What's in a name? Does your name affect who you are? Would your life be different if you had had a different name? There we go with questions again! Can't seem to help myself! I was named after the queen of England, Elizabeth (my mother was a royalist and followed their lives with great interest!) But heck, I was stuck with the name and I've never ever liked it. At school I was Liz or Lizzie (even worse) and at home my mom and dad called me Betty or Bets or Betsou, not the greatest but more acceptable. I must say I don't feel like I belong to any of these names but, I suppose, it's better to be a Betty than a 'Storm' or a 'River' or a 'Cairo or some exotic spice like 'Saffron'! So, who would I be today if my name had been a simple Mildred or Gladys or a sexy Juliette or Isabella? Well, I don't know do I, because I'm a Betty. Maybe I could change my name to Carlotta and see if a Flamenco or a Tango resonate with me more than a mere 'Betty', but I don't have the energy (nor possibly the time) to experiment with this. But it's an interesting thought! Well, to me it is anyway! I will remain a 'Betty' until my next life, and if reincarnation is a real thing, I'll wait until my new parents choose another name for me that I can dislike intensely!

I was moved nearly to tears yesterday evening as I went with the fam to the Noordhoek market for supper. We are all walking from the car and Joel and Cath are forging ahead with me kind of trudging behind with my sore hips, trying my best to keep up. I see Jack who was just behind them suddenly stopping and waiting for me and then when I caught up to him, casually linking his wrist with mine and walking with me. Not a word was spoken but that little attention meant the world to me and warmed my heart beyond belief. When I was his age I wouldn't have had a thought about a gran lagging behind. I love you, Jack, you're a special boy!

 

It's a beautiful winter's day today, cold but sunny with no wind. Went this morning for our usual weekly brekkie with Cath at Imhoff's Farm and it was splendid in this weather. Found myself looking at two young men, well built and good looking and...so young. Brought back memories of flirting and falling in love and being young and I suddenly felt my youth disappearing further into some distant past but thankfully my present is pretty marvelous and I am always joyful about it. And I can flirt with my husband who just laps it up, that's not to be scoffed at (and he's still well built and good looking, but not quite so young!)

Looking forward to chicken pies, bought from the farm this morning, with a salad, a glass of wine and a good pre-recorded movie on TV. Then bed with electric blanket waiting to welcome me into its warm arms. Small things to warm the cockles of my heart.

I will just have to remain a Betty!

I will just have to remain a Betty!

 So, what does it mean to be frugal/thrifty. To some, I suppose, it would mean not updating their car for that year or putting off their new bathroom. To me it means putting the lettuce leaves that I have not used, into the soup that I'm making so as not to waste them. I'm giggling as I type this because it's possibly being over-frugal but I do it. I hate wasting anything. I'm a planner and a list maker and perhaps a bit O.C. but it's become a way of life for me now and I really enjoy it. If I've planned my day, it's out of my head. If I've written down my list of groceries I can't forget anything and have to go back. I have my little notepad in the kitchen and when I'm getting low on something I write it down. I have a master list of things to pack when going on holiday. I have a budget. And so on. Gosh I don't sound like much fun at all but actually I am. For me, being organized is part of my life and I would find it hard to be otherwise. I also don't mean that I never ever splurge because I do (when I need something, I buy it) and it also doesn't mean that I'm not generous because I am. But somewhere in between being careful and splurgy (word doesn't exist) I find my comfort. It makes me feel at peace with the world.

The family are away for four nights and we're in charge of Luna kitty and the main house. Luna is not impressed and waits at their door. It's very quiet (a bit too quiet) and funnily enough, a bit lonely too. When we first moved into the cottage our aim was to live there until we could sell our flat (as it was noisy and we were not happy there), and buy something else. I was absolutely sure that the cottage would be much too small for us and for our furniture and belongings and that we would end up getting on each others nerves. But, even though I thought I knew myself and what I wanted, it turned out that I had no clue. Interesting! So, extra furniture was sold, extra stuff was turfed out, donated, sold and we are happy with much less in every way, space included. It's quiet and peaceful. And we don't get on each others nerves, well, not all the time! And the bonus is that we see our family more often.

At the moment I am looking at places for our annual holiday and every year we have booked somewhere extremely quiet and away from people. But we are thinking we would like to book somewhere closer to the town where the coffee places and the restaurants are. Somewhere with a bit more 'life'! Total change of ideal. This is why I try to stay as open-minded and flexible as possible because I know that anything can change at any time. I might even get to a point where I spend and accumulate recklessly. Spend a whole lot on clothes and book a flight to Hawaii!

 Well, there's no sitting outside today. Grey  skies, wind gusts, rain, squalls and colder than last week. After quite a few days of glorious weather, the rain and wind are also welcomed. Totally different mood. We made the best of the warm days and went off to Kalk Bay for fish and chips, Noordhoek for coffee and scones and Constantia for breakfast. We love eating out even though we keep things simple and share most of our meals. It works out well as we find we cannot eat as much as we used to. (But I still don't lose weight, ugh!)

We really live in an incredibly beautiful place. To be able to wake up in the morning with a whole day ahead where we have the freedom to do what we like with an array of choices, each one being more beautiful than the next, is something we are continuously grateful for. 

So, chicken soup is made (I know...boring, chicken soup...again!), it's hot and ready (not quite like me)! We will have it later with lovely bread that is delivered to us twice a week from a neighbor who is a baker from home. It gets delivered hot and scrumptious. Dunked in soup, it's utterly marvelous.

Sweet husband is doing his martial arts learning/training and I can hear some heavy breathing coming from the kitchen, which is where he practices! Sometimes it sounds like he is bringing up a fur ball!

After I've posted this I will do a bit of yoga stretching moving ever so slowly (everything hurts) and feeling more and more like an old sloth! Certainly as slow as one.

Load shedding has been particularly annoying this last week but it gets us off the laptop and TV and gets us watching the sunsets and how the light changes, the bats swooping for insects, the birds finding their nightly spot in the trees and when it's too dark to see, we go inside and light candles and watch how their flickering lights transform everything familiar to something between magical and a bit spooky. Tonight we will be in bed when load shedding begins, with our books and our headlights. Strange world. 

Woke up this morning with this question. Why is our survival instinct so strong? Yes, yes, I know, to preserve the species, but...why? Thought long and hard about it and didn't come up with any great answers - Google didn't know either! I have so many questions that Google can't answer. It's disheartening!