Hello Kitty! :D

Monday... always a rather eventful day. Also the day that I recap our house's snaglist with the builder. Yes, you are correct... we moved into the house a whole 2 years ago and there are still things to snag about ;) BUT at least these are new snags and not the list from Feb 2011 anymore. I do not imagine that we will have even half this list done by the end of the year, but that doesn't mean I'm not trying my best! At least these snags are things that I can mostly live with, like a cracked drainage pipe, a fused downlighter that is stuck, a broken doorstop, etc. Nothing that I tend to notice as I walk past it, except the bathroom mirrors that are still just mismatched place-holders for the "Real" mirrors and the missing splashback above the stove, but those are being worked on - sort of. I called the project manager today and apparently he is "overseas". Hmmm, had I not been so busy I'd be curious enough to phone his office to hear where he's gallivanting off to while we still have a load of snags to sort out before year-end. :P In stead I contacted the few sub-contractors that I have gotten hold of before to beg them to PLEASE come and sort our shit out before the long-weekend! Otherwise my New-Years To Do List will be even longer. :(

Anyhow... I am momentarily released from my cynical duties and can enjoy life like a child once more, because we got a new KITTEN!! She arrived last week and is the most adorable little fuzz-ball I've ever played with. The most personable and cuddly baby Ever! :) I was as excited about this cat as a pre-schooler counting down the days before Christmas! I could barely live with my excitement. And last week we could FINALLY go and fetch her :D. I am completely in love with life when I get to play with her. The first night she slept on my head and the second in my arms. She just LOVES us and wants to sleep where she can touch us all the time. I would love to rave on about our awesome little Kitty-cat (Oh yes, her name is Minki), but I am SO tired and honestly haven't even the energy to post a pic just yet. Shall hopefully do so tomorrow?

To Leave or not to leave?

Spring has been here for a while now and that has meant making new veg planter boxes, sowing all sorts of strange seeds and raising baby chickens. The season took its time to arrive this year. We had a very dragged out period of dreary, Wintery weather and none of my seeds would come up. I'd enthusiastically sowed basil and coriander and seen no results for weeks, but now is the time! Things are blooming and seeds just want some water and they're off to a running start and I am struggling to find any open space in which to plant some more cool things.

Anybody who has been following the news in SA lately will know that Spring also brought a Sh*tload of worker strikes all over our country, including the Western Cape (where the last bit of civilization has been hanging on by a thread). We are facing SERIOUS political unrest due to politically motivated criminal activity and it is happening all over the country. This is a much debated issue in every household, including ours and it was a very bright and sunny South African day when I finally realised that we don't belong to this country anymore. With 'us' I mean anybody with the resources to get out of here within reasonable time... but mostly white South Africans. I have been one of the optimistic 'youngsters' who believed that our country would only go through a few teething problems and then make a good, mature recovery from its past, but it is evidently not the case. I now suspect the people of this land will first burn it to the ground before they start building anything up and that will take too long for my heart to ever rest safely in a feeling of belonging to this world. I said to a good friend today that if we ever wondered when the water was getting too hot, it is Now! People are burning down farms in illegal protests a mere 200 km from our house, 55 km from my family's farm... It is getting too hot in here, the frog is boiling and I for one would rather get out with more than the clothes on my back! :( it is very sad, but true... We are not Welcome here anymore and I am not one to argue with the type of dim-witted people who burn down their only source of income in protests against the government which they all voted for in the 1st place! No F* ing thank you! I' m not going to try and build up something that other assholes just want to break down. I'm not THAT insane!

To cheer things up a little, here's a picture of our very first handful of raspberries (Note the small bug on my finger, our Organic certification ;) 

Pointless things

A good while ago I made a comment on a manically depressed person's blog and I never had any feedback from him since... which made me wonder... did he die? Would he have killed himself? How would I be able to find out? 

I wonder what will happen to my blog when I die? How long before there is no activity will Google shut it down? Does your spouse or best friend get access to all your internet accounts and announce your passing? Do they just delete everything you shared with the virtual world? What happens to your online life when you die?

Anyway, I am just posting to say I'm still alive and well. The past 6 months have been super busy and I'm still not quite on top of all my admin-type things. I still haven't managed to get into anything resembling a routine (flexibility has its disadvantages) and I constantly feel like I'm behind in everything that I have set out to do. This is somewhat depressing, but I must admit that a lot has been done. The problem is just that there is always still so much more to do. It never ends and this is starting to drive me insane. As in really! :( 

One day everything will get better, until then here's a picture of a Rooster ;)

To do lists, bugs and Art

The 31st of May was my very last day of sorting through my files, old papers, notes, etc at work. All the scribbled ideas of what to look into next, rough illustrations of physiological networks that could mean something very significant in future... I threw them all away... well, most of them. As from June 2012 I've officially been unemployed and even though I do have a good couple of plans up my sleeve and some good projects lined up I feel somewhat vulnerable. I studied for 6 whole years in order to obtain 3 degrees behind my name, as a surety for my future financial security, and now I discard all those accolades for the unknown on a road often travelled, but seldom excelled at.

