We're off ...

Happy Heritage Day to all in SA, yup we have another public holiday ....

Well the car is packed and we're just about ready for the off .... I'm hoping the fact it's a public holiday the roads will be nice and quiet and we'll have an uneventful journey up to Johannesburg ...

Chat to you all later ...

Woa is me!!!

Well what can I say ... ONLY IN AFRICA is so old hat now ... but I just have to let you know the rest of this weeks challenges :::: :-)

2nd cos internetlessness was 1st, the municipality (aka council in other parts of the world) very kindly informed us that we would have no water yesterday ... well we had water all day ... but today we have had no electricity again ... (in case you're wondering how I'm writing this TG for laptop back up ... will post as soon as I become active again on the Internet !!! so don't take too much notice of the times of posting, cos yesterday post said I did it am and I actually did it in the pm, but had started the post in the am CONFUSED??? yeah me too ;-D) We have decide that the electricity department must have ran out of notifications so they borrowed a couple from the water department PMSL!!!

3rd - as we have been here a year now, needless to say my car licence needs renewing ... I get the notification for renewal (which is due 31st October 2009) and it says I have to pay a penalty for late licencing ??? (go figure ??? !!! WTF???) I go to see the 'very competent and heeeppy folks' at the Dept of Transport (think in a slow, African accent!!! ;-O) OK here we go = seems I have to pay a penalty for my DRIVERS LICENCE because I did not transfer my licence from UK to SA in the specified time (which is ???) I speak to the very helpful (and I mean it seriously this time)! Mrs Abrahams.. who also don't understand what's going on ... but suggests I contact the H.O... and see what they have to say ... SO they say they don't know what's going on either and Mrs A must apply on form # C91 for this fine to be taken off !!! I ask the stoooopid question: will this mean every year I will have the same problem ??? and guess wat "EEEH I don't know!"

4th challenge of the week and probably the most upsetting and stressful of all ... I will be internetlessness for the duration of the time I am on safari !!!! How are you all going to cope without my updates ... who will be able to entertain you as much as I do??? I am sure I will loose a huge amount of followers if I don't brag about the fantastic time I am going to have in the BUSH!!!! (when my computer crashed last time the Geek didn't restore the program that lets my computer talk to my cell phone ... so I can't get data bundles, cos my phone won't talk to my computer and it is all PAUL's fault cos he don't know where the back up disk ... is so blame him !!!! (oooooh :-D and the poor guy ain't even here yet !!!! )

But I will write a diary and then post it all on the following week when I get back sooo don't think you're gonna get away without all my boring waffle and of course all the lurvely photos of all the lurvely wildlife ... (oh! Ann maybe you won't be liking the lions up at Entabeni !!! Nan told me yesterday one of the the herds of Giraffe had a little baby last week and sadly at the weekend the carcass was found of baby giraffe !!! Bloody lions ... Law of the Jungle ... Kelsey said why couldn't they wait for me ... what was he gonna throw himself at the lions to save the baby ??? Don't think so !!!!

Progress or not?

Finally I'm back on line again ... just 1 of my challenges so far this week and we are only at Tuesday ... internetlessness !!! Again ... seems there was a problem with the lines over the weekend and yesterday but thankfully they have sorted it out ... quite fast for them really maybe things aren't so ancient here on the African Continent after all... (but don't go upsetting the 'Gods'!!!)

The photos show you just how quickly the progress is coming ... due to the rain on Thursday and Friday there was no work done on the roof at all ... but the sun shone and Saturday and the roof team pitched Saturday morning ...

The guys balance on the thin walls, lift those heavy beams of wood up - ok it takes about 6 of them to lift 1 beam ... at one point one of them came crashing down(beams not guys) - while we were watching them and the guys don't even wear hard hats !!! (Mind you we do have a saying here in Africa and I'm not going to 'air' it in case I offend sensitive readers pmsl)

Above: photo taken from the top of the driveway ... See the black roof tiles on the floor all lined up ready for phase 2 ...

Standing at the front door.

Taken from June's garden - looking over her wall onto the roof of the main part of the house (the raised part) Above the completed 'wood skeleton', below working on the 'skeleton'.

But today the rain has arrived back again ... so the progress has been much slower. In fact they only worked until about noon, cos it was getting too slippery on the beams, but they still managed to start on the tiles ... See photo below, this is the 'lower' section of the house - where the bedrooms and bathroom are ...

