Skywatch Friday :

Sunset over False Bay, Cape, South Africa

For more beautiful skies go to Skywatch

If we take the road ahead ...

... or peek through the window ...

... or go down the path ...

... and cool down by the bubbling water ..

... and kiss the 'Kissi kissi stones' !!! ...

... she won't look ... I promise !

... he may take a peek ...

... and he will crow in the morning ....


... and if we ascend in the cable car ..


... we'll be on top of Table Mountain in the beautiful Cape of Southern Africa ..


... where mountains touch the clouds ...


..and grapes grow in abundance ..


... and elephants hide in bushes ...


... and sunshine reflects in water 'balls' (got a little lost for words here !) :)


.... and peacocks show off their striking colours ...


.. while we nibble on a tasty salad ..


.. and sip a glass of wine overlooking the Franshoek Valley ...

.. or watch the sun setting over Somerset West

Be sure to come with me again and I shall show you more of this most beautiful part of South Africa

Must add here ... this was FUN .. driving along the country roads .. with the top down .. Thelma and Louise (Kathy and I) -without the scarf floating behind !!

Places of interest shown in this post ... Uva Mira, Boschendal, and La Petite Ferme wine estates, The Twelve Apostles Hotel,

and the first photo is at Kogelberg Nature Reserve .. go to http://capenature.org.za/ ... click on Nature Reserves, then click on Overberg, then Kogelberg Nature Reserve .. phew!

Family ties

A week of sadness ... being with our Mum ....

.. and laughter ...

... my brothers and I were together after 12 years !!!!!!

My eldest brother, Richard and his wife, Pauline are out here from England to visit our Mum and for a short holiday in the beautiful Cape. They are, at the moment, 'wandering' around the Garden Route and 'hoping to get lost' !!! ... they really, really, really don't want to go back ...

It was special ...

Wordless Wednesday :

Vergelegen Wine Estate, Somerset West

For more Wordless Wednesday's go HERE

Spending time with Mum ...

... was very special this last weekend. It's a two hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. I have done this trip many times now since my Mum has been in the Home in Somerset West.

Mum and I

I always stay with Ian and Kathy (my younger brother and sister in law) who make me feel so welcome every time I descend on them! I am very grateful and appreciate it so much. It has given me the chance to spend as much time as I can with my Mum.

The above photo is a really nice one as Mum looks good there .... (and that's me and my 'little baby' brother!) Saturday was a good day for her. The sister on duty had told her that I was coming .... she had colour in her face and I was surprised how well she looked. She recognised me straight away and was so pleased to see me!!! Since my last visit in early December she has definitely deteriorated. Won't go into detail as it's really really hard to see a mother who was so full of life and vigour end up being trapped in her own body and mind.

She has Alzheimer's and Parkinsons now.

The sisters and nurses are caring and compassionate .... truly wonderful people. I took them a batch of homemade shortbread (my Mum's recipe - of course - handed down from my Granny) and they were delighted!

On Saturday afternoon, Mum wasn't as well as in the morning so I suggested we went for a little walk out of the front door for some fresh air. One of the nurses, Lungiswa, prepared my Mum for her little 'outing' and combed her hair gently and put on her glasses .. ready to go!!!

Off we 'shuffled' and out into the fresh air. She used to love going for walks around the Home - there is a lovely garden on the other side of the building with a lawn, flowers and benches ... but that was too far for us so we went out the front door. Beyond the gate behind my Mum (in the photo below) is a spectacular view of the Helderberg Mountain range which can been seen through the trees. She used to go out every day to look at the mountain - always appreciated everything around her.

I took a photo of her with the mountain in the background but it's not a very nice photo of my Mum and I don't want to share that one. It is exactly how she looks now and too sad to share - I am not even going to send it to my eldest brother in England.

It's very hard for her to look at anything except stare straight ahead and I tried several times to show her the little white flowers in the flower box. Eventually she did.

She always loved flowers .. was passionate about them ... and spent hours in her beautiful garden. Joined flower groups and did flower arranging and Ikabana. I often take artificial flowers when I visit so that she will always have fresh pretty flowers to look at. This time I took one single rose and sprayed it with a gentle smelling perfume.

She would have appreciated it if she 'had been normal' so that's why I took it. I had to hold it up right in front of her face for ages until she focused on it. "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful" she said.

