Tag Archives: car

Hey Ho Silver Wheels

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silver fox

My "new" car, the Silver Fox, and that is Gremlin, my co-pilot on the roof

Wheels! Just picked up my “new” car* and am thrilled! Everything works, it drives well and it is quite amazing what good condition it is in.

I followed Mick home, as he he said he wanted to make sure “you drive on the left hand side of the road!” Thanks brother, dearest.

So though I don’t have any pressing needs to go anywhere, it is definitely a good feeling to be able to, and not have to rely on Mick or Debbie. I expect they are happy too!

Yesterday, I finally got to the beach at Winkelspruit with Graeme, my dear old friend who I grew up with. He lives in Johannesburg, and when he rang and said, “I’m coming to Durban, want to go to the beach?” of course I gave a resounding YES!

The water was clean and clear and warm!!! About 78F (25C) and although it was very choppy and no surfable waves, it just felt so good to get in. There were some bluebottles which I avoided, but one got Graeme but used the old remedy of Hottentot figs to soothe the sting. Brought back memories – one of my earliest – of when I was completely wrapped in the bluebottles and Mum slathered me with the hottentot fig juice and buried me in wet sand. hoping I wouldn’t go into shock from the stings. Obviously, she did the right thing, because I am still here!

There is a wonderful tidal salt water pool there. We had to wait for it to be filled, about an hour, but it has to be 25 yards or more long and if I lived close, would swim every day. It was clean and fresh and hardly anyone in it. It also brought home my desire to live really close to the beach, something that is always No. 1 on my list of where I want to live. The sound of the surf and the smell of the sea spray is what I want to wake up to every day.

The beach was cleaner, less rubbish, than when I was here three years ago, and I was also pleasantly surprised with how clean the public changing rooms were. Dilapidated, in dire need of maintenance, but they were spotless.

Had a great walk along the almost deserted beach and headed home to a lovely braai with Mick and Debbie.

That was a good day.

* For those who want to know: The car is a 1991 VW Fox with almost 300,000 km (187,000 miles) on it.

Just Call Me Silver Fox

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Same body style, but silver - so just call me the Silver Fox

Looks like by the weekend I will be mobile! Mick found an older (!) VW Fox for a very reasonable price. When he brought it home at lunchtime, I was impressed! Clean interior and body, no rust!

But…

He went to start it and nothing happened! Damn! The security alarm thing sounded like it was kicking the starter motor over, but nothing… to me it sounded like the alarm device was faulty, but what do I know! Finally, after it had cooled off a bit, it started. So before I actually buy it, we are taking it to a starter motor place to check it out, but Mick thinks it will be fine, and I trust his judgement.

Just call me the Silver Fox in my new rig.

It will be a huge plus having wheels! Not that I have any major trips planned, but at least I won’t feel stuck, and Mick and Debbie won’t have to be concerned about me being stuck at home all the time (which so far, really hasn’t bothered me!).

Another week of poor John not feeling good, so not going to the cottage, but at least with a  car, I will zip down to Durban to see Rosemary.

Susan asked for a picture of Sibonghele, who comes to take care of the house and garden four days a week! Oh, what a pleasure. From now on, I refuse to live anywhere I can’t have help!

Moving Along

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gardenia

Indigenous gardenia growing in the garden

I’ve caught up time-wise and am thoroughly enjoying the weather,  though there are mutterings around that it is too hot! Much rather too hot than too cold! It is such a pleasure to wake up and wander outside, barefoot, with a cup of tea in hand, hear the birds and feel the dew-wet grass underfoot. And smell the gardenias, a memory smell for me.

My kinda life!

Things are moving and improving a little. A possibility of a car in the VERY near future so I can be mobile. It’s an older! VW Fox very much like the one we had before when Chris and I were here. So I am holding thumbs that it transpires. Not that I mind being at the house; in fact, it is probably the best thing for me, as it has allowed me to really rest, something that I desperately needed after the last few years of stress.

I contacted Country Life, and will do a short piece for them on Stockland Farms in this section. Although I had a good track record with them – 10 years ago – there is a new editor so have to prove myself again. Stockland is a B&B run by my ex-sister-in-law Evelyn and she has invited me to stay for a few days, which will be lovely. That’s in a couple of weeks.

Next week, I am going with Debbie, my environmentalist/ecologist sister-in-law on one of her field trips. We will be surveying the grasslands and also looking for a vulnerable plant, Dioscorea brownii. (At a Buddhist Retreat, with a ovo-lacto vegetarian lunch!) The survey is led by a member of the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildplants (CREW) Programme and is part of South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). This will also be fun and chance to get out and see the country again, and connect with some of the environmentalists and ecologists. When ecology.com is more stable, having these sources will be invaluable.

Lea clanstahl house

One of my favorite places on the planet, the Lea cottage in Clanstahl.

On that front, there is also positive movement, and we are all hoping things turn around VERY soon. That would make my life sooooo much easier.

Our beach trip, that was canceled last weekend, is, as far as I know, on for this weekend and I really looking forward to it. Just love Clanstahl and there is a conservancy there that I didn’t know about, which means there will be a story just waiting to be told!

Chaos is becoming order

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Where did all this stuff come from?!!!

Actually, it’s more things that need to be done, than things I have. For instance, all my photos are on an external drive – for Mac! So I can’t access them from my PC. So have to upload them to Dropbox and it is taking FOREVER! Last I looked on the old mac (drive to old mac to dropbox) there were still 10 days of uploading! I hope the old machine doesn’t blow up before that happens. But at least everything will be accessible then, in the cloud!

Gotta love technology!

The paper stuff is getting whittled down, too. The biggest paper hogs are government agencies, none of which accept digital anything. So print, copy, mail – copy, copy, copy. And then you have to keep everything for years. Stupid! And then they want things faxed, which means I have to drive somewhere to fax a page! Even though I have an all-in-one printer/fax/copier, I don’t have a phone line to use! Faxes are soooo 20th century!

Anyway, my kayak is gone, a lot of odds and ends on craigslist are going. The car is all spiffed up like new and I am having second thoughts about selling it, as I most likely will be back here sometime next year, on my way to somewhere else. I can cover it and leave it here at the house.

The gang here want to do a going away party for me. I guess it will be next week sometime. But it really doesn’t feel like I am going away forever. The length of time really depends on the house situation and that is still in limbo. It might be that way for years, for all I know.

The new ecology.com is supposed to launch at the end of this week. The site looks soooo good and am excited to see the final product. I’ve been really busy reworking old articles and actually got to write a new one! What a concept! Something of my own. I hope I can do more, there are so many things to write about and South Africa has a lot to offer in that regard.

So onward and forward…more boxes!