Spit the Pips

going coastal

2012-01-30T05:50:00.000+02:00

These were taken while driving through to my mom's yesterday morning. After years and years of taking this route to work I really miss it. The cliffs and wheeling gulls on the left and township on the right.

Troubleman -Electric Guest

pretty things

2012-01-22T20:03:00.004+02:00

Sam gave me these for Christmas. Aren't they beautiful?

By the way- it's cooled down a touch! Woot!

Sunday Kind of Love- Etta James RIP

hell of a season

2012-01-21T18:31:00.002+02:00

A week into one of the worst heatwaves I can remember and we're all gatvol. Tips on how to stay cool can be heard on radio, in staff rooms and at the supermarket and I think I've just about tried them all. They all work for about a half an hour, until whatever was wet, dries.

I was at the beach just after five this morning in a desperate attempt to catch a coolish breeze or two...and I wasn't alone. You can see the heat in these pics!!
Urgh. Fast forward to winter!

Hell of a Season- The Black Keys - El Camino 2011

the charisma wrists

2011-12-26T22:59:00.000+02:00

Well, as Boxing Day (or Family Day as it’s now known here)draws to a close, the smell of braaied lamb chops wafts over from next door andthe guy upstairs has his Johnny Clegg CD going at full volume. The night air iswarm and I can hear kids playing hide-and-seek (always better in the dark!) and although we might bemoan the fact that we'll never get to experience frost nipping at our toes let alone a white Christmas, it feels good to celebrate the festive season in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the spirit of Christmases past the family had the annualphoto session after a splendid meal (and cocktails and schnapps ...and Steve’shomebrewed Canadian pale ale) and it was fun. Perhaps not as...rockin' as in previous years but a six week old in our midst required a bit more decorum.

Our group name this year? The Charisma Wrists!

Fortunately, Nick was in the middle of a most satisfying snooze so he could be manhandled without any protestations.

Well, most of the time.

What a boytjie.

ETA- More pics up in Flickr

Stagger Lee- Lloyd Price

zat you santa claus?

2011-12-23T06:54:00.001+02:00

It's funny the way the muse works.
One little thing sparks off an idea which blossoms into this great big itch and before you know it you're in Fabric City drooling over bolts of fabric, spending all your hard-earned cash. Well, that's how it works for me anyway.

These little vintage ornaments I found on Etsy.

Plus this homey quilt by Posie.
And you've got the makings of the next quilt (and it's got your name on it, Mom).

And because we're having such a lovely cool and wet summer (what the hell are holidaymakers in the Cape doing with themselves?) I'm in the mood for endless measuring and cutting. My fave holiday movies are in a little stack in front of the DVD, a jazzy, retro Christmas playlist is on my hard drive (plus anything I can find from Treme) and I just have to find a way to get the kittehs out the flat.

Stay cool, don't fight over parking spaces and try not to panic buy.
Happy Holidays : )

Zat you Santa Claus?- Louis Armstrong

Santa's Second in Line- New Birth Brass Band

eggnog..and a new little elf

2011-12-11T19:39:00.001+02:00

Yesterday was Eggnog Day. The day Steve plies us with Cyril’s boozy eggnog and we put up mom’s tree and lights and decorations. And get plasteredin the process.

It waswonderful, as always.

Warning: Cuteness overload.

Naughty and Nice.

Saint Nick.

;-P

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Michael Buble -2011

hey baby!

2011-11-27T19:41:00.001+02:00

More little Nick while I play around with this cool little photo app I bought. It turns out it's lotsa fun to cheapen photos from a R10 000 camera and lens.

He doesn't mind, really. As long as he's had his lunch, a good burp or two and a nice, juicy ...erm...number two a half an hour after that. He feeds, he sleeps, he poos and he's utterly gorgeous doing all three.

And of course. The kittehs. Lest they begin to feel they're being neglected.

'Hope You Know'-by Megafaun

and then there were three

2011-11-20T20:37:00.001+02:00

On Monday morning, 14 November 2011, Nicholas Stephen Tester was born.

And guess what?

He's perfect.

He waves his little starfish fingers around and graciously accepts a considerable amount of fawning from his adoring fans.

Yep.

Just perfect.

Laura Veirs - Why Oh Why - Tumble Bee 2011

the baby shower.....

2011-10-07T15:55:00.001+02:00

In which we learned that

a.) Chicken & Veg Purity Baby food tastes like shit.

b.) You can never have too many wet wipes

c.) Pregnant moms in their third trimester do look radiant and glowing... even when they're wearing a lopsided crown and an adult nappy.

Video Games - by Lana Del Rey

hope valley, monsters and feel good songs

2011-08-21T08:38:00.000+02:00

There's nothing quite like that feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish a project. I'm still amazed that I actually do finish these things. I remember sewing classes at school. I loved them. The boys would all go off to woodwork (or wherever - I could never be bothered to find out) and the girls all sat and sewed little crosses on pieces of red or blue gingham and chattered about ...stuff...the most recent episode of Magnum maybe. I loved it! But I never, EVER finished any of my needlework projects. The knitted Boogaloo? Nope. The hessian wall hanging? Uh uh. The simple skirt in high school? No way. How the hell did I get to this point then? Well, my parents must have blithely ignored all signs of needle impairedness 'cause they got me a sewing machine for my 21st birthday. I taught myself to sew T-shirts and skirts using a kindly neighbour's Burda magazines and sewed my own clothes through college and the first few years of teaching when money was tough and the dress code more formal than it is now. I still miss my long, swishy four panel skirts - wish I hadn't thrown the pattern away! So I'm always especially chuffed and not a little surprised when I get to complete a quilt.

This is my Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley fabric quilt. The design is mine but heavily influenced by her modern strips of random lengths. I tried a reversible backing effect but won't do anything as detailed next time as sometimes there are four layers of material to stitch through- too thick for neat, tiny stitches. And bloody painful on the fingers!

I love it.

The other project finished and klaar is a little family I grew rather fond of. And I wasn't the only one.

These guys are now happily settled into their new home but don't be too surprised if there are new additions to the family- They are too much fun to make! Rebecca Danger designed the patterns and the one I used can be found here if the spirit moves you. Incredibly easy but don't over stuff as the final crotch sewing bit is not.fun. And practice your satin stitch first.

In the spirit of NPR's All Songs Considered blog's latest theme of Songs that Make you Feel Good here are some of mine. And what are your favourite feelgood songs?

Give It- Lambchop

Radio King - Golden Smog
Magic - Pilot
Livin' Thing- ELO
Late in the Evening- Paul Simon
Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

winter cats

2011-07-24T21:40:00.000+02:00

Winter sun. It's lovely. You can lie in it without frying.

But, we've had enough of it now. Bring on the rain and a good old Cape winter storm please!
Preferably not while I'm at the HOD meeting in Khayelitsha on Tuesday though, thanks.

Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing

Metronomy- The Look

three little pots

2011-07-16T22:41:00.000+02:00

So I spent the last few days of my hols redecorating. I learned that my little passage only needs three (ok, that was a bit of a push- next time I'll do it with four) little 250ml test pots of paint, coming to a grand total of R70. As the smallest tin I could have them mix up was 5litres at R450 a pop allow me to do my Jack Black stick-it-to-the-man pose. Heee!

Bummer that all three pics have a slightly different hue but the first pic is pretty acurate. The colour is Plascon's 'Bottlenose' - a greyish, greenish blue. I had planned on going much darker but it didn't look that great. I suppose because it's quite a dark little passage already. I really, really wanted to make the skirting boards white. Think how cool that would look! But as the rest of the flat has white walls I thought it would be rather a waste. I like the dark stain against the white.

I also painted the book case. Bad lighting resulted in not the best of photos but you get the idea. : )

PS- The blue scrunchy seen in various positions on the floor is a cat toy, just in case you think I like to fling it around. ;-P
Foo Fighters- Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners

Joni Mitchell- California

afro blue

2011-07-10T17:57:00.001+02:00

Paradise can be found just twenty minutes away from my house. How lucky am I?
My mom and I escaped to the country and spent a few days in majestic Jonkershoek valley. Not quite the Canadian Rockies but pretty darn close. Ok, no elk, bears or glacier fed lakes but the gorgeous mountains eased our pain a bit and reminded us that one needn't go off on excruciatingly long flights to experience a bit of awe and wonder.

Abbey Lincoln - Afro Blue
Abdullah Ibrahim - African Sun

magpies of the world unite!

2011-07-03T13:49:00.001+02:00

My lounge (and a part of the kitchen) is strewn with pieces of material.

Bits from my quilt, bits for monster toys and a crib quilt for baby Tester, bits from my scarf and other odds and ends that I might need...just in case. The magpie in me is in heaven (as are the cats) - the more responsible me is thinking about the mess some might call it...and the inevitability of having to clean it up at some stage.

I'm very inspired by all things Denyse Schmidt at the moment. Her prints are pretty awesome and I lurve, lurve lurve her quilts. I love her colour combinations and the designs themselves are modern - nothing fussy and garish.

