Chain of Thoughts

This morning while clearing up after breakfast, I mentioned to Fanie that I bought some Brie cheese for us – this was the beginning of a journey which took me back many years : Brie and Camembert were unknown to me.  My first introduction to these delicacies was when we went to Europe in 1982.  We went to a cheese festival and Frank and Dorothy introduced us to this gorgeously delicious cheese.  I was most unimpressed with this soggy mass of goo which I had to spread on a salty biscuit.  I made all the correct noises and  tried to act very elegant and appreciative of this morsel.  So much for an uninformed young lady!

Then my mind flew to the next landing place : my first “dancing” evening party I attended as a teenager at Colleen’s house.  She turned sixteen and I was allowed to go, after many admonishing instructions from Mom  with confirmation that I would be picked up at 10 o’clock sharp (this was my curfew, right up to the time when Fanie and I were engaged!!)  The music was playing, everyone was jumping around to the beats of the Beatles, and her mom kept bringing in plates of eats for the energetic teenagers.  By this time, I was really ravenous, and saw the delicious little meat pies which were still steaming hot from the oven.  One enthusiastic bite into this little pie made all my digestive juices flow – until I realised that it wasn’t a mince pie!  There was a huge potplant nearby, and it was blessed with a half-eaten pie.  I later discovered that these were mushroom pies!  I had never heard of these “things”, nevermind being able to eat them.  I had read about Enid Blyton’s toadstools and faitytale characters gathering mushrooms in the forest, but that was the extent of my knowledge of them!

I was introduced to gherkins by cousin Yvonne as a child.  Her grandmother and aunt served them daily, and they also had them regularly.  One day when I was with their whole family for a meal, I saw them passing the GERKINS round for all to eat.  GERKINS???  Try and imagine that you have never heard this name before, and feel it rolling round in your mouth … gerkins … gerkins.. gerkins …  Sweet, sour, crispy, crunchy, vinegar-tasting “things”!  Yes we DO have gerkins in our fridge and they ARE delicious!!

Butternuts and baby marrows developed later in life and these are also taken for granted by all, and the young ones of today all know what they are.  Yellow “boerpampoen” and gem squash were familiar, and Ouma’s gem squash with plenty of butter and sugar was my absolute favourite when I went for a visit.  Marrows were left to grow into adult marrows, and were served with mince and butter.  One was enough to feed a whole family.

Now I remember Ouma sending me to the shop to buy half a loaf of brown bread for her. (Yes, they used to cut the bread in half and it wasn’t strange to buy just a half loaf)  It cost a penny and three farthings!!  Sometimes she didn’t have a ha’penny, so I actually had to carry THREE FARTHINGS!!  And … BROWN bread … who ate BROWN bread??  What an embarrassment it was for me. No plastic bags were invented yet – the bread had a thin strip of greaseproof paper, and often just a thin tissue paper, to protect the loaf from known and unknown germs of the carrier’s hands! 

Talking of bread … Pretoria … Hatfield Bakery … their rock and roll bread which came hot from their oven!!  We lived nearby, and Sunday afternoons late was the time when the whole neighbourhood stood in queues outside the bakery waiting for their bread to come out of the oven.  What a feast that was!!  We always had arguments as to who would get the crust.  Their sugar buns were the size of giant saucers – with crunchy sugar and plump, juicy raisins in!  We didn’t bother with spreading butter on these.  They were devoured with great enthusiasm and bliss.  I had a special sequence of eating : first I nibbled all round the bun, chewing off the crispy sugar bits, then  I took little bites of the bun, taking care to extract the plump raisins.  Imaging biting into these little babies, and thinking of all the beautiful things a child can dream of!

No instant coffee was invented yet, but we knew of a very enterprising lady who made and sold coffee essence!  This dark syrup actually made coffee and it was already sweetened.  Just one teaspoonful and some boiling water for a cup of coffee.  Mind you, this was an absolute luxury not to be savoured every day!

I can continue with my musing, but I fear that I may begin rambling.  The chain just continues to grow and grow, and my journey back in time can certainly last a lifetime!

