Tales from the countryside

Kite + rape field = trouble ?
Emma, my youngest had bought a kite and wanted to try it out. Five minutes later she came running back in saying she had dropped the handle and now the kite in it’s string was caught way off in the rape field. Bob the Builder (aka husband) ran to the rescue and I went on with the dishes. With the dishes all finished and no husband or daughter back I went out too. Emma stood beside the rape field and I could see the kite flying in the distance but no Bob!
- Where is dad? I asked sounding confused
- In the field Emma promptly answered.
- Where are you? I shouted
- Here said a muffled voice deep within the rape and I could barely see the fingertips of his up stretched hand.
- And by the way, I give up! It’s hell in here!

What a wimp I thought. No way are we going to let that kite go to waste. How bad can it be anyway? It’s just rape for crying out loud! So off I went into the rape field. And boy was it huge! The rape was about a half meter higher than me and I measure 177 cm in my socks. (not that I was wearing just my socks mind you). I could use a machete right now I thought to my self feeling adventures as I was forcing my way through the field. After 100 meters the whole adventure in the rape field thing got pretty lame and after a 100 meters more it became down right scary. It felt like the rape was trying to strangle me. What if I fall? I thought building up an anxiety attack. I could be lying here until harvest time and no one will find me. My poor daughters I sniffled motherless at such a young age! Get a grip I said to myself and looked up to the sky and there it was – the kite! I got hold of the string and started my long struggle back towards the road following the happy sounds of my cheering daughter!

- Well done my husband said when I finally reached the road. I thought it was a bit scary in there.
- Piece of cake I said. What could possibly happen in a rape field? Of course not mentioning that I for a second or two had been ready for the loony bin.

Yesterday the farmer harvested the rape field and guess what came running out?

A wild hog! The farmer told us that a whole family of wild hogs lived in the rape field and that we should be very careful around them since they could be quite dangerous when protecting their young. Jeez Louise! and I had been walking about in that field! Had I met the male I would have been cut to pieces by his sharp tusks. So lesson number one folks:

Kite + rape field= trouble

Kite + rape field + wild hog= DANGER !

Take care
Jeanette

Nothing sweet about me

I am basically a nice person and I always try to practice the art of being nice. I know that a “nice person” often is considered stupid, naïve or submissive but for me a nice person is someone who lives with empathy and ethics in his heart. A nice person is never stupid. No in fact he is very smart because he has understood that what we do for others we also do for ourselves. But……

……sometimes you meet persons that make practicing your art very hard. In fact they don’t deserve you being nice to them. Yesterday I met one of those. My cell phone broke down and I went to the shop were I bought it to have it mended. In the shop stands this guy and he is totally uninterested in serving me. Well not at first but after he understands that I don’t intend to buy anything but instead I want him to do something that probably will cost the company money and not only that HE will have to make and effort without having the satisfaction of selling me anything. So he starts taking down notes about what’s wrong with my cell but whenever a new costumer enters the shop (especially young female ones) he starts talking to them and then has to start all over again with me because he missed half of what I was saying. The third time I have to repeat my problems and I start looking annoyed he excuses himself with “Don’t talk so fast. I am a guy and I can only do one thing at a time. He,he”. Quite the charmer isn’t he? This is when it’s on the tip of my tongue to say “well if you didn’t have to ogle every woman that’s walks in you would do just nicely” but the art of being nice stops me just in time. I just grind my teeth. After half an hour of stupid remarks I am finally out of the shop. And I am so irritated and angry that I want to strangle someone preferably the guy in the shop…

This episode got me thinking. That maybe sometimes I should just skip the “art of being nice” part and go right to the “I will insult you right back an feel better afterwards” part instead because being nice isn’t the same thing as allowing people to walk all over you. To remind me of this I went home and wet felted me a purse/ shoulder bag with monsters on it. And a scary message - Nothing sweet about me!

And I will wear it whenever I need to be a bit "un-nice"

Front

Back

Take care!

Jeanette

Sing

As some of you might remember I am a passionate choir singer currently without a choir. I have a very firm belief that singing can change not only yourself but in some cases also the world. Through singing you can "say" things not allowed when you are living under oppression or tyranny and through singing you can unite against the oppressor. Through singing you can find hope, reassurance and faith. Through singing you can find great strength within yourself !

I heard this song for the first time today but it was released on the World AIDS Day 2007. Lyrics by Annie Lennox. It went right to my heart. It gave me hope for the future and reassured me once again of the power of singing! So all of you out there.....lets SING!




Sing, my sister... sing!
Let your voice be heard
What won't kill you will make you strong
Sing, my sister... sing!

You don't need
To disrespect yourself again
Don't hide your light behind your fears
My women can be strong
You've known it all along
What you need
Is what you haven't found

So...Sing, my sister... sing!
Let your voice be heard
What won't kill you will make you strong
Sing, my sister... sing!

Women are the mothers of the world,
my friend I tell you womankind is strong
Take your beautiful self up to the heights again
Back to the place where you belong

So...Sing, my sister... sing!
Let your voice be heard
What won't kill you will make you strong
Sing, my sister... sing!

