I can’t believe 3 weeks have magically evolved into what is my new life…. I have been asked if I’m settled yet, no settling needed, I feel like I belong here, no drama, no trauma, no adjusting, no feeling uncomfortable, no effort, no frustration……I just fit! Round peg round hole. I’ve been thinking about what I love the most….

My new old home
Fixing, cleaning, arranging
Gardening in my big wild ‘desert-like’ garden
My front stoep and my back stoep
A quick walk from my home into the veld
Dirt roads, windmills and abandoned buildings all around me
Space
Quiet
Slowness
Simplicity
Having 2 sinks in the kitchen!
Feeling safe
Walking everywhere I need to go if I want
The raw milk dairy
Lamb chops and game meat
Local produce
Smiling, friendly, helpful people
Real people at the end of the commercial phone line
Old fashioned efficiency
A sense of calm and contentment
Time to learn about me.

My days start with a dawn outing every day. A walk/run usually involving the Robert Gordon Trail. About 3 or 4 kms. I explore different starting points and routes and experience the waking village from above.

I’ve learned to dress for the crisp mornings, I am now a beanie person!  On two occasions I have seen a pair of Grey Rhebok, white tails distinctive as they sprinted away from me on the ridge.  A pair of large owls cooing to each other and many yet unknown birds greeting the day. That freshly brewed coffee on the front stoep when I return is just the best, followed by chores, good chores…. hanging pictures, erecting shelves, cleaning, collecting my post, gardening, feeding the birds, cooking lunch, and enjoying it slowly in the sun on the back stoep……emails and internet at still 2mbps! OMG, who even offered that speed…. This is the only frustrating thing…. and it is not really that frustrating…….I just need to adjust my mindset a little more….I am in no rush!

I have met quite a few locals and my neighbours, all of whom are genuinely nice. I have handed in some of my art to the local gallery, joined the library and made friends with some people who work at the Dairy.

Anytime I want I can ‘escape’ and drive into the Swartberg Pass, play in the river, photograph, explore, walk in the veld, and examine strange and interesting plants and stones, chase sunsets, cycle in the late afternoon, read, or watch a downloaded movie  – then I am asleep in my incredibly inviting bed for the next 8 or 9 hours. That’s my new life:) It’s called living:)

Oh and one BIG negative … a big (they are all big, ugly and creepy by my standards) unlucky spider (I am a serious arachnophobe!! ) nearly (within millimetres!! ) fell on my head . OMG! when I opened the back door!!  He plopped onto the floor and died instantly under the sole of my hastily removed shoe. His carcass, (spread out on the tiles over 30 cms, such was the force of the blow) remained there for a few hours until I got up the courage to remove it and I was left unsettled for the whole rest of the day!!!!  I have not opened any door normally since. It is going to happen again (and when it does you will hear about it) but until I will remain hyper vigilant! (paranoid)