Security issues and the great flood

We'd returned from our friends' farewell party (thanks to Seija for looking after Matias and India) and settled down to watch an old Finnish detective story on DVD (Komissario Palmun erehdys). Heikki had already dozed off, and I was just about to. The security alarm went off in the entrance hall, and it was loud.

We hadn't even set the alarm on for the night, and the racket didn't come from the alarm-box, but one of the telephones, but we were so tired we didn't pay attention. Heikki got dressed to welcome the security guard that would arrive any second. I was too tired, and just grabbed a fleece blanket over my pyjamas.

It took a couple of minutes for the guys to arrive. We had a quick briefing with them and said we hadn't seen or heard anything suspicious, so they said they'd go around the perimeters of the garden first, to check the electric fences. (We're surrounded by an electric fence, walls and fences, and the house is alarmed).

I went to switch on the outside lights and then met with the guards in the garden. The owner's daughter was there, too. There are several houses on this plot, and she lives in one of them. She told us the alarm had actually gone off in the main house, the one her parents live in, and so that's why we'd heard the alarm on the telephone/intercom.

Nothing suspicious could be found, so we all returned from where we'd come from. Heikki and I finished the film and went to sleep.

The alarm went off again in the morning, while we were sleeping. The sun had already risen, so I took a quick look outside and decided nothing suspicious was going on there. Heikki and the kids didn't even wake up, although the noise was really loud. I didn't stay awake long enough to see the security guys.

Later on Heikki and I decided it must be the owners' cats who keep setting the alarm off. They can still enter the house even if no-one is at home, and we think the sensors can sense them in certain places or certain rooms.

I have a cold, but it was such a warm winter day (25 Celsius) that I thought I could go out for a bit. We went to a market near the centre of Cape Town, in Green Point.

When my father was here, we found a nice guy who sells good merchandise with good prices. Heikki had taken Bill and Lorna there last weekend, and now it was again our turn.

We bought some animal figures, wooden bowls and some other wooden things. I bought an antique artefact my father had been interested in. I didn't even try to haggle with this guy, as I know his prices are excellent.

The excellent prices were once again proven on our way back to the car. I spotted some similar objects on another stall, and queried about the price. They were smaller than the one I'd just bought, but similar enough. I said I wasn't interested in buying, but I wanted to know what they cost. We haggled, and I in the end I got a decent price. I then showed the guys what I had just bought - for 4.5 times less than their lowest price My treasure went around on a mini-tour, and was looked at by these guys. They didn't believe what I said I got it for, but that didn't matter. I left the market smiling, once again.

When we got home I was in a desperate need of some rest, but I didn't get much. Heikki put the washing machine on, which is something we don't do often as we have our wonderful Joyce. The exit tube of the washing machine had been clogged, and Joyce had cleaned that on Friday. She hadn't screwed the tube on properly, so as Heikki put the machine on, the kitchen flooded. Heikki and I mopped and mopped, and sweet little India took water out of the bucket and put it back on the floor Well, at least it was a warm day.