Sorry for being so quiet. So much has happened since my last post.
December is a difficult month for me. As you all know Dad loved Christmas and everywhere I turn I am reminded of him. I put on a brave face but inside its a different story.
I have very exciting news though, I am going to America in January 2023.
Byers, Texas to be exact, and I am staying with someone very special to me. End of March 2023, I will be returning to South Africa and leave again the middle August 2023 for another three months.
Visa approved for 10 Years
I am very excited about this new chapter in my life. Feeling grateful and blessed. I never stopped believing that when two people are meant to be together they will end up together. No matter how many years go by. But more on this in a later post….
I still have a To-do list as long as an airport runway that needs to be done before I leave.
All different the different photography platforms and Apps have been installed on my laptop.
The photos for my flower book are backed up on an external hard drive. Although I won’t be able to edit it until I have sorted out my edit program. In the mean time I can still do my research and select the photos I want to use.
I had to set my camera settings to RAW and Jpg so that I can edit the jpg files so long for social media and my website.
It is going to be winter and the beginning of Spring in Texas when I am there. It makes packing easier.
Since I got my Visa I have been making lists and putting things in groups to be packed.
I am looking forward too this new beginning as a landscape and travel photographer and making myriads of new memories.
I will be back soon with some more updates on what is happening in my life….
Remember if you can dream it you can do it. Dreams do come true you must just keep believing…
I hope that you are all still in good health and that you are all living your best life.
So much has happened in the past two months.
My brother and his family moved into their new house. I am so happy for them and wish them many years of making happy memories in their forever home.
Poplap our parakeet passed away. He was stil talking, singing and dancing on the Sunday evening. When I got to him on Monday morning, he was lying legs in the air at the bottom of his cage. I have no idea what happened.
Poplap October 2014 – 22 August 2022
We had to euthanize Ogies yesterday morning. Every year she gets hay fever around August to the end of September. This year she had it bad. She just recovered and then since Friday I noticed that she did not move around much. She would go outside to soak in the sun, she stayed outside for a long time then came inside and looked for the sun on her chair in my room. Sunday, she started losing her balance and it looked like she had no control over her legs. She just falls over. By the evening we had to hold her while she was eating. Ogies is Armand’s baby. He had to make the decision to rather relief her from the discomfort she was having. I know it must have been the hardest decision he ever had to make in his life till now.
We had a wonderful 17 with Ogies and she gave us a lot of beautiful memories and tons of love. When we were sick, she would come to lie with us and help us to get better. I will never forget how she would ask me to go make a fire in the fireplace. She loved it. She will sit and stare at the dead fireplace and then I will hear her scratching against the grid. That was my q that she is cold and need the fire to keep her warm and comfortable.
Ogies June 2005 – 19 September 2022
Armand, got a 100% bursary to study Cyber Security. He is working very hard, but loadshedding is busy making things difficult.
In the meantime, I had Pneumonia again and was very depressed about it. I spoke to a friend and he told me to stop feeling sorry for myself. My dad would not be happy if he sees me so down and not capturing the world and living my dream. Dad was my biggest supporter and when he said that to me it hit me hard. I started thinking of all the times dad encouraged me to go out there and capture the beauty and the not so beautiful around me. I got my act together and gave myself a date to go out. Does not matter if it rains or sun is shining, I will be going out to take photos.
I started going out into the field again from 1 September 2022. I am busy working on my Parks and Reserves project. I try to go out at least two mornings a week.
The weeks that I do not go out I sit in the garden and take photos of the birds and my new plants. I will post some of my garden photos also in the near future….
Anouk White, Lavandula Stoechas, My Garden, Kraaifontein, Western Cape, South Africa
I also started a new project. This project takes a lot of time. I have to do research and learn more about the subject but I enjoy it. I have had this project in mind since I started photography in 2009. The boys bought me a wildcard so that I can enter all the SANPARKS and Cape Nature Reserves for free. I also signed up at The Botanical Society as a member, now I can enter all the SANBI Botanical Gardens for free. Kistenbosch is number one on my list and now I will be going there more often and I also paid a little extra so that I can take in a guest as well.
