HiveBloPoMo - April Showers

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(Edited)

I made it to the final!

The month of April began full of promises; cooler weather after a scorching summer, and I was able to power up all of 150 HP.

RL can be so unfair at times, as I was forced to again dip into my nest egg that was building up so nicely!

Those who have been following my #hiveblopomo, know the reasons why, as much happened this month!
I will expand on that a lot more with my HivePUD tomorrow!

I shared a really wonderful road trip up to the city of gold, Johannesburg, as our son had a job interview, and we grabbed the opportunity to visit our older son! We had an awesome time together and visited the Prison Break Market that I was raving about and later shared Weaving the Local is Lekker ZA Trail.

Our son received a job offer, so it was Mission Accomplished! He has since found a really nice flat in a perfect location, the landlord gave him the keys so he could move in today, with Dad helping him settle, as a ton of his belongings were still here with us!
The benefits of being semi-retired, enables one or both of us to take a break and travel up to the kids. When we both go, it's always for pleasure, and when only one goes, it's always to lend a helping hand!

@traciyork had some really nice writing prompts for those days when one suffers from writer's block, and two that I really enjoyed as both took me on a trip down memory lane were Four of my Favourite Movies, and more recently Marvelous Musical Memories.

Then the tide changed!
Little did I know what was brewing on that fateful Monday 11 April, when I spoke of comfort food and gloomy Mondays and light-heartedly said:

If you don't hear from me again, please send out a search party on the Indian Ocean as I may just get washed out to sea along with the rest of the greater Durban, but please rescue me first!

Later that night all hell broke loose when our neighbours' granny cottage was literally bulldozed by a mudslide, and some two hours later, the home of our friends who live next door to our neighbours, was destroyed by a massive mudslide from a huge bank across the road; a terrifying experience for all of us Adrift in the Storm.
I will never forget the thunderous noise of that mudslide and the screams from our neighbours as we thought they were trapped or even worse, taken by the mudslides, as happened to over 400 people that night! Fortunately, they all made it out just in time!

The mudslide sliced through and destroyed the middle section of our friends' home, leaving a wide and deep crater between their home and our neighbours' home.

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Many of my #hiveblopomo posts were about that event and the aftermath as that is all the whole of the Kwazulu Natal coastal region has been talking about; the cleaning up still continues before the damage can be assessed properly.

A bobcat machine has been going for four days already, clearing the mud around their home and dumping it in the other crater across the road where the second mudslide took place. That high embankment will have to be reinstated by the authorities very soon, but fortunately, we're going into our dry season.

The roof of our neighbours granny cottage can just be seen at the bottom left of the image behind the foliage, with some of the damage below and across the road visible.

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This bobcat machine has been going backwards and forwards moving mud; it will be a long time before our friends' home will be rebuilt so they've found a home nearby to rent, as they do maths tuition and need space to set up a classroom again.

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So...although it was really difficult at times to keep up with #hiveblopomo with all the dramas taking place, it has helped lighten the load on my mind and at least all these happy and sad memories are now stored on the blockchain forever!


A big bow and a thank you to @traciyork!

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I'm going to end off my post as I've been doing all along and say it one last time...

This is day 30 of my #Hiveblopomo, an initiative of the awesome bizzy Queen Bee @traciyork, encouraging all Hivers to write a blog a day for the month of April, and guess what!
Yes, this is the last day of April, so my story for this #hiveblopomo has come to an end!

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26 comments
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It sounds like quite a dramatic month! How are you doing now? I have also had a crazy month, but in a totally different way, and also managed to do the HiveBloPoMo! Yay us!

!LUV
!PIZZA
!WINE
!hivebits

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Well done to you, it's not so easy when so much is happening around one, not so! I must check what's been happening your way!

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Fantastic, you made it to the end of April!!

Nice to hang with your sons. I also spent time with mine yesterday for his birthday (which is today).

I really feel for your poor neighbours. That's some awful luck. Do they pay for the excavator or does insurance cover it?

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Thankfully the insurance pays for everything, even their rental for the next couple of months is covered. It's just so tragic, as they lost their daughter a year ago, and many treasured memories were lost, but they have managed to recover some as part of the house is safe to go into. They are such an amazing couple too! Both their other daughters are abroad, and the one tried to lighten the event and told them that at least they now get to renovate their home :)
It was great spending time with our sons under one roof again!

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Positive attitudes areso inspiring, as is humour in times of trouble. They lost their daughter? That's so sad. I'm glad insurance pays! And that they can see silver linings too.

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They are the nicest couple out! It was awfully sad when they lost their daughter, come to think of it, it's already nearly 2 years! She was a pianist, suffered from depression & of course Covid lockdown was the last straw as she lived in another city. The isolation was too much & she took her own life.
So when this happened with their home, her husband said to me that the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to lose a child, so the house & all their possessions is just material things that can be replaced! He had me in tears!

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😭 That's terrible! Makes you reassess life doesn't it? Fucking COVID, excuse the French.

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I cannot agree more with you, it was the mishandling by governments that led to job losses, companies closing down and many suicides as well!

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I knew today is the 30th, I hadn't realised tomorrow is May already!

Let't hope with the month now on it's way out, things will be on the up for you Lizzie

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Congratulations @lizelle! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):

You have been a buzzy bee and published a post every day of the month.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Be ready for the 5th edition of the Hive Power Up Month!
Hive Power Up Day - May 1st 2022
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I am glad your son got the job, with jobs being so scarce these days. Hope things are looking a bit better on your side of the world, I believe it will still take a long time for everything to return to normal.

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Thanks @rynow, we are truly thankful as he'd not worked in that field for such a long time!
The damage is quite unbelievable, we try not drive around too much now as the roads are congested with people having to reroute. It was the worst I've lived through!

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(Edited)

Last month must have been so rough but I know this month is a better one.

Also how can I get a membership tag

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Well done and congratulations on completing 30 days, a busy month to say the least an April that will be remembered.

Repair operations still in infancy, this will take a long time to repair the many landslides, roads, homes with so many still affected.

Happy month of May!

!LADY

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Thank you Joan, April '22 certainly was a month not many of us here in KZN will ever forget! We see the destruction and we all know someone who have been affected. We were the fortunate ones whose properties and lives have been spared! You're so right, the restoration is going to take many months to be completed. Hubby received a notice from an ex work colleague that Ethekwini Municipality are looking for retired engineers on a contract basis, but he doesn't feel up to it at the moment. Had brachytherapy and his diabetes makes him very tired; a pity as the money would be most welcome, but one's health comes first not so!

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Noticed advertisements for 'retired' Engineers, most known to us would not go back at this point in time. My husband had a successful brachytherapy treatment years ago, no use putting pressure on oneself when tired.

Mentally tired has left it's mark on most of us, health always comes first!

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Hi Joan, I would like to thank you personally for the most generous donation towards our #bom, you are a shining (Silver) star here on Hive.
Baie baie dankie 🙏🏻⭐

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Small little something hopefully helps, thanks for all the Team does!

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