Hello again friends!
You know you just blink and turn around and more than a month has passed since our last blog post. We did actually write one about work in the interim, but we're not quite happy with it, so it is still languishing somewhere in drafts, needing a rethink. Sigh.
Lots has happened since we last wrote. The chief event was our move into the hexagonal house on the hill. After three months, this is a major celebration!
So here we go on a small virtual house tour. Enjoy!
When you come in the front door, you are faced with a slightly unconventional entrance hall: it has been raining a lot, and the mud is real. The walk from here to work is about a kilometre, and the shortest way goes through a marsh/river/mudbath. Plus of course we are living on what is still a building site. So a foot rinsing station immediately at the door is key to life enjoyment. Joanna's trusty red wellies are also helpful... poor Adam needs to get some wellingtons as a matter of urgency! (After all the rain and mud Adam is actually considering a three-pronged attack: gum boots, waterproof hiking boots, and trail running shoes. And for someone who is a shoe-minimalist, this is a big step!)
To the left of the picture you can just see the solar panel which isn't yet mounted on the roof. Unfortunately we are still in the stage of putting it in and out again every day. Theft is a real concern in such an under-resourced community, so we are trying to minimise temptation.
To the right of the picture you can see Joanna's fledgling plant collection - vastly helped by a recent birthday present from some of our neighbours in the hospital. Joanna is nervous to plant them out though, because SHEEP/potential plant assassins.
We omitted to take a pic of the toilet. It is pretty rustic, but sweet smelling thanks to a good design, and all the cardboard that we layer in with the more aromatic compost to keep the carbon/nitrogen and aerobic/anaerobic balance right.
Right, back to the house tour. To the left of the door as you come in, is our shoe and general useful things shelf. Built by us, and only slightly wobbly.
The hats are hanging on failed shelf brackets. You can also spot the "walking anywhere at night" lantern, and the ubiquitous raincoats hanging over the door. We haven't organised curtains for the door yet, but the others are all doing their jobs very nicely (if also slightly skewly, and possibly a tiny bit on the small side... ah, the joys of DIY).
This may also be the moment to appreciate the beautiful grey floor paint which caused such a big delay. It isn't the colour we actually settled on, but by the time it arrived we were willing to go with anything to get the job done. So we love it!
To the right of door you will see our living area. Those who've visited us in one or more of our previous abodes will recognise some/all of the items here - it is lovely to have some of our familiar friends here with us. The trunk was an 18th birthday gift from Joanna's parents and has been with us ever since. The bed is part of a bunk-bed set that Joanna and her sister shared as children. The chairs come from Granny and Oupa. (If you look very carefully you just might perhaps maybe be able to see that the curtains are a tiny bit too narrow.)
The corner shelf is a masterpiece of Adam's measurments and trig calculations and one of our new friend's angle irons. They are a special type of bracket that we didn't know existed. Yay for lifelong learning! As you can also perceive, there is a lot of building still to come - we haven't used all the wood, all the brackets or all the space - so the cordless drill has yet to be packed away. Luckily we don't mind living with a bit of friendly mess.
On the bed you can also see our makeshift wonderbox in action: as we speak, there is a pot between those two big cushions making delicious supper for us to enjoy.
Speaking of supper... here is the kitchen!
Those corner shelves on the wall are Joanna's absolute pride and joy! Also visible is our trusty water filter and giant kettle for boiling water for drinking and cleaning, as well as the cooler box full of water collecting containers.
Although we have tanks, they aren't connected to the tap (yet, we hope), so it is still a case of trekking the water into the house every day. (But we're grateful to have tanks and a source of water so close. Many in this community have to walk a lot further for their water!)
You can also see the gas stove (which gave us some grey hair with the wrong sized regulator!) and the pot in which Jo has just baked her first ovenless cake. We haven't eaten it yet so we'll have to update you on its success/failure in another post.
Forwards. In the room nearest the living area, we have our study/spare room.
There is the other half of the bunk bed, and the other half of the eventual solar system, and the camping fridge which we run on sunny days, and keep going with icebricks the rest of the time.
Our energy efficient freezer is waiting in our old flat for the exciting moment when our solar panels are mounted as we don't want to risk it with unreliable power. So at the moment we are still trekking down to visit it every day in order to fetch new icebricks and frozen foods.
As you can imagine, this is not ideal, but a solution for the time being. Especially since we are so reliant on freezing food because of the distance to the shops.
More furniture from family members: our desk and bookshelf came from Joanna's aunt. You can also see our big collection of Xhosa study materials... and we had to include at least one shot of general moving mess!
The move actually went fairly smoothly in the end, though it was exhausting, as these things always are. We had to borrow 4x4s from various helpful friends, (though we have subsequently succeeded in getting our Citi Golf up here once!). At least one more trip is needed, and willl hopefully happen this weekend. And then of course there will be a whole saga about the freezer. But at least we are able to live here comfortably in the meantime.
Also, Joanna has discovered that she is definitely not cut out for off-road driving! (Or at the very least, not the variety that includes furniture-transportation!)
Since we aren't using the loft yet, the last room is our bedroom, which opens off the kitchen area.
Our main wardrobe area is immediately to the right of the door. You can see that it is a pretty cosy fit - it's lucky that we don't have a king-size bed! Hanging rail and shelves made by us too... we are definitely getting lots of DIY practice.
Unfortuantely that window looks out onto a main thoroughfare. We hope to plant some quick growing shrubs or trees quite soon, but it isn't quite on the list of top priorities yet!
We've got more hanging space to the right of the door, juuust accessible but also nicely out of the way. When you live in a hexogon you need to make good use of odd corners!
I will say though that it is pretty handy having a basic ceiling that you can drill into, and amazing what can be achieved with some hooks, string and poles. Oh, and a measuring tape. Got to love the measuring tape.
We're loving our mosquito net/princess bed. Such a helpful addition, especially because Adam really struggles to sleep with mosquitoes. Joanna mainly just likes how dramatic it looks by candlelight. But you know, we all have our different priorities.
We don't have space for bedside tables, but thankfully we designed our bed with a shelf built into the headboard. Yay for past us. Especially because once the mozzie net is zipped up for the night the last thing you want to do it open it up again because you need to put your glasses on the bedside table. Hypothetically, of course.
On the other side of the bed is a bit more clothing storage and Joanna's dressing table/charging station. And the plant which has survived yet another bumpy trip!
The dressing table is also our candle station: super romantic of course but also necessary in order to save the solar batteries for when we really need them.
Since it gets dark early here were are really learning to appreciate candle light!
(Note that we have not forsworn technology: there is our internet wireless router charging away merrily. Once again, it is definitely all about priorities!)
Well, the night is closing in here, and it is time to get onto supper. Everything takes a lot longer than we're used to and we are perpetually late at the moment, although we are also very much enjoying the change in pace.
So we will sign off for now and hope to write again soon(er) than last time. Thanks for popping by!
Joanna and Adam