Saturday 20th October 2018
Vi is staying with us (Glenn and Judy Bray) in La Lucia, Umhlangs for ten days whilst John and Brenda Holmes are at the game reserve.
Meal time memories:
Win had a gun you know...
She would shoot anyone who threatened.
Win's husband was a hunter.
He would go and hunt and bring the animal for Win to butcher.
Her daughter Dawn was called "Niddy."
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Memories of a Fortune Teller's Predictions and TB
Vi's friends were enthralled with a fortune teller in Johannesburg.
"Come along with us! She'll tell your fortune!"
Vi was sceptical, but curious.
She went along.
The fortune teller told her "Your name is Violet."
"How do you know that?!" exclaimed Vi.
"I see a little old lady in the corner holding some violets."
(Vi said that was her Aunt Vi)
The fortune teller also told her
"You will marry a man that has been married before."
"That won't happen!" said Vi
"I see a place with little thorn trees. You'll live there for 20 years."
"You will contract a disease that will take you away from your family."
"That will never happen!" responded Vi.
"And, you know.. I married a man who had been married before...
"And I lived in Northern Rhodesia for 20 years...
"And I got TB... I was sent away to a clinic (in South Africa.)
"Doctor Overdorf treated me.
"When I was cured he said to me
"You can go home. And - if I were you, I would fly."
"I did! Eddie (brother) saw me off and Dennis met me at the airport."
"I was so thankful to think my sister (Alice) had been caring for my children."
"Alice brought Glenn and Brenda to the house and left on a family outing.
"I said to Brenda (about 16 months) "I am your Mommy,"
"Who you call your Mommy is my sister."
Brenda said "Go 'way lady!"
'How did that feel to you?" (Judy Bray)
"Like a slap in the face!"
"And Glenn?" (Judy)
"He (about about 3 1/2 years old) stood in the doorway and looked at me..."
""What's the matter?" I said to him."
""Are you really my Mommy?" he said."
"When Alice came back Brenda just wanted her! I said "She can go with you... but tomorrow I will come and fetch her - you tell her I am her mother."
"Glenn was OK to stay with me."
"In the morning I went and fetched Brenda and took her home. Alice must have told her..."
"Come along with us! She'll tell your fortune!"
Vi was sceptical, but curious.
She went along.
The fortune teller told her "Your name is Violet."
"How do you know that?!" exclaimed Vi.
"I see a little old lady in the corner holding some violets."
(Vi said that was her Aunt Vi)
The fortune teller also told her
"You will marry a man that has been married before."
"That won't happen!" said Vi
"I see a place with little thorn trees. You'll live there for 20 years."
"You will contract a disease that will take you away from your family."
"That will never happen!" responded Vi.
"And, you know.. I married a man who had been married before...
"And I lived in Northern Rhodesia for 20 years...
"And I got TB... I was sent away to a clinic (in South Africa.)
"Doctor Overdorf treated me.
"When I was cured he said to me
"You can go home. And - if I were you, I would fly."
"I did! Eddie (brother) saw me off and Dennis met me at the airport."
"I was so thankful to think my sister (Alice) had been caring for my children."
"Alice brought Glenn and Brenda to the house and left on a family outing.
"I said to Brenda (about 16 months) "I am your Mommy,"
"Who you call your Mommy is my sister."
Brenda said "Go 'way lady!"
'How did that feel to you?" (Judy Bray)
"Like a slap in the face!"
"And Glenn?" (Judy)
"He (about about 3 1/2 years old) stood in the doorway and looked at me..."
""What's the matter?" I said to him."
""Are you really my Mommy?" he said."
"When Alice came back Brenda just wanted her! I said "She can go with you... but tomorrow I will come and fetch her - you tell her I am her mother."
"Glenn was OK to stay with me."
"In the morning I went and fetched Brenda and took her home. Alice must have told her..."
Memories - Saturday 20th October 2018
Vi is staying with us for ten days whilst John and Brenda go to the game reserve with John's brother Sam and wife Rene.
In the quiet of our peaceful life, and around the supper table she started talking about 'long ago.'
"Dad's (William Henry Clarke) mother (Martha Letitia Miles) had a very hard life. Her husband (Thomas Henry Clarke) divorced her when she went blind. He went off and married someone else. Dad's father was a hateful, cruel person. No one wanted her (my grandmother)...
