Update Sunday 18 December 2022
I have been quiet lately. Doing a little introspection which I felt was needed.
While life continued normally during the past month I took a break away from my nearly daily Blog and today I have come to a conclusion.
I write, not to see how many people are going to read and comment on the content, it is because I really enjoy writing. An added advantage is that it acts as my diary, something that, as I age, comes in handy. I can look back on my days and be reminded of where I was and what I did.
I doubt I am the only one who finds not only the days whizzing by, but the weeks and months as well. in a weeks time it will be Christmas. It feels as tho it was last week that a number of my friends were discussing their up-coming plans to travel to New Zealand, Australia, Cape Town or many other exotic destinations in December. It felt that they were preparing for them too early, but, just like that, the months have flown – and now they are all on their holidays around the world.
Painting my flat…
The last month has been busy for me. I moved into my current home 19 years ago. It had been newly painted by the previous owner and it remained virtually unchanged from that day on. However, anyone living in this part of Natal will attest to the fact that the moisture, rain, wear and tear on any building shows eventually.
Little spider cracks were starting to show through the paint. On the prevailing side of the building, where rain beats down relentlessly, small moisture bubbles started to form on the walls and unclad windowsills. Although the aluminium, floor to ceiling windows in the lounge were well fitted and silicone sealer used, it never totally kept the rain out.
As I was not able to travel to Sweden this year I decided to use my savings on the flat instead. I was given the name of a painter who came highly recommended and he called to discuss what would be needed to do the job. His cost was acceptable to me so then the next step was to work out the paint colour, what extra items would be needed and how to progress with this venture.
My previous wall colour was a pleasing creamy shade that certainly didn’t clash with any of my furnishings. However I decided that I would like to have a real change and settled on painting the whole flat a pale shade of grey. This is where I discovered that what paint swatches and small samples show, are hardly what one ends up with. Breezy Gray, my chosen colour, turned out to have a decidedly blue/lilac undertone. I hated it immediately.
On the return to the shop I settled on a Ghost Grey, light sheen paint. As Dennis painted it I could see that it was a little darker than I really wished it to be… but by this stage, it was too late to change my mind again. He started in the kitchen and then moved on to the lounge and dining room. From there it was down the passage, patching areas where poly filler had been dislodged over the years each time a door slammed when the dreadful wind suddenly started blowing and I could not close the windows quickly enough.
Although our block of flats is very well built, unfortunately the cupboards inside the flats and the finishing around the doors and architraves were of shoddy quality. I know that neither of my sons would ever have done work like this. But then, I have been spoilt by having 3 very talented master craftsmen as sons and husband over the years and I am biased.
Dennis asked that I purchase acrylic silicone sealer and he has managed to close up all the gaps and badly fitted corners to the woodwork and the improvement is very apparent. Next week he will be tackling the two remaining bedrooms and then will start on painting all the very damaged frames and cupboard doors.,
Tenpin Bowling…
After I retired I joined the Phantom Tenpin Bowling League. It was so exciting. I loved it. I played each Wednesday morning with Susanne, Katie and Vish. They were three experienced players and they were so kind to me, teaching me etiquette, how to play and gave me so much encouragement to continue. It was with great sadness that I stopped playing after my feet got too bad to continue.
Now, being back at the game, it was a very happy occasion to find that Vish was still playing, and I was able to reconnect with him. Sadly, Katie had died in the interim and Susanne, who had lost her husband, had moved to Umhlanga on the North Coast. But on arriving to play league on Thursday during the month, I was so saddened to find out that Vish had died that day from a heart attack. It took the wind right out of my sails.
There are are absolutely no assurances that things will continue unchanged during one’s life and as I get older I am finding that the changes are happening more and more frequently. There are friends moving away, family getting ill, health issues arising, E. coli in the ocean I always thought was a healthy place to swim as the salt water healed sores…. No, the world is changing in ways I don’t like, but have no control over.
But the only thing we can control as the world warps and evolves is how we manage ourselves. There are so many really good things still going on around us, friends who want to be in our lives, places to visit, songs to listen to and to keep positive thoughts alive.
