While the Cat's Away......

Johan has been back in KZN going on two months now and it appears that when he is bored he breaks down a little more of our house.....

The idea was that while he is there and before we move back, he renovate!!!!!!  Renovate being the operative word I think. I do seem to remember him saying something a few weeks ago about how Wilfred likes to destroy and every day that he arrives home after a days work, there are bigger holes and more rubble.  Not being there to see for myself though it is difficult to visualize what is happening.

Well within minutes this evening I had two messages come through to my phone...one from Sara and one from Jess.  Both have been to Willow Lane today and both are intrigued by what is going on.  Sara's response to it all is that at least Wilfred is guaranteed of a job for a while!!!!!!

Here are some photo's that Jess sent...not all great but anyway you will get an idea.....and hopefully sometime soon there will be some progress photos to show....lol

 Matthew and Johan checking something... from the front of the house looking onto the verandah.  Plaster removed from wall.  Gutters Removed.  Eaves coming down Some roof tiles removed to reveal trusses.

 The end of the house is just a shell.  This is the dressing room off the main bedroom. Everything removed - fittings, flooring and plaster

 The ensuite bathroom...also stripped.  This is the outlet pipe for the toilet.

 Looking from the dressing room to the main bedroom.  There was a huge fireplace and chimney which has been removed - hence the pile of bricks.  The ceiling has also been removed.

 The bathroom...the bath used to be against the end wall (right hand side wall)

 This photo is a mystery...lol...not too sure where this one is

 I think this is the ceiling of the front verandah...being removed to reveal the trusses and roof tiles

 Looking up at the roof extension over the french door in the bedroom

 Taken from the side of the house...I think again!!!!  This is the outside of the bedroom

Front view of the extension leading into the bedroom

Womans Day and the 'Charitea'

Womans Day was the 9th August and although we never get involved with celebrations of any kind for our numerous public holidays, this particular day NiQi was invited to be photographer for a charity event, as well as to deliver a speech.  The money collected was to be donated to the Organ Donor Foundation which is having a huge awareness campaign throughout this month too.  As you may know if you have read previous blogs of mine, it was the same day that we put our foal, Titan, down....a very sad day for us indeed.

Anyway NiQi was quite oblivious to any of the events leading up to me fetching her from work and only heard about it on the way to the event after our vet phoned my cell phone several times.  We arrived in Johannesburg just after 1pm and met Fawn, a fellow cystic fibrosis patient and lung transplant recipient.  Fawn was the organiser of the event and if what we saw when we arrived was anything to go by, it promised to be a great time.

While Fawn and her team of ladies finished setting up before all the ladies arrived, NiQi started taking photos.  The colour scheme was black and white and the invitation had said we should dress like a lady.  Having been outside from early morning and given just 15 minutes to have a 'spring clean' and get dressed, I ended up choosing to wear a thin cotton summer dress.  Lucky I thought to grab a short sleeve blouse to wear unbuttoned over it should the weather change....well that may have been my thought at the time, but I did not allow for Johannesburg not being as warm as we were.  I FROZE the whole afternoon.....Jo'burgers arrived dressed to the nines in their winter attire and were obviously not going to be cold at all.  Anyway, mind over matter, I told myself every time I felt a chill going down my spine that it wasn't that bad and I survived until I got in the car to come home and could put the heater on to warm up.

The theme of the tea was obviously about organ donation and the idea was to get as many to sign up as organ donors as possible.  The eats were heavenly...all finger foods...deliciously divine...  There were 2 speakers, NiQi who spoke on the aspect of waiting for an organ donor and how her life has changed in recent years since realizing that to survive she needs a lung transplant; and Alice, who spoke post transplant and how she has received new life since her transplant.

After the speeches there was anticipated expectation of receiving a lucky draw gift.  NiQi and I didn't receive one but that didn't matter as the goody bags that were handed out were 'gift' enough.  We left to come home much later than I had hoped.  If you know me, then you know that our animals come first in my mind as they cannot fend for themselves, so arriving home as darkness was approaching, I had to quickly whip round and check everyone was still alright as well as feed the brood.  After the events of the previous evening and the morning before we left, I must admit the break was welcome and I did enjoy myself.   Fawn managed to get many of the ladies to sign up as organ donors which was great and after listening to both NiQi and Alice speaking, I think that some of them were given a new appreciation for life and saw things from a different perspective.

