A-NOTHER Birthday!

 Dear Blogger readers. Just when you thought it was safe to visit this blog again...

LOL

However, this is a VERY important birthday, celebrated on a SPECIAL date in my life.

Thandi, my house lady of the past seven years has a birthday on 4 March. This is the same day which Grant and I married many years ago. This year, it was my 53rd wedding anniversary...

BUT 

more importantly it was Thandi's 60th birthday.

I had a personalized cake made for her and Estelle painted a personalized coffee mug as a gift. 

A cake and coffee mug with Thandi's photo 

In South Africa, when you turn 60, you qualify for the old age pension. Because you have to jump through several hoops, I helped Thandi through the process. 

We started off at a commercial bank; we waited in a long queue eventually getting to the front and opened an account in Thandi's name. Then we went to the municipality to obtain a "proof of residence" for Thandi.  Here we waited in a long queue before finally being served. We eventually arrived at the SASSA (South African Social Security Agency) at 1pm.  Yes, again, we waited in a long queue. By 4pm we had not yet been attended to, and we told to return the next day. 

Which we did...

Finally, by Thursday midday Thandi had been approved to receive her social security pension. Hallelujah! 

 I dropped Thandi off at her home and I returned to the farm. 

That night I received a WhatsApp from Ntombi, Thandi's adult daughter: 

Hi Gogo (pronounced gawgaw - Zulu for grandmother) 

Thanks a lot for taking my mom back to SASSA today.  She has been approved for her pension. You have given her a second chance. 

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL!

Another birthday!

 Good morning, dear Blogger readers. 

On Sunday, 2 March, our Bloemfontein granddaughter, Abby turned 13! How I remember the day she was born in that city. Grant and I had just relocated from the Great Rift Valley in Kenya to Tanzania. When two of the ladies on camp came to welcome me, all I was bubbling over about my newest little grandie. 

Recently Abby danced at the Sand du Plessis theaters in Bloemfontein. Amanda, her mum, shared the photos below with me. 

Abby Hedges - she looks JUST like Angus at that age

Seeing these photos, took me back to when Angus (Abby's dad) and my younger son was a teenager. He attended Saint Andrews all-boys school. The school put on a play production called Julius and Cleopatra - a spoof of a famous Shakespear play. 

Being only boys, Angus and three other lads were handmaidens in the royal court. My eyes popped slightly when I saw my son - like his classmates - wearing female support garments under short tutus!  They were all beautifully made-up with their hair scraped back.  At the famous line "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears", Angus and his fellow thespians responded with "Ears?"; each respectively cupping a hand behind an ear. 

Unfortunately, in the 90's there were no Smartphones or digital cameras but seeing Abby in those photos, reminded me how much she looks like her daddy at that age. 

On that same Sunday of Abby's birthday, she had asked to be baptized at church.  Later that day Amanda shared the photos of this auspicious and very serious spiritual occasion. 

Faith in your mother and faith in God 

 Amanda, a pastor's daughter knew exactly how long to immerse her precious child in the water 

A very emotional moment with a shaft of light adding a blessing 

I'm so proud of the way Angus and Amanda are raising their three children. 

Happy Tuesday to you!

More celebrations!

 Dear Blogger friends. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I really appreciated them all! 

No sooner was that over and I started to prepare an event in Winterton for Weigh-Less' 50th birthday! 

Weigh-Less is the weight loss company (the BEST weight loss company) that I have worked for over the past seven years. With Lockdown, April 2021, when Weigh-Less went Virtual, I was the first Group Leader to put my hand up to do Virtual Groups. The best decision I ever made! I have 180 members worldwide. This keeps me on my toes, especially from Tuesday night when members from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan weigh in with me.  I weigh the rest of the world (including South Africa and neighboring states) from 3am through to midday on Wednesday. Then I deliver my motivational talk via voicenote.  

