Rock solid neighbourhood

Marriage is said to be the foundation of society. Earlier this week my parents celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary,  having known each other for nearly five decades. I look not too far down our road and make a mental calculation of the cumulative years of marriage of my seven immediate neighbours and come up with surprisingly huge number of 180 years! I thus conclude that we have a rock solid neighbourhood.

In our neighbourhood there are many happenings. Dare I say that we don’t have an alarm system? Our neighbourliness stretch beyond the boundaries of trust and when we left for our annual holiday over the festive season, we just popped in at the neighbours and informed them of our activity. The understanding is that they will keep a ‘watchful eye’ over our property. That goes for every neighbour and we’re glad to reciprocate or lend a helping hand to each other wherever we can.

Need a recipe? Call Mrs K three houses down and she is only too happy to oblige. The fig trees in our garden are bearing their ‘voor vye’  (the figs before the real figs – the English translation won’t do justice). I decided not to let them go to waste this year and called Mrs K for a recipe to glaze the figs. One, two, three…she made it sound so easy! Now I can satisfy my sweet tooth with those yummy glaze figs and bake some fruitcake. I have to add that Mrs K doesn’t have the fortune of perfect sight but one thing is for sure, her croissants come out picture perfect, as does everything else she does.

The lemonade and ginger beer recipes were obtained from the late Mrs M. They are real ‘olden days’ recipes and you can only make them with love, care and patience. The perfect drinks to cool you down on the hot Cape summer afternoons.

Mr P next door, is always helpful and friendly. He loves the blatjang (chutney) my Dad makes and they often chat over the wall and share handyman hints or the happenings in George.

Opposite, Mrs O is known for her green fingers and her garden is filled with a variety of plants, herbs and vegetables. We benefit from the cocktail tomatoes, lettuce and are proud to have strawberries in our garden, thanks to Mrs O. Our neighbourly love extends to ensure that we all have something healthy to eat from our garden. Her daughter, a qualified phytotherapist is always keen to share her tinctures and natural remedies with anyone in the neighbourhood who has ailment. How honoured are we to be healed and taken care of from our own neighbours and their garden.

These are but a few things that we get to enjoy in our neighbourhood. It knits our our neighbourhood, community and ultimately our society together. Aren’t I lucky to live in a rock solid neighbourhood?