Parkhurst Prawn

As you know, Africa has lots of unique flora and fauna.  Most people think of elephants, lions, and wildebeest, but the smaller forms of animal life here are pretty unique and amazing also.   We have some small lizards that run around on our walls in our garden.  We have a small fish pond filled with cute Carassius auratus auratus.  

 A dead Libanasidus vittatus that was pulled out of our pool.  They are terrible swimmers.  Note that the measuring  tape is in centimeters! (Should the antennae count in length measurement?  You decide?)

One creature that strikes fear in the hearts of homeowners in the Johannesburg suburbs is the Parkhurst Prawn. (It is also known as the Parktown Prawn or the African King Cricket.)  We have had some up close and personal experiences with one of these creatures.  They get their name because of their similar size and coloration to a prawn and the fact they have become commonly found in the in the Park suburbs of Johannesburg.  They are a favorite food of the Hadida Ibis, which I will describe in a future post.

We find these crickets on a somewhat regular basis floating in our swimming pool.  We try to rescue them when we can, but often it is too late.  Read more about them here in Wikipedia!

Its Christmas Time (Quince Hopkins post)

Hi how do you do. As you can probably see this post is about CHRISTMAS!

Quince with her friend the Christmas Lion Cub!

It's Christmas in Summertime!

If you don't know, it is summer when we have Christmas in South Africa.  I always have a dream of being in front of the fire, but now my dream has been booted downwards and until we have a house that has a fireplace in Boston, my dream will never come true.

Beach cushions, beach towels and Christmas trees

Sister Quince is Coming Soon

Peter Twichell got the award for first visitor but sister Quince is going to get the award for first family visitor and first visitor on a non-work related trip. She is arriving 13 December and we can't wait.

I will give her a day to get over jet lag and then we are off and running. Here are some things planned: tour of Soweto - hopefully by my friend Oupa; trip to Lesedi Cultural Village, described by lonely planet guide as cheesy and touristy, yet fun; day trip to Pilanesburg - see post below; visit to Cradle of Humankind to learn about where we all began; trip to African Crafts market so Quince can buy us stuff to hang on our walls; tour of Constitution Hill; day at Apartheid Museum.

But let me tell you about our Christmas Eve and Christmas plans. Christmas Eve we will drive up to Hartbeesport Dam (a little over an hour away) for a 10am tour of the Elephant Sanctuary including hand-in-trunk walk with the elephants. Then we will go to the Welwitischia Country Market so Quince can buy us more stuff to hang on our walls and we will buy her lunch. A late afternoon walk along the dam, light dinner, and then off the Cheetah Lodge where we'll stay for the night. We'll have a two-course breakfast at the lodge, and will head over to the De Wildt Cheetah Center to see the cheetahs run, followed by a game drive around the reserve. We'll get back late morning, freshen up and have a Christmas lunch at the Center featuring "festive cold meats and salads." And then we'll leisurely make our way back to Jozi for a cozy Christmas night at home. I haven't quite figured out when stockings fit into this plan.

Maybe we can get Quince to be a guest blogger while she is here to post on Christmas with the cheetahs.

Weather News

I believe I was a little premature in congratulating the folks in charge of weather of here. Just in case you were getting very envious of our heavenly weather let me give you an update. I am sitting here in my sweat pants and fleece with chilly feet - which you might be too, but it is supposed to be summer here - hoping to see a little sun tomorrow after 4 straight days of cold, low lying clouds and rain.

Happy House News

To everyone out there reading this blog who was pulling for us to get the house of our dreams (remember walk-in closet and outdoor entertainment area) thank you thank you. We signed the lease on Monday night. To everyone out there who did not read out blog post, and was not pulling for us, thanks to you the owners would only commit to a one-year lease. So in a year or so, I may be pounding the pavement for new digs again - which will give all you non-blog readers a chance to redeem yourselves. But no use fretting over moving out before we've even moved in.

