Hips, Hospitals, Birthday Celebrations, Hope for Peace, Rugby World Cup Fever & a family loss
Once again, life intervened in a huge way delaying this blog post for far too many weeks. But now I am writing my blog post and so grateful for the time and opportunity to do so.
It feels somewhat surreal to be typing this in the peace and tranquility of our home looking out into our garden on a sunny Sunday afternoon while in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza madness and mayhem reign supreme, while behind closed doors abuse in far too many forms and guises takes places and other silent and unknown forms of evil is ongoing. As someone raised to always be respectful and tolerant of others regardless of colour, creed, religion, sexual orientation I am, as always, astounded at the evil and savagery that has erupted in the last week in the shape and form of the vile and totally ungodly terrorist organisation ,Hammas.
Yesterday was Armistice Day - on the eleventh day at the eleventh hour we will remember them #lestweforget I am so saddened the world has forgotten the atrocities of the wars which have occurred "before us" and not learnt any lessons. And now tragically not only are innocent lives being tragically lost because of abhorrent acts by terrorists but the warfare spills out into other countries where if you are merely walking down your street and somebody takes offence at your religion you are attacked, maimed for life or murdered; the warfare spills out into misinformation, propaganda and pure hatred; with thousands chanting slogans seemingly ignorant or not, that they are uttering hate speech.
Will either of these wars stop when an entire nation has been obliterated and nothing is left?
I stand for peace, holding onto hope for a ceasefire, the end of the massacre and the safe return of the innocent victims who were taken hostage by Hammas. To all I know who know people directly affected by the Hammas reign of terror and Israel's retaliation, you are always in my thoughts, prayers and I send you strength, love and light.
It is beyond distressing and I have felt so physically ill at the horrific accounts of the atrocities. I could just bury my head in the sand adopting an ostrich stance but I cannot; once again I was never raised that way and the lesson at always being alert to what is happening around the global is so ingrained in me. It is dreadfully upsetting and depressing; I don't try to protect myself from turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the news, I feel we should all be conscious of all the horrors (as well as all the highlights) around the global. This awareness strengthens my sense of gratitude for my family, my friends, my home, the fact that I am employed, to be mindful and appreciative of every sunrise and sunset, for our dogs, and for so many infinite blessings.
And for those who celebrate Diwali, Happy Diwali
It's been a stressful time for me with my Mom being in hospital not once but twice; her right hip replacement surgery was a success which is no mean feat at the age of 91; and we are grateful that her anemia which saw her being admitted to ICU at Sandton Mediclinic on 28 September, was rapidly and successfully treated on 28 October 2023. Two two blood transfusions later and feeling so much better she was thankfully discharged on 31 October 2023. Tuesday is her check up day with the orthopaedic surgeon and physician, blood tests and xrays so I have taken a family responsibility leave day from work to support her at these appointments. It has been, and still is, a lot of stress and strain for me, with the very real weight of responsibility on my shoulders and I have taken physical, mental and emotional strain; and, while not elaborating on the topic, the immense work pressure has broken me.
Some positive highlights from the past (far too many) weeks:
It felt as if the entire South African nation were united in celebrating the Springbok's Rugby World Cup victory for the fourth time; and to ensure they were consistent they did it by just one point! Was that to prove a point? It had to be one of those "first times in the history of rugby" that a team (let alone the same time) won the quarter-final, semi-final and final by just one point - collectively South Africa breathed an enormous sigh of relief when the final whistle blew signalling the end of the final match; and, again, our collective shredded nerves and pounding hearts could be restored to some semblance of normality.
