It never rains but ...

Firstly! Thank you! To all of you who have contributed to the survival of the scrapbooking!
We will now be able to continue to make the memories for the babies last :-) I appreciate the quick and generous response to this appeal!

So in keeping with the current "if it can go wrong it will" theme at TLC I have to share our latest "disaster" with you.

In the tremendous wind last night, our power was knocked out for 7 hours! And we woke up to a section of our wall flattened to the ground!
And of course not just any section! No, it is the section that provides a clear view from our chicken houses to the squatters camp and vice versa! (This is not refelcted well in this picture because I'm at an angle so the house you see is the neighbours at the bottom of the TLC property).

a perfect uninterrupted view of units constructed of sheet metal, brand new fencing and new gates! All of which are highly sought after items for those living in the settlement.
This is a classic case of having now to rejuggle priorities! Once again our security becomes the priority and the little bit of money we had managed to accumulate gets diverted into an emergency.

So for now the plan is ...

We will employ an extra security guard for this evening. Today we are going to purchase a couple of bags of cement on credit from our local hardware and tomorrow Rhys will arrange for his 5 local labourers to begin reconstructing the wall. Hopefully it will be completed by Saturday and we can all feel safe again :-)

Lastly, some exciting news :-)

Mom has left for her birthday adventure :-)
It starts as a 3 day break on the Vaal River with her longtime friends Sharon and Heinz. They have been friends for almost 40years!
When she gets back on Monday she packs up and jets off to the coast for 3 weeks!
Thank you all once again for your generosity and willingness to make this dream possible.

Lots of Love
Pippa