And so are you Mummy

Little green frogs.. air balloons and ....

Woke up this morning with another kiddies song in my head .. I am clearly around children too much !!!! ... this time ..

Little green frog, little green frog, where's your tail so small
I swim in the river, I swim in the river, I have no tail at all

kuwa kwack kwack, kuwa kwack kwack, kuwa kwack kwack

Little green frog, little green frog, where's your wing so small .......

Jeanette and my son, Carl, learnt the traditional nursery songs and traditional South African kiddies songs .. Elaine went to a playgroup run by a super young English girl who taught her some traditional and some songs and rhymes I had never heard before - (Elaine was 11 years younger than Carl !!) Now with my grandchildren, there are still more songs I had never heard before .. and there are so many of them!! I also love 'three little men in a flying saucer' and when that is on the CD in the car, I always hit the repeat button (and Bradley doesn't mind .. he knows it's one granny's favourites)... it's so cute!

Anyway, that's not what this is about !!! Wanted to chat about the lighter side of my visit to Somerset West. Flew from Lanseria Airport this time - never been there before - wow, it was like a country airport with none of the hustle and bustle of our major Johannesburg/O.R .Tambo!

Huge mural on the wall in the coffee shop

Departure lounge - note the lounge chairs (not the usual metal or plastic) and the friendly chap at the podium who takes the tickets I have also never come across anyone absolutely afraid of flying. There was a poor young girl, carrying a baby in a carry chair (4 months old maybe) and she ordered a double vodka at 8.15 in the morning! Mmm .. this is interesting .. I thought !! All sorts of things went through my mind until I realised she was afraid, really really afraid to get on "that thing outside" which is "put together with rivets, you know" !!!! She stood next to me while we waited to board and I suggested, very kindly, that she should try taking the herbal Rescue Remedy. She said it wasn't working and had been taking it for 2 days already! Hence the double vodka at 8.15 am !! Ooh but I wander how her flight went - she was seated near the back - and our flight was a little bumpy with a group of chaps seated all around the area where I was sitting laughing and joking amongst each other and to the air hostesses ... and every time the plane plunged into the air pockets they would raise their arms into the air and went .. weeeeeee!!! Poor girl !!

Had a lovely time with Ian and Kathy (my brother and sister in law) who are always SO kind - giving me the spare room in their house and ALWAYS lending me a car to drive. Ian then uses his motorbike to go to work. This time they were doing renovations so my accommodation was not up to scratch !!!! Had to shuffle around on dusty floors, share the only working bathroom which is in the flatlet attached to the house (my nephew stays there on weekends when he comes home from college in Cape Town). And the meals were 'cooked' and served in the lounge !! but the view makes up for all that - it's magnificent!

Taken in 2006 but the view hasn't changed - False Bay in the mist beyond the buildings

I was 'wined and dined' whilst visiting -mainly because of the disorder in the household! Kathy took me for lunch when I arrived, to a super little Italian place (forget the name) ... Kathy and the owner chatting away in Italian for a bit - my sister in law is Italian .. ! Met her again for lunch on another day at Coffee @ Twin Oaks where she was meeting up with an old friend. We spent a couple of hours chatting away in beautiful surroundings. Every day, of course, went to Imibala with Mum and Kathy joined us one morning too -

Imibala

Lots of local artworks and 'things' for sale, including a few animal skins

Ian and Kathy have taken me to the theatre on my previous visits and this time we went to see 'Rock me, Amadeus' at the Barnyard Theatre. Fantastic! It was really really good .. 'mind blowing' .. the music was very very loud, vibrating through the floor and tables and chairs - it was fantastic! Thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Had to add - Ian and Kathy chatting to their daughter Daniella, on Skype, who is doing a 6 months practical in Cork, Ireland (she does her studies at the Hotel School, Cape Town)
And then ... on my last night there, I christened the new bath!!!! The basin wasn't in yet and the shower wasn't ready but the bath was ... and what I surprise I got when I opened the bathroom door .. candles ... champagne ... and yes, I drank the whole lot !!!

Thank you for making me feel so special!

