Real Life Around Here This Week

Monday I baked Sister Millander's Ginger Drops.  Delicious!

 

I had Cecilia here doing some housework,

and Petros doing some gardening - our gardener Doctor is away.

 

I gave them each some Ginger Drops to share with their families.

 

This is some of our day Tuesday...

The cupboard is taking shape -

then I can move things from one of the cupboards the other side of the house.

Glenn is doing an excellent job - as usual.

This cupboard is going nowhere.  It will be here long after we are gone!

Vi wanted to do some shopping - she is using the supermarket trolley to

steady herself and is practicing walking a bit without the walker.

 

She wanted me to choose some flowers for Christmas.

I chose these lovely roses.

The flowers in the garden are blue with touches of pink.

Vi's rose "Double Delight" is blooming...

And so is Angela's "Angel Bells."

This is my picking of vegetables for today...

And our simple wrapping of our gifts is all but finished.

It was sweltering hot this morning.
Kayla, Jarom, Ethan Daena and Cabryn came and swam this morning.
 

I am filling the pool - it's need the water to run for an hour.
Evaporation and frolicking means this is necessary
at least once a week in Summer - unless it rains seriously.

And this afternoon it is thundering and raining!   Hopefully seriously!
The coolth is VERY WELCOME!

 

Glenn is off to exchange some hinges for the one cupboard door.

 

Blessed days to you all.

We love you, think of you, and pray for you every day.

 



Christmas Eve 2014 Thoughts

Long read...

I'm towards the "I" extreme of the Introvert/Extrovert continuum.
Some people might not believe me... 
I have learnt to live in this world of the extrovert majority.

Christmas time is still largely a trial for me for several reasons.
I've moved from "deeply hating Christmas" to
"enduring and being really glad when it is over"
to "mildly enjoying it."

My 20 month old nephew drowned in my parents' swimming pool
thirty six years ago.
We were all there enjoying opening presents.
He wandered off.
The swimming pool gate had been left open.
He was found at the bottom of the pool.
Despite our first aid efforts he was declared dead when we took him to the hospital.
Christmas has never been the same for me since then.
Not for my siblings and theirs either I suspect, particularly my brother Tim and Shirley,
Nikki and Jen who were about four or five and two or three. 
Jonathan and Susan, born afterwards, were no doubt affected too
whether their family tried or not to resume somewhat normal living...
and Christmasses after that?
They moved to Cape Town before the next Christmas.
We don't talk about it much these days. 
Perhaps we should again?

I remember the times of "I want... for Christmas" from several quarters
around me and me working to stay sanely within our budget
so we wouldn't be dealing with debt for months afterwards.
There is the expense of Christmas, and then immediately after
there used to be the expense of back-to-school...

And the ones I didn't remember to prepare a gift for... consternation! 
Honestly... too much for me.

For me the extremely different and expensive Christmas traditions
of my family in law were traumatic.
I wasn't as wise, or as brave, as I am now able to be...

How to share the vision of... "This is a celebration of the Saviour's birth..."
with my husband and children? 
How to be it for myself although no-one else around me might be observing it...

How to keep my head when all about me seem to be losing theirs - 
spending too much money, eating too much, and making too much noise -
for me at least?!

Everyone still wants a decorated house... few want to do it... 
even fewer want to pack away after Christmas...

School holidays... Glenn and our children at home wanting to do this and that... 
and wanting me to take them, fetch them, participate with them... 
And often it is hot, hot, hot! I just want to be at home, inside, in the shade. 
I am very glad we have a swimming pool at home!

Me wanting to please... cookies and treats and chocolates - home-made of course...
and a Christmas feast - shopped for and prepared by... me...
And... where do you put all the stuff prepared until the day! 
My fridge is full of regular things.
And there were still the normal shopping, meals to prepare,
and laundry and cleaning to do...
I so wanted to be all things to all my people.
I so wanted to be the best I could be...

I didn't grow up with that. 
We had once-a-year selection of fancy breakfast cereals for Christmas morning. 
My Mom would buy mielies, dump them in a pot and that would be our much-loved
Christmas dinner. 
I thought there must be something wrong with me...
I allowed too many people to make me doubt my rarity. 
There isn't anything wrong about me. 
God didn't make junk when He birthed me. 
I am a growing-up, unique, special and irreplaceable Woman of Worth.

