Tam is me

he smiles!

2011-09-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

A new life...

2011-08-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

Last day of pregnancy

2011-07-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

New Dog

2011-07-09T07:18:00.001-07:00

My mom has inherited a new staffie named Ike. He has completely stolen everyone's heart as he is a really happy mellow guy.

Waiting for Jack

2011-06-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's time...

2011-06-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

... when the preggie top doesn't fit any more, it's time!

baby shower

2011-06-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

I had a surprise Mad Hatter's Tea Party themed baby shower thrown for me this weekend.
In true pregnant style I burst into tears on arrival.
It was so much fun and got thoroughly spoilt.

body remodelling

2011-05-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

It just gets bigger and bigger...

And I feeeeeeeell good!

hmmm, where did I hide that giant Easter egg

2011-04-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

name that part...

2011-03-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Scans are great fun especially afterwards when showing them around and people hold the pic upside down and ask what they are looking at. So here you need to spot a head profile( complete with teeth buds!), arm and fingers, foot and curled up fetal image (showing off his spine).

And I was very happy to hear that despite eating strange food - Little Jack Randle's weight and size is slightly above average - a phrase we plan to adopt for the rest of his ( hopefully) slightly above average life!

Weird cravings and aversions

2011-01-28T00:42:00.000-08:00

So most people when pregnant go off coffee, I have gone off tea - totally!
Also G has discovered all chocolate is safe in the house as I can't eat it! Wow! I know!

And forget anything with onion or garlic in it for the few months, Fish a NO GO! red meat mmm no thanks, chicken, maybe, make it smoked or crumbed.

I did however love celery, carrots, cucumber, banana's, vanilla cupcakes, lemony muffins for a while.

Right now however it's apple sauce, orange juice, biltong, olives, cream cheese, grapes and cereal. Tomorrow - who knows!

I have been taking pregnancy supplements with omega oil all along so I'm pretty sure despite weird food intake the little guy will grow strong and healthy!

Being Pregnant

2011-01-28T00:16:00.000-08:00

When I first first fell pregnant I was really disappointed I thought I would float around feeling like a godness of fertility. Instead I felt hot, grumpy, scared, exhausted, bloated and nauseous...with the occasional floaty euphoria.

That lasted 2 months, I also felt like the pregnancy could terminate any minute. The 8 week scan was great to ally some of those fears. I felt like trying to fall pregnant for so long - wanting this event for so many years almost jinxed it ever happening for me.

But it did happen and the scan showed a strong, tough, solid babe that wanted to be here. My nausea has been an almost constant - surprisingly enough it mostly went away when I was in Scotland for 2 weeks. Being pampered by my sister-in-law and brother? or the cold weather maybe? The day I returned to 30 degree heat Cape Town, it hit back hard.

I think the floaty euphoria has had a kick start with the second scan we had at 13 weeks, the image of this perfect little being, Both G and I fell in love with a black and white grainy image, a perfect head, body, legs, arms and willie! It was a he! That was unexpected for both of us as we had almost been convinced by others that we were having a girl.

So at the moment I'm in part floaty euphoria - part OMG, eek and bleugh! So really it's business as normal then :)

The family

2010-12-18T09:49:00.001-08:00

Let it SNOW!

2010-12-18T09:21:00.001-08:00

So at the tender age of 33 I get to experience snow for the first time. I LOVE snow!

House update

2010-12-08T05:50:00.001-08:00

So it's been a while since I updated on the house - here are some grainy phone images for now - more to follow as we have been busy!

The man cave... mid unpack

Passage showing off the new walls and painted skirtings - such things become important when they are your very own!

That Old Bean

2010-11-22T22:07:00.001-08:00

Can you believe The Bean is still going strong? She seems to have found a new lease on life recently

However we have decided if Bean was a human she would look like this...

what I do...

2010-10-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

It's not often I get the chance to share exactly what I do at work as so much of it is arb bits and pieces... but it feels so good to get a positive response like this one.

