Found #524

Daily painting #524 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Found in my studio. I have no doubt it is an offering from one of my cats who were sleeping in close proximity to his prize catch!

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From my kitchen #523

Daily painting #523 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Thanks for all the messages yesterday! We were unharmed and safe and really very fortunate that all the necessary security systems in place kept our home and ourselves safe and secure! I was asked by someone why I published my experience as they felt it put South Africa in a bad light and we really didn't need any more bad publicity or foreigners reading negative things about South Africa. My intention was not to be negative. I share snippets of my daily life...the good and the bad. Just like I share my daily painting (my little visual records of daily life) ....and again I share the good and the bad images! Although, I like to think I share more good than bad! Our experience the other night was not pleasant but it is a reality and in life we have to learn to take the good and deal with the bad! The world over has problems, just in varying degrees and  different problems! Hiding from any problem or unpleasant situation is just crazy! Being realistic and facing a challenge or unpleasant situation is far more productive and burying my head in sand has never been an option for me! We have challenges in South Africa but for those of us that choose to stay, we do so because this is home, warts and all! So we secure our homes, learn to accept things that others find obscure, deal with the challenges and grow an amazing appreciation for the beauty and positives that South Africa does have to offer. It is our choice, it is hard yet there is no place like it....it is home! A mixture of good, bad and little reality, there still really is no place like home!

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Pizza #522

Daily painting #522 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

It was take-away pizza for supper tonight! I walked in the door at 6.45pm having trawled through the day on about 2 hours sleep! The last thing I still had energy for was cooking supper! My kids still had mountains of homework to complete, I had work to do and we were all exhausted! The opportunist who broke into our outside room on the weekend decided to take his chances once again only this time he tried to come into my house! At about midnight we were woken by our dogs whose barking was more growl and a 'I am going to eat you' kind of bark rather than a 'hello to the dogs up the road' kind of bark! We were already up and checking when our garden beams and veranda alarm were activated. Our veranda is enclosed so he had already managed to get into the veranda! As our private security company arrived I watched him casually walk off of our veranda and saunter across the garden...that is until my dogs who had rushed off to meet the security men came bolting across the garden at high speed and on full attack! My one rescue pup has a lot of wolf/German shepherd in him and quite frankly this man can count his lucky stars that he managed to get his backside over the neighbours wall just as my dogs lunged for the fence! He might have been missing a limb or two had they got to him! It is quite something to see your normally meek and mild furry babies in such a rage! Then again I can't describe the rage I felt at the cheek of it! It makes me furious that we are subjected to such crime and I was angry at myself for thinking "well thank goodness it was just one man and other than a crowbar (he was obviously using it to open doors) he was unarmed!" Well it looked like he was unarmed but you never know! At least we know that all our security is not paid for in vain and that it kept us from being woken in the night with someone inside our house. But the biggest heroes are my furry babies who immediately put their life on the line to protect and alert. I hate to think, if they had managed to attack him what he might have done with the crowbar in his hand. A blow from that could have been fatal for one of my pups! But hopefully he will leave us well alone now....between alarms and dogs he hopefully got the message that he is not welcome here! On the flip side I can't imagine the desperation of having to resort to theft and crime to feed your family ....life can be hard! Tonight I am grateful for my safe home, my warm welcoming bed, my work which I am passionate about .....and pizza so I don't have to cook! It's been a long and emotional day!

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Strawberries without the yoghurt #521

Daily painting #521 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Thick Greek yoghurt and fresh strawberries....it's like dessert for breakfast!

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Naartjie segment #520

Daily painting #520 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

A naartjie is a South African name for a citrus fruit similar to a satsuma. It is like an easy peel clementine, juicy, sweet and so much easier to eat in a hurry than an orange! I saved just one little segment from my breakfast to paint on this little 4inch by 6inch ....

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Crimson #519

Daily painting #519 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

It has been so good to spend more time at home this weekend. Sadly though one of our outside rooms was broken into this weekend which put a dampener on the weekend and sent me into a frenzy as we have been home most of the weekend. This means that someone came into our property while we were here, possibly while we were asleep. The entire door frame was knocked out of the wall from the plaster (exposing the brickwork) and was just pushed aside. They didn't even try to break the lock! Nothing much was stolen thank goodness so they must have been disturbed or our dogs realized someone was there and scared them off. It is the one little section of our outdoors which is not covered by alarmed beams at night! Our private security company was here within seconds of us calling them but the police who we called first only arrived 2 hours later! So this is how our relaxing weekend at home ended ....such is life in South Africa at the moment. One really has to live with rose tinted glasses on sometimes to try remain positive! It makes me so very sad as we have such a beautiful country with so much to offer but so many challenges to overcome too! 

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Purple weed #518

Daily painting #518 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel 

Well the rain eventually did come (briefly) only long enough for the cricket game to be cancelled. Which means we got to spend a day at home. I have so many chores around the house that need attention that the list seems overwhelming enough to scare one into an absolute state of procrastination! Lately our weekends have been consumed with school sport and catching up on work, so it is a treat to have a day off at home....I think I will leave those chores for another day. We all need a day off!

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