Recession - what recession!

It appears that recessions don't bother fireworks displays!

Last night, the entire shore line of the Hood Canal was lit up with displays. And not just piddly little single rockets, but huge mega mondo multi-effect pirotecnics.

Susie and Rick across the street decided to have a 4th of July party - with a live band! So around 7 I wandered over with a big salad (lettuce I picked from her garden - why not mine? More on that later). The band had set up earlier and I had heard them practicing during the afternoon. Susie had ribs and chicken and corn and all the stuff you are supposed to have on the 4th - but no hot dogs.

It stays light until late these days, so we enjoyed the music out on the waterfront. The band is three women and a guy drummer and they played country and blues. The lead singer is a local vet and boy, can she play the harmonica! As the sun went down, the temperature also went down significantly and an almost full moon rose over the opposite peninsula. We could hear sporadic bangs and see a few rockets going off - kids too anxious to wait til dark. But as it got darker and darker, all along the opposite shore about a mile across the water I think, big light displays started erupting. On our side of the water, big bangs and fantasic rockets all around. (I had shut the kitties in the house a lot earlier.) I don't know how much money went up in smoke last night, but there sure wasn't any indication that people had held back because of the recession. In fact it seemed like there were more fireworks this year than last! And it went on and on and on until the noise really started getting to me and I went home only to discover it was lounder at home with the noises echoing off the hillside!

But more on the lettuce. It was a sad day today - I pulled out my poor veges that did not recover from their neglect while I was gone. I did salvage my garlic and some onions but now I will have to scrounge from others gardens. The raised bed frames will be gone tomorrow and I will spread the soil as a top dressing over the grass. Hope the guy gets here early tomorrow to take them as it is going to rain (spoiling our run of gorgeous weather) and I want to spread it while it is dry.

What a Mission

They say you are only given as much as you can handle - I cry uncle!

I know I put my head in the sand, Queen of Denial, while I was in SouthAfrica, but for goodness sake, enough already. It seems like as one thing gets handled, another pops up that needs attention. And these are not small issues - lost tenants, attorneys, audits, property listings and it goes on and on.

One huge good thing is the weather has been phenomenal. Those gorgeous northwest days when the sun comes up at 4 am and it stays light til 10. Skies so blue it hurts and colors that pop. I had to go to Port Angeles the other day and driving through the trees, every shade of green glowed and the road - the highway - was lined with white daisies, purple, pink and white foxgloves and yellow dandelions. The mountains, with hardly any snow on the tops, were smoky blues, folding into the distance. These are the days when visitors go, "oh this is so beautiful, lets move here!" HA! Wait til winter. But for now, with temps in the 70's during the day and 50's at night, it can't be beat.

The garden is back to semi-normal after the neglect while I was gone, but my veges took it in the shorts. So I am going to pull everything out and break down the beds. Sad, but it's too late to plant anything else and what is left is in bad shape.

I have redone the house listing and it will also be listed for rent, one of the decisions I have had to make. And then it's anyone's guess where I will go - back to SA? To SoCal? It all depends on work and earning some money. I can work part-time for Scott but that is not enough to live on in this country and finding another part-time job is like pulling teeth in this economy. There is another faint option out there but am not saying anything or I might jinx it.

So it is all out there in the Universe, waiting to settle into some sort of order.

Second round of treatment is going well. And I am drinking Kangen water an ionized, ph balanced water that will help get my system to an alkaline state. It is also a detox which I noticed right away.

I'm Baaaack!

Arrived last night at the house around 7:45 after a very long and tiring flight. It was such a pleasure to see Susan at the airport gate when I arrived! The flight was about 45 minutes late, so poor thing had to wait for me.

Flying in to Seattle, the clouds covered in and it looked just like when I left - gray! But it stays light until late and it isn't that cold.

Buddy came rushing out when he heard the car and was so happy to see me - he was so excited he was drooling and the engine running hard. Hinckley came in a bit later and was a bit more stand-offish but got over it fast and both slept with me last night.

I woke up at 4 am - so it's going to take a while to get over jet lag, made harder by the gray today. The garden is a mess - masses of weeds so it's a good thing it wasn't shown while I was gone. Grass growing up between the flagstone, veges looking sad and the kiwi vine taking over the pathway. Rhodies are looking sad too as they haven't had any water. Saw a bald eagle soaring in front of the house being chased by crows, and I always look at them as a good sign, so things must get better.

Went through a mountain of mail - tossed 95% of it - now must go and get some food.

It's lonely here - the thing I had been dreading most. So got to get this place sold pronto so I can get the hell out of here.

