I Forgot

to mention the most important thing about our weekend away. There was no TV. None. Nothing. Much to the kids amazament. And they survived. Amazingly. Well.
They discovered each other again, and played so nicely together. When we came back we decided our TV is "broken". Apart from switching it on this morning - I cant do mornings with kids clamouring for attention and me not having had my first cup of coffee yet. We haven't switched it on at all in the evenining- except when they go to sleep. So far Carmen has a blue eye and Andrew has another knock on the head. But it seems to do them good. So lets hope it lasts

Dullstroom

We left this morning- some more pics of rolling hills

Dullstroom day3

Our friends left this morning after we all had a big breakfast at Harrie's Pancakes. This guy is famous for his pancakes and I must admit his breakfast is devine too. Pierre said his breakfast is faarrr better and cheaper than Wimpies.LOL

Some random pics of Dullies

Dullstroom day 2

We had a leisurely breakfast and while our friends went horseriding we ambled our way to town.
We all met up for lunch at the Owl and Oak Trading Post. It's a very well thought out activity centre with things for the kids to do,horseriding,mini zoo and a nice restaurant.
The kids play place has a HUGE slide wich has an alarming drop down.

Our friends went to go play tennis after lunch- yes they are a busy bunch- lol
We spent the time chasing the kids under Oak trees ,kicking up leaves.
It was great fun!

Pics of the rolling hills of Dullstroom,theBIG slide,and kids kicking up leaves

Dullstroom

We went with friends to Dullstroom for the long weekend. Dullstroom is situated at 2000 meters above sealevel- higher than Jo'burg- can you believe it. It is beautifull with the landcsape consisting of rolling hills and pine forests. We stayed at Greystone Lodge and was pleasently surprised by the quality and standard of the chalets. The last time we went to Dullies was when I was expecting Andrew- in fact it was a month before he was born.

The view from our chalet was of a pond that was as smooth as a mirror in the early morning.

The dam is well stocked with trout and the owner was telling us they stock it from Machadadorp. Trout need running water to breed

The pics are of the view from our chalet and of course the traditional braai.

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods On Friday #26
Here are this week’s four questions. This week I’m doing something a little different by going with four questions that all share a theme. The theme is “dinner out”.

#1. When going out to dinner what items do your order? Appetizers, soup, salad, dinner, dessert.
Depends on the time of day, the occassion and the people I'm with.Usually if it is with hubbie and kids just a quick main meal. Out with friends- a more leasuerley affair with appetisers and deserts

#2. How predictable are you when eating out? Do you usually order a meal that you’ve had before or do you like to try new things?
Depends on the restaurant- certain place certain things- new or irregular visted- new things
#3. When eating at a restaurant, what beverage do you like to order with your meal?
White wine
#4. Name a meal that you ate at a restaurant that you liked so much you tried to recreate it, as well as the name of the restaurant and the recipe.
I know my strength and weeknesses- one weakness is not creating dishes from restaurants -lol

Booking Through Thursday

Whht with me battling to log on and being away I have quite a bit of catching up to do.
So bare with me!!

Springing April 24, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:37 am



Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season. What I want to know, is:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

I read what I get my hands on- mind you I do tend towards chicklit for the beach. Enjoy Spring- We are firmly heading for winter over here- It's time to get ot the winter woolies!!

Winter

Winter has set in with a bang. I normally dont like winter much. Mainly because of the cold dark mornings and me having to get up early. But I have decided that this Winter I will stop moaning and enjoy this season too. There is something special about a Winter Morning Sunrise. It seems to me to be more brilliant because of the cold,crisp air.
I need to go find some proper jerseys and shirts though. I'd like to get that before this weekend. LOL- I dont think it's going to happen.

Eczema

Andrew's eczema has flared up badly again, so I made a trip to the chemist to get all kinds of mootie for the child. Shopping in loadshed Sandton is quite a feat. Not only is the traffic lights out but a lot of shops close-because they cant run their tills etc whitout electricity.
Most of the bigger shops have generators though, but I needed to go to some clothes shops as well- didn't happen cause they were closed.
I got some Epimax Plus, tissue salts no1, and a new kiddie shake called superkids. It has got Omega 3 & 6 in. Unfortunately it has soy in which makes it horrible- according to Andrew.
So now I'm sneaking it into his food- a teaspoon in the pronutro, a teaspoon in his juice... you get the picture. So we'll see what happens.
Lets hope we get this sorted soon!!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm taking the easy way out again. We have a lady at the office that makes prepared meals and they are devine. So depending on whether she delivers today or tomorrow we will either have chicken pie or fish pie tonight with veggies.
Tuesday:Spaghetti bolognaise (this I will make myself)
Wednesday: Chicken Tagine
Thursday: Woolies Soup with a nice bread

What cheek

I bashed my side mirror by accident and by my own stupidity on Friday afternoon,while the kids where in the car.
The whole weekend the peanut gallery from the backseat of the car went something like this:
Mommy dont break your other mirror- then you wont be able to drive any more.
Mommy dont scrape the back of the car.
Mommy stop driving so fast.
Mommy dont drive like a palooka.

