A Craze is a Craze!

Isn't it funny how a 'craze' begins? And how it turns full circle as time goes by?

I remember when I was teaching, one day somebody would arrive at school with marbles, or a skipping rope, or a spinning top, or a length of elastic and the next day every child would be skipping or huddling in marble games (or picking them up off the floor before a teacher stood on them), or standing with elastic wound round their ankles while others hopped and jumped over it.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was on to the next craze! Goodbye marbles, hello Mammals!

I clearly remember the Mammal card craze as it involved us mums too! The cards were sold in packs of five from Toy Shops and Newsagents, and there was an album that went with them. I cannot remember how much the cards cost, or the album for that matter, but it wasn't a lot. Of course, after you bought a few packs and it was all very exciting, you ended up with a lot of duplicates. And the obvious place to swap them was school! Break saw groups of intent card-swapping children all searching for the same card, while the teachers on duty made sure that the older children didn't cheat the younger ones by taking ten cards for a 'rare find'.

One of the Toy Shops in our local shopping centre had a 'Swap Box' where you could take your duplicates and look for the ones that were needed to complete the collection. The children would gather on a Saturday morning and then it was the turn of the mums from Monday to Friday! We would regularly meet in the shop, with our lists of up-dated numbers, hoping to find a few and cross those numbers off the list! Cries of  'Yes I have forty-seven, do you have ninety-three?' punctuated the general chat every now and then. It was a social event! We sat on the floor and chatted and swapped and of course bought a few packs of cards as well! My sister was visiting at the height of the craze and she was involved in buying and swapping too!

As Normal Service As Possible!

Hello to all my loyal readers!

I am home again, winged safely over the mountains both ways, thanks to Mango airlines! It's the first time I have flown with them and I must say, they were fantastic. We were lined up on time, filed along the walkways in order and on time, people sitting at the back of the plane were shuffled to the right and into the back door (how sensible is that?) and were strapped in and hurtling down the runway at the very minute we should have been! Going to Durban we had an extremely jolly captain, one of those with a smile in his voice and a sort of casual rapport that made me sit back and un-clench my fists! Thank goodness he didn't decide to do a loop-the-loop over the Drakensberg!

Mango! (Pic thanks to Google)

Rob had organised a transfer to my sister's home in Pietermaritzburg and I was met at King Shaka Airport in Durban by a smiling man with a signboard. The journey took over an hour and I was horrified at just how many huge trucks use that freeway, all jiggling, overtaking, going too fast down hills, getting stuck behind slower traffic up the hills, pulling out in front of us.......you suddenly look out of the window and see wheels and tyres! Scary!

King Shaka Airport in Durban. (Pic thanks to Google)

Fingers Crossed For Normal Service To Resume!

Well.

As I write this, Morris is bounding round the garden chasing birds.......... Normally we would yell at him and throw a shoe or whatever comes to hand, but today we are happy just to see him back to normal.

Yesterday morning we had to take him back to the vet. Same problem, dig, squat, get up, nothing. He had had a restless night and we heard him licking himself every time one of us got up to do what it is you do when you get older!

The vet saw immediately that there was a crystal that was causing the problem and she tried to manipulate it by hand.

He was not impressed!

So, a quick injection and he was nodding off as I left him in her capable hands and we picked him up an hour later. He was woozy for the rest of the day and wobbled his way round the house as he followed the sun. Last night he lay on the couch until we went to bed and then he lay the whole night on top of the hot water bottle..... but on top of the blankets. Basil's nose was a little put out of joint as he usually nabs that spot.

And this morning, Morris wee-ed! He was next door at the time, so Emma our neighbour, and I stood and watched him until he had covered up the hole!

A 'eureka' moment!

Normal Service.

And, speaking of normal service, I shall not be writing for a couple of weeks. I am winging (stomach churn there) to the far corner of the country, Pietermaritzburg to be precise, to spent some time with my sister and her husband. I am really looking forward to being with them and catching up, even though we spend an hour every Saturday chatting on the phone and we whatsapp each other daily!! Nice to actually clink wine glasses!

Hopefully their water supply has been fixed by then, hopefully a plumber has been found and even more hopefully, that he actually found the problem!! Usually it is because the reservoir has run dry! They are regularly without water or power.....or both and unlike our little village, nobody there seems to care.

So, let's hope that all the services have returned to normal, sooner rather than later..........

See you soon.