*waves hello*

[Claudine]

I have internet access again. So much has happened since I sent an email to Andre in the middle of last year.

We moved. Andre I am now in Somerset West, around the corner from your old stomping grounds. We sold up our house in Pretoria. The last half of last year was a nightmare of no internet, limited access where I just gave up. Finding a house in Cape Town in time for the end of the year, finishing off our kitchen rebuild, painting the plce to get it ready to sell, putting in new gutters, sorting out electrical issues....the list just goes on and on and on.

But with a new year, a new house and better internet service, I should be online quite a bit more than I have been in the last few months.

So, what did the kids get up to while I was gone? :D

[Katie]

Claudine! We've missed you!

Too much has gone on to tell you about, but I can assure you, Andre is the same Gentleman you knew before (yes, with a capital G).

Congratulations on the new house. Hope everything goes well from here on in.

[Andre Jute]

Claudine! We missed you. We thought something awful happened to you. I wrote to you a couple of times but clearly my posts didn't get through. Losing internet access is like going partially deaf and blind; makes you wonder how people managed before the Post Office made the posts secure.

You don't know what a welcome relief it is to have you back.

[Andre Jute]

What is that avatar of yours? Are you posing as Napoleon, tricorne hat, elbow sticking out of your breast pocket, all angles?

[Claudine]

Ja it was pretty rough there Andre. I had access on 3G through my cell phone carrier but the costs are astronomical so I didn't do much more than check my emails.

The avatar is a picture I took of my shadow at the beach. I was sitting on the rocks looking out towards the sea over Onrus watching the surfers. Sadly, not a Napoleon look! :)

It was difficult surfing with a house full of first, carpenters to rebuild our kitchen. What a gloriously bad experience that was! They took 4 weeks and numerous trips back to sort out issues for a week long job. Then we had a house full of painters for just over a week cleaning and painting every single wall. After that it was the gutters that had to be replaced, the pool that was acting up, the garden that needed pruning and tidying up on a big scale. And then we had people going through the house the whole of October and early November before we sold it finally. And inbetween all of this I still had to look at houses in the Cape, see to the kids, exams, after school activities. Life just got complicated very quickly.

[Andre Jute]

Just proves once more what I've always said, that the secret of a serene life is to leave everything to your wife. (Makes you wonder if the Dalai Lhama does, leave everything to his wife, I mean.)

So nice to have you back. Whatever are you lot doing at Somerset West?

[J.A.]

Welcome back.

[Claudine]

J.A. wrote: "Welcome back."

Thanks!

Andre my husband works for an international furniture group with international headoffice based in Germany (Steinhoff). The Africa headoffice was moved 2 years ago to Stellenbosch from Joburg but he wasn't part of the initial move. They then decided he needed to move too so here we are. Stellenbosch is just far too overrun with students and the property prices are beyond astronomical. Somerset West is a good compromise.

And yes, I am very sure my husband would agree with you. He was away a lot in the latter half of last year.

[Andre Jute]

Stellenbosch is nice, all those oak trees, but miserable in winter. Ah, duh, you're a Capie, so you probably don't even notice how much like Ireland the Cape south of the Paarlsberg range is in winter.

Romantic memories, walking under the oak trees in the spring with a girl on each hand, and a few more behind. They can keep April in Paris (miserably windy)... Come to think of it, they can keep Stellenbosch about 47 weeks in the year too... But for about five weeks in the late spring, early summer, Stellenbosch is magical, hope in the air.

Still, your children are privileged, not having to live in the city.

[Claudine]

The wind is AWESOME! Where we are, up against the mountain, it isn't so bad. Of course, we must get used to the weather now too after 8 long years behind the boerewors curtain.

Stellenbosch has changed so much. I don't know when last you were in the middle of the dorp but it's become very image and all about being seen. Not to mention house prices! Oh goodness! For a decent house in a normal neighbourhood you could end up paying upwards of R3mill. Somerset West is about half that.

The company hubby works for recently bought the Lanzerac. We stayed over in the October and July school holidays. Now if I could afford to live in that area, I'd have moved there. Pricey beyond belief.

[Andre Jute]

Used to lunch at Lanzerac when I was a student (I had rich girlfriends...); a beautiful place. Stellenbosch always was about image, very conscious of being the cradle of this that and the other. My girlfriend, who could hardly speak Afrikaans, was sent there so she could make Afrikaner connections.

[K.A.]

**Waves**
Glad to see you back online!

[Claudine]

It has seen better days Andre. While the rooms are large, the furniture is tired and there's been a steady stream of improvements happening. Dinner will set you back at least R1000 for two but well worth it.

[Andre Jute]

That's sad. But I suppose the times have been tough. I shall remember it as a place of light and laughter.

[Sharon]

Claudine! Welcome back! We missed you! We worried about you! Sorry, I couldn't think of any better welcome than what has already been said.

Glad you are getting settled in. Things should get much more lively around here...

YAY!

[Daniel]

Welcome home, Claudine! It's good to see you're finding a way back to us. ^_^