The story.

That evening after work, I fed the animals, and made supper for Robin and myself, then we took a walk up to our landlords home, They were not very polite, and the first thing he said to us was that he wanted us out by the end of August.
I tried to speak to him but he just carried on being rude and abusive, so I told him that I wanted the eviction notice in writing, and that I would take it to a Lawyer to see if it was legal.
Well if you can listen to the voice mail on the bottom of the page you will hear what transpired.
After an hour of trying to talk nicely to the man, and him not knowing that we were taping every thing that was said, we said good night and walked back home in the dark.
The following morning was one I never want to experience again, I got to work and told my boss about the problem, and as he said “I cant involve my self in your problems or take your side, I have know your land lord for nearly 30 years and cannot assist you”
I understood what he was saying, but it hurt as well, after all I have worked for him for 6 years, and had been a good friend to him when he needed some one to talk to.
That evening I went home to the farm, knowing that I must get things started, either to find another home to live in or I would have to rehome most of my animals. This of course broke my heart, I placed an advert in a local internet advertising, and with in 2 days had homes for my parrots, my ducks, my geese and my pigs, no one wanted the cats, and I was praying that I would not have to put my dogs down.
I phoned my Sister in Cape Town, and we had a long discussion about what I was going to do.
She then phoned my X husband, and he in turn phoned our Landlord, I don’t know what was said, but my X said that the Land lord had told him that I was rude and swearing at them, This was not so, as you will hear on the voice recordings.
Yes I was very upset and who would not be, to have to part with your beloved animals because of a stupid incident.
A couple of days later, I saw our neighbors talking down at the bottom of the drive and looking very upset, I wondered what was going on, and the next day through the grape vine I heard that he had given them notice as well and said to them that he was going to sell the farm and that is why he wanted all his tenants off the land.
Now the full story was starting to come out, His Land Rates had doubled, and the rent that he was getting from letting us and the other tenants was not enough to cover the cost of running his farm, and that he was going to sell our cottage and the big house, and continue to live in his home, and smaller area of the farm.
By then I had searched for a place to stay, my sister had come up from Cape Town and together we had spent a very miserable day looking at apartments in the Pinetown area, non of which would be good enough, And considering the distance I would have to travel to work every day and home again, and in winter, the days were short and dark before I would get home, she there and then decided that my son and I and four of my dogs would travel to Cape Town and live with her until either I or Robin had a job and was earning enough money to have a home of our own again,
I started packing, and throwing out, its really unreal how much you collect in a life time, and what with Robins computer parts and my books there was enough to fill fifty boxes, I phoned a friend of mine and asked her if she would take the cats to the SPCA for me, and if she would like to take my bird aviary my books, and my pool that I had installed into the front yard, Other friends were offered my furniture, and slowly our home became an empty shell, eventually we were left with only our beds to sleep on and my little 2 plate stove to cook on, and my deepfreeze to keep what we needed in, every thing in my home was given away. I have worked all my life for what I had, and now in the matter of a couple of weeks I had nothing. You just don’t know how it feels to suddenly know that you are going to have to depend on someone else for a living for the rest of your life.
Well we fought the eviction notice, but this was just to give me time to sort things out, and give my notice in at work.
On the 8th November 2008 my dogs flew down to Cape Town, to start a new life, the 9th and the10th we cleaned the house up and disconnected the phone and the computers, of course these were going with us. On the 11th November the Furniture removal Van arrived and loaded what we were taking with us, there were still lots I would not part with, even though there would be very little space for my belongings at my sisters. The night of the 11th November we slept at a friend’s home as now our belongings were on the way to Cape Town, he made us very welcome and they were truly wonderful friends to us for the years we had known them, Thank you Dennis and Anita, for your understanding and your kindness. On the day of the 12th November we went to a seaside boarding house for the evening, and how relaxing and peaceful it was, I had not seen the ocean in years and it was just so good to sit and watch the waves rolling in and out.
The following morning we were taken by a mutual friend to the Bus stop where we were to catch the City liner bus to Cape Town.