I have often stood at the side of the pool and thought that I should really be snuggling under the covers rather...
Well, with 9 days to go, I am doing the shuffel towards the pool with eager arms!
I have been off for the last ten days with a ridiculous chest infection. Have coughed so hard I nearly dislocated my spine! That would have been a good chuckle?!? I can see the headlines now:
MAN COMPLETES MAMMOTH SWIM LIKE SPINELESS EEL!
Well, jokes asideI am crapping myself. But my greatest supporter is quietly confident in my abilities.
I do love the GoodWife!
I will be swimming alongside the Human Polar Bear! Yes, Lewis Gordon Pugh is one of the 50 8-Mile swimmers! I say I will be swimming alongside him, but really, it won't be for very long. Perhaps we can enjoy a chat on the boat ride back to the start??
Later Y'all
Showing posts with label GoodWife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GoodWife. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Bonsai delux...or so I think
These are my latest bonsais...having such an awesome time doing them, I thought I might share them with the world.
Thanks to the GoodWife for being so patient as I have tended my trees more than I have tended her lately...Love you! Check me out on Flickr...
Thanks to the GoodWife for being so patient as I have tended my trees more than I have tended her lately...Love you! Check me out on Flickr...Sunday, December 6, 2009
Big swim at Midmar!
Tomorrow is the day that my complete lack of training has set me up for.
About a month and a half ago I agreed with a collegue of the GoodWife's that I would accompany him and some of his school pupils for a marathon swim. As the days have drawn nearer, I have been more and more convinced that this decision was not one of my better ones. There is a large dam not too far from here called Midmar. It is the home of the Capital K and Midmar Mile swims. Incidentally, the Midmar Mile won a Guinness last year for being the largest inland, open water swimming event. It saw very close to fourteen thouand swimmers last year!
Well, to complete the Midmar Mile, you swim across one of the bays, which is ...yes, a mile wide... we, the brave are going to swim around it in four days. It is not a massive feat, but it's not easy...
About a month and a half ago I agreed with a collegue of the GoodWife's that I would accompany him and some of his school pupils for a marathon swim. As the days have drawn nearer, I have been more and more convinced that this decision was not one of my better ones. There is a large dam not too far from here called Midmar. It is the home of the Capital K and Midmar Mile swims. Incidentally, the Midmar Mile won a Guinness last year for being the largest inland, open water swimming event. It saw very close to fourteen thouand swimmers last year!
Well, to complete the Midmar Mile, you swim across one of the bays, which is ...yes, a mile wide... we, the brave are going to swim around it in four days. It is not a massive feat, but it's not easy...
Here is a map of the dam,
Compliments of Google-third-rock, this is day one. We start at the big red square and finish 7km (4.3miles) later. Yes I am sure I will have enough energy at the end of the day to keep you updated, so follow along. If you are in the area, stop by, the kids and I would love your support!
What challenges do you have for the week?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Message from the stars...
Greetings fellow bloggers.
It has been a difficult week or so. As I wrote before, my great granddad passed away on Saturday the 21st of November, two days before my birthday (Mon 23rd) . The stubborn old fart wrote in his will that there was to be no service, no memorial, no funeral. This really bothered be because I really wanted to just say goodbye and have some form of closure.
People say that seeing the coffin at a funeral is probably one of the hardest things to do. Many have been reduced to puddles of tears at the sight of the casket of a loved one, but I really feel that that is what is necessary. You, as a person, need to break down and have a really good cry in order to have that finality of a real farewell. With his will in place, that seemed bound not to happen.
We gathered at the Botanical Gardens in Durban, a place where Pops and so many people had spent hours mooching around, searching for that giant snap-dragon flower that would respond to a careful squeeze by opening its ‘mouth’. We had tea and a snack and then left…
I battled with that, big time.
That evening as the GoodWife and I were doing the last bits of packing in prep to move house on Sunday I cam across some items in my bedside drawer.
Nana had given Pops a watch for their 25th wedding anniversary, which he had in turn given to me on my 21st birthday. It is a Seiko Automatic, one of those watches that has a pendulum thingy that winds the spring as you move. Obviously, if you don’t wear it, the spring will eventually unwind and the watch will stop. On the silver dial of the watch are two little windows, one that displays the day of the week and the other the date. I hadn’t worn the watch since our wedding day, over a year ago. When I picked up the watch and looked at it, I fell apart, sobbing. It was exactly what I needed, that last and final goodbye, now knowing that Pops is in the good hands of our Lord.
The watch had stopped, and the day and date on it stood: MON 23.
Pops had wished me a happy birthday for the last time.
It has been a difficult week or so. As I wrote before, my great granddad passed away on Saturday the 21st of November, two days before my birthday (Mon 23rd) . The stubborn old fart wrote in his will that there was to be no service, no memorial, no funeral. This really bothered be because I really wanted to just say goodbye and have some form of closure.
People say that seeing the coffin at a funeral is probably one of the hardest things to do. Many have been reduced to puddles of tears at the sight of the casket of a loved one, but I really feel that that is what is necessary. You, as a person, need to break down and have a really good cry in order to have that finality of a real farewell. With his will in place, that seemed bound not to happen.
We gathered at the Botanical Gardens in Durban, a place where Pops and so many people had spent hours mooching around, searching for that giant snap-dragon flower that would respond to a careful squeeze by opening its ‘mouth’. We had tea and a snack and then left…
I battled with that, big time.
