A brief look back on 2013

I thought 2013 was not a bad year. I published my first book, joined Toastmasters so that I can make speeches people have to listen to (!), survived another year, the financial pressure eased and I met many new and interesting people, as well as reconnecting with old friends. The year also brought me many valuable life lessons. If you want to know what they are, ask me. If you don't, that's okay.

I find the number 2014 pleasing to the eye and can only think that is a good sign of things to come. Not necessarily for everyone, as each person's perception of the world is aligned to their expectations, but for myself I am expecting only the best to turn up.

To those who didn't disappoint me, thank you for your important role in my life. For those who did, yours was the greatest lesson of all. I can only hope you found some value in the experience too.

In 2014, I will continue to explore life, hopefully with the aid of an air ticket, and remain true to myself, as ever. Anyone who wants to join me is most welcome. May all your wishes come true, so be careful what you wish for!

The story of my life...

They (those in the nutritional know) say that Kale is the most nutritious of the leafy greens. What they don't tell you is that few people have eaten it because it is rather an acquired taste, one which I fear is rather slow in coming. The first thing you should know is that, if you have an underactive thyroid, it should only be eaten COOKED, never raw (e.g. green juice), as it will exacerbate the problem. The next important bit of news is that you have to have a good set of gnashers, as this must be one of the toughest leaves in existence. It's best to finely chop the leaves and remove the woody stem before steaming. The final thing is that the taste is quite strong and makes cabbage seem positively bland by comparison. However, in the interests of good nutrition, a couple of leaves now and then are probably a good idea, particularly if you get them straight from the farm.

Farm-fresh kale

Basil and parsley flourishing

After a healthy dose of kale smothered in pepper sauce, I felt ready to muscle the wheelie bin up the long driveway for tomorrow's early morning collection. It was jammed in a corner behind a little dinghy, so I grabbed the front and pulled it towards me and over the gutter. Well, of course, it crashed down on my foot, more specifically, my big toe, and as always right on the nailbed, the most painful place to be injured. And to add insult to injury, it is the same toe that I dropped half a vacuum cleaner on about 10 months ago, the scar of which is still growing out! The painnnn! I hopped and hobbled to try and distract attention from my throbbing toe and eventually dragged myself upstairs and flopped on the bed, where I lay groaning for about 10 minutes. As that didn't elicit the kind of response I had anticipated from HWCFA (apparently can't fix a broken toe), I got up again to carry on with life. I still have to take the bin out, but I think I will have to put safety boots on first.

Do not be alarmed by this photograph of the toe - that is not dirt you are looking at, it's the bruising from the vacuum cleaner injury earlier this year, and to show you the replacement so that I can have another year of scarred toenails. Maybe I should just paint them red!

A day in the sun at Buffels Bay

Today we went down to Buffels Bay at Cape Point with old friends, to spend the day relaxing on the lawn next to the sea while the men dived for crayfish and the children pottered on the rocks. This was something quite unusual for me, as I don't enjoy a day in the sun purely because I don't ever sit in the sun if I can help it and I don't like to be away from home all day. Being a creature of habit who enjoys a bit of routine (only my own, not anyone else's!), I feel a bit out of kilter if certain things aren't done, such as washing(!), watering the garden and making dinner. But today I cast all caution to the wind and off we set in the Mini.

It was a bumpy ride (the Mini doesn't have shock absorbers and we sit very close to the road) as the narrow road to Cape Point leaves much to be desired in the way of an optimal smoothness of ride. We arrived at the gate just after 9am, ahead of the lengthy queues which formed soon after and were soon belting along the road down the spine of the South Peninsula to the sound of Creedence Clearwater Revival.We were unsure exactly where we were all going to meet and as there was no cellphone reception in the Reserve, we went over hill and dale, exploring places we haven't been to in years, for about 40 minutes before locating the crowd behind a dense thicket in the place we had first looked!

The men immediately departed for the crayfishing spot, which turned out to be way over on the Atlantic side of the Reserve, and left the women, as usual, to chat, look after the children and make sure the food department had been handled. We sprawled on the lawn under a cerulean sky, the sea sparkling just beyond the jumble of rocks where the children fished in pools and we watched the tide come in.... and the tide go out! It was close to 5 hours later that the brave warriors returned with the kill, a bag full of crayfish, alive and kicking.


 It wasn't long before they were neatly lined up on the fence, cooling down before we feasted on them. And most enjoyable they were, too. Then it was time to put the meat on the braai - after all, it was heading for tea time - and no sooner did the succulent aroma of boerewors hit the airwaves than the first baboon put its face through the bushes to say hello. We were compelled to deter it with a show of force, and for the rest of our stay we were surrounded by various members of the troop, all waiting their chance, but not quite brave enough to charge into the fray for a quick smash-and-grab. They made do with swinging from the side mirrors of the cars until one snapped off, after which they lost interest.

As you can see, the weather was perfect, the sea temperature definitely over 20 degrees, and we eventually wrapped up the day towards 6pm, when the effects of the day in the sun made themselves apparent. My arms and legs closely resemble those cooked crayfish on the fence; despite wearing a hat the whole day, my face is glowing with a little more than good health, and all I can hope is that the skin doesn't peel off! I knew there was a reason I don't like sitting in the sun!

All in all, it was well worth the sunburn - the place was well-populated with people enjoying a day at the sea, and there was nothing but happy groups of children playing on the shoreline, while parents relaxed around a fire or picnic and the only sound was the crashing of the waves against the rocks. Even the baboons were not as disruptive as usual. It was as if the world had learned to live together.

A Clovelly childhood #9

Went to Mom and Dad for tea this morning, rather than meeting at one of our favourite eateries, as this is not the time of year when you want to join the throng if you really can avoid it. And what better place to be anyway than the family home in Clovelly, where we have been since 1958? Things have changed vastly since we first arrived. There were probably about 20 houses in this quiet nook - its saving grace being that the road ends at the country club and so does not attract through traffic - and over the years, as people have sold and moved to smaller properties, plots have been divided and new roads opened up in the valley, so that there are very few empty plots and the mountainside has become spoiled with huge edifices, many of which remain uninhabited for various reasons - in fact, one large home was recently completely demolished, leaving just the bare slab and a somewhat out-of-place funicular giving access from the road.

