26) Alexandra Drive
We were quite happy with our house and had no intention of moving. Our friends Ray and Jill Wain, whom we had stayed with when we first arrived in Salisbury had started a Real Estate agency and had said that they would give us a spotters fee if we gave them names of people who were looking for houses or wanted to sell houses so we always kept our eyes open to what was going on in the real estate world. We saw a house for sale in Hatfield a suburb on the southern side of Salisbury. I don’t remember the full details but it had four bedrooms, was on an acre of land and was going for about what ours was worth so we decided to go and have a look. We did not know Hatfield well although we had travelled through it to go to or from the airport. By the time we got to the house it was already sold but we decided that we liked Hatfield. It was a much older suburb than Haig Park but the plots were all an acre or over. There were a lot of new houses being built there but it had a lovely feel of Africa. There were lots of indigenous trees and rocky out crops. We told Roy and Maureen Arnold that we had gone for a drive to Hatfield to look at a house and a few days later Roy told us that a real estate agent whom he knew in Hatfield had a house on his books that might suit us. We still weren’t really planning to move but decided to have a look at it. And so we came to 71 Alexander Drive. It was a brand new house, just waiting for the buyer to choose the colour schemes and the finishing touches so there would not be the dramas that we had with the Haig Park house. We liked the house immediately. It did not have much that our present house did not have but it was just that little bit bigger and roomier and of course it was on a whole acre of land with big trees just right for little boys to climb. We started doing our sums and decided that if we could get the right price for our house we could afford to move. I thought that before we decided on that house I ought to look at every other house on the market in Hatfield and had a lovely time looking at all sorts of houses but it did not change my mind and that was the one I liked best. The agent, Issey Kaplan agreed to hold the house while we put ours on the market and so we were on the move once again.
Our house sold quite quickly and we were granted the mortgage on the new house. In fact we had the mortgage on the Hatfield house before we had sold the Haig Park one and we could have kept the two houses, renting out the Haig Park one but it would have meant stretching our resources to the limit and we decided against it. We knew that if we had had one month without a tenant it would have spelt disaster for us. The couple that bought out house also had two little boys who were two years apart but they were a bit younger than Jonathan and Dominic. The builder of our new house was Portuguese, we asked him to build a workshop and laundry for us.
The day we moved in was a Saturday, when we got to the house there was no electricity connected. There was a note left for us by the council inspector to say that he had been to inspect the wiring on Friday and had found some fault or other and so he could not allow the power to be switched on until the electrician had fixed it. On Saturday morning we could not find the electrician and even if we could have the council offices were closed so there was no way we could have got the inspector back again anyway. We spent the day unpacking boxes and of course by evening we were tired, dirty and much in need of a bath but of course had no hot water. Jonny found a large metal drum, filled it with water lit a fire in the garden put the drum on it and boiled water for baths. Jonathan and Dominic had the first bath. I put some cold water into the bath and when Jonny brought the drum of hot water to the bathroom he unthinkingly put the bottom of the drum into the water and the black from the fire came off the bottom of the drum and made the boys bath water rather dirty but it was better than nothing so they washed in that. My turn was next and Jonny did not make the same mistake again so I had a nice warm clean bath. To finish it was Jonny’s turn but as the drum had been on the fire three times the paint began peeling off the inside of the drum and Jonny’s bath had bits of green paint floating in it. I was the only one who had a decent bath. I think we all went to the Arnolds for showers on Sunday evening and we had the problem sorted out on Monday and had nice hot water after that.
