Wednesday 31 December 2014

Stormy End to 2014


The Year 2014 started on an extreme low for me but gradually climbed out of the mud and into a better space. For a review of my year read my post I wrote on Last Sunday. And now as I look at this stormy late afternoon of the end of 2014 with the crepuscular shards of light breaking the darkness, I just had to stop and marvel on how good my God has been with the light bringing joy to my soul.

So as we end the Year 2014 on a stormy note, I will set forth into the New Year, 2015, with the words of Pope Francis "Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God."

Tuesday 30 December 2014

The Privy is supposed to be Private


"Well excuse me, little scrap", snarled Tiger, "the privy, as the name suggests, is supposed to be a private affair. This is certainly not a sandbox for you to play in, it is a litter box for us cats to do our do do in. Now stop playing in it this instant!"

As you can see litter box training has become a game to tiny Princess who still has to learn that it is a private affair and not something to do together with the bigger cats.

Monday 29 December 2014

Вы говорите по-русски?


"Вы говорите по-русски?" queried Saratov the Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya or as we call his breed Borzoi or Russian wolfhound. Maxi’s puzzled look said it all as he met his larger Russian cousin Saratov for the first time. No Maxi can’t speak Russian, only Dog and English. Once Maxi managed to understand the thick Russian and Saratov the silky Italian accent play was on.

Sunday 28 December 2014

Last Sunday


So this is it, the last Sunday of the year 2014 and as I head of to church to give thanks to God for His Grace I reflect back on this year.

This year has been a good year in terms of work, although it was sad leaving National Positions, I was blessed to land up at Bosasa early on in the year. But let me run through the highlights and lowlights. By low I mean very low, rock bottom. The year started off very bad for me with the lost of my beautiful whippet Skye which started me on this journey of recovery. O Siyeza Skye! Soon after this cut like a knife loss, Lynda broke her collar bone and got a metal plate inserted just to mess with the store security at all the clothing stores.

With our hectic schedules, Lynda and I decided to explore the meaning of life by joining an Alpha Course, my 3rd one but for Lynda her first. I am not sure if we managed to get to the bottom of the true meaning of life is all about but we did make awesome new friends such as Bob, Elaine, Eric, Francis, and not to miss Gwen. Then swish, life drifts on and Lynda got herself a new car. No more wet rides on the back of a Vespa for her. And next I knew Matthew was jetting to Thailand.

April was the start of a new chapter in my life, making new friends at Bosasa. After the bumpy start of the year, I was now standing back on my feet but the year was still flying. After pampering Lynda at a spa for her birthday, to meeting my cousin Kristine between her jet set life style. Custom Couches started taking off too while I got the rocket scarlet Vespa followed shortly by a Nespresso Inissia.

Midyear and Bosasa held its Imbizo, Matthew got a new bed, and we got new vinyl designs on our cupboards at work to help bring out our creativity and not get lost in the 1000 bike show with one bright red Vespa, Lynda and I hob knob’d with the posh and culturally astute by going to a concert recital by Zandile Mazazi. Then Merville died!

Merville just had to bring me back down to earth. No I haven’t got an email from Merville from heaven yet but I expect one long one soon as Merville mattered. Winter was a cold one but no snow as summer was soon here.

Matthew did a small internship programme at Bosasa which he loved and BBC started the new construction to expand the church while I spent 67 minutes in juvenile detention while planes started falling out of the skies and the zebras started a killing spree and before we knew it our roof above our heads was stolen.

Matthew’s schooling had a rocky start too but he ended up as one of the leading supporting roles in his school’s drama competition which they won. This I hope was the turnaround for him and I continue to pray for his future. I got new glasses which mean the future is much clearer now. We repainted our offices to bright new colours. Watched Nataniël blow us away and got a whole lot of new staff. We were moving forward while I was moving out. Well out of home that is as the Stoned Cottage was becoming hell because the landlord wanted to make our lives a misery.

My bother Anthony got married, while I had to slow down as thought I was having cardio issues turned out to be my spine so we took some small breaks to Nelspruit and Durban. Our new home is a much quieter place away from the noise and bustle of city life and before we knew it here we are at the end of the year, well just about...

Saturday 27 December 2014

Socks and Princess


"Mee-ow, are you my Mommy?" meow’ed tiny Princess to all that moved. Growl, snarl, and hiss came the answers. Oh no, what was the tiny scrap to do? She was saved from going to the rescue pound but was still way too small to be on her own.

Mommy Socks to the rescue, tadaaaa! Yip, I had to go next door from where the kittens where rescued to fetch mommy, and for now tiny Princess is so deliriously happy to be re-united with her mommy.