The best things, the free things, have not changed - the view, the fresh air, the shelter from the summer south easter, and the cloud over the mountain that hides the sun until afternoon when the wind is really bad, and the bird and animal life that is ever-present. Although we don't usually go up the mountain in summer, due to snakes and heat, it was comparatively mild today and the earth was still damp from a sudden change in the weather that brought a heavy shower at dawn. And so my sisters and I climbed up to the firebreak and took a walk down memory lane as we clambered over rocks and streams, through old pincushion bushes which have survived the many fires that have ravaged the mountain over the years, all the while under the constant observation of the mountain that was the playground of our youth. Even that has changed, as boulders have dislodged themselves from the cliff-face and rumbled down the slope, bouncing off rocks and crashing through undergrowth until coming to rest at a man-made obstacle - a house. There is no mistaking the sound of a falling boulder, particularly one the size of a car, and it is a privilege to be there to see nature reshaping our world.

Although the sanddunes have been covered by alien vegetation for many years now, and a large portion has fallen prey to development, the memories of tobogganing down the dunes on bits of hardboard, polished with Cobra Wax, and collecting platannas from the vleis in winter and the blinding sunshine reflecting off the pure white sanddunes under that blue, blue sky will never disappear.

Me, age about 12

Trying to get some greenery going

Having been chastised by the new garden man as to the lack of watering and feeding of my garden, I have set to it with gusto, starting early in the morning with the sprays on the lawns and only switching them off during the heat of the day, to be turned on again around 4pm. A liberal sprinkling of lawn fertilizer has been applied, and two bags of general plant food will be scattered later today. There are sections of my garden so remote from our daily activity that I doubt whether any water apart from rainfall has touched ground in the last 30 years! This will doubtless be a shock to the system and I am expecting to see jungle-like growth within a week. Then I will have to have the gardener back to hack away the excess and cut a swathe through Africa with my Rolux Magnum. Here are some 'before' pictures. I don't know how long it will be before the 'after' pictures will be available!

Of course, all of this would be impossible if we didn't have copious amounts of free water 8ft underneath our property in a little aquifer. For years we made do with a hand-dug well which HWCFA excavated when we first moved here. It usually dried up by the end of December as it relied on seepage and the water table was always too low by then to do the real job of keeping the garden going through January and February. Since we put in 4 wellpoints we have been able to water almost continuously right up to the end of April when the rains usually are under way again. This is no excuse for not feeding, I know, but doesn't time fly by?

If the results are not what I am expecting, then I will know once and for all that it's not lack of food or water, it's just that I'm no good at gardening!

Crayfish, braais and bush fires

Today was probably the most perfect day we have had so far this summer - balmy air, flat seas all around the Peninsula and an almost Mediterranean clarity of azure blue. The crayfish boats were out early to take advantage of the good conditions and we chatted to a gaggle of old-timers preparing to launch as we took our normal stroll along the sea front. They were hoping that the seal that had ruined their catch the day before had moved off. Seals take full advantage of an easy meal when they see the boats dropping nets. The fish heads that are tied across the metal rings as bait for the crayfish are easy pickings and any crayfish that might already have started to nibble are chased away by the seals, who then demolish the bait and leave nothing for the crayfish to come back to. The crayfish have been of good size this season, which is always encouraging in light of the heavy poaching that takes place under the noses of the inspectors. The boats that come over at night from Hout Bay are clearly visible and there is no masking the noise of the outboard engines, yet poaching continues unabated. In a way, it's a good thing when we have endless stormy weather, as that is the only thing that seems to keep poachers at home.

After a long day at the computer, and HWCFA achieving a remarkable piece of work in the garage - restoring a snooker table that was built in 1957 to its pristine state - we threw a few logs on the braai and cooked a pork sausage or two. A small salad was enough to accompany them as the setting sun cast a golden glow on the mountain above us. A few glossy ibis flew overhead, quite separate from the large flock of sacred ibis that fly over twice a day, and we have been spared the squawking of hadedahs for a while now. They must have gone away for the holidays.

The fire season is almost upon us, and despite there being absolutely no wind over Cape Town at the moment, this photo clearly shows a large band of smoke from a bush fire on the other side of False Bay. These runaway fires are most prevalent when the southeaster is blowing at full force, and it makes one think that, once again, this can only have been caused by human carelessness, a badly controlled picnic fire or the usual suspect, the cigarette butt flicked from the car into the dry grass at the roadside. The fires can burn for weeks and lay waste to vast tracts of mountainside, with the accompanying demise of the small creatures that are trapped - the only good thing about them is that our indigenous flora are propagated by fire, so it must have all been part of nature's original plan.

We certainly have had, as far as I can remember, the best December and festive season weather since pa fell off the bus. Long may it last!

Christmas in Clovelly

What a day of feasting! Started off with a walk under the lighthouse and along the boardwalk at 7am. Quite a few people had the same idea and we saw more people on our walk than usual. A heavy sea was a forerunner of the cloudy conditions that were to move in later in the day, but to start off, the sun blazed down on an otherwise quiet Kommetjie with no signs of life in the driveways we passed, where small social gatherings are the norm on weekends. Most were having a bit of a lie in, I suspect.

Then it was time to fill the gap left by last night's large dinner - I always wake up hungry if I eat too much the night before - and we pecked gingerly at low fat Bulgarian yoghurt with booysenberries and blueberries, with a tablespoon of superfood powder to recharge our systems after the rich food. By no stretch of the imagination could the words 'sweet' or 'juicy' come to mind as our eyes squinted and mouths puckered at the sourness of our healthy breakfast - in no time, a nice plate of scrambled egg lay before us.

After a bit of perfunctory housework, it was off to Mom and Dad for the Christmas family gathering in Clovelly, a tradition of the past 50 years with only an occasional variation of venue. There we sat convivially in the sunshine on the deck overlooking the fishpond and mountainside, where we kept our eyes peeled for a view of the resident cobra, ensuring that the small boys did not venture too far into the garden unattended. The snake did not make an appearance, which possibly had something to do with the noise level coming from a group of 19 all talking at once!

