Lafhartige

 

My boss gave us some Holbrandkerrie or in English Arse Burn Curry powder. Eish, well we are not quite hot curry eaters at home so I chose the Lafhartige Holbrandkerrie vir bangbroeke. Yip I am a scaredy pants for hot arse burning curries. We love to taste the flavour of our food and not eat with long teeth fearing it might touch our lips, give us stomach ulcers, and burn our bums as an after thought.

Spotted Banana

 

The other day Lynda bought some bananas but these bananas did not last as they quickly got bruised and weren't pleasant to eat but I learnt that they are just as tasty if you smoosh them up with yogurt and all bran cereal. So I present you with the spotted banana.

Crescent Moon on Purple

 

If you look carefully, yip, there is a crescent moon up on the top left of this photo. This evening after just as I was about to flop onto the couch with my supper, I noticed the beautiful colour purple flooding into the lounge. So I had to put my supper down in a safe place out of reach of the cats, and go take this photo of the purple sunset.

Rose Tree

 

Oky, okay, I know the title is a little deceptive. This is not a rose tree but our cat Rosy up in a tree. This tree, is a cabbage tree and was Minky's favourite with awesome views out into veld and now it looks like both Paddy and Rosy have discovered it.

Van

 

Hiya, this is Van aka Vanessa, our bookkeeper, who comes through to our offices once a month to do the invoices. Both Graham and Taleesha are off today so it is just Van and I in the office. Ahh the peace and quietness is such a blessing.

Misty Morning

 

By now you must have seen many sunset photos taken from our patio, but what is the view during the day? Well I can't show you much this morning, as we woke up in the clouds. Well that rules out taking the Vespa to church, oh well not much to see on this misty Sunday morning. I bet it is going to be muggy down in the valley.

Weekend Dael

 

I went up to the kitchen make some coffee to take back to the bedroom, and I found Minky our cat squashed up with Dael in the games room. I am not sure what time Dael has to get up for work but that is not our problem as we are planning a late morning although coffee comes first.

Weekend Me

 

Yay, it is the weekend begin. Ahhhh you can see by this time of the week I am all but finished, pap, en klaar gelag. Oh well at least I have the next 2 days to recover. All access pass to relaxation.

Lynda Dean

 

My cellphone camera is not that great in low light photographs, so this evening I started messing with some filters on some photos taken at this evenings Connect. Here is Dean trying out a tiny chair while Lynda is on her phone in the background. 

Sunset Blues

 

I had just finished cooking supper, and was settling down to eat when I looked up and saw how blue the sky was looking. So I put my plate down, out of reach from the cats, and went outside to take this photograph. It rained in the morning, and I got a little wet on my ride to work. A little wet but not much. By end of the day the weather had cleared up and here we are, a perfect evening.

Shape of the Ceiling

 

Sometimes I wonder what photo to take to remind me of the day, of who I met, or what I did, but today has been one of those days where no much has happened to write home about. I mean arrived at work early, worked a full day, went home, prepared supper, eat, watch some TV, showered, went to bed. That's it folks, my day in a nutshell.

So what photo to take? Walking down the passage to the men's room, I noticed how the light was reflected off the ceiling, oh okay, and I took this photograph. Not awe inspiring but mundane as how I am feeling right now.

Kiss the Cat

 

Eish, the second work Monday is over, and here I am sitting in the lounge, feet up and surrounded by cats. The one cat Shammy, the worst one on my list of bad cats, now thinks he is my best friend, hence the kissy face. 

Oh just kiss the cat, Jerome.

Cup Cake Birthday

 

After a downer evening I didn't quite feel up to going to church this morning, that was until Lynda reminded me that it was Centre Church's 4th birthday today, so I dragged myself out of bed, threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and shuffled out to the car. After a wait, Lynda arrived, and we drove to Centre Church without much talking.

Yay! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Here's to God getting us out of bed each morning and celebrating life. I feel it in my bones that this is going to be a good year, especially since God has always looking out for me, and I feel that this is my Year of Jubilee.

 

The Forwards

 

I had to take Matthew back to Pretoria because he starts Uni in a weeks time but tonight Matthew and his mates have organised a D&D all nighter so I had to drive him up to Pretoria and drop him off at my sister Theresa and her husband Hans, hence the pack of forwards photo for today.

I really appreciate all that Theresa and Hans have done for Matthew, it has become Matthew's second home since his mother crossed over a year and a half ago.

After the long drive back hone, alone in the car, I had a lot to think about. You see I worry a lot about Matthew. By the time I got home I had over thought every outcome and still I had this deep hole inside of me. Already I miss him.

Cloudy Days

 

It is raining more and more now that it is the rainy season, not many thunderstorms during the rush hours which does help me quite a bit because there is just that one thing which I dislike riding my Vespa is the thunder storms as you are quite vulnerable. Nothing you can do as it is all in God's hands. Anyway I keep an weary eye on any ominous activity in the weather outside my office.

Hot Knife through Butter

 

It has been a little over 10 days since I got my Vespa back. At first it still played up but after fiddling under the seat, I narrowed down the fault to a certain area of the wiring harness. I managed to wedge the faulty area to one side and all is well.

My Vespa is now purring and like I mentioned yesterday, she cuts through the traffic like a hot knife through butter. No more rush hour traffic blues, as my trip to work and back now takes half the time. It is just the weather that I have to look out for. Oh and the potholes.

