I am making the most of the South African Lifestyle and hope with my blog to share some of the adventures my husband and I are having in our retirement. We live at the Southern Tip of Africa in the small coastal town of Struisbaai. Earl and I have a Gecko off-road caravan and we travel around South Africa frequently. We are bird and wildlife enthusiasts so are often in game reserves.
I am quite sure I annoy plants. But it’s not my fault. I really try to get them to grow in my garden and to be fair some of them oblige but others no matter how nicely I speak to them simply do not comply with my wishes.
I mean how hard can it be for a tomato to grow in a lovely fertile vegetable patch with a sturdy frame to climb on? And yet it yells – no – I don’t like this spot and drops a few rotten fruits and then expires!
Then when I am far from home, out in the bush, and even in the desert, there are plants all over the place mocking me. Nobody feeds or waters them yet there they are in all their beautiful glory creating a wonderful display. Sometimes there isn’t a grain of soil in sight and yet a tree will be sprouting from a rock!
Seriously?
Then take my lawn – why oh why with all the money spent on it won’t the grass grow lush and green where I want it. Oh no, instead it sprouts up through the paving cracks and even on the tar road!
I swear plants have minds of their own. We have friends who live on an eco estate and they’re not allowed to garden. The ‘garden’ they have is all-natural, not planted by an interfering homo sapien and it is beautiful. There is no lawn so there is no mowing either. I can’t quite leave my garden to do its own thing here but I do make sure I put in indigenous plants and luckily most of them do well because they thrive on neglect. So perhaps I should give up on the lawn and let the wildflowers take over!
To put it in a nutshell sounds so brief, neat, and smug! To be able to explain something concisely in very few words leaving no doubt as to the meaning is an art I have not mastered. If you can do that then you must be a left-brained, clear thinker. I am neither of those things and words tend to tumble from my mouth at a rapid rate and with a great deal of animation and expression. I am more likely to over-express rather than put it clearly, snugly, and smugly in a nutshell.
I like the word tenacious. It’s a strong word and screams of character. It conjures up a vision of a person who is together, determined and has all her ducks in a row. The tenacious person is ready to face any challenge presented to her and will not give up when the going gets tough.
People in history who had tenacity are the likes of Churchill, Edison, Madame Curie, the list goes on. Would we have the light bulb if Edison had not persevered with his inventions? Would Britain have won the war if it were not for the tenacious Churchill who would never give up! In fact, it was the tenacity of all players that meant there was victory at the end.
Can tenacity be taught or is it a character trait that one is born with? Probably a bit of both. It certainly can be encouraged.
There is, of course, a bad side to tenacity if it causes one to be stubborn or obsessive. Not letting go of a bad idea can be very destructive. After some time, if what one is doing is causing distress or harm, then one should surely stop and find something else to be tenacious about.
A tenacious person should also be careful of resisting change and I find this to be the case with many of us tenacious old fogies! Let’s try to be flexible and have a balance between being tenacious and knowing when to let go,
Despair is the prompt word for JusJoJan today. Thank you Carol Anne for your suggestion.
The dictionary defines despair as ‘complete loss or absence of hope.’ Now, I am a very optimistic and positive person and yet I use that word carelessly quite often, and when one does that it takes the true meaning away.
So many people are in despair, unable to do anything about their circumstances and my heart goes out to them. Think of all the war-torn countries in our world and how desperate those people must be. Here in South Africa, there are too many people living in poverty with little hope of dragging themselves out of it. But here I am, full of privilege using that word so lightly.
I despair of getting my husband to remember to put on his hearing aids without being prompted. Really? Just nag and it will be done!
I am a fixer! I like to think that I can make everything right, You have a problem? I can fix it. But when my ‘fix’ doesn’t work for you, I despair! I need to learn to let people solve their own problems! After all, they’re just tiny ones compared to the desperate situations others find themselves in.
I can’t solve the world’s problems. I can’t fight in wars. I can’t end world hunger. But I can provide support in small ways in my own world where people are in despair – or think they are!
What amazed me is how some very privileged people I know seem to despair quite often and are weighed down with stress and worry while others who are truly in dire circumstances put on a brave face, get on with it, and don’t lose hope at all. They meet the challenges head-on, make a plan, and deal with their problems as best they can. It’s people like that who I like to support and give as much assistance to as I am able.
In a small way, we can all make the world a better place if we just show kindness and help each other instead of being destructive with words and actions.
What I really despair about is the powers that be – not only in my own country but in most others too. It seems that power is more destructive than anything else. It seems to me that too many governments are corrupt to the core. What does that say about us, the voters? Why are we allowing ourselves to be ruled by criminals and madmen?
Elections are looming in 64 countries around the world. That means 49% of the world’s population will be going to the polls. Will they make a difference and end world despair?
Today’s JusJoJan prompt is doubling with One-Liner Wednesday. The word to use is Grateful.
