Scorching?

I listened to the radio with amusement on Thursday as they described the day as a 'Scorcher!'. A scorcher...at 23°C. Granted, it was a lovely hot day - a beauty!- not to be sneered at - some really summery weather...but a scorcher? i think not. At least another 5° before I concede a scorcher. Never mind. The sun here in New Zealand really is quite vicious and searing, so even at 23°C it feels like you're sizzling, so I guess it's all relative.

It literally makes peoples eyes boggle when i tell them about the hottest day I've ever experienced at 50°C (45°C in the shade). I was going down the Orange River (the border between South Africa and Namibia) and I guess, if you're going to spend the day in such heat, then cruising down the river is a good way to do it. We all spent most of the time IN the water, holding on to the canoes and drifting downstream. It was a fantastic trip - all the more so because all the catering was taken care of by the guides, and all the camps set up by them too. The distance we travelled was shortened because of the extreme heat, but we didn't mind, we were so well taken care of. I remember the hot winds at night, blowing off the hot rocks and desert sand - so warm in fact, that I went to bed in my bikini under a damp sarong to keep cool. Fun.

Wouldn't have been much fun had we not had it so cruisy.

Friday afternoon

For the last two Fridays, the weather has been wonderful, so we've packed the car, picked up Mia from kindergarten and gone to the lake. The first Friday was to our usual spot at the Blue Lake - a wonderful little beach with clear, fresh water.

The second Friday we went to a different lake, just as far (close) away, which was a bit more sheltered from the wind. Phenomenal! Beautiful! Quiet! Peaceful. My new favourite place: Boyes Beach. I took a few photos from my spot in the sand.



(When we win at lotto, we'd like a little place over here, please).

Portraits

I've been showing the canvas stencil portraits I've done of Mia and Joshka to the parents and teachers at Joshka's playgroups in the hope of getting some commissions for Christmas. I think it's a fabulous idea! It'll keep me busy in any case.

7 years on.

I've just come back from a couple of days in Auckland where I had fun walking the streets and window shopping with my sister- and mother-in-law. They showed me some of their favourite little places and I had a lovely time at a relaxed pace, to look, feel, see and do what I wanted. We had coffee, a lunch date, a 4pm drinks date, followed by dinner - lovely! A real treat.

Of course it tied in nicely with my vow to not work on 10 November, which is the anniversary of my sub arachnoid brain haemorrhage. (Congratulations to me for being able to spell that whopper!) A day to reflect on what is important and what isn't. Firstly it's a day to remember to be thankful for having pulled through and for having more time to enjoy LIFE. Time to appreciate my family and my friends and my health. I may whinge about this or that not being right, but actually, I need to remember how much worse things could have been.

It's been 7 years since it happened and wow, what a lot has happened since then! I have two beautiful children, a wonderful husband, an amazing family and fabulous friends. Too bad so many of the people I love are well and truly scattered all over the world!






(That's Joshka's version of a ballet arabesque).

thirteen times!

The other day Mia told me she loves her Dad "as much as around the world three times" and me, her mother, "around the world two times" and her brother, Joshka, "around the world one time". Well, that's a lot of love, eh?

Never mind about the number of times her love circumnavigates the world - today she loved me THIRTEEN times around the world. HUGE.

My brave girl had her final pre-school immunisation jabs: one in the leg and one in the arm. Oh, it's so hard to be a parent and to know what's coming. She was very brave. But after the leg she was totally freaking out about having the one in the arm - burrowing into my neck to try to disappear... She didn't bawl but had enormous tears rolling down her cheeks, shame.

A lollipop from the nurse got the situation to be quite bearable again and Mia was even gracious enough to ensure Joshka got a lollipop too, regardless of the fact that he'd endured no pain. I gave her a chocolate reward on the way home (out of sight of her brother) and she was delighted to be "one up" on him, walking ahead, eating her treat.

I guess that's where the THIRTEEN times around the world came from.