It's hard for me to have mince pies, chocolates and biscuits around
and not binge on them. 
Yet others enjoy them and deserve to have them if they wish... 
They taste so good don't they!

Mid-Summer here... the grass needs mowing, the fruit trees are bearing,
preserving needs to be done, the pool needs extra watchfulness to be lovely.

The shops at Christmas time are madness for me. 
To much noisy music, too many loud people, too many bright and blinking lights. 
Bless you Angela for alerting me to
"Mom, you need to stay away from the shops at Christmas time." 
My life is greatly enhanced by living that rigorously. 
Now I choose Flora Centre rather than the Hyperama when Vi wants to go -
she loves shopping and being out...

I found this from my Tai Chi facebook feed yesterday:

Master Zhang San Feng said:

Once you have gained a bit of tranquillity, then you must consciously stabilize it at all times, whatever you are doing, even in the midst of activity and turmoil. Whether you have anything to do or not, always be as if unminding. Whether in the midst of quietude or in the midst of clamor, let your will be undivided.

Remembering this helped me when Vi wanted to go to the shops yesterday

for something she had changed her mind about in her gifts for Christmas. 

 I love the traditional Christmas Carols sung meaningfully. 

Thank you BYU television.

They are relatively hard to find elsewhere these days... 

Jane and I attended a Christmas Service in her local St Mary's Church (I think). 

I loved it!  Thank you Jane... 

I loved it when we made more effort for our Christmas sacrament meeting. 

By the time Christmas comes these days I am all sung out of carols

which are planned for the whole of December meetings.

Now... sometimes, when I can, if it is important to me...

I will go to the local Methodist Church for a more effortful,

more meaning-feeling Christmas service.  I give myself what I need. 

I loved to attend a Christmas oratorio. 

I don't do that much any more - it requires me to find one,

explain my absence from some of my family,

and get there and back by myself or find a companion who would enjoy it too. 

I'm glad I did it when I was younger! 

Good memories! 

I especially loved singing in them when I belonged to the

Johannesburg Philharmonic Choir...

Perhaps that will be possible again sometime! 

Now...

I prepare expense, food, gifts, decorations way, way ahead.

I am seldom doing what and being where I do not want to be.

But then... I no longer have four children and their friends around...
(I loved having you my children)

Nor four children, spouses, thirteen grand-children, and friends, around...
( I love you my loved-ones... I'm glad I can enjoy you in smaller doses...)

 

And I am learning to be firm, fair and friendly to myself and others.

I am learning graciousness - I feel so anyway. 

Perhaps one day I too will be “full of grace... and truth."

I hope so.

 

I didn't know I had so many words inside me!
 

Blessed Christmas tomorrow to you and yours.
I shall be thinking of you and loving you. 

More about the Menu's...

(For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to add comments to my copy and paste of the Menu Plan I posted yesterday.  So... here are my comments.)

A few weeks ago I said to Glenn "I am bored with my menus.  Time to make a new list."
As usual, he didn't have much to say...

A little while later he came to me with the bones of this menu plan.

I juggled and refined and I am now enjoying this new way of "What do I cook for supper tonight?"

I attached the main plan to some cardboard and presticked it to my kitchen cupboard.  I also attached each week to it's own little piece of cardboard, and I take out the following one close to the end of the week and prestik it where I can see it easily.  If I need special items I can shop for them and be prepared on the day.

I serve salad and vegetables with virtually every meal.
When the six weeks is over I just start again.

Happy "What's for Dinner to you..."

Blessed "Preparing for Christmas to you!"