Friday 26 December 2014

Day of Goodwill


After a sweltering Christmas Day which left us praying for some cooling rain, our prayers were answered in the early hours of this morning with a raging thunderstorm that had me nearly declare abandoned ship and take to the life boats. We were hit twice by lightning as it crackled around our home and tripping the mains but we were safe inside our Faraday Cage.

Sometime during this frightful storm I must have fellen asleep only to wake to the sun trying to break into the stormy action of Lá an Dreoilín, so let the hunt of the wren begin. Boxing Day, St Stephen’s Day, Wren’s Day, Day of Goodwill, or whatever you may call today has started with this awesome sunrise under the storm clouds. So whatever you do on this second day of Christmas, crack open the traditional brandy, give the poor their Christmas boxes, put the cricket on the telly, do some discounted shopping, and please rather hunt some wrenboys than foxes on this Day of Goodwill.

Yes goodwill is for foxes too. So for foxes' sake, no more bloody Boxing Days!

Thursday 25 December 2014

Family Hospitality Community


It is Christmas Day, and like I mentioned yesterday Christmas for us is not about a fat man dressed in red and presents for all. No it is all about God becoming man, and we celebrate this day with family, hospitality, and community. It is sad how the world is trying to distort the fact by bringing in myths and untruths about what really happened.

Who cares if the 25 December is not the actual day that Yeshu’a ben Yosef the Messiah or as he is well known today as Jesus Christ, was born. It is significant that he was born and was killed some 30 years later by being nailed to a wooden cross. Although everyone was born and later to die, it is very important to us that Yeshu’a walked out of the tomb alive 3 days later. God with us, the greatest gift of all time.

So in remembrance to our King being born, we dedicate this day to Him by being with family and friends and together remembering God, friends and family who have gone from this world, and just enjoy being in the company of loved ones.

Today all my friends and family were far away, but that didn’t stop Matthew and I to hold our own remembrance. Thankfully Anthony and his wife Hellene, plans changed so they too managed to join us for the day. As you can see above, Anthony is checking on the braai while we relax on the veranda.

So we wish you a God and family filled Christmas Day.

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Soweto Gospel Choir


Twas the night before Christmas, over 2000 years ago the Messiah, saviour of the world, was born unto a virgin. Although we don’t know the exact day when this life changing event happened, tomorrow is the day we give thanks to God for sending us his Son, Jesus. So today along with the Soweto Gospel Choir we celebrated and give God all the glory, Gloria in excelsis Deo, Glory to God in the highest.

So over 2000 years ago, a carpenter called Yosef, realising that his fiancée Miryam or as we know them nowadays as Joseph and Mary, was in serious trouble so he took her with him to Bethlehem as he was required to be there for the Roman Census. Yes she was heavily pregnant yet they were not married yet which means the looks and gossip amongst the neighbours must have cut to the bone. Yosef was not required to take Miryam with him to be counted in the census but to protect the love of his life, he took Miryam with him out of their village until the baby could be born and emotions simmer down.

They arrived at Yosef’s home town Bethlehem and went to the home of relatives as it was his home town where most of Yosef’s family stayed. But because of the census, a lot of the family had arrived so sleeping space was minimal. So they chose a place down stairs where the animals were kept safely and warm. Here Miryam and the wise women folk of Yosef’s family prepared for the birth of the new addition to their family in private out of the way of the men who were catching up on news as one does when there is no internet and you haven’t seen each other in months if not years.

Yes this story is most likely not quite like you thought it would be. No Father Christmas, no Christmas trees and egg nog, no presents, and certainly what mother would allow cows to lick a new born baby. The culture in the time of Yeshu'a ben Yosef was all about family, hospitality, and community because things were tough under the Roman iron shod feet but God was good and is the same today. So the King of the world was born into the hands of a skilled midwife into a home filled with laughter and community which makes it the more authentic. God with us, the greatest gift of all time.

And as the Soweto Gospel Choir leads us, glory to God in the Highest, gloria in excelsis Deo.

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Three Little Kittens


Three little kittens, they are lost without a home and they began to cry mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Oh, dear, a home was found for Kitty, and Princess is going to make our 11 a 12 while their sister Shadow now has to go to a rescue. Here is Noma holding Kitty and Shadow while tiny Princess holds onto her shoulder all tight hoping to be taken to a forever home.

One little kitten, lost without a home and she begin to cry mee-ow.

Please Note: These kittens are not ours, they are rescues and although we can’t keep them, we did managed to keep the smallest one, Princess. Although they still very small we managed to find a home for Kitty while I sadly took Shadow to Friends of Rescued Animals aka FORA. They are very full and also don't have room for another cat but they are a safe haven for dogs and cats and would never turn Shadow away.

