Selfie

A quick lego selfie took on the beach in Bray (Ireland) during our visit last week.

On holidays and anniversaries

The husband and I will be on an airplane to the old country for a bit of a seaside holiday a bit later this week. We are looking forward to the beach and the sunshine, but we are a little less than excited to be dealing with the South African issues. It will be good to see family and friends though, and there are a few foods we are looking forward to tasting again. And, of course, travelling back while earning pounds changes our spending ability a bit.

This month, it is two years since I moved over to the UK. The husband celebrates the same in November. This month, it is also a year since we both quit smoking. This is fairly significant for both of us, as we were both long-term smokers and it is the first time we have both been successful at quitting the stinky habit.

A Parisienne interlude

The offspring and I visited Paris over the last weekend. It was both our first time visiting Paris, and we had a great time. We saw as many of the traditional touristy spots as possible in the short time we had available, and attended Lollapalooza Paris on Sunday.

On Eisenbahnliebe and a cat

I have always had a fondness for larger modes of transport, and, in particular, trains and airplanes. One of my earliest nightmares is being stuck inside a car, while one of my favourite memories is my paternal grandmother taking me on a train journey from our home town to Pretoria, where my grandparents lived. She would pack a lovely picnic basket, and take the train all the way from Pretoria to collect me in our town, and then ride all the way back with me. We had our own compartment, and I would listen to the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rail all the way.

My husband and I visited Germany a few times while we lived in South Africa, and I would make sure to plan long railway journeys as part of our visits. We took the train from Frankfurt to various big cities, through the Black Forest and across the breadth of Germany, and it was glorious. The clickety-clack of the wheels on the rail is gone, and the trains now move at 230km/hour or faster, but the love for the long metal tubes has not diminished.

In South Africa, I got to use the Gautrain on a regular basis, which reminded me a little of the high speed ICE trains in Germany, and introduced me to using trains as part of my daily commute, and I loved it. And now, living in the UK, this is my daily life. I have been fortunate enough to use trains to criss-cross this beautiful country over the last 18 months, and I am still in awe of this marvelous creation. And while not all trains are equal, I really enjoy the experience of being on a train, and simply cannot imagine travelling any other way.

And, with that, I leave you with a picture of our neighbour’s cat, who frequently comes around to greet us, and may, on occassion, follow us around the estate. He is also not terribly fond of taking pictures, so this is a rare, unblurry photo of him.

On new things and travel plans

There has been great excitement in our household this week, for several reasons. Firstly, the husband started working on Monday, in a real job at a real company with a real salary.

This is important for so many reasons. Of course, the money is going to help tremendously. It will remove the pressure from me, as we can now easily afford not only paying for university, but also to save up money to travel and attend festivals and concerts and feed our hobbies. But, almost more importantly, it means the husband will feel like a productive human being again and get out and about. As glamourous as executive house husband sounds, I know it has also been a frustrating year for him at home with not much to do other than clean house and play games. For his own sanity and sense of self-worth, I am grateful this has come along.

Unfortunately, the husband’s bicycle was stolen at the station on Monday while he was at work, which did put a bit of a down spin on the mood in the house, but we quickly ordered him a replacement bicycle (thank you Amazon) and by Friday, he was independently mobile again

I also discovered this week that I have been putting away £50 a month into a savings benefit through work since I joined the team here in the UK, and it had accumulated into quite a nice little bundle. And, instead of being a fiscally responsible human and just leaving it alone, I decided to spend a chunk of it on a new Xbox One X for the house. In reality, what this has meant is that the husband, who plays predominantly in the sitting room, has been upgraded to the Xbox One X, and our original Xbox One that was there has moved up into the bedroom to replace my Xbox 360. The new beast arrived yesterday afternoon, so we are both grateful for the snowy weather outside forcing us indoors to play with new toys.

We have been looking at concerts and festivals this year, and have so far decided on seeing Epica in April, Ensiferum and Ex Deo in May and Powerwolf in November. These I will attend with the husband.