When Vi was about 15 she was visiting the house where her grandmother lived... she heard moaning from the back room. When she asked what that was, the person said "Your grandmother. Your Dad's father brought her to me to take care of. I put her in the outside room." said one who too her (not sure who.) Vi went out to see her. She found her uncared for. She went to her father (William Henry Clarke) and said "You had better do something about your Mother! She is dying there in the outside room. She has no covering."
Martha Letitia Miles's father (William Perkins Miles) used to tie her with a piece of cotton to the table when he went out. If the cotton was broken when he got back he would thrash her."
"When we went to the family reunion" (organised by Vi's nieces Emily (Jonker) and Jennifer Stonehouse) (their Mother Emily Jane Clarke was Vi's sister) "I saw a picture of him there with his walking stick. I thought to myself 'If I could get that stick I'd hit you with it for being so cruel to my grandmother."
Another memory...
"My Dad (William Henry Clarke) is buried in the same grave as his mother (Martha Letitia Miles)." in the old Krugersdorp Cemetery."
"My parents were poor but they were very good parents."
(William Henry Clarke and Emily Jane Smith)
"So they did not carry on that cruel legacy?"
No they did not."
In the quiet of our peaceful life, and around the supper table she started talking about 'long ago.'
"Dad's (William Henry Clarke) mother (Martha Letitia Miles) had a very hard life. Her husband (Thomas Henry Clarke) divorced her when she went blind. He went off and married someone else. Dad's father was a hateful, cruel person. No one wanted her (my grandmother)...
When Vi was about 15 she was visiting the house where her grandmother lived... she heard moaning from the back room. When she asked what that was, the person said "Your grandmother. Your Dad's father brought her to me to take care of. I put her in the outside room." said one who too her (not sure who.) Vi went out to see her. She found her uncared for. She went to her father (William Henry Clarke) and said "You had better do something about your Mother! She is dying there in the outside room. She has no covering."
Martha Letitia Miles's father (William Perkins Miles) used to tie her with a piece of cotton to the table when he went out. If the cotton was broken when he got back he would thrash her."
"When we went to the family reunion" (organised by Vi's nieces Emily (Jonker) and Jennifer Stonehouse) (their Mother Emily Jane Clarke was Vi's sister) "I saw a picture of him there with his walking stick. I thought to myself 'If I could get that stick I'd hit you with it for being so cruel to my grandmother."
Another memory...
"My Dad (William Henry Clarke) is buried in the same grave as his mother (Martha Letitia Miles)." in the old Krugersdorp Cemetery."
"My parents were poor but they were very good parents."
(William Henry Clarke and Emily Jane Smith)
"So they did not carry on that cruel legacy?"
No they did not."
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Siblings...
We were watching Vi's great grandchildren Jarom (8), Ethan (7), Daena (5) and Cabryn (3) swimming in the pool around mid-day.
Vi laughed. "They like Cabryn and are kind to her... My sisters used to shoo me away, didn't want to play with me... I was the baby - I was a nuisance to them... So I played with the boys! (her brothers) - they didn't chase me away!"
Vi laughed. "They like Cabryn and are kind to her... My sisters used to shoo me away, didn't want to play with me... I was the baby - I was a nuisance to them... So I played with the boys! (her brothers) - they didn't chase me away!"
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Best Music of All
Today Vi and I were sitting quietly at the Botanic Garden. She reminisced.
"My Mom used to say 'The Best music of all is Peace'"
I look forward to meeting Emily Jane Smith Clarke... she and I speak the same language.
"My Mom used to say 'The Best music of all is Peace'"
I look forward to meeting Emily Jane Smith Clarke... she and I speak the same language.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Clarke Family "Plum Duff"
Vi and I sat together eating our salad lunch today while Glenn is playing golf. Afterwards we had a piece of the Plum Duff she made for our Christmas Dinner and then didn't have the room to eat yesterday.
"Ah Ha!" I thought "An entry I will make on her blog!"
CLARKE FAMILY PLUM DUFF
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
150g margerine/butter grated into dry mixture
1 Tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 cups (about 500g) dried fruit (Dates, cherries, sultanas)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 eggs
milk to make dropping consistency (about 3/4 cup?)
mix all together
pour into greased bowl
cover with doubled greaseproof paper held in place with string/elastic band
steam about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Take out of steaming pot, knife around to loose the edges, turn out onto a plate.
Heat 1/2 cup golden syrup and spoon over to soak into pudding.
This recipe used to be poured into a pillowslip corner and steamed when Vi was a child. We used a bowl this year and it worked well. We also made a 1-cup-of-flour mixture for the three of us.
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