Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World

How well do you know your immediate neighbours?

I know them by name. The neighbours on the left are semi-permanent meaning they are here erratically sometimes for weeks and sometimes just days. He works off-shore and she has business interests in Cape Town. We usually have a meal together if they’re in residence. On the other side, we have a friendly couple and their only child who is now about eight years old. When he was a pre-schooler he would pop over to visit us from time to time but not so much anymore. (Now he only comes to fetch the cats – see below.)

We have spoken to most of the neighbours around us and are on friendly terms with them. Most are weekenders or here for holidays only.

Do you notice changes in your neighbourhood : ie. new car, new dog, home improvements, etc.

I don’t but my hubby is more aware. Of course, major changes are noticeable and I did see solar panels going up next door.

We had no choice but to notice that our neighbours on the right had new cats as these beautiful Siamese popped over the wall to introduce themselves to us. They are curious creatures and come right into the house and as we no longer keep pets we are really enjoying their visits.

I have met complete strangers in our town who say they know exactly who I am because they see me walking! So others are more observant than I am!

A man I always greet at the end of our road often comments that he hasn’t seen us and asks where we have been. (We’re often off caravanning or visiting kids in Cape Town or Plettenberg Bay) When I tell him, he says he wishes he had enough money to travel as much as we do! Choices, dear man, choices!

Should new neighbours move in next door, do you introduce yourself once they are settled in?

When we were the new neighbours nobody came to introduce themselves and as our movements were quite erratic for a year we did not bother to introduce ourselves either. Also, most, at that stage, were temporary and seldom in residence.

When we got new neighbours on the left we introduced ourselves. The ones on the right introduced themselves, warned us that they would be doing renovations and brought us chocolate! We like those neighbours.

Have you ever had to complain to your neighbours?

No. We are not the complaining type. Dogs barking, sounds of lawnmowers, children laughing and playing etc. do not bother us at all.

Gratitude:
Be the best you can be, no one can ask more of you than that.

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I certainly hope that I am the best I can be. What’s more important is to look for the best in others. We all have a good and bad side.

Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World from pensitivity101

 Do you like change?

Yes and No. I don’t like change when something I was using perfectly well – like my birding app – gets updated and then I have to learn how to use it all over again. However, I usually find the changes are for the better and I get used to them and start to enjoy the new app.

I also enjoy new experiences and try to say yes to new opportunities when they present themselves. Live in the moment – tomorrow may never come!

When I was younger change was great and I embraced all the technological changes with great keenness. Now that I’m older I’m not as excited about change as it takes me longer to wrap my head around new techniques. The problem is that things are changing so quickly. In my lifetime I have gone from party line telephone to video calls, from no television to Netflix and from standing in queues at the bank, within certain hours only, to instant online banking at all hours. And the world is continuing to change at an alarming rate. So I’d better like change. I can’t stop it and I can’t choose when to check out of this planet!

Can you remember the last time you had to use an operator service?

I would have put a long-distance call through via an operator many years ago.

What is the best and worst ‘hold’ music you have had to listen to?

I get irritated with any hold music but I can’t say I have a worst or best. The school I taught at used to play the school song – which I thought was a cute idea.

Do you find numerous ‘options’ annoying when connected to an automated service?

Not really – what I do find annoying is being passed on to somebody who can’t help me.

Gratitude:
Beauty surrounds us, but sometimes we are too preoccupied to notice.

The above is something I can go on about all day! We really need to stop worrying about all the little irritations of the day. There is so much around us to take pleasure in. At the moment, in my neck of the woods, the spring flowers are everywhere and they are quite breathtakingly beautiful.

Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World Challenge

How do you get on with your in-laws/partner’s family?

I have been with my husband for 40 years. We had both been married before and took on each other’s kids and families. On the whole, we all get on pretty well. We also keep in touch with my husband’s late wife’s family and my relationship with them all is excellent.

What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you?

We helped our daughter raise her two sons and the nicest thing I’ve ever heard from anybody was when my grandson said, “Gran – I’ve had an awesome childhood!”

What was your favourite ride/stall at a fun fair?

The best ride I ever went on was at EuroDisney when I was forty years old. It was a Star Wars Space kind of ride. I almost believed we’d blasted into outer space and were fighting aliens!

Would you like to be a child growing up in today’s world?

Life is very different now but I do believe that we’re built for our own time. Kids today will be fine because they’ll adapt to what is required to live in this century.

I on the other hand am grateful for being privileged enough to have experienced rapid changes. My childhood was free and happy and uncluttered by adult supervision. In my thirties, I started to grow with the changing technology and computers changed my life for the better. I feel as if I have been a time traveller going from the good old days to the extraordinary future. Air travel was not as easy when I was a kid. Now stepping on a jet plane is like stepping on a bus! I’ve gone from party line to cell phone, expensive long-distance calls with a delay to video calls that cost nothing. What a privilege to have arrived in the future.

Gratitude:

Everyone is entitled to a bad day in life, just don’t let it run into a week.

The above is so true. My life is certainly somebody else’s fairytale. A positive attitude is very important. I can’t bear negativity.