That evening as the GoodWife and I were doing the last bits of packing in prep to move house on Sunday I cam across some items in my bedside drawer.
Nana had given Pops a watch for their 25th wedding anniversary, which he had in turn given to me on my 21st birthday. It is a Seiko Automatic, one of those watches that has a pendulum thingy that winds the spring as you move. Obviously, if you don’t wear it, the spring will eventually unwind and the watch will stop. On the silver dial of the watch are two little windows, one that displays the day of the week and the other the date. I hadn’t worn the watch since our wedding day, over a year ago. When I picked up the watch and looked at it, I fell apart, sobbing. It was exactly what I needed, that last and final goodbye, now knowing that Pops is in the good hands of our Lord.
The watch had stopped, and the day and date on it stood: MON 23.
Pops had wished me a happy birthday for the last time.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The final tribute...
Greetings to all my avid followers, and again I must apologise for not giving you your regular dose of my blended brain. It has been a rather hectic week.
I was lying in bed with the GoodWife yesterday morning, just enjoying the snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug feeling you sometimes get when its cold outside and o so comfortable in bed, when I got a call from my step father. It was bad news. My great granddad had taken a turn for the worse. He had been in hospital for the last two weeks for big old swollen legs that were giving him some real discomfort and things had just gone south in the last two days. We screamed the hundred miles down to the hospital. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight I would be greeted with. I don’t think anyone should have to see a loved one in such a state of disrepair. He was sleeping with his eyes open, oxygen pipes in his nose and really battling to breathe. He held on for another eight hours. Just long enough for my mum to drive the 350 miles to say goodbye…and then he was gone.
He was a father, grandfather, great grandfather, husband, friend and the greatest storyteller in the world. Everyone who met him will sorely miss him and his tall tales. It’s maybe time to take my own advice and mourn, but then to celebrate his life and this I shall do. I swam a one-kilometre open water race today, and yes, the water was cold but he wouldn’t have minded. You are an amazing man Pops, and you don’t have to stress you any more. We will make sure Nana is good and cared for. Just rest, you deserve it.
Robert Adam Law – 23 March 1916 to 21 November 2009.
Man of Moral…quacht tre moralacht.
I was lying in bed with the GoodWife yesterday morning, just enjoying the snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug feeling you sometimes get when its cold outside and o so comfortable in bed, when I got a call from my step father. It was bad news. My great granddad had taken a turn for the worse. He had been in hospital for the last two weeks for big old swollen legs that were giving him some real discomfort and things had just gone south in the last two days. We screamed the hundred miles down to the hospital. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight I would be greeted with. I don’t think anyone should have to see a loved one in such a state of disrepair. He was sleeping with his eyes open, oxygen pipes in his nose and really battling to breathe. He held on for another eight hours. Just long enough for my mum to drive the 350 miles to say goodbye…and then he was gone.
He was a father, grandfather, great grandfather, husband, friend and the greatest storyteller in the world. Everyone who met him will sorely miss him and his tall tales. It’s maybe time to take my own advice and mourn, but then to celebrate his life and this I shall do. I swam a one-kilometre open water race today, and yes, the water was cold but he wouldn’t have minded. You are an amazing man Pops, and you don’t have to stress you any more. We will make sure Nana is good and cared for. Just rest, you deserve it.
Robert Adam Law – 23 March 1916 to 21 November 2009.
Man of Moral…quacht tre moralacht.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Budding artist - we can all dream!
Well, this is just a simple post to show you that I am not just an English major! Heh Heh!
I had a knee op a few months ago and had been threatening for absolute ages that I was going to start painting and/or drawing again. So, with the leg in a brace that would make Robocop proud, I splashed around the palette and here's what came out!
The next one is a pen drawing of a winter tree (A4) size paper. My inspiration for this was another artist. I can't for the life of me remember her name, but I saw her works at a small exhibition a few months ago. Her drawings were on (A3) paper, and she was selling these, framed, for ZAR12000 (about US$1500). I thought to myself...I can do that! Well, it's not as easy as I thought, but I don't think it turned out too bad!
Well, that's me.
Thought for the day: Take the time to take all that is beautiful into your heart and mind. It is all decoration for the soul! - Brad Roets -
Keep it pretty!
Brado
I had a knee op a few months ago and had been threatening for absolute ages that I was going to start painting and/or drawing again. So, with the leg in a brace that would make Robocop proud, I splashed around the palette and here's what came out!
I was fortunate enough to sell these to a good mate of mine!
I thought It might be cool to show you the process behind my non professional artistic blunders, so here are the next four pics. The GoodWife was just reading on the bed. I snuck up and sniper-snapped her. She wasn't to chuffed at the time, but the painting now hangs next to our bed.
She is beautiful, don't you think?
The next one is a pen drawing of a winter tree (A4) size paper. My inspiration for this was another artist. I can't for the life of me remember her name, but I saw her works at a small exhibition a few months ago. Her drawings were on (A3) paper, and she was selling these, framed, for ZAR12000 (about US$1500). I thought to myself...I can do that! Well, it's not as easy as I thought, but I don't think it turned out too bad!
Well, that's me.
Thought for the day: Take the time to take all that is beautiful into your heart and mind. It is all decoration for the soul! - Brad Roets -
Keep it pretty!
Brado
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