Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Monday, 7 May 2012
Another magnificent day in Kommetjie
At the risk of boring everyone, I must once again go on about this magnificent place I live in, Kommetjie. It doesn't seem right to keep it all to myself.
The sun is giving off just the right amount of heat and the breeze is keeping us at an ambient autumn temperature. A huge moon has slipped below the horizon into the sea and a small, white-sailed yacht is cruising by just behind the island. The Arctic terns have gone north, but Sacred Ibis still poke among the seaweed for sea lice and a ragged line of White-breasted Cormorants is passing along the shoreline.
The midday sun glitters on the glassy sea, where a shore break foams white and the only sound is the crashing of the lip of the wave as it curls in on itself. A pair of black labradors bound over the rocks, sniffing at all the exciting things to be found there, as dogs do.
All over Kommetjie, the aloes are coming into bloom, putting on the kind of show that makes you want to plant a garden full of aloes. Every verge abounds with aloes of every variety, providing nectar for the double-collared sunbirds whose twittering is impossibly cheerful.
A week of wintry weather provided respite from the lengthy drought we are experiencing, but we are happy to have our sunny autumn days back for a while!
The sun is giving off just the right amount of heat and the breeze is keeping us at an ambient autumn temperature. A huge moon has slipped below the horizon into the sea and a small, white-sailed yacht is cruising by just behind the island. The Arctic terns have gone north, but Sacred Ibis still poke among the seaweed for sea lice and a ragged line of White-breasted Cormorants is passing along the shoreline.
The midday sun glitters on the glassy sea, where a shore break foams white and the only sound is the crashing of the lip of the wave as it curls in on itself. A pair of black labradors bound over the rocks, sniffing at all the exciting things to be found there, as dogs do.
All over Kommetjie, the aloes are coming into bloom, putting on the kind of show that makes you want to plant a garden full of aloes. Every verge abounds with aloes of every variety, providing nectar for the double-collared sunbirds whose twittering is impossibly cheerful.
A week of wintry weather provided respite from the lengthy drought we are experiencing, but we are happy to have our sunny autumn days back for a while!
Saturday, 5 May 2012
My mother
Mother's Day soon and I'm putting this up now in case I don't get a chance later. We don't officially recognise it in our family because, as with Father's Day, every day should be Mother's day.
My sisters and I are extremely fortunate to still have both parents alive and relatively well in their early 80s and we all live close by. We even go out together sometimes and it's just like the old days, we're all just older!
My mother never had an official career although I suspect she regrets that a little. She started off as a nurse at Groote Schuur way back but got married pretty young and moved to Jo'burg and that was the end of that. She would have made an excellent career nurse and it's a pity she didn't have the opportunity. However, children called and we were privileged to always have her at home. We would have hated it if she wasn't. She made sure that we always had delicious meals, hot chocolate at bedtime, lovely clothes to wear (she made them all herself), trips to the beach at Miller's Point, rollerskating at Muizenberg Pavilion, playing at Zandvlei. There was never a harsh word or anything to cause distress. Life for us as children was a smooth ride with only the happiest memories. There has never been a time when she hasn't been around when we got home, except for the times when she had operations or emergency treatment. She's had more than her fair share of those and if it weren't for a triple bypass, she would have shuffled off this mortal coil long ago. However, my father said it wasn't time for her to go yet, so she stayed and has continued to live a full, active life as a pillar of the community, loving wife and mother.
She maintains that she never had much brain, which of course is nonsense. She just didn't choose to use it in ways which would draw attention to herself. Her motto would probably be "What can I do to help that person?"
We are about to go on a trip to Spain for a family wedding, followed by a week in Paris. I will be accompanying Mom and Dad, while the rest of the family will be travelling with the small children. I consider it a rare privilege to be able to enjoy quality time with them as we all tick as many items off our bucket lists as possible.
Thanks, Mom!
My sisters and I are extremely fortunate to still have both parents alive and relatively well in their early 80s and we all live close by. We even go out together sometimes and it's just like the old days, we're all just older!
My mother never had an official career although I suspect she regrets that a little. She started off as a nurse at Groote Schuur way back but got married pretty young and moved to Jo'burg and that was the end of that. She would have made an excellent career nurse and it's a pity she didn't have the opportunity. However, children called and we were privileged to always have her at home. We would have hated it if she wasn't. She made sure that we always had delicious meals, hot chocolate at bedtime, lovely clothes to wear (she made them all herself), trips to the beach at Miller's Point, rollerskating at Muizenberg Pavilion, playing at Zandvlei. There was never a harsh word or anything to cause distress. Life for us as children was a smooth ride with only the happiest memories. There has never been a time when she hasn't been around when we got home, except for the times when she had operations or emergency treatment. She's had more than her fair share of those and if it weren't for a triple bypass, she would have shuffled off this mortal coil long ago. However, my father said it wasn't time for her to go yet, so she stayed and has continued to live a full, active life as a pillar of the community, loving wife and mother.
She maintains that she never had much brain, which of course is nonsense. She just didn't choose to use it in ways which would draw attention to herself. Her motto would probably be "What can I do to help that person?"
We are about to go on a trip to Spain for a family wedding, followed by a week in Paris. I will be accompanying Mom and Dad, while the rest of the family will be travelling with the small children. I consider it a rare privilege to be able to enjoy quality time with them as we all tick as many items off our bucket lists as possible.
Thanks, Mom!
Friday, 4 May 2012
More sayings to bring a sparkle to your day!
I just love these! I look at them every few years when digging through my papers and they never fail to raise a laugh.
Don't squat with your spurs on.
Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.
Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your wallet.
Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
And He Who Can Fix Anything's personal favourites:
Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
That's all, folks! Speak to you later.
Don't squat with your spurs on.
Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.
Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your wallet.
Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
And He Who Can Fix Anything's personal favourites:
Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your mouth is moving.
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
That's all, folks! Speak to you later.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Some inspirational thoughts to cheer up your day
Scratching through some old papers, I came across some notes I made a while back. I had a good laugh and thought you might too.
It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbour's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
No-one is listening until you fart.
Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
It may be that your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a few car payments.
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
If you lend someone R20 and you never see that person again, consider it was probably worth it.
That's enough for today! Enjoy them.
It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbour's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
No-one is listening until you fart.
Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
It may be that your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a few car payments.
It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
If you lend someone R20 and you never see that person again, consider it was probably worth it.
That's enough for today! Enjoy them.
Monday, 23 April 2012
An exuberance of baboons
We had an exuberance of baboons in the neighbourhood today. This is the only word that correctly describes them! It's been such a long time since they've been around that we were almost caught unawares and had to dash around closing doors, windows, locking sliding doors (they lift them out), getting the dogs inside...
The little ones are much in evidence and quite a few large females, but the huge males we were used to seeing over the years have disappeared. They used to be the ones who were in the kitchen before you knew it, peeling bananas one-handed and scratching through the fridge at the same time.
Now the youngsters dangled from drainpipes, rollicked on the rooftops and shrieked in the shrubbery. It was like a bunch of kids let loose at summer camp. A fight broke out over a mielie and one was making off with a jar of pickles.
They leaped with joyful abandon from roof to roof, stripping the neighbour's apple tree bare on the way, and cocking a snook at those silly humans trying to wet them with hosepipes; as if they cared - some even stopped off in the fish pond to cool off.
After demolishing the bird feeder for a handful of seeds and eating all the berries off the Indian Hawthorn, crushing some clivias on the way, they departed as silently as they had arrived to seek a new playground further down the road.
The little ones are much in evidence and quite a few large females, but the huge males we were used to seeing over the years have disappeared. They used to be the ones who were in the kitchen before you knew it, peeling bananas one-handed and scratching through the fridge at the same time.
Now the youngsters dangled from drainpipes, rollicked on the rooftops and shrieked in the shrubbery. It was like a bunch of kids let loose at summer camp. A fight broke out over a mielie and one was making off with a jar of pickles.
They leaped with joyful abandon from roof to roof, stripping the neighbour's apple tree bare on the way, and cocking a snook at those silly humans trying to wet them with hosepipes; as if they cared - some even stopped off in the fish pond to cool off.
After demolishing the bird feeder for a handful of seeds and eating all the berries off the Indian Hawthorn, crushing some clivias on the way, they departed as silently as they had arrived to seek a new playground further down the road.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Train travel in Italy
On our trip to Italy, parents, niece and I caught a train from Milan to Venice. Seats in a compartment had been booked well in advance at great expense. The carriages are clearly marked and the seats are easy to find, except that two of them are already occupied. I looked at the tickets and then the occupants, who play dumb. Not able to speak more than a few words of Italian, I resort to sign language, pointing to our tickets and gesturing that I want to see theirs. No response. OK, if that's the way you want to play it, we'll wait for the conductor.
In the meantime, parents need to sit, so they take the two open seats. I stand inside and niece stands outside. I still keep pointing to our tickets and muttering. Eventually the large, garishly dressed African gentleman at the window seat stands and goes out as if doing us a great favour, saying Italians can't be trusted. Stands in the passage with niece. I sit down, determined to find out who the guilty parties are. Then his equally large lady companion gets up, looking Po-faced (if you'll pardon the pun) and joins him in the passage. Aha! Her place is taken by a new entrant, an elegantly attired Italian woman who apparently does have a ticket. So there is still an interloper!
Brainwave! We are going to talk in Afrikaans. "Dis nou tyd vir aksie!" was all I could think of and niece and I squashed together next to a woman dressed in T-shirt and casual pants, reading the Italian version of Heat magazine. That's it! I stare into her eyes and point at her. She points to herself questioningly. I nod and indicate with my thumb that she should take a hike. She immediately gets up and goes off down the passage into the next compartment. A few minutes later we see her being ejected by the conductor who has at last arrived to sort out the freeloaders. The rest of the journey is comfortable and undisturbed.
So stick to your guns. If you have your ticket and you are sure you're in the right place, remember that half the locals didn't buy one and are hoping to catch a free ride.
In the meantime, parents need to sit, so they take the two open seats. I stand inside and niece stands outside. I still keep pointing to our tickets and muttering. Eventually the large, garishly dressed African gentleman at the window seat stands and goes out as if doing us a great favour, saying Italians can't be trusted. Stands in the passage with niece. I sit down, determined to find out who the guilty parties are. Then his equally large lady companion gets up, looking Po-faced (if you'll pardon the pun) and joins him in the passage. Aha! Her place is taken by a new entrant, an elegantly attired Italian woman who apparently does have a ticket. So there is still an interloper!
Brainwave! We are going to talk in Afrikaans. "Dis nou tyd vir aksie!" was all I could think of and niece and I squashed together next to a woman dressed in T-shirt and casual pants, reading the Italian version of Heat magazine. That's it! I stare into her eyes and point at her. She points to herself questioningly. I nod and indicate with my thumb that she should take a hike. She immediately gets up and goes off down the passage into the next compartment. A few minutes later we see her being ejected by the conductor who has at last arrived to sort out the freeloaders. The rest of the journey is comfortable and undisturbed.
So stick to your guns. If you have your ticket and you are sure you're in the right place, remember that half the locals didn't buy one and are hoping to catch a free ride.
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