Praat nie twak nie

DA for women power.

2011-09-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Lindi should be given as high a position in the DA as possible.   Africa needs female role models for all women in South Africa and the world.    With a white, colored and black femle on the helm, the DA will prove that she is trying to colour the rainbow nation.

The problem is that men do not like to serve under a “*pantoffel regering.”     Remember what a fantastic leader Maggi Thatcher was; even the working class liked her, but the toffee nose Brits could not tolerate her strength so they got rid of her and the Tories starting sliding down the hill ever since.   We do not want that to happen to the DA so just make sure that you balance your top posts out between male and female positions.

Anyway with three ladies in the driving seat, you can vote each other in.     Just make sure the female votes will outweigh the male votes, every the time, unless there is one jealous bitch in the hen-hock.

Men like to feel they are in charge, even if they are clearly out numbered.    Perhaps you can throw a gay into your leadership-position-pot, give it a few stirs and put him in charge of a position as the “Minister for Animal welfare”.    You will then appeal to all animal lovers also, not to mention the group of people with a different sexual orientation.

We, animal lovers are fed up about seeing how humans behave like animals and animal representation is grouped with “mining and global warming”.

The above suggestions will put a big feather in the DA cap.

I think there are a few Saudi’s that will want to lash you all for being “*te voor op die wa” but then they have not wangled voting rights for them to inflate the opposition numbers yet.

Of wat praat ek alles.

*pantoffel regering - Slipper government. (In this case referring to women laying down the law)
“*te voor op die wa” - Too much at the front of the wagon.

Damaged goods people

2011-08-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Children, in many African and other third world countries grew up with warriors or militant leaders as role models. They are damaged goods in any society. They can only envisage a struggle for survival. For many of them the notion of fighting for freedom became their life’s purpose. In some cases, as little children they could strip and name the different components of a gun before they could recite the ABC.

Their childhood dreams were to possess real guns and when they grew up and joined a gang or a militant group, the guns they dreamed about just got bigger and more powerful. What is the purpose of possessing a gun, if they did not have an enemy to fight, so they made enemies? The object was to kill real people.

Some of these damaged children managed to work themselves up to leading rolls. Some became ministers of parliaments and other even gained authority to lead nations.
They soon declared enemies so that they could strengthen their armies and produce bigger guns and faster planes. The toys of war exceeded their wildest imaginations. They see not the suffering and hunger of their people while they sat behind closed doors strategising their next move on the enemy.

Some even tried to unite the continent in one big army against the rest of the world. Damaged goods they are, creating more damaged children so that the wars can continue.

We all need to find ways of removing the imprint of war making, racism and division from the African DNA

The citizens of Africa need to heal their inner child. Africa needs to have positive roll models and positive goals.

African people need to hate the gun and see it as an instrument of poverty and suffering. They need to learn to focus on unity, rejuvenation of the land, the prosperity of the community and above all they need to strive towards PEACE..

Of wat praat ek alles

Dis my reg, dis my reg, dis my reg vir wat ek veg.

2011-08-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

The bottom feeders in humanity are rising against the big fish.
Many of the worlds nations are either in a war situation or are experiencing strike action.

We are entering an era when those who have been suppressed up to now are demanding equal opportunities in life.

I was reading about a domestic worker who does not only have to financially support her own children but also the seven children of her sister and brother-in-law who both passed away; I presume they had aids.

We should all hang our heads in shame that we are so busy chasing our own wealth that we neglected the education of the “want them to disappear” people who live in tin shanties at the borders of big cities.

Every citizen should have the right to know his or her aids status.
Every citizen of the world should know the importance to be informed about aids.
Every citizen should understand his or her responsibilities regarding this condition.
People with aids should be encouraged to take birth control measures in addition to using condoms.
People with aids should not have intercourse with non-infected people even if they use condoms.
No child should have to grow up without parents.
No child should have to look after younger siblings before they had a chance to enjoy a natural childhood.
All children should have the right to have a suitable education, love, support, shelter and food.

Child abuse and neglect is a cancer in humanity.

Those should be basic human rights.

Of wat se ek alles

Another chance.

2011-01-16T01:57:00.000-08:00

All over the world the waterways have been contaminated and stripped from its life-force.
We humans are polluting the very essence of life on earth.

These latest floods are as if Gaia , the earth, is having a bath. A big clean-up.

She is sitting at the local heavenly spa having a nice sploosh splash to rid herself of all the toxins we have been depositing in her waterways.

Lets just hope she is not having a good massage and a rough and tumble afterward.

In Noah’s time when the earth had a good soaker, he built an ark for humanity to survive.

Two of each, strolled in on the gangplank .

It was easy back then.
Could you imaging the selection process in South Africa.
350% black, 30% colored and a pinch of white for democratic reasons with some freeloaders on the roof and while the hoards hang onto the sides while marines shoot rubber bullets at them.
Anyway, the rainbow is to be a sign that the earth will never take deep sea diving lessons again. Mind you it did not mention a 75% color coded rainbow. So perhaps we are still in for it. Perhaps the Biblical rainbow sign means that ‘we better paint our rainbow nation good’ or else!

According to Biblical reference its next trick is a fire walk for purification.

It’s not an ark we need to build but a space ship.

I believe someone on the Internet is selling land on the moon.
That may be a good idea if it comes with a return ticket and if animals are allowed.

Personally, I shall rather live on Venus, the planet of love.

I think I shall stake my claim on a nice spot near the ocean with some large trees and peace, peace ….. not a beggar and burglar in sight.

Venetian plots are free. I am the estate agent down here. Just stake your Internet claim.
There is a selection process. Potential buyers must have hearts full of love and no thoughts of hatred and revenge in their minds.
I shall ask my Uncle Google to do a scan of Venus so you can select and cyber-plant your love-pole to mark your spot.

Of wat praat ek alles.

It is not the same any more

2010-11-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

Q: What is the worst thing about a lazy day out in nature?

A: The journey back home.

As children we loved visiting our favorite picnic spots in Paarl. It was a carefree day of fun under tall trees next to a little river.
We had a picnic, explored the environment, had a swim, and ate ourselves dik then we started all over again, while the old people had to sleep it off on the camp chairs or a blanket on the grass.

I no longer consider such an outing fun. Just the thought of having to dodge the traffic, on the way back to Tableview, undoes all the relaxation of the day. My my nerves are as knotted as it has been before the trip when I get back home.

Then there the idiots and smart Alex’es who know just how to bring your blood to boiling point, when they squeeze into your lane, while you queue at the bottle neck in the road into Tableview.
You also have to figure out which is the best lane to queue in. I seem to mark one car in the other lane and see who moves the quickest. One can never see the cause of the holdup until you passed it.

When you get home you have all the picnic things to clean away and the family will be looking at you with big eyes for their next tummy fillers or just coffee to get the old nerves back to its normal stress levels.

If you live in and around Tableview, it is silly to go all the way to Paarl just to sit under the trees.
We may not have many shady trees in our nature areas left, but we still have a lovely dam and beaches where we can enjoy a relaxing day out.

People, who live in Tableview, do not appreciate or utilize the resources right on their doorsteps.

We have some of the best shops, nature walks, parks, water sport areas and beaches right here, on our doorsteps, and much of it is free. The only thing we do not have a lot of in our nature areas are shady trees to sit under, so perhaps a tranquil visit to deeper in the country now and again may still be warranted.

My garden is like a rain-forest. If I want to sit under a shady tree near water, I just have to put the sprinkler on and fold the beach chair open. I possibly have more birds concentrated on one spot than anywhere in Rietvlei.

