Estelle: My Vriendin op haar 60ste Verjaarsdag - 26 September 2010!

Waar begin mens om aan 'n wonderlike vriendin te sê wat sy vir jou beteken, mens sê dit nie elke dag nie, mens aanvaar dit net dat jy daar is en dat jy my vriendin is!

Mens vra jouself gedurig af wat is vriendskap eintlik, in vandag se tye sê almal hulle is vriende, ek dink, in die mens se soeke na aanvaarding en om te behoort sien hulle kennisse as vriende, maar daar is tog 'n wêreldwye verskil. Die volgende uittreksel sê dit baie mooi en dit is wat vriendskap vir my beteken:

Friendship

"A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need." Prov. 17 : 7

I went outside to find a friend but could not find one there.

I went outside to BE a friend,

and friends were everywhere!

Friendship lives in the heart

It grows in the mind

It travels in the speech

It shines out through the countenance

It pronounces a benediction to the

troubled soul

Friendship is a surety of peace
A seal of Love

A rest of perfect undestanding

An experience of joy

Ek sal nooit vergeet die oggend toe jy by Dr. Gerntholtz begin werk het, waar ek jou leer ken het, jy moes laat inkom .... en ons was so nuuskierig om te weet wie hierdie nuwe persoon is wat nou hier gaan begin werk, gaan sy inpas, gaan ons van haar hou? Ons het so versigtig versigtig jou van nader bekyk en daar was niks te vrese nie, jy was onmiddelik deel van ons en sou my beste vriendin word. André was nog maar in matriek, 'n mooi seun met die mooiste blonde hare en ek het gewonder waar kry die mense die mooie kind!

Hoeveel jaar is dit, ek is nie heeltemal seker nie maar dit voel asof jy maar altyd deel van my lewe was deur die GOEIE en die SLEGTE. Jy oordeel nooit, jy luister altyd en probeer altyd dinge van alle kante bekyk en verduidelik, ek bewonder jou vir jou lojaliteit, jou eerbaarheid, jou liefde en respek vir almal, jou geduld en bystand in tye toe jy my seker eintlik met 'n pan oor die kop wou slaan en sê kom by! Ek waardeer ook dat ek jou altyd kon vertrou met enige inligting en hartseer en opgewondenheid en nooit hoef ons vir mekaar te gesê het: "onthou moet vir niemand vertel nie"

- dit was net so!

As ek begin dink aan alles wat ons vanaf daardie dag toe jy by Dr. Gerntholtz begin werk meegemaak het, mekaar se trane so nou en dan probeer afvee het en bemoediging en aanmoediging uitgedeel het, lekker saam gelag het so tussen die harde werk en frustrasie deur. Jy was soos 'n ma vir Kim en die insluiting van ons in jou lewe was vir ons spesiaal. Jy is altyd belangstellend en dis die mooi van jou jy het altyd meer tyd vir ander as vir jouself.

Ek dink jy is seker een van die min mense met wie ek op vakansie sal gaan, sal ek Mauritius vergeet, ons plakkies was deurgeloop om 'n rand te bespaar! Saam het ons gebudget en probeer om die goedkoopste akkommodasie te kry en 'n paar Rand te bespaar. Hoeveel kere het ons nie goete bevoel en gewik en geweeg, gekoop en Maandag teruggeneem winkels toe! Dieselfde was toe ons in Londen by André gekuier het, alles was net so maklik, jou aanvaarding en tog subtiele manier van oorreding wanneer jy iets gedoen wil hê, maar met jou was niks nooit 'n "issue" nie dit was net. Sal ek al die hikes vergeet wat ons saam deurgemaak het, jy het sommer so aan die slaap geraak in die middel van die paadjie, ''n baie groot sterkpunt van jou die geslapery in enige plek!

Ek mis...
jou lag maklik en spontaan,

jou belangstelling in alles wat ek sê,

ons Saterdag inkopies (dankie Viv vir die tyd!),

jou bystand en bemoediging in moeilike tye,

jou raad,

Ek mis.....

ons verjaarsdagpartytjies wat ek dink jy of ek nie eenkeer gemis het nie??
ons baie lekker tye saam,

ons gesprekke oor alles en wat, letterlik die ure wat ons omgepraat en gelag en gehuil het,

jou tee, die beste koppies tee wat ek nog gehad het, ek maak nou nog die teepot warm en roer die sakkies...

jou resepte wat ek nou uiteindelik in my boek gesit het en dit sê Stella se Bobotie, ens.

