In Flux

No we are not getting a new puppy, as we already have too many cats, dogs, and other wild creatures at home for any more animals. Today became a very fluid day, with constant changing of what was happening. First Lynda, Robynne, Rebekah, Dakotah, and myself were going to drive down to Pietermaritzburg at 1pm but the plans all changed when Dakotah got very sick and had to go to the doctor. Marco drove all the way back up yo Johannesburg and I was then going drive down by myself but then Lynda decided to join me and off we drove. 

While waiting in flux for Marco to arrive, this little scrap of a pup decided that I was a good carry person. Not sure his name but this puppy is the latest in Robynne's pack of Minpins.

Cinderleesha

We have rearranged our office and Taleesha decided to become Cinderella for the day and do a through spring cleaning. Armed with a mop, Cinderleesha began her cleanup and BOOM our office was clean again.

Sacred Cow

About twenty years ago the Cow Parade started and every now and then I find a painted cow hidden somewhere in a corporate foyer. A few weeks back I saw this sacred cow peering over the balcony of the Institute of Directors, and I wanted to get a photo but because I have been very busy I only got a chance to get closer to this cow for a photo. This cow was painted by Heide-Marie Thackwray.

Mentor Coffee

I get to meet my mentor, Tom about once a month, and this afternoon after work was coffee time with Tom at his place in Morningside. Thank goodness my sugar intake has dropped from 3 to only 1 teaspoon. 

Purple Bush

I going got home about 1am this morning after the long drive up from Pietermarizburg. After a quick hot shower, I was soon past out. The alarm woke me at 5am, darn I have to get ready for work. 

Mid afternoon, the lack of sleep was catching up with me. Eish I thought I would never make it but here I am, ready for bed. The ride home on the Vespa gave me a second wind enough to smell the pretty purple flowers growing in the front garden. I think by tomorrow my internal clock would be reset. Night everyone, sleep tight.

Not What it Seems

Last night we stopped at the Parklane SuperSpar in Pietermarizburg to buy the number one item for me, milk for coffee, and since it was quite late to cook some food to eat. Kojak loves caramel glazed donuts so he grabbed a pack. Later at home, he took a bite and too his dismay it was not caramel but peanut butter. He ate a whole one with long teeth and Marco even took a bite out of one but had to spit it out. The label on the container states Mini Ring Donuts for R 23.94, nothing about peanut butter. This is very deceiving of you SuperSpar.

Today was a nightmare for Kojak as every hour he had to rush to find a toilet as he had the squirts. From what we can ascertain the only item of food that Kojak ate differently than us was that one donut covered in peanut butter. Funny for us but not cool at all for Kojak.

UPDATE

Lesley from Parklane SuperSpar phoned to apologise for what happened and to ask after Kojak's health. He states that the Peanut butter covered donuts are one of their biggest sellers. Their mistake was that they didn't label it correctly.

Eligible Robbie

Robbie, my best friend from school, is aging gracefully and not showing his age as I am although the rust on his crust aka red hair, is just about all grey with little to say that he was once had a full crop of red hair. Well I can't talk as I am just about bald with silver beard, yes I didn't grow grey like Robbie but like a silver back, I am a silver beard.

Although we didn't spend much time together, it was good catching up in the little time we had. His love life has changed since we last spoke last year, so ladies here is an eligible bachelor who potentially would make a desirable husband. 

And the Winner Is

Last month a challenge was put out in the office as to who can cook the best Biryani. Taleesha who is of Indian descent and Graham a fairly good amateur cook, took up the gourmet challenge with gusto. And today with 4 judges including me, yum yum, did the taste test.

I am not sure how the others judged but here is my score sheet.

• Presentation: Went to Taleesha as hers was a more traditional looking Biryani of Durban and Southern Indian whereas Graham's looked Northern India with its layers although it looked a little on the bulimic side.
• Aroma: Hands down to Graham
• Texture: To Graham again as he use yogurt and it was nice and moist compared to Taleesha's
• Taste: It was close with Taleesha being more authentic and Graham's leaning more to a Thai taste.

With the other judges scores in, the winner went to ...

Graham. Well done.

I Believe

They say you gotta have faith, but faith in what. I am a creationist, I believe in God who created all things and looking at this beautiful orchid in our kitchen, I know deep down in my soul that God created this delicate flower, perfect in every way. 

I used to wonder if God really existed, if this belief system was just made up because the world around me is so full of sin. Surely God the creator of all should destroy it all and start with a clean slate. All these questions.

I have first hand experience that there is an afterlife and today I have no doubt that God has His best interest in me. He cares for me even in the small details. He has never let me down.

I believe in God our Father, in Jesus His son, and in the Holy Spirit. Though the grace of God, Jesus died for my sins and now I am looking forward to joining the saints who have gone before me, with God.

