Let me start by saying I thrive on peace and harmony!
However, when it comes to conflict, especially when it's unjust, it makes me very sad, or very angry and I will fight for justice to the bitter end.
So...I have spoken endlessly about the destructive storms we faced in April; a 200-year storm they now call it. Then another smaller storm hit us in May, causing further destruction.
The image on the left is before the storm, and on the right-hand side the mudslide is already showing up in the latest aerial photography on Google Earth. One can see how everything in the path of the mudslide, was taken out; the pool next to the house top left in photo, is totally buried!
I'm not sure if the storm played with some people's minds or what, as many have become real bullies! Trying to report a road that is caving in and a leaking waterpipe ended up with me putting the extremely rude lady on the other side of the phone in her place, and only getting repairs done after complaining on their Facebook page!
Has anything changed much since that night as far as restoring the damaged road, reinstating the collapsed bank at the school, any repairs to our two neighbours' properties and the huge donga going down into the valley?
No, not much has been done! as far as the road is concerned, they've simply moved and left mounds of soil to cover the gouged out road; likely to cover the exposed watermain and to stop cars from driving too close to the edge as there still are no barriers in place!
The negative impact of these storms will be felt for years to come especially in the property market and tourism.
Nobody wants to come to Durban for a vacation, nor do they want to buy property here either. We, as well as many of our silver friends, are looking at migrating to other provinces or following the kids who have emigrated across the waters, as it's predicted that this kind of storm will be happening more often, due to climate change, especially in the subtropical areas like where we live.
We have seen a deadly silence from guests wanting to book weekend breaks to go to the beach, but thankfully have the training centre guests and other business guests and contractors needing to do repair work, or else I would have had to dip into my Hive stash again!
It's been heartbreaking getting telephone calls from people who had to vacate their homes that was damaged by mudslides, as our friends had to do, and having to say we cannot help as long-term bookings are out of the question with us having scattered bookings throughout the year.
We could only offer our friends whose home was extensively damaged, a short stay, as we had other bookings, but they also needed a bigger space as they do maths tuition from home.
They signed a lease for a very nice home close by, at a hefty price, with a seemingly nice landlord, who is now not living up to his promises and not doing repairs he was supposed to have done before they moved in.
Our friends believe it is because some are seeing older people as dummies to be bullied!
We have fabulous neighbours, except for the ones below us, who keep on doing irresponsible alterations.
The latest we discovered when part of our fence started leaning slightly following the storm. We later learnt they had been levelling their garden just below the fence with no retaining walls and in the process have now exposed the base of the fence posts and panels! We had already claimed from our insurance but told the neighbour in no uncertain terms that if the rest of the wall falls due to his actions undermining the fence base, we will not be held responsible and he will have to claim from his insurance. We have more photographic evidence that this undermining was done with intent to level his garden, and not due to storm damage! The neighbour at first denied they had done it, till he saw our photos taken a couple of years ago; the current photos clearly tells the story. He tried to say it was our water (that came from the heavens) that did this. Ever heard of water flowing uphill? And if a storm could do such a neat job of levelling an area and getting grass to grow so quickly, it would be a miracle indeed! He thought he could pull the wool over our eyes, but now is as sweet as can be!
If this is called retirement, then we want out! I think life was easier when we were office workers!
My emotions have been see-sawing up and down with all the goings-on, so I will end on a happy note and take you on a walk through our garden on a sunny day after the storm had disappeared.
It was quite surreal looking at the blue skies, seeing the beauty of our garden, and then looking down the road and across the fence and seeing total destruction!
Thanks to hubby's stormwater system and extra reinforcement, all our retaining walls stood firm, protecting our property, however, this would not have stopped that massive mudslide had it taken place above our property!
A short walk through our garden, hope you enjoy it after all my complaints, but I always say, Hive is a good place to offload all the troubles of our little worlds!
The aloes are really showing off their stunning orange flowers, my photo does not do it any justice plus it is being overshadowed here by a croton species.
A pretty groundcover, Senecio flowers throughout the year, a very generous plant!
My Ouma always called the Euphorbia a Bridal Veil, it really gives a stunning show but only flowers once a year.
The Ponytail Palm always graceful and evergreen.
Our Leopard Tree is growing into a tall tree and its bark shows why it is named as such.
Lastly, I will share the medicinal Aloe Vera that we have all over our garden.
...and so we say goodbye to this day and hope tomorrow will bring good tidings and not have us see-sawing again!
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