touching sides

i do not make new year resolutions anymore.  i try not to say to friends that i would love to see more of “we must get together soon” because, once too often,  it has happened to me that when i see the person at the local shopping centre (ok, the wine section in woolworths) i am embarrassed because i have not made the effort to get together “soon”, like i fully intended to do.  i do have the best intentions (most of the time).  it would be so much easier if there were not so many great people in my life.  i feel cheated that it is so difficult to spend time, even a small amount of time, with these friends.   

this is why i enjoy facebook.  i only have around 130 friends (i am a bit embarrassed to poke people, even although there are so many people i would love to re-connect with).  this must be a part of my "fear of rejection" complex. i even have a couple of  "friends" i am not entirely sure that i know.  since i have 2 dennis rosslee’s as friends i am now almost certain the first one made friends with me by mistake (the second one is my ex-brother-in-law). one very handsome, yuppie cape town photographer sent me a friend request – he was my 5^th facebook friend, so i did not know that you did not have to accept these "friend requests".   he has definitely thought i am someone else – he has even tagged me in one or two of his amazing photographs – group photographs which makes it difficult to know exactly who his “jenny rosslee” is.  “she” is definitely not in the “52 year old and large” category as all his pictures are taken of beautiful, stick insect-like creatures at stunning venues on the atlantic seaboard.  i cannot de-friend him as i love his work.  i even passed on a picture on his page to bielle who was photographed by him at some designer prize giving (yes, she won a prize).  she was suitably impressed that he was my “friend” and that i had access to his work. so impressed that she has used it as her profile picture.

 

great picture, hey? it may, however be the end of our “friendship” when he starts reading this blog!!

and looking at the pictures above, which one is me?  maybe a reflection in the disco ball? the disco ball?

i also love facebook because of my friends who use it well.  i love janetta’s sign off’s at the end of most days - she manages to say so much in a couple of words "gatvol" "moeg" "2 133 caps" "eish..." i love the fact that i can keep in touch with christine and watch her gorgeous grandson grow (i want one too).  i have met her daughter-in-law who lives in the usa only a couple of times but so enjoy her comments on facebook as she copes with the ups and downs of motherhood.  i love seeing the progress on dee’s new holiday home and always keep track of what she is reading.  gill and i at office are able to plot daughter shelley's movements in sydney (the city, not the gardener) - she uses some application that even gives you a map of the restaurant she eating at. i have seen wedding pictures, baby pictures and sometimes party pictures which i wish i never stumbled upon. (talking about stumbling upon things - remind me to tell you about stumble upon sometime, if you don't already know)

i don’t think we should beat ourselves up about not being better friends but i do still feel guilty. time for another girls gathering.  whatusay? 

have to share this...

stunning day in cape town.  watch middle son's rugby at uct in the sun (definitely my m-o-m but hairstyle lost him a few points!!) - head for local suburban watering hole and have lunch with the BB (yes, he had a break from work and came to watch rugby as well) and the bestest sister. salad and wine. all good. people leave to watch stormers at newlands, other friends arrive (mr min's wife included), more wine. old bf arrives (EM - eccentric mother and "bestest" sister never liked him much).  first bf always holds a special place (kind of) in any girls heart (doesn't he?) but don't get the bestest sister on this one - but anyway, he arrives, chats, brags and then excuses himself to go back to his "dear wife".  oh my word, we nearly fell off our chairs (minister's wife included).  could anyone ever imagine being a "dear wife"? and this was after he told us all that we all only had 10 "good summers" left!!  kathy choked on her wine.

on this most awesome saturday morning

when usually i would be out in the garden, watering and fiddling around i am sitting at the computer (on a big blue exercise ball - which works like a charm and keeps my back straight - this stupid desk is too low) updating my blog. 

