Conversations with Caroline

Coffee is my best treat! A Woolies coffee is unbeatable... Where is your favourite coffee from?

In true teacher style I have been in bed for the first 5 days of the Easter Holiday... Feeling absolutely awful, sore throat, sore body, achey head and just weak and weird in general!
Today, well about 10 minutes ago.. 🤣I finally mustered the strength to step into my garden. I picked the last of my hydrangeas and then just a bit of greenery! And the instant, "free" pick-me-up was worth sharing.
So just a little reminder, if you are feeling off - pick something green and pop it in a jug/vase/bowl/mug etc and you will feel a bit better! 100% guaranteed!!!!
🤗❤️👌😉
If not, reach out to me!
Sending love
Caro
💜🏡❤️

A few days ago I burnt myself - ouch!
However, today I was delighted to see that my little burn was healing in the shape of a heart! ❤️❤️❤️
I am permanently hunting for hearts, they bring me joy and are just a beautiful reminder that love is always around.
So today, just a reminder that tough times pass, pain brings growth and mistakes help us to learn!
Thank you little burn for reminding me of this beautiful lesson!
❤️❤️❤️
Sending love to all.
X
Caro

26 years of I Do!
The journey hasn't been easy and the days weren't always kind, but the love that carried us has been bountiful and forgiving. A mix of ups, downs and everything in between has created the ride of a lifetime...
The way you love me has made me love you even more!
Together we have raised an amazing family, a pigeon pair that we can only be proud to call our children, created wonderful homes, loved incredible pets and kept on choosing each other!
We are a formidable team and we are truly each other's greatest blessings!
Here is to the next 26 years!

A spot of retail therapy! Pep Home is bringing it, as always.

2025 was definitely a year of silent conversations for me! A lot of tough stuff happened. Stuff that needs time to work through and process. Stuff that shifts your reality and causes a change in perspective, heart, outlook and fundamental behaviors.
Stuff. That. Changed. ME! (and my nearest and dearest.. )
First off the bat, in 2025 I turned 50! Life changing in itself! Only woman who have experienced MENOPAUSE will fully comprehend this challenging ordeal. A topic that needs a chat all of its OWN. (ACHES, PAINS, ICHES , SNEEZES, FORGETFULNESS... IYKYK)

The next hurdle for us was a very traumatic experience. We got caught in a cash and transit HEIST. Bullets whizzing past and honestly a life or death kind of trauma - a lot to comprehend and a lot to digest! We were hero's that day, though! And having the opportunity to fully experience how you would react in a crises, feels like a gift. To experience your own good choices and ability to put others before yourself - a total paradigm shift!!!! Seeing the outpouring of positive reactions from strangers and their willingness to help others - mind blowing, restorative, heart-warming, humbling!

And then.... To experience a loved one being in hospital for over 3 months - fighting for their lives, hanging on by a thread....
Watching them have every ounce of freedom taken away - soul destroying!

Visiting every day and not knowing what to expect! Witnessing other families go through pain, hearing terrible news, bonding with them, sharing in their grief, feeling so helpless, yet trying to be a shining light. Watching different cultures mourn and go through their rituals - beautiful!!!!! Humbling!!!!
Life. Changing.

And then walking with them to their eternal home - watching them fade away with grace and dignity. Saying final, really FINAL goodbyes. The kind of hard that there are no words for.... Just SILENCE
Silence from their bodies
Silence from their phones
Silence from their home
Just deathly silence

Organising funerals..
Packing up a home - a whole life!
Paperwork
Phone calls
Making decisions
Hard conversations

So much to digest.
And you survive and get through it all. And now... It's 2026..and I find myself feeling low and a little beaten up!!!
But, I guess that's to be expected. So now, we move forward. Hold onto the precious memories, celebrate the beautiful life lived. The lessons learned. Enjoy this hard, tough life that we are given. Find the joy and happiness that is often so fleeting!
To roads travelled and battles won! To trying not to focus on what's to come... But enjoying NOW!
Wherever your road is taking you. I am sending you love and light! We all need extra love and support, most days!
With love
From a quietly recuperating
Caro # # #

I am currently teaching a precious group of RRR children. One of my favourite classroom tools are magnets. Not only the pricey but definitely worth it, magnatiles, but think fridge magnets, old baking pans, metal trays, old white boards!
Just wonderful open ended play!
Share a teacher hack with me!
Much love
Caroline ❤️

It's been a while since I have posted some hearts! I am always on the look out for hearts, but haven't taken pics recently. Today I bumped into a friend, who said hey, I miss seeing your hearts!
So I kept an extra vigilant eye out this afternoon and found these two wonderful hearts!
Such a beautiful reminder of, what we seek, we shall find!
Keep looking for the love and positive good things, wonderful people!
A heart from school.
A heart from my dinner plate.