Every day is a gift. One more time I can enjoy a sunrise, hear the birds singing in my garden, and have the next-door cats come in for a cuddle. It’s another day to begin a new adventure, to talk to loved ones and create something special even if it is only the evening meal.
I am grateful that today I got to see the excitement on a six-year-olds face as she started Grade 1 on this first day of the school year. When we arrived to collect her she ran straight out the door to greet us. Mom followed all giggles saying she’d been up since dawn! My heart was full!
Proudly dressed in her new school uniform and more than ready for her first day of formal education!
I am starting this blog an hour before 16 January ends so I hope it is in time – it’s earlier in some parts of the world and later in others! Anyway the prompt word is from John today and it is “Variety”
Variety is the Spice of Life. Boring people have no variety in their lives. They are not adventurous and do not seek out new experiences. Perhaps they feel secure in their safe cocoons eating the same food, seeing the same people, and never trying anything new. Many years ago a colleague of mine was going through a stressful time and mentioned that she’d love to go away for a relaxing weekend. So I offered her and her husband a free weekend at our holiday home just two hours away. She discussed this with him but he said, No thank you because it was too much effort to pack a bag and drive to a destination he would feel unfamiliar in. Then he would have to pack up after two days and drive home again. I was horrified. Did he not understand that the drive there would provide a variety of different scenes along the way. They would be able to stop, get out, explore, have a coffee at a quaint little farm stall, and then move on again. Then once at the destination, there would be the beach, different birds to watch, a lighthouse to climb, the list goes on.
I find it amazing too that some folk won’t even add a bit of variety to their diet. The same old fare is oh-so boring. Why not add some spice, a vegetable you’ve never tried before a completely new food. We love sashimi and I have offered this treat to many people, some who immediately accept and others who say they would certainly never eat raw fish! When I ask if they have ever tried it the answer is always, No and I never will! Okay fine – your loss. For ages, I tried to get a close friend to try sashimi and finally after a year she gave in, and guess what – she loved it.
Sometimes I think having a bit of variety in what you do, where you go, what you eat, who you see etc is healthy. You needn’t change your entire lifestyle but do try something new from time to time. You might find your depression lifting. You might find you’ve been missing out on something you thought you would hate.
We live in a small fishing village and it is so easy to slip into a mundane routine but we make a point of doing a variety of activities. Recently we have put a couple of our rooms on Air B&B which means we meet a variety of guests both local and foreign and hosting them is proving to be great fun.
I managed to find a few in my archives – all quite old. Thanks for the challenge, Judy.
A Caracal in Kgalagadi National Park 2010Southern Black Korhaan on the West Coast 2006Grey Heron with a frog for lunch – False Bay Ecology Park 20072008 Addo Elephant Park
1. Do you use an air freshener in your home? If so, do you prefer a solid gel, spray, timed release, potpourri or something else?
I use an air freshener spray in the bathroom.
Sometimes I use a diffuser in the living area. You place a few drops of essential oil in water and the diffuser breaks them down into smaller particles and disperses them into the air giving your home a pleasant aroma. The oils are supposed to be calming too.
2. When good weather permits, do you open your windows to let in the fresh air?
Yes, all our windows are open during the summer months. We open the windows at the entrance of the house and also the sliding door that opens onto our back garden – this gives a lovely through draft which keeps the house cool.
3. With the extreme variants in weather these days, do you feel the cold in the Winter months?
I have found that winters get colder every year. I am not sure that temperatures are actually dropping or whether age is preventing me from dealing with cold.
At the moment it is summer in South Africa. I find that the warmest months these days are from January to the end of March. I prefer the heat to the cold.
4. Which would you prefer……….. to curl up in front of a log fire or log burner, turn the heating up, or go to bed early with extra blankets
I really enjoy a wood-burning stove during winter. We usually light our in the early afternoon and then go to bed early. We have an electric blanket and a down duvet. The blanket is switched off once the bird has warmed up.
Gratitude: From time to time, I find some wonderful Memes on other blogging sites and I will include them here. Forgive me if I cannot remember where I first saw them, but thank you.
Great meme. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be like that toward each other?
Today’s prompt, the word ‘craft’, for JusJoJan comes from Astrid.
Many images jumped into my mind when I read what today’s prompt was. Perhaps it’s because we are planning a trip that visions of planes and ships and craft of that sort appeared in my head.
Normally, I would think first of craft as something to do with your hands. I have always had a problem with fine motor skills. Writing, drawing, sewing, etc were always a challenge. And yet I enjoyed them all – except for drawing! I struggled in sewing classes at school – yes in the olden days sewing was a compulsory subject in primary school. I also battled to learn to knit. But those classes took the place of OT and were good for children with motor skill problems and once I had mastered them, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Another activity I struggled to learn as a child but then became addicted to was French Knitting – definitely good for fine motor coordination!