Five big trees have been cut down in our area recently. It is the height of breeding season so we have birds breeding at eye level.

It is difficult to know when it is the best time to trim trees now that conservation removed all the alien trees, which is just about all the trees in the nature area. The birds seem to compensate by breeding all the year around.

Of wat praat ek alles

Doggy poop - what to do with it.

2010-10-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

My dog made a soft poop on someone's lawn the other day. I did not know what to do because I forgot the plastic bag at home. Even if I had a plastic bag, how does one scrape a soft poop from the grass? It will take forever. We shouted at the dog but it was a matter of “If you got to go, you got to go".
So I walked on pretending I did not see it and hoped no-one was looking through the window and spotted me as the culprit. The right thing would have been, possibly to write a note of apology and leave it in the letter box, but that will only cause a temporary irritation to turn into a longtime memory. Once you put a face to a poop it burns into your memory bank.
What to do with the poop once you collected it is the next problem. We have no doggy poop bins on our doggy trail. Some people just dump the plastic bags on the field and other throw it into the storm water drain to clog up our beaches and wetlands.
I was thinking of getting one of those plastic, washable gift bags especially to be used as a dog poop bag.

Photograph: Storm-water draining into Rietvlei. Feb 2010

I was reading somewhere that someone suggested we make electricity with it.

Of wat praat ek alles

Perhaps I should start a ‘what to do with dog poop' forum; but then again, it is only me and Bible and the occasional visitor using the forum.

One right to freedom

2010-09-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Those who are not for us are against us

My praatnie gedagte

Why should our children suffer from imported drugs and other substances of abuse? Why should international individuals get rich at the expense of decent, life deserving, individuals like our precious loved ones? Why should the world tolerate fat cats who weaken and kill our global human resource?
There are a majority of global citizens who want a better, free for all world. Why can we not have a global government that can make global free citizenship a reality for all people?
If one, individual, group, country or continent threatens the well-being of the global citizenship, there should be a force that can isolate and remove the infrastructure of international travel from such a group or person until they conform to the global law of opportunity for all.
There should be no exceptions. We should have no mercy for global inf ringers of our democratic rights to a good life for all. Any country, individual or region who partake of travel outside its borders, should fall under one global law.
The ‘United Nations’ have the infrastructure to become such a law society. It should be given the muscle and power to uphold those principles.
The global government should be able to protect all people.

Of wat praat ek alles

How the Hippocratic Oath changed in Africa

2010-05-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

How medical care changed over the years.
Will we ever get back to what we once had? Is that even desirable for modern patients?
Sometimes I do not know any more.

I spent my nursing career in public hospitals. In the early years we used to be given little books of devotion to carry in our pockets. I am sure it made our patients feel saver whether hey believed in religion or not.
That went with the nurses’ veils and caps.
It was as if the nurses wanted to modernize. They wanted to be like everyone else. They no longer wanted to be on a pedestal.

The Nurses “pledge” as it is being practiced in South Africa and some other countries today.

Hippocratic Oath (African Interpretation)

I shall forsake the needs of my patients in order to strike for more money.
I shall milk the hard earned cash from my patients to the best of my ability whether they can afford it or not.
I shall refuse treatments to patients who are too poor to afford my fees.
My personal need and wealth comes before those of my patients at all times.
I shall not be held responsible for death or suffering as a result of my treatment.
All treatments received under my care is given at the patients own risk.
My patients are, at all times, the means to my financial rewards.

The Hippocratic Oath (Modern Version)

“ I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of over treatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Hippocratic Oath (Original English Translation)

I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement:

To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.

All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.

Perhaps it is time that people in charge of governments honor workers who heal the sick so that they can feel worthy again and live up to their highest ideals.

Super Hen Power

2010-03-23T04:59:00.000-07:00

(Original post from: white_granny.iblog)

Supper Hen Power

(Please note that Winnie’s photograph has been added and that there is, to my knowledge, no such an alliance and never has been.)

If our three female politicians can pool their resources together, South Africa will have a force that is hard to beat.

They all have skeletons in their closets, but so have most of the world leaders, today.
If our three ladies can put their differences aside and form an winnie-helen-patricia sisterhood no army will be able to stop them.

They will have, behind them, the powers of the black, white and colored communities.

So Winnie murdered a few people and Patricia threatened to take the houses from the white people, and Helen got on everybody’s nerves at times, But together they can bring South Africa to unity.

Patricia “is nie op haar bek geval nie” and I shall never forget how hard Winnie fought for Nelson to be freed.

I lived overseas and all we read about is Winnie’s campaigns to free Nelson.
Helen is our ‘weergawe” of the British Maggie Thatcher.

I would like to see a photograph with all three ladies drinking a cup of tea (or a glass of mampoer) while planning South Africa’s future.

I can imagine my husband mumbling: “God forbid” , when he reads this post, “rather the devil you know than political hen pecking”

Of wat praat ek alles

(non related article)

What the eye can see makes the mouth waters

2010-02-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

24-02-2010

(original post from http://white_granny.iblog.co.za/)

My front door was open.
We never have the front door open anymore, because if we leave it open every vagrant that passes by comes and ask for something and we have to listen to untold stories of sadness.

It was a bit stuffy in the room and I decided to open the front door just for a short wile to get some air in the room.

I was 'smagging' for something to drink so I took the last lovely cold fruit juice from the fridge.
I was standing well back, facing the security door and enjoying the fresh cool breeze from the door, while sipping my fruit juice, when the dog's bark alerted me to the free-paper delivery boys.

Knowing that begging is a side line for them, I hastily hid my cool drink, not wanting to put any ideas into his head.

I was hoping he did not notice the open door and deposits the stuff in the letterbox as he normally does.

No chance, he was on the doorstep and still hoping that he would just greet me and deliver the newspaper, I went to the door with the normal smile and greeting.

He gave me the newspapers then asked for a cool drink.
How in the warm place did he see me sipping the drink?
My last fruit drink.

I said that I only have half a bottle left, and he said its OK he will have it.

I gave him the hidden drink and closed the door.

I long for the days when I could leave my front door open in peace.

Later we found the empty cool drink bottle together with other junk next to the flattened plants in our front garden where he decided to picnic.

En nou praat ek nie twak nie.

Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,

2010-01-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Original post from the white-granny blog

When I lived in Australia, my father used to send me some Afrikaans tapes which he recorded from the radio.
When I worked the 9-5 shift the traffic from our home was first gear and stop all the way to work.
A 10 min journey took an hour.
It was the best time.
I used to make flask of coffee. Put my vehicle in first gear and drove it like an automatic car.
No gear changes. It was a straight road so there was no need to turn. Just stop and start.

I rolled down the windows (No crime in Brisbane in those days)
Poured my coffee;
Spread the newspaper over the steering wheel. (No cell phones back then)
Then I turned the tape recorder on and listened to my Afrikaans songs while I read the newspaper and drank my coffee ……… and drive.

Here is one of those songs from Chris Blignaut (I think). I am not 100% sure of the words.

I shall have to scratch my old Chris Blignaut tape out somewhere.

—————————————————————-

Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,
van Tempie tot Grootfontein!
In ‘n ratel op Otavi,
of hoog in ‘n bos aeroplane.
‘n Rang wil ek nie dra nie,
net ‘n R1 hier styf langs my sy.
Ag man, dis lekker in die army,
en ‘n troepie die wil ek graag bly.

