shoes, ships, sealing wax

I think I may have just arranged to ship two boxes from Auchs to Cape Town, but the conversation was entirely in sort of French, so it's quite possible I've just arranged to have my aunt, her chihuahua and an assortment of cookies shipped to Albuquerque. Only time will tell. I'm becoming extremely quick-draw on my pocket dictionary. Generally speaking the French people in this area are lovely, very willing to repeat things "un peu plus lentment, s'il vous plait", and only laugh a little bit when I hunt frenziedly through the dictionary for the French for "suburb". (Banlieu. Rondebosch, c'est une banlieu du Cap, oui? Cape Town is "Le Cap". This always sounds a bit over-familiar to me.)

There was a massive storm through this part of the world in January, and there are still trees down everywhere, and piles of neatly-sawn logs all over the show. The Frenchman loves his chainsaw, god wot. I'd show you photos, but the USB ports on my dad's computer seem to connect only to an alternate dimension. I hope the alternate dimension appreciates all the shots of Scabby!Cat. (In true feline fashion, the instant we gave up and let him in the house, he decided he didn't really need to be inside anyway - I haven't seen him all day. Dear little perverse thing that he is).

I am very covered more or less continuously in very dusty dust, which means I'm sneezing and my eyes are streaming. Also, hands in shreds from cleaning. But we're nearly there.