Blogging, non- commenting readers...

... and the fine line in between.

Actually, what I meant to post as a heading today was: 

"The use of English and other languages, and the astuteness to understand that what this blogger (moi) posts about,  was originally gardening (in South Africa);  currently about life in East Africa, often about birding, nature and domestic cats, and -  above all - always non-discriminatory subjects". 

But...

As you can see, it's too long for the title box!

When I started my blog way back in 2008, I posted regularly about my garden and the way we, as a family and with our friends, got great pleasure from it. I moved into our Marquard house in July 2000. In October year, I joined Grant in West Africa where we lived on a remote goldmine site in North-western Guinea. However, I moved back to SA in March 2001 to nurse my mum who passed away at the beginning of 2002. 

At the end of that year, with the encouragement of a dear friend, Betty, who has a beautiful garden, and with the help of John Tsie , my Sotho gardener, we tackled our overgrown, unsightly plot of ground adjacent to our home property. 

 So from this...

...to this.

WIP. 

We had to do everything by hand, as,  even though I could have hired a machine to clean the area, the garden was walled

 Ultimately to this...

...and this...

...and this...

Serenity is...

  

The three interlinked garden ponds provided giant water bowls for the dogs!

My primarily indigenous garden attracts an abundance of wildlife

Southern-masked Weaver

 Pineapple flower

Our resident Free State hedgehog

Our dogs enjoying the garden

 

As did Shadow during his eight-month stopover in South Africa! 

 

 Plumbago is one of the most rewarding garden shrubs

Our house garden: an extension of the garden "next door" 

 Our garden patio to the rear of the house

In January 2011 Grant and I moved (as expats) to Kenya. We lived on a remote camp in a beautiful valley within the Great Rift Valley. 

What did I do there?

I changed the exotic garden into a primarily indigenous garden. My Kenyan gardener, Stanley and I eradicated anything and everything that was high-maintenance or that attracted unwanted insects and disease and replaced it with natural African flora. 

 Stanley and I walked into the bush and dug out plants with which we -re-created our Kenyan garden

 Our Kenyan house was surrounded on three sides by thick African bush

Ginger came with the house and we brought Shadow, who originally hailed from the Sudan, from South Africa to Kenya

Tacazze Sunbird in my Kenyan garden

The Beautiful Sunbird delights us with it's song

Since moving to Tanzania in January 2012, I've created an enclosed  shamba wapaka/ cats' garden behind our house. Our youngest cat, Ambrose, often posts about the fun they have in this safe haven. 

When I started creating my garden in South Africa, I was very frustrated because, although John Tsia was willing and hardworking, he and I might as well have come from different planets. I just couldn't communicate with him in Sesotho (South Sotho) and he couldn't understand Afrikaans or English. My son suggested I learn to speak his language which is what I did. I enrolled in adult Sesotho classes and after year of weekly lessons and a written exam,  John and I now converse on many levels! 

When Grant and I lived in the Sudan, (where I created an indoor garden on the stairwell!) I felt most alienated when shopping at the street markets. There was absolutely no English spoken, and because I couldn't even begin to understand Arabic, I struggled against exploitation. Grant arranged for me to study workable/local Arabic with a tutor. After this, life in North Africa took on a whole new meaning.

Arriving in  Kenya, there was no problem of not understanding or being understood. The universal language is English. It was only obvious on the few occasions when I spoke to very old Kenyans living in the rural areas, that it would be good to speak Swahili. 

Enter Tanzania year later, and it hit me with a force that I couldn't understand or speak to  the people working in the Guest House. Going shopping at the market and trying to communicate with the vendors was a nightmare. Fortunately while in Kenya I'd bought a comprehensive Swahili-English/English-Swahili dictionary which I use regularly. 

 My well-worn, much-thumbed Swahili-English dictionary 

Another blessing is that Regina, my house-lady,  speaks perfect English and helps me with spelling, pronunciation and generally sets me right when I struggle for a word. William, the company driver, who takes me to Shinyanga when I shop for the Guest House, has an excellent command of the English language. He actually understands concepts like suspicion/depression/concentration and much more, which he then translates for me. 

