What is it about sleep & weekends ???

What I want to know is why is it when you can have a lie in and you don't have to get up at 5.30am in the morning, and on week days you seriously struggle to lift the head off the pillow when the alarm goes off, you're all 'cosy toastie' cuddled up in bed, you could go back to sleep for at least another 2 hours, and then come Saturday morning you're wide awake before 5.30am (my usual alarm time) you're uncomfortable, not so cozie toastie any more and you just don't seem able to go back to sleep???

Is this normal ... does this syndrome affect everyone or I am just weird in this aspect too ??? LOL

So I'm up and awake already ... on the 2nd cuppa of the morning and it's before 9am ... what a beautiful morning outside ... a bit chilly ... but the sun is shining .. I've fed the hungry weavers who are busy building nests in the very leafless tree in the garden ... I'm sure this is about the 3rd time this year ??? Don't know enough about them??? Maybe they nest & lay eggs more than once a year ??? (when I'm not soooo busy maybe I'll investigate that!!!)

Had washing in the machine last night - rugby stuffs - but again our power went out !!! Hello Africa and as Paul put it "Hello Darkness my old friend again !!!" But it gave mum & me a chance to play with the camping gear that I pulled out for the Berg 'Bear Grylls' experience next weekend !!! (I must be stark raving lunatic mad ... I said YES to a long weekend away in The Berg ... In Winter ... Camping !!! You read right ... in a tent !!!) So finished off washing this morning ... that was what I wanted to say .. gonna go hang that out now ... should get reasonably dry ... That's one of the strange things about here in Winter ... it can be freezing cold at night (and it was bloody freezing out on the pitch at rugby practice last night ... we mum's we ice pops!) but come day time ... it's still hot enough to get a load of washing dry ... OK unlike summer when it's out for 20 mins LOL, you have to leave it out for the best part of the day ... but it does get dry !!!

(It looks like it's downhill from here when the most exciting thing I can come up with to talk about is : weavers, power-outs and washing !!! so that's my life right now!!!)

No actually today we're hoping to be a little busier than usual .. got 2 markets to visit ... Thomas More College Winter Fair & Waterfall Street Market !!! Both sound interesting... Wasn't gonna go to the Thomas More College one, (was gonna boycott that one, but my little voice wouldn't make a difference!!!) I tried to get a stall at their school, but they were so bloody fussy about the 'products' you're going to be selling (F.G.S!!! it's a school fair, I sell beaded jewellery that the kids an make'n take and I sell crafting stuff , what can be so bad about that ???)

No they wanted their school market to "promote only South African" ... so I'm going along ... with my band of 'spies' and I bet we find plenty that is NOT PROUDLY SA!!! Where the F. do they think the jewellers get their bloody beads from ... made in China,India or Taiwan !!!Please !!! And I'm sure we'll find plenty of other things too ... BUT don't plan on spending too much time there and then we'll pop into the street market in Waterfall. Don't know much about that one ... there was no advertising for stall holders for that one ??? Oh well I didn't really want to get up at 6am to set up a stall LOL

Gotta be back home by 3pm to watch the rugby : Sharks vs Cheetahs ... !!! Go Sharks!

And tomorrow we are up bright and early cos Kelsey's playing rugby ... Oh forgot to mention he's Captain for the B team tomorrow, his side are playing against The Brumbies, we're playing at Crusaders in Durban North, so I know that'll be a nice day ... weather looks promising too... but I want to be up and out earlier, cos I want to pop into The Hypermarket !!! Don't get across there that often ???(laziness or something like that)and I need some more stuffs for the camping trip LOL...

Well Kelsey is still sleeping ... not only did he have rugby practise last night but they had a school disco ... and he came home complaining of aching legs from all the dancing !!! AND he danced with several girls last night too !!! OOOOh my boy is so growing up ... last year it wasn't as important to dance with the girls ... now 'macho importante' ... so he went to bed with a smile on his dial !!!

OK enough now ... go hang out that washing !!! :-)

Another Proud Mum Moment ...

Kelsey just keeps giving me these PMM's ...

Today is report day for Term 2 ... I know a little later than usual due to the 5 week holidays BUT nevertheless the time is here ...

And WOW, AWESOME & Fantastic ... other words of endearment as well ...

He has improved substantially in every subject and even excelled in Maths, he has even passed Afrikaans and Zulu (2 subjects he had never even touched before coming here ) ... coming 1st in class for Maths and overall 2nd in Class ...

What a difference from this time last year ... and what a changed young man ...

