tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18609783777876582352024-03-13T04:30:08.361+02:00Thatchwick Cottage"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; Yea, I have a goodly heritage." - Psalm 16:6 KJVEleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.comBlogger265125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-16347918020210973372017-07-29T15:01:00.003+02:002017-07-29T15:20:35.181+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Garden whatnot's</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFqsQ_-ffs87gN9m2u7jFpCMhL4L1llg0BuH4-vwUv53yaRjV7ngqGSBLGW1pJ9nr_Q7F4Vw0Ux-FsFvdDcVAn3iJtTJy1a0rGq1FIpMPbceu5de8Oo8Cjvs41PGSgwt1V6IkOwIal00/s1600/IMG_2946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFqsQ_-ffs87gN9m2u7jFpCMhL4L1llg0BuH4-vwUv53yaRjV7ngqGSBLGW1pJ9nr_Q7F4Vw0Ux-FsFvdDcVAn3iJtTJy1a0rGq1FIpMPbceu5de8Oo8Cjvs41PGSgwt1V6IkOwIal00/s640/IMG_2946.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwGAQyzApRbJ2ETfXjls14A2dLnN9Kriv0_-1PlOtITf56LVt-t6tYs496deGga_CR0Cd31LmUkuuTJcO0Wu1YsigO_nsmco_ViUEy4yo7PsWiXB0aPHnFTebOCTtGz0FSlUlDXB4T_U/s1600/IMG_2936+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwGAQyzApRbJ2ETfXjls14A2dLnN9Kriv0_-1PlOtITf56LVt-t6tYs496deGga_CR0Cd31LmUkuuTJcO0Wu1YsigO_nsmco_ViUEy4yo7PsWiXB0aPHnFTebOCTtGz0FSlUlDXB4T_U/s320/IMG_2936+2.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBaH26Xh5mEO68-iZfaJr4unaNKP96md76d3OV9gnu0tfaYyJ0Ui5h2wHTFc5RnuOBP4v32dkatm2jkeKMv6qc7WC8OMCimb-m61v_zzvrYrH5aFpDUhCKOxwMrtFK-v6DpxlyXWbyBQ/s1600/IMG_2949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBaH26Xh5mEO68-iZfaJr4unaNKP96md76d3OV9gnu0tfaYyJ0Ui5h2wHTFc5RnuOBP4v32dkatm2jkeKMv6qc7WC8OMCimb-m61v_zzvrYrH5aFpDUhCKOxwMrtFK-v6DpxlyXWbyBQ/s320/IMG_2949.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WeGepyPMJKYBTKqG74V2H8HmdRldxt1m4E0Zf8H1j2iXfLVZysPQMlfLYAS7nRfcx6uPdVhKrpapiPfTckq5lRbYlM02QNzzRfiNOczXNfqGVhElduXvxIZpWq_1ANnzox4ToWm6aqI/s1600/IMG_2948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WeGepyPMJKYBTKqG74V2H8HmdRldxt1m4E0Zf8H1j2iXfLVZysPQMlfLYAS7nRfcx6uPdVhKrpapiPfTckq5lRbYlM02QNzzRfiNOczXNfqGVhElduXvxIZpWq_1ANnzox4ToWm6aqI/s400/IMG_2948.JPG" title="" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4MqOtCNVVA82jYMnjJz5pJFBYAGy_yVmWrDtByHkDeV6WH7RQRtn33HhUtVbu9JmwGNz_pAuEeCGe73TEb2DIXdc0a8SlZrSwvqvpd_aCBAlwWXUeZMvSAusOVj9SkdU9AyCwUYWsRc/s1600/IMG_2934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4MqOtCNVVA82jYMnjJz5pJFBYAGy_yVmWrDtByHkDeV6WH7RQRtn33HhUtVbu9JmwGNz_pAuEeCGe73TEb2DIXdc0a8SlZrSwvqvpd_aCBAlwWXUeZMvSAusOVj9SkdU9AyCwUYWsRc/s400/IMG_2934.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwGAQyzApRbJ2ETfXjls14A2dLnN9Kriv0_-1PlOtITf56LVt-t6tYs496deGga_CR0Cd31LmUkuuTJcO0Wu1YsigO_nsmco_ViUEy4yo7PsWiXB0aPHnFTebOCTtGz0FSlUlDXB4T_U/s1600/IMG_2936+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCeg0PyaJBiXfXMvUF-jQf_dXEhA6znER82MUeOvEskqF2jBJgxCWjLmmE5p8F37GSFezXzhvrcyZMI2z_n4UN3U6HsD_S0NQfVhaNPaE74fZ7ypifj1zAoDA1KFun-Sa60mjkqQqsZE/s1600/IMG_2939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCeg0PyaJBiXfXMvUF-jQf_dXEhA6znER82MUeOvEskqF2jBJgxCWjLmmE5p8F37GSFezXzhvrcyZMI2z_n4UN3U6HsD_S0NQfVhaNPaE74fZ7ypifj1zAoDA1KFun-Sa60mjkqQqsZE/s320/IMG_2939.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeD5SB3CumT2bCiQNURibfLv2Av5S5BJihgu_z0dYpdVl3VhrX7VWxMnswImqIB2ni4CbE5efLpSQGzX44OBdhAo2v8UasjaVgRf2qgLBIUp2lqwI0k5KFGSCWVtBrWEUF4vIPe4aibbo/s1600/IMG_2937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeD5SB3CumT2bCiQNURibfLv2Av5S5BJihgu_z0dYpdVl3VhrX7VWxMnswImqIB2ni4CbE5efLpSQGzX44OBdhAo2v8UasjaVgRf2qgLBIUp2lqwI0k5KFGSCWVtBrWEUF4vIPe4aibbo/s320/IMG_2937.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WeGepyPMJKYBTKqG74V2H8HmdRldxt1m4E0Zf8H1j2iXfLVZysPQMlfLYAS7nRfcx6uPdVhKrpapiPfTckq5lRbYlM02QNzzRfiNOczXNfqGVhElduXvxIZpWq_1ANnzox4ToWm6aqI/s1600/IMG_2948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcgNkUHSrAHO_lCsDdB-zGterr9HBU53_f0R5fe6Nodp2FJs7ukBBUwVaK7WV52lgAOOOdKCGc8vAyiK-bEY5ojlyyOWPOdX-SPnLLbyx3cXj_CJVkuixtU5RKqdBSYIdYuDW7V5970M/s1600/IMG_2934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-18334873062556330652017-07-24T19:54:00.002+02:002017-07-24T19:54:20.504+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Wishful thinking</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmSaQIlHlgvZMItftSB87DeD3CN0_flJLUfQYXE2pij4IzvAp-bnGC6bfgiT50TLE1NcSeWLjqwvSgLBHd3bZj9SjCxtdotj0YzpZ6xo4qoj4cvh37pBN32tnYa0kGJ9S1lNbyHdd8qY/s1600/IMG_2925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmSaQIlHlgvZMItftSB87DeD3CN0_flJLUfQYXE2pij4IzvAp-bnGC6bfgiT50TLE1NcSeWLjqwvSgLBHd3bZj9SjCxtdotj0YzpZ6xo4qoj4cvh37pBN32tnYa0kGJ9S1lNbyHdd8qY/s640/IMG_2925.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Display at Safari Nursery, Lynnwood</span><br /><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It's not quite the end of July but gardeners, myself included, are pruning roses, buying compost and poking around impatiently in their flower beds. August, an unpredictable month, still lies ahead. August is nippy, windy and dusty. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Clivias flower in August - but I am not sure how well mine will do. My clivia plants, which faithfully provided a magnificent display of orange blooms for twenty years, have been decimated by lily borer. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">South Africans living on the High Veld traditionally celebrate Spring Day on the 1 September. School children go to school in new summer outfits. Churches hold Spring Bazaars. Families plan picnics. This is overly optimistic. It has been known to snow lightly in Johannesburg on the 1 September. The spring equinox falls on the 22 September in the Southern Hemisphere, a far more realistic date for spring celebrations. But who doesn't want to reach the end of winter, even the mildest of winters as experienced this year in Gauteng? </span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-70893591675164535912017-07-18T20:06:00.000+02:002017-07-18T20:07:42.114+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cats in Israel (2001)</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I would not care </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To be a feral cat of Joppa’s ancient harbour</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thin, starving, one-eyed</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They dart away </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Expecting the stone, curse, boot</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Did Peter kick the unclean cats of Joppa?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Did he recoil from Joppa cats swarming, diseased</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the visioned canvas of forbidden foods </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a rooftop </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Overlooking the sea?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The long-haired tabbies on the porch of St John the Baptist, Bethany</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lie un-timid in the sun</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plump, they don’t budge </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the tourist, worshipper, monk</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Their fur sleek, their eyes glint</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They have chosen well – a Franciscan shrine -</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where cats are worthy creatures</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Among the massive, knotted roots of</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gethsemane’s olive trees</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where Jesus prayed </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And friends slept </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kittens frisk </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gambol among the rosebushes</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tumble among flowers</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hide (and seek)</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oblivious of </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Past agony</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7fMI46slsT2ZBNodArYprfUdZWKUGBxMluniR5TLHsBiJljjxU6PoPm9IyDfk7hrz3aGyk9_psavkCC3LW5sru2Gcs0wJE2K8M2siqyTSLgtwDg_EG2G7kJFPhMexjRFSew_Holt6mk/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7fMI46slsT2ZBNodArYprfUdZWKUGBxMluniR5TLHsBiJljjxU6PoPm9IyDfk7hrz3aGyk9_psavkCC3LW5sru2Gcs0wJE2K8M2siqyTSLgtwDg_EG2G7kJFPhMexjRFSew_Holt6mk/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-32777800749695601752017-07-14T12:29:00.000+02:002017-07-14T12:29:11.348+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Faith quilt</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKMzOFhO9oM5j8og9YkZkSYKFxLaoHcQth7JxiyWWUvUVWKA4RwVI7YvHKQy35YflPQu6adgB6PSlBWU6WD9vu3uDQ9zhEId0UxGy4qilOF93cPNtsCje6tQfablI8BJFfMoVHAqYLKU/s1600/IMG_2833.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKMzOFhO9oM5j8og9YkZkSYKFxLaoHcQth7JxiyWWUvUVWKA4RwVI7YvHKQy35YflPQu6adgB6PSlBWU6WD9vu3uDQ9zhEId0UxGy4qilOF93cPNtsCje6tQfablI8BJFfMoVHAqYLKU/s320/IMG_2833.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Six months of 2017 have passed in a flash. What have you achieved? