Found it ...

I found Michelle's blog ... Mish Mash so here's the link if any of you want to take a peek ... she has some fabulouso ideas ...

http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/

The body may be lagging ...

but the mind still races on (heard that somewhere before Sharon ???)

Now what is she rabbiting on about??? Kelsey came home from school middle of last week and announced "mum I have to come up with an idea for something to sell to raise funds for the school with a Valentine's Day theme ... it's for our EMS (Economical Management Something or other ... LOL) and whatever I make will be part of this terms assessment, but Mrs K says don't go making all chocolates cos everybody does that and then there's too many of the same thing. And I have to draw up a business plan, an action plan and I have to make it" ...

No problem ... mum (ME) just loves this kinda challenge ... in fact I have been thinking of some things for the girls in the 'After school Club' to do too ... so I've already pulled out all the pink/red/white and lurvy durvy papers that I have ... (been sorting that out even though I have not had the energy to do it ... pick up a box ... sit down for 1/2 and hour ... etc. you know the routine :-)

Now I know I hear some of you saying ... you don't do hearts Janet !!! BUT as I was a teacher and some of you lot did do hearts ... (well a girl kinda can change her mind a little can't she) I know I HAVE to HAVE some heart stamps and punches in this stash ... somewhere ... and 'sod's law' do ya think I can find any??? NO but never fear as we say here " 'n Boer maak 'n plan" ... I did find some Dovecraft Designer Clear Stamps (do you remember those that came out a couple of years back at 99p a set) ... well this is what Kelsey did with them ... with a little help and guidance from mum ...

I gave him 5 different heart stamps and he used 5 different coloured inks ... Chalk Inks of course ... He randomly stamped all over an A4 piece of white card ...

First 2 colours : Maroon/Rouge

The final page with 5 colours on ... lipstick red, dark peony, rose coral
I then cut the A4 card into 5cm strips and then cut them in half (A5) ... He scored the 5cm strips at 5.5cm, 6.5cm (this makes a 1cm GUSSET ... he he just for you Gussey Tucker) and score again at 12cm. Fold all the score lines and you'll see you have what looks a bit like a matchbook ...
He punched a hole in the middle of the 'gusset' and then we put red lollipops inside ... stuck a Valentine's sticker on the lollies, and hey presto you have 'LOVE LOLLIES'
We tied a ribbon on the lolly stick to stop the card from sliding down.

(oh ignore the date on some of the photos ... I finally found Kelsey's camera but didn't check the dates till after I'd put the photos on my computer ... promise we made these yesterday, the other photos were taken with my phone ... amazing how you miss your camera when you not got it!!!)


Now we're onto another project ...(photos to follow later) we both have very red fingers at the moment ... we're dying wooden clothes pegs ... !!! wtf!!!

It's for a Love Note Holder ... we now have to wait for the clothes pegs to dry out and then we can stick love hearts on them ... Kelsey has to do some more stamping ... a bit of colouring in and then we stick the tops on the clothes pegs and we'll have memo holders !!! Clever eh???

Well not all my idea this peg one ... I was blog hoping the other day and came across a site by a lady called Michelle and her site was MishMash something or other ... but I can't find the site again to give her full credit, and she had a card with this idea attached to it ... so thank you Michelle whoever you are ... I'll see if I can find her again before we've finished our Holders so I can give her full credit ...

Had a really fun day crafting with my son ... OK so it took the whole day cos he gets bored very quickly but we've made 24 Love Lollies ... he has his action plan, he's working on his business plan, his costings and his advertising ... we'll keep you posted !!! ;-0

Looking out my window....

and aaargh ... just check out the weather ... it's pissing it down AGAIN ... you'd think it has never rained before ... the way it's coming down now ....

It's so typical ... the weekend when I'm feeling a lot better and said to Kelsey maybe we could got to the beach or do something fun and now ... it's raining !!!

I've noticed the weather always seems to change on a Friday afternoon ... and shame my sister-in-law Penny - she's still sticking it out on Saturday mornings at the Farmers Market ... she's gonna be p'd off cos she'll be getting wet again tomorrow at this rate ... (sooorry to tell you Penny Pop:-)

Well ... lets just wait and see what this weekend brings ... have I ever mentioned I HATE WEEKENDS???

