DOING LIFE

OUR SANCTUARIES

{BOM Challenge No.10: MY HOME}

Well, so far this challenge took me the longest to complete. Not because its a difficult challenge, but just that I have been pre-occupied with planning my 6 December 2008 Scrapaganza at Makaranga Garden Lodge in Kloof, Durban. We use to live just around the corner from Makaranga.

I have been scrapping since the beginning of 1999 and have been quite good at doing some layouts on all the houses we have lived in. So what I did is to use photographs of layouts for three of our homes and two photographs of our very first home, as I have not been scrapping yet when we bought our first home way back in 1986.

Here is the journaling as displayed on the layout:

For me a home is a means to have the privilege of being protected against the elements of nature. Yes, owning our own home no matter what size or where it is located is a true blessing which we have to be thankful as there are millions of beings on this earth who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from what to say having a roof over their heads. Home also means a sanctuary to me, where I can be myself and express my most inner feelings with those who I love and cherish. We have had the privilege of owning 4 different homes during our 24-years of married life together. Our first ever home we purchased through a first-time home owners’ scheme and was located at Bluewater Bay, Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The address was no. 46 Yale Road and we moved into this brand new home as its first owners during the end of 1986, after nearly two years of married life during which we rented two different flats near St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. True to this area where strong winds are nearly a daily occurrence, memories of gutters making a vrrrrrrrrrr noise as the wind howled, is still very vivid. Bluewater Bay is also situated alongside the sea and it was very calming being lulled to sleep at night by the sounds of waves breaking on the beach. There were no garden, only bare soil and river rocks. Being the farm girl I am, I nearly single handedly created the garden from scratch and maintained it myself, even mowing the lawn. With the strong sea winds it was nearly impossible to get shrubs growing efficiently and it was and endless battle. We relocated, due to a transfer by the company Conroy worked for at the time, to Pretoria, Gauteng during December 1991. This was the first time ever I’ve lived outside of the Eastern Province. Once again we purchased a brand new home (a duet) as the first time owners in Garsfontein which was the eastern area of Pretoria. The street address was 1050 Cocker Avenue. Not long after we moved in some land servicing started on a huge piece of land just behind our property. It must have been a farm as there were still cattle grazing on the land and we still have a chuckle when we think of how our two little dogs, Spokie and Vlekkie roll in the cow dung on this piece of land, when we took them for a walk there. Well that was the first and last walk with them to this area, as washing two little cow dung covered pooches is not something you want to repeat too often. The land was then serviced for the exclusive Woodhill Golf Estate which now exists on this area of land. Once again yours truly started a garden from bare soil to something green and luscious. Again doing all the digging of holes and planting of trees and shrubs myself. Just love getting my hands dirty. Of course the weather in Gauteng is just a pleasure. During December 2001 we once again relocated, due to Conroy accepting a position at a new company in Durban. I have only been to Durban once before, only for a brief visit, so I was quite cautious of this relocation. But, we managed to find a lovely home in Kloof, Durban i.e. Unit 4, No.2 Coghill Avenue. Once again it was a brand new home and we were the first time owners. We fell in love with Kloof right from the beginning as the green forestry ambiance hugely appealed to our hiker souls. We love the Knysna forests and this was as close as one could get to living in a forest. Once again we started a garden from scratch, but this time we got indigenous landscapers in as the property was much larger than the ones we had previously. The weather in Kloof is of course a gardener’s draeam. Memories of monkey troops frequenting our garden and eating the bird seed will always be with us. We had endless pleasure in watching the infant monkeys, attempting to cross the overhead telephone lines, unsure of themselves. Another privilege we had in Kloof was the amazing variety of birdlife and lizards that also frequented the garden. Once again Conroy accepted a position with a new company in Johannesburg and we relocated to Fernridge Estate, Fourways, Gauteng during November 2007, where we currently (November 2008) reside. Again we were the first time owners of a brand new house and our first experience of estate living, which we really enjoy. It is also our first double storey house and initially took quite some adjusting to, but steps have become second nature. We also got a landscaper in this time to create a low maintenance indigenous garden from scratch, which is only now after the first summer rains, coming into its own right. This is definitely not a permanent move, as the concrete jungle and rushed lifestyle is not something that nature lovers like us can completely adjust to.

Sjoe, I just managed to complete this challenge in time, as Challenge No.11: 'My Significant Other' was launched this morning. I think I will give this challenge a miss as I have already covered this topic in Challenge No.8: Family, where I did a layout on 'My Sweetheart Loves Me'. Tracy I hope you don't mind.

Thank you once again in taking the time to stop by and read about my little insignificant space on the net.

- Homely Signing Off