Hello to you all. It is half way through the year and this is my first blog. I have not forgotten about the blog or you; it just hasn’t been a high priority for me with all that has been going on. I am going to give you a short summary of the last eight months.

Update on my ankle.
My ankle surgery has been very successful in the long run. Here is the link if you want to know more about the details that led up to the surgery. If you are interested in a little more detail and how I experienced traveling after surgery here is the link. It took 6 months of recovery, including exercises – working with the physio and on my own every day, before I was able to walk comfortably without swelling and pain for long periods of time.

My ankle became a lot better since January, and my walking was back to normal. I can now walk as long as I want to. In actual fact my ankle is better than normal and I realize that I always used to sit and prepare my meals before my surgery and I can now stand preparing a meals and bake all in one go without any adverse effect. I feel as good as I felt 15years ago. The decline had been gradual and I had not noticed it. I realize now how much I was actually putting up with for all these years and I am so thankful for getting the surgery done.  I would encourage anybody who is blaming their condition on old age, or anything else, to be checked up by the correct professionals before settling for status quo.

Adjusting to a new place.
Two months after my surgery I left South Africa for Scotland where we now live. It has been challenging trans-locating with a serious ankle surgery, finding my way around and finding a routine, as well as coming to terms with having left my community (or clan as I like to think of it) behind. There has been a lot of mental and psychological work that I have had to do. It was made easier by having my family close by. I have really appreciated the support.

My creative process
I have always enjoyed the changing of the seasons and in Scotland it is much more intense and evident; the beauty is striking.  My creativity takes on many different forms of expression as it is an important form of making sense of my world. My urge to paint went into hibernation with the weight of getting ready to immigrate and finally leaving but in Autumn last year I revisited an old skill I learnt in junior school, knitting. I also started making short videos with a written poem set in the video. Here is a link to my expression of knitting and traveling.

Hibernation
It was at the end of October that I took a recess from blogging and reading blogs. It was hard to let go but it was like the leaves of an autumn tree dropping to the ground. The leaves become one with the soil to feed the roots of the tree. And so I was dormant.  Well not totally dormant because I still posted on Instagram at morag_armstrong_noffke and I know some of you follow me there. I really appreciated following you and keeping up the connection in that way.

Winter
Everything is so new here and there is so much to learn and experience. For example: This last Winter, I have never experienced living in a snowy environment with temperatures of 0 to -10 centigrade. Learning to dress for the weather, learning to walk on ice, hearing the crunch of the frost and ice underfoot and many other things was both a challenge and refreshing, excuse the pun, but at the same time the beauty is absolutely novel and breath-taking for me. The white landscapes with its rolling hills and magical white trees silhouetting the blue sky just reminded me of a fairy tale. Winter time is also Christmas time here (In South Africa Christmas is in summer). I got to enjoy my first white Christmas and have family time with my girls and with Scottish cousins which was special beyond imagination.

Been a busy few months
In February we put an offer in to buy a house in Walkerburn, not too far from my eldest daughter, Ellie. Finally it was ours in April. I will tell you more about the house another time but I do post my photos on Instagram.

March and April I spent time preparing for our 60^th birthday celebration (which would be held back in South Africa in May) and creating a personalized recipe book for my youngest daughter S and her husband’s wedding.

In May we traveled to South Africa for our daughter’s wedding and our combined 60^th.  The celebrations with our family and friends were such fun and festive that it underlined what or who we were leaving behind and saying good bye to. So it was also a bitter-sweet time saying our final goodbyes to friends, family and country.

In June we went to Portugal for a week to meet Derek’s class mates at a class reunion. It was the first time either of us had been to Portugal and I would like to tell you more about that another time.

So I think that pretty much covers the most important events.

Bye for now and a warm smile, until next time x