I'm working on a quilt based on her Hope Valley range. I loved the greens and yellows and didn't want to mix them with the pinks and oranges so I tried a reversible effect.
Now I know why it's not done more often--in some places it's too bloody thick to sew teeny tiny stitches! Doh.

The other Denyse Schmidt project I've been working on is the scarf from her book. Not using any of her fabrics- just bits of tweed and herringbone (surprisingly soft!) and silks and cottons pieced any which way. I'd love to try cushion covers like this.

Oh lordy..this photoshoot was interesting.

Dolorean - Country Clutter

The Nu Page- A Heart is a House

meri gets a quilt

2011-05-22T20:54:00.000+02:00

Well.....it's been a while. *blushes*

I've been busy sewing mostly. I have also read more ebooks than I'd care to admit and have spent other bits of my time watching two most excellent new TV series namely, The Killing and Game of Thrones ...with a bit of old Australian Master Chef thrown in.

Meri took delivery of her quilt today and I loved how it looks on her!Lol
I hope it gives plenty of warmth and good snuggle value for years to come.

Most of the material is from Moda's Pure range, imported via Etsy - love the way all the patterns and colours just work together! Pure grace, pure joy, pure happiness.....

And now I've been playing around with my new batch of material from Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley range. Love love love it so much I've decided to design my own quilt this time. And seeing as it's for moi I feel I can afford to experiment a wee bit ;-P

Of course, this is not easy with two curious kitties hell bent on going under whatever is on the floor. What is it with these cats?

Till next time : )

Jack White - The Rose with a Broken Neck- Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi -my album of the year so far!!!

sock season

2011-04-03T20:00:00.000+02:00

It's finally cooling down enough to wear the socks!

Well.....at least the mornings and evenings are cool.

Cool enough to wear the gorgeous socks my mom knitted me for Christmas! Woot!

Check out the almost dead plants.

Even the succulents are looking haggard.

We've all had it up to here with the heat.

Get outta here now, Summer. Scram! Give us a chance to cuddle under quilts (and sew one or two), make lamb curry and bean soup and feel the weight of an actual blanket in bed at night.

June Hymn - by The Decemberists

Summer Days- by Radio Citizen

Winter Moon- Hoagy Carmichael

cabernet cottage

2011-03-19T21:25:00.000+02:00

How do you celebrate a 70th birthday?

You spend a weekend with family in Devon Valley, Stellenbosch.

You eat lunch at a beautiful wine estate.

You immerse yourself in Stellies culture, food and music.

Then you head for a self-catering cottage to beat all self-catering cottages in the estate of JC Le Roux, no less.

You spend the rest of the day playing with your new iPad, drinking wine from said estate and eating gourmet boerewors.With truffles nogals.

Not a bad way to say hello to a new decade methinks. ;-P Happy Birthday Ma!

More pics to follow in Flickr.

PS- The polaroidy pics were taken with the Vignette app on Steve's Android phone. Damn. I want me one of those!

Feist & Little Wings- Look at What the Light did Now

The Decemberists- June Hymn

H.O.T

2011-02-27T21:55:00.000+02:00

I know it's not really fair that I reappear, for the first time in months, to make what will basically be a Heat Rant but, I cannot deny that the heat...and ants...are the bane of my existence at the moment.
I'm sure I'm at least 5kg's lighter than when last I posted. When one first breaks out into a sweat at 09:00 in the morning and doesn't really stop until after 7 ...there has to be some kind of loss there, right? So maybe the daily 15:30 Bar One King Cone at the 7Eleven on the way home from school kinda balances things out a bit.....who can tell?
All I can say is that I'm tired. Tired of the heat and the wind and the humidity. Today the temp was 36 Degrees Celsius with the humidity at 93%...WTF?!
Give me a break.

There is nothing better than, at the end of a long, hot and sweaty day to sit with eReader in one hand and glass of vino in the other, feet plunged in a bucket of coolish water....watching the sun set and listening to the sounds of the neighbours settling in for the night.
It's not all bad, I suppose.

And the weather is starting to turn. The mornings are darker.
That's about it.
Warm, dark mornings. Woohoo.

Pray for the cool, peeps. Pray for some cool.

Cheers.

Crying in the Chapel Dub

Codex- Radiohead

Love is Won- Lia Ices

Peaceful -by Ray Conniff

smells like scotland

2011-01-16T20:10:00.000+02:00

After an anxious 20 minutes watching an unsympathetic post office official ~~molest~~ pack the quilt into a too small box (clearly not a quilt person) I had to say farewell to Sam's quilt.
And then the awful week of waiting, hoping, crossing all fingers and toes that the thing would get there in one piece. Actually, knowing our post office system, hoping that it would just get there.
Well, it arrived! Sam has it now.
See how nice it looked on my couch?

It very nearly did not leave my little pad at all.

See how the kitties loved it? They were all set to make it their very own bit of heaven. Perfect for cat caving.

Feline spelunking involves finding an opening to crawl under and then sitting, motionless in the dark, feeling...well, I'm not quite sure. Safe and snug? Quite possibly.
I also know that they secretly hope that someone initiates a game of Pounce while they're under there.

Because claws are involved in the game of Pounce this is around about the time I whip off the cat cave and fold it up.

Sam loves it. She also loves the way it smells. How wonderful is that!? It reminds her of her stay with family in Scotland. I could go on and on about the magic of smells and memory but that's a post for another day.
Tomorrow I face a new class of third graders. : ) Wish me luck

The Avett Brothers - Laundry Room

two cats on a chair

2011-01-12T07:57:00.000+02:00

Last day of hols today. Tomorrow I'll be knee deep in meetings (sketching the first of many doodles in the new diary) catching up with colleagues and prettifying the classroom. I guess I should look at what I'm going to be teaching next week too. Urgh.

No more afternoon naps.

Well, for me anyway.

The Fleetwoods- Tragedy

Ray Lamontagne- This Love is Over

Diego Garcia -You were never there

birdies and hidden knots

2011-01-11T08:03:00.000+02:00

This is the little lap quilt I made my mom for Christmas. I used one charm pack of Moda's Birdsong, a collection designed by Kathy Schmitz. I knew the colours would work in her lounge and they do! Just a simple thing, really- place the squares where they look good and sew them all together.

I used the hidden knot! Whoot! Made two quilts (fortunately just for me) before I read that one never, ever leaves the knots at the back showing. Well, duh! So, all self-respecting quilts will from now on have their little knots well and truly covered. I sometimes look at my old two and feel a little guilty...no one wants their bits showing.

Can you tell I'm kinda sorta ready for the new school year to begin? In a week's time I'll feel differently, but honestly? It's time. There's only so much sewing, painting, NPR listening and reading a person can do.
I feel my brain begin to atrophy!

"We Got Love' by Drive-by Truckers, Eddie Hinton cover

PS- Quilt photoshoots are surprisingly difficult to do....now I know why most people just pin them up on a washing line or fence and snap them like that. Here are some of my faves.

.

2011 rumbles in ....but it's alright

2011-01-01T18:46:00.000+02:00

On a day very reminicent of New Years day two years ago I crawled out of my terribly anti-social cave and wandered down to good old Strand beach to mingle with the masses.
It was much cooler this time and the rain kept falling in big random drops every now and then but the weird weather didn't seem to worry anyone.

Then, suddenly, the big random drops became less and less random and things got darker.

Too dark to even see the obvious blobby bits on my lens. Damn.

Suspicious minds might see this as a bad sign. Not a great way to start a new year. But I say, at least the bloody wind wasn't blowing.

Here's to a cool, calm and collected year.

Regardless of what life throws at you may you always find a lovely view, a comfy bench and a friend or two to share it with.

Happy New Year everyone!
PS- Check my flickr for more later

Nina Simone -Here Comes the Sun

the week of sundays

2010-12-30T13:53:00.000+02:00

A phrase borrowed from the delightful Joanne Good. It's what she calls the week between Christmas and New Year. When most are on holiday and there's that super chilled, relaxed and, dare I say it....slightly anti-climactic feeling in the air. It's also when garden services don't pitch on their regular day (if at all), online ordering and postal services slow down to a crawl and one is never sure exactly what supermarkets are open when.
I thought I'd mention some things that have kept me entertained in this strange limbo time.
Be warned: Link heavy post.

I've been potting. And I don't mean imbibing booze...although...heh...as previous posts will confirm, done a fair bit of that too. BTW-Do people even use that phrase anymore?

Thanks for the gecko Sam!

And I've been sewing. And guess what? Something is ready to be sent off to Gauteng!!!!!
Three guesses.

Yip. I finished Sam's quilt this morning. *shit eating grin*

Won't show any more until it's been delivered, which, given the above-mentioned postal go-slow at this time of the year, won't happen until next week.

