This and That

It has been a long time since I have written anything. Things have been so rough for the past 18 months. I had 5 big surgeries in 9 months in 2006. One being for my gall bladder which was seriously septic I had emergency surgery for that one. Then last year I spent most of it being depressed. I hurt my shoulder and had to have an arthroscopy  to fix it and clean it out. Now my right knee is packing up I am to have an arthroscopy to see exactly what is going on inside as I am battling to walk and it is terribly swollen.  I will need a knee replacement eventually we are trying to buy some time. Then I will have bilateral knee and hip replacements. It never seems to end. I must say though I have absolute confidence in the surgeon. It has been difficult healing from each replacement and has taken up to 3 years to heal completely but once it heals I have absolutely no regrets.

My one cat disappeared on the 5th of November. I searched everywhere but no luck  I felt totally heart broken he was my baby and so cute. My other cat his granny was so lost without him as was my maltese as they grew up together. I will be getting a new puppy not sure when though. Right now I feel so raw inside its hard to think of getting another pet. They are home with me 24/7 as I dont work. I love my animals they have always meant alot to me. As a kid I had hamsters and I was happy as I did not feel out of place because I couldn’t hear. All my pets seem to know and understand I am deaf and they help me and care for me. They follow me everywhere and my maltese sits near me keeping guard. If I dont have my hearing aid on and someone comes to the door he will bark and come and fetch me and lead me to the door. As for my cat I look at the position of her head and ears and can tell if someone is coming into the room. I believe animals are so clever and they each have their own personalities.

My eldest son turns 21 on the 1st of February where does the time go. them my other son turns 21 next year on the 5th of October. Time sure does fly. I must say I am so glad they have finished school and are independent. Its getting tougher and tougher coping with anything, walking, cleaning etc and they are old enough to help out. I still try to do as much as I can.

Anyway I think I will sign off for today as it is extremely hot 36 degrees centigrade.

Until next time  cheers

Advertisement

Slow Moderation

Apologies to those of you that have had comments waiting to be moderated for ages.  I never knew I had to do that, but hubby has shown me now, so I’ll know to do it in future.

Rehabilitation

Well here I am again I know its been a while I have been having a really rough time. Between having five hip surgeries in 9 months and then coming down with a bout of depression, the worst I can ever recall having.

Well after being sent to one doctor after the other I think I am heading in the right direction although I know the rehab is going to take a while.I so miss the simple things like going for a walk, rehab will get me there but it is proving a very painful process. I guess no pain no gain.

As for the depression I guess it was due to happen I had been under so much strain. I hate the way I would and still do at times suddenly burst into tears for no apparent reason. Here would be my son and his buddies sitting chatting and the next thing I would start bawling, I felt like a real idiot. He was great about it though which really helped. I guess everything just became overwhelming and I could no longer cope what with the pain, being inactive and house bound I guess would have gotten to anyone eventually. My doctor said he was amazed I didn’t crash before then. Guess I am just one tough cookie.  

I must say though I am blessed with two great sons and an even greater husband. They have been such a great support they have helped me so much. Poor hubby has had as rough a time as me. What with having to cart me to the doctors, physio, etc., wipe my tears and comfort me he really is a gem and I love him with all my heart.

It will be great when I can cope on my own, there is nothing worse than having to rely on others all the time; it does nothing for ones self esteem. I have always been very independent and it will be great when I get it back.

Food

Considering it is one of the things we spend so many hours doing you know the routine eat breakfast and then start wondering what to make for lunch and no sooner is lunch over than we are considering what to eat for dinner. Then there are the weekends….so I  thought I would talk about this next.

South Africa has so many different nations and nationalities that u can find just about anything you want. We have the smart restuarants where one can dine on Thai, Indian, Moroccan, Chinese, Japanese plus more can be found in all our main cities.

We have the regular Kentucky, Mc donalds, Nando’s and steers the favourite amongst kids.

As you will see we have a very broad group of foods that are unique to our country.

sosaties

Typical South African foods and dishes

• Biltong, a salty dried meat (similar to jerky)
• Bobotie, a dish of Malay descent, is like meatloaf with raisins and with baked egg on top, and is often served with yellow rice, sambals, coconut, banana slices, and chutney
• Boerewors, a sausage that is traditionally braaied (barbequed)
• Bunny chow, curry stuffed into a hollowed-out loaf of bread
• Chutney, a sweet sauce made from fruit that is usually poured on meat, especially a local brand called Mrs Ball’s Chutney
• Frikkadelle – meatballs
• Gesmoorde vis, salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes and sometimes served with apricot jam
• Hoenderpastei, chicken pie, traditional Afrikaans fare
• Isidudu, pumpkin pap
• Koeksisters come in two forms and are a sweet delicacy. Afrikaans koeksisters are twisted pastries, deep fried and heavily sweetened. Koeksisters found on the Cape Flats are sweet and spicy, shaped like large eggs, and deep-fried
• Malva Pudding, a sweet spongy Apricot pudding of Dutch origin.
• Mashonzha, made from the mopane worm
• Melktert (milk tart), a milk-based tart or dessert
• Melkkos (milk food), another milk-based dessert
• Mealie-bread, a sweet bread baked with sweetcorn
• Mielie-meal, one of the staple foods, often used in baking but predominantly cooked into pap, or phutu, a traditional Bantu porridge which is usually eaten with beans, gravy, or meat
• Ostrich is an increasingly popular protein source as it has a low cholesterol content; it is either used in a stew or filleted and grilled
• Pampoenkoekies (pumpkin fritters), patatrolle (sweet potato rolls) and a further variety of baked goods where flour has been supplemented with or replaced by pumpkin or sweet potato
• Potbrood (pot bread), savoury bread baked over coals in cast-iron pots
• Potjiekos, a traditional African stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots
• Rusks, a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit eaten after being dunked in tea or coffee; they are either home-baked or shop-bought (with the most popular brand being Ouma Rusks)
• Samosa or samoosa, a savoury stuffed Indian pastry that is fried
• Sosaties, grilled marinated meat on a skewer
• Tomato bredie, a lamb and tomato stew
• Trotters and Beans, from the Cape, made from boiled pig’s or sheep’s trotters and onions and beans
• Umngqusho, a dish made from semolina and black-eyed peas
• Vetkoek (fat cake), deep-fried dough balls, typically stuffed with meat or served with jam
• Waterblommetjie bredie (water flower stew), meat stewed with the flower of the Cape Pondweed

