Monday, June 30, 2008

Blogging

I'm starting to think that blogging is a bit like photojournalism. ie. take a picture and write a story about it. .
Watch this space :)

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sunday

Birthday Lunch today with my mom.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Saturday

My mom's Birthday today- whohoo- Happy Birthday!!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Friday

We drove back today with me and Pierre both quite sick. Blegh - not a lekker journey

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Planes


One of my dad's traditions when he goes down to the seeside is to build a big sand castle. He always used to build me and my sister at least one big thing on a seaside holiday. We've had planes,boats,trains, big castles and many more. So of course he had to build for something for the kids. He build them a plane. But this is the first time he was aked to add guns to his creation. LOL I think the most my sister and I used to add was shells. We all commented that you could see a boy was involved in the construction. Andrew just kept on asking Oupa to add a gun. LOL

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wednesday



Seecastles. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had lovely sunny days and the kids thouroughly enjoyed the see and sand.
We went to a coffee estate today on Port Edward. It is very interesting to see how the coffee grows. And I'm sure this coffee farm must have one of the best views- with a view of the see and rolling hilltops. Devine.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tuesday




We stayed in Glenmore in a beautifull house which had a lovely view of the see. It was idyllic. Except for the few crime incidents the lady told us they have had at the house- which had me a bit nervous the first night- but gradually I relaxed. We went to go eat at the famous waffle house in Ramsgate today. I think that could be my sole reason for wanting to move down to the south coast. Sand see and...waffles. LOL

Monday, June 23, 2008

Monday

And we left for holiday. Whohoo!! All the way down to the South Coast which should have been a 7 hour drive- except we took a "shortcut" over Richmond and Ixopo. BIG mistake. It added another hour and a half to our drive. It's lovely countryside with rolling hills,forests and sugar plantations. But the road is narrow and potholed. With lots of trucks on it. And roadworks. Plus we were desperately looking for a bank. We eventually found one in Ixopo- but when I mentioned that I would like to transfer money to another bank the staff was clearly in a flap.And called the manager. Who asked me very kindly if I would mind drawing the cash and then walk across the road to deposit the cash into the other bank. LOL clearly transfers are a challenge in small towns.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Braai

Braai at my parents today. My cousin unexpectedly arrived and the poor guy had an unfortunate incident with a cow. His bakkie collided with one. Bakkie a write of and cousins arm broken. Cow 1 Cousin 0.
He told us that it happened in front of a shebeen late at night. He passed out and his girlfriend that was in the car with him was sleeping. She didnt know where they were. So to get their location out of the shebeen patrons was quite a task. Eventually someone helped her and she could phone the emergency services.
But once they got there they refused to take my cousin to a hospital- as he insisted to be taken to a private hospital- and their mandate state that they have to take you to the closest hospital which in this case was a governement instituition. Eventually his girlfriend convinced then to give him some painkillers and a friend arrived to help him get to a private hospital.
Because of the accident his bosses decided to promote him. LOL I also dont get it.
He has been transferred to Nelspruit. His manager teased him and said that if he was that desperate for biltong he should have just asked. LOL - at least they had a sense of humour about it.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

So did you

mis me hu,hu? LOL Bear with me as I update you on my doings -lol

Friday, June 20, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods On Friday #34 questions
You know after a weekend away and not having a FFOF round up to do I completely slipped my mind I hadn’t written any questions for this week. Oops! I’m so sorry about that. A couple of you emailed asking about FFOF today and I thank you for that. I’m putting up a really easy set of questions for this week. If anyone wants to answer them that’s great and if not I totally understand since it’s so last minute. Either way, business as usual will resume next week. So, here’s my questions for this week.
1. What is one food that is grown, produced or made near where you live.
Mielies,Maize, Corn- whatever you want to call it- it is a SA favorite- and increasingly being used for bio-fuel.