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My dear friend and sister (in St Paul's/Minneapolis, Minnesota) - Barb - has given an evocative and equisitively beautiful piano concert (from memory) as part-fulfillment of her Master's in Music and produced a dissertation on the merits of teaching/learning piano (equally applicable to other instruments) for retirees. An enormous accomplishment for a 60-something with formidable family commitments! My daughter, Ruth, a medical doctor with a hectic multi-disciplinary practice, will be running the Knysna Marathon (42 km) this weekend. That has entailed six months of rigorous early morning practice. Catherine, my younger daughter, has combined a lecturing post and mothering two small children with two academic articles and a conference paper. And me? I have made a faith quilt of more than 1 000 two and half inch squares - with the help of the sweet, patient Sandria, the encouragement of my fellow quilters, Noleen and Petra, and many homebaked muffins and cups of coffee.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiep7-0qPoUqAFfehVahgnH9gaBIExtTzqv_NAp5Cr_yIO9eFUC9BBURg3uniPEEZOuksAIHk0jN_lVf91hMi1tYqa2Vu9TDvUb6QR_eIbAr4qM11WkSwdp2megJaUNsLgtY92D7HyFgzg/s1600/IMG_2835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiep7-0qPoUqAFfehVahgnH9gaBIExtTzqv_NAp5Cr_yIO9eFUC9BBURg3uniPEEZOuksAIHk0jN_lVf91hMi1tYqa2Vu9TDvUb6QR_eIbAr4qM11WkSwdp2megJaUNsLgtY92D7HyFgzg/s320/IMG_2835.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Why a faith quilt?<br />
<br />
Catherine and Ryan took the plunge to sell their small townhouse and buy a lovely, free standing home with pool and large garden in the same area close to the schools. I shall not go into detail about the nerve-racking 'house' saga - an offer to purchase accepted and declined within 24 hours, a nervous purchaser who disappeared and reappeared, show houses and the inevitable tidying up, the house search, bond applications and why-did-we-ever-do-this-to-ourselves moments. During the roller-coaster ride, I pinned and stitched and pinned and stitched the quilt for the new house in faith. <br />
<br />
But I got it done. And the 1 000 pieces came close to the 1 000 prayers made during this time to the One who knows all our needs and aspirations. At the best of times, Catherine is a hard one to please - an interior architect with minimalist tastes. The quilt may be consigned to the spare bed in the study in the long run - but it will find its place in the New House. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-20453685064012424582017-07-12T09:37:00.002+02:002017-07-12T09:37:41.875+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Nala</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hL9qX5HvnJ9VRi9Lqugtj6T6e50Tkn2uud_LOFNelOSc372jQ-gqoU2hAGKDeHv_dMrJQSbnjHFcN8coNkz2d5iIvbuk4u_akzJ4A7g5yKAXLioBD_2FpPEsegIRb1oypHq8jVmGhj4/s1600/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_b72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hL9qX5HvnJ9VRi9Lqugtj6T6e50Tkn2uud_LOFNelOSc372jQ-gqoU2hAGKDeHv_dMrJQSbnjHFcN8coNkz2d5iIvbuk4u_akzJ4A7g5yKAXLioBD_2FpPEsegIRb1oypHq8jVmGhj4/s400/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_b72.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
On April 7 Nala joined our household.</div>
<br />
<br />
In January this year Kaela left us for happier hunting grounds - her back legs had all but given in and she suffered from a distressing breathing problem. Dr van Schouwenberg, a veteran vet who has cared for our dogs for years, and her assistant kindly came to Thatchwick Cottage to put Kaela to sleep on her favourite spot on the verandah. She slipped away, eyeing the birds flutter around the bird feeder. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Uy1Qwk5He-mrK-GIiRxSx_YD-AgFVjflD8zB0iSkG7Fs8pm8lNEX2YH78P0ItX7Ch3QRwz32xQF60xgQ09usIzosAOzvx1hd1vYk43AaACgaU7qeOgrsCDkcda6s1FavnN9j2l3EIBk/s1600/IMG_2278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Uy1Qwk5He-mrK-GIiRxSx_YD-AgFVjflD8zB0iSkG7Fs8pm8lNEX2YH78P0ItX7Ch3QRwz32xQF60xgQ09usIzosAOzvx1hd1vYk43AaACgaU7qeOgrsCDkcda6s1FavnN9j2l3EIBk/s200/IMG_2278.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kaela and Flash, Dec 2016</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I decided to wait until after a short trip to Bloemfontein and full recovery from my broken ankle before I adopted another dog as a companion to Flash. Last year, Kim, my music teacher, had offered me her dog.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Nala needs a good home. I am out teaching all day, the yard at our new house is just too small and my grown up children are all too busy with their own lives to give her any attention. When Kaela goes, please don't approach Lab Rescue. Take Nala instead."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At last I was ready. I approached Kim and we arranged the date. The introduction with Flash went off smoothly. The farewell was a bit harder on Kim. For more than a week, anxious Whatsapp messages flew between us: anxiety on her part and reassurance on mine, bolstered by lots of happyp photos. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nrK9iB98USkuVnxiA2LnaUtnTRsM6YwuB3prO5bKpNLv2CXlBmOs9huevQfcFWgsS74aZ_B8yE6ImkCxm_TAI1BD40GG1bq3hhjoc1YV2HKgOa4jjlCz7YEHhyphenhyphenINVUHwANbH1q_bN0o/s1600/IMG_2895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nrK9iB98USkuVnxiA2LnaUtnTRsM6YwuB3prO5bKpNLv2CXlBmOs9huevQfcFWgsS74aZ_B8yE6ImkCxm_TAI1BD40GG1bq3hhjoc1YV2HKgOa4jjlCz7YEHhyphenhyphenINVUHwANbH1q_bN0o/s400/IMG_2895.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sleeping in on Saturday</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Nala's fine. She loves being allowed to come inside. She's on a strict diet, is looking slimmer and she enjoys her walk every day."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Kim still visits Nala once a week when she comes for my music lesson. And Nala is always pleased to see her. But after the garage door closes, Nala follows me contentedly. She is not pure Labrador Retriever as all our previous dogs have been to date. Her ears are too perky and her tail has a curl. But she has the gentle nature of the Labrador. Grace, my nearly three year old granddaughter, loves her best. Nala is Swahili for lioness. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-84560914125778624762017-07-10T14:46:00.002+02:002017-07-10T14:49:59.673+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Hypoestes Aristata: Ribbon Bush</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS8Y-kTEOiOIUM0-8l4RFxPDmmKULXnqYx21Ee6nisz_Dw9_1K0ykVa6l3Tly3adZHqD-frDL_nVOwgWo13j52jL0vWh03wU1Z-RMIWSxTyXpLq_vt1J0xp-cUL-HJ_IMJ5l4MGOjtqE/s1600/IMG_2820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS8Y-kTEOiOIUM0-8l4RFxPDmmKULXnqYx21Ee6nisz_Dw9_1K0ykVa6l3Tly3adZHqD-frDL_nVOwgWo13j52jL0vWh03wU1Z-RMIWSxTyXpLq_vt1J0xp-cUL-HJ_IMJ5l4MGOjtqE/s400/IMG_2820.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As cold weather sets in, ribbon bush proliferates all over the garden, climbing walls and fences, camouflaging the compost heap, covering ugly, open spaces, filling in dreary gaps, cheering up the foliage in autumn and winter. No care needed, scant watering and the only job necessary is to prune hard when the flowers are finished flowering. The ribbon bush flowers for at least three months, April to July. Ribbon bush attracts bees and butterflies and is a source of food for thrushes and robins. The petals which curl like a florist's ribbon are the source of the name.<br />
<br />
I purchased a single indigenous ribbon bush from the R 3 and R5 nursery on Lynnwood Road, years ago. (You can see that first plant on my blog pic.) I despised its homely appearance and dark green leaves - definitely a garden orphan. But as it has made its mysterious way throughout the whole garden and supplied colour when things are drab, I have changed my mind. My book on indigenous South African plants says the leaves can be eaten like spinach and the crushed leaves are used in a traditional poultice for sore eyes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPVEC__5HeUfRT6N4geTVQx_etTzSDgranKbTIDUKhPUNmCaXll1MPIqpvMKUdW5t6nNm1EzAD5Pkua6-5mv0DN-njJW5MKPBCxPewUgTVEu9qU0Oyyzk8ojUkW-s-helmDm7ucPRLe8/s1600/IMG_2819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPVEC__5HeUfRT6N4geTVQx_etTzSDgranKbTIDUKhPUNmCaXll1MPIqpvMKUdW5t6nNm1EzAD5Pkua6-5mv0DN-njJW5MKPBCxPewUgTVEu9qU0Oyyzk8ojUkW-s-helmDm7ucPRLe8/s320/IMG_2819.