I feel when you live in a country where the majority of the people speak their local language, it pays to learn as much of it as possible. It's also a sign of respect and once you get the hang of it, you garner respect in return.   On the other hand, I can make mistakes in speaking and when writing a foreign language, but I am never discriminatory.  When I post about life in East Africa, and the occasion calls for it, I use the Swahili expression in italics with the English translation immediately after it. As a writer, journalist and regular blogger, I make sure that,  not only is my spelling correct, the grammar,  syntax and phraseology is socially acceptable and easy-to-read but that it's totally non-ist (non-ageist, non-sexist, non-racist). 

Regarding my blog and non-commenting readers:  ironically I only have two South African followers: one is a man from Port Elizabeth on the East Cape Coast and the other is my brother, Phillip. Both these men have their own blogs and comment on mine. If they had issues with words or subjects that I may have posted about (not that they ever have) I'm sure they'd mention it politely in my comment section. All my other followers are beautiful people from Europe, the UK, the USA, Canada, the Far East and Australia who gladden my heart with their regular comments.

For those readers who don't comment, and issues with my blog, my apologies. But remember this: in the words of a wise old woman I once knew: "If you take offense, you may as well take the gate as well!" HA-HA

The bottom line is I love blogging; I love blogging and I love that other bloggers read and comment on my blog. I, in turn, enjoy blog-hopping and adding my comments on fellow-bloggers post. It's politically correct, it's right and it's the polite thing to do.

Long may the blogger live ! 

Rememberance Gardening

Today, nine years ago on 18-01-2002 my mum passed away after a long illness. (My dad died on 11 September, 2000 - exactly a year before the horror of  9/11) Ironically she passed away on their wedding anniversary . They would've been married 55 years the day she finally gave up her struggle with cancer.

My dad and mum on their wedding day in 1947 and still happily  together on their 50th Wedding Annniversary in 1997

My parents reared me and three siblings: two older brothers and a younger sister, with love and dedication. Today I realise that they sacrificed many things in order to feed, clothe and educate four children.

They instilled a sense of responsibility and accountability in me which has served me well all my life. I also acquired my love of Jesus through their teaching and example. 

Through my mum I learnt to love reading and when my children out of the home, she encouraged me to follow my dream to write. (I'm not there yet, but I keep writing) During my early childhood, we lived in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Through our parents, we learnt to love that country, as well as South Africa when we finally had to leave SR and relocate here. I still love travelling and discovering Africa. 

My dad taught me money-management and how to keep a strict budget, a skill my sons have inherited.

My parents were dedicated gardeners. They lived in the same home for twenty years and had the best garden in the village. When they moved to a garden flat in a small town to be near my sister, they had the most beautiful garden there! 

Together my sister Rose and I nursed my mum during the last months of her life. She was still living in the flat she and my dad had owned fifteen years.

It was only after her death that I had the urge to garden.  I began to clear the empty, neglected plot next door; I originally did it as a sort of therapy. It worked! I learnt to love gardening and built a beautiful garden which now belongs to our neighbour. In the beginning I also I worked through the loss of my mum in this way while I often remembered my dad - who was the brains behind their gardens -with great love, admiration and a whole lotta nostalgia.

My parents' garden was an eclectic mix of indigenous and exotic flowers and shrubs. When I grew up, trees were not so sought-after in your garden as they are today. Instead a vast expanse of lush lawn, edged by a herbaceous border and shrubs were the order of the day. There was a rose garden to the side of the house and vegetables and herbs of every kind flourished in the back garden. We only ate produce from the garden; never from the market (no supermarkets or fruit and veg markets in my day!)

One specific shrub which I remember in my parents' garden was a Brunsfelia pauciflora "Exima", commonly known as Yesterday, today and tomorrow.  I have a Brunsfelsia outside my office window and during flowering time, which is just ending now, my senses are assailed with the divine fragrance of the blossoms. Of course, I think of my parents whenever this happens!

I quote from my gardening book: A South African Garden for All Seasons:  

The sweet jasmine-like perfume of Yesterday, today and tomorrow drifting in through the window, is like the very breath of spring so you may like to plant this Brazilian shrub close to the house. When the small flowers open, they are a rich purple, but the next day they have changed to a pale mauve and by the following day are a pure white. This creates a rare colour combination which gives the shrub a delightfully variegated appearance. Its leaves are dark to mid-green, often half folded to show the lighter green below.