2. What is one food from another location that you haven’t had anything like anywhere else
Uhhm- believe it or not- the sushi from Investec(rival bank and building across the road from my possie) - I'm yet to find a sushi chef as good as that!

3. What is your favorite food from somewhere else?
The really good italian icecreams in Germany- sometimes you have them for breakfast- that's how good they are!!

4. Share a family, ethnic or international recipe.
Waterblommetjie bredie
Waterblommetjies is a water flower grown in the Cape region.
You make the most delish stew with it , with mutton.
Basically it's just mutton,onion,waterblommetjies and some pepper and lemon juice. Of course the obligatory stockcube
Brown meat and onion.
Chuck all in pot, let stew for 2-3 hours. Serve with rice. Delish!!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

Flavor June 19, 2008
Filed under: Drafts — --Deb @ 1:40 am

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Yoh- that's quite a mouthfull- I love Anne Tyler books cause they are so real! And the people face crises in their live like we all do- by ignoring them,hoping they go away,fighting with their loved ones,walking out- and then eventually facing them and coming up with a solution.

As I get more older- and hopefully a bit wiser- I enjoy characters that has a bit of humility about them- because it is sometimes only with other peoples grace that we learn,live and hope as much as we do.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

German Needles

Arrgh. Andrew hasn't been feeling well the past two days and last night we saw the tell-tale rash. German Measles.
Andrew calls it German Needles- they make my bum itch mom!
Thank Goodness Pierre has had GM as a child. He immediatly recognised it and dashed out to go get some calamine lotion. If he hadn't recognised it- I would have fretted al night about the childs "red skin". And sped of to the pead in the morning.
So I'v stopped all other flue meds I was given Andrew and I'm schmeering him with calamine and giving him stopayne for the discomfort.
We just have to ride it out now and hope and pray Carmen doesn't get it- as we are going away next week.
One good thing is now that the rash has appeared al the other niggles have disappeared -so he is feeling much better. Just a bit bored- as we cant go out- and no one can come visit us, much to Andrew's disgust. LOL

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Holiday

It was a holiday today- A nice long weekend. Hope you enjoyed!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Fathersday

We had my mom and dad over for Breakfast. It was just a nice lazy day. My mom said they had to go back early- as she had to go have a nap. LOL Aging is not for sissies.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Cardinal Sin

I committed a cardinal sin this weekend. I forgot my laptop at work- LOL. It felt like I lost a limb. I kept on thinking that I would have a chance to nip out to the office to get it,but we all know how it goes over the weekend with small kids and all the household stuff that need to gets sorted.
So I'm furiously trying to catch up- Bear with me. :)

Friday, June 13, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods On Friday #33 questions
For the 33rd edition of Four Foods On Friday I’m departing from the traditional four questions to answer. I’ll be away next weekend so I will not be doing a post on Friday 06/13/08 containing highlights from the weeks answers.
I’m going to try an idea Kelly had a while back and see how it goes. So here’s what I’m thinking. I’ve written down the first four letters of the alphabet, and two foods that start with that letter. I’d like everyone to post a recipe or menu idea based on at least one item from each letter. I think it might be fun to see the different answers you all come up with when dealing with the same foods.
A - asparagus, applesauce
B - balsamic vinegar, bread
C - chicken, cinnamon
D - dressing, dumpling
I’ll be home until Friday morning, so if you post and comment before then your comment will be taken out of moderation by me. I am going to ask one of you to moderate my comments so that any comments for FFOF made after I leave will appear on the questions. I hope that you will all visit each other, as you usually do. If any of you decide you want to do a post on your own blog highlighting the answers for the week I’ll place your banner on this blog for two weeks as my way of saying thanks. I hope this week’s idea is fun. If it isn’t, or if you have a suggestion that might improve it, please let me know.
Have a great week!
EDIT - IF YOU’RE REALLY HAVING A HARD TIME WITH IT JUST POST A RECIPE FOR ANY ONE THING.