While sewing I've been listening to lots of great stuff- mostly via online streaming.
To The Late Show with Joanne Good. I got hooked onto BBC Radio London way back in 1996 when I was an aupair to three teen girls in Hampstead, London. I had a little portable radio with me while I trudged up and down the five flights of stairs in their rather beautiful Georgian terrace house making beds, cleaning rooms and ironing each day. I'd listen to Robert Elms interview famous Londoners and talk about museums and architecture. But you don't have to be living in London to appreciate some truly excellent local radio.

I've also been listening to the hilarious nerds on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. This episode was brilliant. They review movies, music and TV in their own wry, sarcastic and witty way.
Highly recommended. Find the blog feed here.

I'm still fully immersed in the audiobooks of my favourite middle-aged loner park ranger, Anna Pigeon and continue to dip into the eccentric podcasts of Frank Edward Nora who chats about all sorts of things during his daily commute in NYC. With buses, hooting, construction work and pedestrians in the background and Frank waffling away while eating bagels and browsing in shops, it's fantastic fly-on-the-wall stuff.

I'm steadily making my way through the Smart Bitches best romance books of 2010. Spending the Kindle voucher Steve and Meri gave me for Christmas is soooo easy. It's scary.

Watched the BBC remake of Upstairs Downstairs. A bit like Downton Abbey but not as good. Also watched Exit Through the Gift Shop. Excellent docu-drama about a mad, passionate videographer, graffiti and Banksy.

Still immersing myself the genius of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Anyone who relishes bone marrow and eats it on top of his steak is a friend of mine. Yum. ;-P

More links with possibly my best tracks of 2010 will have to wait another day- this post is already too long.

Love Comes Down (Anne Litt Remix) - by Ozomatli

the poinsettia posse....

2010-12-26T20:19:00.000+02:00

Christmas Day and there's a serious trend starting here. One in which we open pressies, climb into poinsettia cocktails (two bottles of champagne's worth) and then spend the rest of the day eating and planning the photo shoot. Last year's rock group pose was so much fun…how to top it?

With a baddass, mofo rap group pose, that’s how.

Oh goodgrief it was hilarious.

Research was conducted (Googling rap group poses- we're such geeks), various styles debated over, poses chosen and practiced.
Ladeeeez and gentlemennnn......please welcome the Poinsettia Posse.

The next family pic will have to be more refined and dignified or else we might give people

the wrong impression.

That we're drunks. Or show offs. Or bloody idiots.

But I dare you to try it the next time you're planning a family portrait. It's a load of fun ;-P

PS- What the hell kind of pose did they give me? Looks frighteningly like me in teacher mode.

Rappers Delight by the Sugarhill Gang

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:35:00.000+02:00

As I sit, going through some photos to upload and blog, the cats are killing a gecko in the lounge (I'm sorry- it gets beyond the point where I can intervene and try to rescue them) and the guy upstairs is in his U2-concert-for-one mode. (Stuck in the Joshua Tree era....not that that's a bad thing, it's just....boring)
Hard to believe that soon not a creature will stir and Father Christmas will wing his way across the Southern hemisphere, bells a jingling.
A few days ago I awoke from a hot and restless night to find the morning grey and misty and delightfully cool so I grabbed the camera and made a beeline for the beach hoping to catch some people enjoying the reprieve from the heat. And yes, believe it or not, there was a group of people in the water at 05:30 in the morning! As it turned out, the mist was actually light rain and my gear started to get really wet so I didn't have the camera out for long but it was fun trying to capture the mood.

And, for those interested, some pics of The Couch. This piece of furniture has attitude. Perhaps (wishful thinking) even the cats will know that This Is A Thing Not To Be Messed With. Hah. Fat bloody chance!

It's comfy though, has some good reading possies -plus I can take a kip on it. So I'm rather chuffed.

Merry Christmas everyone! May the day, and the year ahead, bring peace, love and all the things that make you happy.

Summer Girl by Family of the Year

eggnog...and fake staches

2010-12-17T18:51:00.000+02:00

Hell, it's been a while. I refuse to feel bloggers' guilt though. It was a crap fourth term and I just couldn't put aside the Kindle or Sam's quilt to think up a post.
But it is good to be back. ;-P

So the other day we found ourselves (my little family and I ) once again clutching Christmas ornaments in one hand and a glass of Cyril's famous eggnog in the other.

Eggnog Day is shaping up to be, dare I say it, more fun than Christmas Day itself. It helps that we're drenched in good holiday cheer and three sheets to the wind by the time the pretty tree is all decked out. This year, I tried a noggstache-themed shoot inspired by this one from Tara Whitney's blog.
God, I adore these family portraits and am dying to try something similar but those fake mustaches aren't in stock anymore apparently. Boo.
While it was tons of fun taking big sloppy sips (again and again) of the lethal eggy concoction we just couldn't build up impressive enough mustaches. Not thick enough.
Still, I think these capture the ...spirit of the evening quite nicely.

Cheers everyone!

hello summer

2010-10-17T21:08:00.000+02:00

Wetsuits, buckets, spades and boards were liberated from dark and dusky cupboards and every last one of them ended up in Surfer's Corner today.

I think Capetonians are ready for summer.

The Avalanches -'Since I left you'

still here

2010-10-11T05:57:00.000+02:00

I'm still here.

Just very busy with school, quilts, growing my Anthony Bourdain No Reservations collection, listening to the Anna Pigeon series on audiobooks and, when the weather's been good, doing a bit of gardening.

Moocheling and footcheling you might say...but in the most creative way.

The Books - ' Free Translator'

rain and a missing battery

2010-08-22T20:51:00.000+02:00

It rained all day today.

Some were more pleased than others.

The downside to a rainy weekend is that the kitty litter tray gets wet and pongy far too quickly and that two couped up cats give cabin fever a whole new name. They've been terrorising a lost and lonely gecko on my bedroom ceiling for the past few days. Laying down a fresh scattering of catnip at the scratch post did not help. Whoever said catnip is like dagga for cats is lying- I don't see mellow at all.
Another downside to Cape winters and stormy nights is that it's prime time for car burglars. Some fuckers stole my new car battery the other night. They also politely took my kids test books out my canvas bag and used it to cart away said battery. Thank you for not chucking the books in the rain, guys. Real considerate.

Beck - 'Ramona'-Scott Pilgrim vs. The World OST

ETA- Had to add this. Thanks Sam!

little secrets

2010-08-15T21:29:00.000+02:00

I had the camera out this afternoon.

I still can't resist anything this shade of red.

Anything red + rare botanical illustration = beeauutiful.

I so want to buy this.

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

green pears....

2010-08-01T21:52:00.000+02:00

...and, damn these forelles take forever to ripen! A snippet of spruce picked up in Banff main road -no longer luminous and sadly shedding. And some mint tea (courtesy of the Fairmont Hotel).

What more could one want on a gorgeous winter's day? A little rain to go with the sun maybe. I had to water the garden yesterday. Ridiculous for the beginning of August.

I bought this cute little piggy bank in Banff- decoupaged with delightful Canadian stamps and snippets. Love at first sight. I pretty much hugged him close to my bosom all the way down the Rockies and back to Cape Town.

I'm incredibly inspired by pale blues, greens and golden tones at the moment...so much so that I've ordered these prints from Cricket Press.

And then I've ordered Sam's quilt fabric.

Oh good Lord.
To.Die.For.

The Middle East- 'Blood'

And one more for luck.
Beautiful video.
Laura Marling- 'Rambling Man'

quilts & clementines

2010-07-18T20:21:00.000+02:00

The Bloody Quilt is finished! And no one can be more thankful than yours trully. It's been two years since I started it and never once did I pack it away. It's been in the lounge, colonised by the cats in it's unfinshed state for too flippin' long. I'm a bit sick of it now, to tell the truth.
Anyway, Sam- you wanted pics? Here are a few.

See the stitches on the top?
By hand, dears....I have the pin pricked fingers to prove it.

But the thing is...it's kind of addictive. It's very zen.
When I sew, I sew.

Take a moment to appreciate how hard it is putting material down on any surface in my house without it being commandeered by a cat. When I started my second quilt ( yes, yes) the only way I could keep them away from the sandwiching stage was to bring out the vacuum cleaner. Within two secs they were outside cowering in the bushes. Hehehe

I'm calling this the Canada quilt because the greens and blues in it were bought in Vancouver. Nice little souvenir, don't you think?

ETS- More Canada pics up in Flickr
Joanna Newsom -'Does Not Suffice'

home

2010-07-05T13:03:00.000+02:00

Well, despite suffering from jet lag, lack of sleep and a cold I picked up on the plane, I'm home.

And it feels good.

Sunrise over Cape Town airport

It's taking me longer to unpack my suitcase than it did to pack it. There's something bittersweet about the process. Emptying pockets (and finding notes and coins worth $25- anyone going to Canada?), finding stones and a clipping from a spruce tree, looking through all the pamphlets and till slips I don't have the heart to throw away...yet. It's all part of holiday closure.