I've asked Aunty Irena if she'll keep taking photos the rest of this week and next week for us of the progress, cos we'll miss the completion of the roof, while we are away on 'safari' !!!

The first time I'll get to see it is the same time as Paul sees it when he arrives here Friday next week (2nd) and we return from JHB... I'm led to believe there's a tradtional roof wetting ceremony to be organised ... who are we to stand in the way of tradtion ??? Party time here we come !!!

MMMM! The smell of fresh cut wood ...

WHAT ON EARTH IS SHE ON ABOUT NOW ??? :-)


Well as you can see by the photos ... the arrival of the roof trusses !!! And the smell of fresh cut wood is wafting in thru the open door ... oh! ok that was yesterday ... today all that's wafting thru the door is the bloody mist and pissly rain !!!!

The arrival of the truck carrying all that lovely raw wood:


All the roof trusses laid out ready for working on:





I don't think I'll ever get used to the extremes of weather here ... I know Paul's Uncle Colin used to say to us in the UK if you don't like the Bristish weather wait 5 mins. (ha! Ha! and sooo true) but here we go from 1 extreme to the other over night ... yesterday it was sticky hot with a warm 'berg' wind blowing, last night we had thick mist and fog (June was waiting for the headless horseman again, bless her !!! Johnny Depp don't have this address!!! shame :-0) And this morning we wake to the pissly missly rain and still thick fog and rolling mist !!!


There I was hoping to get excited and out with the camera to photograph the raising of the roof ... too wet, too dangerous for the guys ... so the wood sits there getting wet !!!! and another day goes by...


Oh and it's Thursday so Kelsey is supposed to be playing Hockey AGAIN and hey! it's raining and wet AGAIN, I may as well be in the UK for the damned weather ... that means poor kid has only had 1 match this whole term !!!!


OOOH well enough of my moaning ... it better NOT be wet on Saturday!!! Paper + Rain = Disaster (or papermache! ;-X!)

Naughty! Naughty!

At the moment it is amazing at how fast money is just flowing thru my grubby little paws !!! (hope Paul doesn't read this post too well !!! pmsl)

Yesterday mum and I went into Pinetown (one of the few places I dislike here!!! It can be a bit frightening SA style I mean ... ) and I had to get the electricity transferred into my name for the rented house ... they seriously struggle to understand ... yes! I have an application in for a new electricity box, no! not at the house I'm living at and no! not at the house I'm moving into but yes! at the house I'm busy building ... NO! do not cancel the electricity at the house I'm moving out of or the house I'm building but yes! open another account for me at the house I'm moving into !!!! Got It !!!! Duh NO ... ("explaining it all over again missus!!!" only SA's will get that one !!!)

I had to pay a deposit for the account (for the rented place), never mind the amount I'll have to pay once my own electricity box is installed at the build-a-house!!!
But I don't mind all of this except the funny side of the story is that when we got back to June's place yesterday - there was no electricity .... needless to say panic mode set in, had they cancelled it or was it just another 'storm' in the No Electricity Season???? Phew! the neighbours are off too... well the one lot would be they don't have their electricity box yet (pmsl) OOOOH I am sooo funny, if you don't laugh about it all you'll go mad !!!! ;-)))

Then mum and I found a 'Warehouse' selling lots and lots of stuffsssss .... big mistake ... bit like JTF in UK ... OOOPs purse emptied very quickly, but hey! bought LOTS of stocking fillas ... hey! got lots of stockings to fill this year !!! I am soooo excited now for Christmas ... (giddy with anticipation!!! ;-D)

And then stopped at the bead shop ... well had a few packets that needed to be changed !!! oops how did all those other packets get my basket ... (actually felt a little nauseous when I thought of how much money I have spent in the last 7 days ... maybe there was a reason Paul didn't want us moving out of June's place)

Chuckle!!!

Cleaning Poem
I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer 'yes.'
He told me to get off my butt,
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.
I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my good work.
I didn't mean to 'click.'
But click, I did, and oops - I found
A real absorbing site
That I got SO way into it -
I was into it all night.
So nothing's changed except my mouse.
It's as shiny as the sun.
I guess my house will stay a mess.....
While I sit here on my bum.

P.S. I love my computer cos my friends live in it !!!!!

Shongweni Market !!!

So I did it !!! (Ann a pity you were'nt here for a whole Weekend ... you would have enjoyed this market, mind you it's only open 6.30am - 10.30am)

And so did the BOKS !!!

