I must have been about 6 years old when I first discovered that time was fluid, sometimes it would seem to take forever and other times it sped up so fast…
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I am starting this blog trying to explain what you need to do to see my blog. In Facebook you will see a photo graph with the words below giving the Update Tuesday 13 September written below is. To see the whole blog just click on the Update wording and you will be able to read the whole blog.
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As I look out my window at the softly falling rain, my mind goes back to over a decade ago…
When waking on a Sunday in those days, I would be very excited and at the same time very apprehensive. You see, I had decided that Toti needed a Rambling Group much like the Pietermaritzburg Ramblers which I had been part of for approximately 10 years before I moved here.
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I just love this photo of little children. Apparently, it is on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, China and is a popular place for adoptive parents to take photos of their new acquisitions, before taking them home to their new land.
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The younger generation will not know this, but when I was a little girl and went to the local bioscope, as we called the cinema in those days, it was customary for us to actually stand at some point in the proceedings when the “God Save the Queen” anthem would be played.
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Sadly I have found that not many of my Facebook followers have continued to follow me since I started my Blog on noladwrites.com. The number of people has dwindled and it is disappointing.
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Monday is usually Aqua day and today was no exception. The water was meant to be nice and warm and my favourite trainer was to do the class. I stayed in bed a little longer than I should have, so when I eventually got up and ready, I didn’t have time to make the bed.
It was a super class, plenty of movement and a jolly good workout.
After arriving home, for some reason, I felt my right ear lobe. I got a really sick feeling in my tummy. My earing was gone! All my jewelry that I wear is special to me. The little sterling silver ones I had on today were given to me by my late friend, Nikki, on her return from the UK about 30 years ago.
They have the Celtic Knot design and, although I seldom wear them as they are rather tiny, I had decided to do so yesterday when I wore a scarf around my neck and didn’t need dangly ones.
My first thought was that the missing earring might be in my top that I got changed into at the gym. It wasn’t there. Then I shook out my towel, costume and swimming cap, praying that it would be there. No luck.
At this stage I phoned my gym friend who I knew was going to be going later on in the morning and sent her the photo of the remaining earring, asking her to please go and look for it at reception and in the change rooms. She was willing to do this.
After this disaster I decided to make my bed that I hurriedly jumped out of this morning. And there, below the pillow, I found the earring! What a lucky break was that. So messaged the friend and admitted that I was responsible after all and she need not go looking for it. Disaster averted.
I am going to try a different thing on my blog tonight.
A friend sent me a video of a number of very useful tips to be used in the kitchen.
Some of them I have heard of before, but the one about the avocado, I must admit, I thought was a load of hogwash. So this morning, after I had made my toast, I did what the video said, and surprisingly enough, it worked like a treat.
I hope that you all find something that might appeal to you too.
Sunday is always a lovely day for me and today was no exception. A friend and I had plans to go out to lunch and chose what used to be called, RJ’s Restaurant, but is now known as 19 Beach Road Restaurant. But what you will know it as, is the same place where I always have my cappuccino after tenpin bowling each Tuesday.
As the Tenpin Girls sit and enjoy our coffee and snacks, we quite often have wondered how the establishment keeps going as most of the time there are only a handful of people around.
However, today was different. Being a Sunday, it was absolutely packed. The section downstairs was pumping with the sounds of all the slot machines and other arcade games and I was grateful to know that this sound would not carry upstairs into the seating area of the restaurant.
I was right – but what I didn’t know was that there were a couple of children’s parties taking place in the upstairs section. Oh my word how times have changed. I can remember when we took children anywhere in “the olden days”, one made sure that one controlled the volume and the way in which the kids behaved around others.
This is no longer the case. The one table must have had approximately twenty pre teens around it. Each one shouting as loudly as they could, parents sitting around them, totally oblivious to the ruckus, nor the trouble it was causing to the other patrons at the restaurant.
Both Priscilla and I agreed that we would have preferred to have been at Lords and Legends where the music is played loudly but there were breaks in-between.
The food was a little overcooked as well, but the wine, a Robertson, was absolutely delicious and made us both feel a little more relaxed!
In Turkey we did get to see the Topkapi Palace and Hareem. It was nowhere as impressive as the Dolmabahce Palace. It had not been kept in its original state and was more like a museum.