It's a review from a blogger (Ingrid Elizabeth Summers) to goes to malls and reviews windows - she isn't shy to be harsh so it feels really good that she liked these two windows I played a part in. (I designed the decals and posters and 3D wall.)
http://ingridelizabethsummers.blogspot.com/2010/10/couple-of-cool-window-displays.html

Pigs in the road

2010-10-11T05:11:00.001-07:00

And so the DIY begins...

2010-10-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

Farewell Flat, Hello House

2010-09-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

We take ownership of our new house in 2 weeks.
I have been thinking about
what we are going to miss:
the amazing view from our balcony, the convenience of living 5 minute drive from work and the centre of town.

what I won't miss - cracked tiles, no shower, the giant water tank in our bathroom, orange formica kitchen top - those little things that have bugged me for 5 years.

what we are looking forward to a small garden, a giant DIY project, living in the suburbs - it's going to be nice see what living in our own home is going to be like.

Celebrating Celia

2010-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Celia has completed the 9 month chemo and radio therapy, she mostly sailed through it - amazing doctors and nurses. She has past the year of school, which in itself is a miracle. However the all clear will only be given in 3 months time. She is now a little six year old, full of beans and loves all things pink and princessy.

Last time I saw her was more than 3 years ago when she was a confident little two and a half year old. High time I saw her and her little brothers, hey? I'll be going to Scotland for Christmas!

The photo above was from my wedding day - when little Cee came up to me, grabbed my hand, looked up at me and told me I looked very pretty. Awwww.

The main event...

2010-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

... was a let down. The hour hike each way was great.

This is the main event - see that puff of smoke? That's the Athlone Cooling Towers blowing up...

Jeep jeep

2010-08-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

We need to grow a little bigger to fit into our new car.

Bean then, Bean now...

2010-07-28T00:59:00.001-07:00

Sweet thing has finally started eating again after a week of making-a-statement-starvation.

Goodbye Bullet

2010-07-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Bullet has joined Sasha in the Big Hunting Grounds in the sky. Bull was such an awesome old timer. He was still a character til the last day. Snorting under the table and staggering around on his badly damaged legs. And such a loving guy, always came to greet even when he could hardly walk. He just loved any bit of attention or affection.

Now Bean is the only one left and she hasn't eaten for a week - those of you who know Bean know that is a HUGE statement to make.

Our New House!

2010-07-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Just a few more signatures and we will have bought our first home and will take occupation in October.
The house is currently owned by an elderly couple who have lived there for the last 35 years,they are going into a retirement home.
The house is good to go, been really well looked after, just some updating needed. G is going all out drawing up plans and researching different options of flooring, walls finishes, fireplaces and furniture.

Here are some photo's to give you an idea....

Fanwalk

2010-06-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

England Game with Randles

2010-06-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

World Cup opening ceremony pics

2010-06-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Long St 11 June

2010-06-11T09:43:00.001-07:00

Sunglasses read" Show Dem Bafana Show Dem"

All the bars were full so people were on the street staring into bars

This was a hole-in-the-wall take away place that had out their old TV onto the counter and about 50 fans were crowded around it. The atmosphere was incredible.

Finland - South Africa!

Anyone for some Face Paintin

Could this be ours?

2010-06-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Football Friday

2010-06-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

holiday photos

2010-05-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Offer we couldn't resist

2010-03-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

When my in-laws asked us if we wanted to join them on an island cruise for 2 weeks going to Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar and Maputo we found it impossible to resist...
We leave on Thursday and will be back on dry land April 1st.

43 in the shade

2010-02-25T02:31:00.001-08:00

Had a weekend away in Ceres ... so many activities - paintballing, water skiing, rock pooling, mountain biking, swimming, lazing, braaiing, drinking, marshmallow roasting, wakeboarding, cricketing, hammocking, sun baking, paddling, tubing...

Long st FIFA draw... just now

2009-12-04T07:40:00.001-08:00

RIP Sasha

2009-11-25T22:15:00.001-08:00

What a great dog, she will be missed! She gave us 15 years of happy memories and was really having it rough the last few months. She died this morning in the garden.

