Family Treasure

Father's Day 2012

Fathers. I had FOUR! Two Fathers-in-Law. Both darlings. Fathers, quite a mixed bag. Yes, and grandfathers, with all those stepfathers, there were many grandfathers, too. My own two were both wonderful. I forgot to thank my parents for helping me to know them. They both made sure that we KNEW our grandparents, which left me with a deep, quiet sense of who I am and where I come from. A valuable gift when the world gets scary. On Sunday I will have a glass of wine with my darling Russell Winje and we will toast these men who formed (some of them) our DNA, our life view, and yes, even our physical features! I have my father's birthmark, on the inside of my right knee, exactly where his was. I have his eyebrows and silly top lip. I also have his temper - fortunately just a small one. From my maternal grandfather, photographs, cameras, clothes, beautiful cars. He returned from "Up North" changed from a reasonably quiet, almost shy man, to a fashion plate! Beautifully tailored pin striped suits, gorgeous cars, a beautiful woman on each arm - one of them my mother, the other, we won't discuss here...... He loved going to the races, horses and greyhounds and died in a motor accident, coming home from a poker game. Bestest, most loved father, was my stepfather, Dirk Petrus Joubert. An anquished alcoholic. Ferocious blue eyes. Adored my mother, loved me and my brother, Phil, unconditionally. He stopped drinking quite soon after marrying my mother and I appreciated his monumental effort so much. WONDERFUL sense of humour, respected and loved by all who knew him. He was my heart's father. I miss him. Cheers Dad!(s)

2015 Done.

...almost.   The years are flying by much too fast.   I blinked and this one was over.   It has been a very wonderful year in a lot of ways.   We're well and happy and somehow manage to survive in a tiny community with many limitations.

I am grateful that my two enterprises, The Cottage and The Spaza Shop seem to thrive - even without a spark of interest from most of the inhabitants of this Valley, other than a small handful of loyal supporters.  I wish I had a few more pairs of hands to help me with making stock for the Shop.    My knits seem to leave the house before I can find a place to display them! (Dankie Ouma) and The Cottage continues to have a steady stream of appreciative guests.  

Feeling a little introspective this last morning of 2015, here in our cosy warm bed with a cup of Russ' superb coffee at hand.

I miss our children deeply and the continued absence of our grandchildren or even news of our grandchildren fills me with sorrow.  Real bleeding weeping wounded sorrow.   I have to give up, though and lower my expectations right down to below ground level.  

I think that Geoffrey is still in jail.   There is no way of knowing.  I can't think about that.

What I CAN think about is the future, one day at a time.    Its a little scary, but what the heck, we Do scary.    I hope to complete a little Shopify page within the next week or two to move some stock from the shop.   Also to get our general garden into better shape with a couple of new shrubs, perhaps.   Certainly plantings in the beds and a general tidy up of the wild flower patch in the orchard.   The trees need pruning urgently and I am determined to finally whip the grapes into shape.  Dreams of a whimsical enchanted veggie patch continue.   Please note, dear blog, that these are not resolutions, just tentative plans which may or may not come to pass.  

We're having a glorious snowy white winter and Upper Lake is making real attempts to get fuller with every storm!   I dare to dream of purple camas meadows and flocks of migrating birds stopping to rest and a fox family in the yard and fruit and blossoms and birds busy all over the place.    The heat and drought has been punishing ...

We will have been married for fourteen years in January.  Fourteen years.   The longest I have ever lived anywhere, been with anyone.   And it does sadden me that we found each other so late.   If we found each other twenty years sooner, who knows what we could have accomplished together!  As it is, I savour every second of the life left to me.   Every second.

We have not decided on our travel adventures for 2016, aside from a Spring trip to Yosemite.  Did you hear me say that?   A.Spring.Trip.To.Yosemite.  The second one.  I never, in my most ambitious, wildest dreams, imagined that a Spring trip to Yosemite was in my future!   Never.    Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.   True words, Maria von Trapp.

Now, I'm going to play with my picture apps.    Thanks for listening.    Happy 2016 to the world, to our families and friends and to us.   The Winjes of Winjes Farm.

musings