Unquote

This shrub was in my garden when I moved in eleven years ago. I almost lost it the first winter as it's not frost-hardy. However, I bought frost-net and kept it covered for two winters in a row. After that it seemed to rally on it's own strength and has become one of the most beautiful summer-flowering shrubs in my garden.

My Brunsfelsia just outside my office window

When the small flowers open, they are a rich purple colour...

... the next day the flowers are a pale mauve...

... and the following day the flowers are pure white

This a rare colour combination which gives the shrub a delightfully variegated appearance. This beautiful shrub is situated just outside my office window and when it flowers, I am inundated with the sweet jasmine-like perfume and of course, memories of my dear parents

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You've done what?

I think that regular readers of this blog know how much I love gardening. Since I've been back from the Sudan, I've spent every available hour in the garden with John and David, my trusty gardeners. Over the past week, I've posted many photos of my garden and had many wonderful comments from you.

When we bought this house in July 2000, there was an empty plot attached to it. No sooner had the sale of the house gone through, when Grant arranged for me to join him where he worked on a goldmine in Guinea. I stayed with him for most of 2001 and then returned to South Africa as my mum was very ill and I wanted to be near her. She passed away in the summer of 2002 and that autumn I began to clear the plot next door. I had another gardener, Jantjie, and together we dug up the hundreds of weeds and dry grass that made up the bulk of the plot.

To motivate us, we first cleared a central area which we raised with soil dug from another part of the garden. After turning the soil and adding lots of compost, which I had already started in my house garden,  we planted a variety of aloes, succulents and Barbeton daisies. Later I added a Cape Honeysuckle, bulbines and two Cabbage trees. One of the trees died, but the other is thriving beautifully today.

Then we continued to clear the areas around this bed, until we reached the perimeters. This took another year. By this time the aloes, bulbines and other plants were flowering and attracting a myriad of birds, bees and other insects. This really made us very enthusiastic (Jantjie, like my present gardeners, became most interested in the wildlife and would call me if something new visited) and I began to look in the nurseries for indigenous shrubs and trees to plant.

When people came to visit and wandered through my garden which was a WIP at the time, they'd all ask what I was going to do with the hole I'd dug to fill and raise the central bed (and later two other beds along the boundaries) I'd always tell them I was going to build a pond. I don't think they believed me!

At the end of 2003 Jantjie wanted to go to the bright city lights. I was blessed when Simon (whom I've posted about in my gardening posts) came to work for me. Early in 2004 I secured a job at the gold mine where Grant worked and joined him. I stayed for almost three years, returning in July 2006.

As soon as spring had sprung, I began to garden in earnest. Simon had gone to work for Debbie, who lived down the road and I had one gardener called John. Within two weeks I realised I'd need another gardener and went to the corner where the unemployed men sit daily waiting to be set on. I found a man called David and the rest is history.

One day in the summer of 2007, my garden was beginning to take shape and look really beautiful.  I remember standing against the house wall to cool down and I thought about how passionate I was about my little piece of paradise. Then  I heard a voice which said: "Jo, would you be willing to give this all up for Me ?" Knowing it was God who had put this question into my head, and having committed my life to Him completely, I didn't even hesitate. I said: "Of course,  Lord."

Ha! Famous last words.

I still gardened to my heart's content for a number of years - four, in fact. As a family, we also enjoyed the garden immensely over this period. I always celebrated my birthdays with my friends in the garden. Our oldest granddaughter had her fifth birthday party here with many little guests. John even organized touch rugby which was played on the lawn. Amanda had her birthday party in January 2009 in the garden with the theme "High Tea". Too beautiful. She also organized a surprise Stork Party (Baby Shower) for Debbie in March 2009. More than thirty ladies and many children attend this event. Later that year, when our older grandson turned three (the most exciting birthday for a toddler; who can remember their kids saying : "I'm free!" and holding up three pudgy fingers?) he had his birthday party in Gran's garden.

In between, we've had Christmas luncheons, birthday dinners and lunches, picnics on the lawn and of course, countless BBQ's (the South African braai) all under the trees in sight and sound of the three ponds.

Two months ago when Grant and I returned from the Sudan, we took stock of our house and the expenses surrounding it. We came to the conclusion that the garden was costing us about 30% of those expenses in taxes, water and gardeners.