In addition, I also have three Venue Groups on two different days in two different locations. Weigh-Less has always been a Venue orientated business and is preferred by those members who have a Group and Group Leader in their town. Our Winterton and Valley members have this privilege! 

Weigh-Less was founded by Mary Holroyd a transplanted young Irishwoman who arrived in South Africa in 1974. She had lost a great amount of weight using her own weight loss program. In South Africa she soon realized many women and men needed to lose weight the healthy way and Weigh-Less was born.  

Sadly, Mary passed away suddenly in October 2023.

But... 

So great was the legacy (in South Africa, Weigh-Less is up there with the supermarket giants and retail businesses) which she had created, that her daughter, also part of Weigh-Less since she was a four-year-old at the Weigh-Less inception, immediately took up the reigns. Weigh-Less has continued to grow from strength to strength. 

I have been involved with Weigh-Less for 39 years when I lost 32kg/70lb in nine months and kept it off all these years. 

Jacqui, our 62-year-old gorgeous granny of two, kept the audience enthralled with her upbeat explanation of the eating plan; how to prepare and store your meals and snacks as well as  relating  her own successful  journey with Weigh-Less

Jill Atkinson was my Group Assistant in Winterton from 2019 until she asked to step down in 2022. Her twin (in the city) was dying with pancreas cancer and 

she wanted to spend as much time with her. A year later a malignant lump was discovered in Jill's left breast. She had a lumpectomy and subsequent chemotherapy. In January this year she got a clean bill of health. All throughout this traumatic time, Jill said the fact that she had lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less under my guidance in 2021, and is enjoying optimal health, she sailed through the treatment. (Jill will be 80 this year) 

A wonderful testimony! 

Esme, my current Group Assistant these past three years, spoke about the fact that she lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less in my group. She told us about having a knee replacement in 2022. She had hardly had time for the knee to heal, when she needed emergency back surgery. Although she suffered incredible pain and discomfort, the doctor commended her on being on her healthy goal weight. Today her back and knee is completely healed. She attends "boot camp" twice a week with much younger folk, walks 8km daily with a friend and fellow Weigh-Less goal weight member, Susan, and does Parkrun every Saturday. Esme turned 75 the day after our Weigh-Less event! 

A skinny child, a slender teen and a slim young woman, even after childbirth. However,  I gained weight in my 30s after major surgery which caused me to lead a sedentary life for several months. Inadvertently Grant was instrumental in getting me to join Weigh-Less after he had seen a friend of mine who had lost weight on this program. I am eternally grateful to Weigh-Less, not only for keeping me healthy and on my goal weight but for the opportunity to help others to experience the same! 

When I greeted the guests, I asked them to guess which birthday we were celebrating . It caused great hilarity! 

With my trusted loyal soldiers!

The next day, Sunday, I travelled back into town; I collected Susan and together we entered the Dutch Reformed Church. We could see Esme sitting in a pew towards the back and quietly slid in beside her. She was so surprised and touched that we had come to celebrate her 75th birthday by attending a church service with her!

The moral of the story? If you would like to lose weight the healthy Weigh-Less way and maintain your healthy goal weight for life while ageing gracefully, contact me online for more information! 

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY! 

Eight years on

 Good morning, dear Blogger friends. 16 February 2017 was Grant's 66th birthday and his last earthly birthday.  

This past Sunday, 16 February 2025, he would have been 74 years old. 

Grant and I on a road trip to our old home town in the Free State

Grant and friend, Ant, now 84, doing the Parkrun in January 2017 

Country squire, Akubra in place and jauntily swinging his walking stick, Grant enters the tunnel to have his Parkrun barcode scanned 

HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY, 

DEAR GRANT!

Two years on

 Good morning, dear Blogger friends. Thank you for your comments and the welcome back wishes! 

As the title hints, it has been two years since I posted a birthday celebration. 

