'Change brings opportunity' Nido.R.Qubein

 So..... it's time to really think about what job opportunities are awaiting for us and, as a result, we have really had to relook at ourselves critically and ask ourselves 

BIG QUESTIONS 😂😂😂 

(Someone told us recently that we just have to reinvent ourselves)

To do this we had to plan and so we set up a week of scheduled meetings with each other but before we settled down we had to get some inspiration ........😂

Michael had read through some emails from a company called Leaderex and through this I enrolled on a course on how to set up an online shop ! It has been amazing and I really recommend that if anyone out there is like me - completely clueless to e-commence - watch out for Warrick Insaka E-Commerce. It has been a fun few days ....... so watch this space for my new online shop! 😀 Not sure yet what I will be selling but if anyone has suggestions or would like an avenue to sell things let me know!

Having said this, I did haul out my old patterns .....

and bought some Shweshwe fabric 

and started playing 

 And these are some of the results of playing .....

-  so who knows what I may be selling soon!

One of our other main focus is on education. We brainstormed together our strengths and what we really wanted to achieve and so we decide to start our company called 

So&So.Inc.UnLtd.

which will aim at three areas in which we believe we could make a difference 

• Staff Development and Training( in any areas not necessarily education)
• Personal Growth and Upliftment
• Mentoring

Michael drew our logo 

We plan to launch this soon SO ..... once again watch this space! 

Both Michael and I are passionate about the role literacy plays in our world and particularly here in South Africa. SO how do we address this? Our thought is obviously through relevant books and thus could we open up funded libraries in rural communities that addressed the different needs of the different communities? Can we work this into a self stainable, upliftment, environmentally friendly project?  Our answer is a wholehearted : YES! As a result, we are setting up a proposal in which we will highlight our ideas and try and get funding. If anyone can help please let us know! Calitzdorp will be our 'trial' community (very much needed in this poverty stricken area)    

We've also both opted to tutor online through a South African based company called TutoringCo.co.za. Elmarie is the founder and has a lovely dream of connecting teachers with experience to children/parents who need help and guidance. SO ... who knows we may find a tutoring job soon.

Michael has been busy cooking and has come up with his own branded 'Klein Karoo C Cookies'. 💓💓💓 He loves to share .......😋

You can see that we have been VERY VERY VERY BUSY but never too busy to play!

Early morning walk

Michael has a ' painting, cutting, planting, drilling'😂
sore elbow so we had to BUY wood! 

A very very happy gentleman 

Fresh rain water to drink - such joy

If you remember reading my earlier blog on how we were trying to make raisins, we reaped our rewards this week 😋😋😋

The result was delicious! 

Now to make our own cream cheese and yoghurt from the jersey cow milk straight from the farm!

To end this week, I would like to encourage you to listen to the video link 'The Letter' honouring SJ Myeza that I've shared under interesting articles 

(a sideline on my main blog page) An incredible human💓 

So from me in the Karoo 💓💓💓

'You gotta nourish to flourish' Autor unknown

As many of you are aware, the Karoo is badly in need of rain. Thus it was with great joy on Friday and Saturday night that we witnessed clouds gather, watched lightning and then thunder begin to echo down the valley. It is hard to describe the feeling ... 

I watched with glee as tiny droplets of water filled our newly installed tank ....

Sunday morning was  a cool morning and the first thing I did was go and see our rain guage and altogether we measured 7mm - not a lot I hear you say but the veld responded with colour and joy ........

I started to think about how little nourishment the veld needed to get it back to life. I began to dwell on this word : 

NOURISHMENT 

 

 I looked up it's meaning ......

                       nourishment

Learn to pronounce

                                                                                  noun

1.  the food necessary for growth, health, and good condition.

   "tubers from which plants obtain nourishment"

                                                 

   •                                                    the action of nourishing someone or something.

              "the nourishment of our bodies and of our minds"

and I began to unpack it for me. 

• What do I need as nourishment? 
• Do I spend any time nourishing my soul? 
• Do I nourish others ? 
• What form does nourishment take in my life?

And this is what I discovered 💓💓💓💓

Love for those closest to us nourishes our souls  ......  

A wonderful Saturday spent with surprise family : Ali and cousin T

 

Happy Valentines - a surprise trip to the Wilderness Hotel

Space I have realised is hugely nourishing for my soul. To be able to walk outside 

 onto an open verandah is a priviledge and one for which I am truly grateful .......

Gardening always restores my soul... we created a memorial garden for Michael's dad at a bench which he had built up behind our house. We transplanted the Boabab tree (which Vaughan Spaull had given us many years ago and we had transported here from Durban) and it now stands proudly in the veld with the Swartberg as its backdrop.💓

The Boabab Tree needs to be transported up the hill

There was only one way : Michael pulling , me pushing!

I had great joy destroying the pot!

Planting

A job well done and a treasured life remembered

Creating - trying out new ideas and adventures

Loads of baking and cooking

Trying out the 'Calitzdorp Express' 
(A tractor driven 'hop on, hop off' wine estate visits)
Saturdays : 10h00 - 14h00 R30pp
Such fun


Having fun reinventing our courtyard/work area

Exercise -  we are so blessed to be able to walk every day. 