Mummy & Daddy are soooo Proud of You My Boy ... :-)

Girls ... to get you through the weekend ....

1. Don't imagine you can change a man- unless he's in diapers.

2. What do you do if your boyfriend walks out? You shut the door.

3. If they put a man on the moon -they should be able to put them all up there.

4. Go for the younger man. You might as well, they never mature anyway.

5. Men are all the same - they just have different faces, so we can tell them apart.

6. Best way to get a man to do something is to suggest he is too old for it.

7. Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.

8. The children of Israel wandered around the desert for 40 years. Even in Biblical times, men wouldn't ask for directions.

9. If he asks what sort of books you're interested in, tell him cheque books.

10. Remember a sense of humor does not mean that you tell him jokes, it means that you laugh at his.

GIRLFRIENDS HAVE A GooD oNE ;-)

A bit more of Africa...

Just had to share some of the unusual sights we've had in the past 24hrs ...

This was sunset last night ... the colours were amazing ... if I were an artist I would sooo want to paint a canvass...

Then this morning at 6am I took these photos ... the moon was still out and just hidden behind my tree ... there was some cloud about and it made me think of one of those spooky movie scenes ... would'nt it have been wonderful if 'My Edward' had just swooped down to plant a quick kiss on my neck !!! Ha!ha!

And then while I was making Kelsey's breakfast I looked out the kitchen window and here was a visitor wandering down my driveway : A Wooly Necked Stork ... and he even posed for a couple of lovely photos before he flew off....

Outside my front door.

Smile ...

Sometimes Africa can make you just stop, look and listen and wander at the beauty around you...

What is red & spotty all over???

Hey that's me !!! With incredibly itchy, burning rash !!! From Shoulders to knee caps !!!

W.T.F ... apparently according to the doctor I am having a severe allergic reaction to ... Some-Fing ??? But we don't know what yet !!! So by pure process of elimination I have to stop --- EVERYTHING !!!

Which means no aqua (aaaargh ... considering I actually enjoy that form of exercise !!! yes you heard it here on my blog in B&W there is some exercise that I like) I have to change my washing powder, my soap, my shampoo ... check what I'm eating ... see if there's any worsening or not !!! ... LIKE I really need this crap in my life ...

But the injection the DOC gave me yesterday calmed the skin down a lot and I actually had a good nights sleep ... first in a couple of nights ... the itching was getting so bad it was waking me up and then I was scratching in my sleep and that inflamed most of my skin ... which in turn made it burn ...

Thankfully though it's not any contagious disease ... as I was driving to the docs I was worried it was something like measles or similar and I'd be rushed off to hospital under quarantine ... then what would I do ??? How would I get Kelsey to school, my mum to the shops etc.etc. etc.. ???It's strange the thoughts that run through the mind (when you have 1 PMSL)

Do you know that I have visited the doctors here more in the last 2 years than I ever visited the doctors in 8 years living in the UK ... in fact I don't think the doc in the UK even knew me by sight ... LOL.

I know exactly what it is .... I'm allergic to South Africa ... cure I need to go back to the UK ... ;-0

But now I'm on medication so any strange things I'm doing ... "it's da drugs!!!" that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it !!!

Otherwise the rest of my week so far has been uneventful ... don't really know what happened to Monday .. can't have done anything interesting otherwise I think I would have remembered ... (probably scratched my way through that day LOL) and Tuesday well it's Tuesday ... Docs in the am... mum to shopping, then school pick-up .. ooh Kelsey did Javelin Tri-outs .. but he didn't get into the top 5 so he won't be doing Javelin this term ...

I'm off out to breakfast with the gals just now .. it's Lana's Birthday and hey! any excuse to socialise ... maybe that's the reason I'm not doing any business ... mmm! that's a thought (no it's da drugs ... that's what it is !!! )

Another crazy weekend gone ...

We've started the club rugby season ... so sorry blog friends ... gonna get bombarded with yet more rugby photos ... what can I say ... some serious Proud Mum moments ... and I guess this way dad gets to see some of the game too !!!

Mind you on Friday night after practise I thought we were going to be quitting rugby for good ... a bit of a mis-communication happened ... because of the raw deal Kelsey (and Me) felt he got with the school rugby ... when coach started handing out 'game day' positions and Kelsey heard the word substitute ... he kinda lost the plot & switched off ... he left the pitch one very disheartened young lad ... so much so we didn't even stay to say goodbye to the friends !!! (and in his temper he busted the zip on my cooler bag .. do you know how hard it is to find a cooler bag here in winter ??? about as difficult as it is to find a fire in summer LOL)

But Mum 2 came to the rescue ... she spoke to Craig the coach, who then phoned me at home and explained how he runs his team ... "everyone gets playing time and the fact that he has so many excellent players, Kelsey included, and it is the first game of the season, the coaches will be working with several different combinations till they get it right" ... I'm pleased to say that I think they got it very much 'right' on the day ... we won 74 -5 against Queensburgh ... now that's a nice way to start the season ...

