Hi Steemit! This is Lizelle from laid back city of Durban

Hi Steemit – I’m Lizelle Bright from the sub-tropical city of Durban, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

I’m super excited to be part of this community, feels like I’ve been living in the dark ages, so a big thank you to my son @deanoza for getting me up to speed with just how big the WorldWideWeb has become!
A quick intro; my husband Arthur & I live in a tranquil green valley in a suburb of Durban, with Mom Lily, both sons having fled the nest! About two years ago I realized my career as a Geographical Information Systems Technician was coming to an end at Ethekwini Municipality ☹ The hairs had turned grey, some of my body parts could do with an overhaul, but my spirit still feels young, so sitting around, doing nothing certainly was not for me!

Me having fun :)

Arthur and I on our way to a wedding

@deanoza, urged me to consider hosting through Airbnb, as we have the space and both Arthur and I love meeting new people, I love cooking plus the bonus of supplementing our income now that the corporate world no longer supplies us with a monthly salary cheque, made this venture very appealing!

Lily's Cottage entrance overlooking pool

But, before I tell you just how exciting this has been for us, I must tell you a little story about my teenage years when I was so in awe of the funky fashions and icons of the 60s; Mini & Midi Skirts, Bell bottoms, John Lennon glasses, Hippies, the Beatles, Twiggy and more. 😊
Being the only girl in a family of five children, I often had to make my own outfits. Mom Lily, on the other hand, used her creativity by constantly re-decorating our home. Trendy colours ranged from bright psychedelic to earthy browns. The brightest orange fabric was used on one occasion to cover the lounge suite, and the lounge looked really ‘groovy baby’.
There happened to be enough fabric left-over for one of my creations, and ‘voila’, I was the owner of the funkiest bell-bottom pants in town.
After a night out with friends, I invited them over to my place for coffee, but… as I walked into the lounge, I realized my mistake!
The lounge suite and I blended perfectly… too perfect!
Needless to say, that was the last time I wore my funky bell-bottom pants!
BTW, I weaved a story around this and entered the Reader’s Digest Magazine’s 100-word short story competition a couple of years ago & it won first prize!

Taken from Reader's Digest April 2014 issue

Back to hosting – life at our address which became known as Lily’s Cottage has never been the same again!
The need for short term accommodation has been astounding. We initially started in peak holiday season, and when that was over, we thought our business would go into hibernation until the next school holidays, but then we received a surprise business booking for six weeks! We have since hosted guests from all over the world; a young Swedish family stayed for two months, using us as a base to explore the rest of Kwazulu Natal.

Our Swedish guests spoilt us with a typical South African braai (barbeque)....roles reversed.

Gorgeous young Nils & Pelle

Some amusing tales emerges from time to time! Guests wanting to escape pesky visitors, booked with us after telling the visitors that they would be out of town so could not host them, and had a gloriously tranquil time with us. No dirty laundry, mounds of dishes and house full of beach sand. BTW this often happens when you live close to the popular Durban beaches, and as we all know, some visitors are an absolute pleasure to have, but some are like smelly socks, cannot wait to throw them out 😊 Back to our awesome guests; some also stay a while when family are hospitalised, and Lily’s Cottage then becomes their tranquil haven. Guests attending sporting events make this their base; and we have been able to help some with small sponsorships in the form of accommodation. One young sportsman gave us one of his medals as a memento, so we made this collage which now takes pride of place on the walls of Lily’s Cottage!

Young BMX Champ, Caleb's Medal Collage

The only sad part of hosting is saying goodbye, especially to the ones who linger longer and manage to creep into our hearts, but it is so rewarding when they return. We have now listed our Lily’s Cottage on many other booking sites, we’re busier than ever before, but our lives have certainly been enriched, plus we have been able to beautify our home and garden with the new income!
Thank you so very much for reading, will be back soon with some of Lily’s Cottage’s recipes plus will tell you an amusing tale about our tiny 85 year old Mom Lily’s painting fiasco.
Cheers for now from Durban, the warmest place to be in winter :)