Quiet Before the Storm

 

Every week morning, after feeding the dogs, I sit on our patio with a lovely cup of coffee on our patio and enjoy the piece and tranquility of the mornings. The quiet before the storm, as I like to call this precious time, just sipping my coffee, listening to the birds and bees. Last week I noticed some robins building a nest above the patio. Both mommy and daddy robin take turns keeping an eye on me, just sitting there. They are not sure what to make of me, minding my own business not to far from their nest. Oh well this time is so fleeting and soon I will be on my Vespa whizzing through the traffic like a hot knife through butter. 

My day has begun...

Gutter Cat

 

Leaving for work this morning, I noticed our cat Minky staring out from the storm water drain at the end of our street. Minky why are you such a gutter cat? Come away from there and get your butt back home where it is safe. 

Walking in my Shoes

 

Not everyone will understand the journey that I have being on. That's fine, yet Paddy would love to be able to fit into my shoes, just to be able to make sense of what I've been through. To walk in my shoes, to understand, and to love is all he wants of me.

Timeless Board Games

 

It has literary been a year since Matthew and I went to spend a day at Timeless playing board games till the sun went down. Anika and Gary met us at Edenvale and just the 4 of us had some fun playing board games and catching up.

Kloof Walk 219

This is not my first walk down into our gorge this year but this morning Kenmare Kloof Conservation Association organised the first Kloof Walk of the year and 219 nature lovers turned up. Awesome.

At first when the numbers started coming in of over 150 bookings, I was skeptical and a little concerned of fitting so many people in such a small space. Matthew and I arrived early and parked at Manie Mulder and walked up the Kenmare Kloof side to meet our visitors. Yip it was confirmed 219 people signed up and a lot arrived with majority of the visitors never in their wildest dreams thought that this beautiful gorge existed and yet here it is.

Hands in the Air

 

I should have realized that we were in the middle of rolling blackouts when I saw all the shop assistants with their hands in the air holding bank card machines as high as possible to try capitalize on the weak signal. It was only when I reached the long queues at the tills that I realized that the ANC has once again messed up our economy. 

It is the ANC's birthday celebrations this weekend so I expect no load shedding as the corrupt party would make sure nothing jeopardizes their festivities, they got to look good as for the rest of the people... oh well.

Looking Good

 

Okay now, Matthew's new glasses were ready, so I picked them up on my way home. Looking good isn't he? Yip my boy is all grown up  and ready for his 3rd year at uni.

Pasta a la Jerome

 

I got home tired from work and had to start with the supper. I thought I would rustle up a quick pasta meal and dug around in the pantry or better known as the grocery cupboard. Anyways some sun dried tomatoes, spinach,  mushrooms, and chicken later, we were eating yummy Pasta a la Jerome.

Good news with regards to my Vespa, I seem to have narrowed the jerking problem down to some wire harness. When moving the group of wires to one side, the jerking stops. So far so good.

Woolworths Hits Rock Bottom

 

On my way home today, I stopped in at Woolworths aka Woolies by Rock Cottage and was in for a big surprise. Seeing the dirty trolleys should have warned me not to venture further but I needed a few things, and surely I my eyes were deceiving me.

 Run Jerome Run

It was only once I was inside that I realized that this Woolies was not up the normal Woolworths perfection unless the quality at Woolies is going down to rock bottom. Never in my life have I ever seen a Woolies in such a disgraceful situation. Better not let the health inspectors find this. Take the photo below, this is the fridges to the cold storage isle. I opened one of the glass display doors to get a better photo of the Hake fish and frozen vegetables are packed on the sheaves among all these boxes.

The Baroness Scarlet

 

Yesterday after 3 months the mechanic messaged me, informing me that my Vespa is finally ready. The Baroness has been playing the jerk, with random jerkiness when she got hot. The diagnoses went from fuel to electrical and then back to fuel, with nearly every wire, plug checked, fuel lines cleaned, fuel tank stripped and flushed, and the fuel pump cleaned. Just over 3 months later, after the mechanic did extensive testing, the Baroness was given a clean bill of health and returned to me.

All excited this morning I set out for work and halfway the Baroness started playing up. It was stop start for the next 6 km then went away only to come back the last km or 2. The problem still has not being fixed. I am now very upset and disappointed and everything else heaped onto my shoulders. I don't know what else to do. I can't afford for the bike to go back to the mechanic for another 3 months. A new fuel pump at Vespa is in the range of R8000 but it could be anything from wiring to whatever.

Elsa and Anna at Church

 

Little Rebekah invited her 2 best friends, Elsa and Anna to church this morning. Here they are, the trio paying attention to what was going on around them as the church worships to the God who loves all the little children.

First Fruits

 

With all the good rains, our vegetable garden has become overgrown, so Lynda decided to get stuck in and do some weeding. It was while she was getting her hands dirty, that she discovered a lovely green pepper, ready for picking. Ahh the first fruits of the year are going to be sweet and tasty.

Down by the Waterfall

If you go down in the gorge today, you're sure of a big surprise. If you go down in the gorge today, you better go in disguise! For at the waterfall there was this surprise, religious pilgrims camping. Oh they are not allowed to stay overnight yet alone make fires but at 9am this morning I inadvertently woke them up.

Cap Naps

 

Yesterday was busy, we had lots of family over, and now we are all pooped out. I opened my eye sometime late in the morning and found Minky and Rosy both snuggled on our bed, enjoying their cat nap with us. Oh well, nothing much else to do but go back to sleep. 

Starting the Year Right

 

Okay there may be claws in Robynne's leg as little Dakotah makes friends with the cat Minky as we all relax on this first day of 2020. Daks seems to love animals especially the cats much to her father's dismay. 

In 2020, may you have the grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Loed.