What is that?

2009-11-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

Seal vs Dog spotted during a walk on Noordhoek beach...

I've been busy

2009-11-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

With a bag of soft beautiful merino wool

...a big box of lemony scented soap

... some colourful wool, felted all together...

Here is what I got.
These handfelted soaps will soon to be sold at Poetry stores nationwide.

Auntie Tam is me

2009-11-09T04:07:00.000-08:00

I have a new nephew! Samuel Moody was born on Saturday night... Here is a photo of Celia, Ben and newborn Sam.

Crazy weather

2009-10-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

We don't often get interesting weather so when we do, it's really exciting! G had to rush off to Strand to assess a roof that had blown in on a petrol station shop. He found out we had had hurricane speed winds. 82 knots.

350

2009-10-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning G and I went to join the Cape Town 350 human formation, it was meant to be on the top of Table Mountain but there was a cold front coming in which was covering the mountain in cloud. Instead we walked from the cable car to Signal Hill then waited for 2 hours before the helicopter could get to fly over and get a photo. We are at the bottom of the "0" :) The reason behind doing this was to spread the inportance of what 350 is.

So if you don't know: According to NASA and other sources, the maximum concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere under which life as we know it can continue, is 350 parts per million(ppm). Go beyond that, and our atmosphere will degrade. Everything under its protection. The atmospheric level of carbon dioxide right now? 389 parts per million. There were 350 demo's around the world on Saturday to see more go to www.350.org.

We enjoyed the morning, just chilled as we had nowhere we wanted to rush to and met some interesting people and I felt good being a part of a positive message.

Six months later...

2009-10-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a I while since I updated this blog. The last 6 months have been bitter sweet, I found a job I love, it isn't permanent but that could change. I am working in-house at Cape Union Mart . The department I work in is a team of really great people. It is interesting and diverse although it also gets stressful at time compared with other jobs I've had it's a walk in the park!

My niece C, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The little 5 year old has had numerous operations, chemo and probably more prayer for her in the last few months than most of us get in our whole lives... and it looks like it has been working! We will know next week if she is all clear or not, the last operation she had the surgeon found that most of the malignant growth had died, which is incredible, there was still some that wasn't able to be removed. Hopefully that piece has since died and flushed out her her system. It has been a really emotional journey for us all and for me has shown how important family is.

Other than that I have a studio space that I rent in town, it is like a little tower room. I have been making stuff mostly from felt brooches, felt covered soap playing with sea glass, mobiles and looking to buying a jigsaw scroll saw. And I have an order to make 800 felt covered soaps...

G and I are still happy as anything. We got this thing yesterday...so roll on Summer..

Road trip

2009-06-05T05:40:00.000-07:00

G and I went on a quick holiday to see The Owlhouse at Nieu Bethesta in the middle of the Karoo. We did a whole lot of driving, it was really beautiful and great to see so much open space and so few people for a few day.
I have broken the trip up into two posts as I have so many pics.

The Owl house

2009-04-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Was Helen Martin a totally weird nutter or an artistic genius.... hmmm, a fine line between the two it seems. The owl House is her canvas, every surface has been adapted huge murals on her ceilings, all the windows has some treatment the walls cover in crushed coloured glass, the entire garden is shoulder to shoulder cement sculptures, I love the fact She gave her vision to the world, but the cost of her work seemed huge.
What do you think of Helen Martins?

cricket

2009-04-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

The Indian Premier League is playing in Cape Town at the moment and my husband took me to a game, it was action packed entertainment complete with dancing girls, fireworks, shooting flames, silly songs, hot dogs and a really drunk guy.

my birthday

2009-04-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

My husband got ten out of ten this year for my birthday gift, a Tord Boontje Garland, which I have coveted for years and years, it's so pretty, girlie and shiny...

dust, pigs and building barricades

2009-04-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

This week Heather and I did some dusting, here is the bag of dust we ended up with! Wow! A big bag of dust.