Foemina Pimpernel, Lysimachia foemina, Durbanville Nature Reserve, Durbanville, Western Cape, South Africa
I might as well tell you all. I am busy working on a series of books. Not your normal flower identifying book. It is going to be very detailed and, in a language, the normal man on the street will understand. I have thousands of flower photos that I took since 2009 and now it is time to get them all identified. Well, those I have not yet done anyway.
I will be dedicating this series of books to my Father, Mother, my children and all the friends who encouraged me over the years. I also have a few of my followers here on WordPress that will be mentioned.
My photography student from years ago also moved back to Cape Town and she joins me on my expeditions when she is free.
I have also decided that from January 2023 I am going to start giving one on one workshops in photography. I had a few people in the past that I helped and then of course I had Lizette who came to me once a week for a photography class. She was my first proper student and I realized then that sitting in a room trying to teach photography does not work. I then moved our classes to the field and well it worked much better.
My leg is still not properly healed and I got a knock again when Willow and Oprah came charging down the passage and bumped me out of the way.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support and for taking the time to look at my posts. I am truly grateful for every view, like, and comment I receive.
Wishing you all a fantastic day.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” ~ Walt Disney
🤗Big Virtual Hug 🤗
Coreen
PS. Please support me on☕ Ko-Fi ☕. I have to save up enough money to cover some of the expenses for my Landscape Photography Trip to Namibia and also honoring my promise to Dad to go back to Scotland.
Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life You Want.
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties out of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities out of his difficulties.” ~ Robert Mansell
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May love and laughter brighten up your day and warm your heart. May peace and contentment bless your life with the joy that endures every season.
Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life You Want.
“Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing.” ~Katherine Mansfield
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May love and laughter brighten up your day and warm your heart. May peace and contentment bless your life with the joy that endures every season.
Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life You Want.
“My father gave me the best advice of my life. He said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t wake up at 65 years old and think about what you should have done with your life.’” ~ George Clooney
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May love and laughter brighten up your day and warm your heart. May peace and contentment bless your life with the joy that endures every season.
Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life You Want.
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” ~ Anne Frank
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May love and laughter brighten up your day and warm your heart. May peace and contentment bless your life with the joy that endures every season.
Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life You Want.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May love and laughter brighten up your day and warm your heart. May peace and contentment bless your life with the joy that endures every season.
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May your day be filled with positivity and gratitude.
“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” ~ William W. Purkey
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May your day be filled with positivity and gratitude.
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” ~ Marilyn Monroe
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May your day be filled with positivity and gratitude.
“I have this rule I live by: Only do what you can do. That means you’re never looking outside for what’s popular; you’re always looking inside for what’s true.” —Delia Ephron
With all my heart Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my post.
May your day be filled with positivity and gratitude.
I hope that you are all still in good health and that you are all living your best life.
I spent the last few weeks with my nephew Aran, my niece Morgan and Morné. In the past I have not really spent that much time with Aran and Morgan, but now that they have been living here for a few weeks I am getting to know them much better. Aran used to come visit Dad in the school holidays and Dad’s passing really hit him hard and he has become so mature.
Willow hates my brothers’ dogs and she is growling and barking at them the whole day. It is driving me a bit insane. Oprah is so cute and naughty at the same time. When Willow starts barking Oprah is looking for higher ground. That normally means on my chest or on my shoulders. She is getting big now.
Oprah took over the duties of digging up the grass, while Willow supervising from a distance…
Willow also likes to sleep under the duvet now…
Willow sleeping on ottoman with her head on my leg. I love her so much.
Yes, higher ground. Willow started barking in the kitchen…
Oprah sleeping while I am editing a few photos.
The new medication I am on is working very well. I still get my days but that is understandable.
According to the weather forecast, we are having a lovely cold Winter’s Day. With a minimum temperature of 8°C, a maximum temperature of 15°C and winds up to 20 km/h.
YR Weather App
YR Weather App
YR Weather App
Clear Outside Weather App
Clear Outside Weather App
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support and for taking the time to look at my posts. I am truly grateful for every view, like, and comment I receive.
Wishing you all a fantastic day.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” ~ Walt Disney
🤗Big Virtual Hug 🤗
Coreen
PS. Please support me on☕ Ko-Fi ☕. I have to save up enough money to cover some of the expenses for my Landscape Photography Trip to Namibia and also Honoring my promise to Dad to go back to Scotland.
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