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Just to show how different the sexes are, no matter what the species, here are two photos of both Annie and Chasie having a nap in their worm thingy.

First Annie

Then Chasie

Now, who would be best equipped to see danger coming and react in a self preserving manner?

Habibti decided to make a Banana Tarte Tatin last night and aside from the initial muddy sludge looking caramelised sugar it turned out damn fine. Not sure where in the pyramid this would fall, but I’ll do a Tarte Tatin supper any time.

As you can see, the excitement was almost too much to bare.

There is no doubt that 2008 was a hard year for more than just me. I was tested and I feel I’ve come through the year with some calluses and a bruise or two, but it always pays to keep things in perspective. So it’s with that in mind that I post a selection photos that I feel best present what I feel was a turn for the better as the year ended.

December was a month that Habibti and I lost our hearts anew to Hannah (our niece in Durban), we were reminded how truly unique Enzo and Kai (our nephews from Johannesburg) are. I was reminded that no matter how complicated and full of shit my brother and sister may be, they are the best ones I could have asked for. We learnt all over again that no matter how special our respective families may be, we must fall on our knees every day and give thanks to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that we do not live in either Durban or Johannesburg. We live roughly the same distance from both, so our visits have healthy breaks in-between.

Our animals are the the ones we were meant to have. They bring us joy and frustration in a healthy 80/20 mix, this removes the danger of us ever going down the Anthropomorphism road. I shudder to think what would happen if it wasn’t for that 20% irritation.

Our relationship with our neighbours seem to evolving and we are more and more becoming part of this small and closely knitted community. We were invited to a wedding and I somehow became the official photographer, and I didn’t feel one smidgen of resentment or being put upon.

We learnt that friends are the people you choose, and not the ones Facebook keeps on dishing up.

We learnt that the Proteas and Graeme "Biff" Smith deserve our respect and patience. They are one game (it hasn’t started off that well – but it’s still early doors) from becoming the number 1 team in the world by beating Australia in there own back yard. We also learnt that no matter how sleepy we may be, there is a some fun in waking up at at 1:30 am to watch Jean-Paul Duminy explode onto the cricket stage. I think we also learnt that transformation does not mean quite what KP says it does.

So before this post goes all Oprah, here are the photos. I trying out a new module on this blog, so please be patient while I experiment and play. The gallery below is powered by NextGEN Gallery.

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Things can get a little heavy in our little hood. One street over there are rumoured drug dealers and drive past the shop round the corner on any given day and you are bound to see a group of local wana-be-thugs just hanging out. But our street is where the action really is. Just check out the sinister demeanour of these three pavement warmers.

No wonder the old ladies in our street never come outside.

This is how I work 65% of the day. Kills my back, but what is a man to do? I’m never alone, let’s see JC make me feel this loved.

Habibti gave me my birthday gift early! She knew that there was not a hope in hell that I was going to be able wait two weeks for this one. She bought me a Nikon D60 Kit from Makro this morning. Everything was fine, I was on geshpilkis to get home and open the box. In fact, everything was pretty much opened, touched and sniffed long before we got home. Stopping for fish (tuna for supper tonight) was excruciating. We get home and I realised that I would have to charge the battery before I can start playing. Oh the agony. The tension mounted as I watched that damn blinking light. Little amber flicker that seem to say “Watch … how …. slow ….. I …… can ……. go, …….. slower, ………… slower, ……………… slower”. The rage and frustration I felt for that little light is beyond my ability to describe here. But eventually it stopped blinking and I was able to charge her up, set up the basic CMOS and slide in the 2GB memory card and start clicking away. These are a selection of photos that I took in the first 10 minutes.

This is Habibti snacking on a Doritos and playing Scrabble on Facebook.

This is Thelma, that lady that keeps our lives in order. She wasn’t happy when she saw her hair.

This is Dylan, Habibti’s best friend in our little street.

This is a view of our little street from our stoep. Dylan lives in the pink house. The whole building is being renovated.

This is Gally resting. She finds Thelma days very very taxing.

This is Bayla, the old lady of our family. She’s also having a little nap.

This is Annie watching the world go by from our stoep. She has me wrapped around her little claw.

This is Chassie (the Ch is sounded like a hard G in the back of the throat) telling me to fuck off and leave him alone to sleep.

So there you have it, my family captured with my new camera.