Better... much better

Well finally the headache seems to be subsiding ... there's only a small bongo drum being played in the head at the moment and not the whole damned Caribbean Disco Show ... and boy am I glad about that ...

This week has passed me by in a kinda blurrrrr...

every opportunity I have had to sleep I've taken it ... Monday I think was the worst ... after I picked Kelsey up from school I just HAD to lie down in a dark room ... I thought if I stayed upright I'd be sick ... maybe if I chopped the head off completely then I would feel soooo much better .... my boy has been an absolute 'angel' this week ... he's got on and did his homework on his own as best he can without disturbing me too much ... he's come in the bedroom and laid on the bed next to me to read his book (for school .... my boy read for pleasure NOT going to happen) :0

But thankfully and hopefully we are at the end of this ....

Yesterday I ventured out in the afternoon to watch Kelsey play Cricket ... yes I know I said he wasn't going to play cricket 'EVER AGAIN' (his words not mine) ... but he changed his mind ... and he was Captain of the squad yesterday ... and he played wicket keeper too (neither of those he's done before) ... soooory no photos ... remember camera 'she is sick' ... still looking for Kelsey's camera ;-(

Then obviously the drugs are making me dozy ... I lost the damned car keys !!! So can you imagine it ... who the hell can I call to help me out ... mum's at home, she don't drive and I know I have a set of spare keys (SOMEWHERE!!!!) ... tried phoning Aunty June but she wasn't home as yet as there was no answer on her phone ... while I'm standing in a mild stress ... I thought I think I know where the keys are ... phone mum back get her to look where I think they are ... then asked her to phone my landlord ... see if he can drop the spare keys off to me at the school ... bearing in mind this is 5pm last night ...

Well I'm blogging so I must have got the spare keys ... and the originals were handed in to the school office yesterday ... but that was closed by the time the match was over so ... it all ended well ... BUT again I stood there thinking JUST great here I am alone again facing another 'mild crisis' .... ' I jazt can't work under theses conditions'

Talking of working ... Tuesday I started back with the 'Scrapbooking & Papercrafts' at school ... I have 17 very well behaved (this week) young ladies and I warned them I had a headache from hell so if they could behave themselves I wouldn't shout at them (well not too much) .... and hey IT WORKED ... but I noticed it was sooooo much easier as most of them are the gals from last term ... so they already have 6 weeks 'training' up their sleeves ... do you know how frightening it is to discover that even after 3 years of using rulers ... they still don't know how to measure !!!!
So we kinda did 'Geometry 101' (those parents who were worried about their kids missing extra maths !!! Don't worry LOL) ... and as I didn't know how many kids were going to pitch ... I decided we were going to make a ' Handbag out of a 12 x 12 sheet of paper' ... (design thanks to Jane Wotherspoon) (will take photos once I can find K's camera ... or may use the cellphone duh!!! ;-*)

I want to work with different mediums with them this term ... ink, chalks and paint ... should be interesting considering paint I can get ... the other 2 - inks and chalks not exactly in abundance here ... (Paul maybe doing some serious shopping for me before he comes back out in March) well actually maybe if I get my big A into big G and open some more of those damned boxes in the garage ... I know I have lots of inks in there ... and the odd few sets of chalks ... (but hey if the Princess of Procrastination just worked towards her NY resolution ... everyone could benefit from what's in those damned boxes !!!! OK! OK! I've been sick ----- that's this weeks excuse ... pmsl)

A quick thanks to all the well wishers ... Remember only the good die young so I'll live forever !!!

Bloody Typical ...

Finally the summer decides to arrive this weekend and here I am feeling like sh!t, trying really hard to keep cool and sitting in a dark room trying to pacify the pounding head ... WTF... I really have bad luck when it comes to the weather eh???

Still very feverish ... if sweating helps loose weight I should have lost at least 20kg just this weekend alone ... I know I'm running out of dry clothes in the cupboard PMSL ... but hey with the heat outside they're dry in minutes ....

It's when you feel like this that you really miss having someone else around to keep the child entertained... mind you he has been very good ... especially as the sun has been shining all weekend and he hasn't pestered me too often to go out somewhere ... but as a mum I still have to make sure the child eats ... drinks plenty in this heat and I feel really bad that he's stuck indoors ... I mean he's not too bored he's entertaining himself playing his games but hey ... when I think back that is one of the reasons we wanted to get away from the crap weather etc in the UK so that he wasn't stuck playing games every weekend !!!! Glad to see nothings changed then !!!

