Local photographer

On Friday at 10.25am the receptionist at the retirement centre phoned me. It was Anna, a resident's, 90th birthday party and would I come and take photos. At first, I said it was too short notice and she said she'd take photos on her phone and would I submit them to the newspaper. Once I'd put the phone down, I thought better I take the photos and then I know I have them in time. 

So I grabbed the camera and went down there. 

I arrived in the hall while a niece, Izelma was paying a tribute to her aunt. I was a bit peeved as it looked as though I, the photographer was late  and that I never am. Nevertheless, I crept around taking spontaneous photos while Izelma spoke.

Once the formalities were over and people made their way to the laden eats table, I greeted dozens of residents as well as visitors from town. My MIL was also there - she's never had it so good since moving in there two years ago today.

I then wished the birthday "girl" and took several photos of her. A couple of younger  (70-somethings) ladies approached me and asked if I'd photograph them with Anna. With one such request, I realized there was something wrong with my camera. I kept getting light spots on the image showing on my screen. 

A friend poses with Anna, the 90 year-old birthday girl. 

I noticed light spots on the screen - you can clearly see them here

 I eventually used the flash on the auto function which slighly improved the image

Back home I took several random photos to see if I could work out the problem. When I saw the streaks on the photo below, I turned the camera towards me and checked the lens. It was smeared with something - not sure what! But this made me realize that I should speak to people arranging special functions ask me timeously to take photos for the newspaper. In a small town like Marquard, you know everything going on - when there's a 40th birthday bash; when there's a child's church christening or like above when there's a major birthday reached. But the organizers and family need to ask me to attend personally - so that I can be comfortable performing this labour of love (no payment!) 

The state of my camera lens when I took the all-important photos for the newspaper last week! 

Tomorrow I will choose a photo of Anna and write a little story and send it to the paper. It appears in Friday's edition!

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE! 

Municipal Elections South Africa

Over the past six weeks, I've not been able to concentrate all that well on blogging. Apart from writing several articles for the provincial newspaper and a motorcycle article for an adventure magazine, I've also been involved in the local municipal elections. 

I'm working for the local candidate for the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA). The governing party, the ANC is still ahead of the DA in most constituencies - see here but will have to fight this time to hang on to their power. 

While I've never used my blog as a political platform, working for this campaign has been great fun. Of course, I've always had my camera ready and soon my candidate was being asked by neighboring towns who this "urban legend" was who recorded every-and-anything about the campaign! 

Even in the early days, I set up the self-timer on my camera and recorded our activities. Here Lydia and I pose with candidate, Piet during a training session

Piet's house-lady with him and Lydia

Leader of the opposition party (the DA) is the ever-popular Mmusi Maimani

Information table in Marquard's main street at the end of June

As there was an opportunity for the frail and infirm to vote at home, by special vote, I took it upon myself to make the applications on behalf of all the residents in the retirement center.  I visited all the people who would not be able to stand in queues on 3rd August. Then I posted their details onto a specific website set out by the DA and waited for approval. Apart from the applicants who hadn't actually registered in the local ward, I had a 100% positive return. 

78 year-old Annetjie Cloete proudly displays her approval to have a home visit for voting

MIL  Pam was another of the almost two dozen applicants who were approved for home visits 

I also received approval for approximately fifteen party agents to be able to vote on allocated days (like the home visits) as they'd be too busy on the actual election day to visit the polling station where they are registered. 

Working against a deadline here - I had to have all the applicants entered by 5pm on that day

Of course, you can imagine that I soon involved Rina in our activities. Within days of us working together in Piet's home office, we'd gained a reputation of getting the computerised admin done within record time; which was a mixed blessing. We were sent several hundreds of canvassing forms from three surrounding towns to upload onto a special system! 