Some things I'll miss:
*Tim Horton's coffee
*The friendly 'You're welcome' from shop assistants- it sounds like they actually mean it!
* The smells and sights of spruce and firs
*Lakes
*Not having to make my bed...or do housework
*The mournful sound of train sirens
*Log cabin-style buildings
*Gloriously nostalgic eighties music played in just about every restaurant and shop we walked into. I later found out most are tuned into Sirius satellite radio. I'm thinking of subscribing. Siriusly. ; )

Some things I'm happy to see the back of:
*The suitcase (Max peed in it as a homecoming gift)
*Elevator disorientation- I NEVER knew straight away where our hotel room was!!
*Public loo doors with huge gaps- wtf?
*Waking up and not knowing where the hell I am (I'm still experiencing this)
*Making tour bus small talk
*Maps

Funny thing happened on our way to the airport. Our shuttle driver decided we needed to try 'the best ice-cream in Canada'. He actually detoured right into some dodgy, behind-the-airport suburb to buy each of us a tub of the stuff. I had a brief but intense moment of true South African paranoia.. .. he was abducting us so that he could rob us of all our expensive computer gear!!! But my fears soon vanished in the swoon fest that followed.

That ice-cream was damn good. See? Canadians are incredibly sweet.

Thank you to all the Canadians who made it such an unforgettable holiday : )

'Home'- Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Final Day- Calgary

2010-06-30T15:58:00.000+02:00

Greetings from our last hotel in Canada on our final day. Calagary has been the last leg of our journey and we’ve had some of our most chilled out days here... and what must count as one of our most terrifying adventures ever!

Some might have remembered that this is where we were to have hired a car to go zipping around the countryside. Well, we did hire a car. For an hour.
The city of Calgary is a lot bigger than either of us imagined- filled with confusing one way streets, construction everywhere not to mention the fact that everyone drives on the wrong bloody side of the road! So this little adventure falls straight into the catagories of What the Hell Were We Thinking and Know Your Limitations.
Starting the car proved a challenge. I’d broken out into a sweat before I’d even turned on the ignition and had to call some guy from the parking area to help. Reversing the car was the next hitch (it’s been almost a decade since I’d driven an automatic!)and by the time we’d pulled/jerked/shuddered up to the rental kiosk to check out my legs were like jelly, my heart was in my throat and my head was saying ‘I should NOT be doing this’. As with all airports, the maze of exit roads were impossible to make sense of...it was a case of pick one and try to move the car forward as if you know where you’re going. We had a map but nowhere to pull to the side to actually use it! Plus this map reading stuff is not what Valerie and Leanne do best.
We stop a local, we chat, we talk about the World Cup soccer and eventually we’ll get a set of directions that appeals to us the best.
Long story short- we drive into into An Accident Scene ...or what one of the three Very Pissed Off police officers called A Crime Scene!!! Shock horror! When they finally decided not to ARREST US they told us to bugger off.
We did. I pulled into a garage and burst into tears and twenty minutes later the car keys were back in the hands of a very confused Alamo employee.

It turns out that there’s free transport running through the length of the city of Calgary and plenty to see and do here so we really didn’t need to worry about hiring a car after all. Our remaining days here have been warm and summery (at last!) and we’ve sat in the sun soaking up the atmosphere, sampled the local beer, walked lots and eaten, for the most part, great junk food.

It’s been an unforgettable two weeks. The sights and sounds, the people we’ve met and the precious time we’ve spent together. The memories will live on for a long time to come.

Thanks mom!

Day 9- sensory overload

2010-06-26T06:07:00.000+02:00

Five am Lake Louise photoshoot.....f#@*ing thrilling.

Glacier walk...f#@*ing freezing.

Lunch at a horse ranch. ..f#@*ing scrumptious. Steaks to die for.

Twenty minute helicopter flight over glaciers and pine trees the size of paintbrushes....f#@*ing awesome!!!!

Two black bears (honeymooners, apparently) nonchalantly munching dandelions alongside the road....the cherry on top of an unbelievable day.

Wow.
People, save every bloody rand, cent, penny...whatever, and get yourself on a Rocky Mountaineer tour. We're nearing the end of ours and will be heading for Calgary tomorrow ...after another cable car (gondola) and helicopter ride. I'm trying not to let the prospect of driving on the wrong side of the road freak me out too much...I've been able to get the feel of it (as much as one can sitting on a tour bus) and I'm pretty sure it can't be more hairy than sitting NEXT TO THE PILOT in the front of the helicopter!!!!! What a rush.

*sigh*
It'll be so sad to say goodbye to this gorgeous country.

Cheers for now, eh?

PS- still no mountie.

Day 8 -Lake Louise

2010-06-25T03:45:00.000+02:00

Too moeg today to write lots.

Pics are all SOC (straight out of camera) which, frankly, I'm hating as I'm really dying to tweak the light and contrast a bit in Lightroom. Trying to leave my best pics for later.

The Emerald Lake

This is where we saw another bear here(far up the mountain, but we'll take it), lots of mule deers (long floppy ears) and apparently the impressive horned thing we saw next to the train what seems an eon ago was actually an elk, not a caribou. The bears come down to the roadside this time of the year to eat dandelions. They've also learned to walk along the railroad track eating the grain that's fallen off the cargo trains. We've heard some amazing bear tales on our trip - fascinating creatures.

We're really getting into the routine now...new hotel rituals include checking out the fancy soaps, the coffee machine and the smoke break spots for mom. Sometimes she's been able to open the window and smoke through the crack, carefully tapping the ash into a held tissue. I kid you not. She's sworn to kill me if I attempt to take a photo of this not-so-elegant-but-oh-so-rebellious deed.. The last few hotels have had a wire mesh covering the opening so she's had to skulk around the nearest entrance for her fix. And of course, the daily washing of 'smalls'- I no longer worry about what hotel staff might think of the state of my undies. I can't hang around to explain to them that Max, when he was a kitten enjoyed chewing the elastic on my bra straps.
I'm missing my kitties.

Here we are at the incredibly ostentatious, fake Swiss Chateau-style hotel at the Fairmont Lake Louise. No shortage of monied people here. It's gorgeous though.

After taking a walk around one side of the lake we sat in a secluded wing (thanks to the lady at the President's Club desk for the tip-off) at the end of the hotel far from the tourists and just soaked up the view for a bit.

Cheers for now :)

Ridin' the Rocky Mountaineer

2010-06-24T05:34:00.000+02:00

Greetings from yet another hotel in Canada. We're no longer in British Columbia, the Rocky Mountaineer having brought us through two stunning days worth of jawdropping scenery into Alberta and the gorgeous town of Banff.
Today's hotel, The Caribou Lodge and Spa has trendy green walls and a fake caribou head in the bathroom very useful for...wait, let me show you quickly.

So this is us on the train. We were given these little pins to wear- a red maple leaf to distinguish us from the posh gold leaf passengers in the double decker coaches at the back. We later heard that our food was wayyy better than the gold leaf's....go us!

We had a little rain on the first day but it didn't spoil it much. I struggled a bit to get the right settings on the camera...and the views obviously weren't as stunning as they could have been but the atmosphere was amazing. Down below rivers raged and boiled ferociously and it's incredible to think that hundreds of years ago intrepid map makers were trying to explore this land in little canoes. Our guide in our cabin had so many stories to tell about these pioneers of early British Columbia which made it made it all the more real. Day one on the train was the day of the canyons. As we climbed higher and higher the terrain started to look more and more like parts of the Karoo.

Day two is known as the lakes part of the journey...and oh, my.....how beautiful it was!

The Shuswap Lake is so big it took us about an hour and a half to wind our way around one side of it and all along the banks we could see holiday homes, campsites and house boats...all empty and quiet, just waiting for the summer holidays to begin. It was magical.

As we wound our way along spiral tunnels (trully amazing engineering) everyone kept a beady eye open for bears..or anything that had legs, basically. Someone would shout out BEAR ON THE LEFT! And all would scramble. We did see bears...twice! And a caribou who just happened to be munching on some greens where the train had to stop for 10 minutes. Just as the caribou meandered off an otter swam past. Woohoo!
The Rockies are surpringly marshy and the pools of water are this incredible milky blue colour...something to do with the minerals from the glaciers. Will have to try and get some photos at some stage.
So we've spent the day in Banff, a gorgeous little town nestled at the top of the Rockies....it's filled with hotels (all in that ski resort stone lodge style), slacker ski-bum types on their skateboards and fit-looking mommies towing baby's prams behind their bikes. I could live here too.

Tomorrow we're heading for Lake Louise. It's another stay at a Fairmont Hotel but this time I'll be using my Presidents Club membership to get me some free internet. Hah!
Pretty fancy looking hotel, huh?
Until then, cheers everyone.