Maybe we should'nt have moved out of Aunty June's ... at least that way we all had the swimming pool to cool off in on days like this ... not that we can't go visit ... but this bloody headache !!! ;-(
And so the circle goes round !!!!

I do declare ...

that this Tick Bite Fever is THE WORST ever disease EVER ... I have never felt so shit in all my life...

I would rather have a Migraine any day than this constant dull headache ... the nausea just doesn't go away and yesterday I'm sitting having coffee with the Mum's Committee and you'd swear I'd taken a shower in my clothes ... I was wet everywhere (the lovely Trish kept handing me tissues to mop my brow and face !!!) When I stood up it looked liked I'd p'd myself (lol)

Last night I couldn't get warm and now I know what 'dehydrated muscles' feel like ... I could hear then screaming out for fluids ... and no matter how much I drank it didn't ease the pains...

The doctor says get plenty of rest ... he is kidding right ... with a 12 year old and mum to take care of ... I say "guys I'm going for a lie down for a bit ... 15 mins later Kelsey comes in to tell me the electricity has gone of !!! 10mins later he comes back in to ask if he can go out with a friend, 20 mins after that the electricity comes back on and mum comes in to ask if I want some tea in case the electricity goes off again ... gotta bless them all really eh? NOT !!!

I was chatting to mum this morning and do you realise (well you might not be interested but you're gonna hear it anyway LOL) that I have been sick MORE in the last 71weeks (that's the number of weeks we've been here in SA - but who's counting eh?) than I ever was in 8 years living in the UK ... so this proves that the cold does keep the bugs away !!!

Want to hear something else frightening ???

Yesterday I handed in the application forms for Kelsey for High School for 2011 !!! (big sigh!!!) I can't believe it but it felt like just yesterday that he was toddling into Nursery School ... and I know I have filled in 'Big, Big' School forms before ... when we were in the UK but we knew he wasn't going to be going then ... this time it is really for real !!!

We had the orientation evenings this week for Grade 7 at school ... boy it sounds like not only is this year going to be lots of HARD work but also Lots & Lots of Fun too ... Seems like Grade 7 do an awful lot of socialising as well as loads of fund raising for the school too ... hopefully it will keep us both out of mischief eh? And I met Kelsey's new teacher ... Mrs Krouwel (that's the correct way to spell her name) and I think we're in for a really fun and interesting year with her too, she told us all our kids were lovely and sooo well behaved !!! (well it is still early days !!! pmsl)

So the sun is shining ... I'm supposed to be resting (ha! Ha!) gonna put the washing machine on !!! 'gotta make washing while the sun shines' ... then I'll rest ... (NOT)

Needless to say ...

I came straight home ... have 'Frontlined' the entire house, sprayed the bed, sprayed the dog, sprayed the carpets and sprayed everywhere else BUT ....

When you consider Ben the Bushman and Lawrence the Brother have both been diagnosed with Tick Bite Fever in the last 20 days ... this tells us:

We all seemed to have picked something up at the same time ...

Now I didn't go trekking thru the bush at Aunty June's to play silly buggers with the paint ball guns ... but Paul did ... and he has a rare blood type (one of the reasons he very rarely get mozzie bites) so I blame him cos the buggers were on him and they didn't like his blood so they must have jumped over to me and had a feast on me instead !!!!!

NOW you know the truth behind why I don't sleep with my man soooo much !!!! (PMSL)

Dr. & Mrs B...

Good morning Dr. I'm not feeling too well ... Mrs B. :"what are your symptoms ?"

A Constant Dull Headache, Hot & Cold Flushes, ending in a ton of the sweats ... I feel hot when it's cold and cold when it's hot, I wake up through the night drenched in sweat (pleasant) and then I'm freezing cold. Every joint in the body is sore, my chest hurts when I breathe!!! and my glands in the groin and under the arms are swollen, and finally I have 5 insect bites that have become infected !!!! (Oh sooooo pleasant, even though I have kept them clean etc...) oops sorry and I forgot I feel like shit and I'm VERY TIRED all the time ...

No problem Mrs. B. it's very simple really: "You have AFRICAN TICK BITE FEVER" (like is there any other ... yes apparently there is and no you don't want one of those !!!)

