Instead we stayed around home and did some home improvementy-type-stuff. It’s rewarding, the main bedroom and pots look great, and the garden looks a little better for the tidy-up, but I did learn that I’m not cut out for a job of manual labour. Not right now anyways.

We went back the the fabulous mega Mica to shop for lighting stuff, took the room apart, Hunny did the rewiring and partial installation of the new lights and I went horse-riding (two horses) on Thusday. Friday we masking taped and painted the walls (Hunny does the big roller stuff, I do the fiddly little edges) , and I started ripping stuff out of the flowerbeds and hacking dead stuff off the plants pruning. Hunny then went to buy more supplies and harass the mechanic about my bike while I went to ride 2 horses again. Finished the pruning when I got back, and heard the good news that my bike should be done by my birthday.

We’re having a rather large gathering around next Saturday in way of celebrating my birthday, and I will phone everyone up and cancel if the bike isn’t in the garage by next weekend. I’m not in the mood to hear 20 different folks ask me where my bike is, and if it’s back from the shop yet, but I digress again.

Saturday Hunny painted the ceiling while I set about washing and ironing curtains. This doesn’t sound like such a bad task until you have tried to iron these curtains. They never really release their creases. Takes roughly 45 minutes a curtain to get a semblance of smooth. I’m told it’d be easier if we tumble-dried them, but in Sunny SA we saw no need for a tumble drier, until the curtains that is.

I also cleaned and mud-painted 3 plant pots we had been given (they were an awful shade of green). Mud paint is one of the coolest inventions, and the results are a huge improvement. I’ll post pics once I’ve planted something in them.

We finally got the curtains re-hung at around 7PM and we were so dead tired by then. Put the room back together and slept in the comfy bed again. The spare room bed is a little like sleeping on concrete. With it’s pretty brushed stainless steel recessed down lights, toffee colour walls and matching ceiling (only a few shades lighter) and white cornices it looks very pretty. Not exceptionally exciting, but like a good place to sleep. Oh! and Hunny installed a dimmer switch, very romantic Photo’s tomorrow, I promise!

On Sunday we rested, as far as gyming for Hunny and horse-riding for me constitutes rest.  I also finished reading “Spud – The Madness Continues…” by John van de Ruit. A fitting sequel to “Spud” and so much funnier because it’s about a South African school experience, and you feel privy to an experience that only a South African can fully grasp. Great stuff!

Gonna go and soak some Gauteng dust from my weary self, have a great week all!

So what’s been up in the world of Alex? Well, my car broke. I have probably the worst car Karma of anyone I know. Don’t ever lend me your car, I’ll break it. But hey, it’s all fixed now, so we shall move on and pretend like that didn’t happen.

I rode a bull. I haven’t told my horse in case he gets jealous. Each month the new recruits at my place of work have to throw some sort of party for the company to introduce themselves. The last bunch were pretty creative with a cowboy theme complete with Mechanical bull. Figuring that an opportunity like that doesn’t coma around too often I just had to try it, and it was great fun. It’s surrounded by an inflated jumping castle type thingy, so you can’t hurt yourself falling off, which was pretty cool.

There was no official time limit and no competition, and the dude operating the controls was quite sweet about starting you off slowly. If you showed any talent at actually staying on, he cranked it up a bit. That said, I think I faired pretty well. On my second attempt I stayed on for a full minute and 6 seconds! Whooohoo! and did the most graceful dismount of the evening, landing on my feet.

There are photo’s which I may or may not publish. Haven’t decided yet.

Hunny & I made a pretty cool discovery yesterday. Cedar Square shopping center. If you live around Fourways this probably won’t be news to you. More to the point, the Mica superstore there is the coolest one ever. It has a similar range to Builders Warehouse (complete with fairly large gardening section) but about double the floorspace of your average Builders. Way cool, could have wandering around there for ages if the mucus in my sinuses was weighing me down (Yeah, friggin sick again – first time ever I think I’ve had two colds in one winter and it really sucks, or blows. Except it doesn’t actually blow, it just sits there going green and refusing to be blown out).

We got some cool lime green paint for the spare bedroom, and some more sedate “Labrador sands 3″ – it’s a stone colour – for the main bedroom. Did the spare room today, looks really great. Will do the main bedroom this weekend and them we’ll be sorted. No more white walls in the house. We like colour, every room will be a different colour. Mushroom kitchen, Avo green Family room & half dining area, Pale Yellow passage, Orange Study and Lime spare room so far. The passage used to look pretty bright until you saw it leading into the lime green room. Now it looks pretty pale. All the colour will probably detract future buyers, but we’re not looking to sell anytime soon, so I’m not bothered.

Cheers all, and (all SA readers) have a great Woman’s day on Thursday.