Thursday, 9 May 2019
From Merrivale 16 March 1998
From Merrivale
16 March 1998
Dear Alan, Lorna & girls,
We have been here with Sheila now for 4 weeks % enjoying
every moment, but all good things must come to an end so I think we will head
for home next week via Hayes & sleep over there. We came through the
Transkei on our way down & it poured with rain as far as Grahamstown &
it was very misty & the roads full of pot holes, cattle, horses & black
pigs. It took 12 ½ hours for the 1,050 kms. We had a royal welcome when we got
here with all Ronald’s relatives & a lovely fish dinner of calamari &
fish. Do you remember Gerald Phillips,
well he lives here & is a skipper on the chokka calamari boats & he
came the other night & made us a lovely dinner of curried crab &
calamari, calamari in butter, backed crabs & fried fish it was divine. He
also gave me 5 kgs of hake he had caught.
The house we are living in Sheila is renting for R1, 300 a
month fully furnished & it is 3 stories & has 5 bedrooms & a games
room we could use as an extra bedroom. Sheila is going to have a full house
over Easter. Taryn has a job with Merle, who is an estate agent & she has
her own flat there, it’s very posh & we can see it from here as it is just
across & stretch of grass from here. We are only 200 meters from the beach
so I spend all the time on the beach, which is very flat & goes out for
miles & the breakers not very big. We have also been fishing a few times,
but have caught nothing & we are going now as soon as the washing is done as
Ronald & Sheila have gone to PE for the day.
Cathy Lesley’s sister now lives in PE & came to see us
on Saturday & very disgusted with the way Ronald & Lesley are behaving
towards Sheila, just the same way they treated her, but she told me in secret
that she has found her son & was in contact with him & his adopted
family & they have exchanged photos & that he was going to come &
see her , so she was very excited, Ronald & les are still not talking to me, but Sherry phones all the time &
says her mother has now started to phone
her , Sherry is keeping very well & baby due in early June.
Sheila has bought a house here a real bargain as a lot of
the houses sell for +- R1 million rands & she got a 4 bedroomed fully house
with a garage, one house behind the canals & one house away from the
sea for R185, 000 with fridge,
stove, washing machine all the crockery, cutlery pots & pans etc & all the curtains it is double story
with a thatch roof. All the houses have to be painted white & have be
thatched or black tiles.
We are going out to Jefferies Bay tonight for Jenna’s
birthday dinner. I’ve just got back from the beach & I’m going to walk to
the village to post this letter. One has to go to Humansdorp 20 kms away for all our shopping & a bigger town
than Howick, tons of love, Dad, Mum & family
From Merrivale 11.2.1998
From Merrivale
11.2.1998
Dear Alan, Lorna & Girls,
Thought I had better drop you a few lines before we leave
for Cape St Francis (1000 kms away) on Monday. I am looking forward to being
there but not the journey as we are going through the Transkei as it saves 400
kms. Sheila seems to have settled there and bought a house, but neither she nor
Ronald have jobs, but I’ll write from there & let you have all the news.
Vanessa has just phoned to apologise to me for the way she
went for me for trying to look after her TAB as I knew she was on diet &
could only drink TAB. Yesterday Sheila phoned to offer to lend her Toyota,
which they didn’t take with them & she was so rude to Sheila &
complained to Sheila about me, so I don’t know what bought about the apology,
anyway for Neal’s sake I accepted her apology.
The next doors still aren’t talking to me & I can
promise you Ronald is going to be very sorry when he does come over as he is
going to get it from me from a dizzy height over the way he has treated Sherry
& about the way he has got this farm & gives us R250 a month, & I
have to stand over the wood stove making pickles & chutney so that we can
make out, while they live in the lap of luxury & buying a car for Clinton
etc. Sherry was 21 last Wednesday &
she & Juan took Dad & me out to lunch at Spurs. She has a lovely little 2 bedroomed home 20 kms out of
Maritzburg on the Greytown road & she is very happy & excited about
the baby & has a cat & a pram,
car seat, computer & just about
everything she needs. I bought & made the curtain for the baby’s room as a
21st birthday gift.
On Saturday we all went to Water world for her
birthday. She phoned Ron & Les but
hey turned down her offer. Jenny has bought a lovely old house in Ladysmith.
Tam-lyn is now an air hostess with British Airways & is on the European
Route so seeing a lot of the world.
Debbie’s kids have been having such fun with their friends
down at the dam every weekend they take the boat down & I only see them
when they want food or drinks. Dad’s keeping well & busy. I started again
with panic attacks with all this nonsense going on. Ronald & les are so
jealous that Sherry & Juan are always here or else we just love going out
to them as it so peaceful & lovely they have at least 4 dams full of life. Thanks
for the money for Xmas. I’m very involved in Church.