Een Woensdag het ek ge A-wol
Die rugby offisier was vies
toe laat hy my pale toe leapard crawl
en ek word vir die DB gekies
‘n rang wil ek nie dra nie
net ‘n R1 styf teen my sy
Ag man dis lekker in die Army
net’n troepie wil ek graag bly

As jy van die kos dalk siek word,
wat jy innie army kry.
Wees bly dat jy daarvoor betaal word,
hulle moemit jou danger-pay.
Ek spaar dit en vergeet dit,
in ‘n bank en daar lê dit doodstil.
En as ek uit ge-clear het
oop ek wat ek begeer het,
dis ‘n ding wat hier onder my brul.

Koor
Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,
van Tempie tot Grootfontein!
In ‘n ratel op Otavi,
of hoog in ‘n bos aeroplane.
‘n Rang wil ek nie dra nie,
net ‘n R1 hier styf langs my sy.
Ag man, dis lekker in die army,
en ‘n troepie die wil ek graag bly.
As my pa wil dan sal ek hier bly!

---------------------------

The song in this post is about voluntary army training in order to protect the country against terrorism.

The thought that comes to mind is that many things that is normal during war time, becomes crime during peace time.

The enemies of war become your friends of tomorrow.

So why do people not just skip the fighting and resolve their differences.

At least you will have more chance of living out your life to the full.

Of wat praat ek alles?

My "koffie lus" is gone.

2010-01-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

I have been having writers block for about a month now; Ever since before my operation.

I think they removed my brain with the gallbladder. Those little ‘klippies’ in the bottle is possibly my ‘verkalkte’ brain.

Luckily I can eat anything now. Even curry. I ‘het die dokter die dood voor die oë gesweer,’ if I could not eat curry.
The only problem is that I can not get a taste for coffee.
I really ‘lus’ that coffee, but it does not taste nice. I even tried it black.
I tried Ricoffee, Nescafe and Jacob Kronen but in vain. My coffee taste buds are gone but my brain does not want to accept it.
I am an addict.
Perhaps I must get my friend to hypnotize me into thinking it tastes nice.

My little ‘coffee and muffin’ stolen moments are gone: poof – ‘in sy glorie’

So what is the moral of this story? There is none. I write rubbish because of my writers block.

Die ou bees. Old cow?

2010-01-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

So I am fat. I am a happy fat person. I love cooking and eating. I have a fat husband and a fat cat and a fat dog and we all like to eat nice food.

What I don’t like is the medical term the doctors give to fat people.
OBESE!

Well, being Afrikaans obese sounds like an “ou bees” which might as well be an old cow.

So whenever I go to the doctor with some medical problem or another that he can not solve, he says it is because I am such an old cow. (Obese)

Of wat praat ek alles

Being hollowed out

2009-11-05T02:32:00.000-08:00

The truth/lie about stomached ulcers.

Being a retired person, one has time to enjoy life’s experiences, whether they be work or family related.

This morning, while pondering over my possible last fatty breakfast of coffee, bacon, eggs and buttered toast, my mind examined every tasty mouth full of food. I chewed every morsel of bacon, egg and toast until it became fluid, in order to extract each and every flavoring particle for the absorption by my taste buds.

I am not sure if I will be able to enjoy the nice crispy bacon fat mixed with the yoke of the nicely fried egg again.
It tasted like the best breakfast I ever had.

My mouth welcomed it, my esophagus carried it happily to my stomach and my gallbladder said: 'let’s get to work breaking this fat load down while we can'.

Every part of my anatomy was happy and the last remnants of the tasty breakfast still linger in my mouth.

So why all this fuss over a little breakfast? Why this post?

As from now I am on a diet of clear fluids prior to gastroscopy and colonoscopy procedures tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow a little camera will be passed into my stomach and bowel to exclude any nasties, like cancer or polyps, prior to removing my gallbladder, which is believed to be the cause of the chest pains that feel like heart attacks, which I have been having...

Personally I think they have the ‘kat by die stert beet’ but then that may be one of those labels the doctors put on patients who do not want to accept their medical conditions. That label called 'denial'.

Just last week I had another imaginary label stuck to my forehead, by my GP, when I described my gastric and chest discomfort. That one was called ‘Hypochondria’.

A nice name for a baby: Imagine saying ‘Hypochondria go and do your school work’

My name is no longer ‘Hypochondria’ because I now suffer from a

‘delayed bile flow condition’ due to a gall-stone. So they say.

So I have a little gall-stone. So what? It is mine, it does not necessary need to be removed, so I redekavel. Surely if my gall-bladder was so troublesome, why can I enjoy this large breakfast of bacon and eggs so much?

The surgeons of today are far too eager to chop people’s body parts out because they feel it is not essential to health.
They think God created people full of needless spare parts, it seems.

I think it is man who is unable to understand the full glory of God’s creation. One day, perhaps we will understand just how vitally important each and every organ in the body is and aim to preserve, or replace it, rather than ‘chop it out’.

I was fifty when they chopped my uterus and ovaries out, pushing me into menopause overnight.
I was told that it was better to remove it because it would cause problems later in life.
(The removal of the ovaries was due to a surgical accident but that is another story).
The argument, at the time was that I did not need it anyway.

They possibly took my appendix out too because they believed that I did not need it either.

If they could they would remove my tonsils because ‘I do not need it’

Now the surgeons are about to remove my gallbladder because it is not necessary for health.

Soon I shall be like an empty vessel that can only make a lot of noise. (So I shall still have my tonsils – I hope)

Anyway, what this post is about is what I was thinking while I ate my last fatty breakfast. I was pondering on the mechanics of eating.

The food enters your mouth then it gets mechanically mashed by your teeth.
The more you chew your food, the less work your stomach has to do in order to break it down.
One can assume that people that chew their food well have to secrete less stomach acid.
Failing to chew food well will place a strain on the stomach which has to break those hunks of un-chewed food down chemically. (Using a strong acid)

Un-chewed food remains in the stomach longer, because an acidic chemical process is needed to make the food useable to the body.

The food beaks up in the holding-tank (stomach) and gets released in small amounts, as it digests, also causing a hold-up in the gallbladder (that has to break down the fat) and the pancreas (that breaks down the sugar and other nutrients)

Can you see how by neglecting the simple process of chewing food properly, we can have such a host of other gastric stress and congestions.

We all know that stress causes ulcers. We know the bigger the hurry, the faster we eat.
Acids can burn through the bowel linings and cause ulcers.
The shorter the time that food remains in the stomach the less chance there is of developing ulcers and indigestion.

Perhaps if stressed people can only take time to eat regular small meals and chew each mouth-full to a masticated pulp before swallowing, many stress-gastric symptoms can be avoided.

Chewing food well, from childhood, can possibly prevent obesity, stomach cancer and a host of other gastric problems in later life.

Eating and chewing with consciousness can possibly be a key to a longer life. Think about it.
It could prevent being surgically hollowed out in old age.

Perhaps parents should train their little children to chew their food, rather than delight in seeing an empty plate.

So mum, next time you hurry your little one through his plate of food, consider the surgical problems you may be training him to have later in life.

Of wat praat ek alles.

------------------------------------------------

The end times

2009-08-10T01:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting links about the end times:

original post : http://white_granny.iblog.co.za/

Charity?

2009-07-19T02:13:00.000-07:00

The 67 minutes of Mandela Charity thing came and gone without much of a ripple in our routine.
Most of the people I know give much more than 67 minutes of their time to helping other in need either on a daily or on an hourly basis.

One of my friends gives 120 minutes of her time every hour of the day to helping someone in need.
She has a daughter with leukemia.

