HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! to all our friends and family – may 2012 be the best one ever!

I am always amazed at verbally linguistic people’s ability to take a seemingly generic bit of information and customise it beautifully to embody their own personalities. Below are examples of such cases from two of my friends on FB. They are both such awesome messages, despite the fact that they are so VERY DIFFERENT! Please read both, align yourself with the one that speaks to you the best… and then HAVE A GOOD ONE – CHEERS!

1.

We wish each one of our friends and loved ones a blessed and most enjoyable 2012. We pray for inner peace, significance, enough time for dedication and reflection, for discipline, hearty physical fitness and outstanding health. May we spend more time together than last year and may God bless us and grow us.

2.

I just can't resist... Happy New Year people! How about we let go of guilt & resentment, fling caring about other's opinions out the door, live like it could end tom, give abundantly of our love, time & energy, & generally have a total f**ing jol - cos if the aliens do come to get us, or it all ends we better have made 2012 worth it?!?! dontcha think!?!?!

Memory Bread

This coming Friday, 25 November, it will be a year since Damian’s passing – a very difficult time indeed for Paul, Dale and myself – time to bake ‘Memory Bread’.

I was introduced to Memory Bread by Helena Nell, journalist and lunch guest at Old Joe’s Kaia. She forwarded this interesting ritual from The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell to me:
“My mother used to make it when I was a child, and it's called that because when you have a piece, you're supposed to remember something important. It can be from your childhood. It can be from any time or anywhere. So I thought we'd drink a toast and eat some bread and remember what we've been through and who we were, because it's also who we are."

So how does one make a Memory Bread?
Simply mix your favourite bread dough (or buy ready-mixed from the local bakery), roll it out into an oblong and spread all your ‘memories’ down the middle, then plait the sides over to enclose them…
"Memories are like what you find in the kitchen, she said, all these dribs and drabs in drawers and dark cupboards, bits and pieces that seem extraneous or even bad…"

So what shall we put in Damian’s Memory Bread?
Dead-fried eggs, crispy bacon, Fun & Happiness, Lentil and Mushroom Soup …and welding rods… How can we ever forget…?

www.oldjoes.co.za

Abligurition... (Consumerism cont.)

Further to my post yesterday on Consumerism...

I stumbled upon this obscure word in Food and Home magazine this morning, quoting "Excessive spending on food and drink".

With the festive season coming up I guess this part of Consumerism is unavoidable. Maybe we should make a point of watching what we eat (and drink!) and watching what we don't need - cheers!

www.oldjoes.co.za

Consumerism...

MAKRO opened in Nelspruit yesterday! Yay! Finally we might just have more choices in the Lowveld, better competitiveness and simply greater shopping.

But my goodness, what on earth is it that we are looking for?

It is interesting that, just this morning I read about the targeted effects the advertising world has on consumers. In his latest book ‘A New world’, Eckhart Tolle debates what we spend our money on in order to have a better sense of ourselves, to be more fully ourselves. In many cases we buy ‘identity enhancers’, stuff that make us feel like ‘someone else’. One has to only think of branded perfumes, kitchen utensils, etc. Who are we trying to be and how much of our integrity and our own truth are we prepared to sacrifice in the process? In the meantime we just accumulate, horde, stash and shove into storerooms—myself included.

Consumerism is an evil state of being, it bombards our landfills, multiplies and loads the carbon footprint so unnecessarily. It is indeed what sets us apart from animals: we take far more than we need!

It’s time to clear the clutter, wade through the sea of our own greed, discard what is useless and distribute to those in need.

http://www.oldjoes.co.za/

Birder Friendly in a Conservancy

Conserving the beauty of the Schoemanskloof Valley has become a priority for the sparse local community. With the interest in property and rising prices, the formation of a conservancy was an obvious way to secure the natural beauty of the valley. The Old Joe’s Kaia property forms part of this conservancy and its owners are determined to leave no stone unturned in this effort to rehabilitate and leave behind an unscathed environment.
Being a birder’s paradise, becoming a Birder Friendly Establishment (BFE) as part of Birdlife South Africa’s drive to create environmental awareness, has become the next obvious step in the guesthouse’s strategic planning. The environmental specifications required for Birder Friendly Establishments are well aligned with the longer term objectives of the guesthouse and have contributed to the streamlining of other ‘green’ issues at Old Joe’s Kaia such as recycling and the safe disposal of waste. The kitchen has also moved towards the use of organic products as much as possible by establishing its own vegetable garden and buying local free-range produce in order to reduce food miles. All these efforts form a solid platform for the underlying philosophy of providing the guest with a holistic experience of harmony and tranquillity.

What's in the Name..?

The name 'Old Joe's Kaia' has a lot of significance for many different reasons and just as we often ponder the origin of names, we are frequently questioned about our guesthouse's name.
The first part of the name 'Old Joe' refers to a supervisor of a road-building team who was involved in construction in 1927. When a rock with a very peculiar shape was excavated and made to stand up straight it was named after Joe, mainly because of its pot belly. The statue stood near the entrance of the guesthouse for many years and is responsible for the second part of the name 'Kaia' - the home of Old Joe, where 'kaia' means home in several native languages. In 1984 the owners at the time named the guesthouse appropriately 'Old Joe's Kaia'. In 2000, when the road was upgraded to become the N4, the statue was moved 7 kms from the guesthouse towards the Johannesburg direction (West).
The second part of the name, i.e. 'Kaia' has been very controversial, as many people believe it has a negative connotation of an inferior home. When we moved down to Old Joe's Kaia three years ago we were determined to upgrade the guesthouse as well as the name. However, it did not take us long to realise just how well-known the name really is worldwide. Our website tracker soon confirmed this with 78% of all search engine enquiries using the full phrase 'Old Joe's Kaia'. We have now reconciled ourselves with a name which implies a dwelling which is humble, loved and taken care of...

Birding - Green Twinspot

During the past few weeks we've had several sightings of this uncommon bird in the Schoemanskloof Valley. This has created enormous excitement amongst the locals!
The Buff-spotted Flufftail has also been heard frequently.
The White-throated Robin-chat has delighted us with his melodious call. It is an endemic bird to our area.
This is truly a birder's haven!

By the way... this is a special day for Cape White-eyes. Small, yet determined and well-defined - the brand is so clear (Lvj).
http://www.oldjoes.co.za/