Monthly Archives: July 2024

Share Your World Monday 22 July 2024

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Here are my answers to this week’s SYW from sensitivity101

1.  When you retire (or when you retired) do you have a picture of a small cottage with a white picket fence outside in a quiet village or something similar?
I did not picture any such thing. Hubby retired nine months before I did at the age of 70. I had just turned 62 when I left my teaching post at the end of the school year. We still had a houseful of family and pets and were very busy with our clubs and social life. The plan was to stay where we were until we died. Never ever did I plan to move permanently to our holiday home in Struisbaai! But the idea of it became more and more attractive as the post-retirement months flew by. After six months we decided that living in that quiet and sleepy village was exactly what we wanted to do. If we didn’t like it we could always move back. We bought a caravan to spend more time in the bush and although we’re unsure if it was the best decision we made we have not regretted it. Nine years of Struisbaai, caravanning, and other travel have been blissful. We are still able to visit our family and friends frequently and when that changes we will deal with whatever becomes necessary.


2.  What do you associate with school dinners (apart from school of course) ?
In South Africa, we did not have school dinners. Every child had a lunchbox filled with whatever Mom decided to put in it. A lot of swapping went on. I was a picky eater. Sandwiches were dried out and inedible when break time came around. I preferred carrot sticks and polony. My mother gave us a cooked breakfast before school and I often did not eat my school lunch. School was over by 2:15 and I would have ‘lunch’ then.

3.   Can you play a musical instrument?
I took piano lessons for about a year when I was seven. At college, I learned to play a few tunes on the recorder. I can’t do either now.
My daughter learned piano and guitar. She is pretty good on a keyboard now.

4. What made you smile today?

When an American patron offered to take a photo of my hubby and me having lunch with my brother and sister-in-law, I handed her a ‘real’ camera and not a phone and she didn’t know how to use it.

However, once I showed her,  she took a pretty good photo.

Gratitude

I am grateful for my siblings

Share Your World – Monday 15 July 2o24

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Here are my answers to this week’s challenge from Di

1.  Do you have a bestie (ie. best friend)
I have four best friends each of whom has had a special effect on my life. I am still in close contact with each of them, although we don’t live in the same town anymore.

My BFF and I have been friends since we were seven years old. We are now seventy-one! We are true soulmates and can almost read each other’s minds. Often she comes to mind and then the phone rings and it’s her and vice versa. We just seem to know when the one needs the other.

The next best friend I met was when I was twenty-one. We are ‘buddies’ and have shared many life experiences together. She is the one I’ll call to meet for shopping and coffee excursions!

Then I have a best friend who is nine years younger than me. We became very close when we taught at the same school and then became close neighbours. She was also my ‘running mate’ and we would run together for many years. My house was her house and her house was my house.

I am very close to my fourth best friend who I met when I was 35 and she was 49. She was my mentor and made a huge impact on my teaching career. She also introduced me to birdwatching.


2.  Do you have a lot of friends?
I don’t think I have a lot but I love the ones I do have. I have a group of friends who I’ve been friends with since my college days and when we lived in Cape Town we met once a month for breakfast. It was a great way to keep in touch and I still go to those breakfasts if I’m in town.

I also have friends who live abroad that I keep up with.

Here in our retirement town, we have made some very good friends and we socialise regularly with them.


3.  Has a friend ever let you down to the extent that the friendship has died?
There is one person who turned out not to be quite as honest as I thought he was. His actions caused me to find out his true nature and that made it impossible to continue being his friend.

I tend to live and let live and consider myself tolerant. We all make mistakes and that’s fine, but when a relationship makes you feel uncomfortable it’s best to let it go. Both parties should just move on.

4.  Are you more likely to confide in a friend rather than family?
It depends on what I need to confide. Generally, my life is an open book. I don’t have many secrets. I would probably tell my BFF before letting my family into what’s troubling me. My family is, however, very supportive so it wouldn’t be long before I let them know what was troubling me.

Gratitude:

I am truly grateful for all my amazing friends. Each one has a special place in my heart. I include my blogging friends in this number too.

Share Your World Monday 8 July 2024

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Here are my answers to this week’s SYW from DI

1.   Do you have any Keepsakes?
I have a small teddy bear that belonged to my late mother and a cuddly duck-billed platypus that my late Australian aunt gave me many years ago. I won’t part with either of them. My aunt was born when my mom was twelve and I was born when my aunt was twelve. I had a very close relationship with my mom and even though my aunt lived far away in Australia, we were very close.


2.  We all have memories, what is your quirkiest?
I remember hiding away from my best friend’s little sister. We hid under her bed with a bowl of dry, Sweet Cerex breakfast cereal (no longer on the market). We would munch the cereal and try not to giggle while her sibling searched for us.


3.  Who is your oldest living relative?
Both my parents died in their seventies. All their siblings have gone now too. None of them made it to their nineties. I have a ‘young’ aunt who was married to one of my uncles and I still have contact with her. She is 83. There is another aunt-in-law who I’ve lost touch with and she might be a little older.


4.  Who is your youngest?
My youngest relative is my great-nephew. He is seven months old.

Gratitude:

Share Your World Monday 1 July 2024

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Here are my answers to this week’s SYW from pensitivity101

1.  Can you swim?

I learned to swim when I was seven years old. My BFF and I used to catch a train to the Kalk Bay Pool twice weekly. It was just three stations away. We would buy a single ticket then use the change to buy an ice lolly and then walk home afterwards. Those were the days! We both loved swimming and were allowed to go to the beach on our own and swim without adult supervision!


2.  If so, do you prefer a pool, river or the sea? If not, will you paddle or dip your toes?

I used to love swimming in the sea. Even the pool I learned to swim in was a seawater pool. A freshwater pool was a novelty as very few homes where I resided had pools. Swimming in the country club pool was a real treat. I have swum in dams, lakes and rivers too. I swam regularly until quite recently. Now I usually only swim in pools.


3.  Did you have outings to the beach as a child?

I grew up on a beach. It wasn’t an outing it was a lifestyle. I still live near a beach but not the one I grew up on. The house I spent my teenage years in is circled in blue.

Fish Hoek Beach – Western Cape, South Africa


4.  Do you like cotton candy (candyfloss)?

It was a great treat as a kid as we could it at the beach kiosk.

Gratitude:

The best part about memories is making them.
(I don’t know who said that or where I read it, but it’s very true)

My happiest childhood memories were made on Fish Hoek beach. What a privilege to have been able to raise my children and grandchildren there too.