May 17: Porch Swing

Pup sitting for Dr. Cooper & Dr. Dean means a porch with a swing! And it was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze!

March 19: Beautiful Day

Spring is in the air, and this tree is absolutely beautiful!

March 2: Botanical Gardens

Yesterday, Laurel and I went to the botanical gardens.  It was a warm 73 degree day and she needed to practice some photography skills for next weekend when she takes pictures at her aunt's partners bday party.  It was beautiful and it was nice to be outside for a few hours.

December 12: Beauty

I spent all day inside.  From 8:30am when I arrived at work until 5:30pm, I didn't leave the building.  However, when I walked out to my car the sky was gorgeous (this picture doesn't do it justice).  It's the little things in life that bring me great joy!

November 29: Last Day in Los Cabos

Every morning I would wake up, by 6am and be wide awake.  Around 7:30am I would head to Megan's parents suite.  Why?  Well, I LOVE coffee and since Megan was still sleeping, I'd go over and join her dad for coffee in the morning.  We'd sit on the porch, drink coffee, and DeAnne would join when she awoke.  I really enjoyed getting to chat with her parents in the mornings…and who doesn't love doing that over a cup of coffee with a beautiful view?

Friday was our last full day in Los Cabos, so that evening one of the guys working at the resort took us out for 'authentic' Mexican food.  It was yuuuummmmmy.  The homemade tortillas were the BEST!

November 20: Change

The weather outside is getting colder and the leaves are falling.  We've had an absolutely beautiful fall and I'll be sad to see it go.  However, change is part of life and with each new season brings anticipation and newness.  Additionally, as a random aside, I've also decided to stop following some people's blogs.  For me, I get all my blogs delivered to feedly which is a great way to read and follow a host of people quickly and I had been following the guy I was sort of seeing.  Well, since he's now seeing someone else, it was time for me to stop following his blog.  Why add insult to injury.  But just as the seasons change, life moves on and sometimes it brings with it a beauty that is yet unseen. 

Bruce Munro's Light Display

Last weekend, I met up with Lee in Nashville, TN.  It was a nice opportunity to hang out, do some hiking, and see some fun and unusual things.

Percy Warner Park is apparently well known for it's trails.  The loop is supposed to be 4.5 miles, but after starting my gps a mile or so into the hike, it still said 4.2 by the time we were done hiking.  Strange.  Despite the mud, the trails were wonderful, the conversation was good, and the weather was perfect!

Saturday evening the Botanical Gardens were having a light show display by artist Bruce Munro.  His collection included nine displays of light in various forms and fashions.  The picture below was my attempt at capturing some of the 20,000 bulbs that lit up the grassy areas.  It was actually pretty amazing, but I'm amazed by simple things (especially if they involve light).

The bamboo garden

This was a rain display inside the museum in the gardens.  It was by far my favorite inside display.

This was entitled blue moon.  The 'moon' was centered on top of a zen garden, although you can barely see that in the picture.  The moon also changed colors periodically.

Some of the light displays were interesting and some more captivating than others.  All in all, it was a nice weekend; we had some great conversations and I even got introduced to a new game.

The drive home was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was perfect and I drove with the windows down, my radio up, and my hair blowing in every direction...and I didn't get stuck in traffic unlike on the drive to Nashville.  It's the little things!

Gardening

My grandpa had a green thumb.  He grew all sorts of things when they lived up on the hill: veggies, fruits, trees, flowers, and everything in between.  I wish I had that same gifting. I love flowers, and I'd love to grow my own veggies & herbs.

In the spring I bought some Lantana and Black Eyed Susans.  The Black Eyed Susan has grown like crazy and the Lantana has been a pain... well, more of an itch.  Yep, I'm one of the few individuals who breaks out in a rash if I touch the plant.  That makes pruning real fun.

However, the bigger accomplishment is a little flower that has sprouted from a seed.  That's right friends, I planted SEEDs and amazingly enough...I didn't kill them (yet).  The little plant has a fair amount of greenery and five or six little flowers.

For me, it's the simple things in life that bring me great joy.  Like walking out of my apartment and seeing my little potted garden and the most amazing little flowers that have grown from seeds planted in the dirt.  Amazing.

Education (Week 4)

Here is the rundown of week four in Cape Town.

Monday: Robben Island

Robben Island was a place originally used for exile for those with leprosy, however, during Apartheid, it was used as a prison for political prisoners.  We started the tour at the Jetty 1, which is where the prisoners and visitors/guests would have left from in order to visit the island. 

 Some of the prisoners & guests who left from Jetty 1

 Robben Island was a prison only for Blacks and Coloureds

 This was the last group of political prisoners to be released before it closed.

