Moving On

In November we sold our house.  Had we known just how slowly our new house was going to progress, perhaps we’d have waited a few more months but it’s a difficult call to make and in most ways, it’s a great relief to know that the deal is done.  We’re particularly happy about the fact that a lovely young family have bought it and we’re sure they’re going to enjoy being here just as much as have.

Board outside our house.

The slightly unexpected thing is that the buyers want to move in at the beginning of February and we didn’t feel we could keep them waiting until April so a compromise was reached for the beginning of March.  And that is just around the corner.  With our Parkhurst completion date moving further and further away and no really sensible communication from the contractor on the subject, this has complicated things quite a bit.

Most of our possessions (those that survive the ‘downsizing’) will have to go into storage – as will we.  At this stage we plan to spend some time in our Cape Town holiday house, but managing what has become quite a problematic build, will be challenging from there and will require lots of trips back to Johannesburg.  And the 3 resident cats, which include two who arrived from London with our daughter in November, will have to spend at least a month in a “kitty hotel.”  None of this was anticipated.

Cape Town house.

So packing has begun in earnest.  How do animals just know that boxes mean bad news?

Daisy and Monty show their disapproval.

Izzie is determined not to be left behind.

So things at home are quite upside down at the moment and the situation was not helped by an attempted break-in last Monday in the middle of the day.  There was a short period of about 20 minutes when there was nobody actually in the house and during that time, somebody managed to get through the pedestrian gate, down the driveway and onto the patio where they attempted to force a locked French door.  They must have been disturbed as they didn’t get very far and it was only because of two garden gates left open that we first suspected anything at all before finding evidence on the door in question.

There is a perception that having a ‘Sold’ sign outside one’s home is an invitation to burglars.  I have never taken this seriously but now I’m not so sure.  Maybe there’s a sense that things will be disorganised and that people will be caught unaware? So we’re being extra vigilant now.

Packing up a home where one has lived for over 20 years takes time.  All sorts of unexpected bits and pieces, long-forgotten, emerge from the back of cupboards and demand attention.  Particularly things that belonged to parents and grand-parents. Aiming, as I am, for an uncluttered home, much thought has to go into the destiny or next life-phase of some of these possessions and it is this that takes up so much time.  I’m often tempted to simply box up everything and deal with it at the other end and I suspect that as the time draws nearer, that is exactly what will happen, but right now I’m still trying to be sensible.

Funnily enough, despite many dire predictions, emotionally I feel absolutely ready for this move.  Over the Xmas holidays, with only two of us in the house, it was abundantly clear that we are taking up too much space,  much of which we hardly ever use.  I’m looking forward to having cleaner, clearer, nearer boundaries.

And although I’m told that I’ll be away from Johannesburg at the worst possible time as far as the building is concerned, at this stage I’m really looking forward to the complete change of scenery and pace that some time in the Cape will offer.

The most difficult thing for me, apart from the interminably slow progress of the new house, is going to be retiring our housemaid and gardener, both of whom have worked for us for over 30 years and both of whom are going somewhat reluctantly.  Caroline will be going home to a house we bought for her many years ago and where several of her family members live.  Just beyond Pretoria, it is not too far away and I have no doubt we’ll have many visits.  I’m not particularly concerned about her future.  Joseph, on the other hand, is not well enough to return to his home country of Zimbabwe and at the moment it seems he will have to live with two of his sons in a township east of Johannesburg.  He’s always had a rather fractious relationship with these young men and I hope all will work out and that they will take care of him and get him to his out-patient appointments when necessary.  His departure from here is not going to be easy.

For so many African people, their lives are intricately bound up with the lives of their employers, especially when they have been with one family for so long.  Now I feel as though I’m dismantling those lives day by day and more than anything else, this is what I find unsettling. I think the temporary move to Cape Town might be good for all of us.

Looking forward to Time-Out in Cape Town.