Rina and I hard at work uploading information from written canvassing sheets onto the computer

Edwin, a roving party agent, Piet, PPLC, Jo; Joseph- candidate and activist Pholo

On 9 July everyone did a Dry Run on how the elections would be controlled; here in the DA's town office:  Rina, Elsabe (Piet's wife) and moi

Yesterday and today, Rina and I accompanied presiding officers from the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) around the retirement village supervising special votes. It all went off very well but we were shattered by the end of the day. Anyone who interacts with and cares for, oldies on a regular basis needs a gold medal. Each vote took an average of fifteen minutes; not that it's the elderly person's fault. No, everything is slower; things are forgotten (almost everyone had left their identity books back in their bedrooms and we had to stop operations until a nurse or other helper fetched it) and most of them are hard of hearing while several had impaired eyesight and the presiding officer had to make their crosses for them (with us looking on) 

Tomorrow Rina and I will start work at Piet's home office at 7am  when the voting stations around the country open until tomorrow night at 7. 

I, for one, am hoping and praying for change in our country after the elections, especially in the municipalities which have fallen into a terrible state of disrepair, corruption and bankruptcy over the past two decades.

Have a wonderful day! 

A tribute

Last Friday one of the oldest (if not THE oldest) residents in Marquard passed away. She was 95 years old.

Nina Azar, born to a Lebanese father and Greek mother, lived all her life in this town. She never married; she had a solid career as a legal secretary, enjoyed tennis and taking part in baking competitions in the local Women's Institute and  was a stalwart member of the Methodist church. 

As one of the first two residents in the retirement centre here, she lived in her little flat for the past 16 years. That morning she went down the corridor, albeit with her walker, to the dining room where the residents were treated to a lavish tea organized by two of the younger residents living in the free-standing houses on the property. 

Nina placed her walker against the wall (I used to joke with her that it was a GT model), walked to her place at the table and greeted everyone. As she sat down, her head hit the table and she was gone. 

The other residents frantically called for the sisters who came running from their office next to the dining room. When they eased Nina off her chair and lay her out on the floor, she had pulse or heartbeat. 

Nina had gone out in a blaze - instantly - among her friends. 

I wrote Nina's eulogy which appeared in the provincial newspaper the morning of her funeral. 

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week ahead. 

First Farmer's Market

The 16th June is a public holiday in South Africa: Youth Day. It commemorates a sad day in our history when Soweto students demonstrated against having Afrikaans (one of South Africa's eleven official languages) as a learning medium in their education. Though Bantu eduction was designed to deprive Africans and isolate them from "subversive" ideas, indignation at being given the demeaning education system became a major focus for resistance, the 1976 rising being the most influential. 

The ignominy of the reaction of the then, autocratic government, is hopefully something that will never happen in South Africa again. 

Today the majority rules and the situation has not improved one bit. In fact, apart from the education system being one of the worst in the world, So who was/is to blame? The hope that propelled us forward in 1994 is long gone. And while in many ways we are so much better, the pervasive hopelessness makes us a whole lot worse. (See here) 


However, on a different note, on the holiday,  for the first time our little town of Marquard held a Farmer's Market. Grant and I wandered over to the market plain and as we arrived I realized that I'd come without my camera. I couldn't believe I'd been so remiss. I always take photos of everything so how come I'd left my Canon behind this time. A friend heard my lament and suggested I took photos with my Smartphone. Although this isn't my most favorite mode of photography, I did and even uploaded them onto Facebook at the same time. 

The fresh meat stall- we bought a packet of biltong for MIL. Grant (just off screen on the left) chats to friend, Hester while I took photos

The cake stall was yummy to look at. I would have liked to buy a cupcake for MIL, 

but couldn't carry it around in my hands! 

The fruit and vegetable table had a selection of items. I liked the look of the pears displayed in Grandma's enamel dish

Our young baker Lucas and his wife Ira (who is Joel's school teacher) displayed beautifully baked goods. We bought a loaf of rye bread

The Marquard Young Men's Association braaied/BBQ'd meat at their stall

The atmosphere was very sociable and pleasant

A table of exotic cheeses was a great attraction. My friend, Trudi tasted a piece of cheese as I photographed her. Grant bought a pecorino with peppadews and I chose a block of Halloumi 

A farmer brought a couple of horses and offered rides to the children

The first Farmer's Market was such a success that the community has decided to hold one every three months. Next time I'll have my camera with me and take really  good photos. 

HERE'S WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL WEEK AHEAD. 