Day 6- Kamloops

2010-06-22T07:36:00.000+02:00

The last two days have been silent because although we were in an incredibly larney and a touch intimidating hotel (the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver....) they did not offer free internet access!!! Shock horror!! Imagine my joy when I found that our lowly little hotel in the middle of Kamloops has rather speedy wireless!
Our last day in Vancouver was spent up in the lush mountains - walking along the Capilano suspension bridge and going up Grouse Mountain. This was where many of the events for the winter Olympics were held. All these snow mobile type things sitting up there in the mist just begging for someone to pose on them.

Today we took the Rocky Mountaineer through the most beautiful mountain passes and river canyons to Kamloops. The weather wasn't that great but it hardly detracted from the experience. We've seen lots of huge eagles and ospreys - still hoping to spot a bear!

We're off at sparrow's fart tomorrow for Banff where we'll be staying for two days so hopefully will have more time to post something decent.

On the ferry back to Vancouver....man, I love that city. I want my holiday home there when they've invented teleportation.

Cheers for now!

Day 3- Vancouver.....

2010-06-19T20:28:00.000+02:00

Also known as the day we walked ourselves stukkend.

The buildings are a wonderful mix of grunge and modern sophistication - old brick side by side with blue-tinted glass scultures. Parts are pretty rundown but I love that old tenement look- so different to the buildings back home. Why, oh why did they have to tear down so many of Cape Town's old buildings?

Wait! A shebeen!? Soccer!?

The arrows led to a pub filled to the brim with English supporters singing with typical fervor ten minutes before the match was due to start. Goosebumps moment. We spent the morning in historic Gastown, not too far from our hotel and then made our way across the city to Granville Island Market.

Loved these two guys- the geek pal was downloading music.

Ack! Must dash!!!Gotta check out of this hotel and do the mad wheely suitcase dash across the city to our next hotel.

Cheers for now :)

Day 2- Vancouver

2010-06-18T04:42:00.003+02:00

Well, we're here. After 32 hours of flying or sitting in airports we're seeing the city through somewhat glazed eyes but it looks very Canadian. Logs floating in the harbour! Woot!
Two 9/10 hour flights one after the other leaves one feeling a bit silly but we've met some super people so far...all asking what we're doing here instead of staying home with all the World Cup celebrations. The vuvuzela was in all the Brit papers and today featured on the local Vancouver news as well. The announcer guy did say that they'd had the 'plastic horn' at their hockey matches for ages though. Huh! Doesn't he know it was never going to make any lasting impression with the name 'plastic horn'!?

Pics to follow when I can keep my eyes open
Laterz!

Day 1- hello heathrow

2010-06-17T10:15:00.000+02:00

Mom and I are sitting under the BA lounge (sneakily using the larneys free wi-fi) next to aWHsmith killing time. We had a bit of a bumpy ride =lots of turbulance and of course, I didn't get much sleep at all. We weren't that impressed with BA actually- sour-faced cabin crew and no warm lemony face cloths this morning!! Are they doing budget cuts or what? We had a bit of an experience entering the international connections lounge/area..going through the madness that is the security check!!!!! OMG!!! Mom very wisely put her bracelets in a plastic bag and sent them through the detector (EVERYTHING has to go through them in plastic trays) I left mine on. Bad move. Just ahead was a moslem lady who was being scrutinsed and her hubby was starting some kind of International Incident by accusing everyone of prejudice when I walked through... and set off the alarms. So there I stood security guard stopped everything while I had to wait for a woman to come and search me (one already being involved in the drama with the moslems) very red-faced and awkward cause everything was held up. Eventually a woman came to wave the wand and boy- was she thorough!!!! Eish. We then dashed ( me red-faced and mother in full I-told-you-so mode) to the nearest coffee shop where we inhaled the most divine americano guarenteed to keep us awake for the next half of our journey. Bring on Vancouver!!

in which we explore The Suitcase

2010-06-13T19:46:00.000+02:00

I had a bit of a warm-up session today .

I opened the suitcase the cats had been gagging to explore and practised packing.

Some had more fun than others.

I realised I don’t have many T-shirts that don’t look like they’ve survived a hot summer (or two).

Hope the Canadians don’t mind.

The next blog will hopefully be posted on a continent far, far away....

Far. Away.

Like, a day's traveling (actually more) and nine hours behind SA time away.

Ayoba!!

Wish us luck peeps.

See you soon!

Seu Jorge & Almaz- 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine'

about packing...

2010-06-05T21:31:00.000+02:00

I'm thinking about packing. A lot.

And about what I need to tell Heidi, the cat sitter.

Like how to work the temperamental washing machine.

And where to find my movie stash. And where to put the trash.

I'm also worrying about how I'm going to carry all my geeky tech stuff.

Like the iPod, Kindle, Netbook, camera, external hard drive (for photo storage ,RAW files are HUGE)

and I imagine I'll be worrying about them every step of the journey.

Traveling must have been far simpler in the days of sketchbooks and postcards.

So I guess you can say I'm more worried than excited at this point.

PS- Adding sketchbook to the To Pack list. Speaking of which, anyone who loves making lists
and mind maps would be fascinated by this online application. My mom and I have been using it to plan the trip and it's a-ma-zing!

Bird and the Bee - 'I can't go for that' (Hall and Oats cover)

Oh, and what the hell, I love this album so much here's another track...

'One on One' from "Interpreting the Masters volume 1: A tribute to Hall and Oates."

a few mountains with a sprinkling of lakes

2010-05-23T16:11:00.000+02:00

The up-in-the-air itinerary has been resolved. It appears that the unaccounted for seven days include things like helicopter flights and visits to glaciers! Whoohooo!So I'm now worrying about which winter woolies to pack....
Here's the itinerary
16 June - Leave CT
17June - Arrive in Vancouver where we spend two days looking for Mounties, markets, maple syrup, WiFi and craft shops. By the way, how cool is Googlemaps?

Sat 19 Jun -Overnight at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Sun 20 June- Exclusions Attractions Pass- North Shore Capilano & Grouse Mountain Tour
Mon 21 Jun - Travel onboard the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Kamloops. Highlights include the rushing waters of Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon and the steep slopes and rock sheds along the Thompson River. Overnight in Kamloops.
Tue 22 Jun - Kamloops to Banff -Our journey continues eastwards to the mighty Canadian Rockies and the province of Alberta. Highlights include Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven, Rogers Pass, the Kicking Horse Canyon, the Spiral Tunnels and the glaciers and snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies.
Wed 23 Jun -Banff

We spend the entire day exploring Banff National Park on our own.( Feel my immense sigh of relief here) Optional activities include a nature walk on nearby mountain trails, visiting Banff’s historic museums, cruising on Lake Minnewanka (excuse me?)or playing a round of golf at The Fairmont Banff Springs (eh, nothanks). Overnight at the Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa.

Thu 24 Jun - Banff to Lake Louise -We enjoy a half-day tour into Yoho National Park.

Ohmygod....if I just get one shot like this I can die a happy woman.

Among the attractions are the Spiral Tunnels, Emerald Lake (pictured above) and a natural rock bridge that spans the Kicking Horse River. Upon arrival in Lake Louise we will be treated to a one-hour guided lakeshore stroll. For the remainder of the afternoon we can flake out or if we have enough energy try and post a blog entry. Overnight at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Fri 25 Jun - Icefields & Glaciers Experience -We'll enjoy a full-day motorcoach tour along the Icefields Parkway. Upon arrival at the Columbia Icefield we will take a ride on an Ice Explorer to the middle of the Athabasca Glacier. Continue through the magnificent Canadian Rockies to Cline River for the highlight of the afternoon, a 25-minute helicopter flightseeing tour above six glaciers. Eish. Baie eish.
A visit to a local ranch and BBQ lunch is also included. Yeehaw! Overnight at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Sat 26 Jun - Lake Louise to Calgary with Summit Helicopter -We'll begin the morning with a sightseeing tour of Banff. Among the points of interest are Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka, Surprise Corner and the Hoodoos. A trip on the Banff Gondola is included. Continue on to Kananaskis for a 12-minute Summit Helicopter Tour (!!!)over the remarkable landscape of the Rockies, before our transfer to Calgary.

Sun 27 Jun - Calgary -We check out the one hotel, into the other and fetch the hire car from the airport---the thought paralyses me now but by then we'll probably either be too exhausted to worry or terribly gung ho after all the helicopter rides and glacier walks.

Sun 27 Jun -Wed 30 Jun -Calgary - Plenty of time to track down some breweries, mounties, quilt material, WiFi and maple syrupy, red-leaved souvenir shit for friends and family.

So just a few mountains then....and a sprinkling of lakes. I hope we get to see lots of mounties too...preferably one like this...remember Due South?

Yum. A cute Mountie standing in front of a mirrored lake reflecting mountains would be an absolute bonus!
I have no idea how much of this I'll be able to blog but I promise I'll give it my best shot.

Portico Quartet- 'Line' (slow loading but worth it, I reckon)

sunrise and hijinx

2010-05-16T21:34:00.000+02:00

Ok--so no Canada today cause, well.....the itinery is a wee bit up in the air. So to speak.

