4

Share Your World 6 November 2017

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

Would you rather take a 2 week vacation with an organized tour or take a cruise of your choice?

In a few days I will enter the Kruger National Park and stay in a caravan for four weeks.  It’s neither a cruise nor an organized tour but it is my idea of a perfect vacation.  However, I definitely would like to go on a cruise.  An organised tour could be fun but I prefer exploring new places without the restrictions of a guide.

Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing?

I loved swinging as a child and I believe swinging is essential for all children.   Yes, I do get excited every time I see a swing.  And if it looks strong enough I do have a go.

At my grandparents house we had a swing in a tall pine tree and my uncle used to push us to dizzying heights.  It was fun.

Sweet Abandon is a scene from the past written in drabble form

Sweet Abandon

                            The fox-terrier yaps excitedly

dodging kicks as she descends.

“It’s my turn,” yells Mike.

She laughs, “Give me the works Uncle Tony.”

He pushes her in a wide arc.

“Higher,” she calls gleefully.

“Not fair, my turn,” yells Mike.

She shrieks, throws back her head,

spins up in ever-increasing spirals,

breathes in the piney fragrance

of the denneboom

and swings in sweet abandoncartoon-girl-swing

“My turn!” yells Mike.

She leaps, lands at a run and calls,

“Come Atom!”

She gathers nuts,

sits on the front step,

and cracks the shells with a smooth stone.

She shares the denneputs with the dog.Pine_nut_pines02

What is the most important thing that you ever learned ? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

I think the most important thing that I have learned – and it’s taken a long time – is to let go and not take things too seriously.   I have learned to give and not expect anything in return and to be okay with that.   Move on from the past, don’t worry about the future, live in the moment.  My sister-in-law and I spoke about this very thing today and she quoted the following to me.

Today is a gift

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

We have just spent an awesome five days with our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. We haven’t seen the kids for almost a year and it was wonderful too see how they have matured.   We are so impressed with how well they’re doing at school, how involved they are in their extra-mural activities and how wonderfully helpful they are at home.  Shannon showed us a powerpoint presentation of her three week survival hike in the Drankensberg which was fantastic.  What a great attitude to life this young lady has!   Simon also had a three week tour from Kokstad to Cape Town and back with his grade and it seems to us that these experiences have done our grandkids a power of good. How lucky they are to attend schools that develop the whole child.   They are positive, adventurous, fun and full of mischief but have impeccable manners and actually enjoy the company of their old grandparents.   We just adore them.

grandchildren

5

Fun Photo Challenge using letter K

Here is my contribution to this weeks Fun Photo Challenge from Cee

This week all my “K” creatures are from Australia

052 Blackfaced Cormorant Tower Hill Reserve

Black Faced Cormorant

090 Black Swan

Black Swan

104 Crake Healesville

Crake

114 Koala and Baby

Koala with baby

268 Kanga and joey

Kangaroo – Joey having a feed

276 Kookaburra

Kookaburra

285 Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet

064 Whistling Kite or Little Eagle

Whistling Kite

2

Black and White Pets

Here is my contribution to this weeks Black and White challenge from Cee  The topic is PETS.  I no longer have pets but I enjoy taking photographs of my pet belonging to friends and family.

002 mia and Shadow-004

Lisa’s cats Mia and Shadow

250 Sophie

2017-09-10 Warmwaterberg cat 2017-09-11 12-32-53 AM 4608x3456

Nameless Cat – A pet of a caravan park we stayed at

IMG_2615 dog at river

Lauren’s Dog Sheba in the river that runs through her property

IMG_3397

Lauren’s Dogs Sheba and Lucy

IMG_5982

Diane’s Dog loves to pose for portraits

4

Catching up with Kokstad Clan

Our new Gecko Caravan needs to be collected from Haenertzburg by 10 November and then we will take it into The Kruger National Park for four weeks.

So with the Ford Everest packed to the hilt with everything we need to furnish the caravan with all that it needs to function efficiently we set off on 1 November 2017.   We overnighted in Middelburg, Eastern Cape and then headed to our kids in Kokstad where we will stay until Tuesday.   From there we will go to Haenertzburg, stay for three days at a trout fishing lodge then head with new caravan into the Kruger National Park.

It was quite by chance that our visit to our daughter and son-in-law coincided with our granddaughter’s half term holiday.   We arrived at 3:30 pm and she was home from St John’s school by 4:30.    She has to go back on Tuesday and that’s the day we leave too.

The Earl brought fish from Struisbaai which was cooked in the Weber and shared with Sean and Nicoline and their daughter Robyn who is the same age as our grandson Simon.  Their son is the same age as Shannon and is also away at school but his half-term was last weekend.