Thursday, 13 February I turned 72. Thursday midday I hold my Valley Weigh-Less meeting. I had intended to invite the eight current members to lunch at a local coffee shop afterwards. However, thinking about the various activities I'm involved in during a given week, I started inviting ladies from our Taigelates (tri-discipine exercise) class; ladies from our weekly coffee morning, ladies whom I am very close to at church along with the Weigh-Less members. The final count for lunch:  19 ladies! 

We had our weekly Weigh-Less group at the coffee shop where

a member, Barbs, is the manager

C'est Moi at the helm 

My dear friends, Steve and Estelle arranged with the Valley bakery to have

 a personalized cake made for our celebration

Fun fact about the coffee shop decor: Steve, a renowned artist, and Estelle, decorated the walls with scenes from the local township, Loskop. The wall behind the organ in the above photo, is a sheet of painted corrugated iron. The scene depicts daily life in a bustling African township.

I was thoroughly spoiled with gifts, potted plants and in two instances, cash. The latter came in handy when topping up my car's fuel tank on Friday morning. 

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL SUNDAY!

Back to blogging

 Good morning dear Blogger friends. Well, this has been a very long absence. And what can I say, except I have been busy...

Working

and

walking,

More about these two activities later!

Nevertheless. I intend to keep up my posts and blog visits. (I did the latter yesterday, before uploading this post!)

We're in the throes of the hottest summer yet.  With thunder showers every week or so. Which helps!

Last week I arrived home at 5pm after my Weigh-Less Group in town.  Nurse had mowed my lawn. 

I HAD to drop everything and try to capture the absolute peace calm and lushness of my secluded little garden. 

As I enter my garden through the gate, this lush, inviting scene greets me

And right there, too, is my precious Skabby, happy to have Mum home again!

The car port to the left, is lush with giant geranium plants!

My back veranda is bordered along the front with the most prolific 

mint garden ever

Aforementioned mint garden from another angle

A truly peaceful haven to come home to

Wishing you all a WONDERFUL Monday

Seven years...

 Today is the anniversary of Grant's death; 27 November, 2017.

Snippets from his life.

Touring the Western Cape 2004 

Fishing the Senegal River in 2006

Heritage Day 2024

" Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people." Wikipedia

Good morning, dear Blogger friends. 24 September is Heritage Day in South Africa, also referred to as National Braai (BBQ) day. 

Until I came to the Central Drakensberg, I had never become involved in Heritage Day. In 2018, I'd been managing my friends' art shop in the local shopping center for a year.  I wore a Swahili shift dress which I had bought in Tanzania while living there. At work, I saw the three Zulu in the gift shop next door were all resplendent in their beautiful, beaded Zulu skirts, tops and headdresses. We posed together and had photos to mark the occasion. 

On the way home that afternoon, I stopped off at a lifestyle center where Mavis, sister of my Thandiwe, manages a menswear shop. She was dressed in full Zulu regalia, and we had a photo together. 

Apart from 2019 when I was out of action after surgery and 2020 where we were under Lockdown, I have always dressed the part and had photos with Mavis. 

This year on the public holiday, Thandi and I had to work at The Bunker, cleaning after guests and prepping for incoming guests. As I normally fetch her from the township, I always offer a lift to Mavis and Thandi's daughter, Thombi who also had to work in the lifestyle center.

My Swahili outfit

Thandi and I making the bed in our regalia!

Polishing, sweeping, mopping. All in a day's work!

Ready and welcoming for the incoming guests

There is still snow on the mountains to the guests' delight

On our way home we stopped off at the lifestyle center where Mavis works...

...and posed for photos

Mavis indicated the staff at the restaurant and said they were REALLY dressed in true Zulu fashion. Thandi and I walked over to see for ourselves.

A local musician was preforming at the center and this young woman entertained the visitors with her energetic dancing

Thandi posing with a lady who works in the restaurant

Finally, Thandi and I dragged ourselves away from the festivities. I dropped her in the township and came home... to enjoy the rest of the public holiday!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL!