The kid and I are also looking at attending one day of Lollapalooza Paris this year. Neither of us have been to Paris before, and so we have decided to make a bit of a trip of this. As an art student, the kid is very interested in seeing the Louvre, and I really just want to go take a picture of the Eiffel Tower and have a pastry walking along the Seine. We are, of course, very aware of the fact that this is quite a thing, being able to plan a week-end away in Paris. It is certainly not something that was part of our world two years ago, and is one of the main reasons we chose the UK over Australia, New Zealand and the US for our new home country.

We are also planning a visit to South Africa later this year for my mother’s birthday. I am looking forward to seeing my mother again, as well as a few friends we have left behind.

As I mentioned, it is a little snowy outside again, which is simply glorious and beautiful to look at. This is a picture taken from our front door this morning:

On Snow and other Marvels

I have been avoiding the news for the past week again, because I am feeling a bit of outrage fatigue again. But, if unless you have been living under a rock, you may have noticed that the UK had a little snow storm this week.

I was lucky enough to be working with a customer in London on Tuesday when the snow started, and found myself constantly distracted. Growing up in the Southern Hemisphere, my exposure to the white stuff has been very limited, and I have never really experienced a full blown snow storm.

We woke up on Wednesday morning to a scene from Narnia.

I travelled up north for a customer visit on Wednesday evening, much against advice from others and common sense. And while I was a little worried about being stranded in the middle of nowhere, I really enjoyed the adventure of travelling against the odds. The journey felt like one of those going home for x holiday movies, and I did provide me with the opportunity to take some more great photos

By Friday, it had been snowing for a few days and our housing estate was an absolute wonderland with enough snow for a little snowball fight.

We really enjoyed playing the snow, but were grateful when the snow stopped falling and melted away by Saturday afternoon. It has been a great distraction from everything else at the right time for me.

I’ve made a point of watching each of the Marvel movies in the cinemas as they were released, but unfortunately missed Thor: Ragnarok last year. Which is a pity, because it was directed by one of my favourites, Taika Waititi, who was responsible for one of my favourite movies, What We Do in the Shadows (if you haven’t watched it yet, what’re you waiting for – it is absolute gold!).

The latest installment in the Thor series was nothing short of magnificent. I loved the relationship between Thor and Hulk, and all the Loki karma. And well, Jeff Goldblum.

We’ve also been working our way through Marvel: Agents of SHIELD recently, as I discovered we can watch it on Amazon, and it has been really good to get immersed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially with Avengers: Infinity Wars just around the corner. And it has really cemented me as a Marvel fangirl.

On Leviathans and Small Treks

It has been three months and 4 days since my last cigarette.I started smoking not long after my 13th birthday, and smoked pretty much consistently since then. And I have pretended to try and quit before, each time a roaring failure because the love for smoking was stronger than the will to quit. But our new life has meant a big reduction in stress, and so, finally, the will to quit has grown stronger than the love for smoking. I still miss the action of smoking, taking a long drag on a cigarette, inhaling the smoke deep into my lungs and then feeling like a dragon as I exhale – but not as frequently as I used to. I now only think about having a smoke once every few days. I am sure as the months go on, the frequency will reduce even more until I no longer think about it at all.

What I don’t miss is struggling to breathe and smelling like a nightclub and coughing and having to find an ashtray and the constant constant constant craving and burning money. And this will motivate me to remain quit, even when I dream about smoking all night long.

[source]

It is probably no secret by now that I am currently a tiny little bit obsessed with The Expanse series, both TV and books. I fell in love mid-way through the first episode of Season 1, but reading the books really cemented the obsession for me. I am only ⅔ through the third book now, but I had this epiphany last night about why I love the series so much – other than the fact that it is an absolutely brilliant space opera, of course.

Each book, so far, starts with a number of different stories seemingly unrelated on completely different tracks, and things apparently spin out of control and then the stories start intertwining until they end in one beautiful point, and it reminds me of spiral galaxies or tropical storms or star aloes.

(images not my own, found on bing search)

I travelled to Leicester for work this week, which gave me a good opportunity to try out the camera on my new phone.