IMG_3230-001

Shannon, Simon and Robyn

IMG_3231

Sean, Nicoline and Allan

IMG_3232

Grandpa, Lauren and Sean tucking into the delicious fish

It was great to see Sean and Nicoline as today they headed off for a second Honeymoon in Zanzibar.   I am sure they are going to have a stunning time!

Open Gardens

It’s open gardens week in the area so I joined Barbara, Andrew and Heather on an amazing tour of three stunning gardens in Cedarville.  This is dairy farming country and summer rainfall and soil ensure that plants grow with ease around here.   In winter they have to worry about frost and sometimes snow so they choose plants that can resist those conditions.   Our family have lovely gardens themselves but the ones we visited were on a different scale sizewise!    If I didn’t know they were on private property I would have thought I was in a public park or botanical garden.

IMG_3251IMG_3263IMG_3268IMG_3270IMG_3276IMG_3289IMG_3290IMG_3297

Kokstad Junior is Amazing

Today Lauren’s school had a craft and food market.  Our grandson Simon was part of the steel drumming group who played to entertain the visitors.  It was awesome!   Their teacher is Bryan Clark and he has done wonders with the kids.

Here is a link to hear them play.  https://youtu.be/Bmeku9837dE

IMG_3310

Simon in the center – Robyn behind him

IMG_3317

Our nephew, Aiden

 

IMG_3333

It was a gorgeous day

IMG_3334

Some of the stalls

IMG_3339

The kids enjoying a smoothie

After enjoying looking at all the interesting stalls and enjoying a refreshing smoothie we headed home as it was very hot!   More news tomorrow.

0

Share Your World 30 October 2017

Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World from Cee

Where do you eat breakfast?

Funny you should ask, because this is my favourite meal of the day and it is usually quite an elaborate affair.  I seldom eat breakfast in bed.  I like to be up and dressed and seated at the table.  Usually my darling husband cooks it for me, at least twice weekly we go to our favourite coffee shop where they don’t even ask what we want as the just know, and on rare occasions I am the chef.   Properly brewed coffee is essential and no matter where I am the quality of the breakfast is greatly influenced by the quality of the coffee! If the weather is good I like it al fresco, if it’s in a cold place a roaring fire helps otherwise a lovely ambience indoors will do.

IMG_6918

Typical Shipwreck Coffee Shop Breakfast – Fried eggs, bacon, cheese grillers tomato and coffee

IMG_1877

Scrambled Eggs Al Fresco at my garden picnic table

 

 

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want have a evening with?

My ideal evening is in the bush with friends who enjoy it as much as I do.  There is nothing to beat, sitting outside your caravan, watching the flaming sun sink beneath the horizon,  listening the sounds of the wild, glass of wine in hand exchanging stories about the day’s adventures.  Priceless!

094 Polentswa at the table

My fantasy companion would be Sir David Attenborough because I would love to chat to him about his lifetime of doing wildlife documentaries.  What a fascinating life he has had.  How lucky we are to be able to spend any number of evenings watching said documentaries!

If you could be a tree or plant, what would you be? 

I would choose to be a Baobab Tree.  She is the queen of trees. You cannot miss her standing proud on the African Savannah demanding to be admired.   Not only would I be a wonderful sight to behold I would also be permanently among the wildlife that I love so much and I would be a great asset to their lives. Because the baobab has many useful properties, it is widely known as the Tree of Life.  How wonderful to be a Life-giving Tree.

Baobab products are useful to mankind as among other stuff soap, rubber, glue, traditional medicine and cream of tartar are made from their products.  But best of all it creates it’s own ecosystem and provides food and shelter for animals, birds and insects.

It is a deciduous tree so during the dry winters it has no leaves and its bare branches look like roots  hence it’s nickname – the upside down tree.

2010-10-08 003 Baobab Tree Helen

In Winter it is The Upside Down Tree

01BOABAB TREE

In Summer It dons it’s leafy finery

 

 

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

The Earl and I left Struisbaai at 6 am this morning and considering the state of his health one year ago I appreciate how fit and well his is now.   He coped well with the driving and we made sure to stop frequently.  We are overnighting in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape and will do another day’s drive to Kokstad tomorrow.  This is the start of a three month trip away and I will be blogging about our adventures as often as I can during this time.

story teller

4

Black and White Challenge – 26 October 2017

Here is my contribution to Cee’s Brick and/or Stone Black and White Challenge

Little Stone Cottage

Little Stone Cottage near Mossel Bay

046 Mopani

Entrance to Mopani Rest Camp, Kruger National Park

Klipspringer in sepia

Klipspringer (Stone Jumper) on a Stone

7

Fun Photo Challenge – J

This week’s Fun Photo Challenge from Cee asks that we use the letter J anywhere in a word which must have at least six letters.