FORA's mission is to shelter unwanted, abandoned and ill treated dogs and cats, emphasising on a quality pain free life. The animals are temporarily housed at FORA in Krugersdorp, North West of Johannesburg while the good people there endeavour to find them a new permanent home.

While there at FORA, I sadly notice many greyhounds. These greyhounds were rescued out of a life of hunting and been chained up in shanty towns when not hunting.

Monday 22 December 2014

Goosey Ganders


I arrived at work this morning just before eight to find all our offices still locked up only to find out that the caretaker Andrew who usually opens up our offices before six in the morning is on summer leave. So I spent about an hour sitting on a stone bench next to one of the duck ponds in the beautiful gardens surrounding our offices. That was until the sprinklers was turned on and I ambled back to my office to find Richard, a stand in caretaker opening up.

While sitting in the tranquil gardens, the normally aggressive Hawaiian Geese couple decided to investigate to see if I had any food for them followed closely by the Bar-headed Geese couple while the beautiful coloured ducks kept their distance.

Goosey goosey ganders swam over only to find the food was none and all the little ducks went quack, quack, quack.

Sunday 21 December 2014

Catching the Sun


When the first rays of sun peep over the horizon, our Italian Greyhounds love to soak up all the warmth they can get. The night is like Kryptonite to them and the sun recharges all their super powers. Here is our two naughty children Maxy and Minky recharging themselves by catching the first rays of the sun from the veranda.

Saturday 20 December 2014

Tyre Replacement


Before going on any long trip with your vehicle, you would need to do a thorough safety check. Frome Brakes to windscreen wipers all need to be checked. Here is Lynda’s car spending the morning at Tiger Wheel and Tyre, getting a new set of front tyres on and wheel alignment adjusted.

Friday 19 December 2014

Distinguished Gentleman


With all the mad rush of Christmas shopping, something caught my eye. It was a panama hat which I had to try on, just had to. Lynda was amazed how it changed my look and she promptly bought it for me for Christmas. The best part is that I get to wear it now. Interesting how just a small accessory can change a look entirely. Now excuse me as I try on my panama and change into a distinguished gentleman or is that a serious look?

Thursday 18 December 2014

Hunger Buster


Ella and I took a drive down to President Hyper in Krugersdorp because our canteen is closed for the holidays and we were hunger. Well not this hungry as I discovered the Hunger Buster selling for R49.99. There is no ways I can finish this that is if I would be crazy enough to buy one. This begs the question, would anyone buy this cold meat roll called a Hunger Buster?

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Ruffling some Feathers


Do you remember those baby peafowl that I posted on Monday, well today this Crowned Crane had them cornered. He had intimidated the mother peahen and was busy trying to eat the baby chicks but they had scattered into the undergrowth. We heard the commotion of the mother peahen crying in desperation as the bigger and much stronger crane tried to flush out one of the baby chicks. That was when we stepped in and herded the crane away but he was determined to make a meal out of one of the babies. So while Matthew and I ran interference, Rob managed to herd the defenceless mother and her chicks to safety.

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Incoming Attack


The swan couple at work laid seven eggs but only five hatched. And out of the five hatchlings these swan parents have only two cygnets. I am not sure what happened to the other three cygnets but you can understand why I am now under attack, I got too close. You can just see the two cygnets behind mommy swan as the daddy swan is incoming while I bravely hold my ground.

Monday 15 December 2014

Pea Chicks


Well keeping on the topic of babies everywhere, one of the peahen’s eggs hatched on Friday. So this morning mother peahen paraded her five small chicks passed my office window. Now I remembering the awful noise the peacocks made wooing the peahens, am very worried as all I can think of is how much more noise there will be come this mating season. But then all the ladies still in the office went ahhhhhh cute, as one does when seeing babies. Sigh!

Sunday 14 December 2014

Four Ducklings


We are into the beginning of summer and babies are popping up everywhere. From the cats bringing in baby chicks from their raids to these four little ducklings feeding in the stream. They are quite well camouflaged amongst the small rocks, one is at the bottom middle while the other three are at the top middle busy bobbing for food. After the hype and busyness of Ingress yesterday, we weren’t sure of what to do. Well Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest né. With thoughts of babies everywhere how can anyone rest? Even yesterday there was quite a few prams at the Darsana XM Anomaly. It must have been a busy productive spring.

Saturday 13 December 2014

Darsana Pretoria


Last night it was like quiet before the storm, I mean I quietly prepared all our equipment, checked, and then double checked our stock levels. We were ready!

