The X Flies

There I am, sitting at my desk, working away, I pause, take out a ripe plum and open my mouth, all the better to take a bite with. Before I can blink there's a fruit fly staring me in the eye and trying to steal my plum. Fortunately it's too big for him.
Or I'm in the kitchen at home, The knife is poised to cut open a pineapple and whoops, there it is. A fruit fly.
This happens all the time, there are no flies in my home or office until the fruit moment. I can come to only one conclusion.
FLIES LIVE IN ANOTHER DIMENSION and they know how to quickly slip into ours at the first whiff of fruit.
What else could it be and how do we learn this nifty manouvre?

Tuesday Tip

A few years back we flew to Australia on Singapore Airlines -superb. It was the begining of the tightened air security and so of course nothing sharp was allowed anywhere. On our return we were chatting with the kids about the trip and I remarked how silly it was that the airline gives out a travel pack, complete with dinky tube of toothpaste which is impossible to open because there are no sharp, pointy things available.
Well, I knew Marleze was smart when she chose Timothy but she proved it by telling us (with a straight face) that the pointy thing is in the lid of the tube, you just have to turn it around and voila, the tube is pierced.
While you may know this already, there are those out there who still struggle to open tubes of glue, tomato paste etc. I attended a super Mandala workshop about a year ago and several of the ladies couldn't open their tubes of paint. Thanks to Marleze I was able to seem rather clever when I showed them how. Now it's your turn.

Just another Sunday

Technically we're working today. Motordrive is hosting a "Dyno Day" which, for those of you not in the know, is a day when a specific car club will come to our workshop and the members' cars will be given a run on our rolling road to find out what power the motor has. So, in the tradition of Caroline, here are my 10 sentences.
1. Sunny day, just a little wind
2. Friendly people, all earnest about their cars.
3. Music pumping courtesy of the DJ outside the building.
4. Boerewors rolls with lots of onions.
5. Short skirts and skimpy tops.
6. Carwash girls.
7. Mums, dads and little kids.
8. Rowland is getting a workout climbing in and out of the cars.
9. Old friends and new ones mingling, chatting and sharing a hobby.
10. The CTSR Crew will be making a donation to Nazareth House, Elsies River.

Pit y

I often wonder what target audience songwriters/performers have in mind when they produce something new. Last night we watched a few tearjerkers in VH1, things like "Don't give up" and "Where is the love". Madonna's latest crotch grabber doesn't grab me but I'm really taken with the new Pitbull song. It brings to mind a Conga Line.
"You can bring your girlfriends, dada dada da kick, dada dada da kick, dada dada -blow farty party favour - kick."
"Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn
Through the foyer, up the stairs, have another gin"
Sorry Pitbull, I'm in my sixties and we just have to get up and dance.

Fine words

I read on Sky News today about a couple whose daughter had jumped to her death a couple of years back after being teased and bullied by two other girls. I don't know the full story but it seems that yesterday those girls were found guilty of her murder. The parents say they forgive the girls and part of what they said was
"Forgivness means that we refuse to be shackled by bitterness"

The thin line

The line has been crossed!! It's one thing to dis Britney, she's young, she can take it but How Dare They boo Cat Stevens!!
What is the world coming to?

The Great Potato Challenge

Olivia is a talented young lady, she shows a keen interest in a variety of subjects and follows them with gusto. Like many achievers, Olivia is not blessed with patience, she's a typical child of the noughties, now, now, now..
I issued the potato challenge. Mostly because I really wanted to grow my own potatoes but also because working with nature can only be a good thing.
We each have two potatoes, the eyes had started to grow and I followed Jamie's instructions as well as conveying them to Olivia. A little soil in the bottom of a bucket (Grandpa drilled drainage holes) the two potatoes and some more soil to slightly cover. It should be understood that I am no gardener so this year has been something miraculous for me, growing herbs and veg and only the first batch of coriander died. I explained that this is an excercise in patience as I think we'll only have potatoes around the end of January. I have never seen anything grow as quickly as my potato plants, we're talking 2 or 3 centimetres a day. Yesterday a friend who has grown his own spuds for many years told me not to plant Mediterranean potatoes as they may be sterile. Oh No! However, this morning I saw the first purple flower on one of the plants so I'm quite optimistic.
In a perfect world, I'd meditate every morning, do about a half hour of Yoga followed by some Belly Dancing to really get the day off to a good start. Not happening. But this is what I do. After listening to the seven o'clock news I turn off the radio and turn on a CD, something meditative to listen to while I make work breakfast and lunch. Once that's done and I've cleaned the kitchen I go into the garden, some days perhaps to hang a load of washing, others to tend the estate. It should be noted that the "Estate" is small. I water the potplants, check for nasties that may be eating our produce and pick the occasional strawberry. This is a wonderful way to connect with nature, I'm getting my allocated 10 minutes of vitamin D, talking to the trees and birds and getting an all round good start to the day.
Of course I don't have small children to contend with, that makes a difference.
So, if your world needs some "me" time, take the potato challenge and get to know nature. To those of you who've been doing this for years, why didn't you share your secret?
I'll let you know in January whose crop has the most potatoes, mine or Olivia's. As I'm not the perfect Granny, I hope it's mine.