They've stuffed up the bookings and we apparently have seven extra days up in those Rockies and not a place to stay.....exciting stuff. Watch this space....

So, instead, a sunrise and some cat pics will have to suffice.

For a brief minute or two this is how the world looked this morning...

I took this standing outside my front door in my jammies.

Brr.

And then while trying to doodle a baby card...

(!!squeee!!so close now Lauren!!)

.....she does this all the time....

I keep having to look under cupboards and beds for pens and scrunchies

and basically anything that can be slid off the edge and onto the floor with a satisfying plunk.

Once it's on the floor it loses its appeal. Just lies there gathering dust bunnies.

little minx

Brazos- 'Day Glo'

you say systemic i say balsamic

2010-05-08T07:33:00.000+02:00

Hello to whomever still has Spit the Pips in their blog feeder.
Thank you for your patience and loyalty :)

So, it’s been hectic, okay? I won't go into details. This is not one of those bare all blogs. Get your navel-gazing angst somewhere else, sunshine. I’ll just tell you that eight weeks is not enough to fit in all the teaching and assessing that has to be done this term. Bloody world cup soccer.

And if I get one more departmental notice wrt to the Grade 3 Systemic fucking Evaluation I'll scream.I will.

‘Nuff said.

On to the pics

As autumn sweeps the land with a rust coloured paintbrush and a delicious chill sets in, my school had its annual beach walk. Not the best weather for a two hour walk on the beach…..heads were kept low and mouths firmly shut but sand still found its way into every orifice. Needless to say, the long, blow-up slippery slide back at school (which was later ripped to shreds, costing us half of the profits made) proved to be the highlight of the day.

Not taken at the Beach Walk but a sweet remnant from V Day that I couldn't leave out.

It felt good to have the camera out again but damn, I was a bit rusty on manual!

Must polish up before Canada!

Which brings me to the subject of the next post.
And the reason for the barely restrained panic you might have picked up earlier.

In just over a month I set off on a little jaunt involving high suspension bridges,
train rides over rocky mountains and driving in a hired car on the wrong side of the road.

With my mother.

Anyone who says this is not an adventure sport holiday needs their heads checked.

Details to follow.

Promise.

The Specials 'Ghost Town'--Omg, still love this song. What a classic!!!!

uncapped and doodling

2010-04-02T21:34:00.000+02:00

A week into the holidays and I'm finally starting to relax.
It always surprises me at how busy I can be. I'm much less slothful than I like to think.
I'll not bore everyone with a list of things (very boring, grownup things) I did this past week but let's just say I'm feeling sanctimonious.
To reward myself for conquering (well, sort of - still haven't got the plumbers in to fix the leaking loo, nor is my hair cut) my procrastinating ways- I've also been sitting in the mild autumn sunshine, listening to audio books, reading on the Kindle or doodling in my art journal.

My camera has been a bit neglected and, therefore, so has the blog. I'm sorry about that but I don't feel comfy blogging without at least one photo...
Shall I blog about flipping the bird to a child in my class?(so vehemently I almost took out his eye, I might add)... If only I were brave enough.
Shall I blog about the Canada trip my mom and I are going to be taking in two months time!? Yes, abso-damned-lutely! Stay tuned.
Shall I blog about the foray into art journals (otherwise known as pretentious doodling)? Hmmmaybe.

On a side note, let me just add my shouts of joy and jubilation at finally having an uncapped ADSL line. About bloody time, is all I'm saying. My dream has finally been realised- I can now hook up the netbook onto my DVD home theater system and stream my beloved online radio throughout the whole flat. Yeehaaa.

I took a little drive to Sweetwell Butchery to buy something to roast on Sunday and this is what I saw on the way....

Ladies picking green beans.

Yay for Autumn colours!

This is my favourite time of the year in the Cape.

Tim Farrell - 'Little Martha'

autumn arrives

2010-03-20T22:24:00.000+02:00

It's starting to cool down now.
Cape Autumns are great....except for the dry grass and pollens giving me constant hayfever....and the fact that geckos must love the cool evening air too because the cats have brought in at least six in the last two weeks. *shudder*

Good for the cats
bad for the geckos
and me.
I now walk around in sandals all the time...just in case I
step on the grizzly remains of some poor sucker-toed creature too stupid
to stay away from these walls.
My sweet kitties are now fully fledged killing machines.

On another note,
I'm currently reading 'Living the Creative Life' by Rice Freeman-Zachery and I'm itching for the holidays- hope the Muse decides to come and play ;-P
Also, I've just watched the first episode of The Pacific and it blew me away.
Another Spielberg/Hanks production (Band of Brothers) this has a great cast, stunning production and a soundtrack by Zimmer....what more could one want in a TV series?

Nina Simone 'Feeling Good'

make the road by walking

2010-03-14T20:44:00.000+02:00

A post to end the drought!

And what better way to do it than a birthday celebration at La Masseria -
eating and singing Italian.

When the moon hits your eye like a biga pizza pie

that's amore

It's been a hectic few months and the less I say about it the better.

School shit.

Who really wants to hear it?

But soft! What light through yonder breaks?!
It's the end of term and I smell

a little holidayyy ahead!!!!
(Thank God I don't have to teach Shakespeare)

'Make the Road by Walking- - Menahan Street Band

weightless

2010-02-14T16:56:00.000+02:00

Another dry and dusty school field. This time the field belongs to the local high school. And the kids are not running. They're flying.....and spinning...and hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds.

And posing. Oh yeah. Lots of posing going on.

Apart from bumping into past pupils every two minutes (some of them clearly trying to avoid me- lol) and almost getting locked in the school grounds, it was a good afternoon.

go!

2010-02-04T21:10:00.000+02:00

It's early February.

It's one of the hottest days of the year.

The grass on the field is...well, dead...

And the kids are chanting Gold House sucks!

Must be Sports Day.

Every year for the past don't-really-want-to-count-how-many I've been officiating at the start.

Far enough away from obsessive parents

convinced their child has received a place

but close enough to the starters gun to feel actual pain when it goes off.

Marks

"Mam, can I go pee?"

Set

"I need to peeeeee!"

I don't even correct them with the more polite alternative anymore.

"You'll just have to knyp( hold it in).... it makes you run faster. The sooner you finish the sooner you can go to the toilet."

Do you think he's doing some visualisations?

I could eat this little okie up.

And this one.

That's John Cena on his T-shirt.
I actually know who John Cena is.

I based a whole lot of maths lessons on the guy once.

Never ever actually seen him wrestle on the TV though.

The power of the media is far reaching indeed.

"African Velvet" by Air

surfer's corner

2010-02-01T06:07:00.000+02:00

I've been wanting to do this for ages.

An early morning at Surfer's Corner in Muizenberg.

The place was filled with all sorts....hikers doing the contour path along the railway line, bergies taking in the fresh air after a heavy Saturday night and surfers.

Plenty of the silver-haired daddy variety -along with much younger (so it seemed) surfer mommies and lots of sun bleached little grommets with surfboards twice their size.

I avoided shooting adorable kids with surfboards (oh so tempting, though) and spent a good deal of time grappling with my new tripod.

Pretending I knew what I was doing was hard work...inside I was just praying the camera wouldn't suddenly fly off and land in the sand.

There was one family I grew rather fond of.

They spent a good deal of time at the little outcrop of rocks practically on the beach.

They eventually walked off into the rapidly rising sun- hopefully to ice-creams in the car.

Always the best way to end a morning at the beach, don't you think?

More pics in flickr.

beginnings

2010-01-13T20:53:00.000+02:00

And so it starts all over again
It's 07:30 and the sweat begins to trickle. It's the hottest day of the year so far. Whoopdedoo.
Kids are lugging huge boxes of stationery (the parents have to buy everything)
Anxious moms hover and ambush teachers with stories about why said stationery isn't at school.
Teachers wonder if they can get another cup of tea and a smoke in before the bell goes.
And if the non stain Sanex will live up to its promises.
Shark attack chatter helps us to briefly forget the coming chaos.
Bells rings and all assemble for genuflections and morning prayers.
Our Father, help us to get through another year with all body parts and sanity intact.
Also give us the strength to resist third glasses of wine and extra large Bar Ones when things have been rough.
Thanks.
Amen.

'The High Road' by Broken Bells

endings

2010-01-11T20:08:00.000+02:00

those lazy

sittin' in the sun with my kindle,

hazy

walkin' on the beach at 6:00 in the morning,

crazy

grapefruit schnapps drinkin'

summer holidays,
are over
dammit!

Best holiday Kindle moments:

I read a ton of shit but here are some keepers:

The Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis.

Within the Frame-The Journey of Photographic Vision by David du Chemin.

Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh

Best holiday viewing:

I also watched a ton of shit. These were the more memorable bits:

It Might Get Loud

The Lovely Bones ( I know, it hasn't actually been released yet...shhh)

The TV a capella series called The Sing Off. Torrents are available. Just sayin' ;-P

Love Happens. Total chick flick

Animal - Miike Snow (Mark Ronson remix)

hello 2010

2010-01-01T10:48:00.000+02:00

Last year this time I was on the beach celebrating the New Year with the rest of Cape Town.