 

 

   

NiQi joins with SACFA promoting CF...

This year South Africa's Cystic Fibrosis Association decided to break away from the rest of the world in using May for CF awareness.  Personal feelings aside about how it occured, I understood after a while that it was all for the greater good.

SACFA employed an events company in an effort to go all out and have the biggest national campaign ever....and when I say big, i mean BEEEEG!!!  After all these years of living with, trying to get involved with and making as many people as we know aware of Cystic Fibrosis, it saddens me that it doesn't matter what we do, we just do not have a loud enough voice in South Africa to draw attention to ourselves.  Without sounding mean and nasty or downright bitchy, there remain other diseases that progress forward from year to year, gaining more and more support and raising more and more funds, and this to put it bluntly is because there are so many more that suffer from them.  Sadly Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that most do not realize how expensive it is to look after...and the thing is  - it is life long!!!!!!!  There is NO cure and it DOES NOT go away after a while of being treated.  NO, rather it gets worse and with time affects not only the lungs and pancreas but eventually puts strain on the other vital organs of the body.  That being said, 2014 is hopefully the year that CF does make a national impact.

NiQi was given an opportunity to be a part of the national voice when last Wednesday she appeared on television.  Her interview was set for 8.15am and together with Dr. Klugman from the paediatric clinic at Charlotte Maxeke hospital, they were given a 15 minute slot on ANN7 (African News Network), which shows on channel 405 of DSTV.  I have to say at this point that God's planning is always perfect as it was scheduled for the same day of her clinic appointment AND not only that, but it happened to be on the same route.  Now normally we leave home at 5am to be at hospital by 7.30, but for those that read this blog quite regularly, do you remember the time that there was an accident on the highway and we ended up arriving for clinic after 10am...well we didn't want that to happen!!!!!    NiQi COULD NOT MISS HER TELEVISION DEBUT....lol  We decided that if we left at our usual time, it would hopefully give us plenty of leeway for any possibilities, and so we did.  The minute we drove onto the R101 we were amazed at the amount of traffic on the road so early in the morning which made my heart sink and my stress levels rise.  At least though we were moving and not standing still - which was a good thing.  At some point NiQi asked if I had any Rescue, to which I responded 'yes, at home in the bathroom cabinet'.  I don't think that was what she wanted to hear as it was a bit late now, but anyway if she was feeling nervous, she didn't really show it. We chugged along the road at a steady speed, through town, past Centurian and the Mint.  Not much further on from The Mint we turned into the complex where the television studios are situated....it was half past six!!!!!  Well I never thought that we would make such good time, especially considering the traffic on the road, but we did, and obviously we were veerrrryyyyy early.  The chap at the security gate let us in giving us instructions of where to park and radioing someone else to show us where to go.  Everyone was so friendly and I must say when we walked through the front door into the reception area, my preconceived ideas of what kind of a tv station it might be, were laid to rest.  I was impressed to say the least.  The staff chatted easily with us, all well dressed and well spoken.  We were shown into a waiting area and offered tea and coffee.  With quite a lengthy wait ahead of us we made ourselves comfortable.  I was ecstatic to hear that I may take photo's and also that I would be able to go into the studio too when NiQi went for her interview.  At about 7.45 someone called her to go through for 'hair and make-up', although they hardly did anything to her at all.  At 8 she and the doctor who had arrived a few minutes earlier, were called through to the newsroom.  Wow, again it was nothing like I expected.  With the presenter/host in the middle of the room sitting behind a desk, television screens taking up two walls with various news shows playing, staff watching and working, cameras on trolleys and wheels in various places on the floor.  The two of them were shown where to sit and had mics fitted to each of them.  The host was still busy with another report, but as soon as he had finished with that and a roving reporter had taken over, he gave them both his full attention, explaining what was expected from them and how long they each had to speak.  The rest is history.... NiQi was a star.  She spoke so eloquently, as if she has done this sort of thing a million times.  We were very proud of her and I think she did CF proud too.  Once the interviews were over we made our way back to the R101 and carried on our way to clinic...which is a whole other blog....