From Pretoria to Nottingham Road, with love ......

Cycling to work this morning I passed a couple of Blue Crane with their chicks, a first for me, and I thought back to the days I would take the kids to the Blue Crane Sanctuary in Pretoria, as a way of trying to create a little countryside environment in the city. So hear I am enjoying this peace and tranquility on a daily basis, running my antique & vintage shop, being called by my first name in the bank and where two is a queue at the local post office.  I collect my children from school at way past four o clock, and I am not charged for this privillage, and our children have the freedom to remain children in a relaxed 'family' environment, where they are thriving. The other day I had a real tear jerker when I walked into teacher Caroline's class rehearsing 'Caravan' - a sea of multicultural kids singing at the top of their voices and genuinely having a ball. What a very special site to behold, a memory to treasure.

Yesterday I receive an expected call from a local shop owner who had mentioned she was pulling out her old Lavender bushes, and were being pulled out that day, did I want them? I call my friend Elena (another 'down shifter' from Pretoria) who promptly jumps into her car. Then I get a call, "should I take my trailer?". Then another call "where am I going?". Then another call "you crazy, mad lady, I need a truck to load all this Lavender!" Not having planned for this un-expected call from me, she now has a mound of work to keep her busy. No doubt there will be dried lavender bunches and pot pourie hearts for sale in Nottingham Road soon. And so it goes, this countryside life style, where time really does feel like it can be stored up for a rainy day or any other day for that matter....