Menu for Six Weeks

Mon	Beef Roast / Curry and Rice / Stroganoff		Day	Week 1
	Bobotie / Cottage Pie/ Beef Stew		Mon	Roast Beef
Tue	Tuna Salad / Hot Dogs / Tuna Stew		Tue	Tuna Mayo and Salad
	Tuna Spaghetti / Tuna Pie / CM and Salad		Wed	Potato Fritters (Latkes)
Wed	Potato Fritters / Veg Fritters / Soup		Thu	Lasagne
	Chicken Roast / Chicken a la King / Spaghetti Bolognaise		Fri	Chicken Pie
Thu	Lasagne / Chicken Skulpies / Nando Chicken Strips		Sat	Nachos
	Mac and Cheese / Omlettes / Crumbed Chicken		Sun	Scrambled eggs
Fri	Chicken Pie / Pizza / Fish, Frankfurter and Chips
	Carrot Hash Browns/ Beef Pie / Veg Pie		Day	Week 2
Sat	Nachos / Veg Stew / Hamburgers		Mon	Curry and Rice
	Braai / Mince Rice, Veg / Mexican		Tue	Hot Dogs
Sun	Scrambled Eggs / Beans and Mince / Beans on Toast		Wed	Vegetable Fritters
	Snackwiches / Sweetcorn on Toast / Toasted Cheese		Thu	Chicken Skulpies
			Fri	Pizza
			Sat	Vegetable Stew
			Sun	Baked Beans and Mince
			Day	Week 3
			Mon	Stroganoff
			Tue	Tuna Stew
			Wed	Soup
			Thu	Nando Sauce Chicken Strips
			Fri	Fish/Frankfurter and Chips
			Sat	Hamburgers
			Sun	Baked Beans on Toast
			Day	Week 4
			Mon	Bobotie
			Tue	Tuna Spaghetti
			Wed	Chicken Roast
			Thu	Mac and Cheese
			Fri	Carrot Hash Browns
			Sat	Braai
			Sun	Snackwiches
			Day	Week 5
			Mon	Cottage Pie
			Tue	Tuna Pie
			Wed	Chicken a la King
			Thu	Omlettes
			Fri	Beef Pie
			Sat	Mince, Rice, Veg
			Sun	Sweetcorn on Toast
			Day	Week 6
			Mon	Beef Stew
			Tue	Cold Meats and Salad
			Wed	Spaghetti Bolognaise
			Thu	Crumbed Chicken and Salad
			Fri	Vegetable Pie
			Sat	Mexican (Tacos)
			Sun	Toasted Cheese 'n Tomato

Footloose - Mthatha

I wrote this when we were travelling the last time.
I don't believe I posted it...

Astonishing!

Gridlock in Mthatha in the middle of the former Transkei!  Pondoland, Wildcoast territory.  We sat for ages as cars tried to make their way on roads jammed with selfish drivers unwilling to yield their ground and let someone through, which would have cleared the way for someone else to get through.

I thought I just have to keep my eyes away from it all or I will get crazily frustrated.  I bowed my head and read this and that about where we were and where we were going.  Blaring music… All is well, all is well!  Tabernacle choir singing "Come, come ye Saints!"  Glenn rolled down his window to see where it was coming from.  I thought maybe one of the bustling shops across the road.  Glenn thought the church across the road.  Unlikely looking LDS chapel if it came from there, I thought. 

 

Glenn figured out after several more hymns gloriously wafted loudly over the frustrated drivers wanting to move in all four directions, that it was from three young men in the island between the two main thoroughfare going in opposite directions.  They had set up a little generator feeding their CD player and about knee high speakers.  They looked as though they were selling Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD’s. 

 

I thought Well, if anything will bring some peace and order to this mayhem, the Tabernacle Choir should be able to.  I hope they sold some of their CD’s…   Might bring some peace and cooperation to this little town!

Old Family Photos?

Regarding these two photos I wrote the following for my Writing Group

Assignment:  "Write about an unknown person in a photograph."

I Wonder Who You Are?

I wonder who you two young men are – I wonder what thoughts are going through your mind as you stand there with your hands on the reigns of the beautifully upholstered wicker sled on that wide sloped undulating  path? 

Since you are both in your so white clothes and dark waistcoats, perhaps you are in uniform?   Are you servants?  I am glad you are both wearing hats – wise in our African sun.

I marvel at the laid pebble paving in ripples down the hill.  I imagine a team of workers creating the waves, squatting there laying the pebbles.  Were you among them?  I wonder what muttered conversations might have occurred?  I wonder whether some said “These people are mad – why do they want this?  Do they know how much hard work they are making for us?  Do they not think of us?”  Perhaps some were thinking “I’m glad to have work, any paid work, now I can go home with my head held high and provide for my family.”  Or “I am thankful to be away from the terror and despair of war.  My mind is more peaceful here.  I am glad to be in the fresh air, in this hot and humid place so far away from all that.”

