26 February 2024 to 11 March 2024
In Gauteng, we are all enduring a relentless heatwave, the humidity saps my energy and I was so excited to hear thunder rolling on Sunday afternoon, which thunder and lightning did result in some much-welcome rain.
I started typing this to the background of rolling thunder hopefully more rain will be falling as the temperatures - an earlier report of the heatwave continuing the next week with temperatures of 35 degrees had me feeling faint and, once again, looking for a walk-in freezer to occupy! Just the other day, in my reckless youth, I would be in the sun every spare moment I had with baby oil to get the darkest tan possible - it was naive and ignorant. I am grateful that my skin has not been too badly damaged from all that irresponsible abuse and am also thankful that there is (for now) no lightning on steroids which we have had - Thursday night we had such a lightning strike I thought it was gunfire at a front door and even Johan got a fright (that is saying something!)
I emerged from my work-induced rabbit hole on leap day, 29 February 2024, the last day of February and my last working day at NRFSA. It was a hard day and full of very mixed emotions, I was privilege to enjoy great relationships and friendships with so many people at NRFSA from various departments and teams; my team were very special to me and I am fortunate to have forged friendships for life. I did not have any regrets about resigning just hard to bid adieu to everyone. It was a very busy and I was grateful I opted to be in the office as early as possible that morning as I was strenuously working to ensure I left the practice as shipshape as possible. There was a lovely tea iwith my team and some others; delicious scones were devoured and enjoyed. My former boss made a speech which came close to reducing me to tears and I was spoilt with flowers, a very generous gift voucher and other spoils from other colleagues who have become friends. If I had not had to hand in my laptop and other IT equipment in to the IT team before 5.30pm I would have been working until midnight but I had a deadline which had to be met. Sundowners at The Grill House with some of my team were enjoyed before I finally headed home at about 8pm - it was strange returning home with no work backpack with a laptop etc and being able to just relax on the couch and not think that I should be working. Since it was month end with invoices to dispatch to the clients as soon as possible, I would have been working and through the weekend but that was no more - it is still an adjustment akin to weaning or deprogramming.
I love, love, love the packaging of this gift from Anika - so appropriate as I used to collect everything "bee" related as I am called Bee by many from my Aunt through various friends and colleagues over the years
March dawned and so did my new unemployed / lady of leisure status though the first day of March was anything but leisurely for me and its been that way ever since. We had a Co-Anon event on Saturday, 2 March 2024; it was the second such event, the first I had suggested and initiated to mark the beginning of Spring in September2024 and we had 2 guest speakers who spoke about overcoming drug addiction, alcoholism and an eating disorder; the second event Tristan and I shared - we did a "back and forth" format for our share and it worked well. The first event in September had attracted over 40 people; this one had approximately 20 people in attendance and after the meeting and shares, everyone got to enjoy a boerewors roll or two and something soft to drink. We had a brief interlude before the next event of the day which was Morgan's birthday activity and celebrations.
Morgan's birthday was on Tuesday, 5 March but we celebrate en famille on the Saturday - the activity was The Rage Room in Bryanston where after donning protective gear, masks and gloves you get to smash old and broken tvs, screens, microwaves, lots of empty beer bottles and we had a blast venting our collective frustrations on the items reducing them to smithereens. The establishment unfortunately has not evident management and absent ownership so Alyssa's booking was messed up and sadly we were not able to indulge in axe throwing instead we went to Ghazal's for dinner. I recommend the activity just not at The Rage Room in Bryanston, there is another similar venue in Edenvale which most probably is better managed and owned. Despite the frustrations and disappointments, we all had a really smashing good time (you saw what I did there right?!?! ha ha ha)
Tristan, me, Alyssa, Morgan, Johan and Bruce (sadly Skye was not able to be with us)
I was so nervous about going to dinner at Ghazals and was prepared to spend the evening drinking sparkling water and eating nothing as the gene to tolerate and handle hot and spicy completely bypassed me when those genes were being handed out. Morgan and Johan are happy eating hot and spicy food, at times the hotter the better, Tristan has a better tolerance than my non-existent tolerance. Recently I recalled how when Morgan was 3 or 4, a friend and colleague gave me some very hot chillies because he knew that Morgan's Dad loved them (our family had at this stage not yet been blessed with Tristan's presence). Ian specifically said the chillies would be way too hot for Morgan so he must stay away from him - please before I knew it Morgan had devoured all the chillies and survived since here we were about to partake in his birthday dinner. My nerves were a waste of time as Morgan had phoned the restaurant in advance and was advised that I should order "extra mild" which I did, selecting the Chicken Makhnie which was sublime. There were a selection of samoosas and onion badjia for starters and along with the mains Morgan ordered each type of naan bread available.