Life's Lemons

They say that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. I say you must lay the lemons at the foot of the cross in prayer. 

It is remaining dark much longer now that winter is upon us in the southern hemisphere. I am up in the dark feeding the dogs before I have to leave for work in the dark. The lemons are as usual bursting with citrus goodness. I don't know why as they need lots of water and lots of water from where is a question I have not fathomed yet. But all I can do is thank God for the lemons in my life and to ask for the wisdom to do the best I can with the lemons.

Augmentin

And there you have it, the end of my antibiotics course finish. I am not 100% but nearly there. I got it wrong last week when I said 12 days of antibiotics as it turned out to be only 7. I must have made some wrong calculations in my fuzzy head due to the flu. 

Anyways I am still here.

Me Breakfast

Okay it may look like the dog's breakfast and it aren't bacon and eggs but it is my breakfast this morning. Yip trying to be healthy for a change, not easy, but I do my best. This wholesome breakfast is All Brain cereal smothered in double cream strawberry yogurt. Ahhh just what the good doctor ordered for a Monday morning. 

Stay Awesome!

Feeding the Chickens

The chickens have come home to roost. Yesterday was a hard day to work through. I had made plans for the day but the wobbly start did not help. So here I was this morning sitting in bed, drinking coffee and thinking about what had happened the day before.

It was a slow start but once coffee was done, it was into the shower, then a rush to get going to church. After church, we popped in to Marco and Robynne's place to pick a pattern book that Lynda forgot there and while there Marco invited us to go out somewhere. We ended up at some farm yard place in the deep south of Johannesburg, Marco's stomping ground from his youth.

So here I am with granddaughter Dakota, sitting on my lap feeding the chickens. 

I am Alive

Wow, sorry but this has been an emotional and hard day for me today, so as I write this post I do apologise for my state of mind, as it is okay not being okay, if that means anything to you. Well lets start from the beginning shall we...

I had some dreams early morning and it have been these dreams that go progressively stranger as dreams go which has rocked my emotional world today. I am still shaking as I write this.

In the first dream, I found myself with some people by the sacred waters of the Venda people which is called Lake of Fundudzi. I have been there once before in 1987 many moons ago. I don't remember much of the lake but in my dream I was there again. It was dry, hardly any water. The people with me and myself started walking across the dry lake bed. I remember stopping and taking a photo with my cellphone to share later on the internet. As we got towards the other side, the people started wading through water. I didn't want to get wet so I decided to turn around and go back. On my way back, water started flowing back into the lake, so I hesitated. Should I run or wait till the rushing water calmed down? I decided to start moving through the rush of water for safety but as I was wading through the rushing water, I was eventually swept off my feet and found myself swimming for the bank. Thankfully I made it safely but was concerned about my wet phone.

Then came the next dream which somehow faded in. I think I was in Durban, a city from my past. We were finishing up some sort of show or something and I was in this small truck directing the route back home because I knew the city. In front was a much bigger horse and trailer truck. We came to these tunnels, now there are no tunnels for vehicles in Durban but in this dream there was 3 in each direction next to each other. The big truck in front of us got stuck and could not get through so had to turn around. I knew the way, either we go through one of these tunnels or drive across via another route which will take a bit longer. I was sure that our smaller truck would fit through but sadly we could not. A part of the entrance to the tunnel got damaged so while the person that was with me was negotiating with the tunnel authorities, I stood and watched from the side and this is when it all went down...

I felt a hand come round me on my right side. My wallet was in that pocket, thinking someone was trying to pickpocket me, I grabbed the hand and spun around. And I saw her, a woman with this big glowing smile on her familiar face, as she said in the voice that I instantly recognised, "I'm only messing with you". It was my late wife Carol. She looked different, the same yet different. Still not 100% sure I queried, "Carol?" And she replied, "Yes!" Stunned, I answered, "you are dead?" She answered me, "I am alive!" "But you are dead", I said for the second time and she replied the same "I am alive" and added "I told you that it would be alright." I then whipped out my cellphone and asked if I can take a photo. Trust me, this is what I do even in my dreams. Carol replied, "for your blog?", and I answered, "no for Matthew". While taking photos on my cellphone, I again noticed her broad smiling face. She looked so happy. Her hair was brown with silver necklaces around her neck, she never wore jewellery but Carol had a few around her neck. She wore this beautiful dress but it was her smile that caught my eye, her teeth was all fixed and she had this full smiling face. She looked so happy and beautiful.

