Diving & Studio Photography

My sister asked if I could please write about something other than our walks along the canals and in parks around here. We've unfortunately not been doing much else the past month. No new interesting places visited... So here we are again on Thursday evening along the canal, walking the other way this time!

But I do have some other things to share too: Andre completed his Open Water diving qualification last week Friday. He's loving the diving!

And on Sunday he and a friend attended a studio photography course. Here are a few of the photos he took at the course. (The girl isn't me- one of the ladies presenting the course. And the guy is the friend that went on the course too.)

He was going to go diving with another friend today, but he's been trying to sort out a problem at work since he got home yesterday afternoon. Not very nice. He is still on the phone as I'm typing now. I was going to go with to the dive site so I would have something new to write about. All I've got now is this sad picture of his diving equipment which he rented yesterday waiting to go in the water.

It's a stunning day here today and I think it will actually be quite a hot one. I might even be able to change into shorts later. Yippee!

As soon as Andre can find someone to take over from him with this work thing we might still drive down to the dive site to go check out what's happening there. One needs to be out on a day like this, the sun doesn't shine here every day!

Another walk in the park

Last week Thursday was the last sunny day we've had. Luckily we used it well. As soon as Andre got home from work we went for a nice long walk in a nearby park. Below are some of the photos Andre took that afternoon.

Summers day in England?

It has been pouring with rain for days now. Gray skies all day long. When the sun does decide to grace us with its presence for a few minutes we celebrate and sit outside to soak it up while we can. This is part of our life now and surprisingly it doesn't bother us one bit. The only difference is that we appreciate sunshine so much more now.

It is just a little bit irritating to hear about the good weather the Capetonians have been having for days now while it's supposed to be winter there. Guess we know who stole the sun then!

The garden is loving it though. We do have the occasional hot sunny day and that mixed in with buckets of rain means everything in the garden is growing at top speed. We've made a few salads with the lettuce from our garden. The courgettes and squash have started flowering too. I'll get a picture once it's drier outside again. They predict rain until Thursday so hopefully we'll have a sunny break over the weekend!

Progress in our vegetable garden

So many garden posts lately, but I can't help it! There's not much happening in the garden during winter time so we must enjoy it now while we can.

With June having been very gray with not much sunshine, the veggie plants were growing so slowly I could hardly see much change since planting them out of the propagators into the grow bags. But now in July we've had some seriously sunny days and that must have been just what my plants were waiting for! They are now growing in every direction and I fear they might need a bit more space. They'll unfortunately have to make do with the space they've got for now.

Here they are.

The courgettes (marrows) are doing pretty well. So are the
squash in the other bag. (not photographed)

Peppers not looking all that impressive. Growing rather
slowly and having had a few bites from slugs/ snails.

Aubergines looking slightly better than the peppers,
but also still very small.

I thought the snails would be eating my salad leaves,
but they haven't and the salad is looking great! Will
have to try some soon.

Kennet and Avon Canal walk

After Saturday's walk Andre realised that a long morning walk tires me out enough to want to lie on the couch the rest of the afternoon so he can play WoW without me bothering him too much. So Sunday we went for another, even longer walk.

We drove to Sulhamstead, near Reading, for a walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal. 

A little history from Wikipedia:

The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km). From Bristol toBath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates more than 100 locks. The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century, and the 57-mile (92 km) canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810.

We parked the car in a small car park next to a lock and walked the two miles along the canal to Aldermaston. It was a lovely sunny day again and lots of people were out walking their dogs or cycling. 

We passed many narrowboats, some cruising along the river, some stopping along the way for picnics, hanging out their washing to dry in the sun and even one lady giving her husband a hair cut on the river bank! 

At Aldermaston there is a Tea Room, perfect for a break after an hour's walking. We just bought an ice cream and cooldrink here and continued on a little further before my legs told me it's time to turn back. All together I reckon we must have walked about 6 miles on Sunday. I felt it the next day!

Saturday walk in the park

We drove down the road to a forest area to have a bit of a change of scenery from our local park and went for a nice long walk. Perfect weather for being outside! All photos by my photographer husband.

Enjoying family visits

Just a few pictures with Andre's Dad and Marietjie. More to come later of our weekend walks!

Cool drinks on a hot day at a pub along the canal!

Showing off the forest area near our house.

 

Colour in our little garden

It took me a while to find out that these are poppies. I thought it was a weed, but like I do with most new plants coming up in our garden, I gave it a chance to see what it turns into. Turns out it wasn't actually a weed after all! Pity they don't last very long. One bit of rain and then you see poppy petals lying all around...

Lovely Lillies

Love love these bright pink flowers!

These yellow flowers opened on Sunday. We were sitting out in the garden earlier that day, it was such a hot day, then later in the evening we came outside again and there they were! The heat must have helped them along, opening them up. They look quite pretty next to the red roses. No idea what they are!