Today I am happy because...

I have a warm, comfortable place to read my book ("The Appeal", John Grisham)

Today I am happy because...

 

I watched Stephanie make little clay babies to feature in her first animated film.

 

Being Left is Alright!

Clapping with the right hand only will not produce a noise

~ Malayan Proverb

Most individual animals from dogs to cats, horses, toads, snails, humpback whales to chimpanzees show a tendency to favour one side of the body over the other. But scientists are still divided over whether any entire species favour one side over the other like the human right-handed majority (with the possible exception of the famously clever New Caledonian crows, who are reported to be right-eyed tool-makers)

On the other hand (pun intended) people are predominantly right-handed, right-eyed and right-legged, with the language speaking hardware located in the left side of the brain. Homo sapiens, in general, appears to have developed a specialization in the left side of the brain for language. 

Many humans are right-handed but show cross-dominance or even total ambidexterity. However, a small percentage of humans are left-handed, left-eyed and left-legged. Recent research adds to the slowly growing body of work supporting the hypothesis that people who favour their left hand for writing probably have brains that are more conducive to simultaneous, bi-hemisphere processing of information.

Since Roman times, left-handed people have had to bear the brunt of cultural superstitions, the left hand or left side being associated with uncleanliness, Satanism, Black Magic and other sinister practices.

Several research studies have failed to show that lefties have higher IQ’s than right-handed people, despite the fact that 20% of MENSA members are left-handed. Lefties do seem to perform slightly better at sport and gaming compared to right-handers. Left-handers are more often homosexual than right-handers.

The prevalence of post traumatic stress syndrome is double in left-handers compared to right-handers. Furthermore, statistics show left-handed people are more likely to suffer mental illnesses like schizophrenia. They are more prone to become alcoholic, delinquent, dyslexic and have Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as poor memories and they're also more likely get into accidents and die young.

Historically, left-handed people as a group, have produced an above-average quota of high achievers, notably  Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Martina Navratilova and many more.

“Left-handers are wired into the artistic half of the brain, which makes them imaginative, creative, surprising, ambiguous, exasperating, stubborn, emotional, witty, obsessive, infuriating, delightful, original, but never, never, dull.”  (DeKay and Huffaker)

Today I am happy because ...



we enjoyed precious family time together (Cappucino's, Brooklyn Mall)



My New Jack Russel Puppy




My new Jack Russel puppy, Fanta.

  Today I stopped by the Jack Russel breeders out at Kameeldrift to choose a puppy from a litter of nine (five males and four females). I picked a rather timid female pup with bright eyes and well-defined markings. Her breath smelled of dog milk and I look forward to collecting her in two to three weeks time. Her name is Pepsi Vuma Pepper Fanta. 

My Favourite Quotes

19 May 2011
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

-Mark Twain- 

23 May 2011

An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.
 -Mae West-

27 May 2011

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life
-Winston Churchill -

29 May 2011
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
-Mae West-

2 June 2011

Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

-Lewis Carroll-

13 May 2012

Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian -Dennis Wholey-

SO MAAK MENS Witbrood in die broodmasjien

Gebruik die broodmasjien se eie koppie en maatlepel.

Skraap oor die bo-rand van die koppie en maatlepel met die stomp kant van die meslem  wanneer jy die bestanddele afmeet.

Die sout en gis moenie gemeng word nie.

Hou by die volgorde van die resep.

1. Meet eers 3 koppies meel af en hou eenkant.:

2. Smeer die metaal klitser goed met margarien en klik in posisie.

3. Plaas nou die broodpan in die broodmasjien en klik in posisie.

4. Voeg by 3 eetlepels sonneblom olie,  een koppie louwarm water, 1½teelepel sout, 3 eetlepels wit suiker

5. Strooi die meel bo-oor en maak ‘n holte bo-op die meel. Plaas 2¼ teelepels aktiewe kitsgis in die holte.

6. Maak die deksel toe en kies COLOR (Light), 1.5LB en Program 1 (Basic).

7. Na 3 ure is die brood gereed, verwyder uit die pan en laat op ‘n draadrak afkoel.

Onthou: Mens sny nie brood nie. Mens SAAG brood. Veral so lekker warm, varsgebakte broodjie!

The Cape of Storms

While Cape Point is the southern tip of the African continent, Cape Agulhas lies furthest south. Between these two capes the tranquil warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic meet.

Cape Point rises high above the Atlantic Ocean. Certainly one of the most spectacular geographical  features of the Southern Atlantic Ocean and not to be missed. Stephanie and I decided to drive out to Cape Point one sunny morning while on our mother-daughter-seven-day-breakaway in December 2010.  

