B&W Photo Challenge: Neighbourhood

This is the 2nd week of Sonel’s Black and White Weekly Photo Challenge and the Theme is : Neighbourhood.

As many of you know, my home in South Africa is right on the coast, and just a few metres down our driveway, is the beach and the Indian Ocean. It’s a really lovely beach with golden sand and not too many people.

The cargo ships waiting to offload their goods at Durban harbour can often be anchored just off shore for days.

It’s lovely just to take a book and a chair down to the beach and spend a few hours reading or just watching the waves.

Of course the red and white lighthouse is one of my favourite landmarks.

Just down the road is the shopping mall where I play piano for a few hours each week.

Out in the car park there are two musicians who have played their music here for many years. This is their only source of income, so people give generously.

Many people here use the minibus taxis to get around, as there is no other public transport. The legend on this one always makes me think,

that there are many folk living here, who aren’t in such fortunate circumstances as I find myself. My last pic shows one of the many ‘squatter camps’, or as our government prefers to call them ‘informal settlements’ which are springing up anywhere that homeless people can find a piece of land on which to erect their shacks.

So my neighbourhood might be fun in the sun for many people, but certainly not for everyone.

My weekend in pics.

Today it’s raining, and the sea and sky are almost the same shade of drab grey. I thought I’d tell you this, as I don’t want you imagining that I spend all my days swinging in a hammock under blue skies. 🙂

You’ll be glad to know that I survived Cruel Niel’s shape class with only a few aches and pains and wobbly knees. I’d almost forgotten what a tyrant this athletic little devil in a red T-shirt can be. The music is of the kind which makes me turn tail outside such stores as ‘Hollister’ and ‘Abercrombie & Fitch’, even though I’m just longing to go in and try on a pair of their skinny jeans. Their choice of music should tell me that the clothes inside the store are meant for youngsters, rather than  this mature woman with sensitive ears. As we hapless victims bent, stretched, reached for the sky, touched toes, did countless push ups, tummy crunches, and weights, I could hear someone screaming out “Can you feel it, feel it, feel it, baby?” Of course I could feel it! 😯 Neil’s strident voice kept telling us to ‘Keep going, keep going. One more set…….five, four, three, two, one, relax.” Only for a split second though, and then we were on to the next tortuous exercise. This went on for a whole hour, and I kept looking at the clock, thinking. “WHAT am I doing here? Let me rather die NOW. ”  The last five minutes were spent rolling and stretching on the floor, whilst the tape played, “Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir?” I was ready to agree to anything, just to make the agony come to an end. 😉 The inevitable balancing stork-like on one leg and then the other, ended the class, and as I left, I remarked to Neil, “I’d forgotten just how cruel you can be,” and his retort was, “I was extra cruel today, just so that you’d remember faster.”  I’m a glutton for punishment though, and I guess I’ll be there again next Friday.

My piano playing went really well, and people smiled and waved at me, and an elderly couple had a bit of a dance to show their appreciation. One rather distinguished looking man came over and patted me on the back, which I thought was a bit of a liberty, but he obviously thought I was up for it. 🙂

Yesterday afternoon we went for a walk around our neighbourhood. I noticed that these security cameras have popped up at regular intervals along our road, and we have one inside our complex. In Florida, we have no need of high walls and electric fencing. Our gardens are just open to the street. It’s hardly surprising that we prefer living there, is it?

We saw these playful monkeys having fun on someone’s roof.

The daddy was standing guard and giving us the ‘hairy eyeball’, but uncooperatively closed his eyes for the photo.

The beach was almost deserted, which was surprising for a weekend. You can just see the Umhlanga lighthouse way in the distance.

Along the path We came upon this old dead tree trunk, and I immediately saw many weird and wonderful faces in it. Can you also see them, or is it just me? I can see at least ten, and one has whiskers, but I do see faces in almost everything.

This monstrosity of a house has been under construction for the last two years, and nothing seems to have changed whilst we were away.

Here is my favourite local seaside mansion, and I’d swap our townhouse for it in a heartbeat, although maybe not, as there’d be so much more housework to do. 😕

I’ve finished my spring clean downstairs today. I’m quite the fiend with the vacuum cleaner, and so many dead ants, spiders and dust bunnies have been sucked into oblivion. Tomorrow I’ll tackle the upstairs, but I’ve earned a rest, so let me have a nice cup of tea, and catch up with some of your blogs. 🙂