Larkwood Life: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

A Tribute to a Dear Friend

Noddy, as we have always known him, has been a part of our family since 1982...the year we married and the year Johan decided to join the Budgerigar Society. Noddy was one of the members of the Pietermaritzburg club and when we met him he was already getting on in years. At that stage he must have been in his early sixties I think as it wasn't too many years later that he retired from working at the municipality. The early years I didn't know him so well and only really saw him at the annual budgie club Christmas braai, but Johan met him on a regular basis at the monthly club meetings.

After our son Mark was born and later diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, he and his wife, Ann showed a genuine interest in him and his well being. It was then that I started to get to know him and see him for the kind, caring and compassionate man that he was. He and his wife went weekly to Greys Hospital to visit patients and whenever Mark was in hospital they were there to find out how he was and to pray for him.

Being a member of our congregation in PMB, he kept everyone at the Friday morning Men for the Master group updated on Mark, and later NiQi's health, resulting in much prayer for them both. It was through Noddy and Ann that we met other congregants that we may not necessarily have met, through his speaking of Mark so fondly.

He was a sincere person, a gentleman to the core, who loved God first then his wife and children. I don't remember him speaking badly of anyone, even if they were difficult people to get on with, he would find something nice to say.

The tales he would tell us of his childhood, how he met and later married Ann, life on the farm, his children, kept us in stitches many a time...not necessarily because they were all funny, it was just the way he told them. I remember him telling us of the time he walked down Sweetwaters road in front of the car, shining a torch while his wife drove, because the lights were not working. the tears poured down our faces as he told us in detail how many hours it took them to get home. Then there was the time he told us about driving in reverse all the way home because the gear of the car was stuck and he couldn't move it...we laughed so hard trying to imagine him getting out of the way of 'oncoming' traffic and wondering what side of the road he drove on. Then the stories he had about his birds and the things he used to give them to make them breed better. He was a little man with a big booming voice and I remember him heckling Matthew as he tried to give his speech at he and Jess's wedding. This same voice would get the attention of everyone in the bird hall as they walked around looking at the birds. "Roll up, roll up" he would say "buy a ticket, win a bird in a cage" everyone would smile at him, he was just so funny, without meaning to be so....these are the things I will remember about him.

I am really sad today thinking about not seeing him again when we visit in PMB, which we always did when we were there, even if it was for just an hour. I will miss his phone calls, asking how we are, telling me how much they miss us. I feel guilty for making empty promises to him in not writing as often as I could have done, yet I know he will forgive me because that is the person he was.

R.I.P Noddy...until we meet again, because of that I am sure...

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Winter is on it's way - Firebreaks and Cut Grass

The same happens every year with us all celebrating the end of summer with it's excruciatingly hot days and the beginning of winter with autumn days bringing cooler temperatures, leaves changing colour and falling and the grass growing at a much slower rate. Poor Johan has had quite a tough time this year trying to get the cutting of our grass under control, especially with the rains we had in the last month. With so much falling for days and then weeks on end, which as I've said before is most unusual for us here, the ground stayed wet, too wet to get the mower out, which left the grass to grow...and grow...and grow.

What would we do in life without friends??? Just when you think you are sinking and not able to get on top of things, along comes a knight in shining armour to help out and our knight came in the guise of a neighbouring friend who one afternoon phoned to ask if I was at home....he was on his way with his tractor to help with cutting the grass!!!! What took him just two hours to do with the tractor would have taken Johan weeks of spare time trying to get it done. Thankfully we are now set for winter with just the immediate area around the house to finish mowing. The horses are loving it and with it being so much shorter there are less ticks hanging around. The dogs too can go further afield than the fenced area around the house, as they just nip between the strands of fencing and run off, chasing each other, teasing the horses and sniffing new smells that they are unfamiliar with. We too can see much further in the distance which is good for keeping anyone who shouldn't be hanging around out of our way.

Tis good, good, good all round at the moment...