Sending much love ❤️🧡💙💚♥️
Caro x

50 years and one month old! 😂🎈🤣
I spent a beautiful morning with incredible women who have added delight, wisdom, love, laughter, support, inspiration, kindness, strength and unmatched friendship to my life's chapters!
Some extra specials were absent. But, we celebrated none the less.
🤣😉

Valentines Day tomorrow! I am still definitely choosing to celebrate. I love love! ♥️♥️

To valentine or not to valentine..? ❤️❤️❤️
I get that it's a commercialised thing that makes people feel like they should spend money or makes them feel bad because possibly they haven't got the love that looks like a movie or story book...
However, I want to encourage you all to look at the love that you do have and celebrate that!!
❤️The love of a good friend .. Friendships and I mean real and raw friends are possibly the best gift you can ever have in this lifetime. Celebrate them, let them know that you love and value them.
❤️The love of your family.. Blood is mostly thicker than water.. 😜And family can truly be the most unconditional support that you will ever get. Let them know that you see and appreciate them.
❤️The love of your pets.. Yip... My pets.. All 6 of them are some of the best therapy in my life.
❤️Self love.. Spoil yourself with a treat.. Tell yourself that you love yourself.. You will be with yourself longer than you will with anyone else.
❤️The love of a partner.. If you, like me are blessed with a partner who has chosen to be with you.. Let them know how much they mean to you. I have had the same valentine for 25 years... Holy Moly.. And honestly through all the stuff that life has thrown us.. Choosing each other over and over again has by far been the biggest blessing. This our 25th Valentines together has truly been the best one.. And we never did anything spectacular.. He bought me Krispy Kreme doughnuts and I bought him his favourite pickles..
But man the love and having each other's backs, like we do, is just AMAZING 🎉❤️
So look at your life and celebrate the love that you do have. 👏👏👏
When you look closely you may be surprised at how much love you actually have.
Happy Valentines special people.
Much love
Caroline 😘

As I write this, I am still in my 40's and have never cared too much about aging. Or what the number is. But 50, for some reason has me totally freaked out. It's more about how much less life I have left then anything else and retirement seeming so much closer is also worrying - I can't imagine my life without my job, I can't imagine how we would live well on what our pensions could possibly be.. These thoughts have been tearing around in my head the last few weeks. Until I chatted to a friend who also celebrates her 50th in February this year, we have been friends since out teens. She told me about the challenge she was doing for herself, 50 things before she turns 50! We chatted about a lot of other things too, but I decided to shift the focus of my 50 dread and decided to start celebrating instead. 50 things for Caroline! 50 intentional things that I could do that would bring me and others joy and happiness. Things that I could add to my life that could increase my intentions of living a meaningful life.
Coffee has featured high on my list, contacting people when I think of them, organising a 50th celebration, picking flowers for myself and others, driving my poor coworkers insane with this week's countdown of my last Monday in my 40's etc etc, walking barefoot in the garden every morning, reading a book, starting to journal, listening to more music, going for a pedicure, celebrating the little Caroline who had to be so brave, being so grateful for the little family that Joss and I created:my kids are truly two of my biggest joys, acknowledging the love that I have for my amazing Mom, my sister and her family are always in my thoughts and again I have just celebrated their existence and the love that I have for them, I have tipped the car guards a little extra these last few days and their gratitude is such an incredible selfish boost. I have spent quiet time listing all the friends that I have, not acquaintance's but real genuine friends who have supported and loved me through thick and thin! A mind blowing blessing are my friends. My list and intentions will probably reach over 50 and perhaps will continue until my end days.

I have been blessed with a rich, exciting, rewarding life. I have learnt so much through so many challenges. I am now ready to brave 50 tomorrow. To not allow fear to cripple me but to be brave and live the years that I get blessed with! To keep on chatting, to keep on teaching, to keep on loving, to keep on learning, to keep on giving, to keep on keeping on!
Much love
Caro ♥️🎈🎂🥂

Happy 2025 beautiful people!

I am not sure what is happening in all your worlds, but in mine, it seems like a constant flow of hearing about and experiencing the fact that life is short and can be so tough for so many!

So while pondering my new year I have been nudged to the thoughts that we need to find and actively look for own joy! Because, even amongst stress and trial there can still be glimmers of happiness and beauty. Pockets of joy that if you are not looking for, will simply pass you by!

So, one way that I have decided to create my own joy, is to keep my Christmas tree up for the duration of the year. I will change it up, every few weeks and try to match the current season or holiday!

Today I went and spent about R70! And now my festive Christmas tree is a love tree! ❤️❤️❤️🤣🤣🤣✨✨✨👌👌👌🥰🥰🥰!

My little soul is soooo chuffed and I am looking forward to the challenge of creating different trees throughout the year!

May your little corner of the world be twinkling as brightly as mine!

Much love
Caro 💋