I mean really now- you'd think these kids where in mortal danger when driving with me!! PMSL

What a busy day

Andrew had a playdate this morning and of course I went with. Much to the Grandfather's astonishment. He thought it would be quite fine to drop of a 4-year old at a strangers house. Not going to happen!! The kids had fun though. When we left I asked Andrew if he would come next time by himself. Now that I had vetted the place out and made sure no demented sex crazed people lived there. His answer- no Mommy you must come with. Thank goodness. Reprieve for paranoid mom.

Then in the afternoon we went to Kiara's party at Lala Panzi. What a lovely venue. Huge big tea garden with jungle gyms, Jumping Castle, pony rides etc. They even had a show for the kids for an hour. The kids loved it. I have newfound respect for Laura though. It is not a short trip from Joburg and Laura travels this road almost every weekend to visit her friends. I dont think I would do it as cheerfully as she does it.

Four Foods on Friday

Here's the Four Foods on Friday. It's week 25.
This week’s meme is sponsored by FoodSaver.
Any regular participant of FFOF, that has played 6x or more is eligible to receive a link in my sidebar if they want one, all they need do is ask.
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. Cottage cheese. Small curd, large curd, chunk or whipped?
Oh LOL-It always amazes me how there is diferent produce in America versus SA.
We dont have small curd,large curd. We have chunky and smooth- I prefer chunky- but use cottage cheese for chip dips- so then I prefer smooth.
#2. Burgers. Made fresh, preformed fresh or preformed frozen?
Made fresh!! But am quite capable of doing the lazy performed frozen one.
#3. If you could only buy one kind of salad dressing what would it be?
We have a lovely slad dressing made by Ina Paarman- It's balsamic vinegar mixed with a dash of olive oil and herbs. It's very nice
#4. Share a crockpot or slow cooker recipe.
I throw whatever veggies I have, with some lentils and either beef or chicken, some herbs, stock, and depending on wheter I want a stew or soup adjust the amount of water. Oh and some garlic and small tin of tomato paste for good measure.

Busy Today

Vocabulary April 17, 2008
Filed under: Drafts — --Deb @ 1:11 am

Suggested by Nithin:
I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

It depends- if it is at the end of the story,pharagraph,chapter- I will stop to look it up. If it is in the middle of the sentence - I ask my husband- English is after all his first language- but inevitably he wont know either. Usually then he is intrigued enough to get up an look the word up.But I hate not knowing the meaning of a word- It drives me dilly.

Wednesday

I have a bit of catching up to do- as my internet connection has been slow or non existant and I have been quite busy running around, attending courses, taking cars to service centres.
So not much happening, I am just frantically trying to catch up with everything.

Persuasive Persuading

I'm on a course and we have to persuade people tomorrow to our point of view. And I have always been bad at debates. Better go prepare as I forgot about todays homework. :))

Indian Ladies

I met a very interesting Indian Lady today. Indian ladies always seem to carry themselves with such grace. They have these long slender fingers that fascinate me endlessly.

She's had a very interesting life and has tried to better herself while taking care of her family. She studied part time while having young kids, being a wife,working full time and having no domestic help. She managed to finish her degree and has gone on to be very succesfull in her career.

Her sons are now grown and she is a grannie of a one year old. She was telling me how her oldest son decided to get married very young. She and her husband tried to disuade him, but he insisted and got married at the age of 21. He assured his parents that they would wait to have a child, but were pregnant within the first month of their marriage.

She assured me that there is life after toddlers and that you do get to sit down eventually and finish a cup of coffee in peace. I wonder if she will think I'm nuts if I take a picture of her hands tomorrow?

I couldn't resist

posting pics of these lillies. I bought them last week and they have really opened up beautifully. I really like their colour.It reminds me of peaches and cream :))

Oh lordie

lordie me!! Why is it that mothers think they have to pass ALL their wisdom onto their daughters in sermons? We vistited my mom today and well lets just say by 3'o clock I was grinding my teeth. LOL

I of course just HAD to fall in by Marlise ,after that,to have a glass of wine- cause I was finished!

I'm adding a pic of the kids- they were so excited to climb the gate all by themselves- shouting at me the whole time to come look and take a picture!!

