getting to know me-me

These questions were posted on “getting to know you” over at Create a Connection…. It’s a while since I had the time or the mental energy for a meme, so here goes…

Where were you in 1987? In school? Working? Single? Married? Attached? What was important to you? What were you doing creatively? Tell us a bit about your life then. I realize some of you were children then...all the better!Sorry, I was not a kid then, I was 33 (which feels like a kid compared to now!!) I was married (still am, same guy!), and our kids would have been aged 10 and 8. We lived on a smallholding, and I was a studio potter, so my work and creativity coincided. Although to be honest, I think the most creative and important thing I was doing then was raising my kids. I worked from home to give me an opportunity to be a full time mom as much as possible. We placed a big emphasis on quality family time.
I was also into self sufficiency, so we grew our own veggies, I milked our jersey cow twice a day, made my own butter and jam etc…. I had a crazy horse called Tangy and used to love riding around the surrounding countryside. It was pretty idyllic, although finances were tight .But as time went on, squatters moved onto the surrounding vacant plots and we increasingly experienced problems with drunks fighting over weekends, and it was no longer as safe as it was in the early days, when I never bothered to lock our front door.
When I look back on those years, it seems almost like a different incarnation because it was so different to the way my life was 12 years later. (Not that I believe in reincarnation…. which is a relief because I’d hate to have to go through those gawky teenage years again!)

Where were you in 1997? What would you like to share about the nineties?By 1997 we had moved into town (but the outer suburbs, not the middle of town where we now live.) I had given up the pottery because of an injured back, and was building up my increasingly busy interior design business. South Africa had become a democracy and I was very optimistic about the changes that were taking place, and increasingly irritated with the diehards who did nothing but whinge and whine and resist change. (This does not mean I was wearing blinkers and not seeing the problems). Of course there have been sacrifices for the privileged members of our society, and ongoing corruption, ineffective justice system etc are concerns, but I am still happy here and believe this country is a special place with huge potential.

Where did you plan to be or think you'd be in 2007? Have your realized your goals?
I think I am more of a “live for the day” kind of person. I tend not to set huge goals for the future. I even hate making appointments, I love to be spontaneous, so planning ahead just isn’t part of my thinking. Having said that, Max was retrenched from his job in 1998. It really forced us to re-think, because with ‘affirmative action” which means that legislation forces companies to employ “previously disadvantaged” people, namely blacks, and jobs for middle aged white men are like hen’s teeth, he went into business on his own. Suddenly all your complacency about your future, your pension etc is turned upside down. Because Max and I both ran our own 1 man businesses which totally depended on us working for income, we could not afford to go on leave, or be sick. We realized we needed to do something about that and started planning the direction of our businesses. To a degree we have realized some of those goals, but there is a way to go.

What is one thing about your present life you love
Being married to Max, being a granny (and BTW great news is there’s another on the way, Ian and C are going to be adding to the family soon, YAY!!) living in town, overlooking the bay, doing art…ok I can’t count to 1!

and one you'd like to change?The crime around here…. It would be cool if the prisoners lived behind bars and locked doors, and the citizens were free to roam the streets, instead of the other way round!

How do you see your life in 2017? Do you have any goals or dreams for your future? Well I have just done another U-turn, going into art full time, so who knows where we go from here? One of the things we did was buy a derelict cottage and renovate it, I enjoyed it so much and hope to have the opportunity to do more of that. Anyway, apart from an ongoing strategy of trying to invest in property as a hedge against a future of sponging off our kids, I will continue to enjoy living a day at a time! My one HUGE goal is to get to a point where we can do some serious traveling. We have decided to work towards a trip to Scotland next May, after that, hang on world… here we come!