soft and pliable.

Pack the inside of the frame with a thin layer of putty.

Clean the piece of glass and place it inside the frame, pushing gently against the putty.

Take more putty and place over the top of the glass around the edges.  Work it evenly with fingers, pushing it in to keep the glass firmly in place.

Using the putty knife, make a smooth edge and mould the putty out towards the very edge of the frame.

On the inside of the window, fill in the crack between the glass and the frame with putty, neatening it off and removing any excess.

Clean up the window sills, both inside and out of  broken glass, old putty, dirt and excess putty that was worked off.

Now you have replaced one pane of glass you will notice that there will be more putty on the rest of the window that may need to be replaced - because it too is cracked and breaking off, the window frame also needs to be scraped down and re-painted as well as the burglar guard.  Once that window is done, every other window on the house will need to have the same treatment and then the exterior of the house will have to be painted...  The moral of this story - if you don't see your way to completing the 'full job',then leave the broken pane as is....BWAHAHAHA

First Time Hand Rearing Lovebirds

Breeding season is almost upon us and that is when chaos ensues in this household; when there are so many little birds to feed and a time table has to be kept of when to feed them.  Sawdust has to be changed every day otherwise they become stinky and attract the flies.  It is usually the African Greys and Ring Necks that we hand rear, but at the moment I have a brood of five Love Birds. 

It started with a friend from the budgie club buying up the entire Love Bird stock from a fellow breeder and amongst them were a number of little ones that were still too young to fend for themselves.  Johan, being Johan..lol...offered my services in hand rearing, and there you are, that is how it started...

I must say they are very easy to feed and as small as they are, they took to using a spoon quite easily.  I have been feeding them for a few weeks now and they are almost fully feathered which means they may start to eat on their own soon.  One little one is an absolute character, clambering up the side of the tub they are in until it is perched on the edge and Nix is keen to keep it as a pet.  I didn't realize that Love Birds make good pets until Johan responded to NiQi's thought about keeping it.  He reckons that in the old days hardened criminals were given love birds as pets to keep in their cells which helped with their rehabilitation...interesting.

As for these little ones that are just so cute and sweet, I hope that when they are placed back with the others, they will remember me...

Bath time for pups

Bath time!!!!!!!  Today was the day to wash and wax, powder and polish and make our pooches beautiful.  With these little ones it is easy enough to use our bath and since they were little puppies they have been used to going in the water to be primped and pampered, I just pick them up and put them in the water, lather the shampoo all over them, rinse them off and then let them take a wild jump out and have a good shake.  The next best thing to having a bone is to be let out after bath time to have a good roll...

Bathing the Great Danes when they were still alive was a different story.  We couldn't bring them in and put them in the bath because they were just too big, so we had a huge tub which we positioned close to the garden tap and while one of us held them with the lead, another lathered them up and scrubbed them all over, before they were rinsed with the garden hose.  They weren't great lovers of being bathed and I remember one day when it was my turn to hold the lead, I was busy with Trinity, not paying much attention, when suddenly she bolted up sending me off balance...poor thing didn't bargain for what happened next as I plopped down on top of her.  We both ended up getting soaked as NiQi continued to hose her - and me -  down, it all happened so quickly.  That would have been a photo moment for sure,just such a pity we didn't get to capture it....

For five minutes we have clean and sweet smelling dogs, until the next time...

 

Molly hanging her head...wonder what she's thinking 

 When wet she's so skinny

 Having a dry off

 Barney's turn

 Smelling the water

 Missed a flea mum...

 and another one...

 Todd - what is this on my back???

 Eeeuw this doesn't taste good, and look how dirty it is...

 Time to take cover under the table

 Okay, maybe I can come out now...

 Drying in the sun...

 Found another flea mum...

 You smell different....

 Aaaah time to relax...

 Play time!!!!

Blog Awards

This may seem a weird topic to blog about as it really has nothing to do with 'us' and Larkwood Life, but I have been sitting on this and pondering it for a while.  It all started when reading another blog and there on the side bar was a brand new 'blog award'.  Now this particular blog has won an award before - many years ago mind you, but still, it did and it has.  The person that writes this blog, writes fairly regularly and I am drawn to reading it, not because it is enthralling reading, or even insightful, but the author has an interesting topic.  In this last year, I have noticed that the style and mood of writing has moved from informative and interesting, to boring and depressing.  The blogger continues to complain about her c----- life, her horrible job, moans about just about everything under the sun, doesn't seem to know any other synonyms for 'nice'... and the only thing I enjoy at the moment are the pictures of her cat...and yet she has won an award.

So I did a little research into this award and realized that it isn't even anything to brag about as it is given out by a fellow blogger who obviously decided from their blog list who deserved a blog award from them....from best to 35th on their list.  Now if you are going to brag about receiving an award like this, surely it should be something of value, something to be proud of - like receiving an Oscar or an Emmy, then you can be justified in displaying it on your blog and bragging about receiving it.  I know I am being critical, and yes I have noticed some errors in some of my blogs, but these are things I would look out for if giving out an award.

Language - spelling and proper word usage, like 'there' instead of 'their' and 'you're' instead of 'your'...
Style of writing - including good sentence construction
Is it Topical - sticking to it's name and
Is it believable - does the content sound true to the circumstances

I then did further research into the SA Blog Awards, which have been handed out for some years now with big ceremonies and trophies etc, etc and I thought to myself, well here we are...at last something that is 'real'...that is until I read two blogger articles from the last two years that seem to think that the SA Blog Awards has turned into a farce and is not worth mentioning.  So, big sigh, what is a blog award for these days and who determines the winners?  Winning a blog award is like entering a competition, it's the luck of the draw and the decision is made by those who create the event...if they like your entry, you win....

