Ageless Grace South Africa

02/10/2024

🏃‍♀️‍➡️💃🏊🏻🤽‍♀️ Is Fitness part of your life? 🏃‍♀️‍➡️💃🏊🏻🤽‍♀️

It is mine! Staying fit, whatever your age is important!

I joined Ageless Grace in 2015 when I was looking for an exercise programme that could both benefit me and that I could teach. I loved that it was a brain health fitness programme, great fun and beneficial for myself and my students - of whom the eldest was 100!!

This is my brief introduction to Ageless Grace and you are welcome to join me in a Zoom class, I do two per week, at 11am (SAST) on a Wednesday and 11am (SAST) on a Friday. 🏃‍♀️‍➡️💃🏊🏻🤽‍♀️ https://youtu.be/xg4p5pdKVM0

DM if you would like the link!

01/10/2024

Time is precious - TALK or even better VISIT your loved ones. You never know how much time either of you have.

I was lucky to be blessed with Anabel's kindness and the opportunity to stay at her delightful cottage for a night on my August trip.

She was a great friend to my sister Carola, and she arranged for me to stay with her. Anabel, aged 89, was a bright, charming and loving woman, we shared supper and then went out for breakfast the following morning. I felt very blessed for the warm hospitality and her stimulating company.

I talked of the 'Rosie' projects, my book, Chris' musical and the upcoming concert in London on the 22nd, she got swept up in my enthusiasm and decided to join us, she had so much 'joie de vivre' to still enjoy and discover new things.

But sadly it was not to be, she suffered a critical brain haemorrhage and passed peacefully and painlessly on Sunday, surrounded by her loving family and friends.

Life is short, life is precious, and none of us know how long we've got. Don't waste the time on anger or bitterness of a perceived hurt, see the people you love - as often as you can - talk - as often as you can, because the day will come, unexpected and unprepared when you realise they are gone forever and there are no more opportunities to see or talk to them again.

R.I.P. sweet Anabel 🙏💗

28/09/2024

👿 Just so you know...I can lose my 👿 👿 👿 👿 with the best of them 👿
Cars!!! 🚘 🚗 🚕 🚙 🚔

We do love our cars, the joy of leaping into our own private capsule to take you wherever we want to go and then the 👿 👿 👿 irritation when it breaks down or has an issue.

Doubly irritating 👿 👿 👿👿 👿 👿 is when the car coolant issue was fixed in early August and then came up again yesterday, with the temp gauge all the way into the red 😡😡😡

One of the challenges you get used to in South Africa is not having a reliable public transport system, which is why we need our cars.

Friday afternoon is not a good time to limp your car into the dealership and expect any help, no customer cars are available, they said I could leave it there and they would look at it on Monday.

Now, I'm stuck 25 minutes from home, with the dog and bags in the car, thankfully a car hire place was 5 minutes away and they had a car for the weekend - so thank you Kirstenhof Car Hire! 👍

Now to get there to pick it up...Uber don't normally take dogs, thankfully Biggles is small and the distance is short so my kind Uber driver 🙏 dropped us off, got the car, got home, and now get to rant!!

Don't have time for car problems 🚘 😡 🚘 so I made a plan - enormously grateful that it got sorted, yes, a few tears of frustration at the dealership, but then - deep breath - shoulders back and onward!

25/09/2024

💖😍 We all have many roles in our lifetimes...
what's your most precious? 💖😍💖

We start out with parents, siblings, steps, grands, cousins, and spouses, some are blessed with many, some only a few, and I'm somewhere in-between. The most precious of the roles in my life is that of mother, Mama, Mum, Mama Bear!

Although I've been divorced twice, I remain grateful for the time with both Anil and Mark, because without them, I would not have three beautiful, extraordinary children, for whom I give thanks every day; Lauren, Jai and David.

I'm blessed that they live in South Africa, though we are in 3 different cities, my lovely Lauren is in Joburg, Jai and his beautiful Rachel are in Durban, and David lives in Cape Town city centre.

As I get older...not old! I appreciate every moment I get to see them and be with them. How lucky we are to have modern technology, so that we can at the least 'see' each other often via the magic that is the internet; WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom and the one that kicked it all off - Skype!

As David and I are in the same city, we can see each other more often, but his trip to Europe in July, then mine in August to September, meant we hadn't seen each other in over 2 months, making Sunday lunch together all the more special.

I get David to do selfies of us when we meet, yes they are for me, but I know one day when I'm gone, he will look back on those pictures, the memories and be grateful for them as well. This was Sundays! 💖😍

23/09/2024

🐝🪻🌸 Spring is officially Sprung! 🐝🪻🌸

Yeah 🚀 for those of us lucky to live in the Southern Hemisphere - Spring is officially here! A favourite season - to watch new life unfold as flowers and trees shift from winter hibernation to their spring awakening. The vista here changes daily, and I feel extra blessed to live in the Cape, with the most unique collection of flora and fauna. What's not to love about this fuchsia bottle brush!

