Scorchio!

“Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” Noel Coward

And on the hottest day of the year so far, only lunatics sign up for a hectic 3-hour Aikido session… in a packed sauna of a dojo*, while dressed in super-mega-thick thermal insulating Gis**!

Yet again, today I had good reason to question my sanity. I could have spent the day chilling in the garden, ice cold drink in hand... having a well-earned rest, after another marathon session of house cleaning yesterday [yes, the dust busting still goes on, but we are very nearly there!]

But instead, I chose to spend it being thrown around on yet another gruelling Aikido course… and not just any course, one that a Very Important Sensei from Japan came over to teach. The dojo was packed to the rafters with hot, steamy, bodies… most of them far more experienced than me. I’d hoped to fly below the radar, but no just luck! Sensei singled me out not once, twice but three times to correct me on the error of my ways. So I was feeling the heat on all aspects….

Hot dog pic found here

Hope your weekends have been a bit more chilled than mine!

..................

* A Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters.

**Aikidogi is the formal Japanese name for the uniform used for Aikido training. Most practitioners simply call it a gi or dogi. 

Ducks In A Row...

A flush of ducks

We have an interloper among us.....

Er....that's a squirrel!

Prettier In Pink

Staying with the pretty and pink theme, some flowers from my South African trip....

Hibiscus

Aechmea fasciata bromeliad

Bougainvillea

Pretty In Pink

This year, the Clematis in my garden seem particularly pink and pretty...

Hope this Monday finds you all in the pink!

Wassup Nat?

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and then just a bit more cleaning!

This has been the theme of my weekend… with the kitchen on the verge of completion (photos will be posted soon!), it’s been time to start waging war on the thick layer of dust covering every surface, every nook, every cranny… every cranny’s granny.

A total of 10 hours' dust busting yesterday, and another 6 today...I may have slightly overdone things, but I reckon I’ve burned off a chocolate bar or two! I still have to unpack the stored kitchen stuff and then tackle the rest of the house….but that’s for another day.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all the Dads and Dads-To-Be! 

It’s been the first one for me without my dad, and I feel a bit sad today. People say the first year after you lose someone close to you is the worst, as it brings the first of a whole load of days without the one you lost….. their birthday, your birthday, Christmas and so on.

I would love for my dad to have seen the new kitchen - completed. He saw the plans, came with us to the showroom to view the cabinets just a few weeks before he passed away, and was very excited for us about everything. That’s how my dad was, always enthusiastic about everything, always seeing the possibilities. I’m sure that if he can, he’ll pop by sometime...armed with his can of WD40 and his trusty Philips screwdriver, he'll check the hinges are oiled and the handles are secured. Just in case.

It Never Rains, It Pours

Water, water everywhere.... and I'm not talking about the deluge that has been falling from the skies most of the weekend! Summer, if this is your idea of being funny, it's high time you bought yourself a new joke book.

No, I'm talking about the water than until just recently was pouring from my loft into my linen cupboard... saturating every towel and sheet I own. You see, we had a slight altercation with the hot water tank earlier today...actually, it all started yesterday when the new kitchen radiator was fitted. Yes, the end is finally in sight with the kitchen refurbishment... just a few finishing touches to be done this week and then we're good to go.

Or so we thought.

This morning did not start well. Waking up to Arctic temperatures is not alleviated by the discovery that...

a) Summer has upped sticks and migrated to warmer climes.
b) You have no hot water.

Turns out that fitting that new radiator introduced that biggest, meanest air lock into the central heating system since.... well, since air locks thought it would be a good idea to lurk in innocent people's heating systems and cause havoc.

Much to-ing and fro-ing, in and out of the loft to the hot water tank, and we finally got the heating system sorted late this afternoon. Then we foolishly headed out for a curry... only to arrive home to the strange smell of hot water saturating plaster...and the sound of water gushing through the ceiling! As you may expect in such situations, our immediate reaction was to....

PANIC!!!!!!!!

That done, we somehow got the water turned off, worked out it's the overflow pipe that has gone AWOL and then assessed the damage. By some bizarre twist of fortune, the water had all poured into the linen cupboard where it was effectively dammed by the super absorbent (and super clean!) contents of said cupboard... and thus did not reach the almost finished kitchen just below. A narrow escape!

So, let's look on the bright side of life....I now have around 25 loads of soggy laundry to do, on top of trying to eradicate builder's dust and general chaos from the house.... but at least the new kitchen remains intact!

For the moment.

I need chocolate.... and I need it now!!!!!!!!

Scenes From Mountain Zebra Park

Back to my South African trip, and some things seen in Mountain Zebra Park...

Hope your weekends are good!

Me, Myself and Nat

So...after bombarding you all with nothing but photos from my now not-so-recent South African trip these past few weeks [read “She’s too darn lazy to write anything these days!”], I thought I’d mix things up a bit with some rather random ramblings of the written variety.

Confused yet? Keep reading....

This goes out in response to this blog award that the fabulous Meowlissa at Meowlissa the Domesticated has bestowed upon me....

