Tag Archives: Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Just Jot It January and Stream of Consciousness 13 January 2024

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Today Stream of Consciousness Saturday is combined with Just Jot It January and the prompt is Close-up or Close Up.

I enjoy taking photographs but I am really of the aim and shoot variety. Reasonable memory shots are usually the result of my efforts and I have an archive full of photographs from many years of recording just about anything since digital photography became a thing.

I received my first digital camera on my fiftieth birthday – twenty-one years ago. I guess it’s time my photography skills came of age! That little camera had a three times optical zoom and cost R7 000 if I remember correctly. At the time I owned a video camera which was my pride and joy but it was not digital. My camera did not have a video function so I still had to use both of them. 

My next digital camera came a few years later and I paid R 6 000 for a 12x optical zoom camera – Wow – was I thrilled with that. I could not believe that a camera so superior to my previous one cost R1000 less. And it had a video function so the video camera went into a junk cupboard and stayed there for many years before giving it away for nothing! 

But now to the point of the prompt – close-up. Well with my new digital camera, I discovered that close-ups were quite easy and great fun too. As technology improved I moved along with it by purchasing the newest in digital zoom cameras until at last I got one with a 65x optical zoom. My brand of choice was and still is Canon, and their PowerShot range is superb.  Each time I bought a new camera the price was less than the time before until the latest one.  Cameras now cost twice as much as what I paid before the one I have now – a Canon PowerShot SX70HS. I have to take great care of this one because it will cost too much to replace. My previous cameras have all been given to members of my family who coveted them!

Camera technology today is amazing. Who would have imagined twenty years ago that a phone would double as a camera? In fact, the cell phone is even more than that, and what a difference that has made to modern life!

Let me now close up this post with a few favourite close-up photographs. The Earl is in fact the best close-up photographer so I have also chosen from his folder too. He uses a Panasonic Lumex 60X with 60x optical zoom.

Giraffeclose-up by The Earl
Lion close-up by The Earl
Zebra close-up by me.

Lockdown in South Africa – Day 16

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Today I am participating in the Stream of Consciousness Saturday challenge.  The word ‘joint’ is the prompt word and may be used as a noun, verb or adjective in any way we like.

I always find that the weather changes from warm to cold after the Easter Weekend.  We have been enjoying lovely, warm sunny days for most of the Lockdown period but today we woke to cloudy skies and lower temperatures.    It just could not wait for the weekend to be over.   Not that it makes an iota of difference as we can’t take full advantage of such glorious days anyway.   So tomorrow, Easter Sunday, stormy weather is predicted!

Today Lollz and the Earl went on a joint trip to the shop.  Their brief was to buy only what was on the list but they returned with a basketful of too much stuff!   I reprimanded them for their excess and Lollz said she tried to restrain her father but he insisted on putting in stuff we already had, items we never usually buy – like pasta – and to top it all a loaf of banana bread!  I believe that Lockdown did something to their joint consciousness and that both were to blame for feeling the need for a treat. So of course, none of us could resist an indulgent slice with a good cup of Italian coffee – yum.

We had a surprise delivery today.   The Earl is in a joint venture with a local commercial fisherman.  He does repairs on Wenzel’s boat and radio equipment and in return received fresh yellowtail from time to time.   While my errant family were jointly breaking my rules such a fish was delivered to my door!   That meant another joint effort at making our evening meal.   The Earl cleaned and sliced the fish for sashimi, I made the salad and we served it with the ginger that Lollz pickled last week.

This joint sharing of Lockdown is certainly working out for us.

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Ent, Ten, Net

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This week’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ENT, TEN, NET. Use one, two or all.  I will free write and then go back and bold the ents tens and nets.

Yesterday my husband went fishing for the first time in months.  As you would expect he would need a net and there is indeed one on the boat on which he fishes but that is only used in the last part of the activity to get the fish onto the vessel.  The important piece of equipment is the rod of which he owns many.  I could present you with a list of very expensive rods that line the walls of our garage. Not only does he have the best state of the art fishing rods he also has an impressive inventory of tackle. Not ten but more like ten thousand different hooks, lines, sinkers and lures.   All of these are truly fascinating to look at especially for small boys and a few girls who are embarking on this hobby.   I remember my grandsons as toddlers getting hold of a particularly pretty lure and pretending they were ‘fishies’ as they swished them in a basin of water.   Now, these things have treble hooks on them so you can imagine my horror upon finding them with these dangerous toys. It was not easy to extract them from their tiny clutches.  Only Smarties and a Tail about a Whale would distract them from their game.

