I guess if I could use just one word to describe my 2023 it would be 'abrasive'.

It has been a year filled with experiences that tested my abilities, endurance faith, and patience, but with all of the friction of the tribulations I encountered, I believe that I have been shaped and polished into a better rendition of myself.

Closing off 2023

December has been one of the most trying times for last year, I lost one of my beloved dogs to a huge rinkhals snake, and I had to deal with a break-in on the farm where all my pigs were savagely beaten to death in their steys leaving only 7 unweaned baby piglets unharmed. The factories where we normally send our annual crop of green mangos could not accommodate the farmers' supply, and I was forced to leave a great deal of my fruit to ripen on the trees with the hope of selling them once ripe, but my trees were devastated by roaming cattle that entered the farm through the cut fences from the break-in. This meant that we didn't have the money together that we had hoped to get from the mango crop to fix the tractor to work the land and plant cash crops. During all this, my mother's Alzheimer/dementia condition has been worsening at a steady pace, while we got news from the optometrist that my father's corneas have completely calcified and there is nothing we can do to save whatever eyesight he has left.

The pressure was on as we headed into 2024, but what can you do but fight the everyday battle?

Stepping into the new year

I look at all of the people posting their New Year resolutions on social media, and I must say that I admire the simplicity of their ambitions. There was a time in my life when losing weight or enforcing positive habits were the main focus of my resolutions. Now I wake up thinking about how I will survive THIS day, make every moment count, and hopefully walk out a better person at the end of it. I look through old pictures of simpler times and memories flood back with urgent longing and I have to remind myself that it does not serve me to live in the past and that I need to look to the here and now and that entails managing the family farm to the best of my abilities, getting my daughter through her final year of University, caring for my elderly parents, and growing my home based business that I have built up throughout the year.

Sure I have endured a lot, but this has also allowed me to grow and learn a great deal.
My new business had one of the busiest months in December, and the new year is looking promising so far. Hopefully, this will be enough to supplement the lost income from the farm and keep the ship afloat for another lap. If all goes well I can aim to start getting the money together to buy over the family farm which will help alleviate a ton of pressure on my parents as well as myself.

Securing the premises has also managed to make its way to the top of the priority list yet again as the number of attacks, brutal assaults rapes and murders skyrockets on the farmlands of South Africa. It's disheartening to think that we need to keep ourselves our crops and our livestock imprisoned for our own safety while the legal system here provides safety and security for the ill-willed.

It's bound to get better

On the upside, we have had pretty decent rainfall so far, which gives hope to sustainability, and once I manage to get the tractor up and running, this will allow me to plant cash crops and work the land again.
Business prospects have been opening up and there are new opportunities on the horizon for my business. So far I have been contacted by 7 shops that are eager to sell my products and I am also in the process of designing my website/online shop which should bring in a handful of new businesses.
I managed to secure a loan to cover my daughter's studies for the year, Although a loan is the last thing that I wanted to do, this will help free me up financially to grow my business without having to worry about the excessive university fees. Sure I still have to pay back the money, but at least now, It is stretched over a longer term (which I will hopefully be able to pay back sooner in order to reduce the interest)

Sure my life is starting to sound like a country song, but even those can make it to the top of the charts from time to time - so here is to the outlook for a better 2024!