She is now faced with perhaps leaving her place of residence, because the owner needs it for her own family.

It seems that, in my environment, the people who mostly need to be reminded to give time to charity are those who receive it.

Some people become like helpless sponges and just take.

They have the attitude that the world owes them.

It does not matter how badly you are off, a smile or a good word cost nothing.

I remember some years ago, when our Pick and Pay decided to donate the day old bread to the squatter community.
Sometimes the transport would let them down and the bread become moldy.

The people appeared on television accusing the chain store for regarding them as pigs.

In that case it would have been better if the store chucked the bread. They would not have received the bad publicity the got instead of a “Thank you”

People often slap the hand that feeds them. They always want more and more.

They will only become satisfied when they get in a situation where they become givers and not just takers.

I don’t think the time to start giving is when you have excess. There are lots of things that you can give that do not cost money.
We should all be givers. Of wat praat ek alles

The hungry man

2009-07-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. President,

The man, who delivered free newspapers to my letterbox, asked me for bread when he saw me collect the post.

He was sitting on the opposite side of the road sorting the papers. He called the bread by a different name, and I had to ask him to explain what he was asking for.

My first reaction was to feel annoyed, because we see so much food being thrown away by people, pretending to be hungry, to play on our emotions to get money for booze instead. Professional liars.

Then I remember that it has been some weeks since I saw food being thrown away.
Perhaps people are really starving.
The man’s face flashed in front of my eyes.
His skin was darker than that of our local native population. He looked thin and sickly. His eyes were hollow.

My husband just left and I was alone at home. How do I know he was not going to pull a knife out and stab me when I hand him the bread?

I turned my back to him and closed the door so I could feel safe.

Perhaps I am a sucker, I thought. Let it not be recorded in my book of life , when I one day stand in front of the pearly gates, and the gatekeeper refuses me entrance because I turned a hungry man away when I had plenty to give.

I went to the kitchen and spread some marg and apricot jam onto a slice of bread and grabbed a bottle of water and took it to him to still my conscience - or balance my heavenly books … whatever.

I could have given him much more, but I still was not convinced that he was honest.

O, I wish I lived in a country where we can trust people again.
I am at heart a Samaritan but here in South Africa it as called “a sucker”!

Original post from : (http://grannypolitics.iblog.co.za)

My head book

2009-06-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I feel rather pleased with myself.
As I awoke I sort of remembered my dream from the previous night. I then remembered that it continued on from a dream of the night before. Not that I was aware of recording it in my brain.
Then my mind continued to complete the dream even though I was awake.
Since this is not the first time that I woke up with a novel in my head, I decided to think it through.
I had to make a choice to either put it on ice for now, think it to as far as I can, or discard it since I do not have time to spend on novels right now.
Someone told me to write my thought-dreams down, because otherwise I spent my creativity without recording it ever. She said once creativity is spent, it goes.

I decided to record the outlines and started writing.
Even though I had no idea how it was going to play out; the words (or rather ideas) just flowed to the last paragraph. I crawled out of bed at 11 am with the whole comedy written down (the outline if it).

From beginning to the last sentence – the whole novel outline in my diary.

I have never brought a book to completion in one morning, even though this is about the sixth one I dreamed.

Sometimes it would take me three months to think one through.
My comedy has a beginning, a body, a theme, all the major actors (not their names) and an ending. Brilliant.

Except for the before last head-novel, I never even wrote them down.

This one is a comedy written for the screen or to be performed -- not for a book.

The story deals with two brothers that were abducted at the age of six months and were reunited with the family twenty six years later. They had to act that they were babies for the sake of the mother’s emotional health.

It is the first story that I ever minded-out that I could not put my own personality into any of the characters.

It is as if I was reading someone else's transcript.
Nevertheless, I am pleased with myself for writing the 26 pages into my diary.

Perhaps I shall learn how to write a TV novel and complete it one day.

The land of Croatia?

2009-06-17T01:10:00.000-07:00

I thought I would start my "June - best webcam research" and came across this link.
One never know when one stumbles upon a video game or whether something is real on the internet.
I realize real or not - I know as little about Croatia as what most foreigners know about South Africa.
I bet you, by the end of this month, I shall know everything there is to know about this place.

I just have to find out if the town is here on earth or if it is one of a number of new lunar suburbs.
Perhaps we can start a white Afrikaner state there?"
Of what praat ek alles

Whatever here are a few links:

To enter Croatia a driver's licence, an automobile registration card and vehicle insurance documents (including Green Card) are required.

(sputnik supplied?)

In case of rain please adjust speed to conditions on wet roads.
Driving with headlights is obligatory during both day and night.
Mobile phones: Use of mobile phones while driving is not permitted
Maximum permitted amount of alcohol in blood: 0.0 per mill!
Use of seat belts is obligatory.

Http://www.accommodationincroatia.net/travel.phpe

I decided to consult Wikki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia) and she said. Sorry no apartheid here.
They do exist on earth.

Dear Mr. President,

2009-06-10T02:20:00.001-07:00

Dear Mr. President, (Original post from http://grannypolitics.iblog.co.za/)
It is still a freezing cold winter morning outside.

It is early still. The time that people leave their homes to go to work.
A woman walks past my window. She looks like someone’s mother.
Her skin is drawn and her young face is wrinkled like that of a woman twenty years her senior.
She is thin. Her legs are bare and her bare feet are inside thin damp shoes. A thin sarong (for a skirt) covers the lower half of her body. A worn, thin, long sleeved faded sweater covers her upper half.
Under her arm she clutches a bag that met its last owner.
She walks as brisk as she can because it keeps her body warm so she can not feel the cold …….
So she can not feel her tummy aching for food. So she can not remember sending her children off to school without something to eat or drink this morning.
Her eyes scan the houses for one that looks friendly. One that may give her a job this morning.

The vision of getting some money to buy soup bones, maze, bread and beans to prepare a meal for her family tonight keeps her going. She can see her children filling their tummies and laugh a joke …… and dream about a better tomorrow. The one president Zuma promised.

She disappeared down the road. I reach out for my cup of tea and wonder what I would put on my toast this morning, honey or marmalade.

Somewhere far away, our country’s leaders are recovering from indigestion brought about from the rich breakfast they just indulged in. They have a full schedule. Many important decisions to make. There are the issues of the mines, the strikers, the economy and the upcoming summit. Yes, there are lots to deal with before lunch.

See how many days until
We reach our goal to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY by 2015

(http://sites.google.com/site/unityinafrica/)

Of wat praat ek alles

Bin People

2009-06-10T02:09:00.000-07:00

The bin people - Cape Town suburb.10-06-2009

The activity at the garbage bins is a social indicator for a region.

No activity would mean that the poverty needs of a community are being met.

Today is bin-day. (Wednesdays is the day that we all one wheel our wheelie-bins outside onto our driveways in readiness for the garbage disposal truck.)
They have a golden rule: "whatever is not inside the bin will not be collected" So food, clothing or newspapers must be put inside the bin for the poorest of the poor to collect before the truck arrives.
It is a weekly ritual in our neighborhood.
The lucky organized bin-scavengers come in groups of two or more and neatly pack their shopping trolleys. They stack the trolley neatly and tightly to fit as much recyclable into it as they can. Their dedication to the job is the same as with any other job. This is their living.
Then you have the newcomers. They are not organized yet. The lucky ones carry rug sacks but the very new, Zimbabweans and other newcomers to the area, just have plastic shopping bags. Most of them are looking for food.
There is another brand of the rug sack brigade that has a criminal intent. They look for documents and ID papers.