Snow in September

 Good morning, dear Blogger friends Thank you for the comments on my previous post. 

Although it's spring in the Southern Hemisphere and that we experienced very high temperatures mid-week, on Friday the weather changed. Heavy grey skies were the order of the day; it began to rain. And rain.

By 9pm Friday night, the snowflakes began to cover the ground.  On the high Berg and in several towns which lie higher than the Champagne Valley.

It was also the start of a long weekend (we celebrate Heritage Day on Tuesday), and the school holidays had also begun. 

So... guests were pouring into the Valley. 

Only problem is that anyone who was still on the roads that night, were caught in traffic jams on our passes and at the toll gates along the National N3. 

Which is scary. 

We are NOT equipped for snow and extreme conditions. 

An aerial view of one of the passes on the freeway between Johannesburg and Durban. Although not distinct in the photo, the vehicles were backed up for 30km and strainded on this pass for more than 24 hours

This image was posted on our WhatsApp group at 5am on Saturday morning

Emergency services worked tirelessly to succor people stranded by supplying warm blankets and flasks of hot drinks.

I had guests who were due in by Saturday midday. They wisely waited in Johannesburg and were kept abreast of the situation when I shared the messages with them.  They eventually left home for the Drakensberg early this morning. And arrived safely via a second pass (which only JUST opened by 9am today) at The Bunker. 

The pass on the National Freeway was closed to ordinary traffic while the emergency services and heavy-duty machines cleared the road and assisted the motorists down the hill, 

This message was blazoned on our social media warming all motorists not to attempt using this pass. The SA police and traffic was out in full force and turned private vehicles back as they approached the pass. Only emergency vehicles and machines were permitted on the pass

People from the cities on the East Coast swarmed up the Freeway wanting to see and experience the snow firsthand. This exacerbated the traffic congestion, and the public was urged via all platforms and over the radio NOT TO CHASE THE SNOW. There were so many images on the socials, you could experience it here. 

The sun is out again, and it will be another 28 years before we experience such heavy snow in South Africa again. 

Meanwhile, we admire the great mountain peaks in our Valley

Champagne Castle and Cathkin Peak 20 September 2024

POST SCRIPT:

I received a message late yesterday afternoon with this image below: 

This was the traffic situation on the N3 Freeway pass which has been closed to traffic since Friday night.  Received 16h13 on Sunday 

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL MONDAY AND WEEK AHEAD

Eight years!

 Good morning, dear Blogger friends. Despite my best intentions, I don't seem to get back to Blogger once I've posted. Thank you for your kind comments.

Feedback on the Laptop. No, my old one is gone/dead/blown up. And I am still using the farm machine. It just wasn't in my budget to purchase a new laptop at this time of the year. 

However, at the beginning of August, I wrote in for a competition on the radio (I have no TV; I only listen to the radio) and I WON a considerable amount of money in vouchers!

Takealot is a website on which I could purchase a laptop of my choice. Angus has ordered it for me, which will be shipped to his home in the Free State. He will insert SSD, from my old laptop and One Drive and ensure that all my files are retrieved and saved onto my new laptop.  He will send it to me via Postnet another great service we have in South Africa.

WHOOPEE. Soon I will have my new laptop, called an IdeaPad. 

And then...

...as you can see by the heading of this post, today 16 September 2024; we arrived here on 16 September 2016. 

 I have been in Champagne Valley, Central Drakensberg for eight years!  

HAVE A WONDERFUL MONDAY! 

A rejuvinating break

 Good morning dear Blogger friends. Well, here I am again, after ANOTHER long break. 

I'll pedal back to the second half of June After having my wing mirror repaired in Ladysmith, I headed for the Free State, I was on my way to spend time with Angus, Amanda and my three grandchildren in the great city of Bloemfontein. 

