Consider this....

Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams;think not about what you have tried and failed.But what is still possible for you to do:To live is to change.

Use the talents you possess.For the woods would be very silent,if no birds sang except for the very best.

Credits.

I thank my Mother ; Anna Sophia Coffey for much of the material that I publish on this blog.She fills in a lot of the gaps in my memory,especially from early times.Love you Mom.

Salisbury to Bulawayo.

8.)At the end of 1966 we left Salisbury and moved to Bulawayo to start a new chapter in our lives.We were to spend six happy years there.

My Dad was to take over the recently acquired Pest Control,not to be confused with the opposition Paul,s Pest Control.He really got stuck in and worked hard but it was an up-hill battle because Paul,s was very well known and established in Bulawayo.Amongst many changes and improvements was the television ad that became very well known in Bulawayo : phone Bill Coffey at Pest Control,tel 5070.

We moved into a big house in the suburb of Burnside,just off Burnside Drive.It was a huge property mostly bushveld,with a small stream running through the bottom of the garden.Our gardener Japhet came across an injured pigeon which we nursed back to health,we named him Pidgie.

Sunday evenings after my parents had taken their "sundowners" on the front stoep we would have a curry and rice dinner in front of the tv watching "Daktari".This was a series about an english family living on a game reserve in darkest Africa.Just up the road from us lived a well known tv personality - Sonja Hattingh,she was on RTV(Rhodesian Television).

My younger sister Deirdre and I were en-rolled at Hillside Primary School,many miles away.However we had to ride to school on our bicycles,this was quite a daunting task especially for my small sister.

 

Salisbury.

7.)We then moved to a house on Inverleith Drive,our neighbours were a family called Nisbett who became very close friends of my parents.After the caravan holiday to Durban in the hired caravan the folks decided to purchase their own van.They went to the Sprite factory in Gwelo to collect the caravan and almost died of the cold that night,sleeping in the caravan.

My Dad and I built a treehouse in a large tree in the back yard,Deirdre very small still climbed up there one day on her own and got stuck,my Dad had to fetch her down.A pupil at Roosevelt High school where Mom had been teaching since January 1964,gave her a puppy which we named Mickey,she was a Maltese poodle.We had this dear little dog for many many years.This was also when I got my first bicycle and learnt how to ride.

We only stayed there for a year because the tenant living in a back room became a problem,we were not aware of him at the time we moved in.

We did a lot of caravanning with our neighbours the Nisbett,s.We would usually go to Lake Mc Illwaine where the Rhodesian Caravan Club had it,s own caravan park ;Rhocara Park.My Dad and Derrick Nesbitt used to get up to all kinds of antics,there were many fun events organised so everyone had a whale of a time.It was quite a co incidence concerning our car,s and caravan,s.Derrick Nisbett,s car was a green Plymouth De Soto and their van,a green Sprite Musketeer.Our car was a blue Plymouth De Soto and our caravan a blue Sprite Musketeer.

Jenny decided one day to go next door and visit the Nisbett,s,no one knew where she was! Turned out she and the youngest Nisbett,Darren made friends under the watchful eye of Granny Nisbett! 

This reminds me of another incident involving Jenny;the one day whilst we were still living at Jamelin Court madam went missing!Our house boy James was sent of on his bicycle to find her,as it turns out he did find her at the local cafe where she was quite happily being fed sweets by the woman that owned the cafe.She really enjoyed herself!Needless to say Mother was sick with worry!

God,s telephone number.

The following verse from the Holy Bible is known as God,s telephone no.Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me,and I will answer thee,and shew thee great and mighty things,which thou knowest not. (wow what a powerful scripture)

Carpe Diem(seize the moment)

Everything is gone Lord,our home,the cars,no savings,no pension.I have no employment.YOU are all that we have Lord God.Matthew 6:33. Amen.

Salisbury contd.

.)Many years later both of my sisters were to work for Cabs,but I am getting ahead of myself.My dad was offered a partnership by Jock Kahn in his business : The Institute of Pest Control,the largest of it,s kind in Rhodesia.Jock was spending less time at Pest Control and leaving the management of the firm to my dad,he was more interested in his toy factory.I re-call that my dad secured a contract with the Salisbury Municipality to spray the grass verges alongside the main roads,to kill weeds.For this he had to order a specially equipped tractor from South Africa,I remember well the excitement about this new challenge and my dad,s trip "down south" to see the supplier of the special tractor.