I heard the shopping trolleys being pushed down the road very early. Were they the early-birds who wanted to catch the best recyclables? --- Or was it the house breakers making for the taxi rank to get to the buyers early?

Both sound the same
They both use shopping trolleys. (Theft of a shopping trolley in South Africa is regarded as a human right.) Stolen shopping trolleys are paid for by the consumer.

I have noticed more bin-scavengers with rug-sacks and very few trolleys this last month.
I have seen more people scratching the bins for food, but today it is very quiet in our street.
Yesterday I saw a woman sweeping the street. It was unusual, because there was not much rubbish in the gutters.

Last week there were a few people looking for newspapers and the box of newspapers I put into my bin was quickly snapped up.
.
I have not seen the glass collectors for a while.
I placed a box full of newspapers on top of my bin this morning, but no-one was interested.
I also put two cracked fish tanks next to the bin for the glass collectors, but it did not draw any interest.

Are the workers at the municipal offices waiting for community work opportunities?
Is the government succeeding in providing work?

The bin people and those hopefuls at the corners of the streets will be the measurement of how well the government fulfills its promise.

Of wat praat ek alles

Cyber space killing

2009-06-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I dozed off in front of the TV, in the back ground, on the screen, a gang-rape was playing out.
I saw the end of it but thought nothing much about it at the time. It is our norm. The rubbish that enters our private spaces through TV screens and video games is part of life. It is fantasy - not real. Our brains can distinguish from what is real and what is not.
Or can it?

From time to time mediate to clear conflict and disharmony within my mind. Images that comes up in my mind during this process is often “not real”
It may be something I saw on television, in a soapy by accidental viewing or what I read in the newspaper. My brain recorded it as conflict within me.

This morning I picked up a magazine “PC Format” in which a video game was reviewed. The author wrote: “...... I am going to track down and take out another wolf in Obivion. And a bear. And a mountain lion - just because I can.” (Page 8 / June 2006)

Perhaps more studies are needed to determine what effect this loose morality, cruelty and violence are having on humanity as a whole. Or perhaps we should just take note of studies that was already done.
We can not just ignore this type of “Freedom of expression”
If “freedom of speech and expression harms innocent minds, it is no longer freedom of speech - it is corruption!”

Perhaps that type of material should be recognized or what it is and not be forced into public viewing spaces. People who want to view that stuff should specifically subscribe to it.

Then the rest of us can start to create in our minds a world of healing, joy, bliss and peace.

That is if bliss and peace can ride on the same donkey - of wat praat ek alles.

See "The joy of killing"

Extreme de-clutter

2009-04-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Last year I would hear of someone emigrating from South Africa on a weekly basis.
Up to before the elections, recently, I am hearing about friends returning to South Africa.
The reason for the return is that they can not find jobs overseas.
One person said that the crime issue is one thing, but what use is safety when one is unhappy.

Emigrating and then returning, is a very extreme way to get rid of clutter.

Read the words of THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME here

Some interesting New Age facts About South Africa:

2009-04-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

Some people say that Table Mountain is the basic chakra (energy center) of the earth. The earth seems to have more than one.
Other say that it is the sacral chakra.

There are important earth ley-lines on Table Mountain. As far as I remember, one runs through to Mc Gregor and further.
There is a Northern star-gate at the Pyramids.
It is said that the Southern star-gate is at Pietermaritzburg in Natal.

Sadly Zimbabwe is another important energy center of the earth - they say.

Like on land, it is claimed that there are powerful water crystal energy centers in the waters on and around the earth.

Cape Town is said to be near the Foot Water Crystal energy center.

Chew on that!

Here are more herkoukies:

Http://www.ofspiritandsoul.com/earth%20vortices/vortices.html

Of wat praat ek alles

Narrowing the gap or leveling the playing field

2009-04-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Are we narrowing the gap between rich and poor or leveling the playing field to dirt level.

We had to change our M-net decoder, so we decided to have breakfast at a nearby well-known chain-restaurant.

The restaurant was packed, which meant that the food was as good as it has been for decades.
We chose this particular restaurant because they make nice coffee. We also like the breakfasts they serve at a very affordable price.

The waitress took our order and brought our very hot coffee. The cups were also hot, and I wondered if they heated it up in a microwave. It was very nice, but not “second cup” nice. It was just too hot. You do not get a choice of hot or cold milk, just Xxxxx coffee. Nice Xxxxx coffee, but. I mentioned the microwave suspicion to my husband and he said “What do you expect from a Xxxxx restaurant?”

Next the waitress threw the cutlery, partially wrapped in the serviette, onto the table. No place mat or side plate, we are expected to eat from the snotty-kids-fingers' table. I picked up the knife and fork and, using the serviette, I started polishing the invisible snot from the cutlery. Then I placed my cutlery on top of the serviette. My husband watched my antics and said: “What do you expect from a Xxxxx?”

The breakfast came and it looked very tasty. I ordered, the smallest breakfast of bacon, and soft egg and toast. My husband ordered a man-sized one with his egg well done.

I waited for the side plate, butter and jam, and hoped the place mat would arrive late, but none came. When I said “Is this it?” My husband said: “What do you expect from a Xxxxx?”

We asked for marmalade and butter. It arrived with no side plate and butter-knife.
I looked at the narrow pointed steak knife I used for my breakfast. It was full of egg, so I used the second serviette that came with the butter to wipe the egg from the knife.
I was staring at it and thought it would have been so much easier to use a butter knife.
My husband looked at me and before I opened my mouth to say something, he said:
“What do you expect from a XXXXX?”

Eventually, my husband got up and asked for a butter knife. Another waitress took one from the tray and handed it to our waitress to pass it on to him. The other waitress was not going to serve someone from another table.

I looked at the snotty finger table and wished for a side plate. I said: “I don’t suppose they will bring a side plate?”
He answered: “What do you expect from a XXXXX?”

My dinner plate was a bright egg yellow so I discarded the idea to butter my toast on it.
I considered tipping the butter and jam out onto the table and using that saucer, but decided it was too small. I then spread the second serviette on the table and used it as a side plate.
As I looked up at my husband, he opened his mouth and started to say: “W ...” And I said: “Don’t say it again.”
“I do expect a side plate, butter knife, place mat and butter and jam with my toast.
Whether I pay R17 or R170 for my breakfast, that is what I expect in a sit-down restaurant. I want Spur quality service - even at a Xxxxx!”

“Is this an example of narrowing the gap or just treating everyone like pigs?” I thought.
When the waitress brought the bill I noticed for the first time how sad she looked. She looked as if she was going to burst out in tears any moment. I tried to cheer her up by saying how nice the food was, but she ignored us.

I said to my husband he must give her a nice big tip to cheer her up. We left - never to return again.

One can be so quick to judge, but we never know what is happening in the lives of those we meet in passing.

Of what praat ek alles.

16-04-2009

March 2009 best Table Mountain webcams

2009-03-15T01:54:00.000-07:00

(The original post is from http://white_granny.iblog.co.za/ )

This month’s White-Granny “Best Cape Town Webcam” award goes to two websites.

I can not decide which one is the best

You may vote in the comments section of this blog if you wish.

This month there is a toss-up between

The MAC website at
http://www.cape-town.at/webcam.htm

And our best maintained Milnerton Lagoon webcam and other great webcams:

http://www.kapstadt.de/livecam.htm

They are both great sites and give the visitor value for their click.

