The weather pattern in this part of the world is a bit out of kilter in that we are experiencing a late summer, with warm and windfree days. Just recently though when the wind blows it is icy, and the night is closing in at approximately 6.20pm. Alas, I feel the mood sinking as the bite of approaching winter is becoming more fierce. I am thinking hot soup, and crusty bread, blankets and hot water bottles. I am dreading the early mornings, dragging everyone out of their warm beds for college and work. We all seem to burn the candle at both ends, and it is not easy to relinquish the home comforts at the crack of dawn in pouring rain and howling winds. We are fortunate that we do not experience extreme weather where I live , although the temperature can drop below freezing inland with severe snow and winter storms. The homeless are the worst affected, and there are some terrible casualties from attempts to keep warm with paraffin stoves and gas heaters. We have a power shortage in this country and will have to use electricity sparingly, so the only option would be to sit in front of a log fire, if we had one. As much as we enjoyed the summer, we will have the complete opposite in winter. Add to that the woes of increasing interest rates, food, fuel and medicine hikes, it is already a tight year.

My boss was horrified today when she realised there are two more public holidays on Thursday and Friday, and this week has only been two working days long, given that Monday was also a holiday. She thinks we must be the laughing stock of the world, and as a country we are falling apart because of the lack of productivity. In the face of such negativity I hum a little tune, kind of to match her voice frequency and create a "white sound". If I don't then my heart falls into my stomach and on the way past my lungs they start to tighten and suddenly the rational brain starts shutting down. I had a few scares in the hospital recently and quietly took control of the situation that was me, and therefore any fear that my boss tries to instil in me pales into insignificance. (I might go a little pale, but on the whole she doesn't take me seriously). When she tells the staff times are tough, we wonder if she has only noticed that now. It is all dependent on one's world view, I suppose. My better half was given a pay increase at the end of this month, but as his take out pay was less than last month, it went unnoticed. I think I will have to call a conference on the household shopping and start cutting back somewhere. It is nothing new to struggle, and at least the roof doesn't leak, except in my daughter's bedroom. There was some serious workmanship defects in the construction of an extension, and in the past four years the cracks between roof and walls have turned into a schism. We budgeted for repairs, but the workers are taking the long weekend too. Just like the song, "oh oh, don't let the rain come down" we are hoping to get the work done before it is too late.

On the brighter side, we live in a floral kingdom that comes into it's own in winter. We have glorious indigenous plants that flower from May to August, incredible birdlife, and a green season with mild sunny days in between the cold wet weather. The whales visit the bays for calving which creates a tourist attraction. Some of our best trips away have been in mid-winter, as the hinterland is warmer and drier. The nights are icy, but the air is clean and sharp. I am in my element in wide open spaces, and love long road trips in the middle of winter, to escape the gloom at home. Last year we travelled to the northern border of Southern Africa, and peeped into Zimbabwe and felt very close to our neighbours and their plight. There is no place quite like Africa in winter. Born wild and free, without trimmings, nature can overwhelm with it's intensity and starkness. The contrasts in lifestyles and cultures all under one huge canopy tests one' s capacity to endure all weathers and tribulations. This land sometimes takes one to the edge, then retracts and begs forgiveness at the last minute with an African dawn that says "let's do it again, this time better!" It works every time for me. So I guess we'll drag out the winter woollies and make the most of it after all. It's great to be alive! Take care, love from Eve

Life is a mystery. From day one the questions start. The big question is "how did I get here?" and of course "why was I born". Well it pretty soon gets laid out on a plate, literally, if one is lucky. There is a mommy, a daddy and various other beings making up the space into which one belongs. I am going to concentrate on what gets put onto that plate, because as I was mulling this question over, I realised that food is always not far from a person's lips. If we are not consuming it, we compare life to food. For example, someone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth is translated into the amount of wealth they can tap into throughout their life. It can also mean the type of food, and how it is served on that silver spoon. A slice of the pie is another expression commonly used to describe a person's luck or share of wordly good fortune.