So from here on out for the next 6 weeks or so ... our Sundays are gonna be spent on some rugby field or other ... not that I'm complaining cos I love it ... we get to travel around the area (finding places I didn't even know existed LOL) I enjoy the game, I love watching the progress Kelsey is making in his chosen sport and I love all the new friends I'm making too ... so all in all a very good combination ...

A quick note ... lookey lookey

Whooopee ... check this out.

Another proud MUM moment ....

All the stress ... all the late nights and the screaming hab dabs !!! and look what Kelsey achieved ... a highly commended for his science project .... so not only is he my gorgeous son, a wonderful athlete but he's also a brainy GeeK !!! and I just love him to bits ...

Well done again Kelsey xxx

If it's not 1 thing...

then of course it's the other !!!!

Can you believe it FINALLY after only 3 weeks I have me car back !!! Whoop Whoop .... I can not explain to you just how IMPORTANT having a car is here ... have I ranted about that before ??? Think I might have ??? Well got 'Betsy' back yesterday and she was 'purring' like a kitten ... OK maybe an old feline !!! LOL

This morning she started fine (phew) but as we were driving to school ... with the stop start of the school run she was sounding a bit 'ruff' and then !!!! there was the clunk-click and it was not the seat belt and suddenly she was sounding like the bag of hammers that she had before were back !!! O.F %&&^% ... not again .........

I can't cope with this !!!! Got to school on time and in Kelsey hobbled (more on that down the page) and we had a Mums Committee meeting first thing so thought I'd stay for that and then face the mechanics from hell about my car AGAIN !!!!

Half way through the meeting my phone rings ... it's the garage ... "they have found a bit on the floor and they think it might belong to my car " W.T.F honestly ...... this would only happen to me !!! and I promise you that was their exact wording !!!! I just laughed (all be it a bit hysterically) sooo straight after the meeting it was back to the garage ... but that had been the plan anyway due to the 'old rattle' that had returned .... apparently the part that was on the floor was the 'base plate' for under my car ???? whatever ... and they tightened up the tensioner ??? whatever ... but only 3/4 hour later I had my car back ... AND I didn't have to pay anything this time !!! (Well not yet anyway LOL)

Except my front number plate is broken so that now needs to be replaced and of course the fairies broke that !!!!

BUT onto Kelsey ... while the car was in the 'shop' we had the pleasure of numerous vehicles to use ... cos I can't be without a car !!! Get the message ???

One of the cars we had was a Mercedes Vitto ... it's a fairly large panel van type Combi (as we call them here) very nice machine ... belonged to the owner of the garage ... but it was much higher up so a little more difficult to get the leg over (Ha Ha) and get in and the back door kept sticking !!! SO Kelsey in one of his temper rages cos he couldn't get the door open !!! he steps up into the vehicle ... put the foot in the wrong place and down he falls ... grazed all the front of his left shin !!! Me being the bad mum I is ... "put some ice ... you're a strong boy" get over it !!!!

Last night at rugby practice (now I have to mention that this is club rugby, that he has been in training for for the past 5 months, not played a game with them yet cos the seasons only just starting - 1st Match Sunday 25th !!!) and he comes off the field literally in tears !!! His leg is swollen and very 'purple' OMG !!! (it didn't help it that in the scrum one of the boys had stood on his leg !!!)

SO NOW WHAT ??? He went straight in the bath as soon as we got home and I thickened the leg with Arnica (to bring out the bruise) and put Repro-gel on it too ... Please let it be OK ??? But this morning he is limping quite badly and says it's sore in the muscle every time he stands on it .... SO maybe he won't be playing rugby on Sunday either ... poor lad is absolutely GUTTED !!! and I know how he feels !!! 5 months for what ?? so he could get injured on the car ... and maybe not get to play in the 1st match !!! (it's a boy thing !!!)

Whatever next I ask myself ....

Congratulations are in order ...

Don't let today's disappointments cast a shadow

on tomorrow's dreams ....

Yesterday morning, at school, was the 'end of term' (in the beginning of the new term !!! very confusing I know) awards for academic and sporting achievements for Term 2.