 

Typical South African foods and dishes

• Biltong, a salty dried meat (similar to jerky)
• Bobotie, a dish of Malay descent, is like meatloaf with raisins and with baked egg on top, and is often served with yellow rice, sambals, coconut, banana slices, and chutney
• Boerewors, a sausage that is traditionally braaied (barbequed)
• Bunny chow, curry stuffed into a hollowed-out loaf of bread
• Chutney, a sweet sauce made from fruit that is usually poured on meat, especially a local brand called Mrs Ball’s Chutney
• Frikkadelle – meatballs
• Gesmoorde vis, salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes and sometimes served with apricot jam
• Hoenderpastei, chicken pie, traditional Afrikaans fare
• Isidudu, pumpkin pap
• Koeksisters come in two forms and are a sweet delicacy. Afrikaans koeksisters are twisted pastries, deep fried and heavily sweetened. Koeksisters found on the Cape Flats are sweet and spicy, shaped like large eggs, and deep-fried
• Malva Pudding, a sweet spongy Apricot pudding of Dutch origin.
• Mashonzha, made from the mopane worm
• Melktert (milk tart), a milk-based tart or dessert
• Melkkos (milk food), another milk-based dessert
• Mealie-bread, a sweet bread baked with sweetcorn
• Mielie-meal, one of the staple foods, often used in baking but predominantly cooked into pap, or phutu, a traditional Bantu porridge which is usually eaten with beans, gravy, or meat
• Ostrich is an increasingly popular protein source as it has a low cholesterol content; it is either used in a stew or filleted and grilled
• Pampoenkoekies (pumpkin fritters), patatrolle (sweet potato rolls) and a further variety of baked goods where flour has been supplemented with or replaced by pumpkin or sweet potato
• Potbrood (pot bread), savoury bread baked over coals in cast-iron pots
• Potjiekos, a traditional African stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots
• Rusks, a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit eaten after being dunked in tea or coffee; they are either home-baked or shop-bought (with the most popular brand being Ouma Rusks)
• Samosa or samoosa, a savoury stuffed Indian pastry that is fried
• Sosaties, grilled marinated meat on a skewer
• Tomato bredie, a lamb and tomato stew
• Trotters and Beans, from the Cape, made from boiled pig’s or sheep’s trotters and onions and beans
• Umngqusho, a dish made from semolina and black-eyed peas
• Vetkoek (fat cake), deep-fried dough balls, typically stuffed with meat or served with jam
• Waterblommetjie bredie (water flower stew), meat stewed with the flower of the Cape Pondweed

This is me

Images

You can find some photographs of South African here and here.

South African Terms

Aikona – No way absolutely not.

Braai – barbecue

Cooldrink/cold drink-This is the common term for a soda. Ask for a soda and u will get a soda water.

Hectic – this can unfortunately be good or bad,
The party last night was hectic (good).Its hectic how she crashed her car (bad).

Howzit – a traditional SA greeting meaning “how are u” or “how are things”.

Just now – if a SA tells u he will do something just now they mean they will do it in the near future maybe never.

Lekker – (pronounced lekk-irr with a rolling R) Afrikaans word
meaning nice, cool even great.

My Bad – my mistake

Pavement – SA’s walk on the pavement and drive cars on the road. The pavement is the sidewalk.

Robot – SA’s refer to traffic lights as robots.

Sharp-sharp – affirmation, everything is cool

Tackies – running shoes or sneakers

South Africa

Firstly I would like to say that the stories one hears from overseas about South Africa regarding animals running free and us living in the bush etc are NOT true. We, like everyone in any other country live in houses or flats (apartments). Wild animals do not roam the streets but are kept in nature reserves and zoos. Snakes like the anaconda or any other snake are kept in snake parks and in the wild. We don’t wear khaki outfits and hard hats. WE do drive around in cars, buses and other standard form of transport.

Weather

Cape Town has mild weather all year. Our warm summer weather starts in October and continues until March. January and February being the hottest with temperatures soaring into the High 30ºC. The sun only sets around 20h00 (8 at night) We do tend to have extremely strong gale force winds. April which is Autumn also has very pleasant weather the sun starts setting earlier. May through to July is our winter this is when we have our rain. It gets cold but not unbearably so. Our temps don’t go very low generally into the low teens. The sun will set around 18h00 (6 o clock). August to mid October is Spring we have occasionally had light snow in August. Its lovely to see the snow on the mountains. September is our spring this is when the weather starts warming up.