Walking through town I see some funny things like this pig who lives in the informal farm at the end of our road.

There is a horse-drawn carriage going through the Gardens, it really made me think of how it must of looked a hundred years ago.

I love this solution to ugly building barricade, it is made up of lots of hand prints, cool huh?

music festival!

2009-04-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

In Cape Town we don't get much of a chance to see many bands, it was awesome to get a chance to see Snowpatrol and Oasis at Cokefest... And to peoplewatch.

Easter egg hiders

2009-04-18T22:50:00.001-07:00

I love Easter, here we hid a bunch of eggs for everyone at my husband's work.

Heather time

2009-04-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

Heather Moore is an artist who makes and sells her silk screened work, mostly teatowels, handbags, decals and mugs.

I have been keeping busy, and getting inspired, by helping out at Heather Moore's studio, I have been stamping, packing, wrapping, counting, overlocking and chatting.

For more on Heather's work go to: http://www.skinnylaminx.com/

Tulbagh

2009-04-10T01:06:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity, last weekend, to go to Tulbagh with a group of nice strangers, I went to relaxed and unwound, it was a beautiful place to chill.

outlaws or inlaws

2009-04-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things to do is visit my in-laws, it might have something to do with the amount we laugh together, the animals, or the big tin of biscuits... all in all, I feel like a very lucky daughter-in-law.

Here was my inlaws take on Earth hour...

And our friends Julia and Ryan's dog, Cola's take...

First Day

2009-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start freelancing ( a choice which is both terrifying and awesome)
The first day I was really busy, a great sunrise to start...

...Organised my portfolio for some promising interviews,
Rushed down Long St to get my new business cards,
then off to see Marijke and walk on the beach with her and the twins.

family time

2009-04-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

My aunt was out from Canada in March and the 3 sisters got to spend some time together, here we are at a JC Leroux champagne tasting...

... and Jakes for dinner, guess which one is my mom!

blog backlog

2009-04-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a while and I promised my friends in Germany, Scotland and Canada to keep them updated...

So here goes... First some sad news, my old old dog Bean has cancer on her nose... the vet said no possibilitity of an op but she's happy

Good news is I have gone freelance, and am happier for it, I had a great farewell, I even got to use our cupcake tree which was a great hit.

Back Home

2008-09-23T02:58:00.001-07:00

More photo's to follow... For now, you can see the first week below

South America - Amazon

2008-09-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

We flew from Lima to Cusco then to Puerto Maldonado. We went from 18 degree to 30!
Puerto is wonderful a real Jungle outpost with tiktiks, motorbikes and giant trucks. Banana trees and dirt roads.
We dropped off our main luggage at the office went on in a bus for an hour bumpy ride to a boat which took us to our lodge, along the way we saw turtles a cayman and giant bush turkeys and a flock of parrots.
Our lodge was great - an ecolodge in the middle of a Jungle nature reserve, with resident parrots, monkeys and a million bugs. We kicked off immediately with a night hike where we saw tree frogs, snakes, monkeys, giant spiders including a nest of tarantulas and bugs.
Amazing food and mosquito netted beds, flush toilets (such luxury!).

Awake at 4.30 with the entire jungle wake up call! We set off at 5 am for a 10 km hike to an oxbow lake.Steamy and stunning. More later have to go!

South America - Lima

2008-09-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ah, Lima such an unexpected beautiful place- first the drive from the airport was not so great- think driving THROUGH a township. Scary!
We ended up at Milaflores a great seaside suburb on the edge of cliffs facing the Pacific. A constant fog hangs over the area 8 months of the year it was hot and humid with an icy wind of the ocean. Our first stop was to a supermarket where we were like little kids pointing out purple corn, empanadas, giant seafood and 10 types of potatoes, tiny bananas and things we didn't even know. We sat in a park eating purple corn nachos and empanadas. We went for a walk along the sea, we watched people hanggliding off the cliffs into a updraft, thro lovers park then we down the cliff to the Pacific ocean ! Yay, first time to touch it, the beach had giant pebbles which made me stumble, slip, and soak my jeans.
Later we meet our crazy guide who is hyperactive and indescribable. We had an amazing supper and met the rest of our group we all get on well, Saffas, Aussies and Kiwis with a poor Swiss thrown in.
The next day we wandered around, the Nike Human Race 10km was on, we followed the noise and action and spent the day shopping and hanging out at coffee shops - Jet lag has now hit us full on!