Good news, Bad news

A man just walked into my office and he paid me thirteen hundred rands.
He took the money out of his sock!!

What price Fame

It seems that some time ago the world decided to slag off the famous. Don't allow them to bask in their glory, mock them and chase them. So sad.
Britney Spears visits Oz and the government (no less) want to know if she'll be lip synching. Really. I'm sure the average show goer wanted to see HER, see her dance and if she sounds better on disc than in person well, go for it.
A photo of Paris Hilton on a billboard with VACANT across it, I know, I also chuckled but it's not on.
The British PM is in hot water because he sent a shabby letter of condolence to the mother of a soldier killed in combat. Be grateful there was a letter, I wonder how many SA parents have received letters of condolence from our PM?
A few years back I became noticed. I would be out shopping and shop assistants and customers would look at me, smile or blush and whisper to one another. It turned out I look like some (poor, unfortunate) actress and so I sort of made their day by saying hello. I've never found out who the poor woman is but I still get the occasional stare so maybe they're showing re-runs of "my" show.
That's the fun side but one day I was standing at the veggie counter in WW when a man came up to me
"You're not her are you?" "No" I replied, "sorry".
"I've been watching you for five years" (Aaagh!!) "and now I see it isn't you"
So, my very own stalker. I can laugh about it but imagine having a life filled with stalkers and people who are mean about you or poke fun at you.
What a world.
To quote poor (possibly) misunderstood Michael Jackson
"Heal the World, make it a better place"

A rare treat

On Saturday we went to Kamersvol geskenke. As this year speeds by at an alarming rate we realise how many things we've missed in 2009, both from lack of time and lack of ready cash. There are certain fairs we always attend but we gave them a miss this year. We went to the Teddy Bear Fair but not the Miniatures Fair, no cheese fairs, no good food fairs - you get the picture.
We were so excited as we set off, Rowland and I along with DiL number one and her two lovely daughters. I enjoyed the fair, it was in a most picturesque setting, parking was far away but we had the choice of walking along the dam wall or being hauled up to the homestead on a tractor/trailer. Good fun.
I am a self confessed kitch collector but even I wouldn't buy a bent and bruised kitchen colander with glass beads hanging around the edge. Nor would I buy a "distressed" picture frame or a chicken wire creation with a bit of stuff growing on it. Apologies to anyone who did.
The food was good and lots of ice cold drinks. Grandpa sat under the trees with his camera and watched the many, many people walking past. There were too many and we all felt that numbers should have been restricted, I know business is business but saturday was quite a crush.
I bought a few Christmas gifts but some of the items were priced too high. I don't mind paying good money for something good but please don't overcharge.
Sadly I have to report that I have never seen so many discourteous men as were at the event. Marleze agreed, shoving their way past, just generally behaving badly. So to the good guys, thanks for your patience but to the others - well, you could have stayed at home!
After the rush and bustle we drove to Spier. I find it a most refreshing example of trust in your fellow man. We bought rolls and stuff at the deli and went down to the lawns to picnic. It was the perfect Cape day. Sunshine and just a hint of gentle breeze. Scattered around the lawns were red plastic footballs for anyone to play with, fake birds tied to the hand rails, artificial flowers wired to the trees and nonsense flowers made out of red styrofoam balls. No signs saying "keep off "or "don't touch" just welcoming relaxation.
Kelly rode a pony, very serious and not looking our way and Danielle, Marleze and I went to see Moyo, again, no-one said "you can't come in" just "Welcome, would you like some lemon tea"?
We were home by three, what a nice day (sometimes the word nice just does the trick).
Thanks to our tour guide Rowly who was patient and drove so well.