Linnie   12 October 2O15

ROADWORKS

One day we were, as usual, merrily travelling along our local “highway” – heavy peak-hour traffic as usual with patient drivers listening to a cacophony of drumbeats, rhythmically nodding their heads and drumming their steering wheels.  The sounds were kindly shared by these drivers who were transported along their weird and wonderful journeys of blissful oblivion!

There appeared from nowhere, men with orange jackets – these men with white markers and tripods were marking places along the roadside.  Drivers casually saw them, not really grasping what was to come.

Yellow tape was gaily strung along the roadside limiting our regular flow of traffic to a lane or two; normal road markings were eliminated and we were guided by danger signs and white barrels.  Traffic slowed down to walking pace and drivers either impatiently drummed their fingers, or listened to their favourite radio station.  No use getting ourselves into a panic or a frenzy – everyone eventually gets where he or she wants to be, even though it may be a little (or a lot) later!

Palm trees which grew on the sidewalk, were hoisted away with cranes, to be relocated to greener pastures.   See, we don’t limit our green-feelings only to wild animals!  Great bulldozers roared - a herd of wild elephants was on its way!  Great mounds of sand and rubble were scraped away and moved a couple of meters onwards; front-end loaders flashing their mighty teeth reared their gigantic heads, greedily grabbing  mouthfuls of earth carting them to waiting trucks.  The noise level increased by several decibels …

Soon, the first group of men were replaced by teams of workers : each one lazily and leisurely digging and picking away at our once-upon-a-time roads.  About fifty workers, each one knowing what to do, even though to the ignorant spectators it appears to be a slow-motion drama unfolding before our eyes.  Every day progress is noted and one can appreciate that they actually DO seem to know what they are doing!

In a month or two, all these operations will be memory, and we shall have forgotten the frustration and late appointments caused by the roadworks!  Hopefully the peak-hour traffic will move at a more rapid pace, and all will be NORMAL!

What is NORMAL I ask myself.  Is NORMAL the everyday occurrence to which we have all become accustomed , or is it perhaps some future vision which we have, imagining the perfect life!

Linnie

9 july  2O15

FIVE PENNIES

Five Pennies

This little penny is to wish on    

And make your wishes come true. 

This little penny is to dream on, 

Dream of all you can do!

This little penny is a dancing penny 

See how it glitters and it glows 

           Bright as a whistle             

Light as a thistle

          Quick, quick as a wink            

        Up on its twinkling toes,          

This little penny is to laugh on    

To see that tears never fall!

          And this little penny               

     Is the last little penny          

     Most important of all            

For this little penny is to love on

And where love is, 

heaven is there 

       so with just five pennies,           

if they’re these five pennies   

        You’ll be a millionaire!             

For this little penny is to love on

And where love is, 

heaven is there

       So with just five pennies,          

if they’re these five pennies   

You’ll be a millionaire!

(Sung by Danny Kaye in a Movie with the same name in 1959)

FIVE PENNIES

I heard this little song over the radio this morning, and it made me think a while :

Yes we can all be millionaires if we allow ourselves to enjoy the blessings of everyday things such as

       

               Wishes,    Dreams,    Dancing,    Laughter,    Love

The lyrics are so simple – the song was sung to the main character’s little daughter at bedtime every night, and imagine what dreams she dreamt because these were the last words she heard before falling asleep!

We don’t have bedtime songs sung to us, but we can become as little children and believe that the FIVE  LITTLE  PENNIES  can make us millionaires!

Linnie   

 7 june 2O15

ONE OF MY HOBBIES

I am sitting in front of my pc – I started off by wanting to download some books to read on my Kindle, but was sidestepped by the following pictures which I took a little while ago.  I enjoyed every moment of the lengthy preparations and the exciting progress which I experienced while making  my mosaic creation – I was transported down memory lane : a lane down which one always seems too busy to venture!

CAMERA

I remember Mom’s little box camera – a Brownie.  This little gem always enthralled me, and I always wondered whoever could invent such a miracle.  Some of my best memories of my childhood, were of me looking at all the black and white photos in the bottom drawer of her wardrobe!  Sometimes she would sit with me, and explain who the people were -  I could actually remember the names of some of them : Daphne was her good friend who passed away years later.  Then there were other friends of hers.  She used to tell me how much fun they all had going out in a group. Mom and her sister Babsie were good friends and always went out together.  They also worked at the same places, and the London Fur Company was often mentioned.  Little Linnie fantasised about these “friends”, and I tried to image myself being there sharing in their laughter and fun!  I still nostalgically wonder what happened to these photos.