last night i started falling asleep watching the us masters golf (this is going to be a weekend of very late nights) so decided to have a quick peek at facebook.  it turned into a pretty long session as my newest facebook friend, victoria (BB's girlfriend's young sister in glascow) was also online.  she is such a sweetie and was really upset because someone had played the fool with her on the chatline and pretended to be ronan keating (the love of her life) - cruel joke, by the way.  anyway after our "chat" (i hope i made her feel better) i took the brave step of pressing "link" on facebook and linking my blog to my facebook profile (sounds important, and pretty computer literate hey?)
WELL, this morning i have some comments and bestest of all a faraway follower (FF).  michael's niece in leicester.  i did not know she had a blog, it is great.  i have met "jistheinitial" (how clever, why can't i think of things like that?) only a couple of times, brief encounters (like a funeral) but we have never spent any length of time together (drinking wine (lots), telling secrets and solving the problems of the world). i am her facebook friend but we do not really know each other very well.  i read the wonderful letter she wrote to her grandmother on her 90th birthday (the grand dame is 91 tomorrow) and was very touched and very impressed with her writing style. she always has interesting bits and pieces on facebook as well.  but i have now spent the last hour (and a half) of this wonderful, sunny, clear and crisp morning (when i should be in the garden) reading her blog and am blown away.  we are like family (we are, but you know what i mean), she could be my sister or my best friend.  she loves all the things that i love - cupcakes and brownies, sufjan stevens (and some indie bands i have never heard of), she has made the most incredible buntings (only this last week i bought (sorry) a bunting, don't know where i am going to put it but i saw it at our local gift shop and had to have it), maps (i love maps). the one below is wrapping paper which i bought in the states (i want to frame it but have not found the right frame (jistheinitial does framing (where is the info on that FF?))

and charity shops (how i love english charity shops, i could live permanently in england just for charity shops - and the hovis seed loaf, that mueller rice yogurt pudding stuff, the awesome little english villages, jennifer and andrea, the county pubs (dark ale) - and now to spend time with jistheinitial, share wine, listen to "not known" indie bands and get to know each other better.

  

oh, and i would have to include a trip to glascow to sort out the critter who nearly broke victoria's heart.

my two most fun days of the year.... so far

the first one was in early january, while still on holiday, when together with sidney, a gardener i headed for the BB's (busiest brother) house in bergvliet and got stuck into the garden.  i had studied what was there and it was going to be easier to just pull everything out. i left sidney to do the dirty work and took lucie (BB's lady) shopping.  have you guys been to little orchard nursery in constantia?  if not go, it is worth it.



we got there early and loaded the car with more plants than anyone would have thought possible (thankfully michael was not present to witness what got loaded into his vehicle).  this place is awesome and so so cheap.  not all starke ayres quality but pretty damn good and half the price (maybe quarter). take a look -

http://littleorchardnursery.co.za/.   they have a list online of what is available and delivery is free (don't tell michael).

BB and lucie liked what i had done in my garden so it was relatively easy.  basically purple and white - salvias, lavenders, a camellia or two, a couple of ice cream bushes.

Breynia disticha - for those who like to learn

they had agapanthas on special at R17 a plant so threw in half a dozen of those as well.  i had dug out some plectranthus (spur flowers) from my garden and lots of groundcover. 

plectranthus

lucie left for work and boy did sidney and i work - dug in heaps of bounce back into 2 new beds and cleared out practically all the rest. deciding to extend the beds was worth the hard work in the end.  at lunchtime i ducked out to woolworths and we had a 10 minute break while we downed a ginger beer and gobbled a steak pie.  bonding in the true sense of the word. sidney is too sweet but highly irritating in that he repeats everything i say to him, back to me, but with a stutter.  it can be pretty funny but it was far easier for me to say "sidney, look we must dig like this" then just move on leaving him to give himself the instructions.

it was hard work in the hot sun but it was so great to see the garden take shape.  when BB finally gets to take a peek at this blog he may feel a very slight bit of guilt and send me a picture or two so that i can show you.  i visited there last week and 3 months down the line everything is growing beautifully, thanks to his state of the art watering system (he is always at work and lucie is now back in london) so without the fancy automation who knows what it would look like. 

arb dry garden

give them their due (ok jenny, ever the diplomat) they have also worked in the garden and have renovated the water feature into a lovely pond with stunning water lillies all now in bloom (ok, 2 are blooming).

i did say 2 most fun days but this has taken awhile so the second favourite day will have it's own post.  boy this is so much fun i did not realise how late it is getting.  it reminds me a bit of those stories we used to read when we were young -

jenny and lucie went to the  . that is not jenny in the picture. 
she is a bit
they spent lots of BB's .  BB did not mind cos he now had a pretty .  BB was very grateful to  and  for working so hard.  he was happy to buy them a  and a

 for lunch.   are happy.

best i stop now before i lose the few followers i have.

bedtime, goodnight.