It’s been a year of living in Rosetta. At the time of moving I imagined a dream life coming true. We were moving to the country – far from the chaos and noise of the city, but close enough to decent services and shops to not feel cut off. We were giving our children a chance to live the life we had growing up. A chance to be part of a school that would enhance their unschooling life and a chance to grow as people.
This past year has had so many ups and downs. So much has changed and so much is still going through changes.
The kids are incredibly happy at Misty Meadows. Kyle is reading. Ayla is regulating her emotions so much better. They’re both making friends and forming relationships. The community around the school is starting to feel like we belong and are part of it. That took some time though.
Speaking of community – we are still the new people in the area. We weren’t even “allowed” to call ourselves local until we had been here for a whole winter. Given that everyone is telling us that this winter has been one of the mildest in a few years, I’m expecting to still be told that I’m not a local. However people are starting to recognise me and they are beginning to greet me and ask about things – it’s starting to feel like we are part of the community now, if still on the outskirts mostly.
Driving to school and back daily meant that I wasn’t spending as much time during the week in this part of the Midlands. It’s a 40 minute trip each way, but we get to drive the most beautiful part of the Midlands on a daily basis. I have loved watching the seasons change and the light change with the weather, the time of sunrise and other factors. It really is a wonderful part of my day that I would really miss if I wasn’t doing it fairly regularly. In the first few months of driving the kids, I would try different venues to have coffee and work at on that end of the midlands. With the height of loadshedding happening near the end of last year, I realised that Piggly Wiggly had the most reliable internet and power, and so that became my work space when I was on that end of the Midlands.
Adjusting to the internet here after fibre in Durban, has taken some time. We’re quite lucky in that the LTE we have at the house is pretty efficient and fast, and hasn’t been as much of a downgrade. However the shared WIFI in Piggly Wiggly is not as great, and has really affected the amount of time it takes me to do things I need to there.
For the first nine months of living here, Brian had been commuting to La Lucia three days a week to go to the office. Fifteen hours a week he spent in the car between Rosetta and Durban. Ultimately leaving around 04h15 and getting home any time between 18h30 and 20h30 on a given day. These were long days and the kids really missed him. I missed him too. Also spending so much time travelling meant that he wasn’t up to doing a lot on the weekends.
In May he made the decision to leave his company and stop the hours and hours of commuting. Since July he has been home full time and it has been a wonderful change for our family. We now share the responsibilities of driving the kids to school. He is able to be part of the kids activities and see them doing their thing. We’re busy starting up our own company and are excited to merge our skills to grow something truly special.
One og the highlights of our time here has been the time spent at the Earth Route Market on a Saturday morning in Nottingham Road. Early on, I insisted that we go to the market regularly. What started off as just finding good local food and treats, has turned into getting to know and build relationships with the stall holders, getting to know locals who also arrive most weeks, and experiencing wonderful moments. We will try and go as often as possible, even if just to say hellos to the people we have developed friendships with. The library is on the same property and it’s a wonderful way to share in that together as a family.
Speaking of books – one of my favourite things at the library is to have a look at the recommended table – I have read so at least four delightful books I wouldn’t have picked up, because they were on the recommended table. In front of the checkout desk, is a table where people can put books down that they have really enjoyed. Whenever I’m looking for something to read, that’s where I check first.
From the very early days of moving here, Brian and I started a tradition of going for a walk through the garden with a glass of wine in the afternoons. I lovely clear signal that the working day was done, and a way for us to really connect with our garden. Our only Spring garden purchases for last year were two apple and two pear trees, and a couple of trays of flowers for the front garden. So our daily garden walks were to check on the trees, and then see what was coming up or flowering the garden. We have beautiful dahlias, which this year we have dug up the tubers and divided out in hopes of having more flowers in other parts of the garden.
The garden came with peach and plum trees down the side of the house. There’s a lemon tree on the opposite side of the house. We also have a large green fig tree at the entrance and a smaller black fig tree that we only discovered too late to open up. We have a large number of brambles growing down the one fence, but we did have delicious blackberries from the bramble bush. Unfortunately our peaches went to the birds – we had branches of peach pips. They literally ate the fruit off the pips and left the pips on the tree. Our plums went to the bugs and birds. They were nearly ripe and looking amazing, and then we had four days of heavy rain so we didn’t go outside to check on them and they burst their skins. By the time we checked on them again, they were infested with bugs and the birds were happily munching away.
Our green fig tree produced sufficient figs that we harvested before the mousebirds got them to make two batches of fig jam. And they were amazing. The lemon tree produces copious amounts of inedible lemons. They are beautiful and yellow and full of pith and bitter, flavourless flesh. We’re actually not quite sure what to do with the tree this year.
The dream life I wanted has not fully come to fruition yet, but I can say that we are on our way to it. Both kids love spending time in the garden, they are getting to recognise birds and be excited when we hear our resident Grey Crowned Cranes. I am working fewer hours and spending more time with them. I am spending more time in nature, although not as much as I had hoped. I have dreams of being a gardener, but I don’t know that this garden is the best starter garden!
The animals are all so much happier. We are still having to keep the cats in at night, mostly because of fighting with other cats, but they are generally enjoying the freedom of living in the country. Tilly hasn’t looked this healthy in years – she may be a 12 year old cat with white fur and allergies, but she has been so healthy and happy since we’ve moved here. We even see her outside. Pinot found a new lease on life. Our 10 year old shepherd/collie rescue dog is in her absolute element. We had a her groomed a few months after arriving and she also is looking so incredibly healthy and happy. Getting the new puppy, Amoretti, a few weeks ago has also given her another new boost of energy.
Buying the family electric blankets for all the beds was definitely one of our best decisions. Although the nights aren’t always really really cold, the joy of climbing into a lovely warm bed can’t be beaten.
I have more to reflect on, but I’ll come back to this a bit later, or create a new post.
