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.

Forty Five

We finally had breakfast at The Pudding Shop, the first restaurant I have encountered were you need reservations for breakfast, but I can see why. The food was spectacular.

Forty Four

My favourite cat in the whole wide world is himself again, which means he has been snuggling with me in the mornings and just generally being cute. It is unfortunate that it has taken some severe dental work to get him back to normal, but all that matters is that he is back and happy once more.

Forty Three

While we still have some serious work to do to get the garden back, the view from my kitchen is really starting to come together. I love how the Jacaranda trees complement our wall, and the colours all pull through.

Forty Two

I was fortunate to spend the past week in Cape Town for work again, and managed to squeeze out some time to have a very late lunch with an old friend at the Company’s Gardens restaurant. The food was lovely, but I was more amused by the squirrels in the gardens, who are all quite used to having humans around and always hungry, it would seem. This little guy simply would not pose for a photo, and shortly after this photo, tried to grab my phone from my hands.

Forty One

Our renovations are nearing the end, finally. Our beautiful new gate was installed and painted this week, and it truly is a thing of beauty. Our previous gate did not allow any privacy, which meant we were reluctant to use the front garden much.

Now I am just waiting for my new bookshelves to be installed, which should be some time in November.

Forty

We went to the open day at the Animation School today, and this beauty was visible from the balcony at the front door.

My daughter is considering a future in animation, and the open day was very informative. I think it is an exciting career option for any creative person, and definitely the future of the visual art industry.

Thirty Nine

My daughter and I had an outing to the Pretoria Zoo this week.

While I have a fundamental ethical problem with animals in cages, I know that (some) zoos also contribute to conservation and the Pretoria Zoo is a lovely outing. I have many fond memories of visiting this zoo, both with my grandmother and with my daughter when she was younger.

Thirty Eight

I love the view of Cape Town from the top of the CBD. It is even more spectacular in person – especially as this was taken from the 23rd floor of the building.

Thirty Seven

I was out assisting a customer with a crisis one night this week, and snapped this pic from the smoking balcony. I loved the green glow of the light on the tree and the chaos of the branches.

Thirty Six

Sunset over Kempton Park, as seen from the train on my way home from the airport. I spent the first two days of this week in Durban, which was surprisingly colder than Joburg.

Thirty Five

Sunrise over Sandton in the early morning traffic. And the heat is here.

Thirty Four

Summer has come early this year and the threes are wearing their Spring best already. Excuse the blur, the bus windows were dirty

Thirty Three

I’ve been working in Midrand this week, and the view from this office looking out over the Midrand valley was quite lovely, especially with the typically spectacular Highveld clouds hanging on the horizon.

Thirty Two

Only twenty weeks left of this year, and yes, another trip to Cape Town this week past. This was taking while coming in to land over Cape Town.

Thirty One

My little boy has not had the best time recently. He was incredibly happy at our previous house, and since we’ve moved (two years ago) his health has not been the best. In the last year, his teeth have started giving him some issues causing him to drool terribly and smell like death. He’s seen the vet several times, and has had some teeth removed recently, and he is slowly on the mend. He is my little baby boy and follows me everywhere. When I am working locally, he will spend the morning with me while I get ready for work, sitting on the windowsill in my bedroom soaking up the sunshine.

Thirty

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to spend so much time in Cape Town for work. It allows me quick little holidays with scenes like this.

Twenty Nine

It is hard to believe that it is still July. The green is creeping back into view quite quickly.

Twenty Eight

This old lady really likes spending time with our comic books.