After a five-hour, uneventful road trip, I arrived at their home in the suburbs just after 5pm.  Although I had taken leave from the farm office and my Weigh-Less job, I was still working online. When I stopped for a break in a town two hours before my destination, I saw several messages on my WhatsApp with new members applying to join my online Weigh-Less group. After supper, and catching up on the news, I fetched my laptop, opened it and turned it on.

 Nothing. 

A black screen.

My worst nightmare!

Angus checked it for me and also couldn't get it started. Oh whey.  He said he would take it to their IT man the next day. He then set me up on an extra laptop and so I could continue to work. 

Angus and Amanda both gave up their jobs in the corporate world and work from home. The children, 14, 12 and nine are homeschooled. 

Every morning Angus disappears into his office (just off the master bedroom) and teaches English online to foreign students. Once Amanda has set up each child with their work for the morning, she works online doing research for companies. She is also an Avon representative and has recently joined a company selling health suplements. 

I sat in the same air space as Amanda and worked at my Avon, accommodation and the ubiquitous Weigh-Less business. At one stage I got up to stretch my legs and wandered around their house checking on the children. Including Angus' (who works behind closed doors), I counted eight laptops humming industriously. 

Joel, Abby and Liam, my three grandies in Bloemfontein

Liam doing his school work 

Amanda assisting Abby in some task

Joel at his laptop, doing his schoolwork

Amanda making choc chip cookies in their well appointed kitchen

Angus baking sweeet potato chips for dinner

Liam, the littlest Hedges 

Angus

Of course, in due course it was Saturday, and I wanted to do the local Parkrun. Angus was registered at the nearby Innibos (translated In the bush) Parkrun. 

It was Angus's second Parkrun ever. 

When we got home, Amanda asked if I would like to visit the Farmer's Market which takes place every Saturday, Oh yeah! What woman doesn't enjoy wandering between stalls and browsing.

When we arrived home, Angus had had a message from Armand, the IT guy who was checking up on my laptop. He said the base (engine?) motor was covered in hair. I insisted this is from my carpeted office. He said he could repair it at a small cost. I told Angus to have it done. 

On Sunday we all attended church where Angus does the sound from the rear of the hall, so Amanda and I sat together facing the stage. She normally is on stage as part of the music team, but she had had surgery on her jaw and was taking a break.

The following week we continued to work as a family in the house. Not one person got in the way of the other. No one raised an eyebrow, when I got into the kitchen and made a batch of scones with Amanda's gluten free flour. I also made a large dish of cauliflower/broccoli cheese for supper. 

On Thursday morning, I visited one of the Weigh-Less venue groups. I sat and chatted to Hester, the Group Leader and Ruth her Group Assistant while members arrived in between to be weighed before they went off to work.

Jo and Hester

Back home, Abby and cousin, Chloe were making chips for their brunch. Amanda's siter lives in the city too, and the two families enjoy times together

And then it was Saturday. And another Parkrun opportunity.

Angus and I drove little further this time and did the Brandkop Parkrun. 

On the way home, he stopped to refuel his car and I realized that we had not had a photo. Angus took a selfie right there at the filling station

My fifth away Parkrun, and Angus third! Brandkop (translated Burning head) 

Then disaster struck. 

Armand contacted Angus and said, although he had tried everything possible, my laptop was completely burnt out. 

ERGH!

After a lovely, restful ten-day holiday with the family I drove back home that day. 

All was not lost, back at the farm, we have an old laptop which I use for work. And with today's technology, Angus came through remotely on Anydesk and showed me where all my information was stored in One Drive.

Aaah. I continue to work in the farm office on this laptop; Ron agreed I could use it personally in the interim; then I come and work on it at home. But oh whey. It is SOOOO very, very slow.

Meanwhile two weeks ago as Skabby and I had finished Parkrun here at in Winterton, Angus sent me a photo of him and Abby. Her first Parkrun. 

 

Mmm. I like to think that I have influenced them to enjoy this great Saturday event. 

Abby's first Parkrun with Dad Angus

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!