We were joined by an American family, a colleague of my nephew's, who were out here on holiday and staying at the Waterfront. Michael asked them to spend the day with us and it really was very pleasant to host virtual strangers who actually fitted in very well and were fun to be with. We can only hope they enjoyed the experience too. My sisters attended to the food, a variety of cold meats and speciality salads and a veritable feast was laid before us, topped by an exquisite dessert cake made by my niece which consisted of layers of homemade caramelised biscuits, cream and melted Lindt chocolate, smothered in a further coating of Lindt chocolate, so if we don't all gain 3 kg over this time, I will eat my hat! It is definitely salad from tomorrow. Good while it lasted.

This was just a small section of the feast!

Christmas Eve dinner is a thing of the past

Another Christmas dinner down the hatch! Cook for hours and eat in half an hour! This year was easier, as I only did a gammon, which required no attention, and a fillet in the oven which only took 20 minutes. The potato bake and glazed pumpkin took care of itself prior to the fillet, and a quick cheese sauce for the spinach and pepper sauce for the steak completed the ensemble, with good old shop-bought apple sauce as always. There are some things that aren't improved by home cooking.

The dishwasher is packed and relaxing outside on the deck is now in order, with a slice of red velvet cheesecake and booysenberries picked fresh from the farm.

An early night will be welcome, as tomorrow will involve endless conversation, something that is always more exhausting than an afternoon bent over a hot stove. It's always good to have a large family gathering but in our family we all like to talk together and preferably involve ourselves in multiple conversations at the same time. We also like to listen to more than one conversation at a time if at all possible. So things can become quite chaotic. The test of acceptability for any proposed new entrant to the family is to see if they can survive such a gathering. They then know how bad it can get and that anything else will be far easier to handle! I make it sound quite horrendous, but in actual fact, we all have a jolly good time. HWCFA retreated to his garage many years ago, unable to cope with the decibels, although he himself is not without fault in that regard!

I'm sure that many of you are busy with Christmas Eve dinner right now and are also looking forward to a family gathering tomorrow to eat the leftovers and relax in the shade of a leafy tree. Enjoy it! Another year is nearly over and those new year's resolutions are waiting just around the corner...

Against the wind

Another windy day in Cape Town. I use the term 'Cape Town' to cover the metropolitan area, but there are spots which are completely wind-free, so I am not technically correct. But in the places where wind tunnels form, such as down the Fish Hoek-Noordhoek valley and from Constantia Nek down to Muizenberg, you would believe you were in two different countries. In those places, trees grow sideways as they never have a chance to grow in peace.

Some of these trees have become landmarks, but regrettably, due to insensitive tree felling with no recognition of the humour of a situation or how old the tree might be, or even just the contribution it makes to our heritage, they are fast disappearing. At the end of Boyes Drive in Lakeside, where it joins the Main Road, there is a particularly crooked tree that deserves to be preserved just for its fortitude.

A similarly stunted, almost bonsai'd in relation to its natural state, pine tree grew for years next to the road that goes to Scarborough in the most exposed part of the ridge between what used to be a quaint seaside village and Ocean View, but that too has been remorselessly hacked down, simply because it is 'alien'. The fact that it has never had any offspring growing up around it, no doubt due to no pollination ever being possible in the teeth of the gale, should surely have served as a stay of execution. But no. Bureaucracy and its accompanying lack of initiative on the part of office bearers is ridding us of these quirks of nature.

It is true that the trees that suffer the most are tall, fast-growing aliens, and it is obvious why our natural floral kingdom consists of low shrubs and low-level branches with thick stems - they adapted quickly to the wind which must have always blown across the Peninsula since this ancient land rose from the sea bed. The landscape at Cape Point Nature Reserve must bear the closest resemblance to what the Peninsula looked like before our Australian imports.

Of course, without these fast-growing aliens, how would South Africans be able to enjoy the traditional braai? At the rate we burn wood, we would be living in a desert by now if it weren't for these trees which are highly inflammable and make great coals for cooking! The last protea would have been chopped down years ago!

I reckon we should actually leave these isolated monuments to the aliens which contribute so splendidly to our national pastime!

A great philosophy

A quiet start to the day with the words of John Lennon, a man whose wish for humanity was peace and love:

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Sushi, sunshine and singing carols

Delicious sushi at the Waterfront today - girls' day out. Magnificent weather, not a breeze down there, although as we took the bend past Groote Schuur Hospital the southeaster was blasting through as usual.

Unhurried stroll through crowded wharfs - unfortunately unable to stay for the free FreshlyGround concert :( but other events called.

The slow drive along the main road between Muizenberg and Fish Hoek in the blazing sun took its toll on me and I had to have a brief lie-down and 40 winks before finally finishing 'the big book' and sending it off. Another one awaits on the email and tomorrow I actually have to go to Claremont to 'work' as the next job is apparently quite complicated! Just what I need at this time of year when everyone is in holiday mood. Mind you, I find that it is better to work in the evening and can usually put in about 3 hours before bedtime, but then the brain is in revved up mode and I can't sleep. Somehow, three months in Paris is looking like something I should be aiming for, far from the madding crowd. Or Venice.

Just now I am off to church for the Carol Service. It's just not Christmas if I don't go - after all, it is a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus that has just got completely out of hand with commercialism. I'll see you there.

Shopping - done and dusted

Got up early yesterday - not that I don't anyway - but set off for the dreaded mall at 8am armed with a shopping list. First port of call was the coffee shop to fortify myself with a large cappuccino and rewrite the shopping list under headings. I find it easier to be organised if I know what I need from each shop, although, much like a speech, it never turns out the way it was originally intended. But a rough plan is always a good idea.

It seemed as though no one else had decided to get there early and I browsed the Christmas stores set up for the occasion with no sense of being crowded out, and also no urge to actually buy anything. The universe conspired to lead my eyes to just the right gifts for those who will appreciate them, at prices which didn't break the bank. For myself, I looked for a headband with antlers on as a fun 'fascinator' for Christmas Day, but couldn't find exactly the right look - perhaps there is a message in that!

