Spending more than I'm earning...!

9.4thirty-eight

Uneventful flight back, other than watching The Duchess with Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes. Brief stop in AMS - leaving the arrivals hall to see if I can pay for my phone - no luck. At least I got 4 biscuits on the flight :-)

Vida's tattoo design went down well :) Haircut and discovering another little second-hand record store! Monkees LP acquired. Leaving drinks in Richmond for Mike, Del and Wendy - turns into a bbq instead! Bought Sketch and started looking at UXUI.

Sister Act with a live gospel choir in church! Brunch with Mel in Greenwich, and a little walk around the village. Stumble upon a second-hand record store. (War of the worlds full story discs, Deep Purple 24 Carat Gold (mostly live though), Breakfast in America, Storm Front, Bridge over troubled water (which i already have, ugh), and cocktail soundtrack (sentimental buy!)). Also Beyonce Lemonade (digital though).

Kicking off Blackheath with Elgar Variations :)

DOING ALL THE THINGS

9.3thirty-seven

Lazy Monday at Misty Cliffs. More ukulele and wave watching.

Week filled with the mini shop! Thursday advanced yoga class pain! Great to see Catherine again, and also to see Anette! Remaining videos one after the other with mom (The affair of the Necklace, Serena, Oyster Farmer, Amazing Grace). Wednesday morning rendezvouz in Cape Town Central to check out a second-hand record store. Met Brian, the owner and had fat chats. Left with R600 worth of records! (Carike ontmoet Groep Twee (wrong record in sleeve), McVicar soundtrack, Don Francisco live, Rubber Soul, Hollies best of "Everyone's invited" (turned out to be re-recorded), Springbok radio silver jubilee album, SKY Masterpieces, and Mike Batt Synphonia).

Also bring back the two children's records dad bought me (they turn out to be a little disappointing), Kimera's Lost Opera (absolutely fantastic, as it has the remix that i know on side B, and side A is the mix i grew up with), Francesca Napoli and Graceland from mom's collection.

Joined the D&D evening with the group! Princess Lena, dwarf and axe-handler extraordinaire is born :) Saturday Photo albums, and then off to Nes' for intensive mini shopping. Craft so hard my head hurt! Wax doughnuts, chilled freezers and fridges, total mini happiness.

Of wag, ek sal nog hooooer klim

9.2thirty-six

Mini shopping with dad and Ruan, and Tannie S. Beautiful farewell brunch at Brenton-on-Sea, great big windows onto the ocean. Crazy dude with a paraglider taking off from 50m above sea level.

Back in CT after the 6 hour drive. Climbing table mountain with mom (Pipe Track and Tranquility Cracks)! Squash and gym, and then chill the eff out at Misty Cliffs! Ukulele, and 1 out of 5 videos! (Doubt).

Jazz brunch at The Winchester Hotel. Nes and Raz pack the shop to show me!

win some, lose some

9.1thirty-five

Flight to Amsterdam! Early morning drop-off by the lovely SJ. Bags checked all the way through. Day in Amsterdam; bags in locker, adventure go! Walked all the way down the length of the city. Record shop stop, lunch near Vondelpark. Walk back up, finally catch the science museum (NEMO). Best part was doing experiments in a lab coat. Glass of red on the roof terrace for sunset. Dinner near the station (Thai!). Lose phone on train back from Centraal. Yotel, the conductor, going through security 3 times in one night. Change rooms, finally sleep.

Day flight to CT - watched The Danish Girl, and a Bigger Splash. Bizarrely, the same actor appears in both. Brand new plane!! Thank god for the USB and Macbook chargers. Vida's tattoo design, bedside cabinet design finished. Nes and Raz at the airport!

Phil Collins One more night on the drive through the woods to get to Kenrock. Bath and sleep. Best flight to SA in years.

Condensed milk coffee with rusks. Squash with mom! Drive to Knysna at 5am. The mini shop :-O Tannie S, B and his new gf, (was even nice to see Oom D). Dad and Ruan arrive met die langpad. Ouma and Oupa looking just the same. Oxtail, boat rides, drank. Hours lost at the hardware store and The Deckle Edge. Delving into De Bruyn history. We have (had) a family home in Tulbach!