Digging up the Town

The neighbouring town of Ladybrand, where my vet is and I normally do my monthly grocery shopping is sporting dug up streets for the festive season! This town borders on Lesotho and shop owners depend on business from the people living and working in that country. I arrived there last Monday (I took my old dog, Megan for her summer clip) to find the main streets dug up. Those that weren't yet "de-tarred" were cordonned off so that there was no parking for the cars.

Having worked for the regional and provincial newspaper, I took photos of the terrible state of the streets and spoke to several business owners, including a lovely young gentleman who manages the tourism board.

They all told me that the municipality employed contractors who dug the streets up one week before Christmas. No businesses owners were consulted or asked to be present at the meetings held in this regard. They felt they were losing business due to the fact that a) parking was a major problem and b) people were not keen to drive down the street with bulldozers and front-end loaders pushing, lifting and swinging huge chunks of tar through the air.

I am due to make a trip to Ladybrand again this week and wonder if any progress has been made with the roadworks. I cannot imagine that the contractors would have worked over the Christmas period and if they will continue to work again this week.

More again when I return from my shopping trip to Ladybrand.

Bikers Unite!

Town residents come out to help

Yesterday morning, I went downtown to buy bread and milk. Being Good Friday, everything except the cafe was closed. As I stopped the car, I noticed two bikers, a man and a woman, sitting on the pavement /sidewalk outside the local bank. Their motorcycle was parked on the street in front of them.

Being part of a biking duo, and always interested in other motor cyclists, I walked across the road to chat. I thought they were just resting but after exchanging greetings they told me they were travelling from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape and had stopped in our town for a break and refreshments.

When they were ready to leave, their bike wouldn’t start. The battery was dead. They had phoned the AA (Automobile Association) and the motorbike agency in a town 120km away and were waiting for assistance.
I popped into the cafe, made my purchases and when I came out again, I asked them if they’d like to come home with me and wait here for the breakdown truck to arrive. They both thanked me profusely, but the gentleman said they’d better wait beside their bike until help arrived. I also told them if help didn't arrive, they were welcome to spend the night at my home.(As it turned out, the breakdown vehicle never arrived)

Bikers are generally very friendly and soon we were chatting and relating stories of trips done on our bikes. They, in turn, were fascinated by the “sleepy hollow” atmosphere of our town and commented on the fact that I waved to and greeted everyone who popped into the cafe while we were chatting.

Eventually I bade them goodbye and safe riding and came home.

All ready to take to the road

I e-mailed my husband in Khartoum and told him the story of the stranded bikers. I asked if he had any other ideas for me to help them. He suggested I go back and offer them our motorbike battery. (We own a bike identical to theirs.) They could use it to continue with their weekend trip and I could keep the faulty battery here at home until the breakdown vehicle arrived. I went back and made the offer; they said, thank you but since the time I’d been there, the bike had started so they were busy packing up and would ride to the agency in the city themselves to have the repair affected.

While we were talking, the gentleman tried to start the bike again. No go. He decided to push-start the bike, his wife helping him. I held their helmets and gloves. While she was trying to push the bike, two young lads came out of a house beside the cafe and helped. Suddenly the bike motor took! The two bikers mounted their machine and after posing for a photo, they rode off down the main street.

Before they left, they told me that they’d had a wonderful time in our town! While they were waiting there, (between the first and second time I went down) a lady walking to the cafe stopped and greeted them. When she heard they had bike trouble, she offered them a bed for the night. Later a young farmer came past in his Landcruiser and offered to jumpstart the battery for them. The bike owner said he didn’t want to risk it as he was afraid it might blow all the electronics on his bike.

Soon afterwards a large truck stopped next to them. It had a dead cow on the back, passengers sitting all around it. The lady biker said she walked to the truck to take a closer look and saw the cow had been disembowelled, flies and maggots crawling all over it. She asked the driver where he was off to with the cow and he nonchalantly told her he was taking to feed the lions on a nearby game farm. He promptly showed her photos of the lions on his cell/mobile phone. All the while, the radio inside the cab was blaring and the men were chatting and laughing. She said, you NEVER saw sights like this in the city.

I believe that once these two bikers meet up with their friends later today, they’ll have quite a story to tell them.

Note: I was relieved to receive a text message from the bikers on my phone last night.They'd arrived safely at the agency, a new battery was being charged overnight and the motorcycle company put them up in a Bed & Breakfast/Guest House for the night.