A - asparagus, applesauce
Asparagus with steamed with hot butter and salt- mmmm
B - balsamic vinegar, bread
Balsamic vinegar on salad
C - chicken, cinnamon

Roast Chicken my fav!!
D - dressing, dumpling

Dresiing- balsamic vinegar- hie hie

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

Clubbing June 12, 2008
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:11 am

A combo of two suggestions by: Heidi and by litlove
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?
Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!




PMSL- I just have to laugh at this- The bookclub I belong to is more like a ladies night out club. A place to let your hair down,talk a lot of crap and just generally for one night a month forget you are a mom,wife,employee or anything really that requires responsibility.
There is a basket with books. Everyone just take out every month what they want to read and put in some books they have read that they would like to share.
The most discussion we have around these books is whether, what kind of book it was and was it a good read. This never takes longer than 10 minutes.
Oh I forgot- we actually do read at this club- We read the wine labels. LOL

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday

I found this meme- I thought it looked interesting.

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: amanuensis \uh-man-yoo-EN-sis\

noun:
A person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts.
Amanuensis comes from Latin, from the phrase (servus) a manu, “slave with handwriting duties,” from a, ab, “by” + manu, from manus, “hand.”



Slave with handwriting duties. LOL - that must have been quite an achievement as most slaves weren't taught to read or write. It must have been quite a jobtitle

HAHA It seems as it is still used as a jobtitle
Some very famous people had amanuensis's
There is even a website

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Winter

I have been trying to enjoy winter a bit more than I usually do- and I must admit I think I'm winning.
I enjoy cuddling on the couch under blankets with the kids.
I enjoy the kids coming to snuggle with us in bed.
I love soup
I love the new, vibrant coloured blouses I bought myself for winter.
I love seeing the sunrise in the morning- In summer the sun is up too early for me to catch it.
I love that winter will be over eventually.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Pure Bliss

I must admit- we were thouroughly spoiled this weekend. I could want for nothing and if I needed something it was there in a flash. Thouroughly decadent!! It was so good Pierre and I are considering it seriously to go there for our 40'th Birthday's. That would be divine.
And the kids were fine!! As always mom worries too much- and they end up having a ball!!LOL
Pierre moaned a bit about all the "work" he had to do i.e shopping,washing and cooking. PMSL.

The weather didn't play along though. It poured for most of Saturday and some on Sunday. But that didn't deter us from having an awesome time.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Inventiveness

Andrew usually falls asleep with us on the couch in the evenings. So when he asked to go to bed to go to sleep - I thought it was a bit odd. Well now I know why! The little bugger took a packet of my gum and was secretly chewing it in his bed. We discoverded the packet and chewed gum in his bed the next morning.
Little minx!! Very inventive- but we dont chew gum in bed. PMSL

Saturday, June 7, 2008

I'm away

to Knysna this weekend so I've got a weekend of. Nice to be able to think and do for myself and no kiddies to demand stuff. Although I am worried about Carmen a bit. She is very attached right now- and does not like it if I'm too far away. Lets hope she and Andrew will be ok

Friday, June 6, 2008

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods On Friday #32 questions
Hi there! Here are this week’s four questions. This week I’m again going with four questions that all share a theme. This one’s a little different, the theme is “the movies”.
#1. What snacks do you eat at the movies? Do you buy them there or bring your own?
Funny enough I'm not too much of a popcorn - it gets stuck in my teeth- but I do like a box of smarties and some juice when I go to the movies

#2. What’s your favorite food movie, or movie that shows a lot of food?
Barbette's fest- or something to that effect
#3. What food or meal do you wish was available at the movies and why?
Toffee!!
#4. What’s your most favorite way to make popcorn? Hot, cold, buttered, air, microwave, chocolate, caramel, you get it.
Hot on the stove with butter- although tje microwave one is quick and easy

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

Trends June 5, 2008
Filed under: Drafts — --Deb @ 1:36 am

Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?