My father and Jock Kahn were considering buying a pest control company in Bulawayo,if so then the plan was for us to move there for a time, for my father to get the new business up and running.

We had moved out of the house in Msasa and were living in flats called Jamelin Court.There was a shopping centre nearby with a petrol station,above the petrol station lived a family named Gates,their son David and I became firm friends.David had a younger sister Leslie and an older brother Ian.His father was Harry and his mom was affectionately known as Bubbles.We kids did everything together,we were great friends.My own sisters Deirdre and Jenny were very fond of Leslie Gates.We were consequently very sad when the Gates family moved away to South Africa.I wondered if I would ever see David again?

At around that time a bunch of convicts escaped from a prison truck and came running and jumping over and through the gardens of the flats pursued by prison wardens,in a flash they were gone.It happened so quickly it was as if they had never been.This was also close to the time that I was playing with squibs(fire crackers) in the garage and accidently set fire to some garbage bags.My dad,s much treasured Rover three litre car was also in the garage and was lucky not to be set on fire.After my dad had finished with me my backside was on fire!

While we lived at Jamelin Court our houseboy James had one night been to his local beer hall and got completely sloshed,some tsotsis at the beer hall got our house keys from James,in his drunken state he also divulged our address! Whilst at work the next day they burglarised our home and made off with a lot of our household goods.James admitted to my dad what had happened,at which juncture my dad shouted at him....true to form James cried as he always did when he,d caused trouble.He had a very soft heart and kind nature,he was really good to us a family.

Inspiration for the day.

3/09/2011.Saturday.Some thoughts especially for the blog site:

God is the whisper in a gentle breeze that makes you smile;the urge that makes you want to love,when all you feel is the fear of being hurt.

God,s voice can be heard in a waterfall,urging you to forgive and go on.

When the world gets you down,He holds the light at the end of the tunnel to guide you.

He forms the inspirations in your life,the cautions and the courage....

The breeze is what you feel when he wraps His arms around you.

Salisbury.

 5.)Salisbury in the early sixties was a wonderful place,Jacaranda trees in bloom,the drone of christmas beetles at night,the fresh smell after the late afternoon thunder showers and in homes all over the city,sundowners on the stoep (porch) just before dark.You would also hear the soft calls of the servants as they parted for the night and made their tired way to the kaia at the bottom of the garden.In the morning the milk tokens would be put out for the early delivery of milk and Mazoe orange,as a Rhodie would say : mushie!(great stuff)Also expect the bread delivery man on his 3 wheel bike.In town you would see the hustle and bustle of a new day starting,the yellow Rixi taxi,s dodging in and out of   the traffic,the newspaper vendors selling the Rhodesia Herald,my Dad always bought his from the vendor outside Cabs Building Society just off 1st Street about 3 blocks down from Jameson Avenue.

Rhodesia - A poem by James Sturges(84)

Jacarandas,blue tinged trees,
Laughing children,all say please,
Smiling nannies loud and chatting,

Salisbury Sports Club cricket,Rhodies batting.
Braais and picnics,McIllwaine Dam,
Tanganda tea and Colcom ham.
Greeting friends to talk and talk,
Inyanga dams were safe to walk.

Snakes and mossies,flying ants,
Schoolboy rugby,winning chants.
Swimming parties,sleep-in nights,
Christmas carols by candle light.

Honest police,able and willing,
Gremlin rolls,ten for a shilling.

Sunday car trips,Sinoia caves,
La Boheme and Coq D'or,s Saturday raves.

Weekend outings to Shavinoia Falls,
Dancing and ballet in Curtain calls.
Beautiful gardens,Ballantyne Park,
Window shopping just after dark.

Burgers and hot dogs,Dairy Den ices,
Aromas from cafes of curry and spices.
Snow white tackies,Bata shoes,
Charity fetes,tombola and booze.

Clear blue skies or heavy rain.

Wish I could live it all over again.

Memories fade,so much to tell.

Oh yes dear Rhodesia,I remember you well.

(Many thanks to James Sturges where ever he may be.)