AND I am sooo proud of Kelsey ... he received a Merit Award which read like this:

Certificate of Merit

Kelsey Bell

an enthusiastic and dedicated player who has given his very best in all matches

(I have to point out the young lad on Kelsey's right is in the same team as him !!! a bit like David & Goliath??? What? )

I cannot express just how proud I was when he got this award ...

... even though I was pissed off about the fact that he did not get the full recognition that he should have done ... (the 1st Rugby Team players all received their half colours for playing such an outstanding season ... and Kelsey was a reserve for 1st Team, and he played in the last couple of matches ... but for some unknown reason (or maybe not so unknown to me ;-0 ) he didn't get his half colours !!!)

He was a bit demotivated and down about it but I told him not to worry, we know that he played in 1st Team and he has played a really great season ... and we think he's just great no matter what ... then I posted his success on Face book and all the positive comments he got back from people was just such a boost to his confidence ... (see my child ... others see how hard you have worked and others recognise your abilities)

AND another celebration is in order ... although a bit of an insignificant one .... yeehaw the Science Project is finally finished and it was handed in today ... now we just have the nail biting wait till we get the marks on it ...

Kelsey has to 'present it' to the class ... do the 'Teach Back' today ... then set it up in the hall for tomorrows Expo ... when we parents can go along and see what the kids have done ...

But of course I just had to take a photo before it went off to school ... so that dad could see the final layout ....

Fingers crossed for the results ...

Weekend ....Wot weekend ?

Where oh where did that weekend go ???

Friday was just a quick blurr ... it was aqua, school run collecting and then Kelsey was off to club rugby practice on Friday night ... He stayed over at his mate Heinrich's house on Friday night so I was to bed early LOL ...

Check out the 'Stud' in his new rugby skins ... I can't believe how much weight he has lost ...
Saturday I was up early to watch Springboks vs All Blacks ... less said about that match !!! we sort of kinda lost that plot !!!!

I picked Kelsey up at lunch time... it was home and 'Science Project' to complete aaaaargh !!! I really hate it when the kids get projects from school, it's not the work load I have an issue with it's the fact I have to constantly be sitting over his shoulder making sure he's doing it !!! Do you now how easy it is to wander off outside to kick a ball around, watch a bit of TV and then something that should take a couple of hours becomes a 9 hour marathon ... AND it's Monday and it's still not finished !!!!

Sunday I just couldn't face another day in the house and another day of screaming about that damned project ... so we took ourselves off to the beach !!!! It was a lovely day ... sun shining but by the time we got to the beach it was a bit windy ... we sat out on the pier at MOYO's ... drinking cappuccino's and generally being lazy ... met Lawrence, Penny & the kids there ... gave Jess her belated birthday pressies ... Kelsey actually ventured into the ocean .. rather him than me ... and soon enough it was 4o'clock and we were heading home again ...We were all knackered and could hardly keep the eyes open long enough for dinner ... all that lovely fresh sea air !!!!

I had to share these stunning views with you ... that's the Moses Mabida Stadium in the centre ..
And look at the sea front ... it's amazing how it has changed ...
Dayne was out surfing ...

Kelsey bobbing about in the ocean ...

And now here we are back at Monday all over again !!!

Unbelievable ... Thursday already

Hectic, hectic, hectic ... that's really all I can say (AGAIN !!!)

From Tuesday to Thursday in 1 short jump ... and it looks like the schedules for the next couple of months gonna be pretty much the same ... have a look at this:

Mon 12th July - 1 hour of Aqua (Kelsey & Janet) ... afternoon of Car chasing & coffee (LOL)
Tues 13th - back to school, Kelsey has Athletic trials, JB to beauticians (oops panel beaters), Kelsey to Caro for an hour extra lessons, return car to garage !!! 1 1/2 hrs homework ...1st day back aaargh.
Wed 14th - Kelsey Athletic Trials, JB 1 hour Aqua, car run around, Club Rugby Practice
Thur 15th - Kelsey auditions for Gr7 school play ...??? more news later on that ...
Friday 16th - ??? School  & Kelsey Rugby practice... maybe I'll have a car ???
Weekend .... yehaaw ...
Saturday watching rugby ... Major match Sharks VS Bulls at Shark Tank DBN.

Mon 19th - Aqua Janet, Kelsey Shot Putt Tri-outs
Tues 20th - End of Term Assembly/Awards, Discus Tri-outs
Wed 21st - Aqua Janet, Kelsey - Science Expo (AAAAArgh .... nightmare), Rugby Practice
Thur 22nd - , Mums Committee Meeting Janet. Science Expo-Kelsey
Friday 23rd - Science Expo-Kelsey, Aqua Janet, Rugby Practice
Weekend .... yeehaw oops
Sunday 25th - Colts vs Collegians  (don't know where yet !!!)