 Dumisani was our tour guide and a former political prisoner

 The rations for Blacks & Coloureds were different

 Nelson Mandela's cell

 The ferry is 45 minutes with beautiful views of Table Mountain. I can't imagine the sheer joy upon returning back to Cape Town and the end of Apartheid and seeing Table Mountain in a different light.

 The V&A waterfront. This is where you catch the ferry & where the museum is located.

Tuesday: Class/Green Market

After class on Tuesday, we headed for the Green Market.  This is a place off long street where vendors set up shop every Tuesday-Sunday (10-4pm).  There are gadgets & gizmos galore.  

 Charly's Bakery is a few blocks down from the Green Market and one of Oprah's favs!

 The delicious chocolate cake. I couldn't wait til we were hope to try some.

Wednesday: Wine Tour

We took a tour of a winery in Franschhoek. On the bus ride, I gave the students the history of Franschhoek and of wine is South Africa.  Did you know there are over 4000 (wine) farms in South Africa?!

The walk up to the winery was absolutely beautiful.

 Bob and his mom own/run the winery.  One of the wines is named after Bob: the Gentle Giant.

 At the winery we had a competition to make the best wine.

 Our team didn't win, but we made a valiant effort.

 Our named & labeled wine

The group (Stormers!) after the tour

Thursday: Stellenbosch

Mallory & I went to Stellenbosch, the primelands for wine in South Africa. Stellenbosch was only about an hour away by train, and R15 (less than $2), so we set out on an adventure!  The train ride was fairly uneventful, minus a Rastafarian man who moved throughout various cabins. After his parade through, the door to the outside wouldn't close.  This made for a chilly ride.  Oh, did I mention it was pouring rain as well?! It was.

When we arrived at the train station, Mallory had reserved a shuttle to drive us around to the varying wineries.  On any given day, the north or south route is open.  For us, we were on the northern route which included a seller tour (so neat!).  Each route includes six wineries with varying specialties..

 At one stop they gave us golf umbrellas for the tour, that was nice!

 Our guide/driver was wonderful. He gave us suggestions on where to go for lunch, which places to skip, and what to see.  The first two were spot on...wonderful experiences, the third left something to be desired.  This was in part due to the woman serving the tastings.  She was clearly preoccupied with other things.  One of her preoccupations was with a tree that had fallen in the road.  She mentioned to everyone in the room that we were all stuck until the tree was removed.  After spending a long time waiting, we were cold, and wet, and ready to move on. 

 However, when we tried to leave, we realized just how big a tree was blocking the road.

 

Thus we headed back to the restaurant to indulge in some coffee (for me) and malva pudding (traditional South African dessert).  Delish.  And they gave it to us for free since we were stuck!

Friday: Off

Friday we were suppose to head to Cape of Good Hope & Cape Point, but the weather was iffy so the group decided to go on Sunday instead, giving us a day off.  Chase, Lori (Chase's wife who joined on Wednesday!), Mallory, and I headed to Canal Walk. It's a very large ritzy mall.  It was an experience.  Something else to note, in South Africa, they have grocery stores IN the malls.  Thus, you'll see people pushing carts of groceries through the mall.

Sunday: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, & Boulder Beach

Cape of Good Hope is a rocky part of the shoreline once believed to be the southern most tip of Africa.  It's not.  The actual southern most tip is Cape Agulhas.  However, Cape Point is the location where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

The Cape of Good hope is written in English on one side, and Afrikaans on the other (with the coordinates in between).

We then hiked from Cape of Good Hope to Cape Point (45 minutes); beautiful views of the coast!

Olivia is one of the students I felt I connected with (along with a handful of others).  Unfortunately, she's a gator and goes to Florida.  Luckily, she made good friends with Sarah Elizabeth (also a keeper) and she'll come visit.  On a side note, it was wonderful to connect with students again!  For the last two years, I've done more administrative work and I've missed working with students more closely.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many students on this trip, and doubly grateful that many of them are here at Georgia! 

 The light house at the top of Cape Point

As we were getting ready to leave this baboon was walking around (baby on back) and walked right behind this man.  You should click on the photo to enlarge it.  I think it's hysterical.  He finally realized the baboon was there and it was as if they were having a staring contest.  Ps. Baboons are fierce creatures, and that man was way to calm!

 We then headed to boulders beach to see the African penguins!

 Look, they're cuddling!

 The penguins were so stinkin' cute! Too bad I couldn't take one home...I tried...kidding.

More updates coming (especially now that I'm back in the states and can upload pictures in the blink of an eye)!