I awoke suddenly, and just sat bewildered in bed, with emotions raging. What did just happen? The morning light was streaming through the blinds. I got up and walked through to the kitchen to make some coffee. While making the coffee I was thinking about these dreams. It was about 3 weeks ago that I sat in the car with Matthew, speaking to him about his mother, Carol, because Mother's Day was coming up and it would be his first Mother's Day without his mom. I remembered taking Matthew to the hospital on the last Mother's Day to visit his mom and then it dawned on me that it was nearly a year since she passed away. Not quite sure, I found myself sitting back in bed with my coffee, going through my blog to find out exactly when Carol past away and was blown away. It was today, this morning, 1 year ago to the date that Carol crossed over. And now this morning Carol decided to visit me in a dream to show me that she is home and is happy. 

I just sat in bed, emotionally blown away. Surely this was no residual memory. This was not a dream. Believe me I had to check my phone for the photos.

Grumpy Cat

I am back at work after some serious man flu. No I am not 100% but I am getting there. Although for me it has been a short week, it is now catch up on everything, work, news, and social. It has been a long time sorry folks but I am back.

While glancing through twitter, something caught my eye, Grumpy Cat Dies! Oh no not Tardar Sauce, not Grumpy Cat, nooooooo. Clicking through to the article, I saw that in the header image, the site had done some screenshots of tweets from Grumpy Cat fans from all over the world posting RIPs, one of the tweets jumped out at me. It was a tweet from someone I actually know, a Joburg Photowalker called Axel. Wow who would have thought that he was a fan of Grumpy Cat. This article went viral and of course Axel's tweet along with it.

When I arrived back later, I told Princess, shown above and she was not happy with the news too. Grumpy cat? Who was Grumpy cat? I hope you don't think that I am grumpy, do you?

Baby Prayer

Day 3 on I am on track for recovery from this man flu as the banging on a tin roof sound in my ears have being reduced to something similar to waves on a beach but only in the 1 ear. More bearable I think. 

Dale came in late afternoon while working in the vegetable garden carrying this little creature, a small praying mantis. Not sure if this is just a small species of praying mantis or if it is still a baby praying mantis. Thank goodness that we don't use insecticide in our garden as it has become a paradise for butterflies, chameleons, and other beautiful creatures such as this little guy. 

Man Size

Man sized meds for a man sized flu. Sadly my walls of my ears have swollen closed due to an inner ear infection. My hearing is down to 10% and I have to speak up with an outside voice just to hear myself whisper. Along with flu, sinus, cortisone, and probiotic tablets, I was given a 12 day course of penicillian in these man sized tablets. Like how am I going to these down my gallet, how?

They say that man flu is worse than child birth but with this constant banging in my ears, I can hardly hear myself think. What could be worse?

Stark Walls

I woke up in the early hours of this morning with this banging in my ears. It was like someone banging on a tin roof next door. Really, at this time of the morning, but it was my heart beat banging so loud in my ears. My nose was all bunged up. So I stumbled up to the kitchen to make some ginger tea and my balance was not so great that I had to use the passage walls to keep from falling. While my tea was drawing, I jumped into the shower.

The ringing in my ears didn't stop.

So off the the doctors, I went. I didn't expect the doctor's rooms to be so stark. Where are the cheerful pictures? Only clinical white with 1 feature wall behind the reception being a bloody red. There wasn't even a clock. The good thing for me was that the waiting area was empty and half and hour later I was in front of a doctor.

Not Well With Me

What a day! I never noticed something was terribly wrong with me as I rode home after work. I did notice that the sound of my Vespa as I weaved through the traffic was softer than normal, purring actually. 

I wasn't feeling well as man flu was just about to break over me like a storm wave looming over me. Corenza C and straight to bed. I woke up a few hours later with Minky snoozing next to me in the dying light of the day streaming through the blinds. Oh loyal Minky.

Grandma's Day

The best part of being a grandparent is that when it becomes too much we can simply hand the grandchildren back to the parents. Nice, not that Dakotah is any of a handfull. Now where did I leave the candy?

I am down with a bug, not feeling well, yet I climbed out of bed, got the braai/barbeque going and waiting for the children to arrive with the grandchildren in tow. After they arrived, I got the meat on the grill, and socialized from a distance as not to past any germs over. When everyone had left I headed straight for bed, grandma's feather bed and didn't pass Start. 

Chicken Pasta

I must be coming down with something, thanks Kyle, as I have been craving some chicken soup. Well no soup at home so I quickly rustled up some chicken pasta done in creamy mustard source. Not sure if it looks good, but it sure did taste good. 

Just Watching

It's Friday, and I arrive home all pooped and crash onto the couch. I must have fallen asleep because I opened my eyes to find Tiger sitting in front of me watching, just watching.

What did I do wrong to deserve this unrelenting scrutiny. Why Tiger, why?

Tuff Duff

My friend Lance, aka Tuff Duff, turned 38 today. I think it is 38 or is it 39 although in this photograph he looks like a deer in front of the headlights about to hit the proverbial wall of year 40. Our Connect group gathered at his home for some "30 Seconds" as he waited at the gate for more people to arrive.