Cure???no known cure but: I will put you on a course of antibiotics ... drink plenty of fluids, take pain killers for the fever and pain and get plenty of rest ... keep your spots clean and disinfect (ZAMBUCK) regularly !!!

It will take and average of 10-14 days before you feel any better ... that's normal BUT if the headaches persist or get worse and you start vomiting then come back and see me immediately ....

Otherwise Mrs B... have a lovely day !!!!

"LIVING THE DREAM, people Living the Dream !!!!

The joys of living in ....

Africa where they have NO IDEA of how frustrating it is trying to blog and live with 'capped' Internet !!!!

3 hours I spent on the phone yesterday trying to get an answer to what should be a relatively straight forward question ... why is it that since I have 'upgraded' to a better Internet package that is costing me more I am now using 4x the amount of Internet??? when my routine hasn't changed I am still operating in the same 'modus operandi'??? Let me explain to the blogger nation maybe someone out there can explain cos Telkom SA are clueless !!!!

In December I upgraded from a 1gig package to a 3 gig package - normally when I was on the 1gig package by about the 20something of the month I would have run out of Internet (yes go figure western world !!!) so therefore would have to top up my Internet (still with me?) so when Telkom brought out a 3gig package for R10.00 cheaper than what I was paying and it was for 3gig bonus I was scoring yes -NOT.

This month by the 11th January apparently I had used 3 gig !!! Almost impossible ... but hey maybe Santa logged on or the tooth fairy or something extra terrestrial etc .... SO on Monday I bought 1gig to TOP UP (actually I figured with all the visitors and them not realising that we have capped Internet etc ...make excuses for them etc...) And last week I merrily used my Internet as I always do ... no extra downloads, no extra uploads nothing out of the ordinary ... Yesterday I had no Internet AGAIN ... apparently used 1 gig in a week ... seriously HOW THE HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE ????

NOW the fun starts - you try talking to 'geeks' who a)are geeks but who b) seriously lack command of the British language !!!! (Honey I think I'm gonna kill somefing) 3 hours later and I still do not have answers as to why since I went onto the more expensive (Bigger) package I am using 4x the amount of Internet when ... it's still ONLY little old me??? I sooo wish I'd never changed .....

My friends and family that are all on the same package ... who have teenagers who are on the net 24/7 can manage of 3 gig and until I went onto this new package I could manage on 2 gig and now I have had to purchase gig no.5 so far this month !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DOES ANY OF THIS MAKE ANY SENSE TO ANYONE ??? Please !!!

I hate weekends ...

I've finally decided that I really hate weekends ....

From 12h30 on a Friday until 7.25am on a Monday ... the most used expression in the house is "I'm Bored" bet you can't guess who says that ???

But I have to admit I know where he is coming from ... I think it's because weekends is the time when families all get together and do things together .... and well with Paul being away etc. and so even though there is mum, me and Kelsey it's still not the same is it? I mean I'm not really into the 'sporty, manly' stuffs am I and well Kelsey's not exactly into the crafting/reading/ beading kinda stuffs is he so .... and then mum just reads and watches TV ...

Oh! how I hate this waste of time !!!! I feel like I'm spending another 2 days doing nothing (well I am really aren't I)... but then again I suppose weekends, week days they kinda all 'blur' into 1 for me (am I sounding down again ... don't answer that )... except there's 1 good thing about Saturday & Sunday no 5am alarm clock !!!! But that doesn't stop the geese though, actually now that I come to think of it I think those damned geese seem to be louder on a Saturday & Sunday (LOL)

I can't wait for the Rugby season to start at least it will mean we get some Saturday Matches and if the Sharks are playing at home Kelsey & I can go see them ...(Never thought I'd hear myself say I was looking forward to that !!!)

It also doesn't help to get over the 'weekend blues' when the weather is so crap ... sorry guys here she goes again moaning about the bloody weather !!! It's rained all weekend and it's bloody cold ... OK not UK cold but not SA hot that's for sure ... think I'm gonna move to Australia ... they seem to be having all the heat at the moment ... but I bet if I went there it would get cold !!!
(Now I'm really feeling sorry for myself !!! )

Maybe I need to find me a job???

Wise Words ...

Some wise words & thoughts for the weekend ...

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born...
A Death Certificate shows that we died...
Pictures show that we lived!