South America - Buenos Aires

2008-09-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived to BA, after a great flight, to where even Tourist Info doesn't speak much English - I'm glad to have G with me who has learnt some Spanish.
BA was cold but beautiful in a strange way. The house are stuck together and going to ruin but graceful with beautiful mouldings and parks full of trees
We were jetlagged with 5-hour hour difference but pushed thro and wandered around downtime BA and ate interested food and fell into bed.
Next day we did a city tour and watched the locals as they had peaceful demonstration about the cost of living. (No Toy-toying,)
The following day we walked for about 8 hours, stumbled into a deserted artist workshop,(turns out it was a famous Carlos Regazzoni's) the statue of the flower, beautiful old cementry,a bookshop in an magnificent old theatre, Mayo Square and shops, shops, and more shops. This is a busy fast moving city, full of hard working locals and slow tourists. We love it but couldn't live here.

Where in the world...

2008-08-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

..will we be day by day.

August
27 Wed - Fly Cape Town to Buenos Aires.
28 Thurs - Buenos Aires
29 Fri - Buenos Aires
30 Sat - fly Buenos Aires to Lima :start of guided tour
31 Sun - Lima

September
1 Mon - Amazon Jungle
2 Tues - Amazon Jungle
3 Wed - Amazon to Cuzco
4 Thurs - Cuzco
5 Fri - Start Inca trail
6 Sat - Inca trail
7 Sun - Inca trail
8 Mon - Machu Picchu
9 Tues - Cuzco
10 Wed - Cuzco t0 Puno
11 Thurs - Lake Titicaca
12 Fri -Lake Titicaca to Puno
13 Sat -Puno to La Paz
14 Sun -La Paz
15 Mon- La Paz to Lima
16 Tues -Lima to Buenos Aires
17 Wed - Buenos Aires to Cape Town
18 THus -Arrive back in Cape Town

Cape Town Fashion Week

2008-08-18T05:18:00.001-07:00

With my new job comes new experiences, like going to fashion shows. Here I am at Cape Town fashion Week, front row, with my friend Martin.

From Shape to Glamour

2008-07-18T05:35:00.001-07:00

Next month I will be starting a new job. The past month has been weird and unsettling but finally things are concrete and I can celebrate brand new job challenge.

Interestingly, in my first month of Glamour, I will be leaving for South America for 3 weeks. Our holiday there is becoming a reality and I am busy researching subzero sleeping bags and altitude sickness.

Can't wait now!

married to a winner

2008-07-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

G seems to be on a winning streak, me, pool comp, grand prix racing, what a winner!
So much amazingness, all in one husband! He does the laundry too.

snow weird

2008-07-15T08:01:00.001-07:00

The weather has been so strange here recently
This are pics taken of snow in Ceres this weekend. My winter jackets have had alot of use this year!

funny face

2008-07-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

It is hard to find a normal photo of my husband!

hot date

2008-07-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

G took me on a date - dinner and a show!
It was Mummenschanz at the Baxter - inanimate objects that animate-
Loved it and loved the "Ode to the 70's kitch" of the Baxter.

crazy rainy weather

2008-07-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

The rain has poured down for days now. On Sunday we decided to go for a walk in the forest anyway and kept getting stopped by the overflowing river. At least we are able to go home to where it is warm and dry.

what should I wear?

