Turn off unnecessary lights, don't waste water, buy organic as much as possible, don't use unnecessary chemicals in the garden or home, check sustainability of food production.....and for Fair-trade standards, get involved and support local community initiatives, the soup kitchen, drive less, eat less meat, plant trees, recycle, plant herbs and flowers that bees like....etc. etc....

A very big cricket on the curtain!
Hot summer weather!

End of June 2015
The winter solstice has come and gone.

Days are getting longer now although no doubt we still have more wintry weather to come.

Hopefully some more rain. The big dams are looking very dry. The smaller ponds around here are actually quite full but the ground is still not as wet as it should be in winter.

The aloes are giving a wonderful show of winter colour at the moment.

Delicate wild flowers popping up all over the place too.

It doesn’t really look like winter in these photos but the short day makes it feel like winter. The days go by in a blur in winter. I find it  difficult to concentrate and get things done and keep  my work up to date. How many of you get that sort of anxious feeling in winter? A kind of seasonal depression.

I do have various effective strategies to deal with it! Good lighting in the house:  Keeping warm: Resting and sleeping properly and not getting over tired:  Getting outside as much as possible whatever the weather: planning some special treats for the months ahead:

Enjoying every moment of winter sunshine. 

If it is winter now where you are keep warm and well, if it is summer enjoy those lovely long days!!!

Ok I’ve not kept up with the once a month post!!!

So here’s a catch up for April and May.

Today is June 1st and it is raining! March and April were dry….so dry! The dams were drying up and we were on alert for the possibility of fire. 

The weather has actually been warm and beautiful and today is the first day it has felt cold……really autumn like!

J and I have an ongoing disagreement about when winter starts! I refuse to admit to it being winter until the solstice…21st June…that is for me the first day of winter (summer up north there). J says 21st June is mid winter! (mid summer up there).

So for me this is still Autumn….a cold snap in the Autumn.

On August the 1st J will start saying .....it’s spring now .....and I will be saying.... no not until 21st September!!!!

Mind you the Western Cape is a very special part of the world and funnily enough the “spring” flowers do come out in August. There is a whole tourist season then where crowds go up the west coast to see amazing displays of meadows of wild daisies in an assortment of colours. 

We have our own smaller but still spectacular displays around here.

Staying with nature I was introduced to some interesting insects that I hadn’t heard of before….Antlions. These creatures live in the blue gum woodlet here by the house. The visitors showed me small circular indentations in the sand. There were ants wandering around and when one stumbled into one of these indentations there was a flurry of sand and it was gone!!! Under the sand an Antlion lay in wait and grabbed the unsuspecting ant. Scary  creatures!!!

There’s a National Geographic video showing one catching an ant:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkfAyfBDHE

And this link is about the starting dates of the seasons!  (I must send it to J!)

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/aboutseasons.html

We went for an interesting outing a couple of weeks ago to the Model Engineering Club of Cape Town…..an open day. 

I do love model railways and they had some great displays but probably the most interesting items on display are  the working model engines. Beautifully made and.... well I can never quite get my mind around how they work!

Enjoy the season whatever it is......wherever you are!!!!!!

We took a little road trip in February up the West Coast.

Dry and dusty, a bit untidy in parts, the odd smelly fish factory providing much needed employment in the area......beautiful in parts....quirky....interesting.

We re-energised at a tranquil beach.....

Learned about the West Coast Fossils.....

Enjoyed the buzz of the fishing village of Paternoster.....

How important is it to take little trips away?

It always feels so good to get home again........so why go away?

I don't know the answer but I know that I find the planning of a little trip lots of fun. The trip itself can be quite stressful as things aren't always as you expect ....as you planned......as you imagined.......but being flexible and enjoying things not quite as you expected is also fun! And good for the mind!

Yes that's probably it.......if you are lucky enough to be able to take a little trip away......just a hour or two or a few days......it feeds the mind......it exercises the brain!

January

January 2015

Ah! I started this post in January and realise I didn't finish it!
Hot and dusty are the words I think of this January.
Down by the river there were lots of dragonflies.
Beautiful creatures with amazing flying skills!
And a great sign that the river is in good health too.

Vinyl Records

I got a text from Darling.

“Have you still got your old vinyl records?”

I did and I do. They were in the attic.

I  had  thought of taking them to a second hand junk shop but to be honest  I didn’t think they were sellable. They were enjoyed to the maximum and as a result are well worn with quite a few scratches!  But on the other hand I couldn't just throw them away. So there they all were waiting in the attic!

Anyhow... Darling had bought a record player with a usb facility that means you can  turn your old vinyls (and cassette tapes!) into MP3 tracks.

I haven’t actually used that facility yet. Funny thing is that somehow those old songs lose some magic when you convert them to digital. And to be honest if I want a particular song I can buy it on itunes usually....without all the scratches!

But the fun thing has been getting out those old albums. Releasing a multitude of memories. Just in the way we used to handle LPs and singles. Don’t touch the playing part with your fingers. Slide it out of the sleeve. Put it on the turntable, check the speed setting start it revolving, lift the arm and gently place the stylus at the beginning of the grooves....the sound comes to life.....the old favourites start to play.

For me first of all out came Donovan and Bob Dylan.

And then old favourite classical music from my music studying days. 

For Darling it was miscellaneous cassette tapes with old radio discussion programmes. Amazing history.

Have you got any old vinyls and cassettes? Do you still have the equipment to play them? Do you play them?