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-32165249948198357162017-04-21T11:47:00.000+02:002017-04-21T11:51:10.773+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Professors at tea</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE_NNdoKZUGQMP1BDPMKVI0zk45XTqiV2q9sXaQBrULDRPbrnrrNJgtEP_iRPP4OxtiqmBIIo3bJnU5hgPcQTLW2kRrRN37gtU62Wn1mscdhT50clXvICPyB0x9k5Pz1HwHwSJ9sZ_OQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtE_NNdoKZUGQMP1BDPMKVI0zk45XTqiV2q9sXaQBrULDRPbrnrrNJgtEP_iRPP4OxtiqmBIIo3bJnU5hgPcQTLW2kRrRN37gtU62Wn1mscdhT50clXvICPyB0x9k5Pz1HwHwSJ9sZ_OQ/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Learned men carnival</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">At teatime</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Like dervishes</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wise men whirl</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Giddy, dizzy, stoned</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Drinking Dajeerling with</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well-bred sips</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fingers crooked </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">With delicacy</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grave men</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Party</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blasting <i>vuvuzelas</i> </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1860978377787658235" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1860978377787658235" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Standing on table tops</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Like frenzied fans</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Masks slip, fall</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Among teaspoons and</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Caramel treats</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">While a wide-eyed waitress</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gawks</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">Notes:</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><i> </i>Plastic trumpet blown at soccer games in South Africa</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-57619554749080938122017-04-17T10:24:00.000+02:002017-04-17T10:24:28.923+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Our Passover meal</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many years ago out dear friend, Genet, introduced our family to the celebration of the Passover on MaundyThursday evening as part of our Easter weekend. We have kept up the tradition more or less faithfully over the years. I now include my life group in the ritual. It is a joint effort in which we share the preparation of some delicious dishes based on recipes supplied by Shana, who grew up in a Jewish home. She is also responsible for the Seder plate. Our liturgy follows. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOReFgI55h488DRKDQFhdpvs5nJJFrgRoMfcZmdn3ffbJ_yMqOFtpIdD4HmS0ICStZMxZ1gIuT9eoi3AwTq4jUCFlke7gjB_xC7r9cpJlhYych24euxVJCsMelaDvKbnHAXMl_A_fJy_w/s1600/IMG_2694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOReFgI55h488DRKDQFhdpvs5nJJFrgRoMfcZmdn3ffbJ_yMqOFtpIdD4HmS0ICStZMxZ1gIuT9eoi3AwTq4jUCFlke7gjB_xC7r9cpJlhYych24euxVJCsMelaDvKbnHAXMl_A_fJy_w/s400/IMG_2694.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We begin our Seder with the lighting of the candles. It is fitting that a woman should light the candles since Jesus, the Son of God, was born of a woman. (Shana lights the candles and says the blessing in Hebrew and English.)</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>WELCOME TO THE SEDER!</b> (Eleanor)</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>QUESTION</b> (Jethro): How does this night differ from all other nights?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>INTRODUCTION (</b>Eleanor): This is the central question of the Passover and we are going to answer that question this evening in many ways through the special things we say and through the special food we eat. The Jewish people celebrate the Passover to remember how Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the promised land. As Christians we remember how Jesus ate this Passover meal with his disciples on the night that he was betrayed. We also remember that Jesus, our Messiah, has led us from the slavery of sin into the wonderful liberty of the children of God. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 11px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijNDg1L0PA0e7tznajp8zSY4cH8bkBoWa3wWrZjyq__ucIqy9alaieDL4FhAZe9vddRDFpVU11NxCsM1L1PKlcDm-PGuW-1P_jCGIr3slnoUc_QkN-2HMAvwaN5_yFHNGdlSfkAl16GA/s1600/IMG_2692+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijNDg1L0PA0e7tznajp8zSY4cH8bkBoWa3wWrZjyq__ucIqy9alaieDL4FhAZe9vddRDFpVU11NxCsM1L1PKlcDm-PGuW-1P_jCGIr3slnoUc_QkN-2HMAvwaN5_yFHNGdlSfkAl16GA/s320/IMG_2692+3.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE</b>: Shana</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">READING:</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Exodus 12: 21-28 (Bokkie)</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Prayer of blessing (Hebrew and English): Shana</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">FIRST COURSE OF THE MEAL </span></b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>WASHING OF THE HANDS: </b> It is likely at this point Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. We will not wash feet but we indicate with this simple ceremony that we are called to be servants one of the other. (Jung Fei will assist). Each person pours a little water over the hands of the person next to him/her and passes on the jug. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>BREAKING OF THE BREAD</b> (Rein will say the prayers over the bread and wine. Eleanor will serve around the table. Please eat and drink as soon as you receive the elements. Mark will assist passing them around.). </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MAIN COURSE:</b> THE MAIN COURSE IS SERVED AS A BUFFET IN THE DINING ROOM. Please help yourself and return to the table. Enjoy!</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmq-30nqzakVMoVMUkYbUMmjLOyNzadUs4zCwDYcAh_7qh7G0Xb18JUxWrxGnekfj2t4ifmPAL5AbDtDXJMj8mCDAP936IW71lHo4jcoBGgPab5Fpc2Kmrg8HQRRTj8Okvflj4vM22-zA/s1600/IMG_2703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmq-30nqzakVMoVMUkYbUMmjLOyNzadUs4zCwDYcAh_7qh7G0Xb18JUxWrxGnekfj2t4ifmPAL5AbDtDXJMj8mCDAP936IW71lHo4jcoBGgPab5Fpc2Kmrg8HQRRTj8Okvflj4vM22-zA/s320/IMG_2703.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>HALLEL – PRAISE: WORTHY IS THE LAMB! </b>Let us join hands and say together: “Worthy is </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12)</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We celebrate now with sweet dessert to remind us that after death and suffering came the sweetness of the Resurrection of Jesus and one day, our resurrection from the dead and the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>DESSERT: S</b>erved in the dining room. Please proceed and help yourselves. You are welcome to enjoy the dessert sitting anywhere!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Thank you for sharing this evening with us. Blessed Easter! </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoEXTZd0m9CC6woZZE_55Ab4j-CvqmU2Y8jsuV9LvWyZ3bw-wOsdpbow17THCH1PWZb06OFLorkA8RVQjMBLcJdclhh_FotVDTIpij61WOlANaUdnW7ayb3MVLY-ui2qPB_oYeyqVduo/s1600/IMG_2687.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoEXTZd0m9CC6woZZE_55Ab4j-CvqmU2Y8jsuV9LvWyZ3bw-wOsdpbow17THCH1PWZb06OFLorkA8RVQjMBLcJdclhh_FotVDTIpij61WOlANaUdnW7ayb3MVLY-ui2qPB_oYeyqVduo/s320/IMG_2687.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
</div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-52486558545252254012017-03-26T20:16:00.003+02:002017-03-26T20:20:18.496+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Eating in</b> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjySwXFE5jHauVMEwy54UiKDwGZiudO1flQkw_1IgkW-4zKhAzslZdXlfm_NSlsdLqrSqS6_IeAcdB-KFJ467hV1yg5OzD08mdPjMtebz76v_ISsRBNDApd4sRoQq1oP9e6PvKG4MnGEU/s1600/IMG_2510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjySwXFE5jHauVMEwy54UiKDwGZiudO1flQkw_1IgkW-4zKhAzslZdXlfm_NSlsdLqrSqS6_IeAcdB-KFJ467hV1yg5OzD08mdPjMtebz76v_ISsRBNDApd4sRoQq1oP9e6PvKG4MnGEU/s320/IMG_2510.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dining, lunching or breakfasting with friends at home is increasingly uncommon these days. We travel a block from our lovely homes to drink a cuppa with friends at a coffee shop. We spend rands and rands on restaurant cuisine instead of making use of our own kitchens. We sit in crowded malls or under umbrellas on the pavements instead of in our own gardens.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In these heady days of early retirement I have made a point of asking friends home and setting a table somewhere on the verandah or the lawn. March days are mild and pleasant in Pretoria and after the summer rains, our gardens are lush and green. This Friday I took out an antique tablecloth that I had forgotten I possessed, the silver and pink dinner set and my aunt's ivory handled, engraved silver knives and forks. The meal was simple: French tuna quiche (a recipe for dummies - the secret is in using whole cream to beat with the eggs), a panini from my favorite deli, a tossed salad with lots of avocado, finished with a dessert of organic Greek yoghurt in elegant champagne glasses topped with nuts and raw honey. The friends - Noleen and Petro (Salome missed the picture) - and I have shared decades teaching together at the university. The conversation never waned from noon till 4pm. There was no waiter to hurry us, no loud music to talk over, no menu item that disappointed and best of all, no bill to pay.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Eating out is a fun luxury but eating in is better. What do you think?</span>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-54600673763274797622017-03-22T13:04:00.002+02:002017-03-22T13:05:34.201+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>THE IRENE GARDEN CLUB</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEuse4GGXeJGcPxlrCeXsmBgzc_zR9I4JwfbPBYcY8OERPUaqHi334cmYkzttwo4pjr2demE3p8lbObaVOBMvB9uGbhA9JEmmXjvijVHhVb7oMtJspC906ZDxDqNFIjk6XaOY_ACgfxk/s1600/IMG_2496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTsKbaRCxq92B2M29pUQCLg5RniQtPJlDUrc7noHXeKEeoLiD88sZV1Xd7I-RUYu_ZAI3_ANR21CxSmb9nkSillhbNbRzEB9NqRAjwfi2ZY8dya7ZBKdHMdd030clkc7k_4r7FpoXba4/s1600/IMG_2495.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTsKbaRCxq92B2M29pUQCLg5RniQtPJlDUrc7noHXeKEeoLiD88sZV1Xd7I-RUYu_ZAI3_ANR21CxSmb9nkSillhbNbRzEB9NqRAjwfi2ZY8dya7ZBKdHMdd030clkc7k_4r7FpoXba4/s320/IMG_2495.JPG" width="240" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEuse4GGXeJGcPxlrCeXsmBgzc_zR9I4JwfbPBYcY8OERPUaqHi334cmYkzttwo4pjr2demE3p8lbObaVOBMvB9uGbhA9JEmmXjvijVHhVb7oMtJspC906ZDxDqNFIjk6XaOY_ACgfxk/s320/IMG_2496.JPG" width="240" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJh8VDBQRIQDLOSwMqfdvOuydZhxG2D5_0VD_oBa5fcvk99CPi7JvrnX9yugDjd9Yfmp0asYPP0xRmzKqmYfv8hQiNiMD9GLc5mFBp7NJ4c3338ftqNjevNdEjBV-VJ_RixHrYUv746Y0/s1600/IMG_2497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJh8VDBQRIQDLOSwMqfdvOuydZhxG2D5_0VD_oBa5fcvk99CPi7JvrnX9yugDjd9Yfmp0asYPP0xRmzKqmYfv8hQiNiMD9GLc5mFBp7NJ4c3338ftqNjevNdEjBV-VJ_RixHrYUv746Y0/s320/IMG_2497.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