The enchantment of the camera, brings to mind another occasion in my life.  I was always very fond of painting and colouring-in pictures.  There was a competition somewhere, and colouring in a picture of yachts on a lake, was the challenge. The first prize was a cine camera, and the second prize was a bicycle!  I dreamed of this bicycle and envisioned myself riding of the Ralleigh with white mudguards!  Every effort was put into the colouring of the picture.  I decided that I wouldn’t do the conventional colouring with pencils – I used Dad’s oil paints and dabbed the colours onto the paper like some great professional artist!  My aim was to win the “bike”!  The entry was mailed and Mom advised that I should forget about it  -  I’m sure she didn’t want me to be too disappointed.  About a month later, the postman came to the door and delivered a telegram in an orange envelope.  Yes, those days we had real telegrams delivered to us!  “Congratulations! You have won 1^st Prize!”  Imagine how excited I was – we all jumped up and down with joy.  This Cine Camera brought me much joy and every moving thing was photographed. Many years later I bought my first brand new bike when I started working and paid a whole R55 for it!

Cameras evolved from the old fashioned ones which used films to be developed at a great cost – which we could ill afford.  Later on, some places developed the films, and they provided a boo-boo box!  These rejects didn’t have to be paid for, and in the beginning my boo-boo’s were more than the good ones!

The era of the digital camera came into being.  Louise’s good friend, Marie had a magical camera – this little gadget took pictures and one didn’t have to develop the photos!  My little brain couldn’t fathom the intricacies of this miracle, and we had such fun taking pictures, and deleting the rejects … at absolutely no expense whatever!  Laughter and pulling of faces and just having nonsense lasted many enjoyable hours!  Thanks to Marie’s little miracle!

I still have the feeling that my camera is still one of my most precious possessions,  I can understand

that artists see things and just know that they need to be painted.  I see them and realise that they are calling to be photographed!  These days our cell phones take the place of the good old faithful cameras – the reason being that we always have them with us at all times.  But, my real camera still gets dusted off periodically when we go on a holiday trip to beautiful places which just yearn to be photographed!

Linnie

14 May 2O15

PLESIER

Ja, Fanie kan enigeen baie vertel van die mielie!

Hy het sy hele loopbaan gewy aan die boere en hul gesaaides - hy kan jou alles vertel van die grondvoorbereiding, planttyd, voedingsprogramme en natuurlik die eindproduk.

Hy het saam met die boere die lande ondersoek en saam met hulle vir reën op die regte tyd gebid.  Mens kan mos nie ànders nie – dis mos hulle inkomste en hul grootste liefde!  Sy grootste beloning en genot is en was egter, om die heerlike mielies uit te soek, blare af te stroop en dan volgens sy presies-berekende tyd te kook!  Almal in ons familie weet dat dit seker een van sy gunstelingkossoorte is, en nét hy kan so heerlik  toe-oog met plesier daaraan smul!

 Mielie video

Een ding wat my baie plesier verskaf, is om langs die strand te stap en al die wonders van die natuur

waar te neem.  Die branders wat nimmereindigend  na die strand toe rommel,  bring ‘n rustigheid in my gemoed.  Dit maak nie saak wat mens probeer om dit te keer nie, die branders sal aanhou en aanhou kom!  Met die stap op die seesand, is daar ‘n menigte klein wonderwerkies wat ek ondersoek en ek het altyd my kamera byderhand om dit vas te lê.  Stap vir stap op die sagte sand en die klank van die bruisende branders is goeie terapie vir enige rustelose siel.  Wanneer ek aan die strand dink, sien ek in my geestes-oog, hoe ons op ‘n piekniekkombers onder ‘n helderkleurige sonsambreel ons flessie koffie en houer met toebroodjies nader trek!