_________________________________________________________________

Other great live webcams:

http://www.xplorer.co.za/local/webcams/index.html

http://www.alltravel.co.za/webcam/

http://www.sanparks.com/

Parasitic behavior of doctors and medical aid schemes

2009-03-15T01:39:00.000-07:00

The heading of the newspaper article reads: "Plan to replace doctors' ethical tariff comes under fire"

It was proposed that as from April patients sign a document agreeing that they are prepared to pay a doctor more than the medical aid is prepared to charge. This means that people struggling for money will have to suffer their illness and possibly die, or go into dept.

It may also mean that we may have to join another medical aid fund to pay the amount the doctors do not cover. Already I have to pay my doctor fifty rand upfront every time I visit her even if it is only for ten minutes to write out a script, she would then claim from the medical aid scheme what they are prepared to pay for the treatment.

I am a sixty year old woman, and my medical aid covers me for pregnancies, prostate cancer, miscarriages, and a host of other problems I do not need coverage for at this stage of my life.
If medical aids cover individuals according to heir needs, perhaps patients have the necessary coverage for their health requirements.

Paying into a medical aid scheme should mean peace of mind when one is ill. At this rate it is more viable for the majority of people to just put that money into a bank savings account for the purpose to use it only for medical expenses. If the employers will agree to pay their portion into such a bank account also, it would be a better option for most people. Then they can just join an emergency hospital and accident scheme for peace of mind.

Medical aid schemes should look at what they pay their executives and see if the money drain does not lie there. How much does the executive earn compared to the doctor? Who works the hardest? What does the patient deserve? Both the medical aid schemes and the doctor should serve the patient. Currently they both function like parasites sucking the patients' emotional and financial health.

It is time that companies learn to create a balance between the payment of executive staff, the profits the company incurs and the service they provide.

Are you a knife and fork person?

2009-03-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Are you a fork and knife person, or are you a knife and fork person?

In our family we would arrange our cutlery draw: knives, forks then spoons.

My husband's family arranges their cutlery: forks, knives and spoons. I always have the urge to change it.

If a woman is raised in a knife and fork family, the likelihood is that she will be carrying that gene over to her female offspring.

"so gemaak en so ge laat staan. "

An un expected find

2009-01-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

I was right when I said it was going to be a strange year.

We went for a walk this morning, as per usual, when my husband picked up a stick and decided to take it with him to protect his dog from other dogs or something. It is not clear why he picked it up and it was not strictly a stick, it was a strong plastic pipe, like a broom handle.

When we arrived back home, I asked him to use it to knock some of the wild plums off from the high branches of our tree, because I wanted to make some wild plum jam, when something wrapped in newspaper fell from the pipe. At closer inspection we discovered it was someone's stash. Someone hid the stash inside the pipe for collection by someone else later. Neither of us can remember where we found the "stick". It was done so subconsciously.

There must be a little dagga plantation in our neighborhood, because it was still fresh.

Some years ago I found a lot of little dagga plants growing by a storm-water pipe at Milnerton beach. I thought at the time that the storm-water system carried the seeds there. My husband argued that it was possibly a place where they gather to smoke the stuff. It was near the beach and we all know lots of "onheiligheid" goes on by the beach at night.

Back to the top http://praatnietwaknie.blogspot.com/

To Granny White’s blog Http://www.white_granny.iblog.co.za

Read interesting facts about Dagga: (http://www.weed.co.za/st/content/marijuanatimeline/)

EVERY WORD COUNTS

2009-01-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

Two priests were among the 1000 killed in a train wreck.

Arriving at the Pearly Gates, they found St. Peter and his assistant, Charlie, flustered by the rush. Addressing the two priests, St. Peter said, "Look you guys, we can’t handle all these people at once. Since you are men of the cloth, I can give you a special deal. You can sit on the bench over there and wait your turn like the rest of the folks, or I can let you go back, to Earth for two weeks, off the record, as anything you like." "Terrific!", said the first priest. "My life-long dream was to spend time in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado just enjoying the natural beauty, but I never got there. I'd like to go back as an eagle so I can soar over the mountains and really enjoy the majesty of those peaks and valleys."

"Done," said St. Peter, and the priest disappeared. "Now," he said to the second priest, "how about you?" "Off the record, eh? Well, considering what I had to give up to become a priest, I'd like to go back as a stud."

"Done!" said St. Peter, and the second priest disappeared.

Two weeks later, just about sundown, Charlie was about to go to dinner when St. Peter said, "Not yet, Charlie. I just remembered, we have two priests down on earth and their two weeks are up today. You have to go get them before we quit for the day. Now, finding the first one won't be hard. He's an eagle flying over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Finding the second guy will be a bit tougher.

He's somewhere in Wisconsin on a snow tire."

Every word counts.

This narrative is from a book is “List More- Sell More” by Jerry Bresser ISBN 0-9611574-0-2

Read the book reviews

(Http://www.white_granny.iblog.co.za )

(http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0961157402/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1)

Sloppy dressers

2008-12-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

When did we become so sloppy in our dress?

When I was young, boys and men's trousers were tailor made to fit.

While I was waiting for someone outside a busy shopping center, I noticed how ugly the foot and leg wear of most Tableviewers are.
People's ankles have a wrinkly-neck appearance with the ugliest footwear to round it off.
Did this sloppiness happen because women are working and no longer have the time to shorten trouser legs?
Are the shops selling only clothes modeled on tall people? (Which means all normal size and short people looks untidy)?
Are people no longer fashion conscious?
Do people have an untidy consciousness?
Do we consider appearance to be unimportant?
Is untidiness sexy?

I don't know what the answer is, but next time you find yourself waiting for someone at a shopping center, just do an ankle study and you will see what I mean.
People no longer dress their ankles up.
It is as if we are not interested in anything below the knees.

My Christmas tree a Tumbleweed

2008-12-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

2008

My Christmas tree is Tumbleweed.

When we were very little, back in the 50's and 60's, my father used to go to the bush and saw a branch from a pine tree for our Christmas tree.

Later he bought a tree (branch) from someone selling it at the road-side.

Later still whole baby trees were sold for Christmas.

I cannot remember when I saw the first plastic tree, but fake ones were never a consideration in our home - not until I went to England in the seventies.

It took some time to get used to white plastic trees also. Green ones looked more natural.

Since I was in control of choosing and decorating my own tree, after I got married, I never wanted a "dead" tree for Christmas.

"Killing a tree for Christmas was just not my thing.

I would buy a tree growing in a pot. It did not necessary have to be a pine tree. If I did not buy one specially, I would choose one from my collection of pot plants.

My hobby is to bonsai trees grown from seeds or baby trees found growing wild.

Sooner or later I allow them to grow up and they get planted out into my garden. If they are lucky they become my Christmas tree before being planted out.

This year I was pondering on which pot plant to use for a Christmas tree, when a tumbleweed came rolling down the road and landed at my feet.

It was as if it was begging me: "Choose me, please, please." "Let me be pretty before I go to the garbage can."

So this year my Christmas tree is tumbleweed.

"My Christmas tree a tumble weed" sounds like a good title for book.

Ladies turn

2008-12-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Today I do not have one political opinion in my head.
Ziltz!

COPE IS COPING

THE "ANC" IS "LOOK & SEE" what their next blocking move is going to be.

The lady politicians are sitting on the sideline and waiting for the boys to kill themselves OR each other.

So everything is hunky dory in "The Days of Our Lives" in the live South African political soapy.

We are starting to get more Google hits than Mugabe.

Perhaps the girls should group together and form one strong united party with a strong name. They should have a good chance of winning the election as one team. A name like TOP should do it "The One Party"

Of wat praat ek alles.