Pretoria was selected as a satellite site for Darsana XM Anomaly in support of the primary site at Barcelona Spain. I can’t speak for the Enlightened but the Resistance has been eagerly preparing for weeks now. Getting stock levels up, training in teams, and putting out disinformation to try getting the Enlightened off balance and not focused. And it seemed to work.

The Enlightened only managed to field 56 what could now be called brave little green frogs against the Resistance who said enough is enough as 106 highly trained blue Smurfs stood up. As I can only speak for our team Northern Ninjas, along with all the other Resistance teams we simply stopped the frogs mid hop.

For Cluster 1, Dispatch sent our team with about 3 others down to the two sub-clusters far from the main sub-clusters where we found only 1 frog team in place. A huge green field appeared covering the entire area with anchors 1000s of km away, too far send anyone to take out. But this just made us more determined as now we could not let a single portal fall. Two volatile portals appeared in the two sub-clusters we were at and the frogs simply found them out smarted, out played, and out matched.

Next it was off to Cluster 2 were our team got to our sub-cluster early. Soon afterwards 2 frogs appeared followed by the rest of our teams to the remaining sub-clusters. The volatile portal appeared in the sub-cluster right next to ours. It looked like the Enlightened’s game plan changed as suddenly re-enforcements arrived at the volatile in mass. So 2 of our team stayed at our allocated portals while the rest shifted slightly over to protect the volatile. Evenly matched over this disputed portal we out played the frogs once again with strategy.

I wasn’t sure that the Enlightened would take any of these defeats lying down as the Northern Ninjas arrived to look after a single portal tucked out the way in Cluster 3. Once again we found the volatile located in our section. This time we were outnumbered by 1 frog, and these weren’t any tadpoles, these were the heavy hitters. It was a hard battle but the tide turned suddenly when 2 frogs decided they had enough and left. If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen as we are going to be barbequing some frog’s legs tonight.

After that tough win we headed for Cluster 4 which we knew it would be difficult as most of the portals were close to each other. As before the volatile appeared in our sub-cluster but under another Resistance teams area but because the portals were so close we couldn’t help but put our weight into the volatile denying the frogs anything.

In the end we just did not give the Enlightened any space to breathe. Final score for Darsana Pretoria is Resistance 212 and Enlightened 12.6 Whitewash, no sorry bluewash. We left all these green frogs blue with envy.

Final score:
Barcelona Resistance 910 Enlightened 786
Stuttgart Resistance 457 Enlightened 293
Pretoria Resistance 212 Enlightened 12.6 (Note the frogs only got 12)
Toulouse Resistance 142 Enlightened 145

Friday 12 December 2014

Cookies Rush


Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies. Yip Friday and for many at work, this is their last day before they on summer leave. Myself well I am trying to save leave for the Easter holidays where I would like to take a lovely ling break. Being the last day for many means last minute rush that needs completion, a VIP visit, and a Giving Thanks service all crammed into a few short hours. Thankfully Ilana brought some cookies in, which somehow filled the spot when there was no time for lunch.

Thursday 11 December 2014

The Sunflower Fund


As we approach the second Christmas that God has granted Nika since she was first diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, I sat and folded the Sunfower Fund’s bandanna for tomorrow’s Giving Thanks Day at Bosasa. My thoughts were on Nika who this Christmas is doing exceptionally well compared to last year February when she was diagnosed with this life threating blood disorder.

Nika’s options to live were very slim in South Africa, thankfully her parents managed to get her booked into the Toronto Children’s Hospital and she was flown over as soon as she was stable. The Northern American Bone Marrow Register is so much larger than the South African one which increased her chance of finding a bone marrow match.

Last year for Nika had been an up and down in the hands of God and the talented staff of the Toronto Children’s Hospital type of year. This year she slowly improved and now Nika is nearly normal little girl who has been though a lot.

So now we get to Nika’s blessed second Christmas since her journey with Aplastic Anemia started, I plead you to help get our South African Bone Marrow Registry bigger. Many South African children need you to register so there might be a slim chance that they would have many more Christmases too. If you are committed to helping; are between the ages of 18 and 45; in general good health; over 50kg with a Body Mass Index higher than 35; and prepared to remain on the register until you are 60 years of age then please why are you waiting?
  1. Call 0800 12 10 82 or 0210661
  2. Answer medical questions and if you are eligible then
  3. You will be directed to your nearest recruitment clinic
  4. Two vials of blood will be drawn
  5. Blood would be tested and results put on the register
  6. The South African Bone Marrow Registry will post you your card in 6-8 weeks
That simple. Oops I forgot that the Postal Services are still on strike. Oh well don’t let that stop you.

