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Wendy

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  • Province
    Gauteng
  • Location
    Joburg
  1. Wendy
    There is a fishing season along with hunting season and we do see a lot of fisherman all along the rivers and the dams, not sure what they are catching though (apart from a cold) . I've heard there are a lot of carp and trout and most definitely the odd man sized barbel (there are so many stories of big fish) I'm sure Bonus will have more info ????
  2. Wendy
    None at the moment. Sadly everyone we have spoken to that has either done or are doing building renovations has had years of delays and waiting. We met a couple who had an idea of the delays and they opted to buy something that does not need any permissions. However it cost them most of their cash, they are doing small jobs inside but are really no further than us. They arrived same month as us and are hoping to open end of this year. We did look at that option, but you pay a lot more for something you're not completely satisfied with. Either way it's a slog but I think in the long run if one buys to rebuild/renovate your end product is exactly what you want. Tough one. I suppose it depends on how much you have to spend. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
  3. Wendy
    I think you are right. I now need a foolproof recipe. On it!
  4. Wendy
    The Spaniards love deep fried sugar breads. They don't do syrup very much. I never used to be a fan of ye old koeksister but now I'm missing them. I will have to find a recipe. Oh and they usually eat this sugar bread with morning coffee. After dinner sweet is always fresh fruit in what they call old wine. A bit like a dark vermouth. Lighter than port. They eat the fruit then drink the juice. Then coffee and more sugar bread. Or chocolate coated sweet bread. I would imagine like a vetkoek. (Never tried one of those either)
  5. Wendy
    Oh what I wouldn't do for a koeksister actually now that you mention it.
  6. Wendy
    Haha you guys make me laugh. But seriously I've always believed to pay it forward so if anyone came to us for any kind of help, after all the kindness we have been shown here how could we not do everything we could to help any or all of you out. We may not have much but we will know where to get it for you and will offer whatever we can. I have never had so many folk do so much for me ever from calling in favours to finding cheap accommodation, a place for our furniture when the arranged storage went wrong, help with difficult neighbours and sending work my way (I teach English to a young chico) helping with eggs and wine and the list goes on. It would be a sin not to pay any of this forward. Any of your youngsters looking to travel and work in the ski lodges in Europe are welcome to come to us to start their journey. Let us know guys. I'm counting on you all coming to camp and squat.
  7. Wendy
    Sorry guys we haven't been posting for a while and now we are posting loads. The general costs of living here. We have gotten by on about €1000 /month. That includes fuel for trips,accommodation, electricity. Everything todo. When we were eating out not knowing that we would have a years wait nights out could cost €30/person. That's wine, a beer and 3 courses. Or a night out bar hopping with free tapas and lots of drinking. We have taken this down to under €20 for both. We only go out with friends and we will share a pizza and a few or more glasses of wine for me and a few beers for Bonus. (Wine is so much cheaper than beer so brush up on your wine tastebuds) Now I've managed to get the budget down to about €800 a month including everything. Todo. We walk a lot. Don't go out unless we have to see a friend and this includes me buying the occasional prawns for tapas or salmon. Cheese and cured ham is very cheap. Fish not so cheap. Lamb as usual is expensive. Pork very cheap and so is chicken. The Mediterranean diet and lifestyle is very cheap and healthy but when they party the expensive fish comes out. Paella is big for a special occasion. So that's it. If you planned on €1000 a month. Furnished accommodation and everything included you'd certainly have change.
  8. Wendy
    No pasa nada. All is good. We really don't take any offence to very much. If we did we probably wouldn't survive this adventure. Myles is probably right I have no clue but Bonus does all the zooming in and cropping and most certainly when you do come and visit our viking mansion in spain ???? we will take you up there. Then we can zoom in on you too ????