I met up with just the right friend for a fairly quick chat between the meat counters where the fridges kept us cool, and still there was no sense of frenetic last-minute shopping - everyone seems calm and cheerful this year, although perhaps the earliness of the hour helped. Soon I was out of there, shopping completed within two hours, and it was time to go to a dear friend for a birthday tea and sticky bun at Noordhoek Farm Village.

We settled for a scone, thinking it would be the least sinful snack from the selection, and were presented with gargantuan muffin-style scones which would have fed a family of four. If only we had known, we would have shared one. However, we ploughed manfully through them, and fortunately they were excellent - light and crumbly - although I have to admit by later that morning it had started to weigh a bit heavy in the stomach and thoughts of an afternoon nap were rife.

All in all, my morning of Christmas shopping was over by 11.30 with no pain. It pays to keep things simple.

Running out of time

After a scorchingly hot day yesterday and another one today, I took my garden man's criticism to heart and gave the garden a thorough soaking from back to front, leaving the spray in various areas for twenty minutes at a time and then spending an hour or so holding the hose myself, by way of relaxation after another long day at the computer. Reading financial textbooks sure does suck all creativity from your soul! But a few hours in the garden will sort that out.

A thick fog has flowed over the Peninsula, brought up from the sea by the strong southeaster and no doubt some change in air pressure, as the swell along the coast has lifted today and is currently pounding the Inner Kom. It's a welcome relief from the intense heat, but there is unlikely to be any moisture dropping on us now unless it's from a hose

.

I put up the Christmas tree today, just in time before missing it completely! It's a very elegant little tree, smaller than usual in keeping with my plan to scale everything down. We really have it for the scent of the pine, without which it just wouldn't be Christmas. I haven't done any shopping yet, neither for food nor presents, so only time will tell what happens on that front! December has rushed by unnoticed for me. We are even out of bread and milk.

It's the shortest night tonight (roughly) and we will officially be into Summer this weekend. With that in mind, a traditional Christmas dinner is not on the cards. It's going to be fillet steak baked whole in the oven with a variety of fancy vegetable dishes and a cheesecake to die for - not going to be good for the digestion, hence the dying bit - but it will only be a brief lapse and then back to normal! I will post a picture of the cheesecake so you can all drool!

Dinner calls, so cheerio for now.

Slogging (not blogging)

As everyone winds down for the Christmas holidays, it seems that I am getting busier and busier. I have now been glued to my computer since the beginning of November and I am scheduled to stay there until the 8th of January, when everyone will be going back to work. Something is not right here!

I have had so little happening in my life that for the last few days I haven't had anything to write about. Today, plenty happened, or rather, didn't happen:

The washing machine wouldn't pump the water out. This means sodden washing on the line and despite a galeforce southeaster blasting us from one end of the garden to the other, it hasn't dried yet. HWCFA will have to wear same pants tomorrow.

The remote for the gate doesn't want to work, and when I replaced the battery, the whole thing fell apart.
K has lost her remote, so that leaves only one between the three of us - something's not going to work out here.

The internet connection went on the blink while I was waiting for very important documents. Managed to sort it out, but still waiting for documents. Man has gone on honeymoon - how inconsiderate!

Both garden hoses have developed severe leaks and will need to be replaced. Meanwhile, garden drooping and dying due to lack of time to water and aforementioned galeforce southeaster. Garden man berates me for not watering my garden enough - says I must get compost and he will sort it all out. Doesn't realise galeforce southeaster blows all compost into neighbour's spare plot.

No time to put up Christmas tree so far. Will have to rely on kindness of others.

Need to shop a bit. Perhaps on Monday? Aaarrgghh!

We saw a full moon rising

Now that was a fun evening! A full moon rising in the East and the sun setting in the West, and a drumming circle on the lawns at the Kom again. Although a very chilly wind gusted from time to time, it didn't dampen our enthusiasm, or that of the onlookers, and our hands certainly weren't cold - in fact, our drumming was hot, even if I say so myself.

This is only the second time I've joined the drumming circle and I found that it's not just randomly hitting a drum, as many suspect. It's not a difficult technique, but unless you get it right, the resonance leaves something to be desired! At first I thought I just had a bum drum - after all, there was a piece of tape on it (battle scars from previous beginners, I fear) - but after watching other drummers' hand positioning, it soon became clear that I was a bad workman. What a difference that made! Our last song (drumming is communication) was an absolute delight.

The drumming was led by the always-delighted-to-see-you and radiant Michelle, whose obvious passion for the art is infectious and genuine. She also makes the most incredible dreamcatchers, which is what I remember her doing some years ago when I had my art studio in Noordhoek. I'm sure she has many strings to her bow and will forgive me if I'm unaware of them.

Many people look askance at this type of art form, with preconceived ideas of what 'type' of people indulge in it. All I can say is, it seems that ordinary people like me enjoy it, and children and dogs are welcome too!

Never overlook an opportunity to be happy or have fun. It can happen anywhere. Seize the day!

Short and sweet

Another spectacular day in Kommetjie. Started off with an early walk this morning. Golden sunlight on the lighthouse and blue, blue seas. Terns on silent wings heading to feeding grounds. Grass birds and sparrows chattering and flocking over the low scrub. Oystercatchers preening on the rocks. Somewhere nearby, an otter is going about its business. All is quiet.

Barefoot and loving it!

I've never been one for wearing shoes. They have always been rather an inconvenient necessity, something you need to wear to keep your feet warm in winter, or to go with the business suit or evening dress you are wearing. But I'm one of those who kicks her shoes off at the door, usually before I step over the threshold. It might have something to do with living in a wooden house with wooden floors, but that is really just to avoid the noise factor. There is something about walking barefoot on wood that gives you a connection to the earth even when you are three metres above it, and walking outside in the garden without shoes is an absolute must. The best part of summer is not having to wear shoes.

I'm sure I must be a source of great amusement to the neighbours if they ever observe me making my way up the driveway at the end of the day to put the porcupine food under the hedge. The gravel driveway stretches for 60 feet and I hobble along, knees bent, looking for the smoothest patches to put a foot and sometimes going more sideways than forwards. I also have this idea that if I move as fast as possible, the discomfort of the sharpish stones will be less noticeable. The alternative is to walk on the grass, but this year's crop of thorns has exceeded all previous years, due to the lawn not being cut regularly enough to halt the development of the seeds of the thorn plants.They are starting to dry now and are losing their soft greenness. So it's a toss-up between stones and thorns.