I Believe... Just because two people argue,it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe... We don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe... No matter how good a friend is,they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe... True friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance...
The same goes for true love.

I Believe... You can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe... That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe... You should always leave loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe... You can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe... We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe... Either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe... Money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe... My best friend and I, can do anything, or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe... Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down,will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe... Maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe... It isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others, sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe... No matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe ... Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe... Two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe... Your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.


I Believe... Even when you think you have no more to give,when a friend cries out to you -you will find the strength to help.

I Believe... Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

'The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything they have'

OoooO Just had to share these with you ...

After writing about my camera being 'broken' I thought I'd get it ready to take to be fixed and it still had a disc in from the last few days of every one's holidays ... but no I'm not going to show you more silly holiday photos ...

I wanted you all to see these lovely 'Designs by Lorraine' (that's Nan's mum and she is such a wonderfully talented Angel !!!) Yes and ALL these lovely Necklaces she has made for ME !!! (mwah! xxxx)

The 2nd Purple One ...

The Most Worn One ... The Green One ...

The Silver with a bit of Purple One ...

The Clear & Silver One ...

The Black & White One ...

The 1st Purple SET... Necklace & Bracelet ...

and I have worn them together to make a double up.

The Cerise (Bright) Pink One ...

The LIGHT Pink One ... (and the one probably worn 2nd most !!!)

What is so unusual about them is you can take the extension chain off and they become bracelets too .... Isn't she soooooo clever ????

Temperature today ...

Sorry guys! I know, I've tried really hard not to mention the weather so far this year (pmsl) ... can't help it ... it's kinda all I have to talk about now that "I'm all alone again"...

..... 33c .................... that's today (hot, really hot) ... blue skies ... already done 3 loads of washing ... been up since 5am !!! SAD so SAD ...

Now get on with some work woman (oops sorry what's that, don't have any of that either !!! well wrapped all Kelsey's books for school ... been to get registration forms for him for High School 2011, sorted out his new uniforms for this year!!!, that's it! that's my to do list DONE!!!)

Oh! Bruce the Builder popped round yesterday ... next phase on the house - we start putting the ceilings in from next week ... will post some photos when they get started ...

OOOO Big O ... my camera ... she is 'broken' happened over Christmas ... seems the flash has died ... oH! there's another thing I can add to my to do list ... gotta find me a place where I can get the camera fixed ... I can still take photos in the sunlight though !!! ;-)

Back to School...

Yup it's back to school day today for us ... and the start of a new school year.

Kelsey is now in Grade 7 K, Mrs Krouwther's class (I think that's how you spell it) and although he was a bit apprehensive about going back to school, especially as his best friend has left and he was worried about which teacher he was going to get, and even though he was loaded up with all his new school books ... he came out of school with a smile on his face saying "she's really cool!!!"

It's great he says cos he's in a class with only 13 pupils and each child sits at his own desk ... they don't have to sit next to anyone so they have more space and they can concentrate more !!!(his words not mine!!!)

They had to write out their goals for Grade 7 and an action plan for how they intend to achieve them ... Kelsey's goals : get into 1st Team Rugby, pass Grade 7, make a new friend, and study harder and get higher marks in maths, spelling and writing ... (I'm impressed ... I wonder what happened to my little boy?)

Phew!!! all that stress this morning and tears on the way to school were yet again for nothing .. no really the tears were because I realised that this is yet another 'final' year for my boy ... another mum had phoned into the local radio station this morning saying how she appreciates all the new starters but also give a thought to those kids who know that this is their final year at primary school where they have to start preparing for the task of moving into an even bigger school... give a thought to those poor kids who have just moved into the bigger school (now they are the small fish in the big pool again) and finally spare a thought for the kids that know this is THE last year !!! and they HAVE to make it count !!!

Whoever said having kids was easy, obviously didn't have kids !!!

For Your Information ....

I'm sure a lot of bloggers feel the same way as I do ... we love to blog and let all our readers know how we feel, what we're doing and what we're up too, a lot of our friends and families read our blogs ... especially if like me you are far away from your families ...

BUT please those of you out there who try to use our personal blogs for your 'SICK' advertising ... go somewhere else OK ...

So friends and followers please note that from now on if you post any comments on my blog it will now have to be filtered before it will appear on the blog ... wondered just how long it would take before the 'Filth' on the Net caught up !!!!