The third Saturday of the month is the Irene Garden Club. Irene is an old established suburb in Pretoria and the garden club has been going for many years. Some silver-haired members remember the days when they took their babies in prams to club meetings.<br />
<br />
I discovered the club on Facebook in October 2015. It was with some trepidation that I phoned to enquire whether the club would consider members 'outside the area'.<br />
<br />
"Oh course", said Lucia, the vivacious, dynamic Chairlady. "I live in Faerie Glen."<br />
<br />
Since then I have been an enthusiastic member of the club and recruited four other keen gardeners: Chris, Isobel, Ermilinda and Janis. Last year we viewed several gorgeous gardens, listened to talks on bulbs, vegetables and container plants, among others. A hot topic of conversation was how to garden in the drought. Pretoria had water restrictions for more than a year and the spring rains were late, sending us all into a panic.<br />
<br />
"Should I replace my roses with succulents?" asked one anxious member.<br />
<br />
"Just wait," I cautioned. "The rains will come."<br />
<br />
In January 2015, I had two rainwater tanks installed to harvest the rain that falls on the corrugated iron garage roof and the kitchen roof, two of the three sections of the house without thatch. By October 2015 my tanks were completely dry. Happily although the summer rains were late, they came in abundance and the largest dam in Gauteng, the Vaal, rose from 63 % to 103% in just over a week in February. My tanks constantly overflowed and my water bill has been greatly reduced since their installation. When I have an overflow, I use rain water for domestic use inside the house - just not for drinking. A pale blue pottery jug in my bathroom contains the day's ration for hand washing. <br />
<br />
On Saturday we had a talk on different kinds of gardeners right on the lawn of Lucia's Faerie Glen garden, a pretty, relaxed garden setting. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8laQaYfp9STnSm9U7PRWL4q1Ke11GahG7njwOyLT2nfvcfGGKHx-XbDSt3kDOHuMHeOxtiHturgs95GAALbBCAyHbVV9zp9HT48n2bWi7XA7ijPw9mqcw2AdER3Xlj7W7XOEpnvA8bI/s1600/IMG_2499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8laQaYfp9STnSm9U7PRWL4q1Ke11GahG7njwOyLT2nfvcfGGKHx-XbDSt3kDOHuMHeOxtiHturgs95GAALbBCAyHbVV9zp9HT48n2bWi7XA7ijPw9mqcw2AdER3Xlj7W7XOEpnvA8bI/s320/IMG_2499.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-78829569527830354532017-02-25T17:19:00.001+02:002017-02-25T17:28:55.951+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Decorating with quilts</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br />
</b></span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4LS5qs4IJRZB_gaa6ppKBcdhHXS2oXW3qEmajEpBMPVrR8Vl6d1AjtDQ2BJVLsCSEFsVf8PMyA5jecwsbgQXV4hH2RtpOSx7ENFpef3GpdqhMSAqF1jzn3j7wZdXKKhOi6IAbqcpc48/s1600/IMG_2478.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4LS5qs4IJRZB_gaa6ppKBcdhHXS2oXW3qEmajEpBMPVrR8Vl6d1AjtDQ2BJVLsCSEFsVf8PMyA5jecwsbgQXV4hH2RtpOSx7ENFpef3GpdqhMSAqF1jzn3j7wZdXKKhOi6IAbqcpc48/s640/IMG_2478.JPG" width="480" /></a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Not another quilt! What are you going to do with it?" a friend asks.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqriEP9S8a1LZ6eT1acYCxeUvLE-3yKworT6MryEF_JL6YpjNnizWALqLudEGN4IqlOoQVTF3wKvoUiVwqG2WlxpF6cXDHijHEJh0H9IsTi2tpuE43eYaShKDEB_3m3neDLgA9nXb27Cg/s1600/IMG_2474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqriEP9S8a1LZ6eT1acYCxeUvLE-3yKworT6MryEF_JL6YpjNnizWALqLudEGN4IqlOoQVTF3wKvoUiVwqG2WlxpF6cXDHijHEJh0H9IsTi2tpuE43eYaShKDEB_3m3neDLgA9nXb27Cg/s320/IMG_2474.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Quilts hang on the ladder in the study</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"I have no idea," I answer, "I'll decide later."</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Why do painters paint? To produce another painting to be stacked in the studio or for the love of creating?</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9bWAPcp3h28zIy2AvBHv4ucb2-JtIP3oNrDYclINknxWtSGgTt_0OFxCMX-F0jS3SY9HKaHXcp0U0RGJW-4HAeVfSN_PNVS6_yxAssX-kU6c3NqcPRZHGj6lrn6oAfogXp34OHZVZgw/s1600/IMG_2475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9bWAPcp3h28zIy2AvBHv4ucb2-JtIP3oNrDYclINknxWtSGgTt_0OFxCMX-F0jS3SY9HKaHXcp0U0RGJW-4HAeVfSN_PNVS6_yxAssX-kU6c3NqcPRZHGj6lrn6oAfogXp34OHZVZgw/s320/IMG_2475.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The William Morris quilt in the guest room</span><b style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">That's the same reason that quilters quilt - for the joy of discovering a new pattern, of experimenting with new colors, to pull out the jewels in the stash, purchased on the spur of the moment out of a love affair with fabrics.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUWSh84TeS1z0yMzLeBfu7VYdRddS_8_WumB2eOHvjhXoLYeqM023d8zRYGP6ZIh_rtsqHfkyqhpLy79aXrUpI424DtBGYrwK-VYTL50DzDI7fNBYU_1HpHR2Hozz4vRjwASZPRb1xY4/s320/IMG_2477.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Appliqued garden quilt on my bed</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">When I had my injured ankle encased in a moonboot and sleeping was uncomfortable, I found comfort in napping under a handsewn beautiful quilt covered in roses, petunias, irises, pansies, daffodils and a basket of daisies.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxksVELb4x9qcEXNJPUOkGKneYITQmcfKkDxOjCuoY_m7d7L1XyT-HarQe8xgfc-P3slkNC0xPWZMKJUa6Pxt8S-O2IwY3iq2hFJ3lktqSMC7A8nLdfrP0_RQRI-r9wgXQmZqGmXw6jc/s1600/IMG_2481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxksVELb4x9qcEXNJPUOkGKneYITQmcfKkDxOjCuoY_m7d7L1XyT-HarQe8xgfc-P3slkNC0xPWZMKJUa6Pxt8S-O2IwY3iq2hFJ3lktqSMC7A8nLdfrP0_RQRI-r9wgXQmZqGmXw6jc/s320/IMG_2481.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This one needs is earmarked for Ruth</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br />
</b></span></div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-67690005570416873802017-02-20T13:54:00.001+02:002017-02-20T13:54:44.555+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The tally</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj98hlsgVlyZMnuoFlX6RAQoq-YAL8G51tpGLIgkoYWLT_wcXyLuGCjDzVPWXHgVebE4m5Xi7y5myPEkJpV30-QuTUlFZq6XTthPCFkKw4mUDdVMOkbVUc2QZq-eCs8WwgOOfrz_cy-R8/s1600/imgres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj98hlsgVlyZMnuoFlX6RAQoq-YAL8G51tpGLIgkoYWLT_wcXyLuGCjDzVPWXHgVebE4m5Xi7y5myPEkJpV30-QuTUlFZq6XTthPCFkKw4mUDdVMOkbVUc2QZq-eCs8WwgOOfrz_cy-R8/s320/imgres.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Far beyond the distant peaks of the Blesberg, solitary warriors jostle for space where the desiccated winter grass has shot sweet, succulent shoots in the wake of early rains. Pores exude secretions which arouse a silent rallying cry. Pale-green carapaces turn yellow streaked with black. Band upon band of insatiable brigands assemble until they are a horde as terrible than Mzilikaze’s marauders. The corporate mind follows instinct. A heaving, rippling mass ascends into the cloudless sky and turns west towards the Thaba Nchu District. Behind remains a khaki-coloured dust bowl in place of greening savanna. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">When the locusts reach us, they blot out the midday sun. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Amos, our gardener, looks up at the flickering eclipse, the peculiar dimming of noonday light. He yells. Big Sarah, pegging linens on the washline, screams. At the kitchen window Ma’s face pales. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Locusts”, Dad bellows.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He dashes out of the front door of Wolverton & Ferguson's Trading Ltd, which neighbours our house. Odd-job-Bill and Mr Ferguson and Meneer Potgieter and the workers who have stopped loading Meneer’s truck follow him. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Locusts,” I whimper. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our weaponry is at hand. This is not the first time the curse has struck. My sister, Helen, and Boy grab the empty oil cans stored alongside the garage. Amos and the workers seize buckets, crowbars and scrap iron. Big Sarah and the Wednesday ironing girl run for saucepans and ladles. Ma shoves two lids into my hands, a makeshift cymbal. She snatches up the brass dinner gong. Dad tosses hessian feedbags piled on the store’s porch to Bill, Mr Ferguson and Meneer. They snap their gas lighters and set the corners aflame. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A mad rag-tag army, we run towards the billowing cloud, helter-skelter, pell-mell, galvanising the dogs to a barking frenzy, astonishing Ma’s hens and frightening the doves which rise from the dovecote. Boy charges ahead. My brother is a drummer boy leading the <i>khakis</i> against the <i>burghers</i> in the open veld. He is a Barolong warrior taunting the Matabele. He is David challenging a Goliath made of a billion quivering parts. Behind Boy, we bang and beat, bash and hammer, slam and pound. The smoking sacking poisons the air. But still the plague advances, secure in its armour, brazen in numbers, voracious in appetite. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Locusts drop into our hair. They alight on our bare arms and spring onto our legs. They stick to aprons and overalls like burrs. On the wash-line Ma’s white sheets and best tablecloths sag under thousands of clutching insects. A locust squeezes past the collar of a dress or a shirt to rasp and squirm against the skin. They smash against the windows of our house and of Dad’s store. Their exploding abdomens ooze yellow pus, detached wings stick to splotched glass, broken antennae twitch, serrated legs saw up and down like newly amputated limbs. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I abandon my useless weapon into the hydrangeas that bush on either side of the wooden steps which lead to the veranda. I surrender. I scream and shudder and dance up and down on the spot, a single, shameful, shell-shocked coward unnoticed amidst a crowd of battling heroes. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why has God unleashed His wrath on Thaba Nchu? </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every Sunday we worship at the Church of England on the corner of Hoofstraat. We bow low and kneel and rise and sit and kneel again on the flagstones. We take the precious Bread with outstretched palms, criss-crossed, without a crumb falling from the silver plate. We pass the shining chalice to one another and sip the precious Wine without a drop spilling onto our fingers. Every Sunday our <i>Boer</i> neighbours sit in obedient rows in the pews of the big Dutch church, whose steeple pokes the sky like the <i>Dominee’s</i> warning finger. On weekdays at dinner we shut our eyes tight and punctuate Dad’s grace with a firm Amen. Most times I do what Ma asks without arguing. Helen swallows the bitter medicines Doctor Green dispenses to strengthen her heart, without even pulling a face. Boy sneaks away to play <i>mancala</i> with the herdboys just now and then. Ma seldom complains about the dust and heat and the maids. Dad only drinks too much Friday nights. Surely that's enough for the Almighty? </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The locusts strip Ma’s sweet peas, the yellow and white daisy bushes, the three tea roses, the climbing vine. They turn the lawn brown. They shred row upon row of cabbage, spinach and carrot tufts. They leave bare tendrils where only minutes ago, leafy tomatoes plants trailed the tripods in the kitchen garden. I can see that the tall maize stalks around Big Sarah’s hut on the far side of the fence have already buckled and drooped. And this is but the work of the vanguard. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The black cloud hesitates then moves on. Is it the tumult or the smoking sacks or our anguished prayers that has driven it away? But the respite is temporary. Near Tweespruit the locusts will plunder the districts’ crops and the bereft farmers will not be able to repay Dad and Mr Ferguson the debts owed on ploughs and reapers and threshers and seed and tools. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">When everyone has gone home except for Sarah, Dad sits on the painted kitchen chair leaning his elbows on his knees and his hands cupping his chin. A stray locust crawls across his shoulders and feelers poke from the turn-ups of his trousers. Ma stokes the Aga; her tight bun has unravelled and soot smears her cheek. I sit cross-legged on the floor in front of Helen’s stool. She picks bits of locust out of my hair and drops them onto a newspaper. Helen is unafraid of twitching limbs, bulging compound eyes, sticky, transparent wings. Helen once stared down a cobra in Ma’s chicken run; when it turned, she broke its back with a spade. Helen scrubs burnt, blackened pots until they shine and she throws out the night’s slops without gagging, long before Big Sarah arrives for work. Rheumatic fever may have left Helen with a faltering heart but she refuses to fear any created thing on God’s earth. It does not matter how much it stinks, slithers or sticks. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can hear Boy whooping outside with Big Sarah’s grandchildren. Boy is Chief Moroka leading the Barolong on a murderous rampage of vengeance. He shouts in Tswana like a <i>piccannin</i>. Through the kitchen door I see him stomping on anything that moves with his boots; Big Sarah’s grandchildren stomp on anything that moves with their calloused, bare feet. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I take the gas lamp and go to bed. I pass Big Sarah in the hall. She is still at work. She has swept up all the locusts that slipped into the house through cracks and gaps. She holds a dustpan of corpses with a stiff arm in front of her. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i>Tsies</i>, Miss Eve, they will chew your mother’s tables and chairs. They will eat her doilies. When I was a girl, I saw <i>tsies</i> eat out the jelly of a baby’s eyes. The mama had her <i>abba</i> when they went to the fields to drive the locusts away. When she came home, the child’s eyes - gone!” </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i>Heish</i>,” I shudder. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mother appears. She has fixed her bun and wiped her face. She has also recognised the ring of the covert exchange. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Sarah, hurry, woman, hurry!” </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mother has forbidden the locals to speak Tswana in the house. But she cannot stop Dad. Dad’s quiet voice becomes loud and strident when he speaks the lingo and no-one can tell if it is Amos or Dad shouting orders at the workers. But Ma does not trust a conversation she cannot understand. After my last clandestine chat with Sarah, I suffered nightmares for nights on end. The whole family was woken by my midnight screeches until I begged Ma to put my bed on bricks so that the <i>tokoloshe</i> could not hide underneath it at night. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In the bedroom I share with Helen, I open the sash window and breathe in the cool air. The evening sky is clear and innocent of any plague. I pull </span>back the <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">calico coverlet embroidered with twisted French knots in the shape of rosebuds. On the starched white under-sheet, deep inside the bed, a locust stands transfixed. My shrieks echo. The locust is worse than a </span></span><i>tokoloshe</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, worse than a baby without eyeballs, worse than a cobra in the </span></span>henhouse<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; text-indent: 36px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Boy appears in the doorway. His boots grate on the floorboards. A thick, sticky jam of squashed bodies encrusts the soles. He steps forward and grasps the leathery thorax between his forefinger and thumb. Delighted he waves his trophy in front of my face.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Three thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” he says. </span></span></div>
