TIES THAT BIND

In our garden at 6 York Road we have a shrub which we have managed to identify with the help of our neighbor, David Forsdyke, as a Hibiscus Mutabilis ‘rubris’ ……… or Confederate Rose Mallow. A child of the South (USA) - stunningly beautiful …………. and what came to inspire this entry’s title - unquestionably a “Tie that Binds”, and entirely responsible for this little story.

Hibiscus Mutabilis ‘rubris’ ……… or Confederate Rose Mallow

1970/71 ………… I was working with a consortium of Architects in Percy Street at the bottom end of Charlotte Street, London. There I met, and came to befriend, an American Architect from Memphis, Tennessee by name Carl Awsumb. Turned out he was also married, so I invited him to bring his wife to have a meal with us at our 4th floor walk-up bedsit in West Hampstead. When they arrived I went down to open the door and was confronted by this beautiful blonde chic with a smile from ear to ear (which has not changed to this day), holding a large artichoke in both hands.

This was Priscilla - or Pan as we came to know her - and she taught us that evening how to prepare artichoke - how to savor the experience of dipping those leaves in garlic butter and pulling the flesh of with one’s teeth before dividing up the heart and losing oneself in those exquisite flavors that this amazing thistle/flower/vegetable has to offer.

And it all seems like yesterday. 

We became firm friends and a year or so later Carl and Pan left the UK to return to Memphis - but we stayed in touch - intermittently. There was no internet, or email, so we wrote letters and used snail mail……… only graduating to email very much later. But I still have all those old letters tucked away in a metal case with myriad others from people who mattered in my life.

Roughly 10 years ago Pan visited her nephew in Zambia with her sister, and went out of her way to get down and spend three magical days with us in Cape Town - just talking and catching up after nearly 37 years of not seeing each other. 

Pat and Pan at Cape Point Lighthouse 2009

In May of 2012 my very special cousin Lynda, and her equally special ‘reprobate’ :o) - husband Robin, invited us to spend a couple of weeks with them in New York to celebrate her birthday …………. and a very special two weeks it was indeed - a magical roundabout ride of immense proportions which we shall never forget, and which we decided to round off with a drive down to Memphis to visit Carl and Pan for a week.

The drive down from NYC was special enough - through Davy Crockett country - across the Shenandoah River - through the lust forests of West Virginia and down on in to Tennessee. The excitement of finding our way into Memphis - driving along Elvis Presley Boulevard and threading our way through the beautiful tree lined suburban streets to 1579 Vinton Avenue (the address that we had been addressing our mail to for nigh on 50 years), was an experience and a memory that we both still cherish today.

Nigh on 50 years …………. and we all seemed to simply take up right where we left off. Despite the time - and the distance between us - we seemed to have so much quite naturally in common, and their home felt to us like a family home where one is naturally and entirely, unpretentiously, at ease. 

A metal sculpture on the patio deck that I christened "Dawg" during my conversations with it

1579 Vinton Avenue, Memphis

Their daughter Sarah and her (then boyfriend - now husband), Shane were staying with them at the same time, so it was a real family affair. They took us down to Beale Street where we took in some of the South’s legendary Blues …………. and canoeing on the flooded tree swamps of Arkansas a little way across the Mississippi River. Pat and I spent some very pleasant time wandering through Graceland soaking up the King’s history and legendary musical achievements. We visited Sun Studios and stood on the very spot where so many amazing numbers were recorded by Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and a host of other rock ’n roll greats too numerous to mention here. We spent the best part of a day at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated, and which is now a Civil Rights Museum ………… shades of our South African heritage, but somehow considerably darker in many respects.

Sarah, Carl, Pan, Pat, me, Shane 

Down in Beale Street

Guess who? At Sun Studios

Yours truly at the spot where Elvis recorded 'That's all right Mama"

A free concert at the Levitt Shell in Memphis

With Carl, Pan, Sarah and Shane at the Levitt Shell

Bob Dylan's comments on the phenomenon that was Elvis Presley 

The Memphis bridge across the Mississippi

The Lorraine Motel with a wreath where Martin Luther King was standing when he was shot - replicas of the original vehicles are in the parking lot below

The Memphis Cathedral was designed by Carl’s grandfather and warranted a visit with his obviously proud grandson …………. a special building in a legendary American city where the suburban streets abound with some truly lovely southern homes. Leaving Memphis …….. and our friends …….. was really very bittersweet.

Elements of the Cathedral designed by Carl's Grandfather

Detail makes the difference

A quite special building

Then a day or two ago we found a card in our Bathurst Post Box saying there was something to be collected at the little Post Office in the village. It seems that things do eventually reach here ………….. it was a housewarming / 50th Anniversary / Christmas gift from Pan and Carl. Two very beautiful butterfly printed dish cloths made and marketed by their daughter-in-law Kim, (and to give all you locals a better picture - very much along the lines of what Tori Stowe does so very well here in our village).

This little gesture really meant so much to us both …………. thank you guys - this is really what lasting friendships are all about, and these two cloths will really be cherished. All that remains now is for us to convince you that Bathurst is the Centre of the Universe and really worth a visit. There are ties that bind, however obscure or distant - ties that will not, and cannot be ignored - ties that really do make life worthwhile.

Our 6 York Road bird this week is the Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) - a somewhat shy, but fairly frequent visitor to our garden, and one that is always welcome.

Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)

Oooooh ........ What a Month That Was

Well, we’re into February and 2019 is well underway. This first month of our first approaching full year in Bathurst has been an eye-opener in a great many ways, and almost daily we count the blessings showered upon us by just being here. 

The Christmas and New Year period brought myriad visitors to this little village and a festive spirit pervaded each new day …………. then suddenly it was all over and the quiet returned. But that quiet was really very superficial in many respects - underneath it all there has been a veritable whirlwind of social events involving an ever increasing number of the new friends and acquaintances that have become an almost daily part of our lives.