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods on Friday. It's week 24.
This week’s meme is sponsored by Soda Club.
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. What’s your favorite food smell?
Freshly baked bread

#2. What’s your favorite kind of apple?
The Royal Gala ones

#3. What veggies do you like in your salad?
Tomatoes,cucumber,salad leaves

#4. Share a recipe that uses beef.
* Skip* - cant think of any right now

Booking Through Thursday

Writing Challenge April 10, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:07 am

Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together….(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

Ha- I dont believe this- the last time I did the 123 meme it was the exact same book that 'm going to comment on now- A Saucerfull of secrets by Jane Yardley- mainly because I'm at the office and I lent the book out- and they brought it back just today-lol

Anyways here goes
Imogen shut her eyes. The birth certificate arrived by that morning's post.

Stresses and strains of working life

Overheard in the lift today:
He must have special skills as a *insert jobtitle here* if he cant times 8 by 7.
LOL
Clearly his colleagues is a bit fed up.

Digiscrap Tuesday

I'm really starting to enjoy this hobby. The best is that there is no mess lying around when I'm doing it- it's all on the computer. A bonus for me as I'm not the neatest!

This kit is from Dnad,and the wordart from Elegant wordart

Menu Plan Monday

So I have no clue what we'll be eating this week- I just know I'm sick and tired of Woolies food now.
So tonight will be the Chicken stew leftovers
Tuesday- Cottage Pie
Wednesday-Tjops with squash
Thursday- Roast Chicken with Salad

Ha- I just thought that up as I typed- lol

Urghh man

Just as I thought Carmen's fever on Friday was just a teething one, she coughs all night, the whole night last night. Keeping us all up for most of the night with it.
And she didn't stop during the day either. So Rinex, Stopayne and Ventolin are now my firm friends and I really am not expecting much sleep tonight.
And it is not as if I can keep her at home tomorrow or even get home a bit earlier. I have meetings all day which I cant get out of and Pierre is pretty much in the same boat. Ag man I hate when this happens. I hope she will be ok tomorrow.

Pills and glasses

I decided today to go get new frames. The ones that I currently have is being held together by sticky tape- dont laugh so loud over there. The last time I went I got myself a fairly expensive set- which doesn't work at all for me as the kids are forever bashing into my glassses for whatever rhyme or reason. So I decided to get myself a cheapie pair.
The frame shop has changed hands again- what's new- and when I stopped there Andrew piped up from the back.- O I thought we were getting cooldrink glasses -lol
Of course kids where trying on frames with me.
Imagine trying on new frames and keeping and eye on a 4 and 2 year old - preventing them from destroying the shop. Quite a feat- I can tell you that. My next job will be UN president. As I now know how to negotiate my way out of a paper bag -LOL.

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods on Friday. It's week 23.

Any regular participant of FFOF, that has played 6x or more is eligible to receive a link in my sidebar if they want one, all they need do is ask.
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. American cheese. Sliced fresh or prepackaged processed cheese product?
Huh- American cheese- is it cheddar cheese?
#2. What is your favorite cracker?
Like a savoury biscuit?
It's Saltycrax by far!!
#3. What hot breakfast cereal do you like? Think oatmeal, farina, grits, etc.
Not a great fan of porridge- but do like a bowl of Oatmeal every now and again- try it with a dasg of whiskey and cream
#4. Share a recipe that uses corn.
Umm- I've done the sweetcorn bread recipe- so the only other recipe I have for corn is to boil it on the cob and eat with butter and salt.

Booking Through Thursday

Lit-Ra-Chur April 3, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:21 am

When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
Funny enough I only use that word in reference to "Modern Literature" i.e magazines,newspapers and increasingly blogs. I never think of it in the context of the Classics- Tolstoy, Shakespeare etc- those are just books or plays to be read

Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?
Well obviously in school- I had to read the classics- but luckily for the most apart enjoyed it- but I didn't enjoy it when we had to pull the book apart and analyse it- if I like a book I just want to read it and enjoy it- not bother about subplots and themes and all that jazz.
But now- if there is a classic I haven't read yet and think I would like it - I do pick it up just to read.
I even got the kids a simplified version of Shakespeare's plays- so we can enjoy those stories together. Also the same on famous opera's- I've got a kiddie version that is easy to read and understand. I have a duty after all to let Carmen understand where her name comes from. :)

Man I'm so excited

My friend, Jeanette's blog won the Sa Photographic blog of the year award. Huge congrats!! I think she is very talented and deserving of the award.

Of course my pic of her is not nearly as good as any of her pics- but this is showing her as we know her- camera in hand :)

Roundup of the month

This month things feel like they have quitened down a bit. The kids seem more settled in school, Pierre seems to have found peace in his decision and I'm starting to feel more like a contributing member of the work force- it took me four years- but I'm getting there :)
Pierre had a birthday- and I think he got spoiled enough for him to feel special.
Andrew got TWO big knocks on his head- the last one though seems to have finally subsided. Read about it here.
And of course we had a lovely weekend away with friends. Just what the docter ordered.
I'm looking forward to April with all it's long weekends. Whoohoo!!