I have an important announcement to make.....
Let’s leave my vision, mission and objectives for later and allow me to introduce you to my new partner.......
Dear Martie
To answer your question, I'm 47 (birthday will be on Friday, 25 July) and single, though I raised several children as a single parent (all grown now) I lived in JHB until January 2012, then my mother had a stroke and I moved to back to Phokeng (outside Rustenburg) to take care of her.
We live in a village called Phokeng on a small plot. There's 3 or us: Mma and I and my nephew Kagiso, who is turning 30 this year and also single. Other family members including siblings and their kids live nearby.
I'll tell you about my day today so you can get a picture of my life.
My job as caregiver for Mma involves washing and dressing her in the morning and then giving her her first batch of pills ( she has high blood pressure, diabetes and is pre-renal) and her left side was slightly damaged by the stroke. Then I give her breakfast. it's usually cooked porridge. While she eats breakfast I tidy our bedrooms, take a shower and check emails. Usually she goes outside to the stoep after breakfast.
We live on a biggish plot and grow most of our vegetables and herbs and I have a guy who comes in to help me maintain this. So after a shower and breakfast, I meet with the guy to discuss his day ( and what i want done) and then I pick vegetables for lunch and supper. Today I picked carrots, peas, salad leaves and onions. I also shelled peas that were drying on the courtyard and soaked chickpeas in water, some for dinner and so we can plant the rest tomorrow.
[Lunch was samp cooked with brown beans, onions, carrots and peas and coriandee from the garden. All I had to do was leave it all simmering on the stove, occassionally adding water and then adding a bit of salt, margarine and mashing it all nearer the end. Dinner was falafel made with some of the chickpeas I soaked in the morning, salad leaves picked in the morning, some tomato and mayo.]
After picking the day's harvest, I made tea for mma and the workers ( one in the garden and another in the house), and then I went to my desk to start working. I earn my living either writing for clients or doing social media. I have several clients who send me work for that. Currently, I'm developing web content for a small community newspaper group, moderating an international forum, working on a gardening ebook for a publisher (contracted). That's what pays bills.
Lunch was easy because it cooked while I did other things, so all I had to do was dish it up. After lunch I went back to the computer and did some writing on OUR book. Usually, i'll work until 5, when the helper leaves, then cook supper (today it was just whizzing teh chickpeas and flour to make dough and then frying the falafel.) Dinner is usually ready by 7pm. After dinner I hang out with Mma a bit, give her pills at 8pm and then she watches TV and I can do whatever I like.
Here is an album on photo bucket showing you my garden
Damaria's Garden in April 2014 - Photos
Damaria's Garden in May 2014 - Photos
Damaria's mother's 75th birthday (April 2014) - Photos
Anyhoo that's a bit about me. I look forward to learning more about you too.
Sincerely
Damaria Senne
DAMARIA SENNE MEDIA CC
Well, this is a story for another day.
Important today, is Damaria.
Today (July 25) is Damaria's birthday.
Happy birthday to you, Damaria!
May you have a wonderful day and only the best of the best ahead!
And may 'our project' be a great success :)
Damaria Senne Biography
Writer, publisher
Damaria Senne has spent over 25 years in various capacities, all of which included writing, editing and publishing as skill sets.
She has worked as a journalist, educational materials developer and communications specialist, with employers including Intrinsic Media, ITWeb, Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa, the Non-Profit Partnership, Township AIDS Project and the SACHED Trust.
Damaria has also worked as a freelance publisher for a local mainstream publisher overseeing the publication of assigned learners’ books and teachers’ guides.
As an author, her book publishing credits include Boitshoko (published by Heinemann South Africa; 1996), The Doll That Grew (first published by Macmillan SA in 1993 and the ebook version self-published in 2012) and How to get quoted in the media, co-written with Christelle du Toit and Waking Up Grandma, both self-published through Damaria Senne Media in 2011 and 2012.
Her children’s story, I’m not a baby, was published by Macmillan India for as part of that country’s 2013 reading material for Grade 3 learners.
Damaria has also contributed to various anthologies including My First Time published by Modjadji Books in 2012, and The face of the spirit: Illuminating a century of essays by South African women, published by the Department of Arts and culture.
She lives in the village of Phokeng in the North West province, where she cares for her mother and is renovating her old childhood home, trying to grow as much of her vegetables, fruit and herbs as she can.
For more information about Damaria and her writing/publishing projects, visit her blog Storypot at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com and Growing Our Food at http://foodgardeningsa.blogspot.com