Jonathan, Dominic and the dogs all enjoyed the extra space. The boys went exploring and got talking to a lady who lived in the house next door. Jonathan told me “The lady next door is a witch” I told him it was not a nice thing to call someone but he insisted that she had told them she was a witch. I don’t remember much about her she moved out not long after we moved in. Maybe after having lived next door to a vacant piece of land for a long time she did not relish the thought of living next to a family and thought it was a good way to keep the children away. We always seemed to have odd people in that particular house. The next tenants were a young couple with small children. I had made a birthday cake for one of our boys shaped like a train and they had told her about it. She was very impressed and asked me if I would make one for her little boy. I told her I was no expert and it was very amateurish but she was insistent and offered to pay me for it. I said I could not accept money for it but it could be my birthday present to the child. She then gave the child a birthday party and did not invite my two. They stood at the fence watching the other children eating the cake I had made. I thought that was very odd. She was a bit of a pest about using our phone too. Once she came to use the phone and left her front door open, her gate open, our gate open and our front door open and her big brown dog followed her. When Saint, who had been having a little nap in the lounge discovered this strange dog in his house he went berserk. He grabbed the other dog by the throat, luckily the dog had on a thick leather collar so Saint did not get too good a hold of flesh. The intruder tried to get back to his own territory but Saint held on and I could not get him to let go until they were in the lounge of the neighbour’s house. There was blood everywhere, kids screaming, and dogs barking but not a great deal of damage done. At least my neighbour did not come to borrow the phone again.
The next tenant had two little girls and she used to wait for Jonny to leave for work in the morning and within five minutes she was over in my house. She used to tell me all the problems she was having with her marriage and ask what I thought she should do about it. It was just like a soap opera and I used to try and get out of my house before she arrived. Once she told me that she was in love with her husband’s best friend and she was going to run away with him. I thought that it was just part of her vivid imagination and did not take too much notice of it, but the next week the house was all shut up and they were all gone. I never saw her again so I don’t know if she did run off with the best friend or if her husband had done her in or if she just moved to another suburb. At least my home was my own again.
The house on the other side of us was owned by a lady called Mrs. Darling. She had at one time owned the land that our house stood on but had subdivided it. She was a good neighbour; she had a little fluffy dog a Maltese Poodle or something like that. When we stood and talked at the fence Saint would jump over the fence pick up Mrs. Darling’s little dog give it a bit of a shake, drop it and jump back into our yard as if nothing had happened. As you can imagine the little dog would get quite a fright but Saint did not seem to hurt it.
One evening we were having some friends to supper and I was busy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to the meal, the kids were in the bath and Jonny was in the shower when the man from the corner house shouted over to ask if we had a Doberman. I said yes and he told me that a Doberman had just been run over on the main road. I could not find Saint so I shouted to tell Jonny where I was going and ran around to see if it was Saint. When I got there, there were people grouped around a very still dog on the ground. I thought it must be Saint and did not want to go any closer if he was dead. I asked the people “Is he dead?” and he must have heard and recognised my voice. He lifted his head and knowing that he was still alive I could go to him then. He did not have any marks on him, he was not bleeding or anything but he was not moving except for his head. I stayed with him until Jonny arrived in the car with a blanket. We slipped Saint on to the blanket and loaded him into the car. Jonny drove him around to the vet and I went home to look after the boys and greet the dinner guests. The vet said he would xray Saint in the morning and we should ring and find out the results then. When we rang Dr Adams, the vet, said that the xrays showed that Saint’s back was broken and that a couple of the vertebrae were so badly crushed that there was no hope of Saint ever walking again so he had done the kindly thing and put him to sleep. His death was a great loss to all of us, we missed him a great deal.
Our house sold quite quickly and we were granted the mortgage on the new house. In fact we had the mortgage on the Hatfield house before we had sold the Haig Park one and we could have kept the two houses, renting out the Haig Park one but it would have meant stretching our resources to the limit and we decided against it. We knew that if we had had one month without a tenant it would have spelt disaster for us. The couple that bought out house also had two little boys who were two years apart but they were a bit younger than Jonathan and Dominic. The builder of our new house was Portuguese, we asked him to build a workshop and laundry for us.
The day we moved in was a Saturday, when we got to the house there was no electricity connected. There was a note left for us by the council inspector to say that he had been to inspect the wiring on Friday and had found some fault or other and so he could not allow the power to be switched on until the electrician had fixed it. On Saturday morning we could not find the electrician and even if we could have the council offices were closed so there was no way we could have got the inspector back again anyway. We spent the day unpacking boxes and of course by evening we were tired, dirty and much in need of a bath but of course had no hot water. Jonny found a large metal drum, filled it with water lit a fire in the garden put the drum on it and boiled water for baths. Jonathan and Dominic had the first bath. I put some cold water into the bath and when Jonny brought the drum of hot water to the bathroom he unthinkingly put the bottom of the drum into the water and the black from the fire came off the bottom of the drum and made the boys bath water rather dirty but it was better than nothing so they washed in that. My turn was next and Jonny did not make the same mistake again so I had a nice warm clean bath. To finish it was Jonny’s turn but as the drum had been on the fire three times the paint began peeling off the inside of the drum and Jonny’s bath had bits of green paint floating in it. I was the only one who had a decent bath. I think we all went to the Arnolds for showers on Sunday evening and we had the problem sorted out on Monday and had nice hot water after that.