Plus Every week Kelsey's extra lessons ... all the homework and we haven't even started with the Extra Curriculum Activities yet !!!

Led to believe Rugby matches on most Sundays from here on out till September ... dates to be confirmed later ...

Mon/Wed/Fri - Janet Aqua
Tuesday 27th - Kelsey Javelin Tri-outs / Mandy @ 3.30pm
Wed 28th - Rugby Practice
Fri 30th - Grade 7 Disco
Sat 31st - Thomas More Winter Fair ... maybe book a table ???

Every Mon/Wed/ Fri Janet Aqua
Wed/ Fri Kelsey rugby practice

Weekend 6th - 9th August - Camping in the Berg with a bunch of crazies !!!  (W.T.F... do you know it's bloody winter woman ??? )

11th August .... Kelsey's 13th Birthday !!!!

25th August ... ME - Craft demonstrations for The Polymer Clay Store

27th August ... Hillcrest Primary School Golf Day (organising & sorting help to come from the Mum's committee ... so guess we'll be very busy with this for all the weeks running up to this !!! LOL)

4th September - Grade 7 Spring Tea ... a big one for me !!! (oops I mean the kids LOL ... lots of photos to follow on this one ... not going to give any of the plot away in case someone is 'spying' on us !!! PMSL)

So you see, I think we're gonna have a busy term ... don't you ???

And just to keep you updated ... MY CAR!!! Well ... when I saw her today she was still in bits all over the garage floor ... yes I got her back on Monday afternoon, drove her home and then couldn't get her started again on Tuesday morning ... so it was back to the garage and since then that's where she has been ??? Problem ??? Seems no-one knows for sure ... thankfully Ant has let me use his van this week .. and today I have a 'bakkie' (pick-up) which had gotta be the worst piece of junk I've ever driven ( and trust me when I tell you in my life I've driven some junk) and it doesn't have power steering ... I mean do they still make cars without power steering these days ??? I hope Lana doesn't have us doing arm exercises at Aqua tomorrow ... I'm gonna have biceps bigger that Arnie before the weeks out LOL

Ok .. oK .. sorry

I know ... I'm so sorry fans (LOL) I haven't blogged since I got back ... feels like my days are seriously shorter than normal !!!

It's been chaos ... as usual ...

Our flight was LOOOONg ... well ... the first flight to Dubai went by very quickly ... only got to watch 3 movies !!! then we had a bit of a wait in Dubai till our next flight and that is the worst part ... sitting around waiting, and the flight Dubai to Durban was the worst ... one of those older planes so the in-flight entertainment was a bit crappy ... you couldn't watch what you wanted to !!! Tough eh??? and it was daylight and all we wanted to do was sleep ... the journey is a killer ...

So thankfully I have such great friends and Juno & Steven were there to meet us with a 'Combi' for all our luggage (ha ha) and Aunty Irena was there for the passengers (US!!) Aunty June had organised some groceries and our dinner for us at the house ... we off loaded the vehicles ... ate, had a shower and just crashed !!!! Didn't know sleep could be sooo good.

Don't ask me what time we all woke on Sunday ??? each of us had different clock times ... UK, Dubai, SA ??? So I think we all had a good lie in ... I managed to sort out and find a home for half of my 'junk' oops I mean lurverly purchases (PMSL) ... most of the clothes ended up in the wash basket or in the ironing pile ... (T.G. Lydia was in today to sort it all out for me !! LOL)  And Aunty June invited us to visit them, a) to pick up Indiana-Four-Paws... who really couldn't believe we were finally home and b) to celebrate Matthews 18th Birthday with him and June's family from Welkom... It was great not having to worry about dinners etc ... I am sooo lucky to have friends like this and to be sooo spoilt.

Got home in time to watch the football ??? Why ??? Ok so I figured it was a 'momentus occasion' that may never happen again in South Africa .. well maybe not in my life time ...and I had to know what all the fuss would be about on  Monday morning...LOL So now it's all done & dusted !!! and hopefully everyone now understands what a beautiful country South Africa is and it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be etc. etc. etc....