2008-06-19T04:41:00.001-07:00

Sasha is an OAP - still going strong @ 14/98

2008-06-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

Dark and cold in Cape Town

2008-06-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

Holllland

2008-06-19T04:32:00.001-07:00

My two mom's and mid-air murphy

2008-06-09T00:04:00.000-07:00

I have my camera back!
This Sunday I went to hiking with my mom and my "othermother" Fay.
I loved this pic as Fay's dog, Murphy, took a mighty leap as I was photographing!

grown up housewarming ... with tequila

2008-06-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

Masked Ball

2008-05-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted - i am still waiting for my camera to get fixed.

This Sat we went to G's work function, check it out

birthday

2008-04-15T02:52:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday today and as great as all the good wishes are, it all seems a bit strange.
Why do we celebrate our birthdays? I feel it is all very arb and silly really.
Although I am a great believer in star signs and that linking to ones destiny and personality. The fact my mom and I get on really well or really badly and being born 2 days (and many years) apart, is a definite sign of that.
So this weekend we went to Fairview to have lunch in birthday celebration. It was a a fantastic day, perfect autumn weather, a long lazy lunch watched the goats on their goat tower and my father-in-law at the "free" wine and cheese tasting, I don't know which was more entertaining to watch...

laying low

2008-04-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a sick husband?
Most woman moan that their men are big babies when they are sick. Mine is more... like a tortoise, sticking himself into his shell and just wanting to be left alone. Since Wednesday last week G has had a upset tummy and secured a spot on the couch. Not hungry, doesn't want anything.
Leave him be, you say... well last time he didn't feel so good ended up with him in emergency appendix surgery... so get well soon G so I can stop worrying about you!

We got out a bit this weekend, Friday we went to Mandy and Dale's house for a braai, Saturday G went to get a haircut while I went to visit my Mom and spoke to my brother Jim and family on the phone, was awesome to catch up on all the Scotland news, esp. little 3 year old Celia asking me to come visit her and pidg-pidg (rescued pigeon).
Jim texted me on Sunday to say it was snowing heavily, so much for Spring in Scotland!

Sunday we went for breakfast at Newport Deli where I ate about 5 times more than G which is a definite first! Sunday night we went to visit old friends, Cindy and Mark, who have been building their dream home in Hout Bay.
Wow, it is incredible, the main living area is open plan kitchen, dining room and lounge, with a floor-to-ceiling view across Hout Bay, with a clear view all the way to the lighthouse at Kommetjie. Each room had beautiful views of mountain or sea. We went home, to our rented flat, with inspired building envy.

rock on

2008-03-25T02:48:00.000-07:00

We went to my coke fest last night. It was so much fun! Finally we went to a decent music festival in South Africa, G and I went to V festival in the UK in 2003. So it's been a while since getting a festival fix.

We got covered in dust, bashed by overenthusiastic moshers, spilt with beer, burnt by the sun, then frozen by a chilly autumn night but mostly had fun with a bunch of mostly oddly dressed people ( where did they all come from?)
Goths, Emo's Hippies, gorilla suits mixed in with the average joes and ending with the high maintenance girls in sun dresses.

We got there at around 2pm, just in time to drool over Jared Leto, who lost my interest with all his swearing and simpering to South Africans. but I like the shiny stuff they set off at the end of their set.
Kaiser Chiefs were up next they had fun in the sun - those poor Brits we red and sweat when they first go on stage. The lead singer decided to bolt through the crowd like a madman and climb the scalfolding (not as high as Jared did and with a far less sexy behind) I was worried he might die of heat as he lay down and sang the next song. The crowd was going mad and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves.
We went to get supper during Good Charlotte, who G decided were just a boy band with too many tattoos. Chris Cornell was fantastic singing but this stage presence was a bit bland after all the other bands antics. Our fav was Muse who were Brilliant, really slick and finish performance.

By this stage I was shivering in my thin clothing so we went to get coffee and left as Korn was making a big fat noise.
Not a Korn fan, me. Off to home to scrub off layers and layers of dust...

Friends with extras

2008-03-04T04:11:00.000-08:00

Andree and Mark are out from New York so we went to Andree's parents house on Sunday.

