I really wanted to share this with you guys as you are my family.
So, this year has been stressful in many ways, some a good kind of stress (if there is such a thing) but I am embarking on a new journey. That of home ownership, two years shy of my 50th birthday.
It's exciting, unreal, and terrifying all at the same time.
For a kid who grew up in rental homes, often moving every year and sometimes at night because my parents owed rent, part of me has always thought I would never own a home.
But with interest rates the lowest they have been in this country for decades, the realisation that I could own a small home for the same or less as I am paying rent, made me decide to just try and see if it could happen.
And it has. The bond was approved yesterday, and I gave notice on the home I've rented for nearly 13 years.
Exciting and busy times ahead. Its a small ground floor unit in a newly built Lifestyle Estate (the big thing here these days) and what made it irresistible is that the garden overlooks a river. I'm looking forward to mornings and evenings of sitting out there, coffee cup in hand, enjoying the sound of the river flowing, the frogs and crickets, and knowing that little piece of this planet is mine, even if only for a fleeting moment.
I feel incredibly lucky and blessed.
Man cave pretty much done with this addition:
Aw, well jealous. My ambition is to have my own cave.
I've accumulated so much shite over the years, memorabilia, music and sports, all sorts.
I've nowhere to put it......
Man-cave under construction……
I might have expressed this before. Hey, new homeowner, don't let the water heater get too old. Ask your neighbors about a good reasonable plumber. I will never forget the flood in our basement.
This is a bit random but where I live now is on the edge of a river called The Jukskei. When I moved to the area nearly 20 years ago almost all of the ground around here was open, trees and cows.
When I was a kid, this area was called Halfway House, because it was a roughly halfway point between Johannesburg and Pretoria. back then you drove a single lane road between the two cities. That road still exists and is used every day, now referred to as Old Pretoria Road. Today, the two cities are effectively merging, with us here in the middle and the huge highway to my left.
This whole area, now referred to as Waterfall, was a farm called Waterval (Afrikaans for Waterfall, natch)
I found this online last night.
Waterval Farm is a sprawling piece of land, once owned by the Gibson Brothers, who arrived in SA from England. The brothers bred cattle and ran a stagecoach business between Johannesburg and Pretoria. In 1934, the farm was sold to Moosa Ismail Mia (who registered the development in the name of Witwatersrand Estates Limited), who built a religious training facility and a school for Indian and Black orphans on parts of the land.
Today, the biggest mosque in SA is still on the land, and the Mia's own a successful chain of fishing and cycling shops. I've met and spoke to Mohamed Mia, one of the descendants.
But my point is trying to imagine the miles and miles of nothing that must have been here in the Thirties, and the time it must have taken to travel from Joburg to PTA by stagecoach on whatever infrastructure existed back then... Amazing. I wish more of this kind of history was available here.
Looks beautiful, Steve. Congratulations.
I see some good sleep out spots beyond your fence there. Would something eat me?
Looks a damn sight better than our compacted moss infested patch! Is that an electric fence there?
You free for some landscaping work in the Scottish Highlands anytime soon?
So, as DJ slightly resurrected this thread, I will use this as a tenuous excuse to post some pics and show how proud I am of our wee lawn. When we moved in their was Kikuyu, a local wild grass which is very common here, but it dies and goes brown in winter. It was badly planted on terrible soil full of building rubble, as seems to be the way here.
It was all pulled up, cleaned, and replanted with LM Grass, a more lush, thicker bladed evergreen. I also had irrigation installed which I'm hoping will help with keeping the grass green and happy through winter. The flower beds are WIP, so ignore those in the pics for now.
Steve sorry i missed this
have a happy first Christmas in your new home
im very excitted for you belated comngradulations
plumbing is the big issue for us becsue we have very hard waterso 4 years in sometimes we feel a bit jaded
but last night as i was 'tidying up' Borris's dirt box i asked Gary whom we should send the evil little paper bag clutched tightly in my hand to ? and he named our old land loard
hope all is going well
I recognised the BTR house straight away, when we went there a car was blocking the good photo angles.
I'm sure the current residents must get pissed off with the likes of me, as I quickly snuck partway up the drive so the wife could get a picture.
I'll need to dig out that drive with the pics.
Some explanations - top picture shows Big Pink near Woodstock above the BTR house and below that the famous Basement from Big Pink.
Second picture is mostly obvious, but the poster is from an Otis Redding concert in Birmingham in, I think 1968, which Mr J attended and I didn't - something I am often reminded of!
Bottom one requires no explanation at all!
And we finally got around to putting up pictures - the music wall!
I have been having problems uploading pictures, but I think I have resolved this now! The deck got wired up a couple of weeks ago and is now working beautifully!
A rare Daisey Jeep sighting.
Im so happy for you Steve
But home ownership eats into Bruce funds
@SteveInJoburg , was watching the news here about what's happening down there. Awful, hopefully you/the family and new house are out of the line of fire! Good luck my friend!
You are in good company @Jerseyfornia