And after a respite from loadshedding, the Springboks were not even back in South Africa and loadshedding returned to darken our days
Tristan and I were invited to dinner on 1 November by the CEO and COO collectively of Dotdot.Direct who have my debut book on their website. We were treated to great food and a very enjoyable evening at Satori in Linden. Vimal and Kevin, whom I have met before, wanted the opportunity to meet Tristan and spend time with him before they do an in-depth interview with him and I about Tristan's story and my debut book, "My Son Went to Rehab, I Went to Rome - A Journey of Hope". I am not sure when this is going to take place but watch this space .... and I am still waiting to hear when the podcast interview I did with Dr Skye Scott will be released .... again watch this space and keep an eye out on Barbara_Steyn_Author's IG page.
As always, I celebrated my birthday in true "Queen Bee" style- delicious cupcakes (baked and iced early that morning at Izzie's Cafe) at work as my birthday was on the same day as our monthly meeting and team breakfast; a gorgeous early supper with Morgan and Alyssa, Tristan and Titan at Riverside Cafe in Bryanston (after popping in to see my Mom who on my birthday was discharged from Sandton Mediclinic and transferred to Bryanston Sub-Acute, a stepdown facility, for her continued recovery and treatment post her hip replacement surgery); a divine lunch at La Cucina di Ciro in Parktown North on Sunday, 8 October (thank you so much for organising all of this Morgan and Alyssa complete with my 45 birthday balloon numbers) and lastly, an intimate breakfast on Saturday, 21 October at Izzie's Cafe in Fontainebleau.
La Cucina di Ciro, in Parktown North, my absolutely favourite restaurant
We were treated to live music courtesy of 2 tenors singing italian arias for a 70th birthday celebration adjacent to my birthday lunch
Izzie's Coffee Shop in Fontaineblea
I was super spoilt and for me being surrounded by my gorgeous family and those special friends of mine who could join me really made my birthday and year ! In between the celebrations I was thrilled to reunite with Colleen Sherren, all the way from St Francis and we enjoyed a superb breakfast and catch-up albeit it a short one (we could have chattered the day away). Colleen and I share a friendship spanning over 30 years (and I am so grateful to be able to say I have a number of lifelong loyal friendships)
Colleen and I at Corner Cafe, Craighall Park
In between all of these lovely celebrations, came the heartbreaking news that Morgan's beloved gentle beast, Titan, had suffered a ruptured spleen due to a cancerous growth. After he was given a blood transfusion, Morgan and Alyssa were able to spend a day with Titan taking him for a last walk, giving him all the treats he desired including an ice cream and were with him as his pain was quietly ended and he went running over the 'rainbow bridge.' Titan was 9 years old, the most magnificent beast of an animal (one afternoon Tristan and I took Titan with us walking him from 7 Sins in Greenside to Doppio Zero and I vividly recall while walking back, navigating throngs of people outside restaurants, on the pavements, someone loudly declaring "That's one sexy beast"! ) who was always admired, revered and so loved by all of our family, friends, Morgan's friends and his clientele. He has left pawprints on the hearts of literally hundreds of people and I don't know of one person who did not cry at the news of his passing. Titan was our "grand-dog". When Morgan drove up to the gate of our complex, Titan, who was a very quiet dog (only ever barking if a cat dared come into his line of sight) would start making noises as he knew where he was and that beyond the gate where his friends to run around the garden with and at my house he was allowed to do everything he could not do at Morgan's house. Morgan would park, open the door and Titan would bolt straight up to the door - he knew his "home away from home'.
The ultimate act of love whether its a human or an animal is telling them its ok and saying your goodbyes and easing their pain and suffering.
Titan, you deserve an entire blog as I could so easily write an entire blog about you, your gentleness, your fierce loyalty, devotion, dedication and, above all, love for Morgan and all of us; your love of trying to be a lap dog, of enjoying to lick Johan's ears and more; but the grief is still so new, so raw and for now, we cling onto our lovely memories of you to ease a little bit of the heartache and pain.
This photograph says it all. Rest in peace darling Titan; thank you for loving Morgan like you did and being so fiercely loyal to him - we are broken hearted but glad you are no longer suffering and in pain
We enjoyed a Sunday afternoon drive to Random Harvest Nursery with Zen. She treated us to a delicious afternoon tea and we were very excited on the way back to spot springboks in the wild - but the 4 legged variety not the ones we had been tensely watching the evening before in the semi-final.