I have winter feet and summer feet. Winter feet are soft and smooth and pretty clean, having been ensconced in soft socks for many months. Summer feet have a hard ridge with cracks that require a good scrubbing with sandpaper after soaking in a footbath of very hot water and bubble bath to soften them up and rid them of the day's dirt. While this may sound absolutely revolting to someone who never goes barefoot, I can assure you that I exaggerate, and that I know many people who could do with a smoothing from an electric sander!

Copious layers of heel balm follow, which attracts every dog and cat hair between the bathroom and the bed, and I can tell you that despite the blurb in the advertising, it doesn't work. The only solution to cracked heels is to wear socks and shoes. Fixed in three days.

Our garage is very well used and a great deal of grinding and planing and wire-brushing goes on in there. All this is extremely hazardous to the bare foot, and there is no way of avoiding the area, as the washing machine is kept in the garage - an excellent way to avoid flooding in the house (after 32 years here, I am still waiting for the washing machine to flood, but at least I know it won't happen upstairs). I'm always pulling bits of metal out of my feet and have taken to sweeping the area with a giant magnet every so often to pick up errant metal fragments. Glass is a bit more difficult to track.

You might ask why I don't just wear shoes. The simple answer is, I just hate wearing them. I'm sure some psychologist would say it's rebellion against the restriction of the freedom we had when we first appeared on earth - that's good enough for me!

Making a coat for the Mini

Been too busy to blog. Still too busy to blog. Looks like everyone will be on holiday except me. Par for the course.

Spent a few hours over the last day or two making a car cover for the Mini. Let me say straight away that I did very little of the work! The credit goes to my good friend, Anke, who is a whizz with a sewing machine and with a lifetime of design experience just did the most marvellous job! My contribution was to buy the material, give her a piece of chalk and hold the material over the car to make the templates. I did make her copious cups of tea while she sewed and assisted with the fittings. The amount of material involved made it seem like we were making a wedding dress, but deft fingers and a magnifying glass for threading the needle made short work of what seemed like a massive job. Between us we only have two good eyes, but our perspective is great and we shared many a laugh as she slaved away.

The finished product, complete with hole for aerial, is awaiting the return home of HWCFA. Let's hope he likes his surprise!

Reflecting on the world

As the world dissects the successes and failures, highlights and low points of the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, it is perhaps worth reflecting on whether we all set expectations for others that are culturally removed from ours. There will always be shortcomings in the performance of those who haven't grown up in circumstances equal to ours, just as we may prove to be a disappointment to those who have aspired to the trappings of Western culture, yet not having an understanding of the way it works. Traditions and beliefs divide mankind, not the colour of our skin. We have only to observe what is happening all over the world. Religious fanatics kill each other, believing that their's is the only true way. In some parts of the world, gay people are persecuted and judged by people who have no knowledge except for what someone else has taught them. The world is held hostage to debt through financial manipulation while the media teach us to admire the rich, the thin, the beautiful, rather than look for the inner beauty of real people.

The word that is the villain here is 'domination'. Mandela fought against domination by any group over another, and was sent to this world to teach us how to treat our fellow man. Very few have listened to him, although everyone says he was the man they admired most in the world for his humane qualities and ability to forgive. The only way in which his memory could be suitably honoured would be if everyone adopted his philosophy. Why admire someone whose example you are not prepared to follow? There have been others before him who taught that we could all be like him. All it takes is the decision to do it and never deviate from your resolve. Anything less will be an insult to your existence.

Madiba was a very old soul, as evidenced by his level of enlightenment. Honour him with your actions.

Stairway to heaven? 11.12.13

Tidying up loose ends and planning ahead

Still slogging away in the run-up to the year end and Christmas break. If it's anything like last year, I will still be working between Christmas and New Year, but with no plans for going anywhere, that doesn't really matter. It's madness out there on the roads and the malls are crowded - not circumstances I enjoy very much - and I'm already looking forward to the end of the summer holidays, when Cape Town becomes ours again.

I'm working on a list of destinations and things to do for my new blog, A Tourist for a Day, and that's going to be great fun. We sometimes neglect to travel in our own country, forgetting that millions arrive here each year to see things we take for granted. It may be like that all over the world - how many Romans visit the Colosseum or Parisians the Eiffel Tower?

I'll be taking a variety of friends with me, one at a time, to give a balanced viewpoint. Two heads are generally better than one, and if there are two bodies as well, so much the better. Any suggestions on places to go and things to do are most welcome. I hope it will be an interesting and informative blog that will blossom into a more extensive travelogue in the future! After all, if some travel books are written by authors who never leave their armchairs, how much better won't life experience be?

Twitching

I am not a birdwatcher of note, but I do enjoy watching them as they flit among the branches, feeding on aphids, small spiders, caterpillars, snails and the odd berry. Nature at work is far better than throwing poison on the garden. Even better, the red hibiscus is a magnet for the double-collared sunbirds which bred successfully in the vicinity this year. I try to plant things that attract birdlife, but if you really want to see them at play, the best way is to stand with the hose and spray the water over a tree or shrub. In no time, you will have two or three little birds bathing among the foliage, and if the light is right, you will have a rainbow as well!

Even observing birds in the sky is not as easy as one thinks. Yesterday, my father and sister, twitchers of note who can identify birds just by their call, let alone visual identification, spent an afternoon in the shade of the eaves, looking skyward, and where I saw swallows, they saw martins, swallows, swifts and an Alpine swift. They looked the same to me! Glossy ibis, a fine pair of Steppe Buzzards, mousebirds, a prinia, Cape batis, Cape white eyes and a malachite sunbird also made an appearance specially for them, so all in all, it was a fine afternoon's birding! There was an added bonus as we saw Venus shining brightly in a blue sky - a marvellous sight visible with the naked eye, even with my poor vision - one eye for long distance and the other for close-ups with various sparkles thrown in for good measure.

It seems as though I should spend a little more time with the binoculars, although I doubt whether there is enough time left to catch up with their superior knowledge!

