hell of a season

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

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

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

Christmas Eve

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

hello summer

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'

surfer's corner

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.

hello 2010

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

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'