Just watch this space, I'm going to give my own 'blog awards' and you better believe that they will be as worthy as an Oscar....BWAHAHAHA.....

Examples of  blog awards....

A Week of Saying Good-byes

The last few days have definitely been filled with tears and heavy hearts as first we heard of Noddy's passing and then yesterday we had put our beloved Smokey Joe to sleep.  Is it not strange that at the same time as our vet made the decision for us on behalf of Smokey, my sister and niece were saying their last good-byes to companion, Shadow, and my sister-in-law, Mariana made the decision to put their dog, Jazza down after years of debate.

Laying Smokey to rest was a huge shock for us and when we all woke yesterday, would never have thought the day would turn out the way it did.  We were still without power and Johan decided to connect the generator to the fridge and freezers as, now going into the third day, foodstuff in the freezers was defrosting. He wheeled the generator to the front verandah, connected all the extension cords to both the house and the flat appliances and started it up.  My word but a generator is a noisy thing, especially when you are in the immediate vicinity, and to stop too much racket invading our space, NiQi decided to close both the lounge windows and the front door.  Knowing Smokey was still outside somewhere, we made a mental note to keep an eye open for him so we could bring him inside.  He wouldn't have come near the front verandah with all the noise and that was the only route he took coming in and going out again.  Having lost his sight some years ago after contracting a virus, he went where things were familiar to him.  It must have been about 9.30, when I noticed him sitting up in the driveway, looking towards the house, so I went out the back to pick him up and bring him in..  I put him down next to his food, but he just sniffed, didn't eat anything and then disappeared down the passage.  It wasn't long before he came back to the lounge and jumped onto the coffee table.  NiQi noticed how deeply he was breathing, pulling his diaphragm right in as if gasping to breathe.  That's was when we both looked at each other and knew he needed to go to the vet.  The only problem about our vet is that living in the country, he has consulting times from 6 to 10 in the morning and again from 4 to 7 in the evening.  The hours in between are spent operating and making 'house calls'.  I made a call anyway to his rooms as I hoped there was a vet available for us to take him in.  After explaining the situation the receptionist said I should take him in then.  NiQi still had to get dressed, which usually takes an hour plus and many outfits strewn all over the floor, but yesterday was an emergency and she managed in '5' ....  The vet was busy with someone else when we arrived but asked for Smokey to be put into one of the cages while we waited so he wouldn't get stressed.  Finally when she examined him she told us he didn't have a temperature, which was a good thing and she didn't think he was in pain but she couldn't hear his heart properly because he was purring...I thought that purring meant he was content, so I was pleased and said as much, but she said that purring also occurs when they are stressed.  She thought he had a pleura infusion, which excited NiQi because she knows all about them having gone through that herself, but worried us both because we know how serious it is.  She said she would give him a diuretic and start him on an antibiotic but he would have to stay overnight and then we would reassess the situation.  That's when we cried and cried and cried some more, but she reassured us and I believed he would probably be able to come home with us the next day.  An hour later Johan phoned.  Our regular vet was back in his rooms and had examined Smokey thoroughly including doing a blood test.  He told Johan Smokey had cancer and it was best to put him to sleep.  More tears and lots of sobbing, we made lunch all the while talking about Smokey and then made the drive back to the vets.  I was so hoping we would be able to hug him and kiss him and say good bye, but when we arrived our vet had already put him to sleep and performed an autopsy.  The cancer was he said, a very aggressive form that had metastasized within a few weeks throughout his little body.  He had a mass the size of the palm of my hand near his lung which finally caused the rapid and deep inhalations we saw yesterday.  If only we had known....but as our vet said to us, cats are really good at masking any ill health until it is too late.  As suddenly as Smokey walked in through our front door all those years ago and decided that this looked like a good place to stay, so too he was suddenly gone...beautiful, calm, quiet, a playmate for Rolo and a friend and companion to us, he will stay in our hearts for many a day...

As we left our vet I chatted to him about Trinity, our Great Dane, who at ten years old now is battling to stand and move around.  She still has a healthy appetite and as the matriarch of our doggy family, firmly disciplines the pups, but it is time.  We left it too long with Neo and I don't want to do the same to her.  Johan has the honour this afternoon after work, I've had enough for one week....Our family is getting smaller as they age, they are our children, and as a mother who has lost a child of her own, let me tell you, the heart-sore is the same, it's just easier and quicker to heal.

Beyond Ridiculous

I am fed up, so much so that I could spit....

This last few weeks we have had so many power failures that it is no longer acceptable as far as I am concerned.  ESKOM threaten to load shed because they can't supply us with enough electricity and here we sit in rural lands, just outside the hub of the country, where the municipality doesn't seem to be able to keep us connected anyway.  It's not like it's even an hour here or an hour there, but it's anything from 12 hours and longer at a time.  Last night we were without power from about half past four in the afternoon, right through to just before seven this morning.  As I've mentioned before, we are geared up for outages to a degree but my biggest bugbear is that ultimately it affects NiQi's health.

She has been home for a week today and as it is she didn't come back feeling as chipper as she was hoping to so she really needs to keep up with her treatment as best she can.  So last night with no power, it meant firstly that she couldn't run her feed through her PEG, and secondly she couldn't use her oxygen machine.  It's a good thing she had a full cylinder to use, which managed to carry her through the night...but guess what??????  Currently we are again with no electricity and if it doesn't come on before tonight then she is going to have to go through the night without oxygen and miss another feed.  At least she is able to do her nebulizers as the inverter is gives enough to be able to run her machine to do them.....GRRRRR I've had enough now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!