Tough stuff

Incoming from one of my wife’s horseriding friends earlier, this:

And yes, I get it. I’ve often lamented the diving in football. Not least here. I hate it, and I hate the reputation that it’s giving the best sport in the world.

That said, the football part of this image is a mash-up of a couple of photos from Italy’s 1-1 draw against Romania in Switzerland at Euro 2008. And the players on the left were lying on the turf at the end of the match, with Romania having given it all, but having missed a huge opportunity to beat Italy, due to a penalty save in the last 10 minutes.

And that orange shirt top right belongs to cheaty ref, Tom Henning Øvrebø.

Anyway, like I said, sadly, I understand the reputation.

But then, ironically, there was a bit of rain this afternoon and evening, and while my daughter’s horseriding was cancelled, my football went ahead. Because actually, we footballers are clearly made of tougher stuff than the local pony club.

So there.

Like a kipper

What a morning. The sun was out. The solar was PUMPING. Really breezy, but it felt… Summery.

But this afternoon, I’ve been done up like a kipper.

It’s riding Friday (not me), and after the incredibly warm, sunny – but really windy weather over our side of the mountain – I asked the riding instructor what the weather was like over on the her side.

It’s lovely out. Slight warm breeze.

Shorts will be comfortable, I reckon.

And so I went with it.

Yeah. But Cape Town doesn’t play.

Four seasons in one day is nothing. Because I genuinely believe that the instructor was telling the truth – we’ve all been so desperate for some sunshine – but in the 20 minutes that it took to get over here…

THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

The wind has picked up, the cloud has rolled in, the sun has gone.

I’m sheltering behind the henhouse (not a euphemism), but it’s still rather chilly. Especially around the leg areas. I mean, I’ll definitely survive, but – for the record – shorts were not comfortable.

I’ve been done up like a kipper.

Busy day reimagined

Apparently, there’s a Level 1 wind warning out for the Western Cape today:

A Yellow Level 1 warning: Damaging winds which may result in localized problems for high-sided vehicles on routes prone to strong cross winds (especially in the N1), exposed high level roads/bridges and risk of localized runways fires are expected over the southern parts of the Northern Cape as well as the central and northern parts of the Western Cape.

See?

It’s not been that bad, but there are a few branches down here and there, an over-confidently placed shoe ended up in the swimming pool, and there has been quite a lot of ear flappery of the beagle variety.

The weather is unhelpful, as half the family is off to an outdoor concert this evening (the wind looks likely to moderate by sunset), and another quarter has outdoor dodgeball training. But before that, one of the quarters which is going to the concert has an outdoor horseriding session in a dusty arena. It’s going to be hectic.
Me? I’m the final quarter and I’m just the taxi service for all these things. And that’s going to involve dashing from Hout Bay to Wynberg to Kirstenbosch to Pinelands (all the exciting places covered then) with minimal time in between.

Except…

Within a couple of moments of one another, the riding and the dodgeball were both cancelled. The former because it was “nasty” in Hout Bay (their words, not mine), and I’m not sure what the weather had to do with it, anyway; and the latter because of the risk of injury from “balls flying out of control and in different directions”. Just sounds like a good night out on Somerset Road to me.

Careful now.

And so, with the concert unlikely to be pulled (international artist, don’t you know?), the fun can continue, and the afternoon has got a little bit easier to navigate through, albeit at the expense of some equestrian entertainment and some important training.

2 days left to enter the raffle at the time of writing: click the link and buy a ticket or ten, PLEEEEASE!

So… looks like a bit of Germany v Japan in my comfy chair for me, rather than trips to Hout Bay and Pinelands.

What a pity.

Day 692 – Early night

I’m in Hout Bay where my daughter has a riding lesson. The plan was to write a blog post when I got home, but I’ve hit a bit of a metaphorical wall, having stayed up way too late watching football last night.

Writing a blog post will help to keep me awake.

So I thought I’d lob something up here while there is some zigzagging with a cowboy grip going on in front of me. There aren’t any cows around, but I guess it makes sense to be prepared. You never know.

Safety first. Or maybe safety after a quick nap on the sun.

Day 546 – There is a dog

Early morning riding lesson in Hout Bay. Not this guy, obviously. This is a dog. I’m surprised you didn’t notice that.

You can’t ride a dog.

I’m playing with Lightroom on my phone while trying to avoid the midges. And this guy is playing with his stick and trying to get me to throw it for him.

My daughter is working hard in the arena, the light is beautiful, and I’m wishing that I’d brought my camera along.