Broadleaze Organic Farm

Today I was lucky enough to visit Broadleaze Organic Farm. It is the only certified organic farm in KwaZulu Natal. We can actually see it from the verandah of Mick and Debbie's house. It is so close to town, Pieermaritzburg, but once you get into their driveway, you feel like you are miles from civilization.

Pix here

The farm is large - over 170 hectares ( about 430 acres) with about 10-15 acres under vegetable cultivation and a lot more in organic hay. The farm had been fallow for more than 40 years when Rob and Nora bought it, which made it easier to get certified. It is a huge project but they are both passionate about what they are doing.

Of course, we went for tea, stopping on the way to get a melk tert (a South African tart) to contribute. We went for a lovely walk around the farm (we were huffing and puffing as we had done a long walk in the morning, and it was very warm, although it is mid-winter) and Rob talked about their cultivation and growing methods. The nursery is under netting to keep the birds and animals (reed buck, monkeys, birds) out and there are geese and rabbits that provide organic fertilizer. Then we walked out to see the growing fields - rows and rows of lettuce and spinach (it's that time of year) - all on strict crop rotation schedules. They have 10 helpers but in order to grow the farm, they will need more trained people, which is a bit of an issue with the local population.

Back at the farm house, we were treated to tea in the lounge, looking out over the fields to our local table mountain. The air was very hazy as we are having a lot of veld (grass) fires as it is so dry. But the view is spectacular.

What a pleasure to see people so involved and passionate about what they do. I wish them lots of luck and know they will succeed, simply because of that passion.

party

I had a belated 60th!

What fun we had! It was definitely old home week, with all four siblings (Biff, Zoze, Mick and me) plus Sue and Graeme who we grew up, John and Rosemary and various wives and husbands.

More Pix

Mick cooked a huge pork loin roast and chicken on the Webe

r, and we all made or brought the rest, and as is so usual, there was far too much food. I made what we call a Hammerfield Special, which is a pavlova with vanilla icecream and I used granadillas (passion fruit for the uninitiated) for desert. The weather was gorgeous and we had the tables set out on the verandah. Wonderful conversation and friendship - and we celebrated my 60th which had slipped by when I was on my own in Washington and which I had tried to ignore! But it was so wonderful and I love my family! Debbie had made a cake and thank goodness there weren't that many candles on it or I might have run out of wind blowing them

out.

There was so much ribbing and ribald joking that at times I thought I would blush - but I can give as good as I get.

So now I have these great memories to remember as I plan my departure on Tuesday.

Mystery theater...and chameleons

Last night was a lot of fun. It is so different from the way things are done in the US.

The venue for the dinner was at an exclusive boys' school called Michaelhouse, about 45 minutes from Mick, in what is known as the Midlands, a farming area with a lot of craft stores and cafes dotted around for the Midlands Meander. It was held in the pavilion above the rugby fields, and there were about 75 people seated at tables of six or seven. We went with Mick and Debbie's wine club friends, some who I remember from their wedding.

The whole idea was for the audience to solve the mystery! There were two actors who played multiple parts and there was some audience participation too. So the scene is set and the "unexpected guest" tells the tale. There are lots of clues dropped and as many red herrings! They had everyone guessing. The play was definitely South African with the accents changing and innuendos that only a South African would get. Dinner - which was very good - was served between acts. At the end, each table had to come up with the "who done it" and our table was very close! But you had to have really listened hard - and not had a couple of glasses of wine - to make the right assumptions. All in all though, it was great fun.

Today I am back at Biff's, but not before seeing a beautiful chameleon. Debbie's gardener was cutting back the bougainvillea when something hissed at him and he leaped a foot in the air, thinking it was a snake (they had caught a puff adder last week) but it was this lovely chameleon who had been disturbed. I didn't know they hissed! Debbie had her garden gloves on so rescued him. He continued to hiss for a while, but once back in the bushes, away from Mbecki, he was fine.

Tomorrow I will start preparing food for the Saturday party. I can't believe this time next week I will be back in the States - and reality.

Party Time

The time is racing by and soon I will be on a plane heading north across far too wide an ocean.

But in the mean time, it's party time!

Saturday is the day, and we have lots of friends coming to Mick and Debbie's house for a mid-day party. We are arranging lots of food - Mick is cooking a pork roll (with crackling)and a chicken on the grill and Zoze and I and Biff will supply the rest.

Old friends are coming - Rosemary and John, Graeme and Wendy, Peter :) Suzie and then all of us. I am really looking forward to it - I expect it will be quite cool but sunny.

So I will pretend it is my 60th birthday party.