oh, the cuteness!

I'm their human trampoline and have the scratches to prove it
my net curtains are ruined
they poop constantly
i've had to put away a lamp, all my jewelery, and move teddy
they've broken two picture frames
i'm having to fight for possession of my computer chair again
when they're in fight club mode they run up (and down) my legs and it fucking hurts like hell

....they're little terrorists but OMG so cute they're getting away with it all

Bigger pics ...and others in Flickr.

cat power

My kittens were born in Uniondale (poor unfortunate souls... no offense, Lauren ;-P) which was problematic because I'm about six hours away. After looking at and agonising over all the permutations (like waiting another month for their delivery..or actually driving all the way up there to fetch them) Lauren arranged for a drop off somewhere halfway. This involved the kitties riding in the back of a bakkie (driven by a man called Oom Stan) as far as Montagu. Mom and I would take a leisurely drive through the Boland and meet Oom Stan and his cargo in Montagu at 16:00. The day started off bright and hot and full of promise and we hit the road singing Free Falling, thumping the dashboard and punching our fists through the open window...well, OK, no singing or thumping...but that was probably because I had the camera permanently glued to my face. Like this.

I'd pop the lens cap on, put the camera in my bag at my feet and say "Ok...that's enough. I won't take any more." Two minutes later the camera would get whipped out the bag and I'd be in full cyclops mode again.Can you blame me when the scenery was as irresistable as this?

Ok..enough about the Western Cape's rural charms..on to the kitties (one of which keeps climbing from my lap to the keyboard as I type)..I'm ashamed to say the only photo I have of kitties in transit is a horribly blurry one taken during one of the road work hold ups. I think it was because I was still so worried ....worried that they'd die of heat exhaustion..or shock....I don't know kittens.....
Besides, I couldn't bare seeing their petrified deer-caught-in-the-headlight stares.

But who really wants pics of poep scared pussies? Besides, I have already amassed an arsenal of pretty pics...let the onslaught begin!
Two and a half hours later we get home and head for the safe, dark (and probably dusty as hell because the vacuum can't really fit under there) place of Under the Bed. After hiding there for two hours bro and sis (still unnamed) came out to play.

And they haven't really stopped since.

 

  

 

 

Except, of course, when they're taking a nap. ; )

More road trip pics in Flickr.

ETA- The 'M's on the forehead have me ditching the idea of naming them after favourite TV couples.
I've decided on Maxwell and Miranda. How does that sound?

strange overtones

What started out as a little half arsed meander down a local street became an afternoon scattered with little spit the pips moments.  The last time I tried taking photographs in this road all the dogs started barking and there were shifty looking men on the corner so I hopped back in my car. This time I was virtually alone on this long wide road in the dappled sunlight...the sounds of a rugby match come from virtually each home as I walked past.

  

  

  

Much later, I enjoyed brief but rather flirty chat with some cops who pulled up in their van next to me (as i was in macro grass, bum-in-the-air mode) to inquire if the car parked down the road was mine.

 

And then another delightful encounter. This time with the rather refined old dame whom I'd waved to earlier as I walked past a retirement home. As I walked back to my car she called me over. She said she'd been watching me with great delight. In five minutes she'd managed to tell me her life story....and posed gracefully for her portrait.
I've promised to visit her with a few prints in exchange for a cup of tea.

 

 

World is crazier and more of it than we think,

Incorrigibly plural.

the youtube bit

side with the seeds

Other than a few blurry bottles in a picture somewhere below you'd be hard pressed to find any evidence that it was the Diemersfontein Wine Festival I visited today. But I figured there had been enough pics of people knocking back alcoholic beverages and clutching glasses in the last few months. It might start giving people the wrong idea about me.

*cough*

 So here are some other things that caught my eye. Actually, it was a bugger trying to get the light settings right as the sun was intense, it was midday, and the sun/shade bits clashed everywhere. 

Also, it was bloody difficult sipping wine with one hand while holding my camera in the other. The upside to that is that I don't have a headache...eish, some of those wines were heavvyyy for a stinking hot day in the Boland. 

Colour themes were red, pink and green.

Actually, in the end, the wine (and the swanky crowd) were totally upstaged by the glorious surroundings. Trees glowed luminescent greens and roses and geraniums fell about in raucous colours.

I wish I'd had the place all to myself.

The Youtube bit

How to kill an hour in Flickr ....

1. For Leanne, 2. who cares if it's fattening? it's ice cream. it should be fattening!, 3. plumstead graffiti, 4. We ♥ Norway, 5. Atomic!, 6. a few of my favorite things, 7. Victoria glacier reflected in Lake Louise, 8. Tiramisu cupcake, 9. Sunshine, 10. What a tangled web we weave....., 11. Sunrise Picnic, 12. a freed lychee and the troop... 玉荷包?

Arghhhh!!! Jocelyn!!
That was too much fun!
Here is how you play:

• Type your answer to each question below into Flickr Search
• Using only the first page of results, pick an image
• Copy and paste each URL into fd's mosaic maker
• Blog it!

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Leanne
2. What is your favorite food? Ice-cream (not realising there was a desert question below)
3. What high school did you go to? Plumstead
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Taylor Kitsch
6. What is your favorite drink? Cabernet
7. Dream vacation? Canada
8. Favorite dessert? Tiramiso
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Contented
10. What do you love most in life? It's inter-connectedness
11. One word to describe you? Loner
12. Your flickr name? Litchi

I'm such a sucker for a good meme. Thanks J. *hugs*

A Sunday Smile

The song. 

Some of my little grade 3's received their First Holy Communion this morning.

It was a long session in church and for someone who was never confirmed and never had any memories of church going experiences as a child I always find the ceremony sweet but a little foreign....mysterious even. These little ones..so solemn, so in awe of the occasion. And so incredibly nervous. I doubt they enjoyed it much at all.

 

 

 

If it had been me this would have been the highlight.

 

There. You see? 

A smile.