It felt like going to a baby group. There were 4 babies and 2 pregnant mom's.Only people missing were pregnant Caz and Frank with one year old, Pickle. So weird as a few years ago the only baby was Andree's older sister. Her parting remark to me as I was leaving was, "So next time I see you, you will probably be pregnant" Eep!

It was great to see the old group as I had mostly lost touch. I was a great day of baby watching, swimming, braaiing, eating, tanning, laughing and table tennis.

( imagine babies, braaiing, swimming and table tennisg pic here)

The long awaited Wedding

2008-03-04T03:55:00.000-08:00

I dropped my camera this weekend... just as we were on our way to Ryan and Julia's wedding. It is broken! The wedding was really lovely, definitely worth the wait (they dated for more than a decade)

Julia looked so stunning, her dress was a creamy straw-coloured fairytale princess dress. The wedding was The Barn at Monchique. There was a marumba band and the wedding was in the garden, a nice short ceremony with a weird red and white wine mixing ceremony?
The guests then all had Pimms while they took photo's which seemed to take ages. We caught up with Heidi and Eugene, Greg out from Dubai. Clint and Jen from London, Mandy and Dale all the way from Durbanville (haha)

I had a few more glasses of Pimms and wine than I have had the whole of last year combined and ended up pretending to karaoke sing Dancing Queen with Andy and "Mama Themba's getting mmmmmmmeeeerrrrried here tonight" to G while bouncing around the dance floor.

I was so stoked not to have a hangover the next day.

Dude! That is 4 years of not being able to drink anything without getting a hangover! It sure is a milestone that has been met!

holllllllerday!

2008-02-27T02:30:00.000-08:00

We have booked and paid for a 3 week trip to South America in August and are tres excited. We fly to Buenos Aires, then Lima, start our guided tour which includes Amazon, La Paz, Inca trailand Lake Titicaca. I was quite excited to find out that on the 4 day trail we see a bunch of other ruins such as Wayllabamba, la la BAMBA!

We will then we go back to Buenos Aires, G would like to hop over to Uruguay probably Montevideo for a day.... but knowing G he would go go go until he's seen EVERYTHING in the world! There was mention of how close Peru is to the Galapagos islands.
Only 6 months or 184 days to wait...

hot date

2008-02-18T07:30:00.000-08:00

Going to Paarl might not be on the top of everyone's list as a place for a great date, but G out did himself. First we went to check out Paarl Rock, then the Taal monument which was a complete surprise! We both loved it, it was really interesting architecture. Then dinner at the Grand Roche hotel. We ate for 2 and half hours and it were treated like royalty, not something we would do everyday, but maybe once in a while to feel rich.

art find

2008-02-14T02:58:00.001-08:00

I saw this artist working on Heritage Square, these beautiful sculptures remind me of Helen Martins Owl House in Nieu-Bethesda.

fruiterer

2008-02-10T23:25:00.001-08:00

These fruitsellers are right near where I work, every Monday they make this huge display, as the week goes by the fruit gets sold and by Friday they are down to two boxes, selling mixed bags cheap cheap. The (toothless) owner of the stand was telling me he loves his job, gets to meet interesting people, see amazing things and do direct sales. There is a lesson there from them...

my old man

2008-02-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

G's birthday last week.
Before work we feed the animals and bought cake.
After work we decorated the flat, fed him lasagna and made him wear a funny hat.

Friday we had supper at the Noon Gun Cafe, in the middle of Bokaap, no alcohol allowed but lots of delicious Malay food.

pregnant man

2008-01-30T04:49:00.000-08:00

One of the guys at work has been roped in by Fit Pregnancy - one of the mags I work for - to wear a pregnancy belly for the same amount of time that his wife is pregnant. The belly is heavy, gets filled with warm water that glugs around, and presses on your bladder and tightens your chest. Mark has also vowed to follow the same rules a pregnant woman has to - no alcohol, sushi, unpasturized cheese, medicine if sick etc. Yesterday his picture was on the front page of The Argus. We so proud of Mr Mark!

my tattoo

2008-01-29T02:41:00.000-08:00

I had wanted one for years and been thinking about it for so long. I finally did it and never realized what a hoo ha it would result in.

power guilt

2008-01-24T02:42:00.000-08:00

As the rest of country gets hit with daily power cuts I am experiencing power guilt.
Working in the centre of town means they don't switch off our power and the one time they switched off power at home we discovered we were on the same grid as the cableway. After hundreds of tourists got stranded on the mountain until the middle of the night I don't forsee that will happen again.