Two of my grandsons have J in their names – put the two names together and you get Jay-Joshua  Is this cheating?  I can’t resist posting of fun photo of them as pre-schoolers. (They’re now 19 and 20)

003 Spiderman.jpg

Joshua-and-Jay with Spiderman painted faces

There always has to be something wild in my posts!

2009-01-14 Black-baced jackal pup Kruger.JPG

Jackal Puppy

And of course a bird!

2010-07-11 158 Swamp Nightjar.jpg

Swamp Nightjar

 

 

 

5

Share Your World 23 October 2017

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

Was school easy or difficult for you? How so?

In the beginning school was a challenge.  I was a year younger than my classmates and I believe that’s where the trouble began.  However, after repeating Grade 2 things improved and I coped reasonably well for the rest of my school career – no prizes for brilliance though!

School-vs-Life-400x300 (1).jpg

List some of your favorite types of animals

I love wild birds and animals.   My favourites change from time to time.  Right now I’m preparing for a visit Kruger National Park and these are the animals that always give me a big thrill when I see them.

  • Leopard
  • Lion
  • Cheetah
  • Wild Dog
  • Hyena
  • Giraffe
  • Honey Badger
  • Martial Eagle
  • Lilac breasted roller
  • Woodland’s Kingfisher
  • And all the others will bring me joy of course

2009-01-14 111 Cheetah Helen Orpen.jpg

What is your favorite large city you have been to? What is the one thing you remember most?

Next to city where I was born – Cape Town – Sydney, Australia is my favourite.   There is nothing I don’t like about it.   The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Opera House are really stunning landmarks.   Too many memories to single out just one.   Maybe a ride in a beach buggy from our Air B&B to Bondi Beach was an unusual and memorable occasion

370 Sydney Harbour Bridge.jpg

What’s not to love

 

357 Riding in an open top jeep

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

I realise that my mind is not as sharp as it used to be but I appreciate that I’m still okay!

Alzeimers

 

1

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Season

I’m a bit late posting my contribution to this week’s Stream of Consciousness Prompt

But here is my take on the prompt – Seasons

The seasons of my life are constantly changing – and each one has shapes my life.  I suppose some can compare their seasons to Winter, Spring , Summer and Autumn but as I contemplate my life I don’t see such a regular pattern as these predictable times in our year.

The seasons of my life have alway been surprising.  I have not been prepared and have had to deal with them as they happen – no storing up during Spring so there will be enough for winter.  Instead it’s been wham – not get on with it girl and make the most of a bad situation!   Never can I say that any season was boring – some have been less frantic than others but boring never.

I have loved the seasons of my life – the raising kids season, the career season – sometimes overlapping with the previous.  I have enjoyed the people who have come for a season then left while others stayed for all seasons – so many friendships made – some continue to this day others not but their value has left its mark on my life.  Sometime one wonders why some people remain in your life forever while others seem to fade away for no reason – there is a reason – they were meant to be just for that season for some reason and then we all move on and there are no ill feelings.  Sometimes they return and you take up just where you left off – other times not – that’s just the way it’s meant to be.

Seasons in my marriage have been the most exciting and challenging – the season of falling in love and deciding to marry, taking on each other’s children, raising them through their different seasons, wondering if you’ll ever get through the storms and then suddenly finding you’re into the next amazing phase where once again the sun is shining.  But then another season of drama follows just when you think the waters are calmer and you can sail into the wide blue yonder.

I-will-be-happy-when-you-are-happy

The season of grandchildren arrives and you find your life totally revolving around them and their seasons too.  Your realise that this is the best season and in fact those previous seasons and experiences have prepared you to walk though this one with ease and when it ends you are ready for the next major change – this time in the entire climate as you move on to the lasts season of your life – Retirement

Is it going to be sunny, calm and slow? I don’t think so – but definitely this is the season for me and I will embrace it as I have all the seasons preceding it.  I will welcome the people who come for a season, not worry about those who fade away I will face the storms and enjoy the sunshine and deal with whatever the seasonal changes bring.

seasons.jpg

 

 

 

4

Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge – Letter I

This week’s Fun Photo Challenge calls for photographs that begin with the letter I.