Mm- I used to read quite a bit of chicklit- now I dont enjoy that as much anymore. I like books with more substance now. For non-fiction I enjoy self help kind of books.
I love a good whodunnit- although I find it quite hard to find a good one lately.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Communication

I'm currently emerging myself in best ways to communicate with people,asking question and negotiation
I came across this slide about the elements of communication- I thought I would put it down

Elements to all communication
1. Describe the situation
2. Feelings- describe your feelings about the situation or the other parties or both
3. Change- Define the change you would like to see or the other party or both
4. Benefit- make a clear statement of the benefits to you or the other person or both

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Questions

I found this on An Ordinary Life's blog. I am not going to tag anyone, so just do it if you want to. If you do, leave me a comment so I can go to your blog and read your answers.
1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? 2 Car seats , toys , some uneaten sweets- crap I better clean up a bit. LOL
2. When was the last time you threw up? Urghh last week- had a bit of a tummy bug
3. What’s your favorite curse word? FUCK
4. Name three people who made you smile today. Andrew,Carmen, Liesel (colleague)
5. What were you doing at 8am this morning? Standing and talking in our dealing room
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Going down to the canteen
7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? Driving to fetch kids
8. Have you ever been to a strip club? Yes.
9. What’s the last thing you said aloud? Thank you
10. What is the best ice cream flavor? Vanilla, made with real pods and cream.
11. What is the last thing you had to drink? Water
12. What are you wearing right now? Black pants, pink shirt
13. What was the last thing you ate? Pasta salad
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? No- but I did buy make-up.
15. When was the last time you ran? Bwahaahaa
16. What’s the last sporting event you watched? Some golf thing
17. Who’s the last person you e-mailed? A colleague about invoices
18. Ever go camping? Yes
19. Do you have a tan? Nope
20. Do you drink your soda from a straw? Yes
21. Are you someone’s best friend? Yes I hope so.
22. What are you doing tomorrow? Working!
23. Where is your mom right now? At home
24. Look to your left. Colleagues' empty chair
25. What color is your watch? Silver
26. What comes to mind when you think of Australia? Drought
27. Would you consider plastic surgery? Nope
28. What is your birthstone? Opal
29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive-thru? Depends on the kids - if they are cranky we drive through- otherwise we go in.
30. How many kids do you want? I have two
31. Do you have a dog? No
32. Last person you talked to on the phone. Hubby
33. Have you met anyone famous? Nope- but Carmen did manage to chat up Barry Ronge -PMSL
34. Any plans today? Work then sucide hour,then making pumkin lasgne for tomorrow night
35. Ever go to college? Does varsity count?
36. Where are you right now? At work
37. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? Hubbies whinging and wining
38. Last song listened to? Not sure, what ever was on the radio when I got out my car.
39. Are you allergic to anything? LOL- lately I have phases- last year it was oil, this year so far it's been stress- lol
40. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? My slippers in winter!!
41. Are you jealous of anyone? No
42. Who is your favorite actor/actress? Jody Foster
43. What time is it? 13:22
44. Do any of your friends have children? Jip.
45. Do you eat healthy? I try to- but normally eat too much of the healthy stuff as well- sigh
46. What do you usually do during the day? Work
47. How old will you be on your next birthday? 38
48. Have you ever been to Europe? Yes
49. Name one thing you’d still like to do. Walk the otter trail
50. Favorite colour? yellow

Monday, June 2, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

For this week:
Monday: Chicken stew
Tuesday: Beef Stew
Wednesday: Pumpkin Lasgane
Thursday: Sausages with Mash

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Earland






We had some friends over for lunch and made a lovely Eland Sirloin. It was delish. Pierre got the recipe out of a book- Karoo Venison. Our friend from Ireland called it earland- as she cant pronounce eland. I couldn't resist to take some pics of how the dish progressed
And then of course the pud. It was pears cooked in a red wine sauce served on an almond basket with icecream and custard

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