Onion badjia and the selection of samoosas - sadly I cannot remember the name of the middle starter which was also delicious
The portions of the mains were huge and I could not finish my chicken makhnie so I had a "doggie bag" and enjoyed finishing it for supper on Sunday evening. Dessert was a carrot cake which I had ordered and collected from Not Bread Alone. Some restaurants charge "cakeage" for a birthday cake but Ghazal's did not do that and we refrained from singing Happy Birthday to Morgan but all enjoyed eating a slice of the carrot cake which Morgan later proclaimed to me was "the very best carrot cake I've ever eaten". It was a lovely evening and I did see Morgan on the morning of his birthday, meeting him for coffee at Yield in Linden where we sat in a small courtyard surrounded by various bonsai plants and a soothing water feature.
I completely underestimated my level of exhaustion when finishing at NRFSA and Wednesday I stayed home all day having a very low-key day, but I did mark a couple of assessments for NRFSA for an assistant to my successor. I am planning on hopefully having 2 "stay home" days a week to recoup, recover, rest and relax as I am clearly still suffering from all the stresses and traumas of my Mom's hospitalisations in the last quarter of 2023 and all the pressures and stresses of my former work.
With an eye to balancing relaxing, attending to normal chaos and errands and catching up with friends, Thursday morning was spent with Angie who fetched me and we drove to Super Sconto where after enjoying divine cappuccinos we indulged in some shopping in the supermarket below the cafe and deli. Super Sconto had ordered a lot of products from Italy which were delayed in the port because of an issue, the exacts in's and out's of which I am not clear about, suffice it to say that the shipment was finally delivered on 27 December 2023! They have a great and wide selection of various panettoni and pandora cakes at very special prices so we indulged in some retail therapy - I have purchased a lovely coffee and chocolate panettone for the Easter weekend. The panettone and pandora cakes will also make divine gifts so if you are in Jo'burg and its environs, it is worthwhile popping in to Super Sconto for some panettoni and pandora cake shopping! Panettone is a singular panettone cake, panettone is the plural - my Italian lessons on Duolingo do have some benefits, am hurtling towards my 1000 day streak on Duolingo!
Thursday afternoon saw me at Nice on 4th in Parkhurst to enjoy coffee and a divine scone with Zen to celebrate my leaping in to the abyss on leap day. Zen had praised Nice's scones before to me and I understand why she was so complimentary - they were sublime. It was a great catch up and we parted company with me venturing to Africology to indulge in spoiling myself with their famous body butter which I am somewhat addicted to.
Walking back to my car I popped into Rick's Bookshop and was pleased to find 2 Paris travel guides which I purchased for a total of R45. So pleased with my purchases, I nearly tripped further than Paris, upon leaving the bookshop completely missing a step - so embarrassing but I remained upright and intact; my little bubble burst a tad more when, upon returning home, I discovered one of the travel guides was a Dutch travel guide to Paris. If anyone is keen on a travel guide to Paris, written in Dutch, please let me know as its yours! And if you have tips on hidden gems to see in Paris (preferably very budget friendly ones, please let me know as the ever strengthening Euro against our Mickey Mouse Rand makes me weak at the knees)......
What is all this talk about Paris I hear? Johan and I are so privileged and have been incredibly spoilt with return tickets Jo'burg - Paris- Rome- Jo'burg from 24 September to 17 October 2024, from my two brothers. We are so blown away by their generosity and are so excited to have this new European adventure on the horizon. We look forward to exploring Paris as cheaply as possible and to explore Rome and other parts of Italy with Morgan and Alyssa for part of the time; and to celebrate my 60th birthday in Rome. I would of course blog about the details - sadly Tristan has opted out of the trip, along with Skye, as he will not be able to have time off work as he travels to the USA in August to attend the Co-Anon Convention there. This is due to his position of service in Cocaine Anonymous and as he quipped "Who would have thought drugs would get me to the USA?"
Having seen the Eiffel Tower from the skies, it will be fabulous to see it far up closer in September
Johan and I cannot wait to return to The Eternal City and to share our love for this historical living museum with Morgan and Alyssa
Friday, 8 March (which was the day Morgan was originally due to be born) was the 17th anniversary of my Dad's passing away. It is always a hard day for me as I miss him so much, and that feeling does not dissipate with the passage of time. My emotions are grief mixed with a lot of regrets; and the longing that I could share the accomplishments of Morgan and Tristan with him, does not fade. Life however continues and I concentrate on making the very most out of life and do things that I love, surrounded by my family and my "tribe", growing and challenging myself always.
