Thursday 17 March 2011

Myself

I thought I would tell you something about myself and what I do for a living. I know that you can look in my personal profile section, but it's not very comprehensive.

I live in a cottage on a farm 4km outside Estcourt KZN. The cottage is very small, but large enough for myself, my 4 dogs and a cat called Cat. The cottage will win the approval of "Greens" everywhere, built of  uncured mud brick 60 years ago, and thatched. It has withstood the ravages of time very well. In winter it's warm and in summer it's at least 5 degrees centigrade cooler than outside, very energy efficient. The cottage looks like something out a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale. I will include some photos of it in the near future. In spite of the fact that I live within 50m of the N3 highway, a four lane highway linking the port city of Durban to the interior of the country (this is the busiest highway in Africa) the highway noise has just become "white noise" to me.

My profession  is school librarian. My job is to teach learners how to use the library, how to do research but most important to instil a love of reading. I love my work and get great enjoyment out of it. The school I teach at is a primary school, grade 1 to grade 7 and I work with all 7 grades. We have about 650 learners in our school, each grade is divided into three classes and I see all of them each week, so I have a busy, but enjoyable day. I sometimes think I have the best job in the world. Nothing beats a teachers holidays, especially if you like to go fishing.

I live a a very minimalist lifestyle, materialism has no appeal to me. My car is a 28 year old VW Jetta with 350,000km on the clock. It still gets me where I want to go, is fuel efficient, reliable, cheap to maintain, and most   important gets me to my fly fishing spots on bad roads without a problem. I own no fancy gadgets, apart from a laptop, Black Berry cell phone (bottom of the range) and no TV. I do have a good Cd player and radio, but I don't listen to radio because it's mostly drivel.

I don't mind spending money on fly fishing and fly tying equipment and material. I own several fly rods, from 2 weight to a 9 weight, and reels, and fly tying material worth a small fortune.

I have the privilege to live close to some great fly fishing water, some of not 5 minutes walk from where I live. But more about that next time.

7 comments:

Jo said...

Hi Phillip, what a great life. I need some tips to help the learners in the school here in Kenya to love reading and to use a library. I look forward to more of your posts. Blessings, Jo

Gaelyn said...

Welcome to blogland Phillip. I follow Jo and met her son John when visiting ZA, he led me on an awesome hike in the Bergs. Plus I camped with a friend at Wagondrift NR. Maybe one of your fishing holes. I love that you work with the kids encouraging them to discover the magic of reading. Would really like to see a photo of your place. Is it a rondeval?

Joyful said...

Jo told her readers about your new blog so I want to welcome you to the blogosphere. It is great and you will meet many people, esp. if you reach out a bit. After your description of the cottage you live in I can't wait to see it. I wish I lived in something more exotic myself. I think your job must be wonderful. I can still recall my first forays to the library and the awesome wonder it opened up for me. I love books to this day.

Kay L. Davies said...

Hello Phillip - I'm another friend of Jo's. You certainly have a wonderful sister!
The description of your lifestyle made me think of my parents, both of whom died recently, both over 80.
If they could have lived in a mud hut, they probably would have. They both loved rivers, Dad loved fly-fishing and Mother loved cooking his catch for him.
I am looking forward to reading your blog.
-- Kay
Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

eileeninmd said...

Hello Phillip, I am also a follower of Jo. It is always nice to meet other bloggers. I think it is wonderful that you have a job that you love, the children must love you. I loved the descripton of your home, it sounds beautiful and I would love to see some photos.

Desiree said...

Echo here...I'm also one of Jo's many followers...she threatened us with all manner of dreadful things unless we poppped right over here and joined up...so, here I am, very much against my will, to welcome you to blog land!

I can't wait to see some pictures of your fairytale cottage and of the beautiful KZN rivers where you go fishing.

I admire your philosophy of life...and am sure I'll eventually enjoy following you once I've overcome the effects of Jo's threats :)

e.m.b. said...

Hello! I am an academic librarian in Colorado! And also a fly fisher! Glad to have found your blog...I'll be following along as I write and fish from my Colorado canyon cabin. Cheers to you!

Erin
http://mysteriesinternal.blogspot.com