A few days later...

Its 2 days after the first official braai in my new little house.

This weekend was just so refreshing!

Meeting new people, seeing people I know. Laughs, drinks, sunshine, hubbly, rain....

The Henley girls bought and brought a whole lot of plants for my garden as their housewarming/birthday gift for me... and I am just swooning still over it. My garden is going to look fantastic!

The dogsmonsters are settling in...even enough to tear up a rubbish bag outside the front door....that I stood picking up at nearly midnight.
It really has been an experience.
Its how its been in most of my places after a move...is that how its been for everyone?

Also...I have found an online community that I hope I'll continue getting comfortable in. Its great knowing there are "others" out there...

...life otherwise is looking pretty good.  I hope everyone's feeling the same :)

Just in that way...

Today, not even coffee is keeping the sleepies at bay. I may have to get something stronger...like a B12 shot.

I'm saturated with some amazing songs today as I fight to stay awake.
My heartfelt selection today:

Monoloog in Stereo - Fokofpolisiekar
I hope you get to meet your hero - Skunk Anansie
Cold Blooded - The Pretty Reckless
Little Lion Man - Mumford and sons
Vermilion pt.2 - Slipknot
Bubbles - Biffy Clyro
Heya (cover) - Matt Weddle
No Handlebars - Flowbots
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
You're gonna go far - The Offspring
What's going on - The Four NonBlondes
You - The Pretty Reckless
I Believed in You - Skunk Anansie
In The Fade - Queens of the Stone Age
Savior - Rise Against
I only Want you - Eagles of Deathmetal
If only for a night - Florence and the Machine
The Space Inbetween - How to Destroy Angels
Ghost Key - Isis
Three legged workhorse - This will destroy You
Breathe me - Sia
Sober - Tool
Soil's Song - Katatonia
Wish You Were here - Incubus
I want you - Danko Jones
A Media Friendly Turn for the Worse - Norma Jean
I'm not in love - Tori Amos
Passive - A Perfect Circle
Breathe Life - Killswitch Engage
Feel Good Inc - The Gorillaz
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Through Glass - Stone Sour
Falling from the Sky (day seven) - Norma Jean
Passenger - Deftones ft Maynard James Keenan
The Mark Has been made - NiN
You can't quit me baby - Queens of the stone Age
In The White - Katatonia

......there are just some very special songs on this list. They echo through my car daily, but today I need them like they'll save me.

Just...no

Sigh...

It's an onslaught of reds and hearts and chocolates every time I walk into a store... yup. We're heading to Valentines and the chain stores are psyching their marketing up VERY early for the "occassion"...

But besides that...

Just a quick HAPPY HAPPY! To birthday girl She_Grim. Happy 20th lady!

Then...living in the "small" towns we do, you're always bound to run into someone you know sometime.
And yesterday, someone I haven't seen in about 2 or 3 years, rolled up with his dirtbike at a cafè near my house.
We *had* a mutual friend, which is how we know eachother and of course this mutual friend came up.
He didn't seem at all surprised that I too was no longer friends with this person...but the bitterness that expressed about this person....was sad.

If someone, anyone, is going out and studying/working/bettering themselves....regardless of your current relationship with them, shouldn't you still wish them well? Shouldn't you hope it works out well for those people?

I was so dissappointed by something I have probably done myself too before...in the past.
Its rather sad...and ugly.

There is never any wrong in people having career ambitions...and ambitions to become "better people".

There...that's my chew out to anyone who wishes crap on other peoples lives.
Have more respect for yourself!

Laters. 

The excitement of... tea strainers

I have actually had a great day, dispite being in wicked pain...

Work went so well today, and I still say it's because it wasn't like we were melting! Wow it's been a hot Summer.
Thanks South Africa for that!

I got to a customer, who has also become such a great friend, and I had mentioned last year how I couldn't find a decent loose tea strainer... and when I walked into their office today, she handed me one.
I am so so chuffed and happy about my little tea gadget!

As much as I love my coffee... with my house so full of different teas that I've accumulated over the last months (for some reason) that's all I can drink this week!
Heading into tea addiction looks pretty good though...

Now... onto some more of 2013.

Whoever you are, where ever you are... I hope you're making your dreams come true!

Where home is...

I bought 2 new trees for the garden yesterday (all the big, mature, established trees have been fenced *out* of my enclosed garden -.- so yesterday I decided to give into the my green thumb cravings and go get the start of my new garden. If I'm going to be here for at least a year, I might as well enjoy it.

So this week there's planting going on of "upright rosemary", peppermint, strawberries, "fruit salad" trees and I'm bordering all of the flower beds with cactus es to keep the dogs from hopping over my small little bed fences to get in and squash the poor flowers.

Oh... and I'm *still* unpacking. I didn't know I had this much stuff...
But! I have not become a recluse in the process... I promise. I had such a fantastic potjie kos outing at 2 amazing people on Sunday while our puppies romped around the yard with one another.
Also being out at Henley Arms again when there *isn't* a market, is rather refreshing.

Now to fuel up on some rooibos tea and get some more unpacking and cleaning done.
Later humans!

~CJ~

Happy New Year!

Got a phone call... inbetween all the messages that were streaming in on my phone, from someone I have to honestly say I'm glad to know.
He very oddly asked me what my new years' resolutions were for this year... and I, honestly replied, I don't have any. But that hasn't stopped me from having "life changing" resolutions happen during last year. And most of those have been about changing *me*.
After a bit of laughs and well wishes, we said happy new years and goodbye.
I may have lost people like him over the last few years, and then been found again by them, but I can honestly say that I was lucky to have met him a few years back, and I'm very blessed that he even still gives me a moments thought at any time of any day.

That's what I want. I want people to know they've left a mark on my life for the better, no matter what our differences have been. No matter the petty/trivial fights and arguments and disagreements. There's always been something good that some people have left with me.
To those people... thank you.

To "the guys" who spent most of today with me, just relaxing in my new house. I am so lucky to know you three. My heart is in such a good place around you!

I spent the last few minutes of sunset today, on my little porch, under the pagola... drinking hot rooibos tea, watching my 3 puppy monsters play on our small lawn. Gah! I also got to spend some time with the 2 horsebeasts... and so I consider my first day of 2013 to be a success.

No anger. No foul language. No rage. No sadness. Just an all encompassing peace and serenity.

.... now for the rest of the year ;)