Not happening today as the wind's howling.
Instead, I'm going to wash paw prints off walls later on.
And think about all that stuff one is supposed to think about on the first day of a new decade.
Like.... is this the year I will finally buy a stove? And will I learn the secret to keeping my indoor plants alive? And, will I ever finish the canvas primed and propped up against the wall in my lounge?
And *gasp* will I get around to finishing my quilt!? Oh please let it be so!

Anyway, enough of that heavy navel-gazing stuff.

Here are some pics from the so-early-we-didn't-even-brush-our-teeth walk that Debs and I did on the beach the other morning.It was blustery and overcast as most mornings have been lately. And bloody freezing.
Poor tourists.

Another gratuitous Max pic.

Happy New Year everyone!

Here's to a year filled with good times, great health

and peace.
Let there be lots of peace.

Laura Veirs "Life is Good Blues"

tiddely-om-pom-pom

2010-01-01T09:42:00.000+02:00

The Strand beachfront desperately needs a makeover.

It's a nice enough beach. It has great stretches of sand, a rock pool, a small jetty at one end and a fleet of surfers at the other.

But there really is no character to the place at all. It's missing some local flavour.

A wide promenade all the way along Beach Road would be nice. It should be scattered with kooky performance artists and uber hot dudes working out ala Venice Beach in LA.
There'd be no desperate hunting for interesting people to shoot.

Or how about a long pier stretching out into the waves with kiosks overflowing with candy floss and balloons
and benches of little old ladies eating ice-cream while holding onto their hats.

Where are the quaint seaside shops selling buckets and spades and dodgy postcards?

And I luv Strand T-shirts....

If I could just pick up the entire stretch of Kalk Bay main road I'd be one very happy photographer.

Cause it's all about the photo, see?
I'm ruthless that way.

Sorry to the lady in the photo above.
No one will know it's you, don't worry. ;-P

Basil Rathbone sings 'I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside'

let the music play

2009-12-28T06:57:00.000+02:00

Please indulge.

My inner music geek needs to get out.

For those who do not know, music is, well...a huge part of my life.

When I wasn't dreaming of drumming with The Police (and I think the fantasy actually involved sitting at the drums next to Stuart Copeland) I had the posters, the No. 1 music mags (and later, Q) and the highlight of my week was listening to Barney Simon and Keith Lindsey on 5FM. The Terrible Twins played that wonderfully subversive stuff like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Sisters of Mercy and The Smiths. Did you know that Barney Simon has been inducted into the SA Rock Hall Of Fame? Cool.

And really, little has changed since then.
Well, except for the posters.

Damn, I wish I could still cover a wall with pictures of pretty boys. : ) Music blogs on the net have replaced expensive British magazines and now I get to listen to online music radio ('cause what the hell happened to 5FM?!) - cool stations like KEXP in Seattle and KCRW based in LA. So, to get to the point of this post. It's that time of the year when music geeks pour over albums and artists and songs and debate over who or what tracks could be narrowed down to the top ten. I couldn't stick to ten so here's my top fifteen!!

Go do the dishes, file your nails or check out another blog while I get this off my chest, ok?

PS- I'm trying out this music player thingy. If anyone does try it and it doesn't work let me know!

ETA- Ack!! Can't get it off autoplay! One sure way to get South Africans on a limited bandwidth off the site in seconds!
Sorry folks. Will just post link.

My top fifteen kept-me-going-through-2009 tracks

Also- anyone into music and guitars and rock gods has to get their grubby little paws on It Might Get Loud.

Stunning, stunning music doccie on three guitar legends Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.

Get it. Or find the torrent. ;-P

schnapp attack .... and a very merry christmas

2009-12-26T12:17:00.000+02:00

We're not big drinkers. Honest.

I mean, my mom says she hadn't even heard of the word schnapps until four years ago.

And she pronounces it shnaps - without the authentic German 'a' and emphasis on the schhh part.

We started with cocktails - those pretty pink poinsettias again .

These were accompanied by a Meeru slideshow by the end of which mom and I were seriously ready

to whip out the suntan lotion and goggles and catch the first Emirates plane out of here.

Eat as much as you like? Check.

Hammocks swinging lazily between palm trees? Check.

Waiters in sarongs at your every beck and call? Check.

Crystal clear ocean sparkling in the tropical sunshine? Check and check.

Later, the schnapps was accompanied by a Meeru video. More twitching. Wondering if passport is still valid.

Look how tanned they are. Lucky buggers.

Grapefruit schnapps helps alleviate envy, did you know that?
It's worth keeping in mind.

It also brings on delusions of rock stardom.

That's how Schnapp Attack was born.

We do weddings, bar mitzvahs and Christmas parties.

PS- I wish to stress that it's not a nazi salute you see, but a peace sign.

See? We know the true meaning of Xmas.

Peace out.

Thanks to Bono and the boys for the pose.

'Christmas- Baby Please Come Home' - U2

moocheling & footcheling

2009-12-19T16:14:00.000+02:00

Two perfectly wonderful words to describe the very fine and honourable act of doing bugger all.
God bless Roald Dahl.

He also writes .....

‘And then again, if it is a frotsy night and the giant is fridging with cold, he will probably point his nose towards the swultering hotlands to guzzle a few Hottentots to warm him up.’

‘How perfectly horrible,’ Sophie said.

‘Nothing hots a cold giant up like a hot Hottentot,’ the BFG said.

Not terribly PC, was our Roald.

I read this book to my grade 3's every year.
I explain that the word isn't used any more but we talk about the fact that there is, in fact, a high school, a hospital and a mountain with that name right on our very doorstep!
Imagine that.

Anyyyway.

This is Minnie moocheling.

As you can see by the pissed off expression on her face and shaved armpit, she is not a happy camper.

Short story...cat fight with the big fucker next door.

I tried, horribly unsuccessfully, to hide her antibiotics in various kitty treats including tuna, homemade chicken liver pate from the German speciality shop down the road (which I've all but polished off- yummmm) and salmon cream cheese (hidden in the depths of my freezer so that I don't polish it off too) ... ended up having to take her to the vet every day this week for an injection.

*sigh* Painful for both of us but, I have to say, a vet's waiting room is a surprisingly social place to hang out. Pet lovers are a gregarious bunch. I should imagine it must be like taking your toddler to a play date (or whatever those things are called) and having a whole bunch of moms all wanting to talk about kiddie things.

I think it must be exactly the same... The oohs and aahs and sympathetic clucks.

The whining, the drooling.....the smells.

Yeh.

Fun.

'Blue Skies'- Noah and the Whale

the wedding

2009-12-14T08:35:00.000+02:00

What a perfect day.

The words don't seem to do it justice so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bright Eyes- 'First Day of my Life'

PS- Much, much respect to all wedding photographers out there. Eish.

ETA- New pics in Flickr

old ornaments die hard

2009-12-06T17:31:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my little family celebrated a newish tradition...Eggnog Day. This event involves very boozy eggnog, stringing lights on my mom's bougainvillea outside and putting up the Christmas tree. People look a bit funny when you mention eggnog here...it's just not very common. But, as I blogged last year, thanks to the internet and Cyril, we have (ok...I use the term we loosely..it's actually Steve and Meri who make it) perfected the art of making a damn fine nog.

My mom and I have perfected the art of drinking it with great enthusiasm and rapidity.

Eggnog can get you pissed really, really quickly. And getting pissed is essential if you're going to have to string up thousands of lights without losing your head. Mind you, it's probably not the lights so much as the plugs and adapters that would normally make you want to hiss and spit and clench your teeth. But the nog gives everything a nice pleasant glow and before you know it you're humming along to the Christmasy instrumentals on DSTV's music channel and all is good.

Opening up the ancient box of decorations is always pure nostalgia. Our really old ornaments, the ones my mom had when she was a kid, are falling apart now. I was always fascinated by them when I was little ...they were so otherworldly, so exotic.

Now some of them are bloody scary.

What the hell does Goblin Santa have in his hand? I think it's meant to be a little fir tree.

I vaguely remember it being green at some stage.

I still don't want to throw them away though. There are just too many memories in those relics.

This is the fairy we've had on the top of the tree since the year dot.

She's a little over the top, more Barbie than Bible......but hovering up there she's seen a lot. The shiny blue bike I always wanted -which got stolen the very next day . And the time when I, age 9 or thereabouts, drank all the kids' champagne (we were each given a little bit in a plastic cup)and found myself drunkenly strumming my new guitar under the coffee table.

I wouldn't change her for the world.

And the decoration box. Ah yes.

On close inspection I found it once held radioactive materials.

Gee, thanks mom and dad..all those years of rooting around in the thing might have given little Stevie and I severe side effects. Like a mutant Xmas power- tinsel tentacles...or lightning speed gift wrapping abilities.

