Fait Accompli!

 

Hubby retired in 1997, but being the person he is, there was no way that he could just settle down to a quiet and relaxing hobby.  During his 13 years of retirement, he has
-bred exotic ducks
-farmed with chickens in our back yard
-owned a bycicle repair shop
-collected aquarium fish
-bred Khoi
-bred exotic birds
-worked as caretaker at the church
-worked in a TV installation and repair shop.
In between all of this, he has enclosed our front porch, and opened it up again,
he has enclosed our backyard to use it as a garage,
enclosed the carport to use as a living room (my Stoep),
Made gardens and unmade them again,
built a camping trailer and took it apart again,
....and so I can go on, and on, and on....
and I can hear some of you saying:  I wish I had such an industrious Hubby"...
and all I can say is: "Be careful what you wish for".


Believe me when I say that it is not easy to live a life where you never know what you will find happening at your home when you arrive home from work.  I have often felt like turning around on the doorstep and running until I can find a place of normalcy.  Remember, I am seldomly consulted before the time but am always expected to be pleasantly surprised and amazed at what he has accomplished... However, I still love him dearly and he must get up to something really outragious before I can find it in myself to criticise his endeavours.


A couple of weeks ago, he phoned me at work and mentioned that he can swap our old Nissan bakkie (truck) for a caravan (trailer).  (I need to mention here that he bought this bakkie because he always wanted a bakkie, but being his impulsive self, he never ensured that he could get it registered and he found out eventually that he could not, so it has been standing here gathering dust for the past two years). I was kind of busy at the time but do remember that I said it might be a good idea, thinking that we would discuss it when I got home.  Surprise, surprise!  When I arrived home, the deal was done.  Gone was the bakkie and in its place stood the caravan - licences and registered - fait accompli!

It is an old model Impala Caravan but in beautiful condition.  Seeing the advantages of having an extra room for when the hordes descend on us over long weekends and holidays, I was quite excited about it, until Hubby announced that he was planning to try it out on a road trip to Port Elizabeth (1.200 kilomtres away) in September!  Now don't get me wrong, I would love to go on a road trip to PE (and quite a number of other places even further away), but we drive a 1300cc Toyota Tazz and I very much doubted whether it is a good idea to use the Tazz as a towing vehicle. 

But, of course, Hubby being Hubby, insisted on us trying it out and off we went to Mokopane, just 50 kilometres away, for a weekend.  We loved camping out (never mind that it was just outside my son's front garden gate yet smack in the middle of the bush in the caravan, but fortunately Hubby at last had to admit that the Tazz is a bit small for a towing vehicle.  So now, what to do?

The very next week Hubby went bakkie hunting and came up with this very nice 1600cc Nissan NP200 bakkie.  (Does it look familiar Joan?)

We have been talking about getting a new car for a while now as Hubby finds it increasingly difficult to get into and out of the very low seats of the Tazz and what's more, it suits our pockets.

So now, if it weren't for the monthly vehicle installments, I could retire also and we could travel the country as I have always dreamed of doing... Oh well! At least Hubby is happy with a new bakkie at last!