30 - Sup? The gate appears not to be working so send me a whattie and I’ll come out and open.

29 - Knock knock

28 - On my way

27 - Anyone else coming? Can I go home now?

26 - NO

25 - No to what Rome-Rome?

24 - I’m going home.

23 - Ahh but you already here Jerome. I didn't see you when Lynda arrived.

22 - Thank you for the card. Jess must have driven around all week getting the card signed.

21 - That's why we kept you out by the gate Duff.

20 - Okay how are we going to divide the teams

19 - There's 15 of us so 3 teams of 5

18 - No Kerry you on that team. 

17 - Team Duff (4), Team Red (4), Team ABD (3), and Team Millennial (4)

16 - Let the games begin

14 -  And the Team ABD are in the lead with Team Duff lagging far behind

13 - Cricketers? A bowler. Who is he? I don't know

12 -  Speak in Afrikaans or was it the other way

11 - Why does Team ABD always throws a 0

10 - Wow the crisps are flowing

9 - Team Duff draws with Team ABD

8 - Who is Brooke Shields?

7 - Milk tart served

6 - Lynda come back, your turn

5 - Team Duff wins or did the Connect just let the Birthday Boy win?

4 - Team Red comes in a sickly second. Now you can get better Kyle

3 - Give Team Millennial and Team ABD a chance to fight for last place

2 - Such a fun evening guys! So blessed to have family like you all. Rest well!

1 - TIMES UP

Hell Freezes

What happened? We woke up this morning to find that it was cold, very cold. Hell must have frozen over last night. Winter is still here. Surely the Night King is not dead.

With the extreme cold we took a long time getting started. Yes it is voting day but who in their right mind wants to queue for long hours in the cold. We played the waiting game, and choose a time to go to the polling station close to us when the queues were short and quick.

As you can see the cold affected even the cats as Minky just wanted my body warmth.

Who Turned the Lights Off?

Just like last week, this week is just as strange as Wednesday is a public holiday due to the National Elections. I'm actually starting to enjoy the Wednesday breaks, and feel that we should start a political party that aim to make Wednesday a holiday forever.

Anyways with too many deadlines ahead, I arrived home after work on my Vespa only to notice that my headlights of the Vespa was not working. Now who turned the lights off?

I expected the globe to be gone so Dael helped me strip the Vespa dash system to reach the globe but we discovered that the plastic fitting that joined the headlamp to the wires had burned out. Thank goodness it was an easy fix. 

Ancient Jade

Okay not so ancient but Jade, my sole remaining Italian Greyhound, is starting to show her age. Even though Jade is in her grey years, she still is a sprightly little dog. 

Marshmello

Arriving late to church this morning, I saw this Marshmello masked little person walking out of the building. Uhmmm am I at the right place, or am I missing the dance party. I feel like I'm paralyzed.

May the 4th

Gary's birthday is only tomorrow but since he is such a Star Wars' fan, his birthday party was arranged for May the Fourth. So a small group of friends arrived at his house for some burgers and board games. Necia arrived with this awesome Chewbacca cake, yummy. 

Sammy's Smile

It is always a pleasure to see Sammy from the Courier Guy as he is always smiling. Some people just know how to brighten up the day. The Courier Guy comes just about every day to our offices to pick up deliveries. 

White Lives Don't Matter

The 2019 National Elections are coming up fast, less than a week away and the campaign trail is getting heated. Already I have gotten calls and messages from the 2 leading parties that they are bordering on harassment. And then this.

Driving through Krugersdorp, I saw this banner outside a house, "White Lives Don't Matter - Only Votes". Wow this made me think. I knew about the "Black Lives Matter" rally call and the sinister "Land or Death" hate speech, but not this. Now I am not going down that road of making this blog all political but this sure did stop me in my tracks.

Workers' Day

Workers' Day 1st of May is here, and we celebrated it by sleeping in. After finally getting going for the day, we tackled the garden and swimming pool. Many hands make like work and it wasn't long before the garden was back on track.

To make most of the holiday, I found myself taking River Song for a walk down into the kloof in the late afternoon. The water was pristine and clear, a big thanks to all the efforts of Andreas of the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch Conservation Group. As you can see the rocks look jagged and sharp, this is from the blasting that was done along the side of the gorge to make a way for a sewerage line. This sewerage line is now old and under a lot of pressure as more and more homes are connected. The sewerage can and would overflow many times into the stream only to wash down into the Botanical Gardens below.

With the early warning system of measuring the oxygen levels of the water down at the Bot Gardens which was helped sponsored by the RNW Conservation Group, this stream has been clean for quite some time now. So much so that talk has started the ball rolling in the idea of restocking the river with fish. Now wouldn't that be lovely.