Tons of love,
Dad, Mum & family XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sunday, 4 March 2018
From Bergville 24.12.1997
From Bergville
24.12.1997
Dear Lorna,
As usual, I am late with my Christmas cards, but I still try
to get them posted before Christmas day. This is just an update on our news for
the past year.
Jim is still in the hotel, we had some ups and downs lately,
but we are very busy this Christmas and hope that things will look up in the
New Year.
Tam-lyn went to the UK at the end of May and came back for
Christmas, but while she was there went for job interviews for a job as an Air
Hostess with British Airways. We heard last week that she had been accepted,
and so is going back to London in the middle of January to start her training
on the 29th January.
Regan left boarding school this year and started at the
Technical College at Ladysmith, which is very convenient because he stays at
home with me. He is very keen on his electric guitar, and plays “heavy metal”
day and night. He has a group of friends who come around and play with them.
It’s quite nice having a house full of young kids, but the coffee consumption
is enormous (this means that we seem to wash coffee mugs all day long).
Tara goes to school near us in Ladysmith and she has her own
circle of friends and generally does well in all her subjects (without much
effort). She still has three years to go at High School.
I have passed all my exams for this year, (I have gone
backwards, and I am now doing a two-year Postgraduate Pre-primary Teacher’s
Diploma). It is useful, because we are
opening a training pre-primary school at the College as we are offering a Preprimary
Teacher’s Training Course and I am involved with it.
I am also very busy running a Further Diploma in Music for
qualified teachers to upgrade, and,
apart from my official job, I have initiated an arts department at a local
school for black students and an annual Arts Festival for the youth in the
Ladysmith region which is scheduled for the end of May.
We don’t play very much bridge but I joined “Toastmasters”
this year and have done my first three graded speeches.
I sold the flat and bought a house (trying to upgrade before
our retirement) and we moved in last week.
We haven’t stayed in it yet because we are at Bergville on school
holidays. It is a big old house that needs a bit of work, but it suits us.
As for the rest of the family, we still have the dogs, cat,
birds and ducks (which annoy Jim, because they keep coming into the house and
leaving presents on the carpet for us), and although our donkeys went to live
on a nearby farm, we see them regularly and they had a baby early this year.
That’s a brief 1997 history of the Collighans, so Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us,
Jenny
From Merrivale 26.1.1997
From Merrivale
26.1.1997
Dear Alan, Lorna & Girls,
Thank you all for the money which arrived on Friday. My
first thought was to bank it, but Dad said we must buy a vacuum cleaner as I
haven’t got one & I have to beg, borrow or steal one whenever I need one,
so we will look around for a bargain, which you can always pick up when you are
not in a hurry & have cash in hand.
The garden has kept me so busy I can’t believe the fruit
& vegetables we have had. I have made at least 72 bottles of jam & have
over 50 packets of frozen peaches in the deep freezes. We have been inundated
with baby marrows & we have had celery, potatoes, beans, butternut,
broccoli $ cauliflower. I also dry all my own herbs in the microwave (ours is
just about on its way out after 15 years of good service).
We had a wonderful week in Ballito with the Besters, when we
go away with them Matthew is my boss& has nothing to do with Debbie &
Lionel. Neal & kids were also at Ballito & one night we had a fire on
the beach with marshmallows & marie biscuits then the kids went off on a
crab catching competition & caught 27 crabs. The fishermen hit into a shoal
of milk sharks & we saw them catch at least 20 they let most of them go,
but kept a few for eating.
We have had a wonderful summer with very very hot
Days in the mid 30’s then every afternoon a lovely thunderstorm, so
of course everything is growing like mad. Poor old Elliot can’t keep up with
the mowing. Tomorrow week we are meeting the Hayes at Debbie’s caravan for 3
days & nights then the Hayes will come here for a few days. We will go the
hotel for supper one night & see the Collighans.
Wesley has been here for the
weekend as he was playing cricket yesterday.
Peggy Page (Pike) now lives
in New Zealand.
Went to Greys last week
& the sisters there want to know when we are getting any cuttings of the
paralympics they call Melissa the Grey’s baby.
Must close now. Tons of love
to you all, XXXXXXXX
Dad,
Mum & family XXXXXXXX
Friday, 2 March 2018
From Merrivale 27.10.1996
From Merrivale
27.10.1996
Dear Alan, Lorna & Girls,
At long last I have found some time to sit down & write
to you all. We had a lovely 8 days with the Hayes, it rained nearly every day,
but we managed a swim most days & I played scrabble the rest of the time.
it has rained here on & off for the whole month it is really lovely & the dam is full & the tank
overflowing. I have filled the swimming pool & we have been swimming
everyday.