The first thing I learned about the difference between boys and girls was that "girls are made of sugar and spice, and all things nice". I always felt sorry for the boys who sounded positively yucky being compared with "slugs and snails and puppy dogs tails". I was taught to help my mother in the kitchen and not to get involved with the conversation my menfolk would enjoy whilst meals were prepared for them. In fairness they provide the food and we cook it, end of story. Not any more, I have to forget the kitchen as my main area of importance, and also put my fair share into bringing home the bread and butter. The cooking is no longer the focal point in my life. I am fortunate that my better half is not afraid of losing his manhood by helping out with cooking and laundry. Given the past couple of weeks that I have been languishing with the pre-op quarrantine from the household and workplace he has been doing admirably. I then think about this ridiculous stereotyping about what girls are made of and what boys are made of. Nonsense! As one man quoted on Sky News the other day, "people forget we are a person first and then a bloke!" I couldn't have said it better! Why not drop the second part of the little ditty from the playground and say that men and women are as follows: "Girls are made of suger, boys are made of spice". There, I got that out of my system....;)

How can men be so bad, they make fantastic fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, lovers and most of all great companions and protectors. They never have a men's day, although we do have a holiday for "Womens Day". Men are supposed to have a day every day, lol. Granted the women spoil their men as thanks for all they provide and of course when women become providers too, then the romance about those differences withers a little. I have always enjoyed the conversations men have among themselves (when of course they are behaving themselves because of female company). I do know one thing though, that my menfolk are sensitive, are capable of deep emotions and are very patient with most women. They do not date from an early age, and are decent towards the fairer sex. I have never heard sexist jokes from them and I know that they always treat their women well. They do not set up one another in acts of revenge or competition. They do not seem to befriend someone and then talk about them in a derogative manner afterwards, without the sugar, as women so often do. I have comforted my father once when my mother was seriously ill and was amazed as he sobbed into my arms at the thought of losing her. That one act alone showed me the deeper side of him. After all, if men weren't capable of such deep feelings, we would not have the amazing lifestyles we enjoy, the seven wonders of the world, technology that makes life so convenient and health care to marvel at. Women are great at nurturing and being the backbone to a stable family, but men have the brains to think out of the box. (Ok, girls, we are getting there too).

We somehow manage to get the "one life, one love" wrong most of the time, but I have to say that men are still marvellous, and we should all have one to hug and say thank you to. They say that behind every successful man there is a woman picking up his laundry, but I say the better the pie baked the more chance the recipe will work. And that goes for all relationships, on an equal basis. Happy cooking, remember to add both sugar and spice!!! And be very very nice......... love from Eve in "Paradise"

This is the day that the world has a turn to speak. Well, actually it is the day where we should listen to what it is saying. In a quiet moment (I have had quite a few quiet moments this week, so bear with me) I imagined what the World Earth could say: Something along the lines of "I have a bad rash and it is eating into me, sometimes it is so bad I feel like throwing up!" I will not translate, it all begins with our perspective of our part of the world. Sometimes our world is very small, and what matters is not preserving the environment, merely surviving the environment. If there are vast resources the temptation is to help ourselves as we please. Obviously without the tools and knowledge that education brings we only have our instincts and lessons of our forefathers to rely on. Indeed if we are to be self-sustaining, we would have soon learned to nurture our crops and livestock. Competition soon creeps in along with bargaining and the usual vices of pillaging and destroying anything that threatens us.

