The weekend that was

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I’ve finally recovered enough to share a few images and a few words about a great weekend away near Montagu. Yeah yeah, the place says Robertson, and it’s probably closer to Robertson as the crow flies, but cars and people can’t fly (yet), and so Montagu is the town of choice for a Google Maps location.

And we were right up in the mountains, miles from anywhere. The track up to the place was challenging in parts, but acted as a great barrier betweeen us and the outside world for 3 days.

Last time I was here, there was snow everywhere, and the time before that, it felt like there should be snow everywhere. But aside from a couple of summer showers, this weekend was blissfully hot and lazy.
Hours on end dozing by the pool.

It’s worth noting that when I’m away, I let the other people take photos of the other people. My thing is getting the landscapes and the wildlife, and I much prefer that to making anyone uncomfortable by shooting them – posed or otherwise.

And the place itself is just beautiful. Views for days. Fynbos as far as the eye can see.

And who needs humans in the shot when you’ve got a tortoise?

Sadly not much in the way of unusual birds: Familiar Chat, Fork-Tailed Drongo, the occasional Jackal Buzzard passing by (some good Booted Eagle and Pale Chanting Goshawk action on the way home though), but some stunning Dragon- and Damsel-flies.

And a reed-bed pond for purifying the farm dam style swimming pool had some very pretty waterlilies:

All in all, a perfect few days away with friends. Fun, laughter, games, sleep, braais, drinks, a couple of hikes, a run, some ‘togging, and some delicious relaxation.

10/10 would recommend.

Jaded

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It was an amazing weekend away, but it’s also that time of year and I am looking forward to an early night after several days of indulgence. Last night was a lot of fun too, but I am feeling partied out.

I have looked at some of the pics from the last few days and yes, we had a great time. But wow: I’m used to doing that one night a week, not 6 in a row. Those days have long gone.

And so, here’s a quick taster of a bit of the dramatic beauty of the place we spent the weekend…

…ahead of a proper post tomorrow.

By which time I will be mended. Right?

Veni, vidi, vici

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Heading back home to Cape Town today. There’s an end of year footy dinner to get to.

What a weekend. I came, I saw, I conquered.
OK, maybe not completely on the last one, but there was some braai’ing.

And I’m sure that counts.

Of course, that’s the English translation of the words allegedly used by Julius Caesar to describe his swift victory at the Battle of Zela in 47 BC – a powerful boast of military prowess – a simple overview of what he saw as a quick, decisive and effortless triumph.

It’s Latin. It’s not Greek.

So you can’t just chuck some Greek letters into it in an effort to make yourself (or your limb) look intelligent.

That just won’t work.

See?

Who knows what actually happened on the 5th of February (ok, ok, or the 2nd of May) 2003?

All we do know is that it was something big enough for someone to repeat the ancient Roman phrase of military conquest:

Vspph, Vphdph, Vphcph!

Which is probably what JC would have sounded like if he’d been talking through a rather thick scarf.

Dollar Dollar bills, y’all

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Well, more like “Rand Rand banknoot, almal”, but still.

Inflation being what it is, and the economy being what it is, people are always on the lookout for ways to earn a bit of extra cash. Especially in South Africa.

Thankfully, I’ve seen a couple of adverts for sure-fire money-making schemes, firstly in Cape Town:

Where son of iconic British TV character, Claude Jeremiah Greengrass…

…is clearly raking it in.

And then in local economic powerhouse Johannesbeagle:

…which you can tell is the place with all the money because they apparently have R2200 bank notes up there. With a disapproving Celtic spinster from the 1910s on them.

They’re such trendsetters in Gauteng.

Having clicked through (only on the Cape Town one, obviously – I’m not about to fall for a dodgy image like the Joburg one clearly is), I can say that the initiation of the process of “earning this way” has been flawless so far.

All I’ve had to do is send off R1500 to an unknown bank account, and they’ll get back to me with all the details. Then I sit back in my car, put on about – checks image again – about 50kg (or maybe more) and grow a grey beard, and Bob is my rich uncle.

I’ll keep you informed of how things are going – probably from my yacht or something.

Fake courtesy

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No-one ever reads the bits at the beginning and end of your emails. And yet, if you don’t include them, suddenly the whole thing suddenly sounds a bit rude and impersonal. That’s because email conventions have led to us expecting to see alleged “courtesy”, even when we don’t acknowledge it because everyone is absolutely aware that it’s only ever included for etiquette purposes.

If only there were a way of saving valuable time on the completely unnecessary – and yet also absolutely necessary – fake courtesy.

Hang on a second!

Brilliant. And I really love the fact that it occasionally makes a typo as well. It makes it seem all the more human, when it patently – isn’t.

An excellent analogue for the actual line which it is typing.

And there are many more excellent things to be seen on Amadeo Capelli’s Instagram account and Youtube channel.