No, there is plenty of other stuff to fret about. Like how in the heck we will find someone to move us on 30 December when the whole city of Joburg (or the Big Smoke as it is sometimes affectionately called) closes down!!

Equally fretable is that the new place is unfurnished and as you know our current place is furnished - therefore doing the math, we will be moving with no furniture. Well, other than a bunkbed and chair which Aimee and Matt bequeathed to us so at least the kids will have a soft place to lay their heads, and Bill and I will squeeze into the little leather armchair to sleep.

Okay that is a little dramatic. Bill took the morning off yesterday and we flew around to all these furniture stores where I had done prior reconnaissance to check out the options. There is some beautiful furniture here, and I find myself caught between wanting a house furnished like I am a well established grown-up yet in the financial situation of a graduate student. Anyone have an old sofa they want to get rid of?

So, beds, dining table and a sofa are first priority. Oh, except fridge and washing machine are right up there too - rentals don't typically come with those white goods, so we must buy them too. And of course, a pot and some silverware will come in pretty handy, not to mention sheets for aforementioned bed. I was in our bathroom today, looked down and saw bathroom rugs. Okay, not first priority but you get the picture - there is a lot of stuff to buy when you are starting out with barely anything. Will our walls and floors stay bare for our duration here? Why why why didn't I pack a painting or two of my dad's?

Are you asking yourself why we find ourselves in this position in the first place? Because we thought for sure we'd be renting a furnished place - no need to bring a thing from the states. Then I found out from realtors that owners jack up the rental for furnished here beyond what I considered reasonable. So I got the bright idea that we would buy the furniture (which is very nice and very grown-up*) from the owners of this house we're currently in. They are divorcing and selling this house and I thought that they would want to liquidate all assets and sell cheap. Au contraire - they wanted to sell expensive. By the time I found that out I was already deep into the unfurnished rental market and there was no turning back. Especially when I found this house with you know - the walk in closet and covered outdoor entertainment area big enough for a dining table and lounge (did I already say that is South African for living room.)

And of course, said outdoor entertainment area needs to be furnished if we are to actually get any use out of it. Maybe I'll just entertain in the walk-in closet.

Stay tuned for photos of our new house come January.

*In fact it is the furniture in this house that has me coveting more grown-up furniture. You know our house in Boston - for heaven's sake half of the furniture we bought off a friend who was moving to South America and she had bought it from a second hand place; and the other half of our furniture was Ikea. Our dining room table was falling apart as Peter Twichell can attest to since his dinner nearly went on his lap one night. Our kitchen table was a hand-me down from my father and Marie. And Bill and I have never ever had a headboard - just box springs and mattress on one of those steel frames. In this house, we have a real headboard, and bedside tables that match. Twenty five years ago I was living in Africa in a house with no running water or electricity - now I am back in Africa, and I want a headboard and matching bedside tables. Oh how far I have fallen.

Busy Day

We had a very busy day on Saturday.  We started off with the Interhouse Gala ("gala" is South African for  "swim meet") at Quince's school.  It started at 8:30 am and went until 11:00 am.  Check-out the video.  For the complete experience you need to sit on a hard bench in the blazing sun and eat a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon.

The swim meet was incredibly well-organized.  We were given programs at the start of the competition that listed the order of the races, the names of the swimmers, house affiliation, and the lanes that each girl would be swimming in.  The girls sat on benches organized by houses and teachers would gather them into a staging area to get ready for their heat.  From the staging area, the girls would then line-up behind the starting blocks waiting for their turn to race.  At the end of the heat, they would stay in the water until the judges had determined the order of finish.  When the judges were done they would blow a whistle and the girls would climb out of the pool and sit with their house again.

Quince swam in 7 races and 3 different strokes.  The competition is quite strong and many girls are involved in extracurricular swim teams and training.  Quince is practicing 2 times a week at school and she has learned the breast stroke and back stroke.