Monday... the start of a new week ... I was up bright & early ... dropped off the glow plugs for my car (the ones I had to bring from England LOL) and then it was off to Aqua ... Kelsey decided to join me cos he wanted to see what all the 'hype' was about ... he joined in our session and now he finally agrees that maybe it's not just a bit of splashing around in the water LOL ... later in the day he actually admitted to having a few sore muscles (he He). We popped around to Juno's to take her the pressies I'd got her (just a little thank you for all the running around she had to do for me & my car while I was away )... and I had found some cool stuffs for her girls too, we managed a catch up and a reminder of the hard work we have ahead for the next term ... aaaargh !!!

We got home ... just in time for a power cut !!!! Oh the sweet trials & tribulations of living in Africa !!! As I was reminded by a few FB friends ... all the tourists have now gone so it's back to the inadequacies and inefficiencies of good old SA !!!! But hey it meant we were all tucked up in bed before 8pm ... it does you good to go to bed early the night before school starts ...

And so onto today .... up at a freezing 5.30 am ... yaay back to school ... well once we can get the damned car started that is ... school run ... some phone calls, pay some bills, check the e-mails, go get some food in the house ... oops there's 1pm again and time to go fetch the boy from school ... get stopped by the cops cos my number plates broken !!! (W.T.F) ... luckily had the receipt that the cars been in the garage so I blamed them ... got away without a fine !!! Just means a trip into Pinetown to get a new number plate ... take my car back to the garage to tell them of the problem I had starting it this morning ... leave the car with Anthony ... take his car home ... he's gonna check mine out in the morning !!!

Home ... homework ... read the 100 or so notices from school ... cook dinner, eat, watch a bit of TV ... yippee power tonight ... blog till the ungodly hour of 10pm (PMSL) post blog and go to bed ...

It's here ...

yup AGAIN our day of departure is here ... finally the suitcases are packed ... all 4 of them when we only arrived with 3 ... I'll let you know if we end up having to pay excess !!!

I think today has been the MOST stressful for a long time ... oops no I mean since I left SA !!! with the suitcase saga and now as we have a 4th case I have to arrange collection for us all at the other side ... Aunty Irena is collecting us but I've had to sweet talk (and I already owe her big time) Juno to waste an hour (LOL) at the airport tomorrow cos Aunty I's car is too small to fit all the cases in ...

I did think 'oooh aunty Irena why don't you just use my car' (ROFPMSL) my car is still ... 1 week later  sitting at the garage and Juno had the bad luck of having to tell me it won't be ready for when we get back ... seems they need a spare part (oh! did I mention they only found out about this yesterday, after having had the car 4 days already )!!! that no-one seems to be able to find in good old SA ... so guess what ... yup you guessed right ... Paul went down to HYUNDAI this morning ... took a whole 25mins ... here in Chesterfield ...(not 1 week later and still no clue)  picked up the part and I will have to take it to the idiots (oops I mean nice men at the garage who had better f..'#$.. fix my car )

I mean I thought ... as it is always a 'major headache' to get my car serviced ... no that's wrong, the servicing part should be easy (ha ha) it's the stress and aggro of not having another driver in the house and not having access to another vehicle and needing transport, as in SA there are no luxuries like public transport ... in fact I don't even think you can pick up a phone and call for a taxi ??? (Never actually ever needed to do that so can't say if you can !!!) SO in my stupidity I thought ask my fwiend Juno... would she mind dropping the car off for me (her husband is at home and he does have access to other vehicles LOL) plus she has her car ... then the idiots oops mechanics can fix it with no time constraints as such ... (well I didn't expect it to take a whole bloody week !!!!) then my car is back home sitting on the drive way all clean and sparkly for me and job's a good'un!!!

Ok that was the problem ... I thought it could all work out ... and I forgot NOTHING in SA ever works out as it would in the rest of the world ...

And people still feel the need to ask me the question ..."do you like living in SA ???" I am seriously asking myself WHY AM I LIVING IN SA ??? cos it can't be for the efficiency or service or uncomplicated lifestyle or anything like that !!!

I know why ...
It's for all the amazing friends I have there ... the ones who constantly come through for me when I'm struggling, the friends who waste a good part of their free time trying to sort out my shit, (well the shit that seems to constantly hover around me !!! ) the friends who support me when I could do with an extra hand or when I'm feeling down, (and girls the way I'm feeling right now ... I'm probably gonna need you a bit more next week)

So we're leaving for the airport in 15mins ... I think I'm gonna take a couple of Valium .. have a G&T and hopefully make it to the other side ...

1 more sleeps to go ...