Last day of holiday

Wasn't yesterday just the most perfect day? No wind in Kommetjie, at least not where I live, and a sea as calm as a lake. An early walk along the boardwalk with the dogs revealed once again that this is the very best time of day to be up and about, while everyone else is still drinking their first cup of tea.

The heat of the day can be oppressive even next to the sea, and yesterday was no exception. We spent the day with Robert and my Mom and Dad relaxing under the trees in the garden, having a little quality time together before Robert heads back to London today. As expected, the visit was all too short, and yet just enough to not have a chance to get back into the rut of familiarity. Although mothers miss their children when they leave home, it is always for the best for both parties. Birds must leave the nest and make their way into the world. There comes a time when you have to let them spread their wings and fly. How far they fly depends to a large extent on what you fed them as nestlings. I can say without hesitation that Robert will fly as far as his wings will take him. He has flourished away from home and learned that he is his own person, with a contribution to make to the world, living every day as it comes and learning not to fear the future.
You can judge a person's character by the way they treat their animals. I think Robert's pretty safe there.
There's not much more I could ask for.

Kommetjie festival and other socialising

It's that time of year when holidays are upon us, for those at school, and expats come home for Christmas. Then it is the endless round of brunches, lunches, braais and coffee shop meetings. It's the time of falling off the wagon of healthy eating and nibbling on all those things you know will make you suffer later. But it will be over soon enough and a new year full of new resolutions will begin.

Robert's brief holiday is almost over, with one final family gathering before he jets out again to winter in the northern hemisphere and we prepare ourselves for the long, hot summer. It is the Kommetjie Festival today, in this fairly sleepy village and the roads and parking areas have been filled to capacity as people flock to spend a day strolling the streets, browsing at the craft stalls that have sprung up under every tree and on every pavement, and enjoying a day on the lawns with live bands, food stalls and plenty of friends. On the whole, the weather has been kinder than last year, with the southeaster being more fresh than gale-force as it was yesterday, but as the evening draws in the trees are starting to bend and darkening skies are moving in from the north east, promising thunder showers tonight or tomorrow.

The music sounds good from where I am sitting on the couch, possibly because it is a few blocks away at the Kom lawns, and if I weren't feeling tired from all the socialising today, I would be down there with the rest of them. But hey ho! someone has to make sure dinner is waiting when the family return after a long, long day!

Madiba

I am not a political animal. I lean neither left nor right and I seldom go straight up the middle. Although I have admiration for many people, I don't necessarily read their life stories or slavishly follow their utterances.

And so it is with Nelson Mandela. I was 9 or 10, I think, when he was imprisoned and the South Africa I grew up in didn't allow its people to know anything about him or his political affiliations. I had never even seen a picture of him. When he was released 27 years later, I was eager to see what the man behind the name actually looked like.

He looked happy, smiling, triumphant to be free at last - and already old - a wasted life. But there was no sign of anger or bitterness on his face - only hope for the future of his country.

Due to my apolitical stance, I cannot claim to know anything about him except for the few brief glances I may have taken at media appearances or quotes from his speeches. His time as a leader of our country came too late for him to entrench his values with those who have followed.

Now it is up to the young people of South Africa to walk the talk of Madiba, to adopt his humble, generous and forgiving outlook on his fellow man as their own, and bring this country back to the place he envisioned for it, through quality education of all its people, a spirit of ubuntu and most of all, service to others without self-aggrandisement or self-enrichment at the expense of the common good.

I can only hope that age and infirmity served to shield him from the insult to his sacrificed years of freedom which is the current state of his beloved country.

The long walk to freedom is at last over for him and surely heaven awaits.

His soul now rests in peace.

Fierce wind and a fearsome curry!

The southeaster is back in full force, tossing the sacred ibis flock into a disorderly mass as they struggle homeward. Out to sea, a huge piece of black plastic is on its way to South America - it looks like the cover of a large piece of equipment, perhaps the windsurfer that is out there - the wind must have whipped it up and out onto the water, and it seems to have buoyancy so is not sinking. Let's hope no marine life is unfortunate enough to become involved with it. I have observed it thoroughly and there is definitely no person clinging to it, so I won't be calling the National Sea Rescue. The pictures below give a small idea of the intensity of the wind as it blows spray off the crests of the breakers at the Outer Kom.

The beaches are not a desirable place to be right now, with wind stinging legs and blowing into eyes and mouths, hair tangling into hopeless knots and skirts blowing up like Marilyn's.

To match the wind, I have made a fearsomely hot lamb curry at Robert's request. I didn't stint on the Durban chilli mix and it is truly eye-watering stuff! He's going to love it! Excuse me while I fetch the tissues...

Two Oceans Toastmasters

What a great Toastmasters meeting we had tonight! There was music and dancing, speeches and evaluations of high standard - it is always a pleasure to go and learn from so many masters across diverse subjects. The leadership in our club is personified by vitality and exuberance, yet tempered with a measure of constructive advice on self-improvement in the public speaking sphere, which is the purpose of being a member. The degree of talent among the members, not only in speech making, but in their personal and public lives as well, is inspirational and I never fail to go away feeling somewhat of an underachiever, but soon recover my equilibrium once I am removed from the euphoria!

We are very fortunate to be regarded as one of the most spirited clubs, and long may it last! I was initially apprehensive about the 'formality' of the proceedings at Toastmasters, but the way in which new members are welcomed and encouraged to participate soon taught me that there were many people involved who had a great deal to teach me, so I'm more than happy with my decision to undertake what is more than just a course in public speaking.

Visitors are always most welcome, so be my guest!

Chilling out in Kommetjie

Relaxing in Kommetjie for a few days with Robert. No need to leave, as you can get all the peace and beauty you need to chill out right here. Living in London, there is no yearning for city life! We had a really good lunch at Espresso Dotkom, a delightful and welcoming coffee shop/restaurant in Kommetjie, where the owners are hands-on and eager to please. The caesar salad was, I would say, one of the best I have had anywhere. After lunch, we strolled down to the beachfront, where the lack of wind was today's greatest pleasure! The sea was mirror-smooth and clear as glass.

A stroll along the pathway along the bayside took us past the rocks where the infamous 5ft cobra resides - the one that nearly bit my friend the other day. Here is a picture of it, duly confirmed as a chilled-out, healthy specimen of cobra!