Are we eating Africa?

2008-12-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

It  is a scorcher today, here in Cape Town.
 
When  I suggested to my husband that the least the conservationists in the area could  do was to put monitors on duty to keep people and dogs away from the  Oystercatchers, that are in their breeding season, here on our beaches.  His reply was: "Wat jy waar gaan kry?  "(*1)  He said that the  conservationists are spread too thinly and the other workers would not work over  the weekends.
 
Perhaps  we should be grateful that this is Blaauwberg and not  Zimbabwe.
In  Zimbabwe those little Oystercatcher eggies and chicks would have looked very  inviting on the breakfast frying pan, especially if the Oystercatcher was lying  next to it.  People would kill for  such a feast.   When one's own  life is endangered by starvation;  Who cares about the life of a  bird?
 
Could  you imaging what would happen if the resource mismanagement strategies from  Zimbabwe has a domino effect in other African nations?
If  the Armageddon and a global meltdown is not upon us, could you imagine a "heaven  on earth" in first world countries with the balancing factor of "hell on earth"  in Africa?
Could  "Die geween en die kners van tande(*2)" that the Bible predicts, run  concurrently with the "Heaven on earth" which is also mentioned in the same  scripture?
 
If  we eat, tread on, and build on everything that makes Africa unique, is it  possible that Africa will in the, not so distant, future, become a cesspool of  disease, crime and dust with no clean water or food?
 
Already  the symbol of the "African lion" and "the wildlife paradise in Africa" is being  replaced by the image of dying babies suckling from empty breasts with flies  looking for a bit of moisture in their eyes and on their dry, cracking  lips.
 
All  African leaders should study what is happening in Zimbabwe and what was the  turning point for this prosperous country, and then make sure it does not happen  on their own turf.
 
One  cannot blame the first world and past inhumanities any more.  We need to look at recent history and  blame ourselves.  The first world  countries poured multi-billions into Africa and created quite a number of  billionaires, but how much of that money filtered down to the people it was  intended for?
 
The  African leaders have never been so rich and the people never so  poor.
Even  during the days of slavery, most people had food on the table and many more ate  very well.
 
 
Translation:    Afrikaans to  English.
*1(Wat  jy waar kry? - where would they come from?)
*2(Geween  en kners van tande  - Weeping and  grinding of the teeth)
Most  people in South Africa are bilingual and mix expressions from two or three  languages in one sentence.  Perhaps  this is the beginning of a new South African language.  A rainbow nation  lingo.

Father's Love Letter

2008-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

I received this letter in a Christmas card.

Father's Love Letter

My Child...

You may not know me, but I know everything about you.-.. Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.-.. Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.-.. Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.-.. Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.. - Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being. .-.Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.- ..Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.-..Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation..-. Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.-.. Psalm 139:15-16

I deteimmed the exact time of your birth and where you would live.-..Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.-.. Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.-.. Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.-.. Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me..-. John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love..-. I John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you..-. I John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your father...- I John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could..-. Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father..-. Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.-. James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.-. Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope..-.Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.-.. Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore.-.. Psalm 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.-.. Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you..-. Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession... Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul..-. Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.- ..Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me..-. Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. -..Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.-.. Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine..-. Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager... 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles.-.. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you.-.. Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. .-.Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes..-. Revelation 21:3-4

And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.-.. Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus..-. John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. .-.John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being... Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you.-. Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.-.. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.-.. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you.-. I John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love..-. Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me.-.. I John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again.. - Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen..-. Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father..-. Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is... Will you be my child?.-.. John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.-.. Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad. Almighty God

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November Webcam watch November 2008

2008-11-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

Live webcams of Table Mountain and Cape Town

Many of the Cape Town webcams are down this month.

This month’s best Table Mountain view

FROM MAC CLUB

http://www.milnertonaquaticclub.co.za/pages/knots.asp.

OTHER GOOD WEBCAMS

Greenpoint Stadium

http://6000.co.za/green-point-stadium-live-webcam-feeds/

This website gives different views of Cape Town and Table Mountain, as well as the cable stations.

(http://www.kapstadt.de/livecam.htm)

Previous White_Granny Posts:

June 2008 (http://www.white_granny.iblog.co.za/2008/07/13/156607/)

May 2008 (http://www.white_granny.iblog.co.za/2008/05/11/webcam-update-cape-town-rietvlei-table-mountain/)

February 2008 (http://www.white_granny.iblog.co.za/2008/02/02/table-mountain-links/)

Nature Webcams

http://www.sanparks.org/webcams/

http://www.tembe.co.za/webcam.htm

http://www.taugamelodge.co.za/WebCams.asp

Knysna, Victoria Bay

http://www.tembe.co.za/webcam.htm

Durbanville

http://www.grapevine-cottage.co.za/webcam.php

Live Webcams from the Net

http://www.opentopia.com/hiddencam.php

Happy to keep our bokkie emblem

2008-11-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Shame! Die ou Springbokkie kyk so na sy maat vanaf die een skouer en die Protea van die ander.

The split of the Springbok emblem away from the Protea symbolizes what is happening in South Africa on all levels.
However splits can heal.
A different approach from government can heal that divide and unite South Africa (And the Springbok emblem) again.

This can even form part of an election speech. We are used to empty promises. It can win a few hopeful votes. (Or loose them) I mean, there are some South Africans who like to vomit on wildlife.

If we were under Zimbabwean rule, the Springbokkie would have been "poer" in his "happy glory".

read about the Bokke have Flower power

Why can things not stay the same?

2008-10-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

29 October 2008

Why can things not stay the same for as long as we need it to be?

Here at the tip of Africa life changes far too quickly. Nothing is secure. Nothing is guaranteed for life. Not even our own lives. Chances are great that even our diamonds only last until it is stolen.

Life contracts and guarantees often run out before we do.

My Internet provider decided to focus on something else so this year I have to change our e-mail addresses. What a bother.

Our life long family membership at the gym was very short lived when "Health and Racket" stuffed up big time.

My Old Mutual pension turned out to be not even enough to cover my monthly birdseed expenses.

People adopt animals, just to dump them onto someone else when they emigrate or change residence. Companies go bankrupt daily and people become unemployed. Governments are unstable and that can change everything. Our computer and recording equipment become outdated before we do.

Why can't things remain the same so we can get on with living instead of replacing perfectly viable things or situations.

How can anyone plan for the future if global-warming experts and Bible-bashers keep on telling us that the end is near?

It seems that the only time we can expect any sense of permanence is when we are dead; or can we?

Nowadays our organs are transplanted after death. Even our cells may be cloned.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yes, it is probably St Peter showing us to our next temp job in the heavenly worlds.

Who is the fastest - A flower or a Springbok?

2008-10-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

21-October 2008

The question is not whether the Springboks play under an emblem of an animal or a flower; it is the recognition that it was patriotism that kept the Springbok alive this long, and racism that is changing it to that of a flower.

Is it wise to change an emblem that brought fame to both the new and old South African governments?

It was unity that incorporated "Die Stem" into the national anthem. It will be cold racism that may seek to remove it.

If a few vomiting rugby players want to play under the banner of the flower, the proud Springbok emblem must be up for grabs.

Who wants a famous emblem for their team?

Daar kom die bokke, Daar kom die bokke ........

Daar groei die blomme. daar groei die blomme.

Bokke! Bokke! Bokke! Blomme! Blomme! Blomme!

Which team sounds the most impressive:

The Lions,

The All Blacks,

The Wallabies or

the Flowers?

Then again, we used to call the Hippies "flower children" and they were forever using the peace slogan.