Being with Mum

Have spent a few very special days with my Mum. And she loved the lavender! I was expecting a vast change from my last visit in May so I was prepared, mentally, but it still comes as a shock to see a mother who used to be so full of life, with such a strong character, and is now trapped and confused within her own body. She was diagnosed with dementia when she had her stroke 3 years ago, but the sister who I spoke to every day also believes she now has Parkinsons Disease and she also referred to my Mum as having first stages of Alzheimers. I am no doctor, or nurse, but I would have said so too because of the strange things she does or can't do at all. (She, the head sister, is arranging for her to see the doctor when he does he weekly visit on Tuesday).

The staff are wonderful there, at the Silver Oaks Lodge, and have now taken over in her room. Before now, she had a key to her room, draped on a lanyard around her neck ... and the only one my brother could find at the time was a black one advertising Johnny Walker Whiskey! So she walked around with 'Keep Walking with Johnny Walker' around her neck!!

Now that has been taken away and she is now dependant on help in her room. They keep her room and cupboard so tidy (Mum used to be immaculate .. never anything out of place). She now needs help for everything from dressing to bathing and eating. I know it comes to all of us but it's heart wrenching to see it happen to your mother.

And she knows that she is not right. Once she grabbed me by the arm, with fear in her eyes and said 'what is happening to me, I feel there is something terribly terribly wrong with me'. And on several occasions said that she feels very strange, with her head up in the clouds and her body way down below. On one day when I was saying goodbye to her and telling her I would see her the following day, she hugged me so tightly and said that she wished we could do so much together and go to many places together. Me too, Mummy

On all my previous visits, I used to take her out for the day. We would go for tea, then stop for lunch somewhere, usually at one of the wine farms and then take her back in time for the evening meal. I would take her driving along country roads and take her to beach to walk on the sand and breath in the lovely sea air.

Not this time, an hour at the most is all she can handle so Ian and Kathy (my brother and sister in law) suggested a lovely quiet coffee shop called Imibala. I had taken her there on previous visits but it has now become her favourite place. It's just down the road from the Home and it's quiet and the staff are very patient and kind, and greet her every time with a huge welcoming smile. So that's where I took her, everyday .. and then took her back for her lunch. Made sure she was seated in the dining room before I left. Back in the afternoon for a brief visit .. found she was tired in the afternoons .. and then made sure she was seated for supper, before I left again. This I did every day.

Mum hasn't forgotten how to smile - at Imibala for tea

The upstairs dining room which is for the elderly who need help.

There is my Mum with the red jacket on at the table in front. The upstairs dining room is very nice .. bright and airy. Oh my .. but I could not watch the nurse put on her bib. Just couldn't.

Old aged homes can be depressing places even though the elderly, in most cases, and in the case of my Mum in this Home, have comfy surroundings .. but you see all the little old folk sitting in the lounge staring into space. Well, the one morning I spotted my Mum sitting in the lounge before I walked through the main door. All the folk had done their 'gym class' and were all seated with rosey cheeks!! .. wishing and hoping the tea would come quickly !! There is a security lady at the front desk and the procedure is that all visitors have to sign in and tell her who you are coming to see. I said I was coming to see Mrs Keay .. she promptly told me that she had died! What, I said !!! No, she died, was the response!!! If I hadn't seen my Mum sitting in the lounge with rosey cheeks I would have been rather shocked, to say the least!!!! Oops, sorry, thought you said Mrs Kelly! I think she needs a lesson in front desk etiquette!

Every other time I went to see her, she was alseep. Not nice to wake her, but I hadn't gone all the way from Johannesburg to Somerset West to watch her sleep. I tried to wake her very gently but she was always so surprised to see me and asked where I came from and she delighted to see me again. When I gave her the lavender she didn't know what it was at first so I put it under her nose to smell it. She immediately said 'how lovely .. that's lavender' Yay, she remembers lavender! But the last time I saw her, I picked a bunch of nasturtiums from the side of the road and put them in a plastic cup, she didn't know what they were and couldn't understand why I was giving them to her. I said it was to make her room look nice and I picked them specially for her - she didn't understand. Oh my .. she was the one who loved flowers of any description ..

I also reminded her that she used to sing - as I was humming the one day and then reminded her that all our lives she used to sing in the house. You always knew where Mum was .. she used to sing in choirs ... and would always sing .. all the time! No, she said, what for ... can't sing anymore, don't want to. She had a beautiful voice, like an angel.

Hands ... like angel's wings

Love you, Mummy