</div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-20830014737335486662017-02-11T14:56:00.001+02:002017-02-11T15:01:07.835+02:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Lessons from Pollyanna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hXWuMI5NHw9Sz9_2vwNZm-ZPDZpbml5DJjJ0-3D8rws0GFv6Llt8JzDGlqZL3ZH7i86WRQPTBduLN0x2-FcGSRzU0JCi89qWdFEgODNlWkUN7nBS5OJ2obUunr5AvwoL8Qz_Vi3r8MA/s1600/IMG_2444.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hXWuMI5NHw9Sz9_2vwNZm-ZPDZpbml5DJjJ0-3D8rws0GFv6Llt8JzDGlqZL3ZH7i86WRQPTBduLN0x2-FcGSRzU0JCi89qWdFEgODNlWkUN7nBS5OJ2obUunr5AvwoL8Qz_Vi3r8MA/s400/IMG_2444.JPG" width="300" /></a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A friend once described this blog as 'too Pollyanna-ish' for his taste. Blame it all on Mother Imelda, superior of the convent school of my childhood, who presented me with a copy of Pollyanna for First Place in Standard 3 after a hard won academic battle against my arch-rival, Gail Someone-or-other. That copy is still on my shelf, dog-eared and shabby after many a reading-aloud, chapter by chapter, to my children, my grandchildren and several English pupils who required listening practice. The board cover is a soft, granulated blue and the paper cover, a bright sunshine yellow befitting its namesake. It sports a color photo of Hayley Mills as Pollyanna in her sailor outfit and straw boater purchased by Aunt Polly, not yet out of love but out of a sense of duty. The love came later.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have never forgotten Pollyanna's recount to Nancy of the origins of the 'Glad game'. A missionary barrel had arrived at her father's parsonage filled with hand-me-downs for the pastor and his little family. The things, Pollyanna explained to Nancy, were the charity jumble that not even the converts in Africa and other far flung places would want. Pollyanna hoped in vain for a doll; instead her father pulled out a crutch.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> "Oh," the good man said, "Here's a splendid opportunity for gratitude! You can be glad that you don't need a crutch." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hence the Game began. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Imagine writing a book for children today with that harsh lesson in life's realities. Surely such a disappointment would psychologically damaging and the pious pastor an example of a stoic Christianity, quite abhorrent today? Yet the story of brave, little Pollyanna and her Glad Game has captivated children for over a century (the first edition was published in 1913). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This Saturday morning I ventured into my garden for a little garden work for the first time since my accident. I took my crutch just in case. I planted a tray of crimson petunias in the large round pot near the gate, inspected the lavender which are drowning under the pumpkins leaves, gave the the iceberg roses a light pruning and planted a new rosemary in a pot. I propped my crutch against the bay tree while I worked, so thankful that I need it less and less. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">When I gingerly stepped into the organic deli at Waterkloof Corner later this morning, the blonde, pony-tailed teenager who operates the the till, cheered me on. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"Well done, I see you're walking without your crutch!" </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pollyanna-ish? Maybe, but I am so glad and grateful.</span></div>
</div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-11040942310338008622017-02-07T13:41:00.002+02:002017-02-07T13:45:16.773+02:00Mnemosyne<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Mnemosyne (goddess of memory and mother of the Muses) </span></span></b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZDUwCDXvJBH3JQYr_JPer2n3nx_8tw3seiE3hNcMaaA8OiIHwuwQK_Sz-PiuHkNciJvxwzDIVYPUEc4FMsUeOjZBia4SjIadLtc1EF2D7iveTrrIUPsUMp3QyuFUe8TgHDZu80mASSM/s1600/imgres-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZDUwCDXvJBH3JQYr_JPer2n3nx_8tw3seiE3hNcMaaA8OiIHwuwQK_Sz-PiuHkNciJvxwzDIVYPUEc4FMsUeOjZBia4SjIadLtc1EF2D7iveTrrIUPsUMp3QyuFUe8TgHDZu80mASSM/s320/imgres-1.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Memory is </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The mother of the M</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">use</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">She beckons </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Submerged experiences </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hidden deep in</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our cells, so they say</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">She nurtures them through </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The umbilical cord</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Which ties to the Self</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Events long forgotten </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Till they grow strong enough to </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Twitch</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wriggle</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kick</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our consciousness</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then she coaxes them from </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Comfortable obscurity</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Down the birth canal </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Into the light </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Red-faced and screaming</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They live again</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In words </span></span></div>
</div>
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-79332686243239718072017-02-06T13:23:00.005+02:002017-02-07T13:44:01.164+02:00Monday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wLSkzdHSXzHGUVPPqOK6kklDidYuPvmlxHAq9gC3wkibdE6TH9x7kSSVFuHLfUbwjXw1K-cO1fTCvc4fpBQnmYQtVg8xMcvmfn_TeInCPMLOEcsT26SSqcbPXkqiLJqrT8rpACTSUcE/s1600/IMG_2418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wLSkzdHSXzHGUVPPqOK6kklDidYuPvmlxHAq9gC3wkibdE6TH9x7kSSVFuHLfUbwjXw1K-cO1fTCvc4fpBQnmYQtVg8xMcvmfn_TeInCPMLOEcsT26SSqcbPXkqiLJqrT8rpACTSUcE/s400/IMG_2418.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This Monday morning my garden beckons me with the promise of new beginnings. On the weekend I was able to walk with care over the uneven lawn, fill the bird feeders, impale two halves of a banana on the fruit tray and toss a few balls for Flash while I held onto a crutch for extra balance. Precious small beginnings after seven weeks of immobility. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kaela, who was such a part of my life in previous blogs, is no longer with us. A few days after I returned home from the hospital, I acknowledged what I had been trying hard to ignore for the past six months. Kaela walked with great difficulty. Her breathing was labored due to tracheal collapse. Control over her bowels had diminished and in the early morning she looked at me shamefaced about accidents on the kitchen tiles. I made the call to the vet who has cared for our dogs for over twenty years. She arrived, a veteran of nearly eighty, with her sympathetic young nurse. We sat on the verandah and talked about broken bones and old age and I made the fateful decision to let Kaela go. She slipped away lying on her favorite spot above the verandah step, gazing at the red barons, the yellow weavers and the bronzed mannikins darting around the bird feeder. She had long abandoned chasing the doves. My own injury did not allow me to hold her but I managed to lean forward and scratch her ears and tell her what a special girl she was. Klaas, the gardener, assisted the nurse transport Kaela's blanketed body to the vet's little van. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">His eyes widened when he first saw Kaela.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"My friend, my friend!" he said. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_C3GAOt5FBR59kB5r5cltg-H5K7dP6KX_noJSG9uR8xIW2_uUCTg3Wro4lfVoC6JGzJo6M7U4ucdc6bDg12nU7ezYadOrylYh6mBlqSbd0mIvWlbJJzxi0B2bUlstrHJ7m0aY2mHOpg/s1600/IMG_0308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_C3GAOt5FBR59kB5r5cltg-H5K7dP6KX_noJSG9uR8xIW2_uUCTg3Wro4lfVoC6JGzJo6M7U4ucdc6bDg12nU7ezYadOrylYh6mBlqSbd0mIvWlbJJzxi0B2bUlstrHJ7m0aY2mHOpg/s320/IMG_0308.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kaela keeping guard over the oven on baking day.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-64267545837234070782017-02-03T13:11:00.001+02:002017-02-06T10:57:45.845+02:00Dreams deferred, dreams regained<span style="font-size: large;">Retirement at age 65 years is a mandatory condition of employment in South African universities. December 31, 2016 marked the end of my career in education: three years as a high school English teacher and thirty-three years in higher education. The last thirty years of my career were spent at the University of South Africa, a large comprehensive distance learning institution, situated in Pretoria, where I served in various capacities over the decades.<br />
<br />