Please note, small print time, to narrow any complications with the bone marrow the South African Bone Marrow Registry asks that if you not register if you think need an HIV test; have been exposed to hepatitis or HIV by contact with family or work; have injected yourself even once with illegal or non-prescription drugs; lead an unsafe sexual lifestyle; get regular tattoos or piercings; are pregnant or have had a baby in the last year; have had cancer; and have a phobia for needles.

They say finding a match is 1:100,000 in South Africa so please pick up the phone 0800 12 10 82.

At first I thought that if they find me as a match to someone I would have to go through operations but the Sunflower Fund has told me that it is a process of 4 to 6 hours which they draw blood from your arm into a cell separator machine which extracts your bone marrow from your blood and returned back into you. Plus it is at no charge to you as all costs are picked up through donations. So no skin off your nose. Get registered and help save a life!

That is all I have to say other than to continue folding hundreds of the Sunflower Fund’s bandanna with Mkuseli, Ilana, Mpho, and Noma.

Wednesday 10 December 2014

LSD I Must Be Tripping


This evening, Lynda and I had a meeting with our Ingress team, the Northern Ninjas at LSD Information Technology’s offices. As LSD’s slogan is Open Your World, walking into these top Linux developers’ play area opened my eyes or else I was tripping on something. I mean what is this blow up doll dressed up as some Christmas Grinch sitting in the walkway to the boardroom? It was enough to scare the Enlightened out of me, if I swung that way but we all were proudly Resistance geeks. It looks like the penguins from LSD have on display as a trophy, one of the enlightened grinches who didn’t try to turn it off and on again before calling IT Support.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Feathers Flock Together


I have a pheasant and a guineafowl feather that have been sitting on my desk for some time know. It is meant for my collection of feathers at home but somehow these two just don’t make it. So today as a reminder to take them home they became the featured blog photograph. Although worlds apart, one from south-east Asia and the other sub-saharan Africa, to me they sort of blend in and meant to be together. One feather in the cap, and one feather to tickle.

Monday 8 December 2014

Monkey's Happy Place


It has been getting rather busy at work with the end of the year approaching fast. Nando Möller arrived at work with some of his paintings. He mostly paints in black and white with hints of colour. This one caught my eye, Nando called it his Happy Place, interesting. Now let me think, in a black and white world, music is colour to my ears.

Sunday 7 December 2014

The Silver Birch Restaurant


I say Continental, you say Conintenental!

With all the load shedding of electricity what can you do? Stay at home, go out, but don’t try travel in traffic as all the light are out. I mean literary Eskom has let us down once again, they have dropped the ball. I mean what did South Africa use before candles? Electricity.

So we went out and found a spot that was between load shedding. Oh we can’t give Eskom credit for load shedding as it is just bad planning and management on their part, period. So we had a late Sunday lunch at The Silver Birch Restaurant inside Life Style Garden Centre. We ordered something light as one does when not knowing when Eskom would be ugly and turn off the lights. What caught our attention on their newly made menus was the spelling mistakes. Oh my word didn’t anyone spell check?

Saturday 6 December 2014

Ingress First Saturday


Well today is the first Ingress "First Saturday" event to be held in Gauteng. 48 cities were chosen worldwide and luckily Johannesburg was selected as one of them. It was a good turn out but sadly it was 31 Enlightened against 26 Resistance. We, the Resistance, put up a gallant fight until the so called enlightened Nick threw a green slime field over the entire playing field. Oh well we nearly won overall but won the coveted floating trophy. Well done to Nam3berry, you have done the Resistance proud.

Is this what we can expect from Darsana next Saturday?

Friday 5 December 2014

Tiger in the Bathroom


Well our cat population decreased by one soon after we moved here and today we added another kitty to the total. Tiger shown above was rescued after it was involved on the losing end when a families dogs set upon him twice in two months. The first time he was hospitalised and this time enough was enough and we rescued him from the traumatic home situation he was in.

So here is Tiger hiding in our bathroom. He has been a single cat in a family with young children and dogs. He is very friendly to us humans but doesn’t know what to make of our other cats. Oh well time will heal him of his scars and soon, hopefully soon he will be playing with the others.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Bug Screen Splat


After work last night, I had to do the 2 hour ride across Gauteng from Krugersdorp to Benoni. The weather was good so my first choice was my Vespa GTS300ie. The ride was great but then the return trip late in the evening was another issue altogether.

All I can say is thank goodness for the Vespa’s large bug screen. Along the country roads the lights from the vehicles attracted all sorts of flying insects and when I came cruising along all I could hear was the splatting of insects like rain hitting my bug screen. Now for the clean-up. If I remember correctly, I once heard about somebody who studies windscreens splatter and can identify what type of insects by the splat remains.

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Sunrise Cat


Just like our Italian Greyhounds, Minky our cat loves to soak up the early rays of the sun, drawing strength after a long dark night.