I will confess...we seem to have arrived here very fast this year! This is the only advantage to be said for changing seasons, if you don't like the one you are in, the next one will be here before you know it.

Wherever you are, whatever season you are in, either physically or emotionally, remember it is just a season, stop, take a breath, give thanks for a new dawn, a new day, and step into it with a spring to your step! 👣🚶‍♀️👣

20/09/2024

🌉 It is NEVER too late to mend a relationship 🌉

I was incredibly touched when Raj invited Jai, Lauren and me to join his 80th Birthday celebration in the UK in August.

We had not seen each other in over 35 years. Raj was the youngest uncle of my first husband Anil. He came from a big family, 12 aunts and uncles, and 34 cousins, of which Anil was the oldest.

Most of them lived in England, and there seemed to be a family event on most weekends, I loved being part of the family. One sad part of the divorce was the family estrangement and feeling divorced from them all.

Although our marriage ended in divorce, it produced two incredible children; Lauren and Jai for whom I am forever grateful. Unfortunately, Lauren Clifford-Holmes couldn't be at the event, but great that Jai could represent their father.

The event was hosted by Raj and Julie's beautiful daughter Natasha and husband Iain. The family were represented by the eight sibling branches, coming from South Africa, Canada, Spain, and Kenya.

It was fantastic to see everyone again, and I was moved by how many people remembered and spoke of my parents and our wedding day in 1979, an unforgettable day with two weddings! A Catholic one, followed by a Hindu one.

It didn't feel like 35 years since I had seen everyone, and incredible how easy and natural it felt to be with them again.

I was grateful for Raj and Julie's open-hearted invitation and the love and warmth that was shared. All too often, we keep a perceived division in our head, and don't let the love reach our hearts. Thank you both, for pushing the years aside and letting us renew our friendship - while there is life, there is time to fix a relationship. 🙏🤗

19/09/2024

🌠🌠 The Universe is Extraordinary!🌠🌠
Not one 'Rosie' project....but TWO!!

Long story short my research started in 1981, ran till 1984 and fell dormant ...then I was contacted by Chris Broom composer and record producer, who told me he was writing "Rosie the Musical."

He lit my dormant flame and I started writing in earnest in February 2023. His work is moving along a pace, to take the show to the London stage next year. The soundtrack is complete and was released in March and can be viewed on YouTube and listened to on all streaming platforms. It is FABULOUS !🚀

He found an incredible young singer; Lucy Thomas, who will play Rosie and next month, she will star in the first concert to showcase the "Rosie" songs, as well as Lucy's extraordinary talent. I will put links up soon!

18/09/2024

➡️As with all good stories...let's start at the very beginning➡️

As a child, the first photograph imprinted in my memory which held pride of place in our home was this one of Rose, 4th Marchioness of Headfort, my great-grandmother.

Stories were told of the lovely Gaiety Girl Rosie Boote, who captured the heart of an Irish army officer; Geoffrey, 4th Marquis of Headfort, and despite the opposition of King Edward VII, his Commander-in-Chief and his mother, gave up their careers and married.

I loved history, and romance stories and here in my own family, I had the perfect combination, a love story of two people who overcame both social and religious prejudices - Rosie was Catholic and Geoffrey an Anglo-Irish Protestant to wed.💞

I wanted to know more about the woman behind the portrait, painted in 1915 by Sir William Orpen, stories were told around the dinner table, but there seemed to be more fiction than fact and I wanted the truth so my journey began.

17/09/2024

Feeling
the Love
🫶🏻

17/09/2024

*** Did you miss me?!!***😂

It's been a while - life happened...

I have spent the last 18 months researching and writing my great-grandmother's biography! BIG project, have written 76,000 words so far and I'm only halfway through her life.🤔

I've done 2 research trips to the UK and 2 to Ireland. Spent weeks in libraries, not a quick process but enormously rewarding.

Have so much to share - I could write a book - oh - I am!! 😍

This is to say Hi!👋wanted to let you know I am alive, well and looking forward to reconnecting. 🫶🤗

04/04/2024

Looking for some fabulous new music? Then let me share this incredible new soundtrack, for a musical about my great-grandmother Rosie Boote.

The young singer Lucy Thomas, is simply outstanding -
my class participants are simply loving the songs. Enjoy

Welcome to "Rosie - The Musical" YouTube channel! Here you can enjoy videos of a selection of the stunning songs from the forthcoming show. Please subscribe ...

03/02/2023

As an Ageless Grace Educator, we ALL, (me too!!) have to Re-Certify as Educators, to ensure we know all the latest information and innovations.

It is a fun few hours to learn new ideas and brainstorm with the Trainer and other participants.

If you are an Educator, love to have you join me!