Category: positive thoughts

So, are you still with us?

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What? Me?

Oh, after this?

Yes.

But it was very, very hot.

I got to the place early, and having heaved my car door open into the thick, still, Green Point atmosphere, decided that I would head for the sea (only a couple of hundred metres away) in search of some moving air.

A gentle warm-up (lol!) run along the Prom followed, and there was an occasional breath of air, but it didn’t do much to cool anything down. It certainly wasn’t the fresh, sea breeze that I was longing for. And it was 41oC in the shade: of which there is infamously none on Green Point Prom.

In fact, it was so hot that Garmin gave me a virtual badge for running in it. Although I’m not sure that they should be encouraging anyone to be getting out and about in that sort of heat.

I went for just a couple of kilometres, but the dense, heavy, hot conditions were definitely taking their toll, and there was still a football match to play, and so I headed back for the safety of the footy place, bravely ignoring the option of aircon in my car on the way back through the car park.

We played, and the match was a tight, hot, sweaty, well-contested affair.
Did we win? No. Not in scoreline terms, at least. But just surviving the game, getting to the car and being able to drive home without collapsing honestly felt like at least 3 points gained.

And those are the sort of victories that don’t show up on the league table, but do mean that you are able to show up at family breakfast the next morning.

It’s all about context.

Kirstenbosch wander

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A couple of hours in the sun at Kirstenbosch this afternoon, before the upcoming Matthew Mole concert made things loud and busy.

A few lizards and mice around. Plenty of birds, including a rather hungry Cape Sugarbird (Promerops cafer) and some very pretty, very dainty Black Saw-wings (Psalidoprocne pristoptera)

A few kilometres and some very nice fresh air was just what I needed after an unexpectedly boozy evening out last night and a very necessary lie-in this morning.

Now it’s back to real life with some household chores and a bit of FA Cup football.

First

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A quick proud dad moment, as Little Miss 6000 braved a horse high on horse medicine (the horse, not her), an unfortunate incident involving a dog at the showground, and several or more injuries to her shoulder and leg to WIN the next round of jumping at the local horse jumping show.

A glorious red and white rosette is hers, and well-deserved it was too.

A great comeback in the face of adversity.

And that wasn’t it. Because Mrs 6000 also came home with a couple of rosettes for her performances on the back of a very lively horse. It’s actually amazing to live amongst equestrian greats like these.

Of course, theirs weren’t the only great rides on the day, but I will leave other parents and partners, and their blogs to inform you about just how good their offspring and spouses were this morning.
That’s for them to crow about, not me.

A good few hours, well spent.

Rugby is back

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Rugby League is back. Not here in SA, where quite literally no-one thinks that it’s real, but in the UK and in Australia. I’d love to watch some from the UK, but we don’t get that here. But two or three NRL games a week is a very welcome addition to my sport-watching programme [Mrs 6000 groans].
And because of the time difference, it doesn’t get in the way of the footy!

The Harvey Norman replay returns!

See?

We’re 30 minutes into a game that I’m really not that bothered about, between two teams that I don’t even like, and I’m already questioning the ref’s poor decisions and I’m already fed up with James Tedesco’s whining. To be fair, he’s mainly whining about the ref’s poor decisions, but still…

And it’s only on in the background while I’m doing other stuff.

[goes and does other stuff in the kitchen at half time]

Still, it’s a nice escape from the other stuff that’s happening around the world.

Although if the ref keeps going with calls like he’s just started the second half on, there will be violence.
And quite reasonably, too.