We've now been in the beach house for a week and trying to get multiple issues straightened out--keys, broken window hinges, etc.  At the top of our priority list is a working gate to the beach path as we are locked in at the moment and have no beach access :(  But we do like the house; it's open and sunny (most of the time) and gives us space for YOU to come visit!  We're in a rainy spell right now, so pictures will have to wait until the sun reappears.  The house has a lovely view of the ocean from the braai (barbecue) room and the bedroom, and there's a brick patio/porch that wraps around those two areas.  There is no central heat at all here, so the braai room, which is enclosed, serves also as a den and the braai as a sort of fireplace.

Speaking of nomenclature, we also had a start when our real estate agent for the apartment talked about turning on the "geezer" in the closet and making sure it didn't leak!  We discovered quickly that the "geezer" (spelled geyser) is the water heater.  In the house we're renting now, the geyser is in a crawl space above the bedroom hallway.  It was replaced for leaks just before we moved in, and the new one is sending water to the overflow, too.  Apparently, they are notoriously unreliable and regularly leak.

We are glad we rented a furnished house, since we are now being told that the household goods are delayed another entire month, to October 27.  Think we'll go with Pickfords on the return trip.  I am looking forward to having my own kitchen equipment, though the house is better equipped than the apartment was.  And it will be nice to sleep in our own bed again.

We've bought hi-fi equipment and a small TV, most of which we can bring back with us to the U.S.  It's nice to have music again and at least some broadcast news.  The TV is not operational yet--need a serious antenna or dish, though it seems to operate as an antenna for the radio ; ).  We have also joined Virgin Active, the only health club we seem to be able to find.  The Y here is purely a charity organization and doesn't run health clubs.

If the sun comes out this weekend, we are hoping to visit Hermanus, east of Cape Town on the water and the best place for viewing whales.  If we make the trip, I'll post photos on the blog.

I've set the commenting so that theoretically anyone can comment.  If you are having trouble leaving a comment, please email me and let me know what's happening.  You do have to hit "publish" to get your comment to register, and there's a letter-recognition feature that keeps machines from leaving messages.