March is a month of birthdays - my Mom's 92nd birthday is on 23 March and my Dad's birthday was on 27 March; Morgan of course is a March "baby" as are other special people in my life. We were invited to such a birthday celebration on Saturday night at the Rand Club which was quite a celebration indeed! I did not take any selfies of Johan and I dressed up in our finery but here a few snippets from the fabulous celebrations for Zen's milestone birthday.
Gorgeous stained glass leaded windows in the Rand Club which we had never been inside before
An illuminated and talented violinist
Johan did some walk around magic before the speeches began and that went very well; and he had fun as always indulging in his hobby.
The glamorous Zen and her birthday cake, a spectacular croquemboche!!
It's certainly been a month of endings, birthday celebrations and beginnings for me in terms of working out the future as I concentrate on transforming many aspects of my life. Yesterday our wizard occasional gardener Grant sanded down the desk I have always used to work on; I am sorry I did not take a photo of this desk which my Dad bought second hand, most probably when he was in his early twenties and arrived in Grahamstown to take up a junior professor job at Rhodes University. The desk eventually passed on to me, was used by both Morgan and Tristan before being used by me again and after sanding it down, doing some minor repairs, Grant painted the entire desk and Johan, using a stencil, painted a tree of lfe on my desk - I am so delighted with the transformation of the desk indicating the start of work transformations, my next book and who knows what else?
Grant asked me how old I thought the desk was - I replied that I think it is well over 100 years old; the bottom right drawer is not in the right place. The drawer's bottom needs some repairs and when it is repaired the drawers will be replaced in the correct order
It was really liberating waking up on a Monday morning not dreading about work and worrying about what lay ahead; same for my Sunday evenings and this Monday morning I took myself off to an aqua aerobics class. I have always loved being in the water and have attended aqua classes on and off over the years and also swum lengths; 2023 I never managed to even dip my big or little toe in the water, so have the time to be able to do it this morning was an incredible feeling and I loved the class and cannot wait for Friday morning's class. I am also having a series of physio appointments to help me with other issues which have not been attended to let alone dealt with for far too many years, its a great feeling to know that I am finally attending to these problems.
Here's hoping you all have a great week, taking life one day at a time, looking for the good and positive amongst the flotsam and jetsam of daily stresses and negative news. I am astounded at the furore about the Princess of Wales and the photograph released yesterday (Mother's Day in the UK and Europe) and subsequently retracted; I have no tolerance for the ridiculous conspiracy theories which people with far too much time on their hands (and possibly not even brain power) indulge in, even more so with 2 wars being fought and infinite humanitarian crises around the globe. I live in hope that respect, tolerance of each other, peace and sanity prevail, may the hostages all be released alive, may certain dictators and wannabe dictators permanently disappear, and the madness and hatred in the world dissipate.
Love, light and blessings always xxx
What have I been listening to?
Podcasts:
Something was Wrong
Mr Ballane Podcast
The Rise and Fall of Ruby Franke
The High Roller Heist
Witnessed : Fade to Black
The Meidas Touch
The Michigan Plot
Dr Death
The Trial of Constance Martens and Mark Gordon
True Crime Daily
The Damage Report
The Daily
Murder 101
Things fell Apart
Untold : The Retreat
What have I been reading? What am I reading?
"The Museum of Broken Promises" by Elizabeth Buchan
Audible:
Dreamland by Sam Quinones
What have I been watching?
My usual bubblegum shows so I can decompress and not think; and just be entertained including the British series "Come Dine With Me"
Call the MidWife
The Expats
The Traitors (which I loved - another reality show set in spectacular Scotland in a magnificent Castle, with the host Alan Cummings who was styled and dressed in the most outrageous and incredible outfits, I honestly watched this show for him!)
Netflix:
"Can I tell you a secret?"
Where have I been?
Ghazals - https://ghazals.co.za/
Yield Coffee - https://www.facebook.com/yieldcoffeebar/
Super Sconto - https://www.supersconto.co.za/
Nice on 4th - https://niceon4th.co.za/
Africology - https://africologyspa.com/
Rick Bookshop - https://www.instagram.com/ricksbookshop/
Naked Coffee - https://sandtoncity.com/restaurant/naked-coffee/
Rand Club - https://www.randclub.co.za/
Libby Wiggins Physiotherapy - 20 Kent Road, Dunkeld