The thing with a craft is that you can always learn how to do one if you put your mind to it. I do have a creative mind but my creativity does not stretch to fine art. So as an outlet knitting, crochet, and sewing have been my go-to crafts. There is something very satisfying about creating something with your own hands and as long as there are clear instructions I seem to be able to manage to create something by carefully following the directions. As a young mother, I still had problems with dressmaking but got a friend to teach me then attended some classes and became quite proficient, and for years I made most of my and my daughters’ clothes. (I no longer sew and have given my sewing machine and over-locker to a young designer who really needed them for her craft. ) I still go through phases of knitting and crochet.
I crocheted a set of placemats like this for my daughter
Now to the other craft. The Earl had a fishing craft for many years and loved being out at sea catching fish. He no longer has a craft of his own but he still likes to board his friends’ boats and always enjoys a short excursion out to sea. Longer fishing trips are no longer an option for him. Luckily living where we do the fishing spots are fairly close to the harbour and you need not go out for very long if you choose not to.
Because of his love of the sea, the kind of craft he loves to travel on is a cruise ship. At first, I was not so keen to take a long cruise on the deep wide ocean as visions of the Titanic Disaster danced in my head. But after a month-long cruise on the good ship, Costa Victoria in 2019, I was hooked! What an awesome way to travel. I am so pleased we did this before the pandemic prevented us from booking another one!
A magnificent craft – The Costa Victoria
As I said in my opening paragraph we are planning another trip, and yes it will be another cruise but not for as long as the Costa Victoria. The cruising bug has bitten our darling daughter and she has persuaded us to join a group of six on a nine-day cruise in the Mediterranean. Yes – we certainly are keen to board this craft although nothing has been booked as yet. We will of course also have to board an aircraft to get there and our plan is to start in the UK so we can visit friends and family there then after a few days, we will fly to Istanbul where the cruise begins and ends, and then fly home from there.
When I was growing up and in primary school, handwriting was considered a very important skill and our teachers insisted upon correct pencil grip, correct letter formation, and above all neatness. This was in the days before children with difficulties were sent for occupational therapy, remedial tuition, and psychological counselling. While I was learning my letters, I now realise, I needed all three!
First, we learned to print in the ball and stick fashion. In Standard One/Grade Three we started on cursive. By then I had mastered the difficult skill of printing and was really keen to get to cursive which I found a tad easier to learn. According to my very strict but excellent teacher, my handwriting was very neat. But it was also very slow! I spent so much time concentrating on neatness that speed fell by the wayside. Once I reached the higher grades speed became important so guess what -neatness fell by the wayside simply so that I could keep up!
From then on my teachers despaired of ever getting me to write neatly and accurately. I could spell but I made ‘careless’ mistakes – and still do! I had to make a choice, write neatly and win the teacher’s praise for pristine penmanship or get the work done in the required time and avoid being scolded for tardiness. Time won! These days children with learning issues are given extra time to complete – I had no such privilege. How I envied those children who managed to complete tasks with awesome handwriting and no errors.
I liked writing – not handwriting but writing and I still do. When it came to writing compositions I just needed so much more time so usually did not write quite as much as I would have liked to.
When I was teaching in the seventies and eighties, handwriting was still an important subject in the curriculum. Now that I was the teacher I was a little more sympathetic toward those who struggled with this skill. My training had prepared me how to help those with fine motor coordination problems and I never penalised a child for untidy work. Some of my colleagues were still strict about neatness but having had problems myself as a child I was more interested in what the child wrote rather than how he wrote it.
However, I was strict about pencil grip and correct letter formation. In other words, I encouraged my learners to start the letter correctly, to start next to the margin, and to try to keep between the lines. The reason for this is that the physical act of writing is good for the brain.
Learning to physically write is still important because writing uses more complex motor and cognitive skills than is required to use a keyboard. Knowing how to write also helps with reading fluency as writing activates the visual perception of letters. There are many other benefits to having good handwriting but I won’t bore my readers with those now.
I learned to type when I was in Standard 7/Grade 9 and it changed my life! It is the best thing I ever learned at school, besides reading, because although I did not need to type during my early career it was a skill I could use on a computer which from the nineties on became a huge part of both school admin and creating teaching aids. I welcomed the digital age with open arms as it made everything a thousand times better for me. Doing admin for school records was a nightmare – no mistakes were allowed at all – one mistake and you had to begin again! It took me five times longer than my more accurate colleagues. I was one of the first on my staff to welcome a computerised system while many of the older teachers were resistant to the changes!
Yes – I love technology and it is a great tool for those who struggle to physically write. Screens are being used as a learning tool in school. I used them myself and found them a tremendous aid as they capture the attention of children and enable you to do so much more in the classroom. But handwriting is still important and we must still teach children to read and write.
The pencil will one day become obsolete as did stone tablets and quill pens. But it’s not time to throw the baby out with the bath water yet!
Adventuring into Retirement 