Share Your World – 22 August 2022

Once again Di from Pensitivity101 is hosting Share Your World. Here are my answers.

1.  Do you have family photographs on display in your main living room?

Not in the living room but I have a few in the braai room. One of them is featured below. It is of my parents and siblings all together and was taken at my parents’ 50th Wedding anniversary in 1998.

Big Brother, Me, Mom, Dad, Baby Brother, Little Sister

2.  What was the best vehicle you owned?
This could be a pushbike as a kid, your first car, a motorcycle, or something else.

The best vehicle I ever owned was a Volkwagen Caravelle TDI 4 Motion. When our children were growing up we had two Toyota Hi-Aces one after the other and I loved those too. The Caravelle came after selling my Toyota Camry.

Hubby asked what I would like to replace the Camry and as we still had two adult daughters and two grandsons aged 6 and 7 living with us, I immediately said, “A Hi-Ace, so we can transport everybody in comfort!”

Well, we shopped around and then found that a brand new Caravelle had come onto the market. It had all the bells and whistles that I desired. What an amazing car! We kept it for 10 years and I still miss it! It served us well. It was a seven-seater with plenty of packing space. Every year six of us travelled in comfort to spend Christmases with our family in KZN. The Earl and I loved using it to take friends to game reserves before we started caravanning. I used it to transport kids to sports matches and outings. It was just the best vehicle, anyone, with a big family and active lifestyle, could wish for. We made some amazing memories with that vehicle. The Hi-Aces were, for the same reasons, great too but the Caravelle was just a tad more luxurious. Also, we drove it for 10 years – the longest we’d ever kept a car. In 2015 we retired to Struisbaai so we no longer needed a people carrier. We now only have one car, a Ford Everest, which is perfect for towing a caravan. It is also a very comfortable car, can seat seven people although not as comfortably as the minibus, and has plenty of packing space which we need for caravanning. I miss the Caravelle but feel privileged to have a good car and a caravan to take its place.

Me at the wheel of the Caravelle (2005)

3.  Did you pass your driving test the first time?

Yes, I did. But it was 45 years ago and my mini-skirt might have helped!

4.  Does loud music from a neighbour or passing cars annoy you?

I am fairly tolerant of noise. If my neighbours are having a party, I don’t mind the loud music. I don’t mind too much if dogs bark or howl from time to time as long as it’s not constant. If it is I would say something and try to get the neighbour to do something about it. I have to admit, that has never happened. Perhaps I have been lucky with neighbours. I have never lived in a place where heavy traffic has passed by but where I lived before, we could hear police sirens, ambulances etc, screaming a short distance away. This did not happen too frequently and when it did I was pleased that whatever emergency was occurring, it was receiving the correct response.

My daughter deals with a noisy neighbourhood by wearing an eyemask and earplugs when she goes to sleep.

Of course, you could always move!

Gratitude:
What has made you smile over the last seven days?

A Rainbow after the rain.

This cute little boy.

Oops, he’s lost his shoe.