Keep reading guys ... and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any comments ...

;-)

Points for 2010

I really think I should seriously consider some of these this year:

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours a night.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others... You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do it. Know your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously.. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past.That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...
Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

AND REMEMBER
“WHEN IT COMES TO CHOCOLATE – RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!”

All Gone ...

Yup! all the visitors have gone now ...

Empty House,(we think we've gone deaf) Empty Beds, Empty Cupboards (had to have egg & chips for dinner last night!!!lol )and even Empty Internet !!!! (thanks guys ... first thing this morning I couldn't get access to tinternet ... no gigs left, blame Paul for that he updated Kelsey's i-pod before he left !!!;-)

But Full Washing Basket (well Mona's gotta have something to moan about!!!)

And there I was lying in bed this morning (after my 6am message from Paul to say they were leaving Dubai) and thinking now I have all this time to blog and nothing to say and for the last 4 weeks lots to say and no time !!!

But I'm sure I'll find something to waffle on about ...

Oh! the Invasion of the Tree Frogs was back last night ... and there again I told my visitors about the lovely little red and green frogs that invade from time to time and for the whole month they were here we didn't see 1 !!! (Do you think I'm starting to imagine these things or what ???, that's what happens when you have limited conversations !!! Only a child and the Mother to talk to Ha! Ha !!!)

And another thing ... my brother Lawrence decided that his New Years resolution was to give up smoking ... which he did ... and Saturday I saw his wife and she says he's been having the hot & cold sweats ... pounding headaches... wild & wacky dreams etc ... I chatted to him yesterday and there Dr. Bell's telling him it's the nicotine withdrawal etc ... He had a really bad night last night and went to the doctors today ... poor man has Tick Bite Fever !!!! (Don't ask me I'm NOT a Doctor Ha!Ha! Probably got it when they went hiking thru the bushes at the top of our road on New Years Eve to see the view from the top of the ridge !!! J&N hope you didn't get bitten by anything when you went up there???)

Last 2 days of holidays for Kelsey ... he starts back on Wednesday = Grade 7 ... now he's going to be at the top of the school chain !!!! Lets wait and see how things go ... I hope we have a lot to do once he gets back ... keep us both busy and out of mischief???

Last few days ....

So this is it again ... yet another goodbye time !!! ;-(

The last few days have been really great together ... sadly Jane lost her voice and ended up with a bad chest cold ... not what she wants to be going home with ... they left on Friday with the fear of not landing in Heathrow,due to the bad weather conditions ... only to have their plane from DBN to JHB cancelled ... typical for Africa ... but luckily they caught another flight and they have arrived back to UK safe and sound although by the sounds of things a 'hellof 'a lot colder ... Hope Nigels flight was comfortable he only did the 1 thing you don't ever do before a long flight ... get BAD sunburn on your back ... but at least he knows he's been to Africa !!!!

We spent Thursday at the beach topping up our tans ... luckily not too sore for the travellers (except Nigel)... Yesterday The Bell Trio decided on a trip to the pictures after we bade J&N goodye and we went to see Avatar 3D ... very good movie only I'd like to watch it again and not feel sea sick !!!! So I'll watch it again on flat view !!!!

Today OUR LAST DAY TOGETHER (again) ;`-( was spent quitely packing cases and last minute gift shopping ... we went for a lovely Roast Pork Dinner prepared by Aunty June ... it was lovely cos Paul & Bella got the chance to say good bye to the girls ... with a "see you all at Easter!"... Paul already has a countdown on his phone and it's only 76 days till we see him again ... (toooooo Long, far tooooo long)

So I'll probably be back to blogging daily again from next week ... just want to get tomorrow's farewell over with ...

How could I forget Santa's little helpers ????

Victorian Christmas Window ... wishing for the lurvely food on the table !!!
Kelsey, Jessica & Dayne ...

Bella with her deers ears ...

The best looking helper of the lot ...

The Cheeky one...

The Ugly One ...

Joanne ... what's happened to your antlers???

Irena ???

Janie J your antlers have gone astray!!!!

The Nutty One ...

The Loupey One...

Cheesey Grin ...

Scaredy One ... with Big Ears

The RUDE one ...

All about Christmas & New Year

Happy New Year to one and all ...