Ek mis....

ja selfs jou ou brein skoentjies,

en 'n menige dinge wat jou vriendskap so besonders maak...

So my vriendin, op die mylpaal in jou lewe drink ek 'n glasie op jou (en ek gaan!), ek wens jou alles van die beste toe vir jou pad na 'n verdere sestig jaar en wens jou alles wat mooi is vir die toekoms. Vir my is jy nie oud nie (deesdae is 60 in elk geval nie) as ek vir vreemde mense van jou vertel, vertel ek vir hulle van hierdie vriendin van my wat menige 20-jariges stof in die oë sal kan skop wanneer dit kom by lewenslus en energie, so onthou:

Age is a quality of mind.

If you have left your dreams behind,

if hope is cold,

If you no longer look ahead,

If your ambitions' fires are dead,

Then you are old.

But if from life you take the best,

And if in life you keep the jest,

if love you hold;

n0 matter how the years go by,

No matter how the birthdays fly-

You are not old.

Ek is ver weg van jou op hierdie een, maar in my hart is ek by jou, en ek sit nou al dae en dink wat ek jou kan sê wat jou sal laat besef hoe baie jy vir my beteken as vriendin, jy is meer as 'n vriendin jy is familie, so ek wil graag die onderstaande met jou deel:

"It is Magnificent to Grow Old, if one keeps Young"

There is no reason to dread the passage of time. Age is, or should be, the rich and happy fulfilment of life - the shining consummation of all that has gone before.

"Don't be ashamed of your grey hair!" write William Lyon Phelphs, when he himself was 62! "Wear it proudly, like a flag .... Grow old eagerly, triumphantly!"

With age come wisdom and understanding. With age come many joys and compensations. "each part of life has its own abundant harvest, to be garnered in season", said Cicero. "Old age is rich in blessings".

All through history we find convincing proof that mental powers increase with age, that artistic and intellectual powers are often intensified in later years. Michelangelo was still producing materpieces at 89! Goethe completed the second part of Faust when he was eighty-two. Wagner finished Parsifal at sixty-nine, and Voltaire wrote Candide at sixty-five. Handel was still composing beautiful music, Longfellow was still writing immortal poetry, after seventy. Some of the greatest tasks ever undertaken by men were begun and carried through in what are called life's declining years. In "Life begins at Forty",, Pitkin points out that nine-tenths of the world's best work has been done by older people, well past their prime. "To know how to grow old is a masterwork of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living", wrote Henri F. Amiel in his famous Journal. This is truer today than it has ever been, with the life span lengthened and the opportunities for older people greater than ever before in history.!!

So daar het jy dit Stella, onthou net die volgende, en ek maak staat op jou:

remember that the greatest things have not yet been done,

the greatest discoveries in science have not been made,

the greatest advances in social life have not been achieved,

the greatest triumphs of the spirit have not been won.

They wait the coming of the right men and women.

SO YOU GO GIRL!

GLO JY SAL 'N WONDERLIKE VERJAARSDAG Hê!

LIEF VIR JOU!

ONS ALDRIE DRINK 'N GLASIE OP JOU!

LIFE CONTINUES IN NAMIBIA - NEW HOME AND KOAKOVELDT

It has been a while since I have written on my "spot" but the time just never seemed right or I had absolutely no idea what to write about and when I did, well the time was not right. Actually I have to admit, I only wrote once since I started this site, shocking!

Where to start, a lot has happened since I last wrote we have done several trips in Namibia and I have made two trips down to Cape Town, one in April and one in July to finally go and pack the house up. It was emotional and stressful, what with the fact that even though the house is not sold yet, it is now final, we are renting but the house will definitely remain in the market to be sold a.s.a.p. It was sad because this was it I will not be going back, well not soon anyway, but on the other hand, it was time, we needed to move on and not have one foot in Namibia and one in Cape Town and everything else "dangling" inbetween. It was time to get settled, various things pushed us to finally go out and buy a little townhouse of our own and what followed was a tremendous amount of moving (and poor Günther staying behind, earning the money, and sorting out all the admin so that we could move in end July). Where to start, well I went to Cape Town, packed up the house, fixed up an exploding floor of tiles! Loaded our furniture in Etosha transport's truck and finally stood in an empty house, echoing the sadness that I felt, good thing I was alone at that time, the house and its memories will stay with us for always, it may change ownership but not memories.