  9. Wendy
    Oh if he did have photoshop it would take forever to get photos from him. He would play for hours. He doesn't and we don't have the greatest camera either. Something I wish we had spent our SA rand on before exchanging it 18 to 1. We are getting close to the poor line now so instead of driving around to explore we are walking every trail nearby. I walk everyday for exercise (I take M&Ms to keep it real) while Bonus works on his bike track and Thursdays are exploration day. With our little camera and M&Ms of course.
  10. Wendy
    Hey guys. I'm sure Bonus will give a more detailed reply but for now some quick answers. Our first big hurdle was getting enough time of work in SA to get this ball rolling. With only 15 days leave so to find a "ruin" and get started we had to resign and take a trip or 3. These were costly but we kept costs down by staying in the cheapest places we could find while looking for a place (and taking flights at horrible hours) We found it and it was indeed about €20 000 over budget. Budgets for renovations have moved as well. Like the boiling frog every time we were told of an increase we could see the merit so agreed until it became a massive renovation. Lawyers fees and extra costs along the way have also added up. We expected to be earning by now and can probably stay alive for another year before we become part of the daisies in the terraced garden. We decided to get a loan against the building to build so that we can keep our cash flow to survive until it's all done and that turned out to be a good decision. Originally our loan was approved but they could not process it until the licence was granted. 8 months later and a new director of risk department changed their minds. We are now with another bank. One that has an interest in rejuvenating Spains rural areas. We also found out that neither our financial position or our business plan are the problem for the delay, but rather the fact that they feel we could run away from our debt at any time. Lastly, plan B and when do we call it a day. Our original plan B was to go to England and work until we can continue but that has changed. After a year our Spanglish is better and we could work here. But we will not throw in the towel. We will try for doing a quarter of the renovations and keep going from there. Visitors from all over and also many of the Spanish people we have met at all the fiestas are positive that this will work. We even have the guys from Zona Zero impressed with our plans and very positive about it all. We can't let this just go. It's all time now. Anyone wanting to do this or similar and worried about the costs. It's just a matter of jumping in. My father once said that if couples say they are saving to have children, they will never have enough. You just jump in and go or you will never go. Of course if anyone wants help with making any move we most certainly can help with real numbers or near as dammit. Sorry that was longer than expected Night all
  11. Wendy
    Thanks Gen. We certainly have but I miss SA too. Although after a while you become unsure where home is. One thing is for sure I love hearing a South African accent. Even a programme on TV. So when you all come I will definately cry when you leave.
  12. Wendy
    Thank you Mntboy. My sentiments too
  13. Wendy
    On the language front we actually speak great Spanglish. Bonus does not spend time learning Spanish but speaks to the farmer all the time and learns that way. I do lessons every day on line and also speak Spanish to our friends and the grocers. So Bonus can understand what someone is saying better than I and I can speak better than he. Together we are a little less than terrible. Thing is there are so many words that are similar thanks to Latin and speaking to anyone younger than 50 is easy. The over 50's are old school and have mostly never heard the sound of a foreign accent so cannot even try to understand. Bonus had a great time trying to explain an ambulance to Ramon the farmer. He kept saying ambulaans with siren sounds. And saying things like inferma (sick) but nothing. Ramon was blank. Then suddenly a light came on and Ramon said "ambulansia" aaah Si Si. A simple missing ia sound at the end of the word and he had no clue. But we keep on smiling and waving ????
  14. Wendy
    Apologies all round here Mntboy I didn't think you were being rude at all. But it's nice to chat. Thanks for the mom compliment. My kids are so far away I will take on any that come my way
  15. Wendy
    Mntboy ALL South African peeps will get preferential treatment and anything extra i can chuck in. Not sure how big the discounts will be but it will most certainly be discounted. I love meeting South Africans here. Well it's only been 3 and 2 were living in the UK but hey they count for the accent at least. Oh and Louis Meintjies yesterday. I was so tearful I asked him if I can hug him. He said yes. Bonus said I can be his European mom. ????. What a lovely young man. His other must be so proud. (Sorry off topic there a bit)
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