just another day...

Some days I really love to blog and others just seem to be an effort... I want to but I don't actually have anything to blog about, or my photos aren't ready, or I haven't finished my scrap layouts to scan, or or or.... And today is one of those days (or rather this week!)... hence this waffle post about absolutely nothing (Thanks Jacki for your influence about blogging about nothing and yet still finding something to say!)

And so we carry on browsing the net, reading blogs in Google Reader, and doing a bit of work inbetween.

Till next time when maybe (?) I will have more to say.

Photos from KwaMaritane

These are some of the photos from our weekend in Kwa Maritane... I just haven't had time to do the collages as I normally do and its been nagging at me to post these... so here they are in the rough format.

The zebra(s) wondering past

Aaron playing in the kids area

The sugardbird... yes it's that black thing in the middle of the photo
Aaron on the trampoline
The "monkey" in the tree
The backend of a hippo... it's the rock in the middle, closest to us...
The beautiful giraffe
Some little warthogs
One of many impala
My first glimpse of the elephant approachng the waterhole
The big elephant at the waterhole
Aaron watching the elephant from inside the hide
When we came back this is the site that greeted us.... a whole herd of elephants with the one tusker in the middle
Lots of elephant feet
Aw even the babies....

And so ended our awesome weekend.

Our weekend in the wild

I've typed the post but just haven't managed to get anywhere near the 150+ photos to edit them for this post... but thought I'd best put up the text before it gets toooooooooooo stale.

On Friday I left work and after stopping to get the post and some breadrolls, I was home by 1:45. Packed the suitcases and all the kitchen/food stuff and so was ready and waiting for Keith from 2:30. Decided to watch "Back to the Furture III" that I had recorded last Sunday. Finished watching it as Keith arrived home. We packed the car and were ready to leave by 4:30.... and then things went downhill from there!!!!

NB... if you have a GPS... DON'T USE IT... espcially not to find somewhere as simple as Sun City... rather use a map!! Reason why? Well ours was programmed with the correct coordinates to get us to Kwa Maritane, but it took us on the shortest route... which happened to be one dirt road after another and in the weirdest of directions... until the moment I really lost faith.... we turned down a farm road, road past the farm gate and GOT STUCK IN A DITCH.... all this at around 6pm... by now we should have almost have been there!! Anyway, we walked up to the farm house and the very nice farmer agreed to bring his bakkie to pull us out... but then he too got stuck in a ditch. So he had to go find his tractor and then pull his bakkie out before he could pull us out. Thank goodness we were right next to his farm lands with no fence and he pull us right up off the road and onto level ground on his farm. He then showed us how to get out of there and back onto CIVILISED roads! As to WHERE we were... who knows... just VERY LOST. So after phoning and smsing back and forth to my folks to give them a headsup and get more directions, we eventually arrived at Kwa Maritane at 9pm... our 2 hour journey took 4.... not nice!!!!

Had a good cuppa coffee and then some supper and headed to bed just after 10pm... have no idea what the place even looked like as everything is dark and I was toooooooo stressed to worry about it... more exploring in the morning. Aaron was worried about us too and so had sat up watching Mulan on tv which finished as we arrived and then he went to bed.

Saturday morning Aaron knocked on our bedroom door at quarter to 8... I thought it was still early as it was dark in our room, but once we opened the curtains and surfaced a bit we realised it was after 8 already.

I made us breakfast... french toast... then it was time to get dressed and do some exploring. Walked up to the main reception and ended up watching a movie all about the Rhino... very very interesting... about how they rhinos in Pilansberg were dying from some mystery... eventually they found that the teenage elephants relocated from the Kruger were attacking and killing the rhinos.

Went back to the apartment for tea, saw some zebras and hornbills around. (My camera battery died here and so had to get it charged for the rest of the day and didn't get any photos... will have to get them from Mom when they get back). After tea and while waiting for lunch, Aaron roade his bike around the area just in front of our apartment... we also saw a big baboon here... how he got in who knows... but the staff know all about him so weren't too phased. Whilst this was happening we heard an almighty yell from the other side of the apartments and just thought it was one of the children from the neighbours... once we went to inspect, we discovered a troop of baboons moving past, and one of them had touched the electric fence... rather a shocking experience.

After lunch we did a self-drive game drive... Aaron ended up sleeping through most of it. We saw impala, wildebeest, lots of zebra, girrafe, elephants (in the distance). We stopped at one of the waterholes where they have a hide and there we saw a lone elephant just leaving, plus some pied kingfishers (one of who caught a small fish right in front of me), plus two different types of leguane. One the journey home we saw a kudu or two and then the best of all.. a white rhino, who actually crossed the road right in front of our car.

Made it back to the appartment at 5... Keith went off to watch the rugby, I made a start on supper and Aaron & Papa played cards. Keith watched the second half of the rugby with us as he said the beer prices in the bar were toooooooooooooo expensive... R25 for a draught! We had supper around 7:30... far later than I would have liked... but that's rugby for you.. can't braai till it's finished... urgh!