Jenny & family came for the weekend. We all went to Fay’s ballet concert on Saturday
night at the Hilton College Theatre. Ronald les & family also came & it
poured with rain the whole evening 43 mm of rain. Clinton & Byron were
going to amp at the dam for the night but as soon as the rain began Ronald had
to go down with the tractor & trailer & bring back 2 loads of junk
which thy had carted down to the dam.
the Besters have been here everyday swimming, but the kids
have all had tonsillitis in turns today was Nicky’s day & Debbie bought him
over to swim as he was boiling hot. I think there is some furniture polish on
this paper that’s why its not taking in parts. Neal has spent the whole day
here fixing up a small motor bike for the boys. Byron didn’t want to go to
Durban, so spent the weekend here.
Daddy has a huge carbuncle on the back of his neck & the
muck keeps pouring out. I am still painting mad I have now painted all the
gates from paint from Uncle Stan.
Hope you can read this my wrist is playing up.
Tons of
love to you all XXXXXXXXXXX
Dad,
Mum & family XXXXXXXXXXXXX
From Merrivale 20.9.1996
From Merrivale
20.9.1996
Dear Alan, Lorna & Girls,
You must all be very proud of Melissa & glad that she is
home safe & sound, we are looking forward to getting the video & seeing
some of the newspaper clippings.
We’re having a mixture of weather first hot berg winds &
the temperatures in the high 30’s, then yesterday had frost. The whole world is
looking lovely, but we are desperate for rain. I have planted lots of seeds so
hope to have a nice garden soon. The front is too beautiful with the hedge of
banksia & dog roses in full bloom & other plants in bloom too.
We are going to Durban tomorrow as its Sheila’s birthday on Sunday,
will come home Sunday afternoon as daddy is still working out at Neals. I think
it is getting too much for Daddy , as he & Neal have been building this
cottage on a neighbours farm & they can’t seem to get any labour so have to
mix & carry the dagga themselves & they have been at it for over 2
months& Dad has been staying at Neals & has come home this afternoon
really fed up as Vanessa has taken a job in P.M.Burg so has to take the truck
everyday & Neal has to fetch & carry the boys in our Kombi & we
can’t see how she is making any money
when she has to travel over 100 kms per day & it inconveniences Neal when
he is trying to make some money too. Jenny
has just popped in on her way to pick up Regan from hostel. All’s well there.
Debbie, Lionel, Fay & Matthew went to Itali Game Reserve
on Wednesday & left Jonathon & Nicholas with me & I took them out
to Neal’s for the night & they really enjoyed themselves.
I am busy sewing as I want to take a stall at Laddsworth
fete. We made over R14, 000 at the church fete.
Must close now, tons of love to each one of you,
Dad,
Mum & family XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
From Merrivale 13.7.1996
From Merrivale
13.7.1996
Dear Alan, Lorna & Girls,
Just a hurried note to say thank you all very much on
Daddy’s behalf for his lovely Telefunken CD player & he is very pleased
with it.
We went to visit friends of the Hayes. They were looking
after their niece’s dairy farm at Kamberg with their sister Natalie, well they
had to go home on Saturday as little Natalie was expecting her 2nd
child , so we decided to spend an extra night with big Natalie as she was going
to be on her own. Well we woke up Sunday morning there was snow for as far as
the eye could see & we were snowed in.
That night the power failed & next day we had no water or telephone
, so we were having to melt snow to get drinking 7 cooking water & having
to cook over the lounge fire & we had to stay put until the snow started to
melt & the lights came back on Thursday. The mountains are still covered in
thick snow & it has been bitterly cold.
The hotel was snowed in & they had to feed 90 people on
Sunday & had people sleeping on the lounge floor. It was the worst snow in
30 years & quite a few people died in their cars when they were stranded on
Van Reenen’s Pass, all the roads in & out of Natal were closed.
We were supposed to pick the Besters up at the airport, but couldn’t,
so when someone came to our rescue I got a message through on their cellular
phone.
I am still very busy & just don’t seem to get on top of
everything & now I think we will have to go & stay at Neals for a while
as he & Daddy are building a cottage for one of Neals neighbours then we
want to build ourselves a little 2 bedroom stone cottage out there as well as
Ronald keeps talking about selling up, but I can’t ever see him selling this
place.
Its my day to have Elliot so I spend most of Monday in the
garden with him. I’ve also done a lot of washing, which fortunately has dried.
Well no more space or time.
Tons of love to you all & thanks a million for the
lovely photos.
Dad, Mum & family XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)