Snow!

Made an exception today with a weekday pic.... woke up to the first snow this year and typically it will be melted by tonight or tomorrow.

Playing with photos....

I've occasionally played with doctoring my photos and I like many of the results.... b & w makes certain ones much more dramatic as any professional photographer knows.

Eating animal flesh......

I'm now a lapsed pescatarian. Never thought it would happen. During 2005 I was beginning to have dreams that I was eating meat. When the meat was red I awoke feeling queasy. When it was chicken or turkey it was fine.

I hadn't missed meat at all since originally giving up meat in 1994 as a vegan, went on the vegetarianism after about 6 months, then added fish a few years later. I gave up red meat and all pork about 20 years ago. Just the sight of raw red meat in a grocery store would make me quickly turn my head in disgust.

What happened? Hell if I know. Anyway, I went through several months in the first half of 2006 when I thought the best thing to do would be to buy some turkey or chicken and just eat it. Hopefully I'd be disgusted and that would the end of it. It took me a long time to do this. After much discussion with friends on a forum whom I asked for help in figuring out why I couldn't just do this, take a bite of meat and be done with it. Someone finally suggested that when I did that I'd be losing one of my treasured labels - a pescatarian, a non-meat eater. I could no longer feel superior and look down my nose at people who ate meat. (Adding here that the reason I quit meat was health. Ethics was not the driving force but was a consideration.)

So finally I decided to just do it. I had made a trip across the water and picked up the best quality sliced chicken breast (I thought I had picked up turkey breast..) from Marks and Spencer. After I came home I made myself a sandwich - chicken, lettuce, mayo on a fresh wholemeal roll I'd bought from the same store. To my dismay it tasted gorgeous! That did it. I began to crave chicken.

Then bacon (British, not the fatty American kind) started toying with my weak mind. Some time later we were out somewhere and Danny purchased a bacon roll. I asked for a bite to satisfy my curiosity. Uh oh... tasted delicious. I went in search of the best bacon rolls in my area...and I found them. I started buying bacon and rolls and bringing them home to make my own bacon rolls. Ack.....what had I done?!

A trip to South Africa in December was planned. I wondered what I would do. I didn't want a replay of our Australia trip the previous year. I must have eaten fish 6 days a week for 3 weeks. I love fish. But shit, I got sick of it! I knew South Africans were huge beef eaters. But I really didn't think I'd want to eat any disgusting beef. Wrong. Halfway to Johannesburg we transferred planes in Dubai. We had booked the lounge in the airport for our layover and this included all the food and drink you want. Danny and Riaan (stepdaughter's then fiance) both came back to our seats with a plate of sliced beef. It looked like such tender, quality beef. Took a bit of Danny's and that was it. Got my own plate and scarfed several pieces.

So in South Africa I ate the most gorgeous steaks (filet mignon in the US) about 4 or 5 times, a few bites of lamb, a bite of crocodile, bacon, sausage, some other strange meat that came off the braii (BBQ)....

Back home it's veggie at home except for an occasional chicken breast sandwich or bits on my salad. Haven't eaten out yet but that's when I intend to indulge my new sin.

South Africa

Most of my blogs are created as a web page, not with frequent updates...more as one long post which most likely will never change. So I'm using this one as most blogs are....journals. Sooo.....

Right now dh and I are thoroughly researching a relocation to South Africa. Reasons are on the SA blog but to restate them....the climate, the high standard of living using the British Pound, the landscape, the people, a different type of adventure - wildlife, the food/wine, my long-standing love of African art.... and last but not least a great house with a swimming pool and a maid.

I've been reading with trepidation the personal accounts of violent crime and it has scared the shit out of me! So many personal accounts of expats who live there are positive as well. So I'm on the fence about this. May not have to decide anyway. Still trying to get clarification on whether we'd qualify for a retirement visa. Having one pension (so far) which is guaranteed and is in pounds sterling puts us solidly in the upper income brackets in SA. I've been bombarding their Home Affairs office with emails asking to clarify the requirements.

Our first idea was a house on the coast as we both love the ocean. But visions of high security apparatus we saw during our beach trip left me less than anxious to do this. The place we enjoyed the most, and felt the safest, was Clarens in the Eastern Free State. Clarens is in a mountainous area and is surrounded by a breathtaking landscape. It's an artsy tourist- attracting town which is just charming. Not at all a tacky-tourist type of town. Chains stores, shops and restaurants/fast food are not allowed. Browsing the real estate sites online has produced some options we'd be thrilled with. Prices are easily within our range.

My blog on our trip to South Africa.......