Waking up this morning to the curtains being thrown open and the first rays of the sun peeping over the horizon, Minky was there to wish me a good morning. The best part was the cup of coffee next to my bed as I sipped with eyes glued shut with sleep dust and a purring putty tat grooming me awake.

All I can say, today is going to be a long day.

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Secret Sandra


Oh trying to keep a secret are we Sandra? We all know it is your birthday and what a surprise you got when the entire office got to know about it and walked up to your desk singing Happy Birthday. Now the whole wide world is going to know that today is your secret 31st birthday. Now I am starting to wonder what other secrets you are hiding.

Monday 1 December 2014

Princess of Sheba


Walking through the gardens of Mogale Business Park during lunch time, keeping well clear of the swan pair and their cygnets, I was surprised to stumble upon the three female Nyala. The Nyala weren’t the surprise but the fawn that was with them. I wonder how I missed this little one before.

Oh yes, now I remember, as in the wild Nyala are bashful creatures and these kept to themselves hidden in the vegetation. Sorry but this is the best I could get of the Princess of Sheba with my point and shoot camera which is at most times carried with me where ever I go. You can see the three concerned mommies in the shadow behind baby.

Princess Sheba as I am now calling her is beautiful was inquisitive, and seemed torn between following the three females into the undergrowth and this animal called a human. I wish I could have stayed longer with them but I didn’t want to spook them any further.

Sunday 30 November 2014

Cat on the News


Hey there Minky, I wanted to read that newspaper. Oh well our cat thinks the Sunday paper filled with bad news belongs to her. So how do I gently persuade her that literary being on the news for all the wrong reasons is not cool? Sure could use a little good news today.

One of my favourite songs of the 80s was by Anne Murray still rings true today 30 years later as the count down towards the remembrance of the birth of the Messiah in this world over 2000 years ago. I could change her words only so slightly and I would still hear the cries of billions of people, "Sure could use a little good news today".

I rolled out this morning the kids had the morning news show on
Bryant Gumbel was talking about the fighting in Lebanon
Some senator was squawking about the bad economy
It's gonna get worse you see, we need a change in policy

There's a local paper rolled up in a rubber band
One more sad story's one more than I can stand
Just once how I'd like to see the headline say
"Not much to print today, can't find nothing bad to say", because

Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town
Nobody OD'ed, nobody burned a single building down
Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain
We sure could use a little good news today

I'll come home this evening, I'll bet that the news will be the same
Somebody takes a hostage, somebody steals a plane
How I wanna hear the anchor man talk about a county fair
And how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care

Whoa, tell me

Nobody was assassinated in the whole Third World today
And in the streets of Ireland, all the children had to do was play
And everybody loves everybody in the good old USA
We sure could use a little good news today

Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town
Nobody OD'ed, nobody burned a single building down
Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain
We sure could use a little good news today

Saturday 29 November 2014

Geek Fest


It is that time of year again, the Geek Fest. This year it is held just down the road from us, so it was a perfect opportunity to load Matthew, Maxy, and Jade onto the Vespa and head down to the place where anything and everyone geeky meet.

What a contrast, last year it was very cold and this year very hot. The poor cosplayers must have been sweating in their costumes. Luckily no one came dressed as a wookiee although a few Darth Vaders were melting away in their all black attire. Here is Gary, his son Brendon, Matthew, Maxy, and Jade enjoying the festivities.

Friday 28 November 2014

Let Sleeping Cats Lie?


It was an early start for Matthew this morning as I am taking him to work for the day. Due to my dawdling start he went back to lie down on the bed to wait for me to decide when was the best time to leave. And I found him like this.

Matthew and Minky were cuddled up together having a cat nap. So do I let the sleeping cats lie or do I wake them up? Uhmmmm.

Thursday 27 November 2014

It's Party Time


It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to. Yes it is time for the second Christmas party of the year to begin and I can let my hair down. Well, okay forget the hair part as I cry.

My work colleagues met at the Barnyard for an afternoon of good times and celebration at the end of a good year. You can see in the above photograph Mr Grumpy is enjoying the company of Noma and Mpho. Christmas parties, end year office revelry, bah humbug!

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Ngwao Boswa


So here is the boss man, Rob, sporting an Ngwao Boss cap. From what I have been told that Ngwao Boswa is Setswana word for Heritage and Ngwao Boss is a brand that draws inspiration from Setswana heritage. So wear the Ngwao Boss proudly!

Tuesday 25 November 2014

To Bury a Hedgehog


It is sad to report that this morning while walking I discovered that a Southern African Hedgehog had electrocuted himself on our electric fence surrounding our home. This gruesome discovery has hit us hard because we love the wild country living but being in South Africa home security has to be a priority.

