Holidays

“What shall you do all your vacation?,” asked Amy. “I shall lie abed and do nothing”, replied Meg.”

Little Women by Louisa M Alcott

She sat on at the dressing table, feet dangling a few inches from the floor. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, adjusted the cushion under her bottom, and pulled herself up tall. Flecks of sunshine danced across her face. The light played across the table in front of her, catching a string of glass beads and throwing a rainbow of colour around the room.

She reached out and gently touched a powdery brush protruding from a drawer. She carefully pulled the drawer out a little, closed her eyes and put her nose right inside the drawer and inhaled – powders and colours and tubes and smells.

Movement in the mirror heralded Mama, walking up behind her, a pair of scissors and a comb in her hands, “So you want me to cut it to above your shoulders just like Carolyn’s – in a bob?”

She nodded, “Just like Carolyn’s.”

Mama raised her eyebrows, “You’re sure?” Another nod, stronger this time. “Ok then!” Mama smiled.

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Now, I sense you were enjoying that story. But I’m sorry to tell you that what followed can only be described as carnage …..

That little girl was me, aged 8, and when those golden locks began to fall, so did the tears and the snot and the end of the world.

I’m quoted as pleading with my mother to, “Stick it back on!!!”

I’d always been praised for my beautiful long fair hair. And there, in that moment, I was Samson – short-haired and stripped of all my pride and power. Ruined!

“What will I tell everyone at school?” I asked my mother between sobs. My hair had already started to curl at the temples, and kink out on one side, the side that never behaves.

“Tell them that a change is as good as a holiday,” was my mother’s advice.

I’m not sure how that went down with my fellow 8 year olds the next day at school, but I have to say that my Mama’s advice has always been good …

An so, if you’re wondering what happened to me (and Hubby)[#bloggingabsense], we went on holiday.

Below I give you some pics from our holiday in South Africa and eSwatini (nee Swaziland), and a weekend in Norway walking the Pilgrim’s trail:

Newton, Johannesburg – Cupping course at Craft Coffee:

Craft Coffee, Johannesburg

Cupping (tasting) course

The professional roasters and tasters

Newton, Johannesburg grafitti

Newton, Johannesburg grafitti

Newton, Johannesburg grafitti

The Kruger National Park:

Impala

Lion

Zebra

Vervet baby

Shongololo

Baboon at Lower Sabie camp

Don’t feed the hyenas

Birds swarming

Southern most Baobab

Hornbill

Cape Glossy Starling

Giraffe

Don’t feed the monkeys

eSwatini (ex-Swaziland):

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Poachers’ snares at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

The Blue Gum or Eucalyptus Tree

Red billed Ox Pecker

The friendly warthogs

Maguga Dam built by my Uncle

Morgan Bay, Wild Coast, South Africa:

The cliffs at Morgan Bay

Nguni cattle, Morgan Bay

The beach all to ourselves at Morgan Bay

St Olaf’s Ways, Trondheim, Norway

‘St Olaf’s Ways’, Norway

The Pilgrim Trail, Trondheim, Norway

Walking near Trondheim

‘Pilgrim’s Trail’, Norway

Me and Hubby on the ‘Hill of Joy’

Trodheim Cathedral, the end of the Pilgrim Trail

Trondheim, Norway

SMALL PRINT:
P.s. Our South African holiday was 3 weeks long, a road trip (the 3 Amigos – me, Hubby and my Mama) through the Kruger National Park, eSwatini, Zululand, the Natal South Coast and finally a week in Morgan Bay checking on our house-build.
P.p.s. Norway  was a business trip with a weekend thrown in. The pilgrim walk is called ‘St Olaf’s Ways’ and in total covers 167km of countryside, villages, fjords and byways. Hubby and I walked 23km on a gorgeous sunny day.
P.p.p.s. ‘Cupping’ is tasting in the coffee world. Hubby and I were really bad at cupping – couldn’t identify our chocolate aromas from our citrus. It’s really difficult!
P.p.p.p.s. I promise to give a house build update soon.

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