Idiosyncratic synchronicity II

Now I am totally freaked.... My PC sound card is working.....

Idiosyncratic synchronicity

Life is so funny sometimes.  Back in April, my CD stopped playing.  Every time I loaded a disc it would come up saying 'no disc'.  No matter how many discs I tried, it was adamant that there wasn't one.  What was worse, is that the sound card in my pc was on the blink.  So I was living in a soundless, musicless world, which for someone who simply loves music, was like a living death.  I don't do TV, so except for the odd cat yowl, or Bolle-speak, my world was pretty quiet.

Stuff happened today, which meant that things didn't quite work out as planned, and I was kind of restless.  In a last ditch attempt to get myself going again, I obstinately turned the CD player on, and guess what?  It played.  And guess what?  It had 'Time to Say Goodbye' in it, a disc by Sarah Brightman, whose voice has complete and utter perfect pitch.  Ok, so I listened to that.

Then in a fit of sheer mindless joy to be back in a world of sound, I stuck on Billy Joel, hauled out my drum and had a drumming session in the lounge.  The cats are still dumbstruck :).

Now I'm listening to the soundtrack from the movie The Bodyguard.  Whitney Houston has that really strong assertive singing style which fits my mood.

I posted piccies of yesterday's hike on Project 365 as The restlessness of water and A froth of lace.  We had a lovely lunch at the Green Bean afterwards, kindly funded by proceeds of the hike.  It was a lovely day all round. 

The arrival of Festivity month

Since last posting, I have had so much fun.

Firstly, the original purpose of this blog, my little garden is looking quite good.  The first little tomato fruits have appeared, despite a tearing Fish Hoek wind!  They look ever so cute - the size of little pearls.  Hopefully there will be loads, as I don't think that a handful of little pearls will suffice for a lunch :).

On Wednesday, we had the last of our photography course.  We looked at various photographs in terms of how they could be improved and then had demonstrations of how to use Picasa to enhance them.  I learnt a lot.  It was good fun.

Today we had our U3A monthly meeting.  As always, I enjoyed it.  There were two events.  The first was singing by the U3A women's choir, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Their collection of songs was varied and appropriate.  They were all decked out in black and white with neat presentation.  It was a truly lovely event.  The second was the Cape Town U3A chamber ensemble.  Regrettably the PA system did them no favours, but they presented a lovely series of music.

Then, and this has to be the best part... I attended the Fish Hoek CID Awards.  I had nominated Copy Wizard for service excellence.  They received a runner up prize, and I received a lovely meal voucher for a meal at Barracuda's for partner and me.  I wonder if Bolle would like a nice piece of fillet - bleu, without any sauce :).

Actually, that was not the completely best part.  Since a child, I have always wanted to be a journalist - an aspiration which never came to pass for several reasons.  I landed up a Business Analyst in IT, which interestingly enough has the same Thomas profile as a journalist.  Whilst at the ceremony, I chatted with Garth King who is a journalist for the Fish Hoek Echo.  We've come up with a plan whereby I can submit periodical articles which would be relevant and applicable to the local Fish Hoek community.  I just need permission from the organisation concerned to implement it.  So... the little bits and pieces of activity which I have taken on in the past few months may culminate in a life's dream, however small it may be :).  I will be such a happy little chickadee if it comes to pass.

The two workshops which are planned for U3A for February and March of next year are starting to fill up.

And tomorrow, hopefully, I will get my lazy and quickly enlarging butt out of bed and back to hiking, just in time for some lovely festive socialising :).

Back on Track

It is interesting that events conspire.  Here I am again, posting for the first time since mid-October.  In the interim, a lot has been happening.

Something which has made me very happy indeed is that I submitted to the photographic club for the first time for grading purposes.  As a 1-star worker, which is where one starts, I received Golds for both of my submissions.  These are on Project 365 as Not me, please don't buy me! and as Protea Heart.  As a 1-star worker and with loads of photographs to choose from, it was easier to get Golds.  As time passes it will become more difficult as the requirements for grading become more stringent.