Perhaps the South African rugby players can use the flower (peace emblem) as long as they do not play like a bunch of hippies.

What an morale destroyer!!!

Rotten apples no food for a nation Sunday

2008-10-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

2008 October 19

My eyes caught the television screen. The sound was off so I noticed the imagery rather than listen to the words behind the film.

I watch the wedding preparations of a wealthy African couple. The glamour and glitz is something like from a fairy tail. It must have cost millions.

I do not know who got married, on this day, and I do not want to know.

A message came clear to me. Here is an African couple that can spend the amount of money, in a few hours, which could have been housing and feeding a whole township of homeless for more than a month. There must be rot in the apple of African society if the gap between rich and poor is so great.

Does the money that is being poured into Africa, to make poverty history, reaching the poor, or making them even poorer.

Does BEE empower the unemployed, or just creating a different, even bigger group of unemployed?

If I were that couple, whoever they are, I would not be proud of spending that much money, even for the biggest day of my life. One can go overboard if one considers the suffering of other.

Then again, if I turned the sound of the television set on, I may have felt different. However - the argument stands.

Experience stands aside for technology

2008-09-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

We live in an age where the young and inexperienced is seen as the wise ones and those who have a lifetime of experience to draw from are written off as geriatric has-beens.

The ever-changing dependence of society on new technology, and a failure to make free technological training and education equally available to the old, as it is available to the young, may be to blame for this situation.

There is no supervision and guidance from elders in this world where young adolescents and children make decisions that change the fate of nations.

An example of this is the age of company directors, where people, with as little as one or two years of field experience, influence the decision-making processes. The youth controls the moral code behind the information technology, either on the Internet or television.

This happens especially when racial laws force a company to choose its employees by the grade of their color rather than their experience.

Many wars in developing countries are being are initiated by the youth.

Many older people, in countries where free computer training is not available, simply lag behind when old ways of communication falls away. In the absence of experience, financial reward becomes the only measure-stick for implementation of decisions and policies.

Recent examples are:

Poisonous substances added to baby foods and milk products to indirectly increase sales.

Decisions are made regarding the destruction of our natural heritage for a short-term financial reward. People cannot know what they are giving up if they do not have the experience, or wisdom to know what once was.

Violence influencing the youth can be directly linked to violent video games and television programs.

Popular soap operas are based on immorality, dishonesty and violence. People grow up to regard the sick fanatics of immature minds as the norm.

Perhaps it is time to recognize the need to empower mature citizens alongside the youth. The youth can teach old people how to use new technology so that they have a database of experience to tap into.

A fishing vessel may have all the weather reports and radar equipment on board to know when, how and where to bring in the biggest catch.

An experienced fisherman relies firstly on his five senses and uses electronics as a backup.

National eat a dead animal day

2008-09-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

24-Sept 2008

With the changes happening in South Africa, there is a suggestion that “National Heritage day” be changed to “National Braai day” which is “Eat an animal day”.

We are celebrating the burning of animals that have previously been killed and chopped up prior to eating them.

It is a great day for celebrations because 99.85% of all Africans have evolved beyond cannibalism.

A staggering 20% of South Africans have evolved even further because they have by choice given up the barbaric practice of eating animal flesh.

Another 30% had to evolve to that stage due to the price of meat.

While killing of animals for pleasure, is still a widespread human indulgence here at the southern point of Africa; We no longer kill people with weapons of war and leaving them on the streets to rot.

I must go now, Hubby just called, my ^* “choppy” and “wors” is on the braai.

· ^*Choppy and wors = lamb chop and beef sausage (also called “boerewors”)

· ^*Braai= BBQ = a method of cooking meat outside on hot coals or on a portable gas cooker

Geriatric dilemma 23-09-2008

2008-09-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Geriatric dilemma 23-09-2008

One does not swap an old diamond for a new pearl.

At my age life is so short. It changes so quickly. One does not get an opportunity to appreciate the tools of modern comfort that passes one by, like the various electronic equipments, that goes out of fashion before we can figure out how to use all it's functions.

The diamond I refer to is my old computer.

Things like, flash drives (What is that?), blue tooth and I think there is a red eye somewhere on this electronic monster too baffles me. I read about it in the computer magazines, but I have not used them yet. This blue-toothed red-eyed monster is now also using an ipod, which, in my mind, is like a commode used by a sick person.

It is all too complicated for my geriatric mind to grasp. Unfortunately, upgrading is imminent. To utilize the latest features in both Google and Yahoo, I have to upgrade. Previously I remained contented with the older versions of the new applications, but now that my husband was forced to buy a new camera after his old one got stolen, I have to upgrade. His camera pulls it nose up to my geriatric electronic conglomerate.

Old people like to use things that work and provide the service they require. Young people like bigger and better.

I had this little windows 98 computer setup for since 1999. Together we anxiously watched the Y2 crash turning into a tjookie. Midnight 2000 came and gone and my computer, and everyone else’s, never blinked a screen.

When the memory got full, I added another 40g memory. When I needed to create web pages, I added windows 2000 professional to run concurrently with my Lotus. Every time when I updated my cameras, I gained more editing software.

I transferred and copied all my work from my 1997 computer, which had on it much older work. Work that was downloaded to a tape drive from my first Amstrad 64 (1985).

Since 1999 I fed this computer daily.

It is my photo album.

Will I get the same value for money in one package – Windows Vista on the cheapest laptop on the market?

My Old Faithful runs Office 2000 Professional, Lotus, Imaging and scanning software, a scanner, old cheap dot matrix printer, and the host of other uploads that makes my computer input enjoyable.

I love the ease of data manipulation in Lotus, which is the word processor I use for my drafts. I then transfer the data to office prior to posting it.

The two packages work together on my computer like twins.

I am like an old person clinging onto the old VCR instead of using the new home theater system.

I guess the reason why I do not have the much needed computer equipment is not so much because I do not have the money to get one, it is because I dread the change. I dread giving up my good old friend, my little small screen 98 slow computer.

I am used to surfing the net and knitting cardigans at the same time.

I am used to pop into the kitchen and make a cup of coffee while my photos download to Photobucket.

Should I swap this old diamond for a new pearl?

Can a new pearl shine like an old diamond?

Introduction and WEBCAMS of Cape Town

2008-09-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

"Praat nie twak nie" (Afrikaans for "not talking nonsense") is intended to be a blog about things that other people did that I either like or admire. There are so my wonderful people and things to admire around the world

From where I sit here on the southern point of Africa, one can get the impression that Cape Town is the center of the world. Like the Sydney Opera-house, or the London Bridge, just our monument is real and not manmade.

Table Mountain is real, nature is real, but around us swirl so many people chasing after illusions.

Looking at Table Mountain gives me a sense of permanence.

Table Mountain is no longer the safe haven where one can go for a hike and feel safe and rejuvenated.

Criminals lurk behind the bushes here too.

Some people no longer risk going on a nature hike in Cape Town but from a distance, the mountain is beautiful and majestic.

One can sit in the comfort of some of one of our Milnerton to Big Bay beachfront restaurants and enjoy a nice meal, with a free view of Table Mountain, in comfort and safety.

Most of the time. Occasionally an armed hold-up may spoil your appetite, but that is so occasional, and only two friends of my friends died that way.

To kick the praatnie twak nie blog into action, here are a few links to webcams of Table Mountain.

The best Cape Town Webcams. You can not beat this site.

The foot of Table Mountain and other webcams

Rietvlei webcam (from The Milnerton Aquatic Club)

Webcam Compilation by White Granny