I see myself as a gnome...
because I've always looked like one.
My mom always saw to it that we had lots of books.
And I read them over and over and over.
So magical.
Still to this day, if I get a book
and it's got a story of a gnome,
I'm enthralled, I just read it.
I drool from the mouth.
Real people didn't measure up to my make believe world.
Because I was a bit on the fat side
and I wasn't an agile youngster,
they made fun of me a lot.
I think that became my nickname in the suburb...
Fatso.
But the old ladies loved me...
pinched my cheeks...
cuddle, cuddle, cuddle.
I never thought that I was
in the slightest bit good looking.
I'm so ugly.
I think the beard
has an important function in my life.
I hide behind it.
I wish my hair could grow over my whole face...
just a tiny little place...
pegs... for the eyes to see.
It would be lovely if I could go invisible.
Go to the shop without people seeing me.
You know?
That's me, I just want to keep a low key.
I'm not one for crowds.
In fact, if I go to a place where there are lots of people,
I want to start throwing up.
It's not nice.
Isn't it agoraphobia?
I think so.
But I love people.
Don't you ever forget that... I love people.
And if people come to visit me
I down tools and I give all my attention to that visitor.
But you must just come one by one.
When I wake up, the first thing I do
is I take my little birthday book
and I look whose birthday it is that day.
To me, birthdays are very important
because that is that persons special day.
And he must know that I'm also thinking of him on that day.
This last year,
you can't believe how many of my people passed away.
So I put a little cross there next to their name.
They're not available.
Search for the heaven's telephone number.
I still phone the family.
Like Aunty Dorris Gunter...
her birthday was on the first of April.
Every year I phone her son and wish him for his mother.
Why not? It's a nice way to make contact.
Never ever... I'm never bored.
Really that's one thing...
I don't know what it is to be bored.
I'm too busy enjoying my life.
The bugs and the bees.
The flowers and the trees.
It's magic, it's absolute magic.
These little things crawling around in your hand.
It's concentrated.
You know...
you can look at the mountain and say it's fabulous.
But the little things...
little bugs....
They're so small, and yet
they procreate and they eat.
It's just amazing.
Butterflies, moths, bees.
It is beautiful.
There's no two ways about it.
Really, it's beautiful.
Money can't buy it.
I'm happy with my dogs and my garden.
When I'm around the animals I'm not alone.
They're my buddies... they're my gnome buddies.
They're my best friends.
Even though they sometimes make me cross
when they chew up my brand new shoes, you know.
You must see my drawer, I've got about six pairs of shoes
that I've hardly ever worn.
And they have to be fixed but I don't think I can...
they are so torn up.
When you get a dog, a new dog,
it's got a message attached to it that says,
I'm only with you for about 12 years, remember.
You must really love me in that time.
I think it's like having your own kids.
I used to always appreciate my children.
I always had this feeling that
it was an honour for me to know you as my child.
That is how I look at my children.
And they are very special, my kids.
I feel my eldest son is my father.
Shhhh, don't tell him that.
But he bosses me around like that.
But then for reason.
Because I forgot the kettle on the stove the other day.
He was so mad at me.
And I thought, aah, the tables are turning.
I just want to make sure my bladder is empty.
I was never like this.
You know that in our coldest winters
I only slept under one blanket.
Now I have to sleep under three.
I'm quite happy with it... quite happy.
(With what?)
Getting old.
I can't walk like I used to walk.
I can't garden like I used to garden.
I think that is the whole thing about growing old gracefully...
is when you accept that it is happening to you.
Then you're growing old gracefully, am I right?
You'll get there, you'll see.
It's a wonderful experience.
(Do you think you'll be a grumpy old man?)
No. No. Mind you, you never know.
Come back to me in 20 years time and we'll talk again.
Maybe I will be... no, I won't be grumpy.
I don't think it's in my blood.
It's not my nature to be grumpy.
Of the seven dwarfs... I won't be grumpy.