It just felt so strange to have someone moving into your house where you lived all the time, renting the flat out was ok, we never really lived in it! I think the worst is the agents coming in and inspecting your house as if it is the worst house on the market and that after you have spent days cleaning and scrubbing. mowing the lawn, fixing the garden up, washing windows, touching up those bad spots on the walls, etc. Everything was spotless when I finally handed over the key, the only thing she could find a fault with was the plates in the extractor fan, I omitted to dust and wash that (and that was only because I could not get it out, that was Günther's job when he was at home and besides I was just too tired)! I could finally spent time with my sister, who helped me tremendously, running around looking for tiles that would match the claytiles which we could not find anywhere as they do not import it anymore, keeping me calm when I thought the whole house was going to collapse (it was just the tiles!) and just being there with me through it all, knowing full well that in a month or two when she packs up I will not be there to help her made me appreciate it even more, a lot to say for family..... I finally could spend an evening with my very best friends, Estelle and Viennatjie, Steve and Christene and my sister having a lovely braai at Christene and Steve's house and just relax, it was all done! The bakkie was loaded to the brim with things I had to take up, which included a brand new Stealth kayak (men's toys!), helicopters, plants, odds and ends leftover from the load, bedding, luggage, tools, you name it, there was not a spot left for anything else. Christa drove back up with me and I was so grateful for that, it is a long, very straight and lonely road with only music and your thoughts to keep you busy. We stayed over just across the border at Grünau and was up early the next morning on our way to Swakop. My sister stayed for a couple of days and flew back on the Sunday, was nice to have her and spend time with her and nice to have "someone of your own" to walk around town and go shopping and drink coffee, same places, same streets, different mood and feeling! Also the fact that she would leave for Germany shortly and not knowing when you will see them again!

A strange thing this moving, at the beginning you pack with all the energy and drive and really think and rethink what you are going to keep and what not, but, towards the end, you just want this done and that is the time when you cannot imagine keeping the things you originally thought you cannot live without, it just had to go - no more clutter! No more clutter - wonder how many times I have used those words in the last couple of months, and mostly it was when I was extremely tired and at my lowest and thought that I just can't move one more box! A good thing you forget about all of that, packing and moving makes you do and say things you would never think about under normal circumstances. It is draining and tiring and for the first time in many years I felt my age, I just couldn't do what I did when I was in my twenties and thirties!

Two weeks later we started packing to move into our new place, No. 29 Santorini, Kramersdorf(nothing Greek about it, no white sand and lovely beaches, to the contrary, lots 0f sand and brown as we are surrounded by the desert), it was exhausting to pack and clean once again but this time it was into our own place and that makes it all worth it. While my sister was still here our furniture arrived from SA and we stored everything in a container, now we had to do two moves, from the container and from the flatlet where we stayed, I could not believe that in the year we have been here, that we have collected so much in that small little place, it is ridiculous what hoarders humans are. The house was not clean and I scrubbed and rubbed and carried on so that we can move in, you know the thing us women normally do - the call it nesting! Finally everything was in the garage and the first Saturday night even though everything was still pretty chaotic and no curtains we decided to sleep here, we wanted to be in our own place and just could not wait anymore. I quickly put up some curtains, all wringled and crinkled and made the bed, funny how that is always the first thing I make sure is ready, the bedroom, once again women practicality and after a pizza we flopped exhausted but happy into our own bed! It took us the whole of that weekend to unpack, sort and decide on what we were going to keep and what needs to go back to the container while we did the building. Yes, we are still going to build on, we needed a scullery, a door through to the lounge from the garage, a patio in the front and back, the walls around the property definitely needed to go up, my neighbour could look straight into my bathroom, both actually and that would not do not for them and definitely not for us! Tiling and painting and fixing up in general. Our little place, 29 Santorini is a mess at the moment, but sunny and warm and we are happy here, finally I am using my own things, we can start gardening (be it a small garden), do things in the place and know it is yours, we have a budgie (called boy, originally Pipit but Boy seems to come more naturally) and we plan to get a kitten as soon as the building is finished and things are done (the argument is about where it will sleep, Günther says with him in bed and I say no on a cushion! In the end I think the cat will decide). We are almost there now, door has been put in and painted (my husband is a wonderful painter- German precision!), the patios have been made, one has been tiled halfway, finishing tomorrow, the back patio is done, the path packed with pavers, the scullery is there, roof up, door in, electricity done, walls screeted and tiling being done tomorrow, the cupboards should be put in next week and the painter is coming in, the tilers will finish up tomorrow and we are almost done, then we start inside, the nicer part, all worth it! Lawn is expected from Windhoek somewhere in October and then there will be something green, you really need something green here!