Random Harvest Nursery
I loved the "no swimming" sign at the pond at the nursery
Delicious scones with 2 different homemade jams
Lindy, Johan and I entered the "Girls got Wine" Halloween Quiz evening on 26 October 2023 and we won! We were really surprised and are delighted with our voucher for a meal out, which obviously, will be shared with Lindy at some time in the not too distant future.
We belatedly celebrated Alyssa's birthday at "Just Teddy" in Hyde Park on 29 October and that was a lovely afternoon eating all those tasty treats which I should not be eating. Johan and I shared a meze of Turkish sweet treats which was served with a small bowl of pistachio ice cream. Skye's absence was sorely felt as was my Mom's as she was in Sandton Mediclinic for the second time. We enjoyed celebrating Alyssa with Tristan, Bruce, Morgan and Johan and this time I did spare them the irritation of endeavouring to have a photo of us all together. But I did take a photo of our treats:
Birthday celebrations for Alyssa at Just Teddy
Breakfast last Sunday with my Morgan and Tristan at OBA in Parkhurst was, and still is, a highlight in my life. The brothers had gymed together and I then joined them for breakfast which was wonderful; treasured times with my sons is just that - treasure and treasured!
We were privileged to watch "The Promise" on Sunday, 5 November 2023 at the Market Theatre. This was the stage adaptation of Damon Galgut's Booker Prize novel, "The Promise" (and he was at the matinee performance which was the final performance) - it was very long but very impactful and it was a joy to witness the sheer theatrical genius of Rob van Vuuren (who I have known since he was a student in the drama department at Rhodes University when I was the administrator/secretary of the department). It was a great outing to the theatre with Zen and Emily, both of whom I have known since those Rhodes Drama department days.
As I wrap this up, yesterday we discovered a new gem of a Greek eatery in Linden which is alongside "Gonk", a delightful treasure trove of a shop for anything unique and unusual. Kafeneio Linden is really quaint and we sat outside enjoying the lovely day and the breeze which took the edge of the heat off the day. Our food was delicious - Johan had the hummus meal and I had grilled chicken breasts. We will return both to Kafeneio and Gonk!
Johan's hummus meal which came with a side of chips and pita bread
Grilled chicken breast- how cute are the containers for the olive oil and balsamic vinegar
What have I been listening to?
Podcasts:
Something was Wrong
What came next
True Crime Daily
The Damage Report
The Daily
Agent of Betrayal
Murder in Apart. 12
The Estate
Grapevine
South Park
The Blackstone Sisters
Infamous International: The Pink Panther Story
World of Secrets
The Wedding Scammer
The Bakersfield Three
What happened to Libby Caswell?
What have I been reading? What am I reading?
"A Wedding in Provence" by Katie Fforde
I also read another book from the library which I honestly cannot remember what it was; shocking!! It was so good it was so forgettable - cannot be ........ scary thought but I really cannot remember.
Audible:
The Weight of Beautiful by Jackie Goldschneider - a brutally honest account by Jackie of her struggles with anorexia nervosa and overcoming an eating disorder. Brave, vulnerable, tragic and hopeful.
What have I been watching?
My usual bubblegum shows so I can decompress and not think; and just be entertained
"The Vow"
"Lessons in Chemistry" (brilliant)
Netflix:
"Escaping Twin Flames"
"Take care of Maya"
"All the Light We Cannot See" is now on Netflix, I have read the book by the amazing Anthony Doerr (Pulitzer Prize winner); add it to your list!
I will end with this photo of a sign displayed at Seattle Coffee Shop, Nicolway, Bryanston which we saw and which naturally tickled my sense of humour .
Stay safe, be gentle on yourself and be kind.
Blessings, love and light always xxxx