I found it strange that it got itself killed as there are places where it could get under the fence harmlessly but somehow chose a low area. I just hope that it wasn’t the relentless rain, an owl, or even one of our cats which could have confused the poor thing last night.

I have buried some pets such as cats and dogs in my lifetime and even flushed a few goldfish but I must say that this is a first time and I hope the last that I get to bury a hedgehog.So as we lay this poor little creature down to sleep, Matthew, still half asleep and I stood over the tiny grave we dug in the breaking light of the new day.

Monday 24 November 2014

Social Media Law, Bacon, and Baby Rhinos


A seven o’ clock breakfast in Sandton was not cool. Firstly it is way too early for me to start fighting traffic just for a breakfast seminar. Secondly no bacon. Yes no breakfast should be ever called a breakfast if bacon is not involved, seriously people, this is not cool.

I enjoyed the seminar talk on Managing Risk and Compliance of Social Media but there was others who have already been on many of these talks such as Mr X (name withheld as speaker is a lawyer specialising in Social Media) and in his opinion comparing to other talks on the subject that he has been on, this one he rated as mediocre, poor choice of venue for so early on a Monday morning, and wait for it, with a poor attempt of a breakfast. You see bacon plays an important part of anyone’s morning, as they normally are.

Bottom line I didn’t have much to compare with, I enjoyed the talk and found it informative but all I could rate it with was in terms of the breakfast they served and yes this one was mediocre. Not worth fighting the traffic to Sandton for. Luckily for me I was on my Vespa which allowed me to whisk through the gridlock surrounding Sandton during rush hour as one does on a Vespa.

After the talk, I had to walk across to Sandton Mall to buy a new belt as mine conveniently broke yesterday and now I found myself beltless. Maybe it was this that caused me to crave for some bacon. The shops were all geared towards the coming Christmas but something caught my eye. “Have you seen my mother?” cried a baby rhino on a poster. Under the Stop Rhino Poaching poster was these hand painted porcelain baby rhinos. And there you have it, the ahhh cute moment of my day.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Rain, Loadshedding, and Walks


The heavens opened up this morning which left us wondering when would this torrential rain would come to an end. While the rain just continued, we started looking out for any tell tell signs of animals collecting in pairs or some bearded man building a large boat.

Somehow the rain did come to an end, the skies turned blue and the sun started drying up the saturated land. But Eishkom, our only electricity producer thought it a perfect time to continue with load shedding. To make the best of a bad situation we decided that a walk will do us good.

So walk we did along this dirt road and into the country side. Here is Lynda and Matthew with Patch, Maxy, Podge, and Jade, during our walk. Toto this aren’t no yellow brick road. Happily we can report back that we found no animals walking two by two, nor any crazy man building an ark, nor the Emerald Palace but I nice walk was had by all.

Saturday 22 November 2014

A Cat in a Pear Tree


It looks like Eskom or should I say Eiskom is on an Electricity Load Shedding program to counter their bad planning and inefficiency. While they get bonuses for what nobody knows, we consumers have to pay through our noses for electricity and then they simply load shed because they can’t supply.

So what do you do when there is no electricity for about four hours every day? Well we spent the time relaxing. In our new garden we found a number of fruit trees from apricot to pear trees, and uhmmm these apricots taste awesome. Minky our cat also enjoys the fruit trees, well not the fruit or the nesting birds dive bombing her but the simple act of monkeying about in the branches.

Friday 21 November 2014

Ikhwezi Primary


The print side of eKayaMedia was busy with a deadline that require hands to help Ikhwezi Primary School, one of our Corporate Social Investment programs. As they say more hands make light work, and with the digital team getting stuck in, soon we had the deadline licked. Here you can see Sandra, Wayne, Mpho, Pabi, Noma, myself, and Ilana striving for excellence.
Even though we managed to complete the CSI project in record time, Eskom's bad planning caught us out with electricity load shedding, go figure.

Thursday 20 November 2014

The Traffic was this Bad


Although it is just a hop onto the Vespa and an easy buzz into work, most don’t have the luxury of a Vespa and have to suffer the Johannesburg traffic woes. This morning was even worse that Lynda could kill if it was in her nature. Sadly Johannesburg has this effect on others and road rage over spills, taxis become a law unto themselves, while normal citizens suffer.

Here is Lynda showing me how bad the traffic was today and all I could respond was Date Night, put your feet up let me spoil you.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Inspired Daisy


After over indulging on good food and wine last night. I slept in a bad position which put my damaged knee under pressure. My knee problem started way back when I spent 2 years in the army under the Conscription draft. I was in the mounted light infantry using horses to patrol. My knees took a pounding due to the long hours in the saddle and to the consistence kicking and biting of the horses while riding in formation. After stepping down after a long patrol, my knees used to collapse until the knees remembered to carry me.