Toe ons Kaapse kleinkinders nog baie klein was, was hulle grootste bederf om see toe te gaan en te gaan piekniek hou.  Ek moes alles, saam met hulle, gereed kry vir ons piekniek :  fles, broodjies, koekies, lekkers, vrugte, kombers, sambreel – en natuurlik sonbrandsalfie.  Die voorbereidings was sò deel van ons plesier en die afwagting was deel van ons groot pret!  Die emmertjies en grafies moes ook saamgaan.; sandkastele moes gebou word, en gate moes gegrawe word, en hulle het darem ook uitbundig die water aangedurf  Dit was altyd groot pret en vreeslik plesierig!  Maar … die oppak en huiswaarts keer was egter nie so plesierig nie, maar beloftes vir nog ‘n strandpiekniek in die nabye toekoms, het darem getroos.

Linnie

4 Mei 2O15

WINDE

Winde speel ‘n rol in mens se alledaagse lewe.  Afhangende van jou ouderdom, het dit verskillende betekenisse.

Vir ‘n jong Mamma met ‘n klein babatjie, beteken “wind” die allerbelangrike bydrae tot ‘n rustige òf ontstuimige nagrus.

                       Die winde wat die baba  pla,                

                       laat arme bloedjie aanhou kla,-                

                       en moedertjie tot raserny dryf,                

                       Dus moet sy maar die ruggie vryf!          

                       Met liefie-woordjies en aanhou sus,     

                       word die winde verlos, en kalmte rus        

                       weereens oor almal en vrede heers;           

                       Salige, soete nagrus – goed vir die gees! 

         

Later het ek meer bewus geword dat wind ‘n belangrike deel vorm van ‘n plaasboer se bestaan.  Hy is afhanklik van wind wat uit die regte rigting waai – hy kan soggens op sy stoep staan en oor die wuiwende lande staar en hy kan sien of dit ‘n “goeie” dag of droë dag sal wees.

Winde van verandering het in my lewe plaasgevind. Toe ek ‘n kind was, was wind net ‘n ding wat maar altyd daar was- wat fietsry bemoeilik het en wat hare deurmekaar gewaai het!  Maar die bewuswording van dié element het sy verskyning gemaak toe ons uit die Wes-Transvaal Kaap toe verhuis het.   Die soektog na ‘n geskikte huis het begin, en daar was talle goedbedoelde wenke oor watter rigting die huis moet front.  “Nee man, hierdie huis staan verkeerd!  Die vensters front dan almal suid-oos.  Julle moet dink aan die SEDOOSTER!”  Ek het myself afgevra waarom hierdie dan so belangrik moet wees!  Die W-woord kom male sonder tal in mense se woordeskat voor.  “Hierdie een se voordeur front noord – maar pasop vir die NOORDWESTER!”  Ek was voorheen nooit bewus daarvan dat wind so ‘n deel van mens se lewe sou word nie!

Wanneer die SEDOOSTER waai, durf jy nie op straat verskyn met ‘n mooi wye romp aan – nee, ‘n langbroek vir man en vrou is ‘n noodsaaklikheid.  Wanneer  die wind in sy volle felheid waai, klou jy aan die naaste persoon wanneer jy  gebukkend voor-oor die besige straat moet oorsteek.  Kom winter, swaai die wind – dan kom die NOORDWESTER.  Enige gesoute Kapenaar kan vertel wat dìt beteken.  Ja, Die winterreën is hier!  Doer in die rigting noordwes, pak die wolke saam, dan wéét ons : hier kom ‘n ding!  Die fyn geelperskereën wat vir dae kan aanhou, is my gunsteling-soort.  Dit bring oor my gemoed  kalmte en rustigheid – en die beste van alles is, mens kan lekker snoesig, toegewoel in wintergewaad en met koue hande gevou om ‘n stomende beker koffie, gesels oor … die NOORDWESTER wat die welkome reën bring!

Linnie

28 April 2O15

KRALE

Toe ek ‘n dogtertjie was, was een van my heerlikste ervarings om langbeen in die sonnetjie saam met ons huishulp Anna, te sit.  Sy het my baie geduldig geleer hoe om etniese kralewerk te doen.  Ai, die  fraaie kleure van die krale het my oneindig gefassineer, en sy was ‘n meester onderwyseres  “Kom nou Nônna, jy moet sò maak.”  My dom vingers wou net nie daardie fyn kraletjies raakvat nie en my lang garedrade het gekoek en geknoop.  Uiteindelik kon ek darem spog met ‘n stuk kralewerk, al was dit skeef en krom – ‘n stuk werk wat soos ‘n platgedrukte reghoek gelyk het!  Maar, dit maak nie saak nie, want ek het die kuns bemeester!   Ek kon later lettertjies in die kralewerk inweef en kon selfs ander patrone maak!