Ibises are a species of bird that have long legs for wading and are often seen in wetlands but also in forests and on grassy plains.   Their bills are decurved and in South Africa we have five species of ibis.

2011-10-16 Bald Ibis by Earl

Bald Ibis

i

Hadeda Ibis

Ibis - Glossy - Strandfontein

Glossy Ibis

Ibis Sacred 2 West Coast National Park

Sacred Ibis

031 Spoonbill

Although it does not have a de-curved bill, The Spoonbill is a member of the Ibis family

 

4

Share Your World 16 October 2017

Here are my answers to this week’s share your world by Cee

If you had to move to a country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? 

I am perfectly happy living right here is South Africa in spite of its problems. There are plenty of negatives, crime being the one that heads the list. But quite honestly the positives are so amazing that even if  I could I don’t think I would move.

I actually believe that I could be happy anywhere in the world. Every country has it’s pros and cons but if I HAD TO leave my first choice would be Australia. I like the people, the weather and the beaches.  Everything works, there is very little poverty and the people are relatively law abiding.  Also there are a huge number of South Africans living there already so I would feel right at home!

Keep calm and go to Sydney

My next choice would be Greece or Italy because of the weather and the food.  mmm – Yes – Maybe Italy would be my first choice!

Keep Calm and eat Italian.jpg

 

What color would you like your bedroom to be?

My bedroom will never be the colour that I want it to be.  The Earl is far too practical and likes neutral shades.  I would love to paint at least one wall blue or red.

Keep calm and paint a red wall

Maybe not too practical for a beach house?

What makes you Happy? Make a list of things in your life that bring you joy.

Many, many things make me happy but to be specific the following top the list:-

  • My husband
  • My kids
  • My grandkids
  • Spending time with friends and family
  • Travel
  • Eating breakfast outdoorsIMG_1877
  • Holidays in the bush
  • Spotting a leopard in a tree2010-10-12 004 Leopard in tree Helen
  • Birds visiting my feeder
  • Seeing birds in their natural habitat
  • Visiting game reserves.

I am going to be blissfully happy for the next three months because we’re trekking up north to visit the Kokstad Clan, collect our new caravan and visit the Kruger National Park.

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

In preparation for the Great Trek I had to go to Cape Town for a week to shop, attend a function and catch up with family and friends.   I really appreciate everyone fitting us into their busy schedules.   We had a fantastic time.

IMG_2959

Breakfast at Pastis with the family

1

Share Your World 9 October 2017

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

What do you consider is the most perfect food for you? (It can be your favorite food to something extremely healthy.)

I think I’ve mentioned before in my blogging that a good South African braai is my favourite meal.

I also love anything Greek – Roast lamb Greek style is to die for, Moussaka is irresistible and if spanakopita is on the menu, I’ll have it!

moussaka-124760167-58189dea3df78cc2e898027f.jpg

Are you focussed on tomorrow or now?

I believe in savouring the moment and living each day as if it’s your last.  But also enjoy planning for a future event like a holiday.  Part of the fun is getting ready for the coming event and if it’s to go somewhere new I do research what to do and what not to miss.  I do not stick rigidly to a plan though.  I enjoy spontaneity and going with the flow.

Live For Today Quotes Live For Tomorrow Quotes Quotesgram

If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask?

This is the domain of my youngest brother.  He enjoys researching the ancestors and finding out about what they did in the distant past.  I love hearing about it from him but he has not managed to go too far back.

I have no idea who my great-great-great parents were. They would have lived in the 1700s. Were they peasants or lords?  Some would have lived in Greece, some in Italy. Then there’s the British and German ancestry too.   Perhaps it would be nice to hear from a  great-great-great grandmother. There would have been sixteen of them!   In those days I believe women were seen as being inferior to men and that their sole purpose was childbearing. Perhaps they were subservient to their husbands – perhaps they or some of them rebelled against that and were in fact the real rulers of their homes.  Certainly they had no civic rights and probably did not attend school.  But perhaps they were educated at home?   It would be fun to find out whether they had dreams or aspirations of doing more than becoming a wife and mother or perhaps they were content with their lives and just got on with what had to be done.  I can’t believe that all my 16 great-great-great grandmothers had fabulous lives but perhaps some did.  Perhaps they were beautiful society ladies who attended the king’s caught regularly.  On the other hand perhaps some were parlour maids or cooks in grand homes and worked hard just to keep body and soul together.

They were certainly all from different countries and would not have been at all like each other.  It would be fun to get them all together now to say – Hey -look at your descendants – would you ever have believed that this is how things would work out for them?

Hopefully it will be easier for my descendents to find out about me and get to read my blog!