Snippets and Stories

So, I think I've posted plenty of pictures of the PLACE we live in, I'm sure you'd like to seem some pictures with us in them as well. ;)

We have a washing machine at the house, but currently no dryer, so we line dry all of our clothes. These pictures were taken back in August when it was quite cold, so my fingers would get numb sometimes hanging up the wet clothes. heheh  It's warmer now, so it's kind of pleasant to go hang up the clean laundry.

My dear husband took these lovely pictures. I love the late afternoon light. Same time of day that I took the house pictures.

Jon produces a whole lot of laundry. It's usally 2/3rds his 1/3rd mine. ;)

Jon-Jon eating his Oatmeal on the stairs. Kind of a silly thing to do, but I thought it was cute and took a picture of him.

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Okay, the next set of pictures are all one day. It was a Sunday. We went to church with three other people who were staying at the house, but we decided to drive separately because they were going somewhere after church and we were both sick and too tired to join them.

So, we get back to the house after church, drive through the gate, park, get out of the car and realize... we do not have the house keys. ... There are not enough sets at this point for everyone to have one, and the other group just happened to have them! Meanwhile, we are the only ones with a gate key. So, if we leave, they can't enter the property, but we can't get into the house either... It was a dilemma.

We decided we had plenty of time to at least go get some lunch, which we did, expecting the others to be back by 2ish.  Oh, and did I mention that Jon's cell phone was locked in the house? And they were planning on calling us with their plans?  yea... Oh! AND we had just gotten back from the store with groceries, like milk and cheese... but that worked out, because there is a little fridge sitting in the garage waiting to be transported to the Farm. So we plugged it in. =)

Well, this is Jon walking around the house seeing if there is some way to get in.

Considering that every window is barred, and the doors both have iron gates on them, it is impossible to get in even if we had a hack-saw. We needed a key.

Well, let me say, the end of the story is that Jon is the real McGyver and got in!  How?  well, thankfully we found in the truck the keys that Tommy had copied but said didn't work and he needed to get them fixed. The thing is, they DO work on the gate! just not the wood door. And the gate is the impenetrable part (without a serious torch or explosives).

So, we got through one layer, but were having trouble with the next. This is Jon trying to file the door key in case he could get it to fit right. He was very persistent.

I just waited around. Couldn't do anything. I was tired.

So I sat in the truck. Then I took a nap in the car. We were stuck out there for a couple of hours.

Then I hear a noise, look over, and there is Jon standing in front of the open door!!!! HALLELUIAH!

I won't tell you how he did it. Let's just say he's amazing. And thank goodness! Because the others didn't get back till late that evening, having changed their plans. And they texted instead of calling to let us know, so they had no idea we didn't have the phone. So, Jon saved the day with his persistence and ingenuity! Hooray for my husband!

Yup, that's the story. Hope you enjoyed.


Much love from the both of us,
-J&L

The Midrand Property & Hogan Residence

 Okay everyone! Here I go using massive amounts of our precious data on our limited internet plan, all for you! Hope you appreciate it.  ;)

Here is a little photo tour of our current residence on Reaching a Generation's Midrand property. It is were Jacques and family lived before they established the farm and the Lodge. The house is a funny mix between a work space, living space, and hotel. It's a nice property, it kind of feels like being in the country right next to the city, which we like. Sometimes it's a bit unsettled with people coming in and out, but this week and next we have it all to ourselves, which is sooo nice! Our bedroom and workspace are upstairs (pics below), and we are usually downstairs only for kitchen use and eating, but sometimes we sit down there.

Alrighty, enjoy!

 The house is on the left. (later there are pics looking out from those upstairs windows)
The garage and Tommy's flat are on the right.

Front door on the left, kitchen door on the right behind the car.

The warehouse is in the background on the left, where all of the OneHope books are stored.

The big window upstairs is one of our bedroom windows.

Looking into our room. That's the window I mentioned.

It's a very nice, warmly lit room, with good windows. We like it.

There's a good amount of closet space on the side there.

Our artsy bookshelf again!
and me posing in the mirror ;)

 And here is our work space. Nice natural lighting.

New desks just arrived, so it will look a little different soon.

The wall on the left is the wall with the closets in our bedroom.

This is one of those front windows.

You can see a little play set out there, and on the right side you can see another house on the property which is currently being rented out, but they are soon going to turn it into a Bed & Breakfast.

The other window. You can see one of our neighbor's houses in the distance.

The little side window by Jon's desk looking over the driveway and the entrance to Tommy's flat.

My desk on the side, our bedroom door to the right, the bathroom door beyond that, the little "bridge" leads to a large room for guests, and of course the stairs on the left.

A little sitting room area. We don't use it much, but when there are other people around we spend a little more time down there. 

There are two little bedrooms to the left, and the door to the kitchen on the right.

Conference/dining table in the front room.

"Receptionist" desk... though there is no receptionist.  heheh

The space is still undergoing development as new furniture arrives ect.

Kitchen doorway

So glad to have a real kitchen to cook in.

That's the washing machine sticking out from the country, btw. No dryer right now, we use the line.

They got a microwave! yay!
(That's the security door in the foreground on the left, all doors and windows are barred because break-ins are fairly common anywhere around Joburg area)

Around the corner from the kitchen door going out behind the house.
Looks pretty in the light.

So, there you go! This is where we are living till we come home for the holidays (yay!!!), and we will return here in January till probably March/April when we are planning to relocate to Ghana for about 3 months. After that, not sure... Maybe back here. We shall see!

I have more pictures, but I'll save that for another post.

Also, eventually I'll get pictures of the people we're spending time with and working with. It just feels a little awkward to just randomly start taking picture of people working and what not. ~shrug~ I guess I just need to get over it.  =)

I'll post again soon.
Love you all!

-J&L