Spending time with My friend Yvonne - Priceless!

I am so blessed to have Yvonne as my friend. We met at church because we always sit in the same pew. I can't recall exactly when our pleasantries turned into deeper chats about ourselves and our families.  Not that this matters. All that matters is that we have something so special I am glad I have met Yvonne.


Two roses rambling at the Rambling Roses Restaurant in Bergvliet
Me and Yvonne


When winter arrived last year, Yvonne promised me that she would get her daughter, Beverley to knit me a scarf. And the cabled, handknitted scarf arrived. Was I thrilled with this unselfish generosity!  Then Yvonne wanted to know if I wear Beanies. Yes, I said, I love Beanies and scarves - these items are almost glued to my person and adds a bit of pizzaz, I say. Well, says, Yvonne, then Beverley can knit me a matching beanie as well.  By this time I was wondering if Beverley wasn't cursing this Sharon who was causing her to delay her own knitting projects and silently wishing I disappeared.  So there I was, immediately after cooking a rushed supper for the family to collect my beanie.  During this visit, Yvonne shared a few stories about Ralph, her beloved husband, who had passed on, and about Jason, her grandson, who was definitely the apple of her eye.



My cabled scarf specially knitted for me.



One lovely Sunday, Yvonne and Shirley, another wonderful friend who is also my church buddy, joined us for lunch.  Yvonne and Shirley regaled us with stories when they were young and all the fun and drama that they experienced. Shirley was a scream. Shirley and her family emigrated to England when she was a toddler and Shirley's colourful return to South Africa when she was 21 years old, is enough to get the most sullen person to crack up. I also enjoyed the stories of the time when her father ran a bakery in England and all the stories about cockroaches and uneven floors that caused havoc to many a cake and customer.  It is amazing how similar our stories are, no matter where we grew up in South Africa.

The three buds from left: Yvonne,Sharon and Shirley.

Then this Saturday, we had a brunch date at The Rambling Rose restaurant in Bergvliet, owned by Beverley's friend. When we arrived there, we were warmly welcomed and down we sat at our reserved table, aplomb with roses straight from the owner's garden.  Yvonne simply adored having Basil around and Shirley wasted no time finding out exactly how Basil had met me. I was, of course, pre-occupied with an adorable couple sitting behind us and after getting them to agree to be photographed, I was getting my subjects to give their best smiles to me.  When I returned to our table, Shirley was ready to get me to fill in the details of how the friend's 21st party turned out to be a search for young woman who disappeared!

The conversation flowed easily and comfortably. When Levona joined us, the party was complete - each one with the drinks of their choice.  Levona was almost choking on a half gallon of chocolate milkshake, Shirley and Yvonne drank their Appletizers as if these drinks were the dreams of connoisseurs , Basil enjoyed his Castle and well, I just sat there, sipping on my glass of dry white - heaven! Now and then the owner would breeze past us just to make sure that all was well.



From Left: Levona and Shirley. Levona has just gulped down a chocolate jumbo and is now wading through her salmon quiche...

 We sat there just soaking in one another's gifts of love, friendship and appreciation. When Levona arrived, the photo shoots doubled, much to Shirley and Yvonne's fascination. They could not believe the two sisters were so obsessed with taking pictures.  These are memories, we proclaimed, treasures to return to whenever the spirit so desires - in between the mock faces and the strange poses to add fun to the picture moments.  The salmon quiches, the oversized fruit salads and the waffles were tastefully prepared and a treat for the tummies. Everything is homemade and decadently delicious.  While we were still having dessert, Beverley also drifted in.  Finally I got to meet Yvonne's daughter and my Winter woollies designer.  She seemed happy to see Mom Yvonne and Shirley having a good time and then left us alone to make the most of our time together.



Basil and Shirley acting rather demure for this picture!  The owner of the glass of white wine has gone AWOL...

Time waltzed on until we packed up just after 2pm, satiated on all fronts , and trekked home to drop off our dear friends, Yvonne and Shirley. After much hugging and overflowing thanks for a super brunch date, we drove off to our home where I plonked myself on the bed and drifted off in no time.  I needed to catch my breath before fetching Sasha at the airport. I really did not want to look like a confused frog-eyed Mom when our Opsmile Madagascan missionary returned after an absence of 11 days.



I am really really blessed to have wonderful friends who love to spend quality time with me. Often I am challenged with so many different demands that I do tend to neglect my friends (psst - also the family...eek...but for now, this is a hush moment!). But you know what? There will be no squabbles or hard feelings with regard to 'whose turn' it is to initiate the date. There is such understanding that they know if we need to get together, then someone just has to set the date, book the venue and we will make it happen.  That is how simple it is.  Yebo, I am truly surrounded by super duper friends, angels sent to help me stay grounded... sent to help me grow and to help me learn the art of sharing...



And guess what else I learnt? I discovered that Yvonne and Shirley have never been to Rondevlei Reserve so I have committed to taking them and my mom-in-law soon on a date to our local reserve.