Sean's baskeball hoop vs Our car

On Friday morning we were at Sean's. We were about to go home for the day when we got to the car. This is what we found...

Sean's basketball hoop, similar to the one I have back in England, had fallen down in the night right onto the windscreen. The hoop was badly bent into an oval shape due to the impact. It looks as though the windscreen only survived because the hoop hit in down at the bottom - I would guess that if it had hit in the centre of the glass, it wouldn't have been able to hold.

It is going into the garage tomorrow to be fixed, meanwhile we have had to drive it around as there are 9 people here at the moment and with only one car between us all, it gets a little tricky!

It hasn't been a very good week with me and cars following last week's fine for jumping a red light

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End of the season

Yesterday saw the end of the Finnish football season.

Our local team, FC Honka, had been up in the top 3 all season, leading the league twice. They have the top scorer, Hermanni Vuorinen, who, after scoring 16 goals in 17 games, kept hold of his lead even after a move to Norway in August. But, after a run of worse form than in the first half of the season, they finished 4th. A 3rd place finish looked certain after 3rd place FC Haka lost yesterday and Honka only had to beat 3rd bottom FC Inter (the team we saw Honka thrash 6-0 at home in July), but a 2-1 defeat saw them finish as the 4th best team in Finland. A galiant attempt by last season's 2nd Division (Ykkonen) champions.

The eventual Suomen Mestari was Tampere United who have looked the best side all season. They managed to pull off a 3-0 win away at 2nd placed HJK on the final day to win the league by 6 points. Last season's winners MyPa could only muster 6th place this time around.

At the bottom of the table it was left to FF Jaro and KuPS to fight for survival. In the end KuPS two year stint in the top league finishes on goal difference. They will be replaced by AC Oulu and FC Viikingit of Helsinki.

Here are the final standings...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Goals	Pts
TamU	24	16	3	5	39 - 18	51
HJK	24	13	6	5	45 - 18	45
FC Haka	24	13	5	6	37 - 24	44
FC Honka	24	13	3	8	50 - 32	42
IFK Mariehamn	24	10	7	7	31 - 22	37
MyPa	24	10	4	10	25 - 26	34
TPS	24	9	4	11	35 - 38	31
FC Lahti	24	9	4	11	26 - 34	31
VPS	24	8	5	11	26 - 36	29
FC Inter	24	7	7	10	25 - 35	28
KooTeePee	24	8	3	13	26 - 44	27
FF Jaro	24	4	7	13	27 - 42	19
KuPS	24	5	4	15	18 - 41	19

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Back to Monday again

[UPDATE: added pictures 1st Nov]

Milja's school had Friday off for a Parent-Teacher day. There were also meetings on Thursday after school when Minna and Matias went. Milja and Matias got really really got reports back. Milja is top of her class in most (if not all :P) subjects. Minna was very happy to tell the family back home how both of them have done this year so far. They both sound like they are excelling themselves.

As Thursday was not a school night, we and the gang went out like we do at the weekends. We went to Claremont three nights in a row, therefore each night seemed to blend together and I were very similar but fun. Thursday was a bit quiet as expected, but we had a blast each night. We are starting to talk and get to know the regulars there now.

On Friday the lot of us (family) went to the World Of Birds up the road. We stayed for over an hour, and went into the monkey and touroise/wallaby cages and saw some strange animals. It's cool place to go to relax and spend a few hours. And it's just up the road from us too.

More photos at Zooomr

Saturday was quite quiet as people were quite tired, so most of the day we were at home. I went swimming twice, the water is getting warmer, 24 degrees! Still not warm, I don't know if it will ever get 'warm', but it is definitely swimable now.

Also, Exclusive Books, where I am a member, had a double points day. I bought a new book, Sleepyhead, and used my vouchers I have recieved from being a member. I also entered a competition to win the catalogue of their best 51 books of 2006 and for a year of free movies at Nu Metro cinemas.