(*** edit ... I apologise now for any strange things on this blog ... blogger changed their layout and I just can't get me 'ead around it ... plus you should now be able to post comments again ... I can 'edit' them but don't seem able to SEE them on my pages ??? ... will get there in the end I hope ***)

Oh no ... we now down to our almost final day here in the UK !!!

The last couple of days have just flown over ... I spent yesterday with my other personal shopper ...  we'll call her 'Smiley', who doesn't want to be named for 'professional reasons' LOL !!! We did the whole 100 yards (LOL) of craft shopping from Barnsley to Elsecar... to Sheffield (Hobbycraft had some fantabulouso bargains in there didn't they Karen ??? LOL yep bumped into her there when she should have been at work !!!) we eventually got back to 'Smiley's house at 7pm last night ... Paul collected me from there ... it was home via KFC ... well we gotta eats ...

And last night the boys had to finalise Kelsey's science project ...ooops it's not going according to plan  ( ;-0 )
And I had to start 'minimising' my purchases (PMSL) This stuffs just ain't gonna fit in the suitcases !!! well not all of it ... T.G we have another container going out to SA eventually ... well Paul can bring a suitcase full when he comes over in October ... and then another in December LOL poor man doesn't need any clothes !!!! ( mind you by December I'll probably have even more for him to bring PMSL)

Mum & I are doing the final 'Chesvagus' run ... followed by a 'quick' (ha ha) pop into ASDA, another stop at Cotton Traders (LOL) and then we SHOULD be done ...

We're off out tonight with Jane (who I hope will be able to come to the rescue re: fuscia pink pillow cases ... all will be revealed in time !!! OOOOH ) & Nigel ... going to Kelsey's favourite restaurant ... Chiquita's ... and then I'll probably spend the rest of the night stressing about getting all the cases closed ...

We fly tomorrow at 5pm ... but have to be at airport by 2pm latest so won't be able to do much tomorrow....

Sorry Jayne ... missed out on getting to see you this week before I go ... and sorry Julie seems we not gonna be able to get together before I go either... I just knew 4 weeks was not going to be enough !!!

AAAh ... more exciting days

My oh My !!! Just when I thought I was going to have a quiet last week ...

Monday morning started with the arrival of 3 very large boxes ??? OOOoh now who could have ordered all that stuffs ??? Couldn't have been me could it ??? (AAAArgh how the heck am I going to get all this back to SA ??? And I soooo want it all there now !!! Not next year or so when the next container arrives !!! ;-)

I didn't even get a chance to check/play/ or oogle my stuffs cos I was off out with frozen muffins in hand to Ann's for coffee ... that started at around 11am ish and I left her house at 5pm !!!! (that was one hell-of-a-cup of coffee ... well tea actually I'm off the caffeine at the moment !!!) Good thing too cos after all the tea I did consume I'd 'ave been bouncing off the walls if it was coffee LOL.

Great to see you again Ann, thanks for the gossiping, the 'counselling' LOL, the tea, the USB adapter thingy (now I have no excuse for the photos & Paul's laptop etc !!!) and I am sooo lucky to have such a great friend who would give me Part 3 of Triskellion when she bought it for herself, but luvs me sooo much that she gave it to meee !!! (;-) Well it was only right after I introduced you to the Triskellion saga in the first place, and you bought me part 2 for last years birthday ... so this years is taken care of and according to the back of this book so is next year too ... (Part 4 due 2011)

By the time I got home, cooked some dinner it was past 8 and I still hadn't opened a box !!! but Paul & Kelsey walked in with the DVD Percy Jackson Lightning etc. etc... So we just HAD to watch that ... good job I know my Greek mythology !!! We reckon this is gonna be America's answer to The Harry Potter super-saga ... (don't forget where you read that first LOL)

Today was a late start ;-) only woke at 8.30 am, that's half a day gone for us normally (PMSL) ... opened boxes of craft purchases ...ooooh... aaahhh, phew... want more, want more !!! Then mum and I picked up Irana and we were off to Dobbies Garden Centre for 'a mooch around' and lunch ... BAD NEWS for the CC there then ... even worse once I found Cotton Traders ... SALE !!!! and then they didn't have all the rugby shirts I was looking for so they told me there was an even bigger Cotton Traders at McArthurs Glen (aka East Midlands retail outlet !!!) = very very bad news for the CC .... Let me just tell you this ... I soooo wish I had found that place sooner ... (Paul said damn ... he was hoping I wouldn't find it at all LOL, and actually good thing I only have 3 more shopping days left ... and no more space in the suitcases !!! and he's refusing to pay for excess luggage... may just have to do a bit of 'feminine bribery gals ' ... SA crafters remember I'm doing it for you ROFPMSL)

