Pictures from South Africa..... some things I miss and some I don't .....

I am about to head out for a quick trip to see grandbabies this next week. So not done much, did finish another customer quilt, but forgot to take a photo. I will when she shows at quilt guild in December. But have to share some photos I just went through from South Africa. Can you tell by the photo that this was taken during a power outage time of year, they charge for parking with electronic ticket and arms.But just in case..the guys at the mall, have to sit there to take money or give tickets...or maybe this was for them to take the ticket out of the machine and hand it to you? I can't remember. When they switched over to having you validate the tickets at a machine inside the mall...you should have seen the back up in lines! People holding up traffic, as they exited their cars, ran back inside the mall, and validated their little cards! You have to kind of miss all of that!This next photo is of a traffic jam, caused by the Limiters they put on their big trucks (18 wheelers) as in they often can not go more than 15 miles per hour up a hill....on a winding 2 lane National highway! So it makes for interesting road trips....and opportunities to spot the baboons by the side of the road!Or as in the case of the photo of the initiation hut...very close to the side of the road as in this photo.

Or one of the many "street merchants" who used their skills...I think this was a shoe repairman, one of many hundreds on any given day in downtown Queenstown. I used to walk by them on my way to the fabric shop! They carried all of their goods in those big, plastic zip bags. We called them trolley bags, I do have a couple of them here I must admit, they came in handy storing Quilts and winter things. I do not miss the queues at all. Like the ones inside the post office, notice the ladies in their home sewn clithing. I do miss that. They always looked so colorful. I don't miss the lockup electric entrances to the Post office of all places.

Sorry for the Blurry pic but you can see a lot of people waiting in Post office, and this isn't usually this short. It is usually out the door! I must admit everytime I send off a package, I don't miss the lines. Our post office is SO EFFICIENT!!!! It is something I will probably never take for granted.
But the way that they get around may be the thing that made me smile the most. I wish I had a dollar every time I saw a truckload overflowing with passengers....I think I could bail out Wallstreet!I hope you all have a great couple of days until I am back in Mississippi.

Crazy South African sign....

Ok, wasn't going to post today...been very busy preparing to leave for the Christmas holidays on Sunday. Also sewed on a quilt half done when I went to the States. But felt like I had to post this photo of a sign I saw at the Joberg airport in the ladies room...as I was exiting...it caught my eye....the missing letters made it have a little more impact .......HANGING IN A REST ROOM!!!!! I think I needed a little laugh as well! Maybe it was just me....but it hit me as a silly sign. Hope you all have a lovely day and maybe a little laugh!

Baboons by the roadside....

Since coming to South Africa 3 yrs. ago, there have been several invitations to speak to local/not so local groups, as "the American". Today, was one such occasion, as I was invited to speak to a Garden Club. I spoke about Texas, and some of my stateside Ladies club traditions...like passing candy when you are sharing good news or secret sisters sharing gifts secretly for a year. The presentation went well, I was able to show a couple of quilt projects I am working on, and some scrapbook pages...as well as a Texas Style Baby Door badge. I also made some money for a Rotary project I am working on, but it was the drive back that was fun! It is about a 70 Kilometer drive, and during the first ten K, there must have been about 45 Baboons along the highway, they were sitting by/on the road....until I got quite close, then would run off toward the fences along the roadside. What was wierd was that I decided to try to slow down and get a Photo of them...as the babies were too cute! But when I slowed down to a crawl, they ran past the fence and into the brush, no idea why? They didn't seem to mind me driving by at a normal speed, but paniced when I slowed down. Hate to think that people may slow down...and hurt them/hunt them for supper???? I can tell you that there is not usually a lot of "road kill" left out on the roads around here....the Road Crews ...eat very well.....as disqusting as that may sound! But these baboons were too cute....and so many of them. I am going back to speak to another group next week...and maybe I will get lucky and get a clean shot...er...I mean a picture, of course!!!!