Jon Pieters at whose home we spent Boxing Day braaing with our family along with his and a host of other residents, came out of hospital about 10 days ago following open heart surgery and a difficult recovery period. Tom Barrett and myself popped up to see him yesterday and spent a delightful hour or two chatting to him and learning plenty more about each other. During our chat Jon (who wrestled for his country and fought his final bout for SA in Scotland at the ripe old age of 57), quietly stated that the 25-odd years that he has been in Bathurst have been the happiest and most contented of his life. They have everything they need, and while there are obviously some things they would like, they want for absolutely nothing despite a very limited income …………… and I think that this is very true of most of Bathurst’s inhabitants. He also expressed his really heartfelt gratitude to all the people of Bathurst for the utterly selfless concern and help that they have all proffered during this very difficult time for him and Yvonne………..and this includes everyone he said - from those who have it all, right down to those who have absolutely nothing. The “most caring community in the world” was how he put it.

Tom in turn related a wonderful anecdote about a dwarf resident of Bathurst and Ernie Els ……….. a story I will definitely copy into the next issue of this blog.

Having said all that, and wishing Jon a really speedy recovery from hereon forward, let’s get back to the whirlwind of social events. 

We were landed with the hosting of the Bathurst Birthday Club’s January/February birthday celebrators’ Saturday “do” on the 19th of Jan., and what a lovely afternoon it was - everybody brought a plate of something and one (or a lot more), of their favorite tipple, and the afternoon was spent gossiping, interacting, drinking, eating ………. and simply having fun.

The following Thursday we enjoyed a really pleasant ‘Sundowners’ braai next door at David Forsdyke’s home (much the same pattern applies - a plate of food and your preferred tipple), with the usual “office” gatherings for a bite at either the Plough or the Bistro on a Friday night…….this last Friday being the exception when a few of us went instead to enjoy a “Neil Diamond Tribute Evening” with the very talented Harry Lloyd at the Pig n Whistle. And so it goes on ……. yesterday evening Patrick and Michelle Rowley (Proprietors of the Ploughman’s Pub), celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary and invited the entire village to the Plough to share a pig on the spit, snacks and a disco with them …………. and a rollicking evening it was indeed. Congratulations guys - it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple.................. this after catching up briefly with Mary Riley for a quick bowl of lunchtime fish 'n chips at the Bistro - happily she is partially up and about (to some extent), after having her leg broken by Tori's horse (see previous entry), but getting better quickly. Goodonya Mary.

In addition there is the now almost institutionalized live music at the Bistro on Sunday evenings …………. so pleasant to simply pitch up with a bottle of wine and enjoy the Musos doing their thing (and have a bite prepared by the indefatigable Annie if you are so inclined). There is of of course the Sunday Morning Farmers’ Market at Brian and Sandy’s place along the Kowie Road where everyone just goes to get their fresh veggies, free-range eggs, biscuits, cakes, quiches ……… and enjoy a bit of fresh air.

So as you can see, it has been a really busy time ………… never a dull moment in this remarkable little village …………. on top of which my team and I have been pushing hard to get the Cattery up and on its way toward completion. Plenty of hard work for this old sod each day, but a good feeling pervades at sunset when that sense of near exhaustion is put aside in favor of an ice cold Windhoek or a really chilled scotch and soda.

The weather has been really up and down most of January …… plenty of wind, temperatures up to 38 on occasion, a little bit of rain (though not nearly enough), and a couple of really exciting electric storms. The wind and rain turn the garden into a bed of dried leaves which have to be raked and piled on the compost heap, but literally overnight everything turns free after the rain and the grass begins to grow at a Formula 1 challenging pace.

Some days have brought the most remarkable golden light in the evenings, and took advantage one evening about a week ago to grab a few pics of “The Fortress of Faith” - St.John’s Anglican Church, which was consecrated in 1828 and till today remains the oldest structurally unaltered Anglican Church in South Africa. That same evening we had the most remarkable sunset and I managed to get a shot or two of the quality of light from our deck (see below).

Pat’s garden daily becomes a more exciting place to spend time in. The herbs were the first to make their presence felt, followed by the peppers, chillies, radishes, beans and now tomatoes. She has almost daily been cleaning, cooking and bottling Green Fig Preserve, and a nice little stockpile is building up. A whole host of other veggies have been planted in hills established along the bottom of the garden and pretty soon we should be reaping their produce as well.

The garden presents one with so many tingly feelings of simply “lekker” as one wanders through it - there is always something new flowering and the ‘little vistas’ that one is confronted with daily really do make life absolutely worthwhile.

Good news received during this first month now past also included confirmation that Pat’s sister Maureen and good friend Annie with be with us for a few days in March, and that Stoddard arrives on the 14th May to spend a few days with us before heading back to Sydney on the 19th.

Reckon that’s about it for this entry …………. this entry’s bird is the very shy Red-necked Spurfowl that occasionally comes to visit but stays well to the bottom of the garden.

Red-Necked Spurfowl (Francolin) (Pternistes afer)

The Fortress of Faith (Completed 1828)

Side view with stonework detail

The Bell Tower in the Golden light

The light 'Darkening'

From our deck later the same evening

The final glow

Colours through the rain

Peach Hibiscus - its First Blush

Simply Pretty

Raindrops resting

The Colour of Love

Puffadder under the blue table (It was dead - presumably killed by Chavane's dog Bruno who sustained scratches on his eye which needed treatment)

The bed in full flower

Looking the other way

Pinks and Reds and Yellows - all washed with green

Euphorbia flowers in the the large Coral tree

Colour peeking through everywhere

One of three Night Adders we have had around and about to date