AND I bumped into the one and only Liza Rukas at McArthur ... how cool was that ... I was squeezing in a cuppa in between purchases ... this voice asks for a coffee and I just knew I knew that voice ... and there the darling was ... How fabulous was that then ??? But she blew me away with her bit of news ... I was actually 'Gob-smacked' ... she's been made redundant from Craftime, how sad is that ???? (sorry sweeetie have to let everyone know ... someone may just be reading my blog and you may just be the kinda person they is looking for ...;- )

Well needless to say another late finish ... only got home after 8pm !!! Poor mum was knackered ... yes I dragged her around with me ... actually she sat from coffee shop to coffee shop LOL but ... she was with me. The answer was NO before I even mentioned tomorrow ..;-0

A really great weekend ...

Had another fantabulous weekend ...

Collected mum on Friday, unfortunately didn't get to see Irana for 'brunch' Friday as Sophie, her youngest, got kicked by one of their horses and has broken her leg !!! We're gonna plan a get together sometime next week ... but I am running out of time now aaargh...

So before I picked up mum, managed an hour or so in Chesterfield ... crossed off another few items on my list ... gonna need another suitcase at this rate LOL;-)

The boys didn't get back till much later on Friday night so mum and I enjoyed our Friday night Fish & Chips supper (MMMmmmm with mushy peas of course ! )

Saturday was a nice long lie in ... no rushing up and dashing off ... Paul & Kelsey had some stuff to get for his science project mmmm!!! so mum and I popped into Mansfield for a couple or 4 hours !!! Got another load of list items ... and a few not on the list (PMSL), we met the boys for a late tea/early supper around about 4ish to be told that Paul had a surprise planned for Kelsey & me ???

Off we went over hill and down dale ??? Where are we going I wonder ??? Micro-Lite Flying !!!! Friends of ours, brother-in-law has his own Micro-lite and of course "it would be a pleasure to take US !!! up" ??? W.T.F!!! At first I thought oh great Paul has organised this for Kelsey ... no me too (OMG I'm not that keen on heights I have to tell you !!!)

The Sexy Little Machine ... and it's purple ... I just have to have a go (OOOh NOT)

OMG !!!

You know it's high when the clouds come out to meet you ...

Pretending to be brave ...

That is such a fake smile !!!

Look how high we're going ....

Does this look like the face of one who is having fun ???

Can you spot our house ??? We can

Rob took this as he and Kelsey were flying over Bolsover ... (maybe I'll go that far next time NOT)

Buildings at the bottom of the photo are the hangers for the micro-lites ???

Hold on we're turning to the left ..... OMG!! OMG!! OMG !!! ( I sooo wanted to say worse than that but Rob would have heard through the speakers ... after this I just closed my eyes and said "I'm on a bike, I'm on a bike " PMSL (NOW)

Rob just had to fly over these huge abandoned cooling towers ..."get a shot looking down into the centre" Are you F...#$ mad I asked ... there was NO WAY I was leaning over there ... but this was the best I could do ... not bad for a scaredy cat eh?

Look how high we are .... ooops

All I could see when I took off ... once I opened my eyes of course ....

Be a brave girl now !!!!

That's Kelsey's orange arm sticking out waving to us ...

Ready for the off my child ....

In this ???

OMG ... I'm going flying !!!!

But I did it !!! And as scared as I was ... and even through a visor I still managed a few photos ... (but honestly gals inside I was screaming very loud !!!I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life !!! :-o)

Rob took a camera with him and managed some really good shots to, of us on the plane with him ...in the air !!!! ... he took Kelsey right over our house and Bolsover castle ... he got the longest flight (TG). Apparently I went up to 1500ft, Kelsey about 2500ft and Paul of course just had to be 'jack-the-lad' and they went up to 5500ft but couldn't stay up there too long cos it was bloody freezing :-)

Oh and as you can see I've managed to get the photos loaded onto Blogger ... Finally ... but not all blogger's fault ... Paul's laptop doesn't take SD cards ???

And today was another lovely day, Rob our Pilot, his wife Colleen and Isabelle (ooops did I miss off the gorgeous baby Kiara ??? ) all came round to our place for a BRAAI... true SA style ... and I even made vetkoek for them ... Rob just loves it ... oh I think I forgot to mention they are all Zimbabweans so braais are a fond pastime for them too ...

What a really fantabulous weekend ... even though the weather decided not to play along too nicely today ... temps have dropped a bit but ...

Good Food, Good Wines, Good Company ... what more do you need ???