Sorry not been posting too much lately... well having a house full of people is a damned good excuse I think. (LOL)

We have had a fantastic couple of weeks ... Christmas Eve/Day we spent at Aunty June's. June made a lovely roast dinner for Christmas Eve and there were 15 of us around the table ... it was brilliant ... It's now become a tradition to go to June's on Christmas Eve ... that way she gets to spend time with her friends and then they go off and spend Christmas Day with their families etc ... I just invited my family to join us there and we all ended us 'crashing' on the floor ... in the tent etc... It was great ...

Bella getting into the swing of things !!!

Even Shadow's wearing his Christmas Decorations ... he does not look too amused eh?

Lawrence & Penny ... dancing in the garage ...

Kelsey & Jessica enjoying a jive !!!

We woke up on Christmas morning to a MASS of pressies around the tree ... Santa was a very busy chap the night before ...

Check out the morning chaos ...

The Bell family including Indi. Not sure what that is that's got our interest?

Kelsey with his I-pod music station ...

As usual we all got thoroughly spoilt ... and the kids all had fun ... It was Jane, Nigel & Bella's first experience of a Mad Christmas Morning ... even the dogs got involved ... I just love it ...

Christmas Day it rained (no surprises there then) but that didn't stop the party ... although we were all a bit subdued thanks to over indulging the night before !!! But we managed a couple of drinks (well one has to keep the spirit going Ha HA) And we 'braaied' (BBQ) in the rain... we had our Gazebo & Penny's too and we sat in June's garage most of the time so a bit of rain didn't dampen the party at all ...

On Boxing Day the boys all went for a round of Golf ... I'm told Nigel did well considering he's never played before ... the ladies spent the morning at leisure ... actually catching up on some washing because surprise surprise the sun came out !!! In fact it was bloody hot !!! We managed to do 5 loads of washing and get it all dry !!! (How sad is that???)

Ben, Nan and the kids all arrived on Sunday evening ... so we really had a house full. Bella and mum went and stayed at Aunty June's ... I am so lucky to have a friend like that ... mind you if THE HOUSE was finished !!! we'd have had plenty of space for everyone (maybe next year eh?)

It was brilliant to have them here ... and the weather played along nicely too... we went to the beach (all got burnt ... even though it was overcast !!!) we went to the Natal Sharks Board ... saw them cut open a shark (gross!!! but interesting) we spent a day at Ushaka Marine World (all got burnt). We even took the 'Wrinklies' with us that day ... and it was party time at Ushaka so we had music ... dancing a lots and lots of fun !!!

We spent New Years Eve back at June's... dancing on the driveway again ... unfortunately the mist came in and the rain soon followed but hey didn't stop any of the fun and of course once the alcohol flowed the boys started playing 'Jackass' with the paintball guns ... OK I had fun too ... Nan didn't see the funny side of that game ... sorry we upset you Nan ... Ben hope the bruises go down soon ... ;-) But New Years day the sun came out and proved to all our visitors that we can have HOT days ... in fact it was so hot I almost nearly went in the pool ... Temp 34c with humidity of over 42!!!

The week that Nan & Ben were here just flew over ... we still had 101 things to do and then before you knew it they were packing their car and going home (Sad ... sooo sad ... ;-(

And well that's been the last 2 weeks ... AND since Ben & Nan left... seems they have taken the good weather with them !!! It's back to raining again ... has done for the last 2 days ... maybe it's because that's how I'm feeling ... SAD. ;-(

We are down to our last week again with Paul here and our friends ... Jane & Nigel leave on Friday and Paul & Bella leave on Sunday ... we're trying not to think about it too much but they have all been sorting out air tickets and talking of suitcase packing etc ... can't really avoid it can you ???

Oh! well going to try and make the most of our last few days together ...

And more ... December 2009

Madoda - the alpha male lion decided to take a walk across the plain... right in front of our game vehicle on our morning game drive... you can see the front of the bonnet in the bottom left hand of the photo ... Paul asked Ben to start the engine to 'let him know' we were there !!!! That's how close he was ....

A couple of 'frisky' zebra....

Mummy & baby Rhino grazing.

Check out the sunset ... at the end of our evening game drive.

More Safari Photos ... December 2009!!!

Look what we spotted in the grass ...

The safari queen ...

Man on Safari ...

Getting ready for the Game Drive ...

Benjamin our Bush Guide ...