C'mon my sisters now
Sing loud and sing proud
Sing my sister... sing!
Use your voice to call out
Let your voice be heard
Use your voice
For freedom
Let your voice be heard
Everywhere you go
For freedom
Yes for freedom


5,6 million are currently living with HIV in South Africa. The majority of them are women....

This is a call for the national implementation Of mother to child transmission prevention Programme in all the maternity hospitals in South Africa

Do you want to learn more about the programme ? http://www.tac.org.za/ can tell you more!

Take care and don`t forget to sing!
Jeanette

1 year Anniversary

On the 16: th of July we celebrated the one year anniversary of buying our country house. Over a nice meal and a glass of bubbly ( Ok I confess I had four….) my husband and I summarized what we had accomplished this first year. Here goes:
Master bedroom made from scratch meaning isolation, flooring, painting the walls and an extra door put in.
New isolation and flooring in the hallway.
Two rooms made into one big living room meaning tear down a wall, close the old a doorway with new bricks, painting the walls and sanding the floor.
New roof in the living room.
Installing a fireplace.
Take two kitchen cabinets down and put new doors on the rest ( my husbands most complained about project since there was nothing wrong with them accept that they were ugly. The ugly part being my opinion not his….)
Put up a staircase to the attic.
Installing a water heater – that was done on the anniversary day! Hurrah hot water in the kitchen!
A lot of gardening (weeding) can also be added to the list.

We have pretty much filled the goals we had for the first year and the goals for the second year is installing new electricity ( the old wires being dangerous) and installing central heating. Both of the above is planned for this autumn. Start building ( and finish) one of the rooms on the attic and hopefully begin on one or two more. And enjoy a lot more of the garden and do a lot less weeding!

This first year has been hard work but I don’t regret buying the house for a second. My house and the countryside is my paradise on earth. And in my ten year plan is already to sell the town house and move here permanently. Not in my husbands plans yet though but you just wait….he will come round in the end!

So you want a guided tour do you? A befor- and after tour of the premises? I`ll see what I can do.

First you have drive down the long and winding road. Sorry about the wheel barrow but I am mending the driveway…..

Welcome to my house. Come inside at your own risk. Remember - Builders at work!
( aka Bob the Builder - my husband)

The master bedroom to be

The hallway

One of the smaller rooms soon to be part of the living rom and home of the fireplace.

The kitchen. Just look at the ugly yuppie 1990 cabinet doors. Yuck!

Tadah.....drumroll......One year later

The master bedroom

The hallway with the stairs to the attic

The now much bigger living room with it`s fireplace

The kitchen.

Not quite finished. I am going to paint the rest of the woodwork white and add some pots in copper and old ceramic mugs ..... I still hate the white tiles but my husband want hear of having them down as well. I might try painting a blue pattern on some of them.... to make them look a bit older.

This is the view from my living room window!

Now I think you understand why I want to move here permanently!

Thanks for your visit and welcome back!

Jeanette

PS Boy, was that the longest post ever! Sorry! But you did ask for a guided tour.....

Time to stop just hanging around....

This morning I woke up realizing that almost half of my vacation had already passed. And what have I done? Almost nothing. One part of me found that good and reassuring and the other part got a minor anxiety attack. The other part won! I started writing lists of what I wanted to accomplish the remaining weeks. All of you who read the “tagged” post know that I like doing lists. This time I hadn’t anything to put down that I already had done though….. I am so full of ideas, projects, creative stuff that my head is spinning but I don’t seem to find the time to really sit down and get started. I crave for some time on my own!

My creativity needs a really long runway before take off and if I’m interrupted I sort of have to start all over again. With my daughters home on their summer leave I am torn between spending time with them and have time on my own. It’s silly really because they spend most of their time hanging out with friends so I really have a lot of time on my hands….but they still turn up on the doorstep asking “what’s for dinner” and there is the occasional washing up and shopping for groceries in-between trips to the country house for some renovating or gardening.

When I read what I had written I hear that it sounds really grumpy. What do I have to complain about? But I have this enormous creativity urge building up inside that it feels like I am going to burst. I think I needed those first couple of weeks to have my ideas simmering on the back burner but now I need to get down to it. So folks, I am off ! Off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz. Well not really. But I take a week or two off from bloging to lock myself in the workroom instead. Hope to be able to show you all some results in a few weeks time!

Wish me luck!

Jeanette


Ps Do you want a sneak peek at my to do list?

1. Pimp the bathroom in the country house – stop it from looking like “ a hole in the wall”
2. Finish making the red linen skirt preferably before the cocktail party on Saturday !!!!
3. Pick a theme and photos for the exhibition in march and how about you start taking a few new ones you lazy bugger !
4. Get started on the recycled art & stuff thing and talk to M about an exhibition in her shop this autumn - that just might get you going eh?
5. Should I start a blog shop ? or Etsy? or signerat.se? and sell my photos and stuff and would anyone really want to buy any of it?
6. Get a tan

7. Get a grip

8. How about losing some weight too while your at it?