Once our personal survival is assured then waste and greed can cloud the future, hence the reason for World Earth Day, which actually should be recognised every day. The theory that only evolved people with unlimited wealth recognise "green issues" is a disturbing one. We live in a plastic age and very little thought has gone into disposing of nuclear waste, by-products of coal and oil refining, and household garbage. Sadly trees have also become victims of the human occupation of World Earth. Erosion and pollution is a serious threat to the climate and global warming looms. I do not know the answers as I am merely one person wondering where to make a difference. What I do know is that any damage to the environment is a scar with consequences. If for every action there is a further reaction, then as in the olden days when the earth crust finally reacts and spews it's contents, will we shrink back with a guilty conscience and wonder if we caused it? Depending on our world view, we will most likely go into denial that we have any part of such an outcome. But what if...........?

We always seem to concentrate on our spirituality, and where we will go when we die. I have always believed that heaven is in the "now" and we could not have simply landed here by accident. We are living one big beautiful phenomenal experiment, and now is the time to prove we can get it right. When the world does finally erupt as predicted perhaps it will be less angry and volatile. Thus we can be spared for many more years to continue to enjoy the wonders put on earth for us to marvel at, to enjoy and to preserve for posterity. This may sound very simple and childlike, but living in the "now" is the one constant validation of our existence. In addition to recycling and saving water and electricity, take a walk in the countryside and speak to the World Earth about your love of being alive and for the privilege of sharing such valuable resources needed for survival. It may make her feel better after all. We are all in this together. Take care, love from Eve in "Paradise"

Here we are in "Paradise" and I hardly know where to begin. Yesterday was unusual in that I spent the morning in consultation with an education department official, plus a doctor's visit and a phone call to the specialist regarding the pending procedure. I nearly fell of my chair when the gentleman from the ministry actually apologised for the ordeal my daughter endured, and for her poor treatment thereafter. He commended her for getting back on track and admitted there was a huge problem with teacher abuse in the classroom. Bingo! Three years later and we get acknowledgement for being the victims. He admitted that she should have been 100% safe at school and they are saddened that it was not the case. He also thought that the council for educators did such a good job in issuing a black mark against the perpertrator's name. Yeah, right, I followed that one up personally.

I felt the tears stinging the back of my eyes, and I did not miss a beat in telling him how refreshing it was to hear those words of apology. I know in fact that it was my campaign alone that even alerted them to how badly they handled this matter. At last we are on the same page, and my daughter was wished well for her future and thanked indirectly through me for having the guts not to give up her dreams. I am amazed and nervous about the timing of this visit. I thanked him for taking the time out to talk to me and he has promised to compile a report to the department, and he would visit again. I am so thankful that we are no longer in limbo over this very stressful and expensive exercise, both in our health and finances. Something that in fact should never have happened! Whatever.....a page turns.......

After that I visited my GP for a second opinion regarding the sinus operation and he agreed with me that perhaps I was taking a risk with leaky blood vessels. I then telephoned the specialist and decided to keep up the pre-op appointment today. My better half in the meantime progressed from a chest infection to a sprained back muscle all in a matter of hours. No time for me to be stressed out too, I had to take on the entire morning routine, drive him to and from the chiropracter and then clear my desk for a two week recuperative break, to be ready if I went ahead witht the procedure. Of course the specialist was convincing and he is such a charming man I could not resist his sweet blue-eyed talk. He reassured me that I would be fine if I think positive and not stress about complications. Ok, I'm in his hands!

In the meantime hubby is prone at home with the latest symptom, now stomach cramps. We propped him up with pillows and fed him with tea and a choc biscuit. He is gradually improving. My father will drive me to the hospital and the kids will visit later if he is still unwell tomorrow. What a way to spend a Friday night, my son is lending me his cd player and I will at least have some of his cool music to keep me company. I spoke to an admission clerk today but she in fact was a theatre nurse and she waved goodbye saying "see you in theatre tomorrow", to which I had to reply, "cool, we'll have a chat!" I suppose it will be the usual hello.... and......what time is it?...... when the anaesthetic wears off.