It was bloomimg cold, damp, and a bit dark when I set off this morning (5.30am) ... but we got set up and ready to roll ... it's quite a big market as you can see from some of the photos ...The weather turned out in our favour, eventually by closing time (10.30am) the sun was baking hot!!! I did'nt have a wander around (wanted to see if I made any money first LOL) but I'm told it's like that every weekend so I'll get a chance to see more next week ... cos yup! I said I'd go again ... 'for the networking', not the money cos my profit is not exactly gonna pay for dinner tonight !!! pmsl

Jessica enjoying the morning sun !!!

My side of the stand ...

Below: the dining tent ... some folks come to the market just for the breakfasts....

Looking down the aisle from our stand (this is 6.30am this morning)

I got home just in time to see the last 10 mins of the match (bummer, I was very surprised to see my brother with Penny this morning as he loves his rugby, maybe he loves her more !;-) It's great that The Boks beat The All Blacks, at home and walked away with the TRI-NATIONS cup (it's a Rugby thing girls, sorry !!!)

Kelsey got home from his adventures - he said he hardly slept at all last night cos they were sooooo cold ... so he crashed on the bed and slept for a couple of hours ... now he's awake and bouncing off the walls and driving me mad as usual !!! Wish I had his energy :-)

This weeks SA Challenge !!!

It's amazing how you take things for granted until they are taken away from you ... like the simple flick of a switch and you have ELECTRICITY !!!

Yup! you've guessed it ... it's Power Failing Season again !!!

Started last Wednesday but I didn't mention it cos we thought it was a one off !!! Then it hit (or didn't) again over the weekend (heavy winds can do that) and then again last night the power went out around 7pm, started up again for 10mins around 10pm and then didn't re-appear until 8.30am this morning ... hung around till 9.30am and it was off again till 2pm ... Now how the hell am I supposed to write a blog, download photos etc... with all this switching on and switching off??? And it's been bloody cold too...

But if you're on Facebook you can pop over there and see the batch of photos I did manage to download of Kelsey's Hockey Tournament yesterday ... it was soooo spooky, the mist kept rolling in around the players ... good job some of them had day-glo vests on otherwise we would'nt have been able to spot them (PMSL). They played really well and the final ended with Hillcrest 1 vs Hillcrest 2 ... with HPS 2 winning ... I have to say though the girls play a meaner game of hockey than the boys ... seems the boys are a little scared of those sticks (lol) ... ;-}

Tonight I am childless again - my boy has been invited to a girls party !!! including a sleepover !!! (MMmmMM was a bit suspicious of that one but apparently it's all above board - spoke to the parents ... they have a smallholding up in the hills ... a couple of huge tents - one for boys and one for girls, they have a huge fire, tell ghost stories and generally have a good time... I made sure he had long jogging pants!!! and a sleeping bag !!! cos it's bloody freezing tonight (I mean for us 12c is cold!!! Glad I'm not in no tent!!!) Will tell more later if there is more to tell...

Right gonna be sulking a bit tomorrow - Guys remember to join Sharon at Bolsover for the Saturday Craft Club if you have some spare time ... the usual gang should all be there from 10am (well I hope you are, I don't want to be feeling jealous for nothing!)... for the rest of the dates for the meetings check previous posts or drop me an e-mail and I'll forward the dates to you... (or I'll dig out Sharon's e-mail and post them again) Paul says he'll pop in for the usual cuppa and chockie biscuits !!! (Funny they did'nt have those when I was there ... or was I just too excited crafting to notice?ha! ha!)

Now, my whacky sister-in-law, Penny has persuaded me (for my sins) to join her at Shongweni Farmers Market tomorrow morning !!!! We have to be set up by 6am - are you stark raving mad woman???? I really hope I have some more exciting news about that tomorrow, lmao!!! I know I'm gonna freeze my ass off ... supposed to be another cloudy mild one tomorrow...)

Good luck the Boks for the game tomorrow morning against The All Blacks ... we gotta win this one boys (pleeeease) That'll give us the Tri-Nations Cup to bring home !!!! Something else for me to rave about !!!

So I'm off to ma bed ... hot water bottle an all!!! Alarm set for 4.30am (I really need my head read!!! Last time I was up that early was for a Rugby Match.... has to be something foreign in the air here or something !!!! :-D)

1 Whole Year !!!

Can you believe it???

