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

QUESTIONS -THINGS THAT GO ‘BUMP’ IN THE NIGHT  

Favourite horror or Halloween-themed song?  Or a song you rarely hear except around a holiday.

The only one that comes to mind is Time Warp from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

Do you ever see figures in your peripheral vision?

Yes, I do. It is a very creepy, huge, black insect. I try to swat it but it is too quick for me. It usually appears first thing in the morning when I am waking up or when I get really tired during the day. The experts tell me it’s called a floater and is quite harmless. It won’t bite or sting, they say. So why, then, does the annoying creature hang around my right eye!

Which urban legend scares you the most? (most countries have such stories – share yours if you would like to)  🦇

The African tribes of South Africa are very wary of The Tokoloshe, an evil spirit who gets up to all sorts of mischief. He is a small goblin-like creature and he becomes invisible when he drinks water or swallows a stone. Witch doctors or even ordinary people will call upon the Tokoloshe to bring harm to their enemies. Parents might also get their children to behave by warning them that the Tokoloshe will punish them if they don’t. According to the legend, the way to keep the Tokoloshe at bay is to place bricks under each leg of the bed. He is very short so prefers people to sleep at floor level where he can get them!

You’re home alone but you hear footsteps in your house, what do you do?

We have good security so hopefully, hearing footsteps would be my imagination or the resident ghost that is rumoured to reside in my house. More than one person has alerted me to the fact that they have had paranormal experiences in my home. When my daughter was about twelve, she and her cousin of the same age were alone in the house and said they heard the door rattling. When they went to check they could not turn the door handle nor could they actually see anybody but they insist it was a ghost. Another visitor reported seeing an old woman in the room in which she slept. (Perhaps it was mother-in-law who died in this house!) We, however, have never experienced anything paranormal here.

So what would I do if I heard footsteps? I would lie perfectly still and pretend to be asleep. It would be dangerous to confront a burglar and scary to confront a ghost!

GRATITUDE SECTION

What is your favourite season?

I love Autumn/Fall. The weather is cooler but the days are sunny and still. I also love the colours. In the Western Cape, we call it the Secret Season because the weather is so perfect during March and April. There might be a few cold days but mostly it’s the best time for people from abroad to visit.

Once again this week, Pensitivity100, is asking the questions. Here are my answers.

1. Do you prefer tea, coffee or juice first thing in the morning?

Definitely coffee. Hot, strong, black without sugar.

2.  When it comes to food, what is your favourite smell?

Braai – no other cooking smells as good.

3.  Do you prefer a take-out or dining in a restaurant?

I prefer to go to a restaurant. If we don’t cook ourselves we don’t want to clean up either. You need to wait for take-out anyway so why not just wait at the table and eat hot food straight away. On a road trip, stopping to eat at a diner or coffee shop means you will take a decent break from driving.

4.  If you are hosting a party, do you prepare the food yourself, get caterers in or ask everyone to bring something for the table?

Before we retired my husband and I would cater dinner parties for up to twelve people ourselves. We still enjoy entertaining small dinner parties but now we tend to limit the numbers. When it’s a braai or a fish dish, the Earl does the cooking with me helping with side dishes. When Greek Lamb is on the menu then I am totally in charge!

For a big part of more than twelve, we would definitely get caterers.

Gratitude:

What has been the highlight of your week over the last seven days?

We are really lucky that without having to drive too far we have some good restaurants that serve excellent food at reasonable prices. Last week we enjoyed a great lunch at “Agulhas Seafoods” with our friend Carl.

Once again Di from Pensitivity101 is hosting Share Your World and she asks some lovely questions.

1. Which of the following could you do without? TV, Computer, Mobile Phone.

Wow – we have become so used to all of the above. South Africa only received television in 1975 (I was 23 years old) and so radio was the only tech we had for entertainment. My father was one of the first amongst our friends to buy a set – a Telefunken with the PAL colour system. People used to joke that it was called such as all your pals would gather at your house if they didn’t own their own set! Everybody was terrified that their children would not learn to read because of television and parents imposed strict rules to limit viewing! Well, our oldest went from Grade 1 to Grade 12 with television in the house and although she loved TV she was also an avid reader of books. Her class was to go through their whole school career with the evils of television! They all turned out fine!

But back to the question – which one can I do without? Television for sure. I would not miss it as any entertainment can be obtained on phone or computer. I adore my laptop and prefer editing photographs, Googling and writing emails, diaries and blogs on it rather than on my phone but if I had to I could cope without it. I can’t imagine life today without a mobile phone. It is so multifunctional that in today’s world you would be hard-pressed to do without it.

2.  Do you have a lot of old photographs in a box, or did you put them in albums?

Most are in albums. Many are in a box but I have scanned and saved some to an external drive. .

3.  What was the first thing you bought for yourself when you started work?

I cannot remember but I know I felt really rich when I received it. It didn’t take long for me to realise that I wasn’t.

4.  What is the biggest thing you have bought that did not require finance?

My first car- an Austin Mini – cost me R400 in 1977. It was second-hand and I paid cash for it. I drove it for about five years.

GRATITUDE.