An Empty House

The four days of packing has finally come to an end! We are so relieved that it’s over and done with…*pheeew*. Our possessions not going to Helsinki are now in storage. The house was painted on the inside over the week-end and is being professionally cleaned today so that the tenants can move in. Below is a picture of the gigantic truck loaded with wooden boxes in which our storage consignment will rest for the next four years. The truck had to park outside on the road as it was too big to enter into the complex.

We’ve learned a new meaning of a simple word during the last two days of packing and loading. The word is “shuttle”. The packing crew arrived with a truck as well as a large van. The supervisor informed us that they needed to shuttle some parts of the consignment. In other words, they needed to shuttle some of the items to the storage site in Midrand as there wasn’t enough space on the back of the truck. We told the supervisor that we don’t see why this is necessary as there is more than enough space on the back of that humongous monster with wheels. But he was adamant that it was necessary to shuttle some of the items. So we just kept quiet and let them do their thing. When the time for loading came the “shuttle van” (note the inverted commas) was loaded not only with boxes but with the entire packing crew. This was just plain odd. All of them leaving for Midrand and nobody here to continue work? Nope, that was not the case. They drove the van from our house, through the complex gate and parked right next to the truck, a total of roughly 15 m. All of the crew got out, unloaded the boxes from the van and loaded them unto the truck. Then they all took the 15 m return trip via the “shuttle” back to the house. This process went on for the entire day. Well, at least we now know the true meaning of the word “shuttle”. So next time we need to get our groceries from the shop to our car we’ll just phone a shuttle service and make a booking. Or maybe it’s also a good idea to make use of a shuttle service next time that the garbage need to be taken out, or when we need to go check the post box for mail……

The house is now completely empty, which leaves one with a bit of a sad and empty feeling. Familiar sounds of doors creaking now echo through the house and ghost patterns are left on the wall where paintings use to hang. The house hasn’t been empty since 1996. See the eerie photos below.

So, nog net twee slapies om te gaan! Yesterday we said our goodbyes at church. Thank you Father Vernon for the blessing at the end of the service and for everybody who laid their hands upon us. What a privilege to have been surrounded by such wonderful people.

The minimum temperature in Helsinki for this week is -17 °C and the maximum -9 °C. At least things will be heating up / “heating up” a bit next week to a minimum of -7 °C and a maximum of -2 °C, so maybe we can have a braai…ha-ha…

Cheers for now!