Dancing Again

Wow! I heard this on the radio in the car for the first time today. Yip - that volume went up a few notches :D - I got back home and immediately went to youtube for the video. I have hit the replay button over and over and over again! Awesome! South African boy - TiMO ODV 

Comfortably Numb

I can totally relate to this song of Pink Floyd. I can understand how someone would want to feel comfortably numb.To just not feel anything. To not think about anything. Sometimes life just gets so crazy. I would however not consider taking drugs or anything of the sort to feel comfortably numb, like most musicians and people do. I think that is just too extreme! Just sitting and listening to this song is enough to relax my body, mind and soul!

Starting 2017 With A Bang

One minute I am beginning to enjoy my holiday and the next I am back at work! What a way to start the New Year. I have learnt a lesson once again. You really do need time out! I will not work straight through a December ever again! The body, mind and soul needs rest. One week was not enough. I left for Pennington on the 31st of December and returned on the evening of the 8th of January and started work straight away the Monday! I was just beginning to relax when it was time to pack up again.

It was a good holiday except this time we had 2 days of sunshine and then the rain came. For 2 or 3 days it was fine in the morning but then got heavily overcast after lunch and drizzled. From the Thursday to Saturday it rained endlessly. It was ok however. We kept ourselves occupied. When there was no rain we did a lot of walking and when it did rain, we drove around. Depending on where we were and what time it was we would either have lunch or otherwise afternoon coffee at restaurants. When I refer to we - it is my sisters, Rita and Angie and my Nephew Donovan and his two son's - Hayden and Chase. Donovan and the boys left on the Thursday morning. I also had a nice visit with my friend Eva and her husband Ric and the girls, Tash (Natassia) and Claudia as they were also in Pennington.

We had a bite to eat at the Umdoni Golf Club - this is the view to the right

This is the view to the left at Umdoni Golf Club

Angie and Rita on Bazley Beach

The view through the trees at Bazley

Donovan and Hayden at Pennington Beach

Hayden - Pennington Beach

Hayden and Chase at Pennington Beach

Hayden buried in Pennington Beach :D

This video below I filmed at the Ski Boat Club in Pennington. We had a bite to eat there too. Just before I finished filming Hayden says "I love Pennington". The timing was perfect! I had a good chuckle. It would make for a good advert for promoting Penninton :D

This I filmed at the house we stayed at. We never stayed at Eva's late Mom's house as someone had already booked it. This house was fantastic albeit we did not have a sea view but we could hear the sea. The garden was a beautiful, luscious, overgrown garden - so typical of the bush at the coast. Angie and I were just chilling on the patio. Angie was reading and I was just appreciating all the sounds. At one point Angie says that it sounds like one of the birds says "thank you for the rain, thank you for the rain". Oh and by the way - the cigarette lighter on the table by me is Angie's - I don't smoke! :D

En Mis Venas

No, yo no puedo conseguir a 

(¡Oh, estás en mis venas) 

No, no puedo conseguirle a 

Oh no, no puedo te...

End Of 2016

Finally the end of 2016 is looming ahead! As I approach the New Year, I find myself trying to keep my strength up. It's as if I am being besieged. People are asking me to supply far more than I can spare. Situations too are taking it out of me. This explains not only the pressure I feel... it illuminates the opportunities I am facing. But it is time to stop.I have to let go of the pressure, so that I am free to embrace the opportunities that 2017 brings. I'm putting on a brave face. I always do that. But, actually, I need help, support and understanding. I have to be patient. Help is on its way, but it's coming slowly. I have to try to trust that this is happening and, meanwhile, don't give in to pressure. It appears that I can only go so far and then no further. Seemingly, there's a limit to what I can do. Does this make me resentful? I must not let it. That's like a train feeling cross because the tracks are never more than a certain distance apart. The boundaries, the restrictions, the defining lines in my life on all levels exist for a reason. It's a good one. I'm being kept in a position that can ultimately only make me very happy. I need to be less inclined to doubt my circumstances and more prepared to trust my heart. Already this week, I've had to do a lot of soul-searching. But in the process of searching for my soul, I've found it. Isn't that a joyous discovery to take into the New Year? Tick, tock, tick, tock. I know what that sound represents. It's why I should slow down, rather than speed up. Ignore the sense of urgency. Life is too short for hurry and worry. If I were here forever, perhaps I could afford to waste precious moments in a state of terrible tension. But the very brevity of existence means I should savour every second. Go easy as I move towards the New Year. Time to let go of the pressure to get things done. This year has really pulled me through the ringer. Am I glad to see the back of 2016? Absolutely! Today I took my own advice. I slept late. I took my time exercising. I lay in the sun a bit - the first time in a week that I have seen the sun! Its been raining here all week. I sent some e-mails after lunch and posted some ads. That was that. Enough is enough! It is the first time ever that I have worked right through a December month....I am drained. Saturday I go to my happy place in Pennington on the South Coast. Sea, sand and sunshine are beckoning for me to come join them!

Mind Reading

Would life not be wonderful if you could read another person's mind?  But, reality is that you can't just expect someone to read your mind. How can they know what you want - especially if you're not even sure you know what you want yourself! Though it may be considered impolite to express a desire or make a request, surely, it's even more anti-social to just sit around, hoping that someone will guess what you're thinking. And, chances are, you'll end up feeling resentful because they haven't read you clearly. If in doubt, speak out!

Lightning Flashes

This storm came out of no where last night. At around 11:30 the skies were all clear and I thought to myself "ok, I can leave the sun lounger mattress and the umbrella on the patio as it's not going to rain". I then went and got ready for bed. 20 min later I see this flash of light and at first I thought one of the security lights had blown, when I saw another flash - I looked out the window and it was insane - the sky all closed up - lightning flashes in such quick succession it was like disco lights. I ofcourse did not see what Christo Smith, a photographer in the area where I live, captured with his camera in the foto below. It really is so awesome! I had to race outside in my PJ's and quickly grab everything on the patio to bring inside. That is the only issue I have with where I now live - I do not have a covered patio so whenever it rains I have to cart everything inside. So annoying sometimes!

This is Christo Smith's rendition of last night as follows : 

6 Minutes of Lightning. That's all...

Opportunity "strikes" at the strangest of times. It's late at night, 12:30, and we're about to get ready for bed. A massive electrical storm rushes over us in Northriding with strikes every few seconds, and I knew I had to take a chance.

I had my camera and tripod in the boot of my car which is on the other side of the complex which I live in. I ran across, grabbed them and ran back, set up in a minute and under a car port lodged between two cars I started shooting on Bulb Mode taking several shots.

I got a few strikes and then the severe wind starts blowing the rain directly at me. I had to stop... Rain drops already on my lens, and camera shake from the wind a certainty. I had to see what I got...

I checked; I started shooting at 12:39, and I was forced to stop at 12:45. 6 minutes. I love the Highveld of South Africa...I am Proudly South African.
Canon 6D, Tamron 28-75mm 2.8. Bulb Mode. F5.6. ISO 100.