TUTT + 1, Topic: Cycle

I picked this theme, and Claire is right I picked it with something in mind only it wasn't what she thought.  The fair is in town, and with it about 20 South African kids who work it for the summer - imports from places like Krugersdorp, Brakpan and something or other 'fontein'.  I was very excited to go this year and snap 'cycle' photos to my hearts content, the Ferris wheel, the shells, the spin-so-fast-you-stick-to-the-wall thingy.  My week was such that this is how close I got:

And that was at max. zoom driving by.  Oh well.  Last night I was so tired I sat down on my bed, picked up the remote to find something to watch and woke up this morning.  The fair is open for a few more days but that brings me to another kind of cycle, hurricane Irene:

We have been on a hurricane watch for the last five days, watching to see if Mother Nature is going to calm down or throw a doozy tantrum with this 200 mile wide storm.  Of course, I am convinced this is all because I chose 'cycle' as a theme, thankfully it turns out that her walls are weakening and although we are expected to get strong winds and a lot of rain tomorrow, it is not going to be anywhere near as bad as it could have been - phew.  I would not have liked to please explain to America that this was my fault.  We still had to make sure all potential flying objects (patio chairs, bicycles, trampolines) were brought inside or tied down so that is how I spent my morning so all things being equal, I am not getting closer to the fair than that photo!  Love it!

Okay, so on with TUTT + 1!  Claire took this photo of her step-daughter and posted it with a lovely blog on what it means to be a step-mom which I loved.  The photo is beautiful and whimsical and I love the pram - which you own Claire!

Mariette's photo is also very clever, I agree with Claire, you should SO check out a photography course, I too think you would be very good at it:

I like it I do!  I could totally picture this printed on a canvas and hanging in some hip urban chic apartment somewhere!  Linda made me homesick, only in South Africa would you see this:

I loved this photo, it made me smile!  I agree with the ladies on how vibrant everything seems to be from back home and although the consensus was that it could be attributed to how 'uncolorful' the background is I think it is more than that.  It is a country full of contrasts.  Wealth and poverty, rugby and soccer, young and old . . .  there is no 'mediocrity' and extremes coexist everywhere: love with hate, joy with violence, pride with shame.  It makes living in a first world country very . . . m.o.n.o.t.o.n.e. . . which if you ARE a South African, is both a good thing, and a bad thing ;-)  Ja well no fine! 

My ACTUAL photo for cycle this week since the fair did not work out was of our newest babies:

Ahh cute!  No, not really.  Let's be honest, as far as chicks go we picked the ugly ones.  But we didn't pick them for looks, we picked them because they are a heritage breed on the endangered list and so we get to have fresh eggs and help save a species - how cool is THAT?!?  Here is what they will look like when they are all grown up:

There is hope for them don't you think?  We got one cockerel and three hens - their feathers are coming in so they are nearly ready to come out from under the lamps and within another few weeks they will be able to go outside.

So that's it from me this week - the transmission on our van gave in, we picked up a nail in the back tyre of our other car, Mark did double shifts at work because he was actually working at work, and manning the company booth at the fair in the evenings, and we had a bumper SSO week - and all this with juggling transport.  It seems fitting that the week should end with a hurricane somehow!