Vroeg in my laerskoolloopban het ons in Stilfontein gewoon waar ek in ‘n dubbelmediumskool was.   Ai, wat het ek daardie dae geweet van “dual medium”!  Al wat ek geweet het, was dat die Afrikaanse kinders, die “Rockspiders” en die Engelse kinders, die “Souties”, aardsvyande was.  Ons het mekaar gedurende pouses getreiter en geterg, en op die sportveld was dit altyd ONS teen HULLE!

Die Laerskool en Hoërskool het gronde en ‘n skoolsaal gedeel, en elke Vrydag-oggend het albei skole saam saalgodsdiens bygewoon.  Hierdie byeenkomste, waar al die kinders uit volle bors gesing het was genoeg om ‘n graad eentjie te laat sidder!  Om saam met ‘n klomp mansstemme te sing was ook heeltemal nuut.  Wat my die meeste getref het, was die Afrikaanse Godsdiensliedjies wat ons gesing het : “As Hy weer kom .. kom haal Hy Sy pêrels … al die kindergesiggies, soos die sterre se liggies …” was my gunsteling.  Ek het nie mooi alles verstaan waaroor daar gesing word nie, maar dit was sò lekker om toe-oog, kliphard saam te sing!  Ek kon my indink hoe al die mooi pêrels en kindergesiggies in Jesus se Kroon sal lyk!  Vergete was die vete tussen die Souties en Rockspiders – ons het almal saam in albei tale gesing en gebid.

Linnie

27 april 2O15

LOST AND FOUND

                    “YOU NEED TO GET LOST BEFORE YOU GET FOUND”

There are quite a few songs which come to mind when I see these words, and this also sends me on a nostalgic and sometimes stressful journey which I find myself travelling.  One of the worst things I can imagine for myself, is to lose something.  I would rather throw away the item or even destroy it, before I can accept myself losing it!  Often I “lose” something, only to find it years later in the place where I had placed it for safe-keeping! 

When we were visiting our children in New Zealand, we went to a busy shopping mall during the Christmas rush. This great grandmother was babysitting little Linay while she was playing in the play-centre of the mall, and my handbag was mislaid somewhere!  What utter distress I experienced when I actually realised that it was missing : my “whole life” was inside the bag!  Credit cards, driver’s licence, store cards and everything which was dear to me – not to mention my leather purse and the bag itself!  Deep breaths and soul searching couldn’t bring to mind how I could have lost it!  What to do first?  Action one was to report it lost.  Second action was to contact hubby who was at our daughter’s house.  He was my gallant knight on a white stallion who phoned and cancelled all my cards.  The whole family was very supportive and nobody asked the all important question : HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A STUPID THING – I reserved that question for myself! 

My whole holiday seemed doomed and very gloomy, but I decided to mentally shake myself and put

Picture from the Internet

on a smile and to bravely face the world.  Have you ever wondered whether miracles happen in these modern days?  Well a miracle certainly happened to me the following day – My bag was picked up by some wonderful angel-person in the Mall and it was handed in to security!  Feelings from utter despondence to highest elation were experienced all within 24 hours!  See-saw Marjory Daw … all in the space of a few hours!!

This morning I was rushing to go out, and dropped one of my earrings onto the floor.  Little Lolla was, as she always is, round my feet, and hey presto : no more earring!  I imagined myself walking behind her for 24 hours with a little sieve to do the necessary mining!  I felt my blood pressure plummet to tingling low, only to rise to a blushing high!  During a quick trot down the passage for last minute chores, I saw a sparkling little diamond stud on the carpet!  I guess this glittering little morsel wasn’t too appetising after all!  See-saw Marjory Daw …

I can “lose” myself in a good book, and “find” myself in a whole new world of make-believe!  I can lose my temper, and subsequently find that I am full of remorse soon afterwards! I can lose some weight, and then before I can really appreciate my slimmer body, find that I have gained it all again.  Once again : See-saw Marjory Daw!!

