All in all, a satisfying few days

It is still raining enough for me not to be able to paint the square foot gardens any further.  I have looked at the weather predictions for the next week.  It would seem that there is to be further rain this coming weekend.  Next week three consecutive 'clear' days are predicted.  I will use this time to paint them, even if I have to dry them off with a towel :).

I am getting to the end of my vegetable stash.  The carrots and spring onions are now ready to harvest, so I won't be buying those for a while.  I suspect that I will continue to buy baby gem squash - my absolute favourite for roast veg.

I have posted all of my photographs to date.  You can see these on Lessons in Light.  There are several posts.  It was fun spending a few days in Simon's Town, checking out the Simon's Town Museum and the Naval Museum.  I am posting a piccie that I took in the Ice Cream Parlour, without, nogal, buying an Ice Cream:

I have signed up for three hikes during the next few weeks - scenic ones.  I hope the weather holds on the days that I have chosen.

I am still faithfully following my gym regimen.  Am now up to more than 4kms on the treadmill and around 20kms in the pool.  Not bad, she says, patting herself on the back.

A photographic smorgasbord without food

Today was a smorgasbord, a phantasmagoria of photographs.  I went to several places and indulged to my hearts content.  It was a simply wonderful day.  And to make her laugh [she knows who she is]... 'Footies are SOoOre!'  Feel free to go and view them on Lesson In Light.  There are several posts.  I simply must whet your appetite, just a little.

The shop at the Gem Stone Factory in Dido Valley

And to assuage my ever so guilty conscience, the garden boxes were still wet when I returned home, which made me feel just a tiny little better.  It was warm enough to paint today, but the boxes do take time to dry.

I also managed to update a fair amount of administration, clearing the decks before the start of next month.

Our library re-opened after almost a month of closure during renovation, so not only did I get to walk for miles, taking copious photographs, and learning more about the environment around me, I also managed to acquire some new reads.

Sigh... Today was a simply perfect day.

Busy day today

After WEEKS of rain and threatened rain, there is some sun!  There wasn't much sun this morning when we did our practical course which is the final session of our photography course.  A good time was had by all.  You can see the results at Lesson In Light.  

Just for good measure, I am going to reproduce the picture of today's lunch:

This afternoon, I am going to take stock of the garden.  There has been some damage as a result of the volume of rain, wind and hail.  I also note that a mole has managed to devour the roots of my lemon verbena.  I am not happy about that at all!

I have joined a writing club - Snippets in Scribbling.  There is only one post to date.  It is this month's homework.  I will post as and when the writings emerge.

So much time has passed

It is almost two weeks since I last posted about my garden.  The weather has not been conducive to gardening.  The winds have howled, the rain has poured, and despite the fact that we are a temperate seaside resort, we have even had hail.  My sole remaining pea plant has bent to the winds, despite staking.  It does have pea pods, which is quite pleasing. 

For several of those days, my internet access was down.  With some pummelling and pushing and panting on my part, Telkom restored it after five days of down time.

Today was magnificent.  The square foot gardens are still damp, so the next coat of white paint has to wait until the surface of the boxes is dry enough to take a new coat.

What then has occupied this lazy blogger during the past two weeks?  My Lesson In Light project is updated from the last 10 days.  My travel plans are finalised, and a house sitter organised for the time that I will be away.  My scrabble game has improved somewhat.  There has been progress in terms of effort at gym.  Those extra pounds are disappearing, which is very gratifying.

I have advanced two pieces of writing, and submitted one for publication.  I joined the Fish Hoek Writing Club, which provides a forum for sustained momentum.  This week's project was to write about a celebration.  Mine was about my 52nd birthday - simple, but succinct.  This might become the subject of a future blog.  I'll see how it goes.

And last, but not least, I am rereading 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak - a very good read.

Footprint 56: A lovely wholesome supper

It has been almost a week since I last posted.  Time seems to move so rapidly.  This week has not been conducive to gardening.  It has either rained, threatened rain, or the gardens have been drying and therefore cannot be painted.  I did harvest some rather large radishes.  

My time has, again, not been wasted.  I maintain my commitment to a photograph a day at Lesson in Light.

This evening I made a large batch of roasted veg which will last through the next three days:

Roast Vegetables

I am really enjoying my new way of eating.  It is healthier.  I have so much more energy.

Footstep 55: And down came a spider

Things have been quite eventful since my last post.  There has not been much activity in the garden, as again, there was threatened rain yesterday, and today there is more rain.  So further painting of the gardens is going to have to wait for a bright sunny day.

Yesterday, then, consisted of going to gym, and furthering my two new pursuits.  I posted most of the Cape Town 2009 holiday with Isy, which can be seen at A Light Traveller.

And some of the day was spent acquiring my photograph for the day, which can be seen at Lesson in Light: Clovelly Country Club.

Whilst posting merrily away, a thief in the form of a pigeon stole into my bedroom to steal dog biscuits.  Photographs of this can be seen at Lesson In Light: A thief in my bedroom.

The thief chose not to leave, so spent the night on top of the cupboard in my room.  This did not make for a restful night, as every time the bird moved, Bolle went ballistic.  I go up really early to open the door to let our overnight visitor go, should he choose to leave, and there on my burglar grill was a really alarming spider.

So I closed the door, abandoned the overnight visitor to Bolle and came through to my computer to catch up on mail, play scrabble, and continue posting.

Now that it is lighter outside, I have returned to open the door.  Bolle is now with me in this room, the spider is still perched on the grill which is now open, and hopefully our guest will depart, although I am not sure whether I will know or not as he has tucked himself so far back on the cupboard that I can no longer see him.

Footstep 54: Painting the Square Foot Gardens: First White Coat

Thank heavens for a sunny day.  The first white coat is on the boxes:

These will now wait for the next sunny day.  I understand that rain is forecast again.  If it does not rain tomorrow, then they will get a next coat.  The bitumen is quite hard to paint over, both in texture and in colour.  I will decide once the second coat is on, whether to add a third coat thereafter.

I am sorry now that I added the white coat.  The gardens actually looked fine just with the bitumen coat.  And the white paint is more for show than anything else.  Although it will provide a good sealant from the weather.

Footprint 53: A Light Traveller

This is something that I have been longing to do since 2009.  Yes, so long ago.  But it is something very special to me.  It records past, present and future travels.  You can find it at A Light Traveller.

Footprint 52: Lesson In Light

The weather has been miserable for gardening.  The rain has pelted down, admittedly intermittently.  When one has items standing for a lengthy drying period, this is not good news. 

I used the time beneficially, I think.  I embarked on a photography course and made a commitment to take one [or more] photographs per day.

Here is the link to Lesson In Light: Washed Clean.