Here I am in 2015 with a doctoral student from Kenya whose thesis explored home-school-community partnerships in Kenya. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUgqxlrt3QUA_isCA7Zb9PgWfIWBoRoXXNTUoy7IoCTivFg_DhBCOoU5xvrGRW3FMLCmqxZFHzZn0rbF4BIwWoWWUvKWPgdmdTR88OeATpWqFS43fMADIj_Fx1lEkbcjJk76I2QpsfoG0/s1600/IMG_1408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUgqxlrt3QUA_isCA7Zb9PgWfIWBoRoXXNTUoy7IoCTivFg_DhBCOoU5xvrGRW3FMLCmqxZFHzZn0rbF4BIwWoWWUvKWPgdmdTR88OeATpWqFS43fMADIj_Fx1lEkbcjJk76I2QpsfoG0/s400/IMG_1408.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">He flew to South Africa specially for the joyous occasion of his graduation and we met face to </span><span style="font-size: large;">face for the very first time. Three years of effective doctoral supervision had been carried out exclusively by email. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">During 2016 I approached the date of retirement with mixed feelings. To end a busy career after so many years was a formidable prospect. At the same time I had a giddy feeling of delight. I would be able to linger in my vegetable garden in the early morning, inspecting the development of my one cherished artichoke plant.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsb0Yhiea7H0bHMmp8VTXzm31_6UAf5Z-9GV3yDfxk9jTlfm2KnqaSLRfrkOVLxC7ClWydJmeG1N81afc1nN4KAXTKr79HhPzINR3x-ysXd8itPvAu7xqN4kKhVLismnKFpmiXUoXspY/s1600/IMG_2177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsb0Yhiea7H0bHMmp8VTXzm31_6UAf5Z-9GV3yDfxk9jTlfm2KnqaSLRfrkOVLxC7ClWydJmeG1N81afc1nN4KAXTKr79HhPzINR3x-ysXd8itPvAu7xqN4kKhVLismnKFpmiXUoXspY/s320/IMG_2177.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would be able to fetch grandchildren from school without juggling a hundred pressing deadlines. I would be able to accept invitations to outings with friends without refusing, with my usual mantra, " Maybe another time? I simply have too much work to finish."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">November was a round of farewells and retirement parties. December promised celebrations, family time and a holiday at the edge of the Maluti mountains. The happy dreams shattered when I had an untimely fall in my house - slipping down a flight of stairs to a loft. I fractured my ankle and underwent two operations by Pretoria's best orthopaedic surgeon, who just 'happened' to be in attendance at Casualty at the nearest hospital followed by a week in a surgical ward. The post op recovery was estimated a minimum of six weeks, probably far longer given my age and the nature of the injury. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had little choice but to bow to circumstances surrounded by friends and family. I resolved not to count days. I reached for the life lessons to be learned. I read, meditated, watched the birds feeding in my garden, listening to uplifting sermons and talks, to classical music and worship songs. I received each kind visitor with great gratitude. My tough independence had been suddenly replaced by helpless dependence. I ate slices of 'humble pie' as I accepted assistance with basic tasks. Joan Didion comments, 'Life as we know it changes in seconds.' </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But that is only the first half of the story. Yesterday I went for my six-week post-op X ray and consultation. I sat on the bed in the consulting room, left foot out of the moon boot, naked and looking scrawny and sad stretched out in view of the wound sister and the young physiotherapist. The doctor studied the images on the screen of his computer. I recognized the four black pins which held my bones in place.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Looking great," he said, " Bone growth fantastic! No need to even fear osteoporosis-arthiritis. Now stand up!"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Stand, but can I?" </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Of course you can and you can walk. C'mon. I'll hold your hands. Walk towards me."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So I am back wearing my <i>takkies</i> (Afrikaans for running shoes), which give a good stable grip. The moonboot, the walker and one crutch have been buried deep out of sight in my walk-in cupboard. I am walking again pain-free using only one crutch for some balance. The physiotherapist, family and friends, several in the medical profession, are amazed at such rapid progress. I am overcome with gratitude. My sincere thanks to the doctors and nurses, to the whole canon of Western medicine. But all the glory to God who has accelerated the healing of my 65 year old bones and put me back on my feet. I still have some way to go before I jog on the field again in the early morning with Flash but this morning, I could get in to a bath and scrub the toes of my left foot! Next stop a pedicure!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxlW6zXQtW16OF8SKfeiPyOMkyuLuUCnkpbDYjb5-M0h3e79Yr_qb9pNSl4Cp9aaRXNBorNps3_hqEb6f30CNcphAJe_W8jQUZhIaZO-e97su-F3zzJbYi2LVidZ_Nu5yMaag0FkdwFU/s1600/IMG_1831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxlW6zXQtW16OF8SKfeiPyOMkyuLuUCnkpbDYjb5-M0h3e79Yr_qb9pNSl4Cp9aaRXNBorNps3_hqEb6f30CNcphAJe_W8jQUZhIaZO-e97su-F3zzJbYi2LVidZ_Nu5yMaag0FkdwFU/s320/IMG_1831.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4ENUk6ddmowwE_VSx-f4w9lLABja-t1MVVbdtDcxJ_4qgjHtciud8NrSWZyox_JV9gAabAhfZtAlJHZrvPZ17GTO0bIeYLDfi2VNjiSRQvwDTI5J341HJ2Wl5GC3lp2kI6nbLTr2ZVE/s1600/IMG_1828.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4ENUk6ddmowwE_VSx-f4w9lLABja-t1MVVbdtDcxJ_4qgjHtciud8NrSWZyox_JV9gAabAhfZtAlJHZrvPZ17GTO0bIeYLDfi2VNjiSRQvwDTI5J341HJ2Wl5GC3lp2kI6nbLTr2ZVE/s320/IMG_1828.JPG" width="240" /></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I was wheeled into the consulting rooms yesterday in a wheel chair and I left walking. Obed, the doorman, looked amazed as I approached him in the foyer of the medical centre. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Mam, I was waiting for them to call me to fetch you in the wheelchair."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Obed, I am walking!"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Oh, mam, God is great and Dr Duwayne is a very good doctor."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That about sums it up.</span>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-23756952979390514362017-01-31T16:49:00.000+02:002017-01-31T16:49:07.759+02:00Rescue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXqzfyJUWn7838or8Vnvpc6rNLst-coZoanbyEtU2FMyJ1njs5MXFquCs_nMra6r569DyAv2rjsKvWctAM1mB3Maes8nC8MN7FEETWl6xekrOYUgeKlBq-VccV9S6hs3LmOek5Ft_Vho/s1600/frogprince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXqzfyJUWn7838or8Vnvpc6rNLst-coZoanbyEtU2FMyJ1njs5MXFquCs_nMra6r569DyAv2rjsKvWctAM1mB3Maes8nC8MN7FEETWl6xekrOYUgeKlBq-VccV9S6hs3LmOek5Ft_Vho/s320/frogprince.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Prompted by impulse<br />
I enter the back garden<br />
<br />
A frog drifts<br />
Splayed<br />
On water<br />
Dyed chemical blue<br />
<br />
I grab the scoop<br />
Angle the basket beneath<br />
The pale belly, the outstretched limbs<br />
<br />
Forklifted to safety<br />
On loose loam<br />
Among the ferns<br />
He crouches<br />
A cobblestone<br />
Tarnished bronze, black and green<br />
Slick<br />
<br />
Solicitous<br />
Thrice I return<br />
To find him motionless<br />
Thrice I apologise<br />
For the crass treachery<br />
Which mars his kingdom<br />
A fourth time -<br />
He is gone<br />
<br />
I marvel at the nudge<br />
Which sent me<br />
Mid-task, mid-afternoon<br />
To rescue <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-15594762007371116532017-01-30T13:02:00.003+02:002017-01-30T13:02:24.973+02:00Pumpkin harvest<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMKGP1lNMHh0d_h3jqGwM7gSG3rjObUp7CFEevgJMgbRciaLnbZSrT1iryewf9TbJKdvg2colVHUgoxGQIf0YhKGqwVqdRkMh3gjPMIW9IvY7EA0vVq-UrUEIDWuG01CI7709b7M0TnE/s1600/IMG_2285+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMKGP1lNMHh0d_h3jqGwM7gSG3rjObUp7CFEevgJMgbRciaLnbZSrT1iryewf9TbJKdvg2colVHUgoxGQIf0YhKGqwVqdRkMh3gjPMIW9IvY7EA0vVq-UrUEIDWuG01CI7709b7M0TnE/s400/IMG_2285+4.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It has been a good pumpkin season this year at Thatchwick Cottage. The only purchased seeds were heirloom seeds for this Long Island Cheese. Whole vegetables chopped in quarters and planted in my lasagna bed have produced a sprawling crop of butternut under the poinsettia tree. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Up201Gm4BHOccSg9DdX2zpm7gL_5JHrGoDC8eIUWIzgoXkpXPD5LnQqFQuk5reR1T6DiqmcsS0W5iE2BwO32rrvvuB5LEphFImKSRFLkcVVSpWksVcC6bjk2jHJqhLSB-kcpcaVGAh0/s1600/IMG_2397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Up201Gm4BHOccSg9DdX2zpm7gL_5JHrGoDC8eIUWIzgoXkpXPD5LnQqFQuk5reR1T6DiqmcsS0W5iE2BwO32rrvvuB5LEphFImKSRFLkcVVSpWksVcC6bjk2jHJqhLSB-kcpcaVGAh0/s320/IMG_2397.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">My first pick</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-80638607261811030132014-11-09T13:50:00.001+02:002014-11-09T13:50:38.944+02:00Looking for poppies on this Remembrance SundayA century ago on November 11th the Armistice was signed at the end of the War to end all Wars . Remembrance Sunday sent me looking for an Iceland poppy in my garden to snap. But they have already gone to seed. Instead I found some raspberries.<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWApQeBj-q-HbddQQWySts-adKkoURQ0Q1cDi0jkPI9e8b5cU2GBWa6vfkTdqjeiqLR0ECmv-cxeW3_ERdCYMpd6QzJQHofWRQr1IUheEAl5atD0Z-c3qXreSILj5OSwfa9tILxdCXMg/s640/blogger-image-1772431419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWApQeBj-q-HbddQQWySts-adKkoURQ0Q1cDi0jkPI9e8b5cU2GBWa6vfkTdqjeiqLR0ECmv-cxeW3_ERdCYMpd6QzJQHofWRQr1IUheEAl5atD0Z-c3qXreSILj5OSwfa9tILxdCXMg/s640/blogger-image-1772431419.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEKnNYnH35QUhW7Z9NWnVn8Z0OHghelrT0Bglej6uioVVQbXxqmTav04rMKdIeOoMu4hyhUET9bFFGd8IwgMopHmz_Juk01bZIcZ9WPP_2V7NE-D4JxBz2ulufliW9SELd_WYWNjIUMQ/s640/blogger-image--310666208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEKnNYnH35QUhW7Z9NWnVn8Z0OHghelrT0Bglej6uioVVQbXxqmTav04rMKdIeOoMu4hyhUET9bFFGd8IwgMopHmz_Juk01bZIcZ9WPP_2V7NE-D4JxBz2ulufliW9SELd_WYWNjIUMQ/s640/blogger-image--310666208.