A Nation's Shame

Shame, despair, fear, hate ....

My camera futzed out ...

... and I can't upload any pictures at all. As soon as I get it fixed, this blog will be back on track.

In the meantime, I'll just say that this week, I've been so grateful to have a home which is still standing and kids who are alive and healthy....

Burma cyclone, May 2008

China Earthquake, May 2005

Storm clouds lifting

The First Storm of Winter ...

... and it was baaaaad! Winds at over 65km/hr (about 40 mph) rattled our windows, shook the roof and howled like a banshee all night long. At work this morning, we saw some of the damage:

Fallen metal awnings ...

... and fallen pot plants (and those are heavy ceramic pots!)

The wind is still blowing but without the scary ferocity of last night!

Cute Car

I've seen this cute little car around town before, but today was the first day I had my camera with me! I have no idea what make it is ...

Signs of The Times ...

My camera isn't good at these close up shots, but this is today's Sunday Times, which costs about R10.00. But if you were in Zimbabwe and wanted to buy it, it would cost you Zim$ 75 mill. It's true .... says so right there on the masthead.

Home for the weekend ...

... and back on the computer. My darling boy hasn't changed a bit!!

Stunning!

Overlooking the driveway into our flats, this bougainvilla is always a stunning mass of colour.

The Local Shopping Mall

I think I just liked the way these poles lined up or something ... apart from that, it's a pretty pointless picture ...

Hibiscus behind bars

Moon rising

Another stunning moonrise tonight ...

Khayelitsha

If you take the Strandfontein road, you'll find yourself travelling past Khayelitsha eventually. At first, the view is kinda pretty, what with the distant mountains and blue skies and all ...

Then you look a little closer:

And then you start seeing what's really there:

Khayalitsha means 'new home' in Xhosa. This township houses between 500 000 and 1 million people and although all you see from the N2 are shacks, it's actually a thriving community - read more HERE.

Red cappuccino ...

... is delicious!!!

Sunny Saturday afternoons spent chatting ...

Sunrise

At around 7.30 am today, from my front door ...

Mom's birthday today

My mom and her granddaughters ..

Jodie and Reese and me ...

This evening, I needed to work in a quiet spot - proofreading 300 pages. The sun room offered quiet, but with no blinds or curtains and a lot of bright light, I felt kind of exposed up there on the third floor. So, I found a couple of my son's rolled-up movie posters and hey presto! Instant, beautiful blinds!

... and they put in a pool, too!

Makeover

My brother and his family have just moved back home. They spent five months in rented accommodation while their house was gutted and completely made over, inside and out. The results are SO worth it! :-) You rock, guys!

Sleepy heads

So, I left for work ... really early. Kids were still fast asleep ....

Love, actually ...

Sometimes, in a LTC facility, there are moments when the shrunken gums and the confusion and the mismatched clothes simply don't matter at all ...

Back to Work

After just over four years of relief and freelance work, I'm now a fulltime, permanent employee once again. This is the office in the LTC facility where I now spend 42 hours a week.

It took three of us ...

...to get this sucker up two flights of stairs, but it was worth it!

Looking back

It's the 21st century and everything changes ...

In Memorian

In memory of Heath

4th April 1979 - 22nd January 2008

Vegging out ....

I love this stuff! Tomato, carrot and celery juice with spinach and a hint of chilli! Instant health boost! :-)

We've been framed!

Me and mine in '08 ...

The Good News and The Bad News.

The Good News: On Tuesday 1st April at 4pm we finally had DSTV installed ... after years of infrequent viewing of the sad, local programming that passes for South African television, we now have access to 35 international TV channels, about 50 international audio/radio channels as well as interactive games etc etc ... woo-hoo!!!



The Bad News: That same evening, around 11.30 pm, our very very old 51cm National televison set got completely over-excited by all the new programming and quite literally blew a gasket. KER-POWWWW! The smell of burning plastic filled the house and the picture vanished in a puff of smoke.... (Just for interest: National amalgamated with Panasonic before my 16-year-old daughter was born! That's how old this thing was ...)

This is the third electrical appliance to give up the ghost in the last month ....

My new Sony Bravia 40" LCD TV should be arriving soon ....

There's a group I belong to called Freecycle - where people offer any stuff they no longer want for free (and you can also ask for stuff) and its a great, great concept. So, one of the members posted the following to the Cape Town group in the early hours of this morning (around 12:40am) :

OFFER: 42" Sony Bravia LCD TV. Brand new, 100% working condition, it just doesn't match my carpets. Collect in Claremont.

I didn't even think about what model it was, I just thought - wow, I SO need a new TV, ours is on it's last legs and we were just about to have DSTV installed! So I replied in a flash (you have to be quick for some of the stuff - it's usually first come, first served). Then I went to bed. And I lay there thinking ... 42"? Wow. LCD? Wow. I wonder what this thing looks like? So hopped out of bed and did a quick Google and nearly fell over when I saw the thing and realized it was valued at over R11,000.00 (about $1500.00)

Slowly, it dawned on me .... April 1st!! :-) Duh!

In honor of the Zimbabwe elections ...

All hail Gary Larson, creator of the Far Side!

Non-gardener's Paradise

I don't really 'do' gardening ... so to have this beautiful bougainvillea hedge cascading across the garage roofs down below and knowing I can enjoy it without having to worry about it ... is my idea of paradise!

Lame Post Number Nine

This is my new hairdrier, bought today even though the end of the month is still a few days away and I now have about three cents left in my purse. The old one died a rattly, smoky death this morning - what can I say? This snazzy piece of machinery comes with a handy booklet of instructions on how to blow hot air at my hair - maybe there are actually people who need this? Maybe it's in case they bought it by mistake, thinking it was a ... a chainsaw or a blender or something?

Tattoo

My daughter went to a sleepover last night and came home with a tattoo ...... it's just beautiful and I love it!

I had to photograph it now 'cos these henna tattoos fade quickly ... ;-)

Going up in the world

Our new home again, but from the outside this time ...

For the Bible Tells Me So ...

One of the things I inherited from my parents when they downsized was this HUGE old family Bible. It's Cassell's Illustrated Family Bible, published by Cassell, Petter and Galpin of London and New York, sometime in the mid-1800s. The part that always fascinated me is the family record pages, where the births, deaths and marriages of many of my great-great-great-greats are recorded. Makes for fascinating reading! The page below shows Samson wrestling a lion!

School Holidays ...

... and boredom has struck ....

Just Add Water!

Again, my inspiration was Kelly - this time her Instant Civil War post!

Easter brownies

... with extra almonds and choc chips ....

The World and A Giraffe

... are in my living room.

One of the many reasons ...

... that I love our new home. It's quite scary, in fact, to feel so happy about something as simple as what a room looks like in the early evening!