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Growing Sugar Cane

For some time I looked at these 'grasses' growing in the vegetable garden and kept meaning to ask Johan what they were and why he was cultivating them. They did not look familiar to me at all and as the weeks turned into months, I one day remembered to ask him what they were. By this time they had become huge...much taller than the shade cloth covering them as they bend over from being suppressed. It is in fact sugar cane, planted from pieces given by a friend for the budgies. Never before have I heard or seen anyone giving their budgies sugar cane, but I have now seen with my own eyes how much they enjoy it and within a day devour a piece to shreds of 'string'. You live and learn so it seems and what works for one can more than likely work for another....sugar cane has now become part of our birds weekly diet which they have shown to enjoy immensely...

Rains over...Time to Paint our Roof

Well with the awesome rains we had late summer I believe that we may well be set for the winter months with plenty of water surely having filled the earth beneath and filling our boreholes. Temperatures in the last couple of weeks have been bearable, mid to high twenties, which I can cope with, and I hope that is the beginning of a trend towards even cooler weather.

This winter we have to paint the roof of our house, as now with the excess water having fallen in heavy abundance, sometimes with such a thunderous roar, it produced a constant drip, drip, drip to be heard above the ceiling when sitting in the lounge. It does seem that a leak has appeared not in the lounge, but just outside the front over the verandah, where we have noted a very large damp and mildew patch has appeared. This does mean that we are going to have to repair it, which is a pain, but hopefully we will be able to get away with cutting out just that piece and not have to do the full ceiling. Seeing this made Johan decide it was high time he went up onto the roof to assess the damage if any at all. He ended up cleaning out the valleys which had become blocked with dead and composting leaves from the nearby trees, and this may just be the reason that we developed a leak.

The rest of the roof seems to be in a good enough condition other than needing a thorough cleaning with a wire brush before painting, so that will be a job for Johan to do through the dry winter months, ready for next summer.

NiQi - Home From Hospital

NiQi was in hospital for just over two weeks again this month and we missed her so much whilst she was gone....more so than usual. There have been so many great milestones in her life the past two years for which we are ever grateful and I think that now we kind of expect more improvement each time she goes in for IV treatment...as well as all the times in between.

There are moments when we want to believe that because she is doing so well by comparison that she will be able to go for years and years, continuing to do well. Then reality sinks in and we know that isn't the case.
Knowing that each time she goes to hospital, she has to start with a three day course of Ranatidine, Cortisone and Texa to de-sensitize her system before she starts with her antibiotics is just the beginning.
Knowing that this is the only way the antibiotics will be effective, is a reminder to us of how the disease has progressed.
Knowing that it takes more than a week of being on IV's for her to start feeling any kind of effect and Knowing that even having these antibiotics doesn't stop her picking something up while she is in hospital before she has finished the course, is all to be expected.

On the other hand, years of taking medication has is benefits too...Having a sonar on her liver this time gave a 'Westaby' score of 3 which is considered normal. This is good news and shows that her liver has healed...it is now smooth with no cirrhosis. This means that she is able to stop the medication she has been taking...three tablets less to take, two times a day.

NiQi is so blessed that her cystic fibrosis seems to have reached a plateau and is presently stable. There are many in her position that continue to spiral downwards and lose their battle quicker than they should. Maybe it is because her attitude is good, her determination to survive is high and she tries her best to look after herself....we will never know. What we do know is NiQi is stronger than most her age, she has been through more in her life than many can even dream or imagine and she has more to think about and fight for than her peers. Whatever it is, we know that all the above is part of God's plan for her life.

For now, she is home and looking forward to our holiday in a few weeks time and we are happy to have her amongst us again...not only that but I can exploit her for child labour and have her help me with my chores...lol

#100happydays...more photos

I am so enjoying doing this and I believe that by so doing it is making me look at life with new eyes. I notice things more intently and am always on the lookout for something different, something I may not have seen before or thought about before. I thought I was a lot further along than I am, but that's okay because it just means that it gives me more time at doing something that I am loving. Here are photo's 26 - 50...