YOU NEED TO GET LOST BEFORE YOU GET FOUND

Linnie

26 April 2O15

LAUNDRY

We have a perfect, sunny day, and naturally, being a housewife with necessary daily chores, household washing is one of the priorities.  While hanging up the washing, I climbed into the ever-present time machine and went on one of my captivating trips. On these impromptu journeys, I find myself soaring into long-forgotten places.

Gone are the days of bending over washing troughs and using homemade soap for this task!  I remember Aunty Susie had large zinc baths for her laundry. The one for the washing had a loose-standing washing board with a ridged surface with which she used green blocks of Sunlight soap and plenty of elbow grease.  Then there was an even bigger one for the rinsing of washing.  Reckitts Blue blocks were used, and this vibrantly blue water always fascinated me.  I think that the memory of this blue water was the origin of it being my most favourite colour!

I was always enchanted to see what a gigantic process this laundry-thing entailed.  It was Mabel’s

task to perform the weekly miracles.  The clean cotton bedsheets had to be wrung dry, and this needed more than one person to perform this task.  I was too small to help, but I was amazed to see the precise teamwork required to wring them dry.  She had a hand-driven mangle or wringer which rounded off this task.  The snowy, clean sheets had to be shaken vigorously before they were hung on the washing line to dry, and part of the magic process was to put four pegs into her mouth for easy access!  The others were in her apron pocket which housed the rest.  I secretly practised this little action until I eventually mastered this special art! 

I remember Mom also mastered the art of putting the pegs into her mouth while hanging washing – she must have learned from her Mother!  I made myself useful by passing the washing to Mom, just wishing for the time to pass.  There was a very special sequence which I had to adhere to : first socks, then undies followed by shirts – these had to be hung with the bottom end over the line so that the collars weren’t unnecessarily creased!  I could then make use of my newly acquired talent of the four washpegs in my mouth!

What an achievement!

Linnie

23 april 2O15

OUR  CATS

Dougie's little Snowy

When we were newlyweds, we “inherited” a mongrel Siamese with no tail.  This Kitty was awfully fierce, and when my in-laws came to visit with their Wollie, my Kitty was, much to my consternation, banished to the bedroom with a closed door – he attacked poor little pooch!
I’m actually a doggy-person and have an allergic reaction to cat hairs.  But, that doesn’t deter the little feline creatures when we go and visit friends.  My radar attracts them like a magnet, and my lap always seems more attractive than others!

Our Siamese kitty came into our lives and naturally a suitable name eluded us.  She proved to be an excellent poacher of pigeons.  There were huge trees which brought meals to this little critter, who in turn brought them into the house.  She then proceeded to eat her offerings on our bed.  I guess she feathered our nest!  We resorted to placing a bell onto her collar to warn the birds : and thus Tinkerbell was her name! … This little bell served to entice all the birds and she became the little pied piper who called her bird friends to her!

Our Kitty had to be transported in our car when we moved from inland to the coast.  Here I must mention that Mom and I travelled in my car, and two doggies and Polly parrot in her cage were also our passengers.   Advice from all quarters streamed in and eventually out vet gave tranquillisers to be administered to her, guaranteeing a safe and uneventful journey.  This proved to be fiction, and eventually we resorted to putting her into an orange sack!  Shame … her torment and frustration caused the two of us to experience hysterical giggles and an endless nightmarish journey!

Tinkles, as she was affectionately called, settled into her new surroundings.  She disappeared one year on Guy Fawkes night when she was frightened by the fireworks.  For two weeks we combed our neighbourhood calling her, - I put up notices in all the local shops and the local vet , an advert was placed in the local newspaper and posters with her photo were posted into neighbouring folks’ mailboxes!  Tears were shed and memories were dug from the archives of our minds – we simply could not believe that Tinkles could just disappear.

