Life with Suzi - Shopping

I was not able to ascertain whether this sign was put up tongue in cheek, or whether the staff from "Out if the Blue" at St Francis Bay, have had to contend with many grumpy husbands coming into the shop with their wives. It got a smile from me anyway - in fact I ran back to my car to get my camera.

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It made me think of the shopping experiences Suzi-k and I have. Usually we have a lot of fun when we shop together. In fact we can be a very bad influence on one another, especially in book shops.

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But..........then there are the shops we classify as "boys shops" and "girls shops".

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Let's see, a decor shop falls into the category of a "girls shop". The conversation usually starts like this. "I just want to pop in here quickly, do you mind?"

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"No," I lie.

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I manage to whip around the shop in thirty seconds. I take everything in and foolishly think it is now time to hit the road. Alas, Suzi-k has not made it past the first display, so I do many more circuits.

I don't get grumpy. I may just casually remark that I look a lot quicker than she does and she gets a hunted look on her face.

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I think she secretly enjoys the "boys shops", but will never admit it. Sometimes has to restrain me - "We do not need any more camping equipment, let's first use the stuff we already have," or "Haven't you got enough knives?" My stock reply is, "A man can never have enough knives."

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There is one area of shopping where Suzi-k refuses to go with me. That is shoe shopping. Even I have to admit that I am a total pain, because I am so fussy about what goes onto my feet, but at least my shoes are comfortable.

Mobile farm stall

I thought this was a rather novel farm stall.

It is situated on the road between Port Elizabeth and Cradock, just beyond the Oliphants Nek Pass. That is unless it has been moved somewhere else. Electricity was supplied by way of what looked like a 500 metre extention lead coming from the homestead - definitely not a safe arrangement.

Like most good coutry stalls the main product on sale is biltong (jerky).

These guys know that most South Africans cannot resist resist the stuff, its a local passion. Not everyone's favourite though. We once offered some to an Autralian guest, who tried valiantly to eat it, but was too polite to say he did not like it. We let him suffer for a while, before saying it was ok to leave it. This was definitely not a problem as there would be more for us.



I can only imagine it is the farmer's answer to crime. What a good way to safeguard your product and stall. But then it also makes relocating your shop to a busier location much easier.