Jelly saying Howzit :)

Emotionally it is extremely hard to discard of all the proof of my work done for the past 4 years, however it is also an act of freeing myself from a weight of responsibility and closing a chapter on what will likely never be my role to play again. It feels enlightening and yet terrifying at the same time. Following the euphoria that resulted from finally being rid of the old responsibilities of scientific research I had to feed the addiction by clearing up some of my very old memoirs at home as well. That was almost even more of a challenge and still a work in progress, since it spans a much longer period and the items have even more sentimental value. However, I am determined to be able to walk to the end of my room without falling over 8 to 12 boxes of Crap! Indeed: some of the boxes are actually labeled "old crap". It's not an easy task at all, especially since I'm quite the hoarder, but in order to move forward you have to discard some of the past or at least make some space to store the new crap ;) So some old sh!t had to go.

The 'Bug hotel' - good bugs sleep for free ;)

Mission: Goose chase!

I am happy to report that our house's snag lists is basically down to 2 snags - which is excellent! At bloody last they will all be out of my hair!! Well, I seriously hope so!? Our fish pond has eventually been fitted with a biological filter, which seems to work splendidly and I can now see the glowing globes of light rising towards my hand at feeding time in stead of the faint blobs floating around what used to look more like pea soup. 

Progress is slow, but it's there. I have completed the tasks of replacing the topsoil for the front garden, trimmed the hedges and some lovely fresh beetroot, carrots and chervil are growing in the spaces between them, since the hedges will take a while to grow into all the space. The beans have all been munched by some garden critter :( ... so, no beans I guess. I've had a load of topdressing delivered and scattered on the lawn, some organic fertiliser added to those who need it most. Things have been happening :) Other than that the garden's looking rather blooming good for early winter.

Welcome to Africa!

OMG, this wind is driving me insane! here in the Cape we have the strongest and most persistent wind for most of Summer :P it so sucks!! If it's not the rain (which results in 3 days of mud in our clay soil), it's the heat or the wind that gets you. This makes any sort of outdoor activity more challenging than it's worth, so the horse's exercise and garden work is much less than it could have been given more acceptable weather conditions.

Genevieve and the Chicken Farm

 Poor ol' Jenn just can't resist these chickens in the garden - I wonder whether we will ever be able to let her off leash while the chickens are "free ranging"?

Not quite there yet...

Our very first little chicken eggs have hatched and the poor dog is fixated with them, drooling over these delicious creatures with intense focus on her face. Quite mini feathery snacks...

 

 Meet Ping... :)
One of the little ones unfortunately didn't make it :( despite efforts to revive it. I put it in the oven (No, not for eating), but the poor little critter was all cold and not strong enough, it was so sad - was such a beautiful little fluffball. Hunny will have to adjust the coop somewhat so that it doesn't get wet inside the nest anymore. After I finally decided to throw the little corps in the dirt bin I couldn't help myself but to have a look every few minutes to see whether Lazarus perhaps miraculously revived, but alas. I must have peeked into the bin about 5 times throughout the afternoon and once in the evening :(

... and Pong <3

Where to jump?

It doesn't exactly require a rocket scientist to realise that my career = headed to a very long, dreary, slow poison kind of eventuality if I am to continue in my current field or department.

I've climbed the scientific ladder just far enough to see the way ahead of me and it's looking grim :p you don't have to reach all the way to the top to realise that your chosen career is very likely a dead end or just not what you want for your future. Its been some (just a little) fun while it lasted, but I've realised that it's the time to jump off. Life and economic climate being what it is will not allow me a steady dismount or decline to a safer level, I have been allowed to take a few steps back just to get a squiz at what's on the ground, but now I will have to find a suitable spot to land. Hmmmm decisions decisions!

Happy 2012!

I guess nobody needs reminding that it's a New Year, but I thought I'd share my semi- failure at Newyears resolutions thus far ;)

I thought that it would be wise to get up in the mornings before work to go riding, to escape the Summer heat, and give myself more time in the afternoons to maybe get to other tasks such as walking Jenni (the puppy-dog). Since I'm already dripping with sweat by 7:30 am (in the shade) it is a very useful resolution and it has worked somewhat. I've managed to be up by 5:50am and at the yard just after 6am a few mornings this month, however, the traffic on the way back makes it necessary to get up even earlier :P Jenn has even gone along on one such occasion. Much to the horse's dismay, as Jenn thought it a fun game to growl at Shala while I was busy cleaning hooves - uhhh, not a clever plan! At least Jenn had a whale of a time and soon passed out in the shade while I finished pushing along my bouncing hippo to get past the sheep in the arena. It was loads of fun - for Jenn, but took a lot of extra time to get everything done, so I resolved to be up even earlier.

Sheesh! What a lot of extra effort I like to create for myself! :P I should really stop making more work for myself and just do what is most necessary. Then again - everything feels most necessary :P

I was perhaps a tad over-ambitious when I set my alarm for 5:05 am this morning (and that after only getting to bed at 11pm last night), since I'm not so good at rising before the sun. Needless to say I just couldn't force myself to get out of bed and slept in till 7. It would probably work better if I increased the difficulty level of my task by smaller incriments - say 5 minutes earlier each day until I can manage 5am? :) I do hope that once I get into a routine it will be easier and go a bit faster and then Jenn can go with every day that I school in the arena.