One of the things Aaron had been looking forward to all week was being able to sleep in bunkbeds over the weekend... but when Papa, Granny & Aaron arrived on Friday evening they discovered that it was only two single beds in the loft and not bunkbeds... so Friday night Aaron slept on a mattress next to Papa (he didn't want to be far away from everyone)... but on Saturday night, Keith said he would sleep with him upstairs... so that's where the boys slept... and I had out room all to myself... no snoring to keep me awake!

I got woken at 7am on Sunday morning... Keith hadn't had a very warm sleep so came to crawl back into our bed for another hour sleep. Aaron and I got up and made coffee fore everyone.

Granny made us breakfast .... okay I helped too make the scrambled eggs in the microwave.... Once we were all dressed we took a bit of a walk to explore the resort... found a signboard with a list of the animals and where they were found... no wonder we saw so many zebras... there are over 1000 of them. They had 160 rhinos but we only saw 1.

In our exploration, we found the kiddies playground... Aaron played soccer with one other little boy for a bit, tried out the slide and also the swings. We then explored some more and found where the putt putt and trampoline were. By the trampoline we spied a Black Sugarbird up in the one tree... tried to snap a shot of him.

Again went back to the apartment for tea and then afterwards Keith & Aaron decided to stay behind while Papa, Granny & I went on another self-drive game drive.... just a short one. This time we managed to see giraffe, wildebeest (only 2 or 3), a red hartebeest, some warthog and impala... oh and the behind of a hippo at the waterhole... he was too busy munching to even turn slightly!

Got back to find the boys gone... had to get let in by the domestic! So off Papa went to find them while Granny & I put together lunch and then I packed our stuff ready for the trip home.

Had a great lunch and just after we cleared up I looked across the open expanse towards the waterhole and THERE WAS AN ELEPHANT!!!! Boy was I excited... grab the camera, snap some shots and then Aaron and I headed (at a run!) to the waterhole. He/She was AWESOME... oh the beauty of such a great beast.... took tons of photos and then he/she disappeared into the bush... so we decided to leave. As we got to the steps leading up to the hide one of the young girls we passed said there were six elephants coming in with babies... so we went back... and there was a hold horde of elephants.... oh stunning, aweinspiring, breathtaking... so took more and more photos... counted at the end of the day I took around 101 pics just of the elephants!

Once the elephants eventually left we decided it was also time for us to be heading home... so packed the car and left Kwa Maritane and Papa & Granny behind... left at 3pm, followed the tar road all the way home (ignoring the silly GPS) and were home at 5pm!

What a great great weekend in God's almighty creation.

Thursday....

.... well this morning I awoke with a pain... no not the hubby :-) but rather a pain in the mouth... a back molar saying "ouch".... so quickly phone the dentist... no luck of an appointment.... phoned second dentist... be there at 10:30 they said. So off I went and after a few painful (yes painful!) injections, some drilling, some more injections, and then filling it up... I am now painfree (till the injections wear off I gues!)... anyway he had to take out an inflamed nerve.... thank goodness I did get it sorted as tomorrow we are off to Kwa-Maritane for the weekend... looking forward to that.

An update on last night.... Wacky Wednesday special at Steers is VERY popular... especially around 7pm just before the movie starts.... so next time... leave a bit earlier and you won't eat in such a rush!... hehehe... read between the lines here and you will figure out that we cut it a bit fine... but we did still manage to be seated BEFORE the movie actually started.

Keith and I went to see "The Proposal".... lovely movie,.... great acting and good story line... and they all lived happily ever after.... just my kind of movie. Well worth seeing (almost could see it again as a chick flick!).

I also managed to play rather nicely yesterday on my new cell phone... an LG KS360.... I got it to go on the internet... surfed facebook and posted... linked to twitter and posted.... now must just find a few other things to do still... but so far so good.

Results of my weekend scrapping

So... in my last post I said I would give you my layouts that I did... well here they now are... enjoy! And please remember to leave me a comment or two so that I know you stopped by!

In this art layout I made a little accordian album and have included small photos of all of Aaron's artwork through the year... small compact and in one place... now all the orginals are in the "Ronnie Bag" recycling.... this is definately a good tip for keeping all thos works of art without the space!

And now you know..... and I haven't scrapped since Saturday (okay technically Sunday morning when I did the finishing touches to some of these).

Yesterday I went and did all those errands that have been bugging me for a while but were awkward to do with Aaron tagging along... so got my haircut, went to Nedbank to close my accounts, popped into Cell-C shop to find out about my upgrade options... and decided there and then to do it... so got myself a new toy to play with... now I can do twitter & facebook off my cellphone too! I also went shopping for books... bad me... actually I was looking for a birthday present for my friend Judi and the books jumped out and said... pick me pick me... and so I did.