For this excursion to sea, the love of my life awoke at five! I intended to get up at that crazy hour too but it was dark so I lay in until six and then went off to Yoga.   It’s a fifteen-minute walk to my class and what a pleasure to watch the sunrise and breathe the fresh Spring air.  Early morning is really the best part of the day! After sharing an excellent cup of coffee with my teacher, it was ten to eight. I walked home feeling energised and ready to face a morning of chores.   I put on a BBC Women’s Hour Podcast and got everything done in three episodes!   I showered and then sat down at the computer, connected to the internet and Duolingo and did my daily Italian lesson.

The intrepid fisherman arrived home at one o’clock, exhausted and hungry after catching only one katonkel. Nobody else on board managed to catch anything.

“Old fishermen never die they just smell that way.”

Katonkel

I whipped up some scrambled eggs for my hungry hubby after which he took a nap. It was then time to prepare a quiche for the party we were to attend in the evening.  Once that was done I took a walk to the mall to get a card and present for the birthday girl.

The party was a surprise and the weather was perfect for it.  We all sat around a pit fire in the courtyard of the hosting friends. The delicious food was set out and Yolandi didn’t suspect a thing and was beautifully surprised to find us all there when she arrived.   It was wonderful to be celebrating her birthday as the past year has been a tough one with her having undergone a bone marrow transplant and chemo treatment.  It has been an eleven-year journey but the good news is that everything is now in remission.

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What a wonderful network of friends attended this celebration with presentations of food, gifts and wishes for Yolandi’s continued good health.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – 21 September 2019 – Rap/Wrap

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These are the basic rules of posting on Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

1. Your post must be a stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

Today’s prompt from Linda requires us to use either rap, wrap or both.

The meaning of rap –  sharp blow; a type of music, to strike sharply. What a lovely word – so onomatopoeic.

Rap is a form of entertainment that many of the older generation don’t get.  But I actually love it.  It’s vibrant and fun and works a treat when you’re trying to teach young children.   When I was teaching I enjoyed the THRASS rap we used to Teach Handwriting, Reading and Spelling Skills.  I’d bring rap into many other areas of my teaching too especially if I noticed that the children were becoming distracted.   It really worked to bring them to attention and got them laughing too.  Wouldn’t you if your school ma’am started to rap in the middle of a lesson?  In the bad old days, the only rap from the teacher would be one on the knuckles!

school ma'am

Put w in front of it and you get Wrap!   Now that conjures up thoughts of gifts in beautifully decorated wrappings.

gifts

OR Delicious food in an easy to eat Wrap.  It’s a brief word for a healthy snack wrapped up in a soft flatbread.   I seldom make them at home but Hubby loves to order them when we’re on the road and we need to stop for something quick and healthy for lunch.   His favourite – and mine if I succumb to eating a carb – is smoked chicken with sweet chilli sauce and don’t forget the avo!

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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Blue

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Linda asks us to write about the first blue thing we see as we sit down to write from today’s prompt – BLUE

And strangely I am surrounded by quite a few blue things.  A tablecloth on my picnic table, the chair I am sitting on and the sky as I am sitting outside my caravan in The Karoo National Park.

I always pack a table cloth when I go camping although I seldom use one at home – preferring to use placemats on my table or counter there.  But when picnicking in the bush you need to cover the outdoor tables in picnic spots as they’re not too clean!   Back at camp the table cloth just makes you the area look prettier.

Unfortunately, I have lost one or two table cloths through carelessly forgetting to remove them from the picnic site table and once at a self-catering cottage!  I am more careful now.

I am very fond of this particular table cloth which I spotted at a  craft stall at a  garden show in Kokstad.  It’s home-made and of very good quality.

Both The Earl and I have blue camping chairs.  They go with us everywhere and are very comfortable.  They’re the first things removed from the caravan before we set up.  First, they hold the canopy poles and then us as we enjoy a bitterly cold drink after the effort!

I am grateful to have the clear, blue sky as rainy days aren’t much fun when you’re camping!   The early mornings are crispy cold but clear but by 10 o’clock it is lovely and warm here in The Karoo National Park.

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Blue table cloth, blue chair, blue sky and even the dish towel covering the plastic sink is blue!