'One of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is to listen to each other's stories' Rebecca Falls

What a week this has been! I don't believe that I have ever met and engaged with so many new people in one week as I have this week. The reason has been that we have been 'co-erced' onto the Calitzdorp Tourism committee for helping to market and brainstorm the upcoming 'Calitzdorp Uncorked' Event: 18 - 20 June 😁  

And it has been such fun! We first visited all the wine farms in the area and, of course, came away having tasted some delicious wines, gins and ports and were also introduced to some new ones. We also came away with a little more insight into the wine making process ....

One of the many interesting pieces of information we learnt was that the wine farm Du'SwaRoo was orginally owned by a WBHS old boy. He thus named the farm after the places he had lived in : Du 💬 Durban ; Swa 💬 South West Africa and lastly Roo 💬 Karoo. When one takes time to engage with people and listen to their stories, one learns so much 💓

We tasted and ate the most delicious and varied food from some of the many local eateries. We came away from each place, marvelling at how in this small community, we could be treated to so much warmth and genuine hospitality.💓 One of the reasons we moved here, I suspect!

And that was not all that Calitzdorp has to offer we discovered : the nurseries, knowledgeable people about the history of the place, creative spaces which people have set up to explore their talents in the cultural and artistic fields and interesting personalities like Deon who maintains the local NG Kerk bells which chimes every 15 minutes (click on this link for more fascinating History of the NG Kerk bells ) and Christolino who has set up a Community based project growing vegetables.

And then after a hectic day it's just beautiful to be home💓 

We've had one or two cold inside nights and realised that winter is a-coming!

In between all the busyness, we have also decided to 're invent' our pathway as it was becoming worn and Claudette and my mum were finding access to the house a little challenging. Oom Tuis and his team have been amazing to work with (they built our carport ) and so it was lovely to welcome them back 😀 Their laughter and chatting fills our space and, once again, we are reminded of how priviledged we are to be in contact with these warm, generous souls.

Before

Collecting stones and sand! Who needs gym!

Getting there

I was so touched today when Johann , one of the workers, brought me an olive tree to celebrate Freedom Day as he noticed that I was always in the garden. A gesture that was so unexpected and came straight from the heart. One small kind gesture goes such a long way - I learnt from him today💓

One of the other things that I could not live with anymore was the DUST😓

We saw at a friends home that they had placed wood chips all around their home so not only would it keep the dust away but it was a good way to mulch. So off we went to Oudtshoorn and filled 12 bags with wood chips. 

We also planted another acacia tree which we hope will grow and give some shade in the future

And if that was not enough 😁

I was contacted by a local school in Oudtshoorn for an interview

for a locuum Grade 2 position starting in June for four months!

I was so so nervous 😂😂😂 

but I got the job !!! I'm really excited about the prospect of being back in the classroom after so many years and Grade 2 was always my best year.

So opportunities arise when you are least looking💓💓💓

As I was writing this Blog, Michael came and asked me if I wanted to see something really special so I wandered out into the garden and there ,flowering beautifully under the protective shade of other plants was a delicate flowering Aasplant (Carion Plant)

It made me think of how we can learn from nature. Its mere exsistence is dependant on its cohabitation with it's neighbouring plants and it's environment, Just imagine if we worked like this in our communities: helping, protecting and depending on each other, what a wonderful world we could live in. 

So from me in the karoo 💓💓💓