But Where Will You Live?

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Homeowners Again

After not owning a home for almost three years, there have been a lot of reminders of some of the reasons we had decided to shift to nomadism and a home-free existence! Don't get me wrong-we love our house, and we are really enjoying feeling a bit more settled right now. We are leaning in to what this area has to offer.

But…

With homeownership come the responsibilities of maintaining a home. I forgot how quickly you can become a slave to the home. It's not just the maintenance—we have Joseph, our gardener, and Chichi, our property manager, to keep the house from falling apart; but how quickly my brain shifts from planning grand travels and adventures to being sucked into shopping online for things like shower curtains, rugs, mirrors, kitchen stuff for baking…the list goes on! I have to remind myself that I don't have to have every room done all at once. That I can take my time and go room by room. It's tough, though!

Because of the load shedding here in South Africa, getting backup batteries and solar panels was first on our list. The installation was surprisingly quick and spoiled us a bit with how quick and easy it was to have it done.

Next up was the conversion of the garage into a gym. This has gone somewhat smoothly, although both times the contractor came by, we found out they would be arriving to work about fifteen minutes before they arrived. Again, it's good we have Chichi here to manage things if we are out and about! Other than a mirror, maybe putting up a TV, and adding a door to the utility room, the gym is complete!

Last, but not least on our current projects, is our office/retreat space. This room was originally designed as “the viewing room” since it is on the second story and looks out over Kruger National Park. Then, the previous owner turned it into a bedroom with a bed and two fold-out couches: basically a room to sleep 5+ kids.

Well, that wasn't going to work for our dreams of a private retreat and office space. The layout is a little awkward with a bathroom, a kitchenette, and an indoor braai (wood/charcoal grill). I was completely at a loss for how to make this space work for our wants. Isn't it lucky that my bestest friend is an interior designer and has her own business? I know she's my best friend, so you might think I'm jaded, but she is truly an amazing designer! I sent her pictures of the space and a little video, we had a video chat so she could ask some questions about the space and hear what our concerns, needs and preferences were. She asked about things that would never have occurred to me to consider.

Me with my beautifully brilliant bestest friend before I moved away in 2017.

After she put together some cute ideas and presented them to us on a video call, we are so close to done with the room! I still need to pick up a few of the decor items, but knowing what I'm looking for based on the bigger design makes it so much easier-and less overwhelming! And technology is great—here I am thousands of miles away, yet the process was seamless. You can reach Janna through her website, or check out her Instagram page.

I'm not ready to share pictures of the space yet, but soon!

We are still working on making the house ours: talking through ideas, contemplating knocking down walls, moving doors, and buying water fountains, but it is coming together!

Things are starting to settle a bit, though. Even with so much to do with the house, we are making time to socialize with friends and meet new people. And learning all about holidays in our new home. Because, man, do South Africa’s like to celebrate everything with a holiday! July we had Youth Day and August was Women's Day-

“National Women's Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on 9 August. The day commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that required South Africans defined as "black" under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, known as a passbook, that served to maintain population segregation, control urbanisation, and manage migrant labour during the apartheid era.”

Since Women's Day is a Tuesday, schools close on Monday as well, meaning it's a four-day weekend. Same as Youth Day last month. It was on Thursday, so Friday was also a day off. And Americans get all excited about three-day weekends! Haha!

To celebrate Women's Day, I made some delicious peanut butter cookies 😋 It’s so nice to have a kitchen with the things I need to make baking so much easier! (I remind myself of that when yet another thing breaks in the house and Joseph has to dig up the yard to fix a leak.)

Honestly, when we sold everything in 2019, I really wasn't sure we would ever buy another home again. I didn't think we would be nomad travelers for the rest of our lives, but I wasn't sure we would ever want to be tied down to a place again. I always say, all decisions are for-now decisions and we can change our mind at any time!

Here's what we've been up to lately though pictures…

August 6: A leopard sighting on our Saturday morning walk along the river- little did we realize that this would be the first of many Saturday morning leopard sightings in this same spot.

August 7: Our first Genet sighting! We were at our friends’ place for dinner when this genet came up to the table. He ran off before we could find some raw meat for him to dine on.

August 8: African striped skink sitting on our welcome mat asking to come in. These guys are everywhere outside and Jim already had to chase one out of the house. Sorry buddy, you’re an outside pet, not an inside pet.

August 9: We don’t see buffalo at the river very often. Usually once a week or so. This one hung around for 3 or 4 days before heading off.

August 10: A lone male kudu visits us frequently. I haven’t named him…(yet!)

August 11: This martial eagle likes to hang out on a big tree at the end of our street frequently. Sounds like he might be building a new nest there!

August 12: A fly-catcher went looking for some flies at the river.

August 13: Another Saturday, another leopard in the same spot at the river.

August 14: A birthday party for a friend- and our first trip into our game reserve here in Marloth: Lionspruit.

August 15: Our backyard is so comfortable, the warthogs come and nap in the shade.

August 16: our resident bee-eater- one of my favorite birds to watch.

August 17: our zebs have no concept of personal space! This foal is always looking for a bit of love (and some carrots and sweet potatoes).

August 18: Some days it’s hard to get anything productive done because I’m so distracted by the beautiful wildlife in our backyard.

August 19: my first basil harvest! Dried it out in my fancy 8 in 1 air fryer. I’m looking forward to starting my own small garden at some point!

August 20: zebs make the funniest faces when they are begging for food.

August 21: sunsets along the river. I swear, South Africa has the prettiest sunsets.

August 22: my childhood friend Kelly was our first visitor to the house. We had the chance to hang out with a rescue elephant named Tswale and feed him some oranges as a treat.

August 23: Kelly wanted to be one with the bushbabies so she put on her bushbaby outfit (aka a fuzzy robe), placed a banana in her pocket, and had them eating off a spoon in her hand.

August 24: sunrises in Kruger are one of my favorite parts of a morning game drive. We finally made time to head into Kruger for the first time since we moved here.

August 25: the mongooses make the cutest noises as the chatter away at each other.

August 26: The faces the warthogs make! So much personality as they run around with their tails straight up in the air.

August 27: I went for an early morning walk with friends…practically right behind a lioness! These tracks were so fresh that we were not at all surprised when a friend sent us a video of the lioness not far from where we were walking.

August 28: The waterbuck (or African llamas as I call them) are always hanging out at the river making funny faces at us.

August 29: An Eastern Scarlet enjoying the winter flowers in bloom.

August 30: We took a walk to the municipal buildings to get our cards showing we are owners here so we can get into the game reserve here for free. Our card cost about $0.29! Stopped at the bird hide next door and watched this African fish eagle unsuccessfully go fishing.

August 31: I tried out the cookie cutters Kelly brought me- they are absolutely adorable! And the perfect size for some guilt-free snacking.