Spring ends, damply

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I come to the end of another, personally, inconclusive month. This occasional blog provides me with both motivation and punctuation. When I review events and plan the post, I realise there are things that have been interesting, amusing, and noteworthy. So here goes.

On the 2nd May England went to the polls to elect local government representatives in some areas. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland did not have elections. We live in the district of Broadland just outside Norwich. The only election in our area was for the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner. In nearby Norwich there were city council seats being contested, as well as the County Police and Crime Commissioner.

I am a card-carrying Liberal Democrat while Ailsa is a member of the Green Party. As there were no seats being contested in our ward Ailsa got very involved in the Green’s Norwich campaign, mainly delivering leaflets. I was happy to help as it was a productive way of getting a walk in. Some of her ‘rounds’ were long, but it was good exercise and, in the end, was worthwhile.

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Stately Homes, the Theatre, and Global Crises

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Since I last posted I celebrated a birthday. It was not a significant number, although aged over 65, one should be happy to mark all birthdays. I had a pleasant few days, with family being very kind, generous and supportive! Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” At present we are happy, long may it last and touch wood. My sister Gill came up for the weekend ahead of my birthday, and Rowan and Ben joined in with many events.

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Museums in Spring

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Spring is here. The days are longer; the crocuses have come and gone; the daffodils are out; there is blossom on many of the trees, indeed the first leaves are emerging; and it is slowly getting warmer. However, the welcome sunny days have been intermittent, the overwhelming feature has been grey and chilly periods. The temperature will rise in time.

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Family and a Funeral

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In my last post I mentioned we were hosting my half-sister Pat’s dog, Bessie, a small black Patterdale terrier. Pat’s husband, David, had been waiting for surgery and did not want the dog around in the run up to it, or in the recovery period. Bessie was with their daughter, Kate, but needed interim lodging. We collected her at the end of December. The trip was also a chance to see family.

Sadly, David died on New Year’s Eve 2023. Arranging funerals and cremations can be a lengthy process, the facilities are busy in January. The date was set for 1st February in their hometown of Cranbrook. The Norwich contingent was Ailsa, Douglas, Rowan, and me. As Rowan and Douglas could only get one day off work, we had to make a day trip.

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A Very Chilly Spell

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We are well into the New Year and have had an unexpected guest for the past few weeks. This is because of my complicated family. My father (born in 1899 and died in 1989) married his first wife, the daughter of his landlord in London, while he was training as an architect. His first daughter, Patricia, was born in 1931 in Bulawayo. Although he and her mother divorced, he remained involved in her life. He was instrumental in getting her a job in Kenya in social work in the 1950s.

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The Score: Durban 27°, Norwich 5°

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It was something of a shock to travel from Durban to Norwich in early December 2023. Firstly, the difference in temperature was considerable; secondly, although there was a fair amount of rain in Durban, there was also sunshine. For the first week in Norwich, we had virtually no sun, just unremitting grey days; and thirdly and finally, I had been away for a long time, nearly six months. Regular readers of the blog know the reasons for my extended stay, and I won’t go into them again.

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Cape Town and the Rugby World Cup

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My October seemed dominated by health issues. I don’t want to dwell on them but will give a short update, as it has taken time for me to process the events. The first day in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was bleak. The man in the bed opposite was hooked up to machines that beeped steadily, and constantly. Additionally, there was a nurse aide sitting watching over him. Over the course of the day the beeps slowed down and eventually stopped. There were no interventions, other than to finally draw the curtains round the bed. Not something anyone would want to witness. I was, I think, the least in need of intensive care and the most conscious of my surroundings. The main reason for my inpatient status was so antibiotics could be administered intravenously.

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Touring and Health

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It has been some weeks since I last posted. They have been busy weeks though, and not all entirely in a good way. Let me begin with the good stuff, and, unusually, I was able to upload photographs this month, they are at the end!

After the success of the Cape Town to Durban drive last year, my friend Tim and I planned a road trip for the end of August. I flew down to Cape Town and Tim drove in from Riviersondereind. We stayed in Derek and Lynn’s house for a couple of nights, and then set off. The reason for the slight delay was that I had a rotten cold. It turned out there was a lot more going on with my health than that though.

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Health, Hearts, and Hope

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At the end of July, I drove up to Eswatini to participate in the events marking the 60th anniversary of my school, Waterford Kamhlaba United World College. It is at least a seven-hour drive, so I stopped overnight at the Ghost Mountain Inn in the little Zululand town of Mkuze. The town lies at the foot of the Lebombo mountains – they are part of a chain of low volcanic hills that run for 800 km in the east of southern Africa. There was conflict between two Zulu factions and a battle on one of the hills. Hundreds died, according to Rider Haggard (famous for King Solomon’s Mines, partly set in Swaziland), and the souls manifest as flickering lights, hence the name.

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It is Chilly in Durban

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When I last posted, over a month ago, I speculated about the prospects for a drought in the south of the UK. Although I have now been in South Africa for three, I am assured that there has been ample rain in Norwich, indeed some very heavy showers with ‘localised flooding’. Sadly, this is symptomatic of global climate change. By contrast, the nights in Durban have been extremely chilly, to the point that I have had all the blankets in the flat on the bed and am wearing my fleece.

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