This morning I could hardly walk so I got back in the saddle of my Vespa, and rode to work. Imagine seen a big man on a bright coloured Vespa riding in the traffic with crutches. Under excruciating pain, Ella gave me some Cataflam and within an half an hour I was right as rain.

Talking about rain, this afternoon we had a small thunder storm and after the rain, I browsed through the gardens looking for inspiration. It was here that I spotted the daisies’ covered in water droplets.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Christmas Dinner


With the year ending and Christmas just 5 weeks away, our Home Circle group held their Christmas dinner at Andy and Sandy’s home.

As always an awesome spread was laid out and it was a grand end to the year. The starters were followed by roast turkey, lamb, potatoes, and vegetables as the main course. And hot on its heels was dessert.

Monday 17 November 2014

Go Blonde or Go Home


They say that blondes have all the fun, is simply a matter of opinion but according to Rod Steward they do. It has nothing to do with having fun but science, plain and simply science tells us it is all up to the climatic conditions. Cold weather switches on the gene responsible for blondes. So why the obsession about blondes?

Before I continue, do I say blond or blonde? Well from what I have been taught since I was a young pup, is that both are correct in terms of the fair hair but the difference is in the gender. Blond is the masculine form of the feminine blonde. So I am a strawberry blond and she is a blonde even though I prefer a red head.

Anyway Pontsho turned up to work this morning with blonde hair, not natural of course but bottle blonde, a shock to the system I must say. Pontsho was hiding her hair under a doek as she is now having second thoughts. Well it is go blonde or go home as they say it.

Sunday 16 November 2014

Vashta Nerada – Count the Shadows


There are things that live in the shadows. When I was a young boy I used to always check under the bed before switching off the lights then run from the light switch and leap onto the bed from a distance. I was afraid of what was under the bed might reach out. "Everyone at some point in their lives has the same dream: You sense someone in the dark. You get out of bed. A hand reaches out from under the bed and grabs your ankle. But what if it's not a dream?"

Fear makes companions of us all. What if their are things living in the shadows and one of the things are the Vashta Nerada, microscopic beings. Although individually they are like specks of dust, not dangerous but when their numbers get out of control they swarm and can devour the flesh straight off your bones in milliseconds.

When swarming they tend to mimic the shadows, your shadow. Count the shadows, if you want to live, count the shadows. And stay out of the shadows. Best of all run. And Scarlet and I ran.

Late in the afternoon, on my Vespa, I counted the shadows.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Pascal et Geraldine


It is that time of year again, the Canon Roadshow. It is where I get to meet some old friends such as Alan, Craig, Desiree, Mark, and as shown above my Belgium friends, Pascal and his lovely wife Geraldine.

Friday 14 November 2014

The Tortoise and the Vespa


When the weather is great, I really enjoy taking to the open road on my beautiful red Vespa GTS300 Super. Arriving at work this morning I saw this tortoise slowly trudging along at its own pace and without a care in the world. Thankfully the speed limit here is only 20kph due to the wildlife in the area so this tortoise was easily avoided by the nimble Vespa.

Thursday 13 November 2014

Farmer Goes Topless



With all the soaking rain that we have had in the last week, I wasn’t surprised to see the farmer next door earnestly preparing his fields. The sun was setting when I arrived back home to find the topless farmer chugging away on top of his red Massey Ferguson 268 tractor. For my non South Africa readers, in Afrikaans we would call a farmer, ‘n boer. Racing against the remaining light, the boer with his broad smile continued ploughing the land while I watched from the side.

In a way it was therapeutical just watching this basic component of our food chain, die boer op sy plaas in Afrika. Ja nee with the sound of the tractor, klap klap klap, my troubles became so distant.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Baby Making Weather


It’s a dreich day, and as a teenager we used to call this type of weather BMW or Baby Making Weather because with the rain set in, you just want to stay in bed. Yes as I lay in bed listening to the pitter patter of the rain onto the roof I wanted to call in a Duvet Day.

Many moons ago I used to work for a corporate company which allowed employers to take a Duvet Day for when they just wanted to go back to sleep and this morning was one of those days. Sadly Bosasa does not recognise Duvet Days so I took my time getting up this morning and heading to the business park in the clouds.

The base level of the clouds is very low today which enshrouded Mogale Business Park in thick clouds. The office park has sort of a bonnie charm to it that reminds me of the highlands. Forget about the pink flamingos or the gorillas in the mist, we have blue cranes strolling through the mist. Now where’s my bed?

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