However, in a state of euphoria, I returned last night and started working on the theme for next month, which is Altered Reality.  I am ever so chuffed with my efforts.  The result is posted on Project 365 as Gandolf's Wolfhound.  Editing and preparing one's work electronically is regarded as part of the skill.  I edited this photograph from one that I had posted before on Project 365 as Here's lookin' at you, kid.  It is a picture of Bolle shortly after her haircut.  She was intrigued by the camera and stuck her nose right into the lense :).

My small work-from-home project is starting to gather momentum.  Thanks to lots of help from Dani, I am starting to acquire clients, which is quite stimulating.

I have held two sessions with friends where I helped them with things that they are battling with in terms of their usage of Internet facilities.  The first one was on Picasa.  The second one was on Blogging.  I have had some wonderful feedback on these, and have now been asked to hold a workshop for U3A.  This will be held in February 2012.  I am doing a further workshop on  Building a Square Foot Garden in March 2012.

I have not been hiking much.  Having been ill, I thought it inconsiderate to disappear into the mountains with a group of people, knowing that something could go wrong, and leaving it to them to solve a way of getting me off the mountain if something did go wrong.  I will start actively hiking again next year.  Between now and then, I will do short hikes or walks and join in the accompanying festivities during December.

I have returned to Knitting Club.  This has been a wonderful source of creativity for me, and I now have a little store cupboard of craft market items.  Once I have built up enough stock, I will start taking tables at markets.

I did a four week photography course through U3A.  Last Wednesday we went to Kalk Bay for a 'shoot'.  It was good fun.  It was a bit damp, but everyone enjoyed themselves so much, it was worth doing.  Afterwards we shared coffee at 'Ek en Jy', and then came home.

I have posted a new entry in Snippets in Scribbling.  It was a piece that I wrote in matric all those many years ago.  I was reading the paper and thought of it, so jotted it down.  

My little garden continues.  Several items have now gone to seed, being some spinach, some radishes and the giant mustard.  I am loath to dig them out as I am hoping that the seeds will spread and I will acquire one of those gardens where items of food turn up in interesting places.  Items that are underway include spring onions, tomatoes, parsley, squashes and garlic.  I also have marigolds popping up to provide protection from bugs and insects.  My herbs continue as they are hardy in the face of the oncoming swelter of a Cape Town summer.

And here is evidence of my favourite past time.  It is a game called Gardens Of Time where one builds a garden out of items made available from various quests.  Here is a picture of my garden:

The nicest thing about this garden is that there are simply no weeds!  It is fun to sit in those late evenings and fiddle with it, whilst I knit happily away on the latest knitting project.

Catch Up

Time is simply rolling by!  This is my second post this month, and it is almost mid-month.  Scary truth.  It has obviously been a busy month.  So let's recap.

Sunday 2nd was Dani's birthday.  I spent it thinking back to earlier times, to her childhood, to my trip to see her earlier this year.  

Monday 3rd entailed a hike in Newlands from the forest station up to Paradise Cottage.  Monday hikes are easier hikes for those less able.  I enjoy them.  One spends time chatting with fellow hikers, and there is always time to stop and take an appealing photograph.

I didn't go hiking on Tuesday 4th as it entailed a trip into Cape Town, by car, as the hike started just below the Cable Car.  I didn't really want to do that so I stayed home and roamed the neighbourhood for good photographs.  I have developed a fondness for the Dido Valley Commonwealth cemetry.  I realise that sounds a little bizarre, as I don't particularly know anyone who is buried there.  It is just a very pretty place to go.  The gardens are impeccable.  The views across the sea, Simon's Town dockyard and further to the Helderberg mountain range is beautiful.  There are also very interesting grave stones which make for some fairly arty-farty photographs is one takes the time and gets a good sunny day.  So I went there for a while.  Here is an example of the kind of photograph that can be taken there:

There is another at Abandoned Angel.

Wednesday was UIF day.  On my way home, I stopped in at Mineral world and took some simply beautiful photographs in their fossil shop.  This is another adventure in the fathomless beauty of nature.  You can see some of the photographs on Project 365 at Ammonite, Rock Rose and Amethyst.