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br><div>And an unusual blossom or two.</div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObLHbUM_S8IfvtUiCEzrO3CGyqWph3jTIu7PhYMjDGYdMHOB9qx5eWtnXGvACqk1fqRCwlBY9WFrc-En1tBw4mW1LYjPJNx9KvTqbptU2hlX2S0wlsCJ6zPhymbDodoRis9i4rQ45n7w/s640/blogger-image--407840899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObLHbUM_S8IfvtUiCEzrO3CGyqWph3jTIu7PhYMjDGYdMHOB9qx5eWtnXGvACqk1fqRCwlBY9WFrc-En1tBw4mW1LYjPJNx9KvTqbptU2hlX2S0wlsCJ6zPhymbDodoRis9i4rQ45n7w/s640/blogger-image--407840899.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JzU9ZpTcDZSXfXIg05Qd9Ja61gDriPX8O4hYUrRHWeNL2v38_m2fHF2S5zGjdYTiDEE1b3OyMUfvjGb5ka5aiGMT_Iko1-uC1w3ml5gqREysxACEuxJliCXu7IhU3Mc8uIz0Ep5VxGA/s640/blogger-image-1082669399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JzU9ZpTcDZSXfXIg05Qd9Ja61gDriPX8O4hYUrRHWeNL2v38_m2fHF2S5zGjdYTiDEE1b3OyMUfvjGb5ka5aiGMT_Iko1-uC1w3ml5gqREysxACEuxJliCXu7IhU3Mc8uIz0Ep5VxGA/s640/blogger-image-1082669399.jpg"></a></div><br></div></div></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-22137273866417422062014-10-14T18:09:00.001+02:002014-10-14T18:09:56.854+02:00White jacarandasElizabeth, visiting from Norway, and I drove to Herbert Baker Street in Groenkloof to see the white jacarandas. They are simply stunning with their pure white blossoms and dark trunks. Strangers stop to share exclamations of wonderment at the glory of our avenues of flowering trees. Truly the city is transformed. I am privileged to have a great old jacaranda in my garden. It must be at least 80 years old.<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdNjkmsrSbJelBdOIFFoXwlQAIxR8JKNPm6Uq0qLBVYW-e94wmx34Tc_GlAtZ5OxX1iyXsd4SD0WdyrWKjCvd27bM-CyTJg3RcSLiztUsk2c8cXCXsQGqtkJfCKM81tfPE5qcNiFzrMQ/s640/blogger-image-900045268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdNjkmsrSbJelBdOIFFoXwlQAIxR8JKNPm6Uq0qLBVYW-e94wmx34Tc_GlAtZ5OxX1iyXsd4SD0WdyrWKjCvd27bM-CyTJg3RcSLiztUsk2c8cXCXsQGqtkJfCKM81tfPE5qcNiFzrMQ/s640/blogger-image-900045268.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46Jlt1aK2GYgzgoWLDH1mMxqrJmj6ESFc6b1E2Xcqs_ljCPHWvzntI3qnFtvkI2Nw3E_4fN8udo0INvXO9de4zUgc4bhqNdPz3XCEeA50LRWUBAkK4GSla3L1FlSEiFVe6OuA7nnjyPc/s640/blogger-image-1189217058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46Jlt1aK2GYgzgoWLDH1mMxqrJmj6ESFc6b1E2Xcqs_ljCPHWvzntI3qnFtvkI2Nw3E_4fN8udo0INvXO9de4zUgc4bhqNdPz3XCEeA50LRWUBAkK4GSla3L1FlSEiFVe6OuA7nnjyPc/s640/blogger-image-1189217058.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_hObmz7z_bqu7AZwbuemJhTe_-Cw7mzGuF_CKvcrpXLLJXqC85o4OuRyaxYLXnaoYV2Jj6QeB1vSpcFgLBjeuaz60S0whAk9HdRYmk4IixmaTz7J0Pjv3_-7gF42i68-hNwRDQD5lX_Y/s640/blogger-image--1280999871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_hObmz7z_bqu7AZwbuemJhTe_-Cw7mzGuF_CKvcrpXLLJXqC85o4OuRyaxYLXnaoYV2Jj6QeB1vSpcFgLBjeuaz60S0whAk9HdRYmk4IixmaTz7J0Pjv3_-7gF42i68-hNwRDQD5lX_Y/s640/blogger-image--1280999871.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYt15wkUjccnPdOHgP34WxNaou2U91IgS_ZDZ3WpOetmIw_b2XKmquOnjH1XlbaskxWIIgrHKt3hZmXlj6QwIsdcJ1QOQh1zL_nOl6HEmFU5vl_o7E17Xmg-Wj9ITP9dQRNAgyHNWL3N0/s640/blogger-image--638471684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYt15wkUjccnPdOHgP34WxNaou2U91IgS_ZDZ3WpOetmIw_b2XKmquOnjH1XlbaskxWIIgrHKt3hZmXlj6QwIsdcJ1QOQh1zL_nOl6HEmFU5vl_o7E17Xmg-Wj9ITP9dQRNAgyHNWL3N0/s640/blogger-image--638471684.jpg"></a></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-55759932562542136312014-10-11T20:20:00.001+02:002014-10-11T20:20:27.205+02:00HaikuJacarandas wear<div>Mauve frippery on long arms</div><div>For a short season</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO0ZHDV3PPVmkgRT2CEUjz4LQzDDkPrm95pSnVHqqIUZ9EWSd36h0BeuDUM0j710q5H6ICvRkWnzhdAZLGuDE7XWHpoO5uTRx9CKfFTit7dvePoHXL1kl5wiGs2O6bsg5LhEWfhZez5w/s640/blogger-image-842043016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO0ZHDV3PPVmkgRT2CEUjz4LQzDDkPrm95pSnVHqqIUZ9EWSd36h0BeuDUM0j710q5H6ICvRkWnzhdAZLGuDE7XWHpoO5uTRx9CKfFTit7dvePoHXL1kl5wiGs2O6bsg5LhEWfhZez5w/s640/blogger-image-842043016.jpg"></a></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-69966264137058999322014-10-06T19:08:00.001+02:002014-10-06T19:08:36.575+02:00Photo wallTwo young men worked most of the day to create my photo wall against a background of moss green. I guess I could have been more adventurous in my choice of paint. But the effect is pleasing. Six generations smile down on me at work at my desk. I paid the workmen their fee cheerfully.<div><br></div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY10BdVkO11cpZXKfZ0odbTv1Xh8MuwNkBwz-lp5ewB7mECY-rk0p3QdEdVqR31MFR57pOv020htfGgXrb0bMROg6HN7O_lUtn-uP8Qc578zwSzXBOydloc6arNe1wnbWSokgejBkoGrI/s640/blogger-image-1036780184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY10BdVkO11cpZXKfZ0odbTv1Xh8MuwNkBwz-lp5ewB7mECY-rk0p3QdEdVqR31MFR57pOv020htfGgXrb0bMROg6HN7O_lUtn-uP8Qc578zwSzXBOydloc6arNe1wnbWSokgejBkoGrI/s640/blogger-image-1036780184.jpg"></a></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNT02A4CvU4qaU1fQi6wmd_urdLrJgLzTpDZQkg7Kob40U9c3puqNKm2jED8RRTv-n5xrdFAPVWiNrSKRnbI5eMvLmCLrDD1jopXO58aeWjBzU6vQPa1x5rts2ClHdm5XwC6Dp8rAbDnc/s640/blogger-image--557896915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNT02A4CvU4qaU1fQi6wmd_urdLrJgLzTpDZQkg7Kob40U9c3puqNKm2jED8RRTv-n5xrdFAPVWiNrSKRnbI5eMvLmCLrDD1jopXO58aeWjBzU6vQPa1x5rts2ClHdm5XwC6Dp8rAbDnc/s640/blogger-image--557896915.jpg"></a></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-64154928251956927122014-09-29T18:52:00.003+02:002014-09-29T18:52:54.564+02:00Grace notesGrace notes are defined as notes which are not essential to a melody or harmony. That may be so bun the player can add them, surely for sweetness or effect. So...<div><br></div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJn-L1QANQtPwImw8-czsdoZ4pGriRSBDBj5i__O7BP8sQ_9ylqaQTpxZGYJ1EWixKS-bohQ_sRlEaKgKElj7vlLtw8SrqljPyhsR1nVJJikE7bqHmc3tnwbYEhSLqlDrupH9HgFQ2hk/s640/blogger-image--750666657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJn-L1QANQtPwImw8-czsdoZ4pGriRSBDBj5i__O7BP8sQ_9ylqaQTpxZGYJ1EWixKS-bohQ_sRlEaKgKElj7vlLtw8SrqljPyhsR1nVJJikE7bqHmc3tnwbYEhSLqlDrupH9HgFQ2hk/s640/blogger-image--750666657.jpg"></a></div></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-77599647680749656932014-09-27T08:17:00.001+02:002014-09-27T08:17:16.081+02:00On the other side of the chalkboard or, me and my MOOC Last night I found myself on the other side of the chalkboard – a student listening attentively to the wisdom of the teacher. I read the course instructions, once, no, twice and then all over again. I struggled to open the correct links and felt the frustration of a distance education student who cannot just put up her hand and say, “Excuse me, Professor, but can you help over here?” I felt the panic of the new student who is overwhelmed with deadlines. The tables were turned; the teacher became a student again. <br />
<br />
What happened?<br />
<br />
I have enrolled for a MOOC – a Massive Open Online Course – presented without charge. This MOOC is offered by the ‘Writing University’, the University of Iowa considered the top university specialising in creative writing in the US. What a privilege and one of the mind-boggling benefits of living in the technological age! Here I am in Africa transported to the classroom of a university thousands of miles away. Of course, this should not surprise me – I have been teaching at a distance university for nearly 30 years. But my tuition only stretches to email and in-text comments on my students’work. <br />
<br />
I viewed my first YouTube lecture presented by two established novelists from different cultural contexts and with what first appeared to be juxtaposed views on the writing process. But in the end, they converged on so many points – writing needs time and discipline, requires no formal qualification just the compelling desire to express oneself, its outcome, the joy of creation.<br />
<br />
Grace Notes: Grace turned a week old on Thursday. She has exceeded her birth weight, weighing in at 2,6kg. She opens her eyes and stares wonderingly at my face, then falls asleep again. All is well. <br />
Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860978377787658235.post-74195897211214025682014-09-23T07:52:00.001+02:002014-09-23T07:52:19.751+02:00The first rose of summer<br><div><br></div><div>Just Joey can be relied on to produce the first roses of the new season. This standard is sixteen years old, planted by Richard when we first moved to Thatchwick Cottage. Its stem is thick and gnarled. its roots go deep judging from its resilience to my sometimes erratic watering. It is a full blown rose which does not last well indoors in a vase. But the bees love its generous open center.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3bbtGX0_EO13R4bg7rxg6LMgpcIEkR97T5dmmmlu9xYr5Msc65JHGp-lI_eb6NaMh25Avm1qETPPaZFWzi_Oc9nKYcJWeAXLPM8eEtduW5rgXMcdaDnyZDmLhyphenhyphenLJC_geCFGMdEnS4Q0/s640/blogger-image-960384621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3bbtGX0_EO13R4bg7rxg6LMgpcIEkR97T5dmmmlu9xYr5Msc65JHGp-lI_eb6NaMh25Avm1qETPPaZFWzi_Oc9nKYcJWeAXLPM8eEtduW5rgXMcdaDnyZDmLhyphenhyphenLJC_geCFGMdEnS4Q0/s640/blogger-image-960384621.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Eleanorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05185383497671795758noreply@blogger.com0