Granny Says – Be A Woman With A Voice!
“Here’s to strong women: May we know them. May we be them? May we raise them?” –Unknown
Supporting and celebrating women’s rights is a year-round responsibility.
But on Women’s Day, which falls on Monday, August 9th, it’s a day to celebrate all those wonderful strong women we know, and it’s a day to recognize the extraordinary acts of women when they do, and did, stand together as a united force.
This day is about spending time focusing on you, and below are some tips we hope will help when making plans for the day:
- Take a road trip through the Midlands with all your besties. Shop to your hearts content, supporting local businesses where you can, participate in top class adventure sports or activities suited for young and old, visit historical landmarks, enjoy arts and crafts. And if you and the girls want to make a weekend of it, why not book into Granny Mouse Country House & Spa and get stuck into the new Eaves Restaurant menu. And all this is just one hour away from Durban.
- Talking about weekends, nothing says happy days like a spa experience. So head up the hill and enjoy one of many exclusive treats at Granny’s spa. This experience will be the best thing you can do for yourself, so allow the experts to take away the stresses of the past year and half.
- Empower yourself by taking a boxing class or two, or learn some self-defense techniques to protect yourself. There are a few gyms that cater to solely boxing and can be easily found on Google.
- How about getting back to your “inner child”? Fly a kite, do some handstands, order the biggest milkshake ever…embrace life and try not to worry about a thing. “Indulge yourself”!
- What about paying it forward and doing something good? Nothing makes one feel good about oneself than helping deserving causes, be it for animals, abused women, children or our precious wildlife heritage. Also, “cleanse your cupboard” – by this we mean, empty out that wardrobe and donate clothes you are never going to wear again, or hand over that second mixer blender still in sitting in its box. Your home will be less cluttered and someone will see your donation as gold.
For the partner out there looking to spoil your special lady and you don’t know what to gift her, why not plan a date night and make it all about her?
Spend time with her and let her know that you’re there for her whenever she needs you to be. This will be a gift that both of you will enjoy. What every woman has fought for, and continues to fight for, is the freedom to be herself, and to be able to express the way she feels.
And for the women who enjoy it when their partner makes decisions, why not keep Granny Mouse Country House & Spa in mind? You can treat her to a weekend stay, which could include an intimate dinner at Eaves restaurant, as well as a spa treatment. This will certainly earn you some “brownie points”.
USEFUL FUNDAMENTALS – WHICH YOU NEED TO KNOW!
Many of us fellow South Africans are currently going through an exceptionally stressful spell with our emotions and thoughts running rampant, from being overwhelmed to experiencing frightening thoughts due to much uncertainty for the future.
“We must never forget our priorities during these current trying times”, says Sean Granger, General Manager of Granny Mouse Country House & Spa who sat down with the “mouse team” to brainstorm and offer some quick and easy “home survival facts” to our KwaZulu-Natal community and hopefully its helpful!
Herewith some useful tips:
Hydration: Ensure your drinking water is safe, especially if we have a water shortage – store in a cool place once you have boiled or added iodine tablets.
Food: The way of the future is to get those green fingers into action. Invest in a “growing kit”, nothing better than having fresh vegetables and fruit from your land or if you have limited space, try also grow fresh herbs which can be put on any window sill to accompany your food, such as rosemary, sage, basil, mint etc) Many herbs have positive healing qualities and some examples is Oregano – its anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties make it effective at wiping out little nasties that might have started infecting your system and if you have a garden, then Ginger is the way to go for those “ginger shots”!
Medication – firstly if you are on any chronic medication, ensure that you have a refill of your regular prescriptions. Medications and any medical visits to Doctors and the like are expensive irrespective if you have medical aid or not. If you feeling like you are coming down with a cold or have a sore throat, try some home remedies such as these, gargle with salt water, honey and or lemon in a cup of warm water. For stress headaches, try taking some magnesium, essential oils or vitamin B. If you get a small wound, a solution would be to disinfect that includes making a paste by mixing turmeric with warm water, then apply the paste to the wound and cover with bandage. There is also aloe vera, which is rich in vitamins and minerals. It’s also great for sunburn, so be sure to have that at home. If the above are serious then of course don’t take chances, go see your doctor!
Power – The future is in renewable green energy, so if you can do it investigate solar energy or if that is out of your budget range invest in a UPS (An uninterruptible power supply) which will provide you power to run your lights, laptop and TV.
Communication – Ensure that cell phones are always charged as well as investing in a quality power bank that provides power to charge your portable device when the need arises in order to stay in touch with family, friends or any emergency services. We also rely on these devices to keep abreast on local news, as well as community news – but beware of any fake news, always double check that the news does come from a reliable news source and not someone posting fabrication stories!
Cash – always important to have emergency cash stashed away somewhere in case main retail stores etc are not operational and you need to get supplies from local community outlets. Cash is the most liquid asset and can be used immediately for emergencies – like food, water, basic medical supplies.
Lastly and more importantly, the Granny Mouse team wants to encourage everyone, especially during these tough times to think logically be practical, use what we have in our natural surrounds and what suits your individual needs and tight budget and most of all, practice the spirit of “ubuntu” and pay it forward with your neighbours as sometimes, when we “put our heads together” and work as a team, not only do you benefit, so does everyone else!
One of Bear Grylls motto’s who is known and recognised internationally for his survival skills is simple:
SHOW COURAGE AND KINDNESS . . . AND NEVER GIVE UP!