How does my garden grow...and quilts?

Today was not a particularly

productive day....as we woke up to no hot water. So off to Mr Landlord to ask for assistance. I add that this occurred AFTER Bob took his very cold shower!!!! Mr. Landlord, called the electrician as the circuit breaker...kept tripping for the "geiser"( hot water tank as they call them here) Well the electrician assistant came in...asked where our Box was...I showed him the wall behind the lounge (living room) door...and as he pushed the switch up...A very loud pop!!!! And a huge flash of light emmitted from behind the "box". He then left the breaker switch off...and climbed up into the attic...to check out the situation.He returned a few minutes later to tell me that the "geiser" is leaking...and needs a new element...and we now need a plumber! So off to the landlord to ask for that. He sends a maid over to tell me that the Plumber will be here about 12....so I rush off to send off the Keys....yes ...real keys to our room at the B&B we stayed at when we went to Lesoto last weekend.He found them in the pocket of his shorts. Yikes, I apologized...and asked for her mailing address when I spoke to Ruth, the lovely lady from Scotland who ran our B&B. She said it was ok...to just post them back. So I went to the dreaded post office, stood in the queue, and when I presented the padded envelope to him he asked how I wanted to post it? I replied regular mail was fine...so for some reason...he held it up to an envelope chart...which made it a certain price...by size...not weight???? And I only had a 100 rand bill(about 16.00 US)...so I laid it on the counter.When he saw the bill...he then asked if I wanted to send it overnight delivery? Well, I wasn't born on a turnip truck...and I know that probably 1/3 of the time mail takes forever to get anywhere in this country...or maybe not at all!!!! So I am not paying 10 times the price to send something that may take a month..to get there.( I am still waiting on one of the five bags my brother sent to me AIR MAIL in MAY!!!!....That is a whole other story!) So I quickly said no...just send it regular. That done, I quickly popped to the grocery store..to buy some bits for the next day or two and off to the house to await my plumber! He showed up in good time...but after putting one new part on the water heater...it still wasn't fixed...so another part was added...then there was no power...so he said he'd try to sort that out and ...that took another 35 min. or so...and finally at about 3:00 i had hot water so I could finally do the dishes and a load of laundry! But it started to rain before I got the laundry hung out....so it is hanging on the inside wooden racks I have for such occasions. Man do I miss a tumble dryer! ON rainy days!!! At any rate, about 4:30 I finally sat down to sew for a few minutes. I did get all the half square triangle strips sewed and cut and pressed...before we got ready to go to dinner with friends. Not near what I had hoped to finish today.But the rain was most welcome, and I am thankful for hot water....and the beautiful things growing in my garden. I have included a photo of the clivia growing in my little side garden. They are too pretty this year. We are going to Haga- Haga, a village by the sea on Friday...so I am hoping to cut out some Baltimore blocks to take along. I just about finished number 10 and am about 1/3 through number 11. I am including a photo of the Ladies of the Nation quilt I made last year...it is nothing especially fantastic by quilting standards...but what can't be seen is that I took it to the Aids Farm ladies and they beaded the ladies....headpieces and necklaces...so it has beading all over the ladies. It will be difficult
to quilt...but I didn't have time to quilt it...and then get it beaded. I will have to make it work. The ladies are cut from cheater cloth...and I pieced the sashings and did the diamond borders....Hope you all have a lovely weekend.