After the gala, we rushed off to visit the house that we will be moving into at the start of the new year (see previous post).  This was Alexander and Quince's first visit to the house and we were nervous about their reaction.  However, we did't need to worry as they were both very excited about their rooms and the house.  It is closer to both of the kid's schools and only 2 kilometers farther from my work.  There is a grocery store, wine shop, flower shop, and a fruit and veg just down the street.

Caroline at Wanderers

After looking at the house and taking some measurements, we were off to the "First Annual Caroline Hopkins Invitational Tennis Tournament" at the Wanderer's Club which was being held in order to belatedly celebrate her birthday.  It was the hottest day that we have yet experienced and we really sweated out on the courts.  Next years tournament will be scheduled earlier in the day.

The participants of the First Annual Caroline Hopkins Invitational Tennis Tournament

After tennis, we were joined by more friends at our house where we had a braai with ribs, chicken, and veggie sausage.  We also discovered an easy way to cook a butternut squash on the grill; just wrap it in tin-foil and place it directly on the grill.  I had scheduled the braai at 3:00 pm which in retrospect I realized had many of our guests wondering if it was a late lunch or an early dinner.  We have attended 2 braais recently which started at noon and ended around 6:00 pm combining lunch and dinner both!

Caroline with some of her admirers at the party

House Search Update

The hunt for a new house continues. I have looked at big houses, small houses, fat houses, skinny houses - and none are just right. Okay, one is 92% right. It is modern, beautiful kitchen and even has a gas burner - almost all stoves here are electric. Open plan dining room and lounge (what we would call a living room), play room, study. Double story - with 3 bedrooms upstairs, bathroom adjoining the two kid's rooms, fantastic main (aka master) bedroom, his and her sinks in en suite bathroom - and get ready, get ready - a walk-in closet. Okay call me shallow and materialistic - I have always wanted a walk-in closet. Okay not always but ever since my sister Quince started handing me down her wonderful cast-offs and I finally had some clothes worth hanging in a walk-in closet. Second most fantastic feature to this house is the outdoor entertainment area. A covered patio feature that is large enough for outdoor lounge set and dining area. One of the things I have fallen in love with here is the way you can be dine and lounge outdoors at your home year-round. It gets cool in winter in the evening but nothing a little fire pit thingey can't warm up.

So I know you are asking what is the 8% wrong. Let me back up a moment. I saw the house, fell in love, chatted with the owners, found out their daughter goes to same school as Quince, they know Matt and Aimee - all good things for us. Bill saw the house the next evening and said, yes this is it. We contacted the agent, negotiated the price, started the paperwork. The owners liked us and accepted the price. Then, and only then, did they fly down to Capetown to look for schools for their 2 daughters. Now any of you who followed our efforts to find a school for Quince know that this is no small feat - and apparently even harder in CT. They came back after long weekend, success for one daughter and a maybe for other.

They were supposed to have a definitive answer last Thursday night as to whether the school had a spot for their daughter. No word on Friday so we had to sit through the weekend, holding thumbs (with crossed fingers). For sure I'd hear something on Monday - nothing. They left a message for the agent last night saying "Penny, I have news." Good news, bad news - what kind of news???? Penny called them 4 times and left messages, sms'd them this morning, called again at 10am. It is 11:40am Tuesday morning and I am waiting, phone right next to me. Like waiting for a new boyfriend to call.

Okay - if you read this before there is an update please hold thumbs for us!

Storm Coming In

Jo'burg is famous for its summer thunderstorms. The sky gets so so dark and the rain pours down. So far, it couldn't be more perfect - we have absolutely gorgeous blue 80-85 degree days and then late afternoon the storm rolls in. Rain, rain, rain to put you to sleep -- wake up to another beautiful day. The people in charge of the weather are very good here.

These photos were taken at the Pridwin playing fields.

Here is a rainbow taken from our backyard in Parkhurst.  You can faintly see a second rainbow bordering the first.

Jacaranda Season