So, I go through the day, scrolling through news of irate people losing power and I am totally unaffected. I did find out you use as much elecricity if your tv is on standby as if it's switched on. Same with cellphone chargers plugged in use as much as when they charge. Our geyser uses the most electricity 6 kilowatts a day, then our fridge 1.4 and all our lights on about 1.

And I want to buy a wind turbine...

the mite-y have fallen

2008-01-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

So, the pigeon's have been evicted after waking up one morning to bird mite's crawling across my face. Argh! Google research revealed once bird mite's have invaded it is very hard to get rid of them. Only thing to do was to fumigate the flat, washed down balcony, spray with anti-mite spray, vacuum, wash, vacuum, spray, launder, and feel for insiduous mites constantly, they feel like a hair dropping on skin and I spent a few days thinking I felt them all the time.

I think they are now gone but time will tell. The birds kept coming back but they seem to realise they are not welcome after shoo ing them away many times. my "sweet" father-in-law drew this cartoon of me on our kitchen wall.

world map

2008-01-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

I saw this drawing on the wall of a building site that G is busy doing ( I have drawn over the lines as they were really faint.) I could just imagine the builders gathering together for the geography lesson. I love how wrong it is and Africa-biased. Europe gets squashed, USSR disappears, China moves out of Asia and Africa is HUGE... and for the blacks...

...and this is the view from the building

rocky the rock pigeon

2008-01-09T07:07:00.001-08:00

We have had birds nesting on our balcony for a while. G wants nothing to do with them, cos first the parent birds announced how excited they were that they had found somewhere to nest... usually at 6 am on Saturday morning. Then they prevented us from going out during beautiful summer days and nights.
Now we see they have pooped all over the place. Sadly one of the parents seems to be died and single parent is getting super skinny while the babies are getting fatter and fatter Kids huh!
This is a pic of the two fat babies, so it will soon be time for them to fly the nest and G will be a happy balcony owner again. He has devised all kinds of ways to prevent farther feathered invasions.

kalk bay

2008-01-08T07:06:00.001-08:00

New years

2008-01-08T06:58:00.000-08:00

We had new year at my aunt's house in Betty's bay. I loved getting away from it all and just hanging out in nature and with friends.

first anniversary

2008-01-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

28th of December was our first anniversary, we kinda repeated the day by having a breakfast at Rhodes Memorial with a few family and friends, then G took me on a drive around the Cape in his dad's Carmen Ghia.. I loved it! such a classic car.

It was a repeat day of feeling such love. And! I got a boob apron from my husband. *sigh* I don't know what to do with him!

Christmas

2008-01-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

I had a quiet Christmas in Cape Town this year, Christmas eve was at Mom's house with Heather and Christmas day spent at the in-laws. It was stinking hot and humid.
First year as a vegetarian made it challenging for all to figure out what to feed me. I got lots of yummy salmon so that made me happy.

2008 is gonna be great!

2008-01-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to this year I have a really good feeling about it and am starting to make plans...
more to follow later...

holiday time

2007-12-20T04:32:00.000-08:00

Finally the Feb Shape is on it's way to the printer, so it's time to relax til next year. Having a quiet holiday at home with the family, nothing too exciting, just a few friends down and taking it easy. Happy holidays!

adopt me

2007-12-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

We had a work Christmas party for an orphanage and I totally fell for this little girl.

she came home

2007-12-04T02:30:00.000-08:00

My Sister-in-law Julia came back from the UK, we were all so happy to see her.

fonetic spelling

2007-12-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

These signs make me happy!