From Cape Town our route took us to the fisherman’s village of Houtbay and from there on the spectacular Chapman’s Peak drive. At one point the winding scenic route cuts into the 650m high cliffs of Chapman‘s Peak and took us via Noordhoek across the Cape Peninsula along the Ou Kaapse Weg to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.

Driving on the well-maintained tarred roads through the reserve gave us an excellent opportunity to study the Fynbos, the vegetation of the Cape Floristic Floral Kingdom – smallest but with the most diversity of the seven Floral Kingdoms of the world.

As we arrived at the cape, so did the infamous South-Easter. The first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeo Dias in 1488, who named it the "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas).

No doubt Dias also experienced the mighty South-Easter, or “Cape Doctor” as it is vernacularly known. We certainly did - and discovered that it could blow your mind …… or your frock right over your head!

For some reason Vladimir Putin looks much more dignified posing at the sign than I do!

Bootees for my nephew Pierre

I knitted this pair of baby bootees for my nephew when he came home for his christening on 17April 2011 in Pretoria.

 (Pattern available on request)

Nil Per Mouth

She occupied the cot marked 7A, a petit attractive woman in her forties. She sat bolt upright on her bed, with her knees drawn up, her head anxiously leaning sideways towards the door, as if she was expecting bad news from that direction.  Sometimes her lips moved in silent conversation with someone only she could see. She had several IV tubes connecting her innards to computerized equipment, the most conspicuous of all entered her nose and was plastered to her face with a large clump of white Elastoplast, making her look ridiculous. I walked over to her bed and asked if I might sit with her. I held her hand because she seemed to be so afraid.  After a few minutes of silence, she gestured me to leave and as I walked away she had a seizure. The nursing staff attended to her with much haste and whispering and I later heard that she was taken to High Care.

We never spoke again after that.

Highveld Storms

Our house stood on a hillside overlooking the town. The dining room, where we spent most of our family time in summer, faced south offering a view of the rocky outcrops or “koppies” and the footpath that lead through the veld to the river. Beyond that, lay the small town and in the distance the open veld and farmlands.  On a clear day, the ragged outline of the  Suikerbosrand  could be seen on the horizon, from where the late-afternoon  Highveld thunderstorms came.

The storms always fascinated me and I could tell when it was going to rain. The dark rainclouds rolled in from the south, discharging their anger as they moved closer, bringing the smell of rain with it. Long before the wind started up, the birds would take to the air and seemed to fly faster than usual.  They criss-crossed through the air, each one finding a safe perch to hide before the arrival of the wind that would sweep dry leaves and  paper or plastic high into the air. Suddenly as it started, the wind would die down.  
Silence.

We waited then, the birds and I, holding our breaths for the loud first frightening crack of thunder. It always made me jump, however much I expected it to happen.  The large drops of rain raised dust on the dirt road and pelleted the corrugated iron roof of our home. The noise of the rain on the roof would drown out all other sounds, but it seldom lasted very long. As the angry clouds moved overhead to the north, steam rose from the roof in pale rays of sunlight. The raindrops formed tiny rivulets on the window glass.

    Sometimes a rainbow appeared.  

Where have the toktokkies gone?

Toktokkies were abundant where I grew up. Harmless black beetles that tapped with their bodies on the ground in order to attract a mate. They ate leaves and we often captured them and kept them in a box for a day or two, before releasing them back into the garden. They walked on our hands with spindly legs and their white and black striped antennae that moved slowly as if perceiving signals.We used to make "wagon" from empty Lion's Matchboxes and harnesses were made with cotton and tied loosely around the toktokkie's neck. Small sticks and leaves were loaded onto the wagon and the toktokkies eagerly pulled their loads much to our amusement.

Tree

A tree stands lonely upon a rocky slope.

One branch, green with life,

Reaching skyward

Among the gnarled fingers

Of limbs long dead.

A solitary tribute to life and hope.

As on this arid slope

Stand I.

Should I stop living

If part of me should die?

About being bitten in hard to reach places....

My childhood was spent running and playing in the veld and I should be immune to tick fever by now. Fortunately I have only mild symptoms after a recent visit to Cape Town.

· The incubation period (the period between being infected and displaying symptoms) is about five to seven days.

· Symptoms of tick bite infection may include fever, headache, malaise and a skin rash.

· There is often an eschar at the site of the tick bite. This is a black mark that looks like a small ulcer (2-5mm in diameter) with a black centre or scab.

· Severity of illness can vary considerably. This infection can be easily treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline or tetracycline.

· Measures to prevent the infection are generally common sense, such as wearing insect repellents, long trousers and sleeves.

More info:
http://jhbhiking.org.za/cms/index.php?_qnz