All the plates and dishes in one huge section, the gold and jewelry in another, cooking pots in another etc. A few of the items that stood out from the rest were:
The Topkapi Dagger, a most beautiful work of art with an emerald the size of an egg in it’s hilt. This was a present from Murat 1 to Nadis Shah, which was waylaid and brought back when the news of the Shah’s death reached Topkapi. The dagger is decorated with three enormous emeralds, one of which conceals a watch, suggesting rather different attitudes to time and mortality than those you’ll find in modern day fiction, where watches are more likely to conceal weapons than vice versa! This item was displayed on its own, in a case of black velvet with a spot light showing it’s splendor.
The other item of interest was the Spoonmaker Diamond. This is the 5th biggest diamond in the world. It was first shown on Mehmet IV’s turban at his coronation in 1648. The golden ceremonial throne, which was presented by the governor of Egypt to Murat III on his accession in 1574, was also in the same room.
Across the courtyard from the treasury, the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle houses the holy relics brought home by Selim the Grim after his conquest of Egypt in 1517. These relics were originally only viewed by the sultan, his family and immediate entourage on days of special religious significance, but were opened to the public in 1962.
They include the footprint, hair and tooth of the Prophet Mohammed, as well as his mantle and standard, swords of the first four caliphs and a letter from the Prophet to the leader of the Coptic tribe. The most precious of these relics are kept behind glass, attractively arranged and lit up for all to see.
In the inner section of this pavilion, they have a priest singing out of the Koran throughout the day. They requested that as little noise as possible be made.
Fred was so impressed by one of the other exhibits, the sword of Mohammed, that he took a photo of it to take back to his Muslim friends in South Africa.
It was a decidedly cold day and I only had my shorts and blouse on. In the afternoon we had to stand in line to buy tickets to see the Harem at the Topkapi palace. They only allowed 60 people in at a time and then just closed the ticket office until those people came out, then the next lot were permitted to enter. We waited in line for over an hour.
This harem was also impressive. The word, Harem means “forbidden” in Arabic – while in Turkish it refers to a suite of apartments in a palace or private residence where the head of the household lived with his wives, female slaves and children. One of the Sultans, Murat III fathered a total of 103 children, 54 of whom survived him.
One of the most unusual sights that I remember was the one bedroom which was used by the Sultan. On the left hand wall as one entered the room were four or five slabs of marble jutting out of the wall at different heights. Water used to flow over those slabs of marble like a waterfall. The carried on all day and night so that anyone outside the room could never hear the conversations taking place inside the room. On the right hand side, in the two corners, were low cushions which were used for seating. High above these cushions were two very elaborate gold surrounds which we were told, were the actual beds that the sultan slept in.
They must have been at least 7 foot off the ground and he had to use a ladder to climb up onto them, to sleep.
And speaking of sleeping, I will be ending off for tonight. Till next time….
Petros has a Saturday landscaping job in Amanzimtoti. It is not that far from where we stay, but it is right at the top of a very long, steep hill. He has been putting in extra time during the week completing the bamboo pathway that he designed, and his health, right now, is not that robust.
I offer to give him a lift to his job on the Saturday mornings, just to help him to get there fresh, to work for the day. As usual I got out the car just before 7:15, closed the gate of my garage and waited. Eventually at 7:30 Bianca was put back in the garage and I went upstairs to get on with my day.
He had overslept – and was so apologetic when he eventually surfaced at 8 a.m that I took him anyway.
I feel so sorry for all the people around here who only have Shanks Pony to ride. There is no bus service and the taxi operators obviously don’t do a drive around the suburbs looking for passengers!
Even if there were these additional forms of transport available, the cost would make it difficult to justify.
I see the old and the lame walking up Adams Road on their way back to their homes after being in the CBD. Until you experience the discomfort of trying to use a crutch to move around on when you are in desperate pain, it means nothing to you to drive past them without a second thought.
Before the crime became so prevalent, I would stop the car and offer to take the old Gran or Grandad up the hill to their destination. We all used to do it. Now, none of us are prepared to stop the car and offer someone a lift. This is just another way that the crime has affected each and every one of us.
There is a Chinese proverb which reads, “The twisted tree lives it’s life, while the straight tree ends up in planks”
What an insightful way of looking at things. The accompanying photograph illustrates it so well.
We must hold on to our originality, and own it.
When you see me riding my Brompton with bright leggings, fluorescent orange backpack and helmet, just smile to yourself and know that I am never going to end up a straight plank!
Whilst playing Mexican Train with my friends yesterday we were discussing a number of interesting topics. Where we have travelled, how we have travelled and what plans we have for going again.
This got me to thinking about the very first trip i did to a far off land.
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Kind regards,