Kitchen Tea a Great Success

My invitation to the party: a little envelope with the details

on the reverse and a tea bag inside

On Saturday I attended my friend’s daughter’s Kitchen Tea. This is a party held for the bride-to-be and attended by all the prospective wedding guests. (Women only)

The view from the hostess' homestead

The guest of honour, Jeanrie, was kept ignorant of the fact that a party was being organised for her; it was held at another friend’s beautiful home on a farm a short distance outside town. When she arrived to visit this friend with her mother and sister, she was welcomed by no less than twenty ladies who’d been waiting patiently for her to make an appearance!

The hostess' beautiful garden

Lady guests, young and old wait for the bride-to-be to arrive
After the initial shock and excitement of realising this was her party, Jeanrie's sister dressed her in a veil, a "bridal" tee-shirt, a voille tutu, oven gloves and slippers!
Jeanrie with a personal file of "Mom's recipes"
I always cover gifts in plain brown paper, then I glue Scriptures and edifying proverbs, which I created on the computer, onto the parcel. Locally it has become my trademark and my gift is recognised immediately!

The gifts that are given at this event are not large like wedding presents; rather they are useful items for her kitchen, hence the name of the party. She received all manner of beautiful kitchen utensils, mixing bowls, oven dishes, a glossy recipe book by a well-known South African gourmet chef, a beautiful salad server as well as a variety of dishcloths and clothes pegs, pot scourers and sponges. She is a beautician by trade, so she said her housekeeper will be pleased to have the latter items!

The beautifully laid table

Later the hostess served a delicious chicken salad and homemade bread with fruit salad to follow. Coffee, tea and cheesecake rounded off the meal. I was touched and most grateful that she made me a “meat-free” salad which was absolutely delicious. It contained the normal salad vegetables: lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, spring onion, and WHOLE cherry tomatoes, with a generous serving of chickpeas and feta cheese. This was topped with thin slivers of avocado pear.

(I enjoyed it so much that I made my own on Sunday (see below) to accompany my Mozarella, Aubergine and Tomato Stack which recipe you can find here.)

I enjoyed my salad with Mozarella, Aubergine and Tomato Stack

The party was, as usual, a wonderful opportunity for friends (now a lot older;) to get together and enjoy the romance of a younger woman’s glow before she makes her marriage commitment to her choice of partner next month.

Toadstool or Mushroom?

A giant toadstool growing in a garden here in town. In this photo the house door in the background gives scale to this huge fungal plant

Yesterday, an acquaintance of mine, Anita, asked me to come and photograph a large and peculiar mushroom growing in her garden. I arrived at her house expecting to see a fair-sized plant; my newspaper article already forming in my mind.

Imagine my surprise when she led me to a huge tree and there at the base was an enormous toadstool. I felt as if I’d stepped into a fairy tale. Absolutely surreal. It is the size of a large meat platter; the texture appears soft, like baked meringue, yet it is coarse and spongy to the touch. Anita told me that it started off as a smooth plant which gradually burst open in various places. It appeared in a bed of green hen-and-chickens / green spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) so even though it has grown around these plants, it actually seems as though they are growing through the toadstool.

My camera lense stands 15cm/6 in high beside the toadstool -

a fair indication of the size of this agaric

Last night I googled both popular names and came up with the following:

Toadstool: common name for an inedible or poisonous agaric (contrasting with the edible mushroom)

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source.

Whatever this one is, as far as I'm concerned it is only good for photographing and writing about!

Friday the 13th

My daughter-in-law set the table for tea
Traditional melktert (above) and other yummy eats

My dear friend, Carina and I

A unique birthday card with my name in various forms

Today is my birthday.

Yep, it really is.

Yes, I am also aware that it’s Friday the 13th!

And believe it or not: I was born on Friday the 13th.

Most cultures have superstitions centred on the number 13 which can be traced right back to those ancient Greeks. They did, however, agree that it is an irrational fear, calling it triskaidekaphobia [triss-ka-deck-ah-phobia]. Nonetheless the idea that the number 13 was somehow bad quickly spread, and the Greeks’ traditional rivals, the Turks, have virtually removed 13 from their vocabulary.