Yesterday, the family went to a large market in Cape Town in Greenpoint . There were loads and loads of stalls selling a huge range of items. We walked around for over an hour and bought some goodies. Milja and I bought 3 Ghanian masks which we will hang up when we return to Finland. I chatted for a while to an artist who was selling his paintings. Didn't end up buying one but maybe next week, I think we are going again.

More photos at Zooomr

In the afternoon we went to Sean's after a quick lunch at Seija's . Then we headed to Blue Route , our usual movie spot, to watch "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" with Jamie K. The film had funny parts but wasn't too great.

Tapio, M&H's friend, has been busy the last few weeks stripping and then re-doing our sauna. It was finally ready enough for it to be used over the weekend. I went in last night with Matias and then Milja. Having a pool is great because even though the water is not too cold anymore (thank goodness!!), the temperature difference is great enough to work as intended.

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Got caught by a red light

Busted!

This was me driving through Cape Town on the morning I went to get Milja from the airport, October 1st. Heikki just sent me the photos which he receieved this morning.

The fine is 500 Rand, about £45, so not too bad, but it certainly is stupid! I can't remember going through the red light - it must have been one of those that you think you can make but you just don't get there in time before it changes.

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Bride for the day

More photos at Zooomr

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Guests

Minna's parents and Heikki's mum arrived in Cape Town this morning. Minna and India went to collect them from the airport at about 10am. I think they are here for around 2 weeks and it will be good to show them places they haven't been to. Raija and Ervo were here last November and know the area somewhat already. India has been excited all week saying that Mummi, Ukki ja Mummu tulee!!

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Hour Game

I just finished reading Hour Game by David Baldacci. Raija bought it for me last Christmas. It is a great book about a small town and a series of linked murders ("A deadly serial killer says it's time to play"). At 400 pages, it is quite a long book, but the story has great description and lots of action to keep you very interested. A recommended read if you like action/thriller/murder mystery books.

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We Fought The Water And The Water Won

Today we were woken up by Heikki at 6:30 rather than the usual 7am. We could hear drips coming from outside the house, as well as from the plastic sheeting hanging just outside of our window and the rain on the pool. From the bedroom door it was possible to see the extent of what was to happen for the next 3 hours.

The roof is still off and we have temporary sheeting, as usual. The builders haven't been on site since last Thursday, so it entirely possible that some sheeting had come loose or was not placed properly intially. There were bad leaks in the dining room above the stairs, and in the corner of the lounge. While Milja got ready I helped Heikki and Minna to try and withstand the water running into and through the house.

By the time M&M left for school, there were also leaks in the kitchen through a light fixing and by the patio doors to the back. Cue two hours of rinsing and replacing towels, running around with buckets to catch new and changing drips and getting soaked in the process. I think we must have had about 10-15 towels going constantly with three major spots to tend to, and new puddles forming whenever we were too late to rinse the towels. Heikki and I were in our swimming shorts.

I think that's called a torrent

At about 8:30, Minna, Heikki and I were in the lounge attending to the largest leak, where water was rushing through and down the wall, over the window and splashing on the floor (see photo above). Suddenly I heard Minna gasp and a strange ripping sound, followed by a large splash, as water started coming out from the wall. A pouch in the paint seemed to form, containing the water from above. The sofa and surrounding area was wet and we scurried to contain the large flow of water.

It's coming out the wall!

Heikki started calling round the other Finnish households in Hout Bay to come help, as we were starting to tire after two hours of non-stop rinsing and rushing around. Four extra people came to help out, including our cleaner Joyce who was at work at one of the houses.

At about 9:30am, the rain had slowed enough that we were able to start drying areas. The builders came to add extra plastic sheeting to the roof and we finally had it under control.

We had leaks in the kitchen, above the patio doors, the lounge, above M&H's bedroom door, M&H's bedroom, Matias' room (x2), above the stairs (which made a puddle all the way over to our bedroom) and in our bathroom. Not much fun for a morning when I was hoping to lie in! My hands are red raw from all the hours of rinsing towels and we now have a dehumidifier to try and get rid of the dampness. We just treated ourselves to take-away pizza from Primi.

Leaking into our room

Matias' bed

Matias's cupboard

Relaxing

Cleaning up

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