Pippin says: “Here Comes the Sun! ”
Spring has sprung.
That Crab
31 Aug 2009 1 Comment
in Myself
I found a freshwater crab in Wynberg Park this evening. He was on the road near the parking area. I spent a embarrassing amount of time faffing about whether I should leave him alone to take his chances with cars and dogs. He was a fairly big crab, each leg about as long as my little finger, and his claws almost as fat as my thumb.
I used to think nothing of picking these up when I was a little girl. But for some reason my 37 year old self was well, actually quite scared of the little bugger. Herding him off the road was no good as crabs somehow dont go in the direction you expect them to. I finally nerved myself to pick him up. Either I had forgotten how to pick a crab up so it cant pinch you, or they’ve learnt a trick or two since I last tried. He got a fairly good grip on my finger and gave me a stywe pinch. Which was the moment I lost all my fear of him. I think there must be a life lesson in there somewhere.
I just swore at him in a friendly way and carried him over to a safe spot. Not all the way to the little river as I had intended, just to the nearest lot of shrubbery. He sat there among the Agapanthus leaves, very disgusted with me. There is something about having your eyes on stalks that gives you the edge when it comes to expressing hurt dignity.
New Home for my Books
28 Aug 2009 Leave a comment
I’m so pleased. I have a new bookshelf for my children’s book collection. The old one was bursting at the seams:
I got to reorganise all my books according to new categories 🙂 I spent hours deciding: Should I sort them according to how strange they are?
Splish Splash!
19 Aug 2009 Leave a comment
in Myself
It feels like spring is here, even though officially, we still have a couple of weeks of winter left to go. Today I was clever enough to wear my wellies while walking my dogs on the Rondebosch Common. Because of this:
It rained a lot yesterday. In some places, the water came nearly up to the tops of my boots. More
The Ruined Mill
08 Jul 2009 Leave a comment
in Myself Tags: abandoned places
Some way up the mountain in Newlands Forest there is an abandoned mill.
A couple of years ago, a tree fell on it in a storm, and since then many storms have torn at it: More
The Dead Cat
22 Jun 2009 3 Comments
Last night, Brendon and I found a dead cat. It was lying stretched out in the middle of the road next to the railway line. Brendon said that we should move it to the pavement. He wanted to stop it getting broken by cars. Maybe its owners would be more likely to find it there.
Brendon took hold of its back paws. I was a coward about it and had to be urged to pick up the front paws. They were soft and as warm as those of a live cat. We picked her up and her head flopped back with a sort of delicious abandon. Her body was completely relaxed.
We put her down on the pavement. Her eyes were wide open, beautiful translucent green globes.
Today she is still lying there. Her fur is wet with rain, and she looks like a piece of toilet paper that had been wadded, chewed and spat out. Her eyes had partly closed and are dull. There is a rose coloured dew of blood on her chin and face.
Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou
03 Jun 2009 5 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself
In Afrikaans, when the rain falls while the sun is shining, one says: “Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou” Which means – roughly – “Jackal is marrying Wolf’s Wife”. Its winter and I find myself looking upward:
In summer I was taking pictures of objects found on the ground, now that the weather is colder, I’m looking at branches against the sky, and the early morning light in the city as I walk to work: More
little bits of April
08 May 2009 Leave a comment
in Inspiration, Myself
Autumn is here all of a sudden. From one day to the next, summer ended.
The weather is cold, its dark when I go to work, and I have a new cosy workspace where I can draw. I developed a passing interest in security signs, baked some bread, voted, and visited the monkeys at World Of Birds…
Little bits of March
04 Apr 2009 3 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself
I’m still taking pictures of whatever catches my eye – and lately, that seems to be “things on the ground” – manhole covers , litter and whatever else.
My favourite is this one of a leaf floating inside a little open drain cover on the street just outside where I live… More
May the Multimedia Lady Watch Over You
05 Mar 2009 4 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself
The first class of Multimedia students graduated from Vega Cape Town last night. They are:
Glimpses of February
01 Mar 2009 Leave a comment
in Inspiration, Myself
Continuing my habit of taking pictures of whatever catches my eye, here are my glimpses of February. My favourite for this month being Brendon’s hands over the river at Newlands forest:
So here goes with the glimpses of February, from Fareview goats to the Community Chess Carnival at Wynberg… More
It’s not always easy to understand
24 Feb 2009 Leave a comment
in Myself
Why would some-one do this? My husband and myself had just finished sanding down and varnishing my mother’s memorial bench and now look:
Glimpses of January
20 Feb 2009 Leave a comment
in Colour, Inspiration, Myself
I’ve have a new hobby: taking unimportant pictures. Just whatever catches my eye. Its sort of soothing to look over them. I want to see if I can create collections for every month of the year.
These are glimpses of January.
My favourite one is of a fun fair at the Waterfront. More
It’s a Haarskeerder!
05 Jan 2009 19 Comments
in Myself Tags: arachnid, baardskeerder, haarskeerder, jag spinnekop, scorpion, solifugae, South Africa, spider afrikaans, sulpugid
OK! I’ve found the identity of our nocturnal monster insect. Its a sulpugid of the order solifugae – more commonly known as “haarskeerder” or “jag spinnekop”. Its not a spider, but it is an arachnid – which essentially means “it has eight legs”. Scorpions and spiders also belong to this class.
The afrikaans names translate like this: “Haarskeerder” means “hair shaver” as they are rumoured to have the ability to cut hair with their sharp claws. “Jag spinnekop” means “hunting spider” because it looks awfully spider like, and its very aggressive in its habits.
Just to remind you – here is the beast itself:
Here are some quotes about solpugids. This one from Trek Nature, Gerhard Theron writes:
Port Alfred and back
05 Jan 2009 4 Comments
in Myself
So I’m back from my trip to Port Alfred. My new cell phone has a camera so I was able to document stuff. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my dogs traveled. Pippin just slept most of the way. Anna had to keep an eye on the road through that little window behind the drivers seat.
Masha du Toit 
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