It hits me (no, not a rioter …) as I gaze into the abyss, my jar obsession (JO) stems out of the feeling of endless possibilities … the options an empty jar offers you … the things I can fill it with ….
For as long as I have been “keeping house”, (which I think is a lie in itself, as, especially since March 26, the house has been the keeper – the anchor that has kept us all safe in turbulent times but also the anchor that has been an armed guard of the “camo and ammo” brigade, keeping a beady eye on any comings and limiting the goings!) I have been obsessed with keeping any and all glass jars. For that “just in case moment” – that moment all mothers and especially farmers wives – who live in the middle of nowheresville, the home of the Zulu, South Africa – prepare for, but seldom arrives. In my case it is the wide neck bottle with a generous girth – perfect for pickling vegetables, or that tall slender elegant bottle – for a spot of fruit liquor or even that small squat jar that really packs a punch with a chilli relish of sorts! I love them and keep them all, just like our three sons – very different but loved in equal measure. Except maybe the decorative slender bottle with an elaborate sealing cork …
My JO (Jar Obsession) was nearly the end of my mother-in-law / aka Nanna. Picture the scene: A real lady from the burbs of Cape Town, helping her “pink farm chick” daughter-in-law clear up and tidy the end storage room! After four crates of clean empty glass jars, jammed behind the boxes of 5 years of farm business records (for SARS), old paddling gear (from HF during paddling days), old tripper bottles (also HF) and old bike gloves (still HF) and boxes of old hand-me-down curtains (me…they are very good for fort building!!), she had to ask “What on earth ….?” When I answered that I am keeping them for any pickles I might want to make in the future, she burst out laughing. You see, the sentence stress must be on PINK, while farm chick is just an added extra as an ode to my heritage. Tending more to buy the pickles than making them!
Another thing that Nanna keeps a watchful eye for, while helping me tidy up the storage room is … RATS … or field mice as I like to call them. Sheltering from the beady eye of the owls, keeping warm in the harsh midlands winter or just chilling on the comfort of a carpet ….no matter how much rodent repellent I use they still find a way in – tenacious little critters.
The sight of her, with me close on her tail, heading into the sun while crying and laughing out of fright is one for the memory bank for sure …..
Shame maybe that is why she hasn’t visited in a while …. I thought she was trading in her broom stick and waiting for an upgrade!
p.s I actually love Nanna and welcome her help any time in helping with some base maintenance … her OCD is appreciated….
Pink Farm Chick 