We approached the area with extreme caution, but were, I suppose, lucky enough not to see it. An attempt has been made to catch it, as evidenced by the removal of many rocks, which is rather a shame because they have been in that position for who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years. In a way, it will be a pity if they chase it away, but being a popular walking area, it is a great danger to the unaware. And of course there is also the danger of some fool trying to kill it. So perhaps it will be better if it does slither off to a safer area for all concerned.

Tomorrow we will be out and about visiting Rabbit's friends and relations (oh, sorry, that's Winnie-the-Pooh) - Robert's friends and relations, so looking forward to catching up. In no time, it will all be back to normal here and on with the daily grind!

Looking at labels

One of the things in life that I'm really passionate about is keeping an eye out for the consumer. In the past, I have had many run-ins with major supermarket chains regarding the modus operandi of their shelf pricing and advertising, and I am pleased to say that in each instance, I have been proven correct in my assertion.

Nothing raises my hackles quicker than false advertising, whether it takes the form of meat packaged with the fat hidden underneath, or the bony side of the chop out of sight. And don't let me get started on pre-packed vegetables!

But today took the cake! At the meat counter of the largest retailer in SA, I was sorting through the lamb neck for the best cuts for the lamb curry I'm going to make. One of the packs was marked Free Range, but priced by hand and the others just had the store label. As usual, I checked thr kilo price and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were the same. Obviously a mistake, but I took it because I never point out underpricing - after all, they are supposed to be looking after the consumer. I glanced at the price of another pack, which couldn't have weighed more than 300g and was amazed to see that it was R231.46! I checked the name - lamb neck - then the kilo weight - 3kg! I hotfooted that back to the butchery department and asked that they relabel it before someone with a trolley worth R2 000 didn't notice. I was impressed that they came to me afterwards to thank me.

Consumers beware - this is a common mislabelling error, although perhaps not always on quite so impressive a scale. Always read your labels.

An extremely tiring day

What a day! It started off at 12.30 in the middle of the night, when I woke up in a fright to find HWCFA opening the bedroom windows because he said it was too hot. It was a rude awakening out of a deep sleep, and after that I stayed awake the whole night until 5.00am when, as I started to doze, the first birds chirped in the branches outside the now open windows! In no time, the sky was brightening and the first rays of sunlight were tingeing the Back Table - it was time to get up and take my now expected early morning picture. I have to mention that this is not going to happen in winter! The whole point is that it will be a greeting of the dawn, so fortunately I will be able to lie in a bit in the middle of the year.

After a sleepless night, I was looking forward to a quiet braai followed by a snooze on the mattress under the trees, but this was not to be. No sooner had we cleared the plates than friends arrived with 5 lively children under the age of 8 in tow and the braai was started all over again. Not being used to small children in the home, or any type of children really, it became quite stressful as they ran all over the garden - I have lots of dangerous, spiky plants - and up and down the stairs which have a large gap between the treads and I had visions of them all falling through. In the end, it was the largest child who fell, so no harm was done except to my nerves!

They fished a dead mole out of the disused fish pond, another item not suitable for small children, and proudly brought it to show us. The last thing I wanted to see was a rotting corpse, so I told the child to swat it over into the neighbour's spare plot, which he did with glee. That disposed of that. The next game was to tie one of the smaller boys to various trees and posts around the garden, which he was quite willing to allow, but caused a bit of stress as I'm not used to having my plants abused. In the end I decided it was best to just let them get on with it and let the plants take their chances.

While they amused themselves, things deteriorated slightly at the adult end of the garden and eventually there was snoozing all round! I continued to feed and water the children and ensure that they remained in one piece before being returned home. I think that I am now going to have to put them all in my car and take the whole lot home. And it's Monday tomorrow.

I still haven't had more than 2 hours sleep since yesterday morning, and Robert wants to play Scrabble when I get home from my trip across the Peninsula. I hope I make it.

Mother's favourites

It's funny how, despite the plethora of cookbooks - so many and from such a variety of cultures - food channels on TV, online recipes freely available on the web and live cooking classes hosted by celebrity chefs at their restaurants, most of us stick to the recipes our mothers used when we were children. I still make Chicken Evergreen, a delectably delicate dish with a white wine sauce; Lemon Delicacy, that old favourite that is self-saucing with sponge on top (HWCFA eats a whole pudding on his own!), Apple Crumble (no explanation needed there).

Over the years, I have added my success stories to the handwritten recipe book that I still refer to. The pages are now dog-eared and blotched with a variety of ingredients, particularly the ones I make most often. Some of the recipes in this book are from my grandmother, most notably her ice cream, and also the best cornish pasties I've ever eaten.

My children have their particular favourites which they can have on their birthdays (I use the term 'children' quite loosely here, as they are well into adulthood), as it is traditional in our family to have the food you like best for birthdays. While Robert is here on his short holiday, he hopes to cover the full spectrum - he had peppered steak last night, then it will be the lasagne I have been making for the last 40 years and which, in my opinion, could teach an Italian a thing or two, and most definitely a really hot chicken curry. I make curry with all the spices individually and chilli is always thrown in in copious amounts. It's not a good curry unless your nose runs, and if your eyes water, even better!

I've given it some thought, and I've come to the conclusion that the reason why we still make the food we ate as children is to take us back to the days when someone else did all the cooking and dinner only involved sitting down with the family at the table and consuming it! Those were the days, my friend!

International Arrivals, Cape Town International Airport

Airports are such exciting places. There is the air of anticipation in the international arrivals, the tears of the departure lounge, and the shock and horror when you put your ticket in the parking pay machine and get a bill for R80 when you've been there for less than one hour! I made the mistake of going into the ground floor pick up parking at Cape Town International, and once you are in, you can't reverse out, because there is already another car behind you. So it was take the ticket and bite the bullet, except I didn't know the bullet would be so hard.

Once the plane had landed, there was the excitement of trying to identify Robert among the hundreds of weary travellers disgorging from the plane and making their way along the upper walkway. The glass windows let you see the reactions of the newly arrived tourists and returning family members. One young man wearing a T-shirt with a South African flag beat a tattoo on the windows to indicate his pleasure at being back home and it looked for a moment as though the glass would fall out, it was buckling so, but I'm sure the construction company anticipated such events and made sure it was shatterproof!