You on the left have a Latin-look.  I wonder if you are one of the Italian prisoners of war who decided to stay in South Africa?  I like the tilt of your head and your purposeful gaze.  Perhaps you are what we call coloured in our country?   The other young man looks whiter skinned.  There is a different tilt to his head.  His sleeves are rolled up a couple of times.  He looks more tentative to me.  I wonder if you are friends?  Was this photo taken in my mining-engineer paternal grandfather’s day or my sea-captain both maternal and paternal great grandfather’s day?  I wonder if you two men had to stand still while the photographer  controlled the exposure? 

The gardens are so neat!  The bluegum and pine trees are mature and stately.  There seems to be not a breath of wind.  The foliage is lush.  And is that a house in the top left hand corner barely visible through the leaves?  Was there a team of gardeners working at keeping this verdant vegetation in check?  This looks like an established estate.  Is it a hotel?

I wonder who lives in the house or building?   I wonder where they come from?  I wonder how long they lived here?  Were there any children living here?  I wonder if this property is still there – intact? Or is it now among the many pieces of land developed into a guest house or a hotel or a sea of modern town-houses?

I wonder if this photo was taken in the time of cars… if so, surely there is another driveway?  Perhaps this African sleigh-run is the equivalent of the later status symbol of a palm tree and even later a tennis court in your yard.  What is today’s status symbol I wonder?

I have no record of Latin or coloured heritage since the 1700’s. Is either of you my ancestor?   Why were these photos kept with the box of old family photographs I inherited?

And… I wonder if this is even in South Africa?!  Where else might this setting be?  I wondered about India, but the other photograph has what looks like an African leading the ox.  I would love to have some answers someday.  Imagine if you could step out and talk to me! 

In the meantime, I am glad I kept these two photos, and I have enjoyed this assignment.  I am glad I chose you to be the unknown one whom I wrote about.

 

******************************************************************

Do any of you have any ideas about these two photos?

Do you know where I might send them that might have some idea?

My Vegetable Garden This Morning

I was out early this gorgeous morning after gentle rain on and off for a couple of days.

Since I was out before the yapping dogs from next door I took the time

to tie up the trailing tomato branches to the bamboo stakes.

 

I had in my mind to neatly tie the branches

to the stakes designated to the plants.

 

I soon realised that the branches could not co-operate!

I thought

Any solidly enough grounded (to support the branch) stake will actually do!

So I happily tied the branches to the stakes that could most

conveniently support them as they grew and fruited.

 

I go out, usually in the late afternoon, to dump my kitchen peelings.

While the container is conveniently empty I gather the ripening crop.

Since I was out of habit late yesterday, I went out early this morning.

This is my crop for today.

 

The tomatoes are doing wonderfully.

The beans planted so conveniently next to the bamboo stakes

are finding it difficult to get a hold and so are not doing well this year.

I chop them up as soon as I get them into the kitchen, and add them to the bag in the freezer.

When I have enough for a meal I will use them.

The spinach is flourishing.

 

A couple of days I made spinach cheesy white sauce,

put it in small containers and froze it.

So now, when I want to serve spinach, I will cut it,

blanch it and add the defrosted sauce for our meal.

 

Interesting that when I bought the tomato plants

I intended to get the same as last year.

I didn't look carefully enough I guess,

and discovered I have these cherry tomatoes.

They bear abundantly.

We are enjoying them. 



I have gem squashes (I hope) growing from my kitchen peelings.

(Perhaps they will prove to be butternut plants.)

We will enjoy those.

I also have some tomato seedlings coming up from last year which I am

gently lifting and planting conveniently near the stakes in place.

The flowers I planted last year because we would be away

are coming up all over the place, plus some others as well,

plus the ever-present and vigorous weeds of course.

I will let them all grow together until they need to be pulled out,

whether in full flower or not,

to make space for the food bearing plants.

 

Many lessons I quietly learn every time I work in my little garden plot.

 

I need to go and get some more bamboo stakes soon.  Maybe today.

I go up to the Chapel grounds.

There is a forest of bamboo on the east side of the unused and little used back lot.

I cut them and bring them home- that benefits the Chapel grounds

by clearing some they don't need to,

and it benefits me by getting stakes I don't need to pay for.