On Thursday morning, I attended the U3A meeting in Muizenberg.  This time round there was a talk by NSRI, which was informative and entertaining.  With an organisation like NSRI, there is a mine of wonderful tales and stories to be told which are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes sad.  Afterwards I went through to Kommetjie to have my hair cut.  In the evening I went to Computer Club.  At Computer Club, we had a presentation of the role of computers in Astronomy.  This proved to be fascinating.  The calculations that need to be performed in order to position and distance and track various stars and galaxies are literally astronomical!  It is most likely that these would not be possible without some form of automation.  Since the advent of computers, the science of astronomy has advanced at a rapid rate of knots.

 Friday entailed a hike to Kleinplaas dam in Redhill.  Here are some of the photographs that I took:

Fellow hikers enjoying lunch at the dam

The Kleinplaas Dam signboard with the dam in the background

Saturday entailed a hike in Cape Point.  I have posted a picture on Project 365.

Sunday was spent weeding and gardening.  I posted a picture of some of the strawberries on Project 365.  I also resumed more intense gym training, and managed 3.5 kms on the treadmill and 40 lengths of the pool, followed by a long hot siesta in the sauna.  It was lovely.

Monday was a lovely and busy day.  It started with a hike along Hout Bay beach.  The wind was howling and we got a bit sand blasted.  We then wandered around the docks, went to the various fish markets,  and admired the various tourist craft markets.  I posted one picture which really amused me on doggy parking.

Here is one of the strength of the wind causing 'blow back' on the foam as the waves were breaking close to the shore:

After the hike, I went to the gym for a sauna, then went through to see Merle, my sister-in-law, who is down from Johannesburg for a wedding.  She was staying with her sister in Constantia.  I was blessed with wonderful company, some absolutely gorgeous roses, posted on Project 365, and another plant which I plan to post on Project 365 at some future date.

Yesterday was another lovely long hike through Cape Point.  It was cold and damp to start with, so we waited in the restaurant for the weather to lift a bit.  I posted a photograph of one of the proteas in a flower arrangement on Project 365.  In the evening, I went to knitting club, then returned to Constantia to collect my forgotten knitting, then on to a meeting with Avril in Bervliet.

Today, so far, as been catch-up day.  I photographed my roses in order to post them, caught up on photographs for Project 365, roasted a chicken, cleaned the house - that sort of thing.  I also caught up on the myriad of phone calls which have come through over the past few days, which I have not returned, as I have been running around quite a bit.

Now for a lovely cup of coffee, and some more gardening....

More news on the garden

Today was something of a gardening day, commencing with loads of weeding.  I have decided not to put weeds into my compost heap at all, as they seed and reproduce wherever one uses the compost.  I also don't want to take my weeds up to the municipal dump for conversion into compost, as I will simply make my problem someone else's problem.  So they are now going into the normal garbage to be put into a landfill.  Maybe my weeds can beautify someone else's left over plastic.

I was so chuffed with my spinach, that I posted the piccie on Project 365.

I also harvested the first of the shallots:

Thanks, again, Isy, for providing the original bulbs.  Hopefully I can salvage some of these to repeat the process.

Blush... I would have taken a piccie of some Ripe strawberries, except I scoffed them straight off the plant :).

Here is a piccie of some of the strawberries which are still green, still in flower and still in the pot:

And finally, my violas again.  With more sun, they have perked up very nicely and are flowering more abundantly:

Hiking in the North East part of Silvermine

On Friday, we did the Silvermine River Walk, but this time we approached it from the North East Side:

It was quite a relaxed walk, loads of banter, several dogs.  It was longer than usual, as we ambled down byways, although most of the walk was along the river.  Here are some of the hikers heading home:

There was loads of Keurboom in flower:

Something that I did not know is that the Keurboom is part of the pea family.  I must confess to a hurrummph when I saw how beautifully in bloom these trees are, and then thought of my flagging pea plants at home.  Clearly I am doing something wrong :(.