One of the funniest sights is the line of dark-suited gentlemen waiting in a long line, holding up their respective hotel boards. They look like penguins, not quite in a zoo, but definitely waiting for feeding time!

It seemed as though there were very few people on the plane and eventually there were no more passengers exiting, so I realised I must have missed Robert and went to stand at the barrier where mothers and children, girlfriends, aunts, uncles and sisters thronged to catch a first sight of a loved one.

Yay! There he comes - hiding from his mother who was apparently making a spectacle of herself trying to take a photo - lol!

But soon enough, he was pleased to partake of his favourite food, my incomparable (to my family, anyway!) peppered steak and chips!! Welcome home, even if only for a short while.

Colourful garden, full of new life

Monty sniffing the cactus flowers

Well, I was a day wrong in my prediction for the opening of the cactus flowers, but this morning they were open before the sunrise, so they must be nocturnal flowers. The heat of the day has shortened their life and I think by tomorrow they will be dying back already. All that effort for such a short time!

On the other side of the fence, the agapanthus are a riot of blue - it just occurred to me that the success this year may be due to my handpicking the big brown snails off the leaves every week and translocating them to the field next door. They've probably eaten every bud over the years!

The most successful planting in my garden over the years has been clivias, which have reproduced from offshoots as well as seeds thrown in the undergrowth, but at this time of year, the only one flowering is the lovely clivia repens, which my mother gave me a few years ago and are still only the original two plants. The attractive tubular flower makes a nice show in a dark corner and I'm hoping that they will produce seeds this year.

The garden is filled with young, newly fledged birds of all varieties, so it's been a successful breeding season. They obviously can find all the food they need in the area, and the burgeoning pigeon population attracts the raptors, too. Very exciting when they jet in for the kill, although HWCFA doesn't agree with me on that point!

Decisions, decisions

There is a black bag behind my front door, between it and the couch, and I think it may have been there for six months now, maybe more. Time does fly.

It started its life in the spare room of someone else's home and found its way here en route to a better home for its contents, perhaps nine months ago.. First it was concealed (or was it dumped?) behind a large chair in the corner, where nobody would ever have spotted it unless they moved in with a vacuum cleaner to do housework that actually involved moving the furniture. So it remained there for some time, and occasionally I would look inside it and wonder what I was going to do with it. Who would want the contents?

Months later, the lounge furniture was rearranged and the black bag moved closer to the front door, to continue its journey to a better place for the contents. It must be quite inconspicuous, as He Who Can Fix Anything has never mentioned it, and he is not one who would lightly accept such an eyesore at the entrance to his home. This can only be attributed to his always insisting on leaving the door open 'for fresh air' even on the coldest of days, and so he has never seen it.

I must move it out before Christmas. It will be pushing my luck to think he won't see it as he manhandles the Christmas tree through the door after issuing instructions for the furniture to be rearranged!

But I still don't know where to take it to. If only I could make a decision. The contents (I've just had another look to refresh my memory!) are an odd assortment of ties (yes, neck ties), a computer joystick, binders, a laptop case, a blow-up plastic hat in the colours of The Netherlands and a do-it-yourself model of a racing car.

I bet you also don't know what you would do with it!

No time at present

So much going on at the moment and not enough time! Being a freelancer means you have no idea when you will have work, but it always seems to be November/December, and this year is no exception. I have been nose to the grindstone for 10 days and the end is not in sight, but my son is coming out for a brief holiday in a few days' time and I will still have to work. Ho hum! There's always night shift, I suppose.

Tomorrow morning I expect to see a magnificent sight in my garden - 8 cactus flowers are going to open together, and there are 6 small buds still growing! The effort that these little cactus plants put in is amazing, as they produce exquisite flowers year after year with no attention from me. In fact they are completely pot-bound, as there is no way I can handle them without some kind of leather gloves (or perhaps a couple of forks!) and they are really starting to need some extra space. If anyone has any tips on transplanting fat round cacti, please let me know.

In the meantime, a small patch of agapanthus are flowering better than any time in the last 25 or so years, surrounded by flowering aloes (wrong season?) and long stems of delicate wind flowers waving in the breeze. There's no doubt that the garden prefers rain water to municipal water. Everything grows visibly after heavy rain, which we had today again! Lucky, as I have no time to water right now.

I will post photos of the cactus flowers tomorrow (unless I've miscalculated - then it will be the next day!)

Inspiration of others

Had the great pleasure of listening to Jenny Morris speak in person tonight. What a tremendously inspirational woman she is, with such talent and speaking ability, not to mention her achievements. Made me want to go home and kick my butt into action! I would imagine a cooking holiday in the East with her would be a memorable experience, but will have to publish quite a few more books and sell a heap of paintings before I can tag on to the tour! And yet, as she says, believe in yourself and do it!

I will only have myself to blame if I don't. Surrounded by a room full of people who are following their dreams, some more successfully than others maybe, but nonetheless doing their best to go for it, made me realise how many different kinds of people there are in the world. For some it is smooth sailing and others struggle to meet even the most mediocre of standards, and yet each is a success in their own way.

The problem is, we have become spoiled by television, where we see only the best of everything - the top movies, best tennis players in the world, Olympic standards of individual sports, world-class rugby, cricket and football, and anything less than the best tends to fall into obscurity, not worth a second look. If we went back to the theatre, where slip-ups show actors as being real people, or became spectators at a live game, without the professional commentary to tell us what we are seeing and the cameras zooming in as if we are on the pitch with the players, we could start to re-appreciate what it is to be human and less than perfect (according to society's standards) and accept that the real beauty of life is the journey and not the destination.

Morning walk

It's been too hot and I've worked too hard today to have done anything remotely interesting, so here are the things we saw on our morning walk!

A rough and potholed road leading to the lighthouse

The boardwalk through the field which is a vlei in winter

Slangkop lighthouse

Nice shore break

Looking towards Cape Point

Outer Kom 

A tortoiseberry bush full of orange berries but only for tall tortoises

Lots of lizards lounging - there were at least 6

Nothing needs to be said!