We received a telephone call from a lady after two weeks, telling us that a Siamese cat has been living under a bush in her garden for several days and didn’t seem to want to leave.  We all rushed to this place, and our emotions went from total exhilaration to absolute distress!  Tinkles was paralysed in her hind quarters!  With great sadness we decided that euthanasia was the best solution, but our vet thought otherwise!  He said that we should “give her a chance”.  Well, this was a mammoth task of love and endurance for her and for us!  We had to carry her, hold her, support her and train her to walk again.  It was heart-wrenching to see this brave little kitty dragging her hind legs along.  Love and perseverance were rewarded with an almost-normal Tinkles who survived happily with only a slight limp for a long time afterward!  She was our brave little Kitty with the heart of a lion!

Later we adopted an orphan white kitty.  With much hesitation and trepidation I brought her to our home.  We had an extremely lively Cocker Spaniel, so white kitty was enclosed in the bedroom for a while.  She became known as Kattie.  In time, I discovered her to be deaf, and thus began our eventful  and exciting journey of  learning and teaching cat sign language : waving hands = get off the table; clapping hands - calling for food;  come hither hand signs = come here!  She was very happy and contented, and we all learnt a lot.

I have run out of cat stories, so we have decided that we shan’t have any more feline friends in our household!

Linnie

22 April 2O15

MY MA SE WERKSMANDJIE

Moeder se werksmandjie is vol van onthou-goed!  Stukkende sokkies, knope wat aangewerk moet word, wol, garetolletjies, spelde, en skêre.  Hierdie items voer ‘n heerlike gesprek met mekaar …

Die wit skoolsokkie kla aaneen, en haar gesanik raak meer en meer entonig : “Ek moet elke dag skool toe gaan en ek moet heeldag in die klaskamer sit en luister na die juffrou se temerige stem.  Ek word rondgeskuifel in die bedompige ou skoolskoen, en wanneer dit pouse is, word ek geskuur en geskaaf teen die swart skoolskoen wanneer Ousus uitbundig rondhardloop en speel.  Ek het maar besluit om te sorg dat ek deurgeskaaf word sodat ek ‘n rukkie in hierdie werksmandjie kan rus voordat die Moeder my weer stop!”

Die groen en wit gestreepte rugbykous sing ‘n heel ander deuntjie : “Boetie het my gedra toe hy rugbyproewe gespeel het. Ai, dit was ‘n fees om deel te kon wees van al die opwinding.  Die skare wat uitbundig geskree en gejuig het toe hy die wendrie aangeteken het, was die toppunt van my lewe!  Ek was sò spyt dat ek deurgeskaaf was en dat ek nou hier in die werksmandjie moet lê en wag totdat die Moeder my kan stop!”

Wol sê ewe selfvoldaan: “Ja, Moeder kan niks sonder my herstel nie – ek is tog ‘n noodsaaklike deel van die heelmaakproses.  Ek sien daarna uit om in die rugbykous ingeweef te word sodat ek ook deel kan wees van die volgende rugbywegstryde.”

“Aag,” sê die wit garetolletjie, “my beurt sal ook kom.  Sommer binnekort sal ek ook gebruik word om die skoolsokkie weer splinternuut te maak.  Ek weet sommer dat wanneer die werkie klaar is, my sokkie-maatjie weer nuwe moed en entoesiasme vir die lewe sal hê.  Sy sal nie meer oor Sus kla nie, en sy sal al die spelery en rondhardloop saam kan geniet!”

Die bont spul knopies wat in die glasbotteltjie is, lag en gesels so opgeruimd dat mens amper nie die ander stemme kan hoor nie.  Dit klink soos ‘n klompie vrolike vinke wat in die groot boom in die erf kwetter en rinkink!  Hulle kan nie wag om op Sus se rokkie, Boetie se trui, en Moeder se jas aangewerk te word nie.  Ek het gehoor dat Moeder beplan om ‘n pragtige naaldwerk kuns-item met ‘n groot deel van die knope en al die helderkleurige garings te maak.  Ek is seker die knope het dit ook gehoor en dat dìt die rede is waarom hulle so opgewonde is!

Moeder se werksmandjie word nooit leeg nie.  Elke dag word items bygevoeg en die stories van die kledingstukkies word àl hoe interressanter.  Nuwe gare en wol sal gekoop word en naalde en spelde sal aangevul word.

Ek is nou ‘n Moeder, en ek wonder watter stories  en klaagliedere die artikels in MY mandjie onder mekaar uitgeruil sal word!                                                    

 Linnie     21 April 2015