And thus I will be off the radar screen for an hour or two even though I tried to postpone it because of some natural reservations. So the real-life soapie continues..... till I return, take care, love from Eve

My dearest late mother often quoted a simple Chinese proverb "it will come to pass" to me when I was raising babies just sixteen months apart. At the time it seemed like I was stuck in a time warp and my brain was shrinking. I loved being at home with the children but there were some days where I felt as though I was being bogged down and losing my marbles. My parents both are innovative people and until my mother's passing she was sharp and intuitive. She enjoyed crosswords with my father and they would vie with each other about the levels of difficulty. No matter whatever projects they undertook, which were many and amazing, they would tackle them together in synchro and their energy used to floor me.

Now that I am the adult and my father is no longer as active as before he still keeps busy with brain food for energy. I believe we should do everything humanly possible to keep our minds active and our bodies fit. I have no excuse, a full day job with stairs and a full time household to take care of any thoughts of being sedentary or bored. Every so often though I become analytical and realise that the sheer daily routine is enough to put anyone off being responsible. Everything is done on the run, hence I know I am being kept fit and sharp. When I do landry on a Sunday it is four loads, and then there is the ironing. When I enter up the figures at work there are pages and pages of data, over and over. When the children were babies there were washing lines full of nappies, then came school projects, school lunches, the logistics of transport, and endless evenings of homeowrk. Nowadays the household is still like a railway station, people and animals all over the place. If I so much as expressed concern or angst over my life with too much month and not enough money my mother would cautiously remind me "these are the best years of your life".

Today somebody said the time was flying and I carelessly replied "even if we are not having fun!" Hmm.... that was a special favorite question I used to ask my better half when times were tough: "are we having fun yet?". Well I guess it is almost like a badge we wear to express our suffering when in fact complaints about too much work or a busy life are a marker of where we are in our lives. All too soon the empty nest will become a topic of conversation, and thereafter the conversation will turn to how the family has moved on and what retirement village is the best option. And the health of course of our friends and family becomes more of an issue. Today a visitor to this country was rushed into hospital for a heart valve repair, having only arrived in the country on Thursday last week. Her stoicial husband remarked that this was one of those memorable holidays and by that he meant we only remember the ones that were the most disruptive! Life is full of memories, and we must strive to keep them positive and realise that we are living in the now, and these are always the best years of our lives. Take care and enjoy, Love from Eve

Ay, that was the phrase used today to describe the pending election results in the landlocked country just north of us. The spoken language can be verbose indeed, and politicians are particularly good at saying things such as "we are attempting to level the goalposts at grassroots and cross the divide that separates us". "There can be much gained from healthy eating and a positive outlook in fighting the scourge of Aids". All these examples say very little about the problem and a real solution. The soon to be ousted powers mentioned above stated that the opposition should not be in a hurry to push the results, because if they have won they will have plenty of time to be in power (?!). Lethargy, more like it. We keep different times in this continent, and I will not put a name to it, but any visitor from overseas who flew in on a jet plane would then be amazed at how the clocks go slower in Africa. What's the rush? You will get there soon enough. I spent a few months on holiday in the UK when I was 20, and I was amazed at the slick transport system, the orderly queues and how a huge population was able to access public amenities as if there was no crowd at all. We are gearing up for the Soccer World Cup in 2010, and that is causing huge anticipation of an influx of visitors. There is revamping of airports, road transport and new stadiums are being built. There are huge projects being undertaken, and hopefully all of this will help with the economy. The broadcasting rights to the games has been awarded to a foreigner, and overseas consultants are working around the clock with local entrepreneurs to make sure we have the best event on the biggest scale ever in this country. This essentially is waking up sleeping giants. The stadiums are world class, and our local airport was long overdue for a revamp, no harm done there. I am hoping that the momentum will continue, for the youth particularly are taking a huge interest in soccer and trying to emulate their heroes. Nothing like a challenge to get the sloths out of the closet.....looking forward to the VISITORS, you are all welcome to the land of sunny skies and chevrolet, and rugby and cricket and soccer, you name it, we do it!!!!!