It was 1 year ago today that we landed here in sunny South Africa (not that the weather is anywhere near that today ... bloody cold ... bloody wet ... and bloody miserable ... ;-()

But hey! just look at all that we have achieved in this year ... no don't panic I'm not going to bore you all by giving you the whole run down !!! But for the fact that we ARE in Africa I think we've "moved mountains" (well tonnes of rock anyway ha! ha! ha! ha! so darn funny ;-)

So I'll be a bit 'philosophical' and share with you a lovely poem that Ann sent me last week:

'MAYA ANGELOU'S' BEST POEM EVER
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …a youth she's content to leave behind ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …one friend who always makes her laugh …
and one who lets her cry ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a good piece of furniture not previously
Owned by anyone else in her family ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honoured ...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE … a feeling of control over her destiny ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... how to fall in love without losing herself ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... when to try harder ...
And WHEN TO WALK AWAY ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents …
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that her Childhood may not have been perfect ...
But it's over ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... what she would and wouldn't do for love or more ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.... how to live alone ...
even if she doesn't like it ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... whom she can trust, whom she can't, And why she shouldn't take it personally ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... where to go ... be it to her best friend's kitchen table …or a charming Inn in the woods ... when her soul needs soothing ...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ... What she can and can't accomplish in a day ... a month ...
and a year ... (and now I know what I can accomplish in a YEAR!!!)

(p.s. any of you noticed how I just have to mention the weather some where in my blog - often ??? Bet none of you noticed really did you??? ;-O)

Midweek update ...

This damned computer of mine is still giving me grief ... well maybe if I took it back to the Geek guys and they replaced the hard drive AGAIN!!! It might work better, but I really don't think I can handle all that aggro again ... I keep trying to hang on to it for as long as possible till Paul gets here and maybe he can deal with that ???? (Coward I hear you all say ... I just can't cope with the pressure!!!, I know it will be worse if this thing crashes completely and I don't have the back up !!!!)

I had the best day ever yesterday, it started with a nice long phone call from a friend who I have not spoken to in almost a year ... and the frightening thing is she lives literally just round the corner ... It was great to catch up on all her gos. about her boys ... and what she's been up to ... I really do have to get my A. into G. and make more of an effort!!! (If I say it often enough I may just start doing it NOT!)

Then Nan my bestestestest friend ever, phoned me with the most fantastic news, her, hubby and kids are joining us here in KZN for Christmas .... that is the best news I've had in a while. We are really going to have a house full of people and I can't wait ... I am sooooo excited. (Love it! Love it! Love It!)

So you see there was a reason why I went and signed the lease for a house on Monday ... Yes! you read right, mum, Kelsey and I have finally found a place that we all like, will suit all our needs and give us all some space to try and get our lives a bit more organised !!! (Ha! Ha! can't wait to see that - me organised)

It's not nice to be moving out of June's place though and I know we're going to miss being all together, but as I have NO idea how long it's going to take to complete our house, and with all our visitors at Christmas and June's visitors too... there was NO WAY we could have all fitted into her house... and it's not fair on June and Irena that their family have to take 2nd place over us and our rowdy bunch .... Mind you we've already warned June and Irena that mum's going to be moving back in for a week between Xmas and New Year ... Like they really had a choice ... lol!!! :-D!

Oh! in case you didn't realise Nan is the friend Kelsey and I are off to visit at the end of this month ... the ones that live on a Private Game Reserve !!!! With the Big 5 (Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard and Wildebeest) I know it's a tough life but someones gotta do it!!!

Weird... very weird ...

So ... where to start ???

(Sorry this photo and the next a bit out of sequence ... this is tonight's moon and it looks like it is trapped in the bark of the tree... the real photo looks better, oh and it's 9pm and it's still 29c ... not that I'm complaining at all... lol)
Indi & Shadow playing tug-o-war with a bit of old carpet... they are worse than kids they only want what the other has ...

Good news no real African challenge appeared after all this week, so that was a relief ... but that didn't mean I didn't have a bit of a weird weekend ...

Saturday I decided to add another 2 colours to my Handbag Bling ... as per the photo ... lovely golden oranges and very bold reds (not my favourite colour but I do love The Queen of Hearts, I know red and heartys just what the hell is wrong with me, maybe missing my man LMAO!!!)

