Coffee and a Chat – 2023 October No. 1

Coffee and a Chat – 2023 October No. 1

Sincere apologies! I started this update several months ago, and then life just took over. Therefore, I have changed the date and hope to get this on my blog in a day or two! Hopefully, I might still have a few loyal readers out there to peruse my waffling!

Sometimes it really is difficult to feel positive, especially when there are negative elements which keep on popping up, almost unabated. Living in South Africa we are being challenged on a daily basis, mainly due to the fact that over the past 30 years virtually no maintenance whatsoever has been undertaken by the current ANC government. Money from hard pressed tax- payers, which was earmarked for keeping the country up and running, has been stolen left, right and center, and the result is a country which is definitely not for the feint hearted, to say the least.

Whenever one has to do anything which involves government or municipal employees, one’s heart sinks. All you can do is put on a brave face, a smile and hope to heck that the person you need to help sort out your problem is in a good mood. If not, then you know you are in for a very difficult, long and often extremely frustrating day!

Anyway, we are a tough bunch who survive in this crazy country, which does have its upsides – it just takes courage and determination to find them sometimes. A daily ritual is checking when the electricity is going to be cut off (loadshedding) and also making sure that one has a back up supply of one form or another. Those who can afford it have installed solar power, which for the majority of citizens is totally out of the question, due to the cost involved. A generator is also an alternative, but petrol is costly. Therefore, rechargeable lamps and resorting to the use of candles is part and parcel of many people’s lives.

Even worse, we now know that our water supply is being seriously compromised due to …you guessed it! No maintenance having been done by Rand Water for 30 years. When you wake up in the morning you are really fortunate if you have electricity and water as well. Currently that is a reason for celebration!

However, the sun shines and so far, is not taxable – I shouldn’t have said that as there could be an unsavory character who gets to read this missive who might get the crazy idea in his/her head that this could be a quick money making scheme! Oh well, I’ll take that risk and enjoy watching the birds which frequent our garden and afford a pleasant diversion from stress.

After a short but sometimes extremely cold winter, with a few snowflakes on one particularly chilly day, we are now in the middle of a week of very hot weather, with no rain forecast at all. That is always problematic as garden plants become parched in no time with this amount of baking heat. Suffice to say, we survive as best we can!