Many tall buildings don’t have a 13th floor; the legend goes that you shouldn’t give your children names with 13 letters. Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper had thirteen-letter names.

I do not have any fear or superstition about this number or day. As a Christian believer, I know that I am freed of the fear of all occult and “bad luck”.

My parents already had two little boys; so while they were expecting me, they hoped that I would be a girl. (No such thing as a scan in 1953!) Of course, when I was born and on Friday the 13th to boot, my father declared that never again would he consider this day unlucky. In fact, it he always maintained it was the best day of his life! (Awww)

As the first granddaughter, I'm named after my maternal grandmother. Johanna, shortened to Jo.

My grandchildren call me GranJo.

Every year I receive a unique birthday greeting from my sister, Rose in the UK. Last year I received a personal birthday card in the mail. At the top on the front of the card was my name in its various forms: Joanne, Joanna, Jo, Johanna. Under a beautiful photo of white orchids, is the Hebrew meaning of my name: Among other, "gracious, merciful"; "Dedicated to helping others" ending with "Always ready for a challenge, her life is full and varied."

This evening I opened my e-mail and there was a singing e-card from my sister. Thanks Rose!

As we have gone away for the weekend, I had my friends over for tea yesterday, 12th February. My daughter-in-law, Amanda arrived early and helped to set out tea cups, milk tart and koeksisters (traditional South African fare); I also served homemade tea scones, delicious diet-friendly carrot and apple muffins (recipe to follow soon) and savoury sandwiches. As it was raining (as it has been for the past two weeks!) we had tea indoors. This type of entertaining which was a first for me this whole summer. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful day...

A Practical Christmas

Betty enjoying refreshments here at home the day before Christmas

A beautiful gift; a set of matching casseroles from Betty

At this time of the year, the thought comes to mind that I am so blessed with family and friends. While I’m not at all materialistically inclined, I am quite aware of the abundance with which God has blessed me. I have a very comfortable home (read: all mod cons in the form of electrical appliances - household and comfort enhancing) I have transport, resources to run my vehicle and I have a garden in which to entertain my family and friends.

By the same token, I cannot but help thinking of the thousands of underprivileged South Africans who do not even have a roof over their heads, never mind electricity and running water. And while only one of me cannot do much, I gladly give those people who are in my employ (and my son’s employ – see my extended family) whatever can possibly afford to give. My husband and I also attended the Carol Service last Sunday where we all donated gifts to the children in the newly-established orphanage. (My brother-in-law, the Pastor who with his wife delivered these gifts to the children on Christmas day, told us that one little girl just clutched her unopened gift and sobbed uncontrollably; heart wrenching stuff. )

On Wednesday morning I had a surprise visit from Betty, Emily’s daughter from Johannesburg. She arrived here with her son and with her nephew, who comes to work with Emily during the year (see my extended family). Emily poured each a glass of soda and I set out a plate of cookies. They sat in my formal lounge because Emily and Albertina were still cleaning the rest of the house; I sat a chatted to Betty and took some photographs of her and the little ones. Betty had come to greet me and brought me a Christmas present. I was delighted and really touched when I opened it later that night and saw that it was a set of beautiful casserole dishes. These people don’t have much for themselves, yet they can be so generous. When she and the two little boys had had enough to eat and drink, I took them to the taxi rank downtown.

Later that day as my staff prepared to leave at about midday, so that they could get a little last minute shopping in, I presented each with a Christmas mpho (gift). The local supermarkets make up hampers during this season: a plastic bucket filled with essential groceries and a few luxuries. Sugar, oil, maize meal, rice, tea bags, custard powder, tinned beans, a packet of sweets, jelly, shoe polish, deodorant and much more. Privately my two gardeners and Emily were presented with their annual Christmas bonuses (a "thirteenth cheque”) and I thanked them for work well done during the year. Then my husbanded loaded them up into my little pickup and took them to town.

On Christmas day I phoned Emily at home and wished her and her family for Christmas. I also asked her where I could find the floor-whiz (mop) and told her how much I was missing her. This statement was greeted with much laughter. I’m sure she tells her family how much I dislike housework!

So while I cannot do much more for the masses than pray for them, I’m sure the people who are close to me and help me so well all year, were able to have a good festive time with their own loved ones.