While I missing having a camera button on the phone, I am getting used to having to take a couple of extra steps to take a photo, and I am quite happy with the quality of the pictures.

Of Dragons and Puddings

It is perhaps no secret that the husband and I really love castles, and one of my favourite documentary series to watch is Dan Jones’ Secrets of Great British Castles. I watched the second season in December, and decided that, since we now live on the island, we have the ability to visit these marvelous castles, and our first visit was to be Cardiff Castle.

As I travel a fair bit for work, I have managed to accumulate some loyalty points with a hotel chain, and decided to haul us off to Cardiff for a quick getaway with a night in a hotel paid for by said loyalty points, as a way of celebrating my birthday at the beginning of the week. We were fortunate enough to be upgraded to an executive room with a fantastic view of Cardiff Castle and it was simply breathtaking.

We spent some time on Monday walking around Cathays Park and surrounding areas, and had lunch at the wonderful The Owain Glyndwr.

We woke up on Tuesday morning to a very rainy Cardiff, so we postponed our castle exploration until later the day, and went to the movies instead to watch The Last Jedi again.

Luckily the weather cleared up while we were in the movies, and we got to explore the magnificent Cardiff Castle.

It is well worth a visit, even if you just visit the house for its spectacular interiors, especially in the Arab room.

I visited the lovely town of Knutsford this week for work purposes, where I unfortunately did not take any pictures, but, as I will be visiting again several times over the next few months, I will surely have some more opportunities for photos.

We ended the week off with an outing to St Albans yesterday with our friends, where we had some pudding for breakfast at The Pudding Stop and then stopped for drinks at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (which claims to be one of the oldest pubs in England) while walking around Verulamium Park to look at the ruins of the city walls and gate which can be found in this park.

I end this week feeling incredibly grateful and wonderfully loved. I’ve had the best birthday I’ve had in years, and feel truly blessed to have so many friends who are willing to spend a day with us. It is these moments that make it easy to get through the darkness.

Return of the blogger

It has been such a long time since I’ve blogged here. I am not promising a revival either.

I didn’t even complete my own 52 week challenge, because, you know, shit happens. And I suck at challenges. Sometimes, writing in public spaces puts pressure on for a certain kind of content, and, once one starts gaining readers, the pressure to continuously deliver content is hard. It also, for me, removes the ability to write freely. To work around this, I simply blogged, albeit sporadically, somewhere else. I’d like to reclaim this space again, but, no promises.

The last post I made here cryptically referred to it being my last trip to Cape Town. I left my best ever employer at the end of November after a series of decisions made in possibly the wrong frame of mind. I returned to best ever employer at the beginning of January after a series of apologies and possibly better decisions. This means I am travelling again, but not quite as frequently as before. Since returning, I have been to Cape Town three times, Lisbon (Portugal) once, Abuja (Nigeria) once, and I am currently in Seattle. I am feeling a lot more positive about everything, even though I kick myself on occasion for making the decision to leave in the first place. Sometimes, we need to make bad decisions to appreciate the good moments.

Our best friends left us at the end of last year for different shores. This changed a couple of things in our lives. For starters, it meant our friends were no longer a couple of blocks away, and time with them have moved into a virtual space. I am forever grateful for Skype and WhatsApp.

My bestie left South Africa a long time ago, but it was manageable, because we were already interacting more online than in person before she left. So while I miss her terribly, I could deal with it. Our other best friends we saw weekly in person, so their departure has been hard for both my husband and myself. It has reopened discussions about possible relocation to European shores, and I think we have pretty much decided that we will be pursuing this actively in the near future.

My beautiful boy, Frank, left me for the big catnip patch in the sky a few months ago. My heart is still hurting every day.

I think this is one of the reasons it has been so hard getting back into blogging, especially photo blogging. Because at least 70% of my photos are of him, and I ache every time I browse my photos.

Forty Six

I had my last business trip this past week and another spectacular week in Cape Town. I will miss visiting here so often.

Eighteen

I had another lovely week in Cape Town, and again, the scenery played along.