A few days later I approached our neighbour on the far side of the large garden to ask if he was interested in buying my plot. We've known Prashant for more than a decade and had him as a neighbour for the past five. Prashant, a single guy who runs a family business on the outskirts of Marquard, loves animals. His home is a refuge for a multitude of dogs which he has rescued from near death. For instance, he has a dog called "Tied to a tree" because he found her nearly starved to death and tied to a tree! He has four cats in his house. And in the large area behind their business premises he has two more dogs and two recue horses.

He was interested in my plot as he needed more space for the seven dogs in his yard. There was a six-foot wall between our properties so he'd never seen my garden. As he walked in he said he couldn't believe there was such a beautiful garden behind the wall. He kept saying it was like a park! He and Grant did the negotiations and by 29th November the contract was signed and sealed.  Prashant was the new owner of my garden.

Within three days Prashant had a pallisade fence erected which has wooden slats in each gap. This is so that our dogs don't fight through the fence. Isn't he a wonderful neighbour? He has also installed a low-voltage electric fence along the top of the pallisade so that my cats are never tempted to jumped up and into his yard. They would not stand a chance against seven dogs if they did. The vibration the electical current apparently deters the cat. I find that real neat.

He broke down the wall between our properties on the far side and has created three pathways leading from his driveways into the large garden.
 Dear sweet Prashant is keeping the garden as indigenous and waterwise as had it. The garden around his house and swimming pool is very formal and he loves the idea of having a country garden next door. I have sent him photos of the birds and insects in the garden and he is thrilled he's learning about wildlife at this stage of his life!

Oh, and another thing: because of the increased workload on his side, he took over David, my second gardener, who knows the garden and especially the maintenance of the ponds and electric pumps.  David is thrilled to be part of Prashant's staff and is enjoying his job. We speak through the fence on a regular basis.

Over the past three weeks I have thought of my "old" garden as Buckingham Palace. There have been hordes of people coming to see what Prashant has bought. Everyone of them had no idea there was such a garden behind the wall. Had I known this I would have called it "The Secret Garden"!

BTW, I still have a large garden around my house and of course the vegetable garden is also this side. John tends to my garden and other chores and Simon comes once a week to help with the vegetable garden.

We can still hear the waterfalls cascading while lying in bed. The frogs still serenade us and we're still able to see the birds flitting around Prashant's garden through the bedroom window or when we BBQ outside. Our own garden has always had a multitude of birds and nests so we lack nothing!

Below I have a few photos just to lead you up from the garden when it was a neglected plot to the present when Prashant bought it from me.

This is what my garden looked like in Autumn 2002

My gardener (I had another man, Jantjie,  those years) and I cleaned each area by hand. It was impossible to get machinery in here because of the walls surrounding the garden so we had to knuckle down and just do it!

This central bed in my garden was where I first began. I raised the bed and planted it up with aloes, succulants (called vygies in South Africa) Barbeton daisies (Gerbera spp)  and bulbines. Later I planted two Cabbage trees (Cussonia paniculata) on either side of the bed but only one survived (see upper left of photo - the presistoric looking tree with silver-grey leaves) I also  added  Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis) which you can see flowering abundantly to the right of the photo (salmon pink blooms)

In order to raise the flower bed in the photo above this one, I dug soil from an area nearby. When people asked what I was going to do with the wide hole in my garden, I told them I would build a pond. I don't think they believed me!
Early morning shadows play gently across the lawn and shrubs

A cascade of roses, daisies in the foreground with the ever-flowering Honey Euryops (Euryops virgineous) in the background

Pride of de Kaap (Bauhenia galpinni), - to the left;  Wild Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) on the right and Aloe spp form flowering profusely in the sunlight

Much ribbing  going on between Angus, Amanda (seated on our side) and Clifford (just visible through the fence) who fitted the did the fencing. We were, of coure, having the ubiquitous weekend BBQ right next to the new fence 

The untreated fence as seen from the large garden which now belongs to my wonderful neighbour, Prashant

Amanda, Angus and Marquard grandson in the garden which is no longer in the family!

The treated fence viewed from our garden

For many days while Prashant's workers erected the fence between the properties, the dogs still wandered in and out of his garden

The last weekend in my garden I worked on an article while sitting at the pond with Shadow beside me

A guy with the perfect idea for relaxing in the garden - a hammock

The new owner and wonderful neighbour, Prashant relaxes in his garden

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