I'd heard from some folks about a Sunday Craft Market here in Hillcrest so took the plunge and got more info ... mum and I collected some bits from the storage place for me to sell and the plan was to give it a try. I gave my sister-in-law Penny (fairiesonline.co.za) the info and she opted to join me on Sunday... WELL the phrase Only in Africa just doesn't say it loud enough !!!! (Glenis you're gonna fall over laughing at this)

We arrived at 9am to set up:- market was from 10am - 3pm there wasn't a soul in sight ??? I phoned the 'organiser dude' "oh don't panic the others all know what they're doing and they'll start arriving about 9.30am" by 9.35am there was 1 other stall holder - also a new lady who had never been to this market before and had just heard about it ... another dude 'Billy the Wood Man' arrived and 9.50am cursing much better and telling us this was a waste of his f...#x%g time ...

AND FOLKS THAT WAS IT !!!!!! I know you're all rolling around on the floor pissing yourselves laughing !!!! I have done some weird 'markets/shows' before in my life but this definitely takes the 1st Prize for WEIRD!!!! The organiser arrived at 10am ,wanted to know where everybody was ... he had a stand to set up for himself so in total we were 4 stalls ... but it gets even better ... we were there 3 hours and we did not see a soul (ooooh I lie Mum and Irena popped in to see if we needed any help HAAhAAAhAAAhAAAAA a slight dose of hysteria there !!!!)

Below :Penny's latest babies - Fugglies ... she makes them out of Fimo and they are so ugly they are cute ... you should see their eyes... they look so real and she is getting better each time she makes them .... of course I have my own 'Fuggly - he is purkle of course)

Just to prove we didn't give up we still set up our stand and sat around in the 34c heat waiting for customers !!!!!

Needless to say we didn't stay till 3pm we packed up by 1pm after not having had a single customer ... but we made 2 new friends and got some other contacts for other 'successful' craft markets (ha! ha!) Penny's going to do some investigating ... keep watching and laughing !!!

When I got home I was soooo hot, I had to strip off ... have a cool shower and just lie on the bed :-) (I was up early this morning and you know I don't do mornings ;-D) Kelsey ended up in the pool this afternoon and I woke up about 4pm ... still hot !!!
Luckily for me Aunty June had volunteered to cook dinner tonight so the rest of my Sunday was very lazy ... and we spent the best part of the night (dusk) sitting outside with sun downers !!!! yummy .... :-D

It's up to you

Everything in this world can be seen as you wish to:

Good or Bad

Simple or Complicated

Easy or Difficult

It is not how things ARE,

It's about how you look at them . . .

And how you look at them is all up to you ! ! !

Have a CHEERFUL Day xxx :-) xxx

(p.s. much milder 27c today ;-D)

A quickie....

Just a very quick one today ... with a mild 37c on the 2nd day of Spring ... but we're told by the old wives that too much too soon is a bad sign!!!! :-)

But Kelsey said the pool water was still too cold - "gotta wait for the first rains of summer before you can swim" (another old wives tale!!!)

I guess it's out buying salad stuffs again ... gotta get those toes painted pretty and the legs done too for the shorts and crops !!!

Seen another house - now very confused = too many to choose from and I don't do choice too well!!!!(lol)

Sold my first 3 handbag blings all in one go ... not bad for a bit of a hobby... but what a good excuse to go out and but more stuffs !!!!!

Guess what so far NO CHALLENGE this week... am I counting my chickens before they hatch???

Happy Spring Day !!!

Happy Spring Day to you all...

I know it is hard for some of you to imagine it but today is considered our 'First Day of Spring' and of course the sun is shining beautifully, temp due to be 27c today ... and I have spent all morning arranging flowers ??? ;-D

What I hear you say ? They have a lovely tradition at Hillcrest Primary School, today all the kids bring in fresh flowers and they are allowed to wear 'bright colours', all the flowers are "lovingly" arranged by the mum's and the Grade 7's (that's the big kids!!!) they get to take these hundreds of arrangements to all the local hospitals, hospices etc.... (I've never seen so many fresh flowers in 1 room... definitely needed the antihistamines this morning, and the sun glasses !!!!)

Kelsey at 6am this morning (still half asleep) in the brightest PINK t-shirt he owns (yes! apparently pink is a cool colour for boys at the mo! His camo shorts even have pink 'splashes' in them to smatch!!! = the joys of tweeny year followed by teenage'dom')

It's so nice to experience different traditions and at different times of the year !!!