Random thoughts on a Public Holiday

It's Heritage Day in South Africa today - a day to celebrate what your ancestors did or didn't do. My ancestors managed to lose the battle of Saratoga and continued to be seafaring men, so I have quite a lot to live up to! :)

And how have I celebrated my heritage today? Well, firstly by sleeping in until 10 while the rain poured out of a dark sky this morning.

Then by doing 3 loads of washing (before we run out of anything essential).

And finally by getting going on that better-eating plan for this week.

Being in a holiday spirit, that's about all the connected thought-process I can muster, so have some disconnected ones:

* I forgot that there's one thing about summer I truly don't like. Every morning, around 5, before it gets light, the local piet-my-vrou appears somewhere outside. Only in summer. And he ain't a quiet bird! He shouts almost continuously for the rest of the day, circling our area. Audible from way over there...

* Day one of Eat Better is going well. Didn't miss my coffee, managed to get some truly good stuff in (like the very yummy lentils with garlic and thyme I cooked up earlier) and haven't had any urges to go buy chocolate yet. In fact, I haven't been terribly hungry or missed the usual fare. Good start.

* This is going to be a very quiet week at work. Probably 5 people in total in the offices, and a chance to catch up on everything that needs it before the end of year rush strikes my position. I aim to take full advantage of it.

* Funny, but online news hasn't had a whisper of Friday afternoon's bomb scare at the Somerset Mall. I guess it wasn't that big a thing after all.

* I never realized just how bad the environmental degredation in this area was - until my botanist aunt pointed it out on Friday afternoon. We went for a stroll through Kirstenbosch gardens and got a good few reports from the field of how many things have disappeared since her last visit. Been wondering what small and big things I can do to help...

Right - back to the normal public holiday stuff. I think I may just take a nap! :)