My darling mother, Thelma Whittle, would have been 98 today.
Four years since she died. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and yet, at others, it seems so very long ago. But all the same, I miss her terribly.
I have mentioned in the past that I get my gift of writing from her. She kept personal diaries from before she was married. She never wrote too much, she usually wrote when she would have liked to have had someone to talk to, I think. An outlet for her emotions.
But little did she know that one day, these same diaries would be a source of such comfort to me, when I am feeling down and lonely!
As I started writing this, I got up, walked to the bookshelf and pulled out one of the books at random, hoping it might contain the 15th August of some year. I opened it and started to look through the pages.
I found it. I read it, smiled and then cried. I am not divulging what was written there in 1957, but I would prefer that you open the photo attached below and read it for yourself.
This is how I get the comfort and assurance that I was so loved by the most amazing parents anyone could hope for.
My mom loved daffodils…
and for as long as I can remember, she always had one or more #daffodil opened in her garden on the 15th August.
I have been sent personal messages from far and wide from moms friends and family thinking about her today. Thank you all. The most astonishing was from Angi, my niece from Cape Town who has a pot plant with a Daffodil flowering today. A second bud is waiting to open in her garden. So once more, mom got her flower of choice.
My web page #NolaDWrites…
I have been told that my web page will be designed during this week. I am so very excited about this venture, but have been looking at many tutorials and videos on “what makes a good Blog” and the doubts are starting to kick in.
One important point that I heard, was that one has to make the blog about others, in other words, the reader…. And not oneself. This is contrary to everything I write! As you know by now, I do the direct opposite.
Oh well, time and experience will tell whether it is a success or not, but I plan to continue in the same manner as I have been doing and hope it continues to grow.
#Landscaping…
Petros returned from his Saturday morning landscaping job and was so keen to show me a video of the progress he is making there. He is utilising the same method of pathways and stairs as he has done to make our banks more accessible.
But he was so excited to share the way in which they were stabilising the stairs there.
They are using a trunk of a fleshy tree, similar to a wild banana, and securing them in place by hammering cut and sharpened bamboo pieces in front of each tread.
Yesterday he went out looking for these wild trees to harvest for the stairs he has made here.
He called in this morning, grinning from ear to ear and bursting with pride. He will be going to cut the necessary number down, cut them to size and then give me a call to come and collect the bag.
I do hope that we don’t find ourselves in the police station in the near future! He assures me that they are growing on common land and I have nothing to worry about. We will have to wait and see.
Our #MexicanTrain afternoon went off well. What a competitive bunch we are. The bangers, mash, mushy peas and carrots were delicious and the pudding was enough for 8 people. We made short work of the pudding and had no left overs.
The food, which was left over, was shared between two of us and I had my 2nd helping for lunch today.
One of the ladies brought a Ziplock bag with a number of sticks of dried wors for us to share as well. Apparently her grandson, who goes shooting in Gauteng with his father, actually shot the buck, and insisted that she only took HIS wors. While I am used to beef dried wors, this was the first time I tried buck. It was absolutely delicious.
Tenpin…
Tomorrow will see the mad #tenpin bowling squad making more noise than the children while playing the game. I am so happy to have all these wonderful friends around to keep me on my toes