During all the building, I had to marvel at the black African spirit - sometimes one can actually learn a lot from people far less fortunate, doing really hard, physical and labour intensive work. All through the work, they talk, they are worse than woman, they do not stop, and sometimes you will hear bursts of laughter and all through the whole process no aggression, anger or irritation. Just once did I see a leader getting upset and had to reprimand one of his young workers who tried to steal a nap on the bench in the back garden, 5 minutes later they were laughing again and all the time singing, the singing never stops, one will stop and someone else will pick up where he left offf. At 7.30 they are there and commence with a smile! Having said all that though, you have to constantly monitor and watch that no short-cuts are taken and have to ask them to redo the mistakes, Günther took control of all of this and at least this minimized the mistakes.

KAOKOVELDt, KUNENE RIVER AND EPUPA FALLS

Prior to the packing and house building in July Kim came to visit and we went to the Kunene River Lodge on the Kunene River and border between Angola and Namibia. We went to the Epupa falls and drove about in the Kaokoveldt for a couple of days. The Epupa Falls and Kunene River is beautiful, the whole area is magnificent and home to the Himba people. When you stand on the bank of the river, you can almost touch Angola, it is so close. We did a lot of driving, Günther on his motorbike and Kim and I in the support vehicle. The strangeness of the country and the people there is something to behold, the Himbas although still keeping to the traditional ways, know very much the value of money and sweeties and European things, they will take your clothing off your back if you let them and at times it can be a bit over-whelming this is unfortunately the downside of tourism. Still, there is a certain magic to it all, and it will be a sad day when that disappears. The Kaokoveldt, is beautiful but because of the wars which were fought there and on the border, there is absolutely no animals for miles to be seen, you really have to go into the more rugged areas to look for elephant and game, we saw one kudu and the odd little buck here and there, still the countryside is awesome. At Epupa tented lodge, we were told that recently they had, for the first time in many years, elephants coming to the camps there, problem is they destroy the locals' gardens and therefore are being chased and shot at, which they are trying to stop, mention was also made of the possibility of the government re-introducing animals into those areas, it will be wonderful to see that. The Kunene River and Epupa falls are awesome we had a great time, had a braai in one of the camps we visited for the day and were told some horror stories about the crocodiles in the area obviously making me totally paranoid, I would not even go within two metres of the river in case some monstrous crocodile attacks me, but.... it does happen! On our way back we stayed at Palmwag, this is of course all in Damaraland, harsh country but scenic and beautiful, the sunsets are unbelievable. Palmwag is nice, it is the second time we have camped there, but it was a little windy and cold and we were exhausted from driving, the roads in Damaraland not that great and can be pretty trying at times. Just before Palmwag a goat jumped in front of Günthers bike, and, by the time we got there after a photo session with the Himbas which cost us N$20 a loaf of bread and sweeties, but it would probably the last Himbas we will see (except for the tourist attractions in Swakop and Windhoek!) for a long time and Kim needed photos, he was already up and standing there looking a bit dazed but he was in a far better state than the goat!

For obvious reasons, we decided to try and get to Palmwag as soon as we can, it was getting late and we still needed to get the tent up, Günther's arm and many other spots were quite badly grazed but he was tough (thats my man) and rode the bike with scew handles and all to Palmwag. We made a braai and had an early night, so that we could be up and heading back towards the Skeleton Coast and then from there back to Henties and eventually Swakopmund.

The sunsets at Palmwag are amazing, and we sat there for a while looking at the vivid colours and were surrounded by Dutch, Spanish, Italian and German tourist all flashing there big lenses (cameras that is)! We loaded the bike on the back of the bakkie and we set off for the coast. We had breakfast on a hill and had beautiful views from there over the whole area. When we got to the gate of the Skeleton Coast park we had a flat, we pumped it full of magic foam and manage to drive home with it without incident and very heavily loaded with the bike and all the camping equipment.

We got home on the Friday afternoon and Kim and I had to unpack and repack to go to Cape Town on Sunday lunch time. We had such a great time together, it was so nice to have Kim doing a trip with us again, we miss her so much and it felt like old times when we used to do the trips into the Karoo and she was still a little girl then, how times have changed!

So we are almost at the end of all our nest creation, but knowing us it will be ongoing, hopefully soon the house will sell in Cape Town and we will be able to start building on our house. I told Günther the other day, by the time we can built, we are going to be so nicely settled in here we may not even want to move!

I promise, photos of everything once we are done - the photos of our trip to Kaokoveldt is a bit mixed up, however, I am still trying to master the art of proper blogging, so bare with me!

Till next time! LOL