Mont Rochelle

The day has been looming for months....when I agreed to this race it totally seemed doable but, alas, training got away from me.

This was, without doubt, the most challenging run I have ever done. 9kms up the Franschoek mountain and then a sharp, fast descent all the way down on very shaky legs.

There were tears. There was swearing. There was abuse. There was blaming. But I did it ....with the Hero by my side....quietly absorbing the hits and encouraging me in the darkest times.

Starry-eyed and unaware of the extreme challenge ahead.

Still able to appreciate the view (around 3kms)

One of the few runnable areas on the ascent

The climbs are getting real.

Beginning the descent and starting to feel my legs

All I am *actually* thinking is how fast I can get off that damn mountain. But, yeah, great view.

Watershed at Warwick

We almost did not make this outdoor music event. 

Our lives have been a bit chaotic and I just felt we should cool our jets and stay home for a bit.

Thank God The Hero managed to talk some sense into me .... 

Sunday morn saw us both diy-ing and doing kid/house stuff until about 1pm.

Feeling stoked with our domestic endeavours we  packed the car and headed to Warwick, leaving kids at home with plenty of food and promises to be home before bedtime.

We stopped for a quick bite along the way and arrived at Warwick around 3pm. What an incredible venue and a fabulous event. 

Left just after 6pm and snuck in dinner at Tigers Milk before I became edgy as it was getting late...Monday was looming I needed to get home!

But what an incredible afternoon - now safely stashed in the memory bank.

Good times always follow these two.

Getting my 'groupie' groove on with the band and the joke

Selfie time. You can never have too many.

The music was incredible, the company irreplaceable and the venue spectacular

These people add colour to my days. 

Groote Post Family Day

You have to love Facebook for all the events that so easily slide into sight.
It has seriously increased our social life. The Groote Post run was in Darling - a bit of a trek - but we decided some time ago that it looked like a great family day out.

There was a 4km trail run/walk for the older kids, D was able to be entertained in a facility for younger kids while the Hero and I were able to run a comfortable 13k trail route.

The terrain was completely different to our usual mountain stuff. There were some challenging sandy bits and a few little hills (that felt enormous at the time but that was before Mont Rochelle taught me a lesson!)

We were mostly spoiled with view of tumbling hills and rolling wheat fields - a welcome reprieve from some of the highly technical stuff we have done in the past.

After the race there was much feeding and water to do for all the many peoples....my folks and brother joined us for lunch which was very cool.

Fit family :-)

Pre-race selfie with L who volunteered to the do the 4k so we could do the 13k.

And they are off!

Post race family time with my folks and brother.

Always make time for the selfie. Always

Because how often do you actually run through wheatfields? 

Beaut capture by The Hero.

Leading the way; he does it so well.

Fun times with T

The magic of windmills

The serenity captures me

Let the Adventure Begin

Groote Post 13km - Darling

Pain of my past has harvested my heart

It has tilled the soil of my soul

Prepared me to love you

The depth of this new love, a gift;

Redemption I do not deserve

In my darkest moments I shook my fist

Wrestled and rioted in anger

But in the end it was not the end after all

Instead a continued great story

Of life, love, loss and redemption

In the winter of change

the chill can freeze your bones

and the memory of summer

a fairtyale with little meaning

but summer, she always comes

despite winters' harshest arrows

so sit by the fire

and feel the aching burn

wait for summer and when she arrives

let her melt your sorrow

may it become one with your joy

a beautiful collage of a future uncertain

but perfectly predestined.

SMB

Nine Months

Silvermine

I woke up feeling extremely strange. I felt anxious and outside of my own reality. Stuff was happening around me; I was driving, talking and engaging but I was not present. I was almost in the third person.

I came home and considered taking a tranquliser which is not something I do; all the while trying to nail down WHY I was feeling this way. 

And then my phone rang and as I reached for it I noticed the date.

25 May 2016

And then I realised that my soul knew before my brain did. 

Nine months ago today I was coming home from hospice to tell my children their dad had died. 

Unthinkable. Horrific. The flashback hit me so hard. All of it. All at once.

The sound of Faith's scream when she saw my car pull up.

The image of Levi's crumpled frame on the couch.

The dark look of utter despair in Rachel's eyes as she reached for me.

I felt that I may scream and never stop. So I held my breath. I may even have silently prayed that I didn't lose my mind; that the images would just stop.

Your body knows. The soul tie is a real thing. It is not just a meme.

I did not need the tranquiliser. I understood why I was feeling weird; decided to ride it out, feel it and walk alongside it. 

I called my mom. I went to my favourite places, found quiet spaces. I wrote, I ran. I drank coffee. 

It was a good day.

Life Captured

One never expects to raise your children with a person other than their own father/mother.

My over-arching response to losing my guy was to simply knuckle down and raise my kids single handedly. I could not even fathom bringing a man into their lives; or into mine.

Yet somehow this happened. It just did. Without me even trying to make it happen or gently introduce the idea. I still marvel at how easily my children have taken K into their lives and how he has poured out himself for them. 

Preparing an afrikaans essay

Watching a rather tense Sevens game

Winter Came

The long awaited 'Winter is Coming' party arrived and it did not disappoint.

It was a night to remember and I will let the photos tell the story. 

*love*