If you don’t know Meowlissa yet, you really should go and check her blog out...not only is she a very talented artist, she is one witty lady with a sense of humour that strikes just the right chord with me  [Meowlissa, is this enough grovelling to qualify for my acceptance speech?].... and like me, she’s a big fan of monkeys, which is always a good thing.

As is usually the case with these Bloggy Oscars, there are some acceptance rules....

#1 Thank and link back to the person that has given you this award.

Thanks M! Just in case you missed the bit above/skimmed over it hoping to get to the juicy bit, here’s where she hangs out.... Meowlissa the Domesticated

#2 Share 7 things about yourself.
OK, how on earth can I share anything even vaguely original or interesting about me that I haven’t already bored you all with written about before? More importantly, is there anything even vaguely original or interesting about me? Perhaps not, but I’m going to go for a Days Of The Week/Days of My Life theme... “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives...”

Sunday

And the child that is born on the Sabbath Day,
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay

I don't fit that description on so many fronts ... but in one aspect it’s true: I made my grand entrance into this world (or more accurately, the Lady Chancellor Maternity Ward, Salisbury, Rhodesia [now Mbuya Nehanda, Parirenyatwa Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe]) in the early hours of Sunday, January 20^th 1974. My mom had a very quick labour (this being the 1970s that was lucky as it was natural childbirth and all that shite, with my dad keeping well out of things until he was presented with a clean, but wriggly little girl, weighing in at almost 8 pounds and with a full head of hair).

You can read more about the world that I was born into in one of my earliest attempts at blogging, over here.

Monday

Important things have happened to me on a Monday... I went from being Miss Nat to Dr Nat in the Jamieson Hall, University of Cape Town one sunny December afternoon back in 2001. Exactly one week later, overlooking Noordhoek Beach on an even sunnier and scorchingly hot day, I became Mrs B...but I kept the Dr Nat part too (coz I’m vain like that!).

Tuesday

I really hate Tuesdays... I do! I even wrote a whole post about my hatred for them over here.

Bad things always happen on Tuesdays... one of the most memorable for me is the tragic and unnecessary death of a bright, outgoing, 30-year old colleague who suffered an embolism after a DVT was overlooked. May 17^th, 2005 – she is never forgotten.

Wednesday

This is the day I have to don corporate gear (as opposed to my usual scruffy shirk-at-home attire) and head into my office. Typically a long day, including a 4-hour round trip, that usually leaves me feeling hung out to dry and not really fit for purpose by the end of it. Wednesday’s a good night to collapse on the couch, one eye on rubbishy TV, another perusing your entertaining blogs, and the third eye...har! Just checking you’re still awake at the halfway mark...

Thursday

Thursday evenings, you’re likely to find me being thrown around/throwing others around the mat of the Aikido dojo, and generally embarrassing myself with my ineptness and lack of hand versus foot co-ordination. 

Friday

At last the weekend is here, although sometimes it’s a bit reluctant to kick off. Why are work deadlines always set to Friday evening…especially if I have plans to get away in good time? Fridays are frequently freakin' frantic!

Saturday

The best day of the week! Given a choice, I would spent it exploring somewhere new, taking loads of photos and just generally being outdoors. More often than not, we're away visiting friends and family or hosting for the weekend, but every now and again it's nice to just veg at home, on our own. An ideal Saturday at home for me would start with a good, long lie-in, then tea in bed before an invigorating pre-breakfast….walk. Some time to potter about and maybe get some chores and shopping done, before meeting friends for dinner.

Yes, I have life-membership to the Boring Old Farts Club…

And that’s the end of that....

#3 Award 15 blogs you feel deserve the award.

This is really the worst part about these things - how do you award some people and not others? How about those who aren’t into these blog award things? Let me make my life easy... if you’re on my Blog Roll (see right hand side of page) consider yourself awarded! Haaaa! GOTCHA!

#4 Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.

On my To Do List

Kirstenbosch

Few gardens in the world can match the sheer grandeur of the setting of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, against the eastern slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain. 

Established in 1913 to promote, conserve and display the extraordinarily rich and diverse flora of southern Africa, Kirstenbosch was the first botanic garden in the world to be devoted to a country's indigenous flora.

There are over 7 000 species in cultivation at Kirstenbosch, including many rare and threatened species from all the diverse regions of southern Africa.

Kirstenbosch lies in the heart of the Cape Floristic Region, also known as the Cape Floral Kingdom. In 2004 the Cape Floristic Region, including Kirstenbosch, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site – another first for Kirstenbosch, it is the first botanic garden in the world to be included within a natural World Heritage Site.

The gardens often showcase sculptures and other art exhibits...

Definitely one of my favourite spots in Cape Town!

Prickly Beauties

Some rather spiky (and smelly) plants from the Klein Karoo....

Stapelia (Carion flower) - the flowers of these succulents give off a smell of rotting flesh that attracts flies for pollination

Pear cactus

Is it just me... or are some of these rather phallic?

A thorny issue? It's the Acacia karroo, also known as the Sweet Thorn