As much as I love the travelling, it can also be very challenging, especially when travelling three weeks in a row. It also gets quite lonely, as you are really removed from your ‘normal’ life, and don’t really have a point of normal during that time.

But just look at that view!

Eleven

This week, my most beloved author, Sir Terry Pratchett, passed away.

I was a voracious reader as a teenager, and read just about every book in our public library by the time I was 16. When I asked the librarian for suggestions, she handed me Pyramids, which I devoured in a few hours and returned for more.

When my daughter was a baby, I took her to a local mall one day (just to get out of the house). While walking around, I noticed a sign on one of the bookshops advertising a book signing by none other than Mr Pratchett (he wasn’t a sir quite yet then) for 2pm that afternoon. I bought some of his books not yet in my collection, patiently waited until 2pm and for 1 brief minute got to spend time in his presence while he signed books for me. They are my most treasured possessions.

No other writer has influenced how I see the world as much as Sir Pterry. He will live on in his writing.

(This picture was taken at the Discworld Emporium during our visit in July 2013.)

Nine

Jozi. Egoli. Johannesburg… I really do love this city.

I have had a long-time love-hate relationship with this city, but have recently discovered that it is really more love than hate. I think it is because it feels like home.

four

I was fortunate enough to spend the past week in the beautiful city of Bucharest, Romania, for some training. While I didn’t get out too much, I did have a spectacular view from my hotel room and I at least get to see a bit of the old city.

Two

 

I spent most of the week in Cape Town, which always provides spectacular views.

On travelling for business

Something I hear often recently is what a jetsetter I have become and often the comment has a slight undertone. A mix of awe and jealousy. What a glamorous life I must lead now, with flights to distant locations and hotel stays and restaurant dinners.

But travelling for business is nothing like travelling for pleasure.

The first time you stay in a great hotel is, well, great. You marvel at the luxury wrapped snugly in your fluffy hotel gown while possibly eating the overpriced nuts from the minibar. But the marvel fades rapidly after the first Skype call home and soon the hotels become a blur and you miss your own bed like it is a missing limb. And when you travel for business, you typically don’t get to experience the sights your exotic destination offers, because, surprise, you’re working. And because you’re away from home and your own stuff, you may even work a little more than you would when you are at home. Because travel for business can be lonely.

You do find things to keep yourself busy with. Most hotels have a gym, so many use this time to improve their health. Even I’ve started doing some exercises at night in my hotel room – I’m not quire ready to touch equipment used by others. I’ve also been able to catch up a little on my reading, as I have fewer distractions. Mobile hobbies are important.

After a while, I crave home cooking, even my own. I tend to avoid going to restaurants by myself, especially the hotel restaurant, unless I have no other option. Because eating by yourself can be miserable, and I’d rather be miserable in my hotel room wrapped in the hotel gown, feet snuggly in the hotel slippers while pounding away at my laptop getting another hour or two of work in.

I do, however, try and make a point of giving myself a little bit of extra time in the nicer places, so that I can go see some sights at least. Like these:

Sunset in Camps Bay

The Harbour in Hout Bay

 

Not so sleepless… in Seattle

  I recently had the privilege to visit Seattle for work. Here are some of my favourite photos from the trip.

  

From top left:

1. My Abe Lincoln Lego Minifig expressing his happiness about being in the US, 2. Actual Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory*, 3. The twinkly-light-wrapped trees on the streets of Bellevue, 4. Skyscrapers in Seattle city, 5. Pike Place Market, 6. Tulips tulips everywhere (Spring time), 7. Giant elephant garlic at Pike Place market, 8. Interesting squid floating sculpture, 9. random Robot in chalk on pavement, 10. At the waterfront, 11. Daffodils! (Spring time), 12. The exhibition outside the Chihuly Garden and Glass with the iconic Space needle, 13. Flash in the annual pillow fighting celebrations, 14. the entrance to the WA state conference center, 15. Snow-covered mountains as visible from the SeaTac airport.

 

* As a non-US fan of the Big Bang Theory, I didn’t realise it was an actual place, but, as a fan, I had to eat there.