Taykni’s tales

We made autocollages about our senior citizens today using a programme called Microsoft Autocollage. Here is mine.

We used the wizard writer today.

Our senior citizens came to a lovely tea that we held for them today. You can read about my senior citizen, Annette at the bottom of this page.

Hello. We have been creating introductory messages using extranormal.com. Please click at the bottom of the picture to listen to mine.

I joined this school right at the end of the Senior Citizen’s project. However my grandmother came to one of the last sessions and here is picture of us.

This is what my senior citizen, Annette, told me.

 

Annette as a small child

 

When I was a small child there were four children in my family. I lived in Ysteplaat and my dad was a tram driver. My mom was a house wife. In those days the people had jobs like a doctor, policeman, builder etc. They were mostly jobs like people have today. Before I was  old enough to go to school I often went walking in the fields with my dad. He told me a lot of stories about nature. I didn’t have much to play as a child. I only had a few dolls. In summer we used to have picnics in Table View. We had competitions about “Who could see a duiker?” etc. but my dad always won.

 

Annette’s Primary School Days

 

My school was dual medium which means it was both English and Afrikaans. There weren’t  a lot of children in my class. I went to Ysterplaat Primary School. Our subjects were Maths, Afrikaans, English, Science and P.E . We wrote in print from Sub A to Sub B and we started cursive writing in Standard 1. We didn’t have computers because they weren’t invented yet. If kids at my school were naughty, they would get smacked with a big wooden ruler. We had lots of hoimework at night. On the playground we played games like skipping, tag, building houses in the sand and so on.

 

As a teenager we wore dresses and skirts in the summer and jerseys and jeans in the winter. I did not  have a cell phone because they weren’t invented yet. Our extra murals were drama, netball, music, tennis and rugby. In my spare time I read a lot and rode my bike. In the evenings our family took turns to talk about there day and listen to the radio. The only way to contact our friends was to go to them after school because we didn’t have a phone. I was in high school. People normally went on dates at the movies. I listened to pop and classical music. At the movies I liked watching love stories and musicals. For dinner my mom made stew, vega

 

Annette as a teenager

 

As a teenager we wore dresses and skirts in the summer and jerseys and jeans in the winter. I did not have a cell phone because they weren’t invented yet. Our extra murals were drama, netball, music, tennis and rugby. In my spare time I read a lot and rode my bike. In the evenings our family took turns to talk about their day and we listened to the radio. The only way to contact our friends was to go to them after school because we didn’t have a phone. When I was in high school people normally went on dates at the movies. I loved to listen to pop and classical music. At the movies I liked watching love stories and musicals. For dinner at night  my mom made stew, vegetables and cooked meat. You ask where I met Grandad? I met him on the beach! 

  

How has South Africa changed since you were a child, Annette?

 

The best way it has changed is from Apartheid to equality for all races.

 

Is there anything you remember about your own grandparents?

 

My grandmother lived through the war. She has twelve children and she was a pioneer of a Christian church in Cape Town.

 

What advice can you pass on to me?

 

The advice I would give you is – keep the faith and never give up on your dreams. Do you very best at all times.

 

What medicines or herbs did your family use?

 

If we had cuts or grazes my mother would give us Friar’s Balsam which burned like fire!

 

Are there any interesting stories you could tell us rom your childhood?

 

My dad often had to work night shifts and once when an intruder rattled on the back door my mum took the gun and fired a hole in the door. The hole stayed there forever and the intruder never came back.

 

Once we went to the beach to have a picnic. I went to swim in the sea, but suddenly I realised I was out of my depth and I was drowning. I thought this was the end of my life, but luckily my father saw this and he dived in and saved my life.