Jonathan, Dominic and the dogs all enjoyed the extra space. The boys went exploring and got talking to a lady who lived in the house next door. Jonathan told me “The lady next door is a witch” I told him it was not a nice thing to call someone but he insisted that she had told them she was a witch. I don’t remember much about her she moved out not long after we moved in. Maybe after having lived next door to a vacant piece of land for a long time she did not relish the thought of living next to a family and thought it was a good way to keep the children away. We always seemed to have odd people in that particular house. The next tenants were a young couple with small children. I had made a birthday cake for one of our boys shaped like a train and they had told her about it. She was very impressed and asked me if I would make one for her little boy. I told her I was no expert and it was very amateurish but she was insistent and offered to pay me for it. I said I could not accept money for it but it could be my birthday present to the child. She then gave the child a birthday party and did not invite my two. They stood at the fence watching the other children eating the cake I had made. I thought that was very odd. She was a bit of a pest about using our phone too. Once she came to use the phone and left her front door open, her gate open, our gate open and our front door open and her big brown dog followed her. When Saint, who had been having a little nap in the lounge discovered this strange dog in his house he went berserk. He grabbed the other dog by the throat, luckily the dog had on a thick leather collar so Saint did not get too good a hold of flesh. The intruder tried to get back to his own territory but Saint held on and I could not get him to let go until they were in the lounge of the neighbour’s house. There was blood everywhere, kids screaming, and dogs barking but not a great deal of damage done. At least my neighbour did not come to borrow the phone again.
The next tenant had two little girls and she used to wait for Jonny to leave for work in the morning and within five minutes she was over in my house. She used to tell me all the problems she was having with her marriage and ask what I thought she should do about it. It was just like a soap opera and I used to try and get out of my house before she arrived. Once she told me that she was in love with her husband’s best friend and she was going to run away with him. I thought that it was just part of her vivid imagination and did not take too much notice of it, but the next week the house was all shut up and they were all gone. I never saw her again so I don’t know if she did run off with the best friend or if her husband had done her in or if she just moved to another suburb. At least my home was my own again.
The house on the other side of us was owned by a lady called Mrs. Darling. She had at one time owned the land that our house stood on but had subdivided it. She was a good neighbour; she had a little fluffy dog a Maltese Poodle or something like that. When we stood and talked at the fence Saint would jump over the fence pick up Mrs. Darling’s little dog give it a bit of a shake, drop it and jump back into our yard as if nothing had happened. As you can imagine the little dog would get quite a fright but Saint did not seem to hurt it.
One evening we were having some friends to supper and I was busy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to the meal, the kids were in the bath and Jonny was in the shower when the man from the corner house shouted over to ask if we had a Doberman. I said yes and he told me that a Doberman had just been run over on the main road. I could not find Saint so I shouted to tell Jonny where I was going and ran around to see if it was Saint. When I got there, there were people grouped around a very still dog on the ground. I thought it must be Saint and did not want to go any closer if he was dead. I asked the people “Is he dead?” and he must have heard and recognised my voice. He lifted his head and knowing that he was still alive I could go to him then. He did not have any marks on him, he was not bleeding or anything but he was not moving except for his head. I stayed with him until Jonny arrived in the car with a blanket. We slipped Saint on to the blanket and loaded him into the car. Jonny drove him around to the vet and I went home to look after the boys and greet the dinner guests. The vet said he would xray Saint in the morning and we should ring and find out the results then. When we rang Dr Adams, the vet, said that the xrays showed that Saint’s back was broken and that a couple of the vertebrae were so badly crushed that there was no hope of Saint ever walking again so he had done the kindly thing and put him to sleep. His death was a great loss to all of us, we missed him a great deal.
posted by JC at
11:38 pm
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