An early morning coffee walk 
(It looks late but the sun rises late so we are
normally out at about 7h00)

I do try and do a yoga or pilates class (youtube download!) three times a week on our top verandah - too beautiful.

And then of course I ride! Not very well but am getting more confident each week.

Helping - these tortoises have been injured or rescued from the local roads and we have volunteered to rehabilitate them onto our farm space

We had to show them where water was and so we placed them in our birdbath to make sure that they would be able to climb in and out before letting them go. One little fellow stayed around for two days but has now ventured out. I keep looking to see if they are around here but they are so hard to see so just keep hoping that they will be fine and find nourishment in the veld. 

So as I end off I want you to ask yourselves : "What do I do to nourish myself?" 

( I have created a link to a youtube video : Nourish means  under "Interesting Articles" on my blog which is lovely to view!)

Sending so much love from the Karoo 💓💓💓

'Self confidence is a super power. Once you start believing in yourself magic happens' Author unknown

This past week I have started to focus on building up my confidence in areas that I feared. It has led me through an interesting journey and I have begun to realise that I have not done this often enough. The words 'practice makes perfect' came to mind often during this week of mastering new skills. During this process I have realised how much grit and perseverance one has to have to develop the confidence to master a new skill. And how are we teaching this critical character trait in our generation of children? 

So the 

★★★★First challenge 

came in learning to master a CHAINSAW! I had a very good teacher who gave me very precise instructions ... 

And then it was for me to try........

   

Oh my gosh ! I have a new found respect for all people who work with chainsaws! I have got better and today I managed to start the chainsaw and cut some wood - it was such a feeling of success 💪💪

Wood perfectly chopped and neatly laid !

★★★★Second challenge

came in learning to put our landrover into low range when necessary. This was so much more difficult than I thought but I did that too! I can now go up the driveway and up the mountain pass to our braai area and anywhere else I desire (I hope) by MYSELF!!

Langgat 

Celebrating success!

We heard we could go and pick grapes from De Kranz and then came the 

★★★★ Next challenge

What to do with the grapes we picked? Wine ????? 😊 We decided that was a step too far (for now 😉) and so with Claudette's and my mum's help we embarked on making JAM and RAISINS

Picking the grapes

Grapes at R9.50 per kg!

Grapes at home ready to be washed!

Sorting

                          

8 cups grapes , 4 cups sugar, 1 cup water
and 2 T lemon juice on the stove to boil.

The end result - absolutely delicious.

At the same time Michael decided to use some to make raisins ....

Starting to turn into raisins ( this is after 3 days in the baking sun)

Still awaiting the end result! 

So what comes next ........

★★★★ SALT RIB ( although to be honest this was Michael's challenge completely!) Michael came across the recipe in the 'Cooked in the Karoo' by Justin Bonella

It is a process but, as many things in life, it's the process that makes the end result so gratifying 

Rub ribs in salpeter  (gun powder I discovered!)

Dry outside for a couple of hours

Boil for a couple of hours

Braai !

Reena (our neighbour) gave us an old waffle iron so that brought us into our next challenge ......

★★★★ making WAFFLES in the riverbed! It was interesting and our first ones were definately not great but by the end we had created delicious ones (topped with honey from the farm or homemade plum/apricot jam!) Any takers ? 😉😉😉 

I suppose the last challenge comes in 

★★★★ LOOKING for JOB OPPORTUNITIES!!!!

Both Michael and I have been browsing and seeing what opportunities are around. We have spoken to local people in the community and have lots of ideas swimming around in our heads but at the moment we are still investigating and are happy. We went and visited 'Die Heuwel Speelskool' which is a christian based playschool and is just incredible. It is amazing that if you have a dream and a desire to make it happen, things work out. The story of this little school really touched our hearts and the difference that Sheldon and his team at the school are making in the community, are just incredible. We offered our support to them in any form it may take. Afterall , preschool educaion is critical and forms a base for a successful life journey.

                                              Die Heuwel Speelskool

Teaching is the core of who I am (I suspect 😉😉) and I have seen so many learning opportunities which have stimulated my brain. I can't believe how many times I have had to use the concept of 'ratio' - mixing cement, making jam, mixing my dishwashing liquid : the list is endless and yet I don't believe, as a teacher, I placed enough emphasis on this concept! I wish I had and I urge all teachers to introduce this concept from an early age. It's so very very easy when we think about how much we use ratio in our daily lives.

The other experiment I tried was when I was working with soils and trying to find the PH balance of our soil. I came across this pinterest post 

                                            Testing PH balance of Soil

and decided I had to give it a try because so often these look good but dont work........

I got some soil in our garden and then added vinegar to it

I was amazed at how it bubbled! This means our soil has a PH balance of between 7 - 8! 

This was the result when it dried. 

Bicarb to be added if soil doesn't react to vinegar. 
Love someone to try the Bicarb and see if it works a
as well. 

But I do have a question : Our newly made bird bath water is this colour ...

Why ? Any suggestions?

I am so thrilled that Ali has popped in for a few days - he is able to work from here and I'm as excited as any mother is when their children arrive home 💓💓💓 

From me in the Karoo ..........💓💓💓