Jumping Surprises

 

We had a surprise birthday tea and cake for the head of the preschool W&K attend (and a friend). It was at our normal stomping ground, so we were at home.

 

Some of the beautiful clouds that rolled in over our neigbourhood nature reserve mid afternoon.

 Jumping with a view of a herd of zebras passing by. Chasing each other.

 Zebras crossing.

 All the kids hunting for tadpoles.

 Caught one!

 Jumping with friends..

 Princess posing.

Becoming a regular.

So funny how quickly life makes you feel like a regular. I only started my "once around the nature reserve" challenge yesterday, but already I have a bus driver that waves and says hi. We cross each others paths twice on my route. The girl on the corner waiting for the bus each morning, and the young guy walking his dogs.

Each house I jog and walk pass, I hear a different sound. This is how I distract myself: One house had loud music pumping. Angry loud music. I imagined a young boy, finished with his exams and home alone. Still walking around his boxers, no shirt. Well, that or a creative hunched over his Mac.

A lot of people are outside. Gardening, running. And today I had a competitor. Showing off. Where I did the hill once at a jog (slower than my walk) or a power walk, he stretched and ran up and down. Not that I minded. Not such a bad view.

 

 Photo on top was near the end. Below was my now standard start.

Today I took the route that starts along the busier road. Nature to the left. This corner always makes me think of green Audis.

 Today there was no Zebras, just Blesbokke.

Moving goals and action plans..

I am brilliant at making lists. Planning work. But with personal goals with no sure aim and a moving target I am a believer in just deciding what I want, and then somehow getting there. No need to start a plan with a list of all the reasons I can't do, or a list of what I need to do. Life changes.

So last week I said I had a plan: New me, fit again, best me, best mom, healthy etc. I know what I need to do to get there. But the plans so far were a bit general. But making it up as I go along, I now have some more.

Since I now have time and lots of it. I stepped out for a walk/light jog this am. 30 meters later I stopped to marvel at the view and take a instragram shot. And then I decided. I can do "Once around the Nature Reserve a day". It's a measured distance, there is more than one way around, and I love that this distracts you. If my mind is busy, I tend to forget the legs.

I plan to be a regular fixture on the roads in the block that makes up our neighbourhood. So clap and wave if you see me, but don't stop and chat. I'm on a mission.

As I am now a blogger (not to fond of this word but there it is), and Instagrammer (500+ photos) I start as I have seen. My shoes.

 30 meters later, a stop for the view. After the rain it makes for a wow "what a blessed morning" moment.

 Hill one. Today it was downhill, but I did the little jog back up. Just because this hill has been a part of my life since age 6+.

 On the other side of the nature reserve is this ringer. You can only do one of these two hills downhill. Tomorrow I do it the other way around.

 View again. This is in the middle of houses. But with all the green you don't see.

 I stay under the clouds. Zebras to the left.

 Friendly bunch.

Update on FUN.

 

Afternoons in our neighbourhood nature reserve.. Always a win. Sunlight, wild animals, the kids running around. The peace. 

 

 The beautiful old converted farmhouse.

 Long shadows. Hunting paddievissies.

 I was roped in to catch some. With my bare hands. I did it with a smile for the sake of edication. ;/



 Every now and then I get random photos they take of themselves on my phone.. Too sweet :)

 W eating her gingerbread guy with gusto. Poor bugger didn't stand a chance.

 W and her round pizza. Going against the trend of her sisters.

 All other pizzas were made in hearts after my 3 saw the picture on the menu.

 Making of the pizzas. Love this. You buy slips and then they basically move to their own part of the restaurant and continue at will. Making their own pizzas. Ordering Slush Puppies. Choosing cookies.

One last "how great is our neighbourhood" picture. One of the Blesbokke had a baby. They came in close for a drink.