Anyway.

Let the season begin. We could all do with a bit of jolly.

Vince Guaraldi- Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)

Next week...a wedding!!!

kindle love

2009-11-15T21:15:00.000+02:00

I have one!!!!!

I love my Kindle and its quaint literary screensavers

I love that I can read it anywhere....

in a box, with a fox

on the loo, stiring stew..

Ja, I know, you can do that with a book too, but I have been reading ebooks

on my PC for well over a year now and I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to be mobile again.

The adorable GelaSkin cover I bought for the back.

There's one for the front too but I like it white for now.

Now I can get the kitchen cupboards fixed.

And buy a stove.

And think about getting another car.

No more gadgets, I swear!

;-P

Grizzly Bear & Michael McDonald - 'While you wait for the others'

an empty street at dawn

2009-11-01T20:32:00.000+02:00

Things at work are hectic (just over a month left!!!) but I've also been soooo lazy lately.

End of year burn-out? Hmm, probably. All I know is that my fingers have been itching to shoot something for a while now. So yesterday morning I hopped in the car at 05:50 and drove through to the Strand. Not to the beach this time (although I did end up there) but for a walk along it's quiet streets.

It was unbelievably quiet -no birds, no dogs, no cars. Just the sound of my camera and the sea.

I know night owls don't get it but I just love being up while the rest of the world is asleep.

It's like holding a secret close to your chest.

I remember doing the exact same thing when I was a little girl living at the vlei. I'd tiptoe out the house, grabbing Toffee the dog, and walk down to a road that led to the waters edge.

Toffee would be in doggy heaven rooting around poking his nose into mole hills and I'd lie back in the tall grass and listen to the coots splashing in the reeds.

Now it's seagulls instead of coots.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings- Inspiration Information

be careful out there

2009-10-08T20:47:00.000+02:00

So what do you do when you get to the end of a week in which one of your pupils has been raped and has to undergo examinations by doctors and police and starts a month's course of antiretrovirals which are said to make a person extremely ill; your neighbour kills himself by standing in front of a train (arms crossed on his chest, apparently) and another pupil tells you that her neighbours, including her bff, died in a fire in their flat? A fire that was started in some bizarre attempt to exorcise evil spirits.....

You pour yourself a very big glass of wine, light some candles and then you set your iPod shuffle to the Loud & Angry Music playlist.

Eish.

Just as well there are some good news stories out there.

Like a certain couple who's honeymoon in Meeru is not on the rocks. Phew! ;-P

And another couple (shhhhhh) who are going to have a baby!

Look after yourselves, people.

Seriously weird youtube vid to one of my all time favourite angry songs.
Calexico's 'Black Heart'

windy with a chance of sandblasting

2009-10-01T15:58:00.000+02:00

Well, the sun’s out.

And so is the wind.

There’s only one person I know who’s thrilled we’ve the
South Easters howling again.

But really, what's the point of fighting it if you're a Capetonian?

It's here to stay for the next, what...three months? And you can wipe that grin off your face brother mine!

So let's be positive. It's not called the Cape Doctor for nothing.

It's cleaning the city's air and blowing away all our cobwebs.

And um, it's good to get out there in the fresh saltiness

and have the wind whipping your cheeks. :-/

In case anyone's wondering I've made three beach walks so far.

Because as wonderful and bracing as it is to have fresh air whipping your face it's not terribly nice having half of the Strand beach in your eyes, up your nose and in your hair as well.

Dustin O'Halloran- Opus 23-

for Aunty Jill. RIP.

..er...spring? hello?

2009-09-25T08:41:00.000+02:00

After huffing and puffing my way through what must have been a trully hilarious

teachers vs Gr7 girls netball match on Thursday I've made some promises to my heart.

I'll walk on the beach every day. These holidays. These ten day holidays.

I'll not eat anything really bad....like white bread.

And condensed milk.

Straight out the tin.

Walk on the beach day one.

Jocelyn, a building for you. : ) Fiddled a wee bit in PS.

As luck would have it, just as this delightful looking family arrived my battery ran out.

When I took this shot it was so flat that the auto focus couldn't work anymore.

I quite like the blur though.

ETA: WTF is blogger doing to the photo thumbnails these days?!!Blech!!
I've half a mind to move over to Wordpress.

hangin' hearts

2009-09-20T07:40:00.000+02:00

I've been playing with more heart mobiles.

Guess what this year's crafty Xmas pressies are going to be....

I so love working with beads.

All those glowing, translucent,
jewel-like baubles

make my heart sing : )

As for the Kindle message...welll....it's been on my mind a bit lately.

To be honest, I think I'd prefer a Sony Reader but it didn't look as good on the heart.

I'm so tempted to get one with my birthday bonus.

I know...I'm horribly acquisitive.

And don't worry, all traces of the kindle wish will be erased before the mobiles are given as pressies.

If I can part with them. ;-P

ETA- Yes, Charleen, that IS your cute dishtowel! :D

on tap

2009-09-19T16:30:00.000+02:00

I was all set to do an early morning shoot out in the fresh air today but it was all gloomy and grey so I turned the lens on the cats.

Now there's a surprise.

I read that you can really hone your skills if you keep photographing the same thing, over and over again. This woman is taking a polaroid of the food she eats...every single day.

I seem to be doing nothing else but cats lately.

Wayyy more interesting than the food I eat.

The tap has been off and I have been resolute for months now. Finally, a bath free of paw prints and fur!

But Minnie's been trying to twist my arm. She looks at the tap and then she looks at me and licks her lips.

Look what happens when I turn it on.

Crazy felines.

Max refuses to be left out of the action. Whenever he hears the sound of the camera he comes running.

Scene stealer.

Ernest Ranglin - 'King Tubby meets the Rockers'

hello spring : )

2009-09-12T17:17:00.000+02:00

Almost time to spring clean those muddy pawprints off the windows...but not yet.

Now, we just soak up a little sun.

And listen to at least three sets of neighbours watching Province lose to the Cheetahs.

Karen O and The Kids 'Where is Love' from Where the Wild Things Are.

ETA- Technical note: I've discovered two new things in the last week:

1. Using the shutter mirror lock thingy makes your pictures really sharp.

2. Editing and converting with Canon's Digital Photo Professional keeps the colours exactly as they were in camera- unlike Lightroom which always involves a huge amount of colour tweaking.

So, woot! ;-P

shooting the breeze with debs & charleen

2009-08-23T20:17:00.000+02:00

I tried to show two Nikonites how to free themselves from the chains of Auto yesterday.

I think it went well.

They were pretty compliant and didn't complain (not within my hearing anyway!) and seemed to get into the swing of things.

See?

Totally into it.

Thanks for a great weekend girls! ;-P

The Fruit Bats sing 'Ruminant Band' live on KEXP

lens & fur therapy

2009-08-21T05:44:00.000+02:00

Cat + camera = after-work fun and relaxation

I've been experimenting with custom shooting modes trying to achieve an effect similar to Nikon's vivid and I'm really quite chuffed with this set.

Shot in early evening, the ISO was really high-(800) but other than a quick sharpen and contrast tweak I didn't change a thing. I've really been inspired by TheFatOrangeCat photographer, Li Ward.

Thanks for the link J!

Cass McCombs 'Dream Girl'- six months on my playlist and I'm not tired of it yet!

on giggling...and how to survive school inspections

2009-08-15T08:56:00.000+02:00

So, I survived another week from hell and, because I still had tons of photos to take for the school's anniversary 'movie' as my principal is calling it (oy, the pressure), I had to find time in all the madness to grab the camera. And I am so thankful I did. These small moments of respite from the excruciating bureaucracy and extreme self-doubt that comes with these inspections kept me from going quietly insane.

There is always time for a walk and a chat in the beautiful morning sunshine.

And there is most definitely always time for a giggle.

When did we forget to laugh with our whole faces, eyes scrunched up, totally abandoning ourselves to joy?

This is why I teach. : )

PS- Photos did not shrink well- best viewed full size.

digging dishwater

2009-08-08T07:47:00.000+02:00

After a week that had me sneezing and sniffing and crying uncontrollably for days (flu), it seems my troubled-teen-soon-to-be-adult-boycat has developed a fascination for dishwater.

I've tried grabbing him with very hot, soapy hands and dumping him unceremoniously onto the floor.

Nope. He jumps right back up.

I've flicked hot, foamy water at him.

Nope. Up he jumps again.

Then I've tried washing vigorously, using lots of elbow action, making sure I poke and splash him.

Nope. He just moves out of elbow range.

Is it weird to decide to give up at this point?

It's just a phase.

He'll get over it, right?

Minnie

2009-07-26T09:15:00.000+02:00

I'm determined not to let this blog shut down during term time so here are a few Minnie pics

There.

Have a happy Sunday. : )

The beautiful and ethereal music is from one of the guys from Sigur Ros.

'1904' from the album Riceboy Sleeps.

Get it.