Aaron is having fun at my folks... this week he has been colouring-in in a new book Granny bought him, they've been for walks up to the car dealership around the corner and seen some vintage cars, plus he has been riding his bike. Oh and also looking forward to our weekend in Pilansberg coming up... actually he is more looking forward to being able to sleep in a bunk bed... Aaron phoned me this morning to please remember to pack in the sides off his bed "just in case the bunk bed doesn't have sides"... too sweet.

I plan to sew this afternoon once home... but don't hold your breathe... it might not happen!!! hehehe. Tonight hubby and I are going to see "The Proposal" plus get Steers for supper... you know a Wacky Wednesday special... and Nu Metro has a R15 policy for Wednesdays too... so it shouldn't be tooooooooooo expensive an evening out.

Off to carry on playing with my phone...

Sorry....

for the silence. I'm not ignoring my blog... just with being sick last week, scrapping over the weekend and visiting Aaron on Sunday... plus now back at work... I haven't had time to blog.

Oh plus I've just finished reading an awesome inspiring book this morning... The Centurion's Wife, by Davis Bunn.... it was sooooooooooooo nice to read a different perspective on the cruxifiction of Christ and the events that happened afterwards.

So I promise... I will still this week upload my scrap layouts from the weekend... just please be patient with me.

ScrapShack Design Team

Well I got the news yesterday... and..... NO sorry I didn't make it :( better luck next time I reckon. But hey I'm VERY chuffed with the stuff I made for my submission so reckon that is enough consolation.

Our first task was to create a single page about myself... so I found a photo of me doing what I normally do... take photos!

Our next task was to create a double page showing three techniques. I did hybrid scrapping... added a frame on the main photo before printing. Secondly I sanded and inked all my photos. Thirdly I made a mini album. Oh and for added fun... I used LOTS of photos and even added flowers.

Our last task was to do a mixed media mini album. Well this involved quite a bit of detective work to find the album to start with... and in the process I visited a new scrap shop (new to me!). And so here is the album I made... all about me turning 40.

The front page is a transparency on which I painted, stamped and stuck the "FORTY" off my birthday card
This is the inside of the front page and then the one opposite which peaks through

Next two pages... also a transparency page... full of dots... so I used stickers on some of them.

The back of the transparency where I did some journalling... and then a huge enlargement... this peaks through the transparency too... nice effect.

And then there is also felt pages... how do you attach photos to felt???? Well I stitched a frame on and then stuck the photos to the paper.

But sneaky sneaky... I actually did this side of the felt page first... sewed the photos on and then hid their stitching on the other side. Another transparency page too... added a rubon for extra effect.

The other side of the transparency. And then as a small surprise I made a mini-album of some of the scenery photos
Here's the inside of the mini album... each pocket was stitched around the photo to enclose it.

The next two pages... patwork patterned paper and then stitched photos onto felt

The last page... the stitching frame here is from the previous page... also enclosed the photo into a pocket with stitching and stickers.

A lot of these ideas I found on the Fancy Pants website gallery and so thanks so much to them for the inspiration. The sketch for the double page was from Nuts about Sketches blog... a great place for sketches.

And so all I can say now is.... good luck to the three girls who did make the design team... especially Sophia!

It's nice to scrap

The one really nice thing about my "mom's holiday time" is that I get to scrap from the time I get home until I decide to call it quits ... usually around 6:30 when it's time to make supper. So yesterday I did just that... but it really was only finishing off two layouts.

Did the journalling on this one... had made the layout about two weeks ago and on Saturday did the title.... it was a slow process of dithering as to the"how"

On Saturday afternoon, Judi came to scrap and this is the other layout I started... but it was another slow day and I eventually dithered and faffed over the layout yesterday and got it done... journalling, title and stickers.

Now this afternoon I hope to tackle some of the 30 layouts I planned a few weeks back... will see how far we get and will show you once done.

Just an update of sorts..... I'm STILL waiting to hear about the Scrap Shacks Design Team... once I hear I will show you what I made.

Spoke to Aaron on the phone yesterday... he is having fun with his cousin (my brother is up from Durban for three days and brought his oldest daughter with him who is 16).... Aaron has got Kelly doing all sorts of things she doesn't normally do at home... like building puzzles, playing Old Maid, War, Go Fish and Snap... fun being 7 and being "the boss"!!!

I'm on holiday....

from being a MOM that is... hehehe.

Aaron is away at my folks for the next two weeks and I've now got two weeks to sleep late, no early morning school run, no rushing here there and everywhere..... just time for me and time to do the things I want to... like meet with friends, go to the bank (something I've put off for a while now), sew, scrap, read, sleep, etc, etc.

EXCEPT..... Aaron phoned at 10 to 7 this morning and WOKE ME UP!!!! hehehehe.... so even when he is away from home, he still wakes me up.

More holiday club fun

Today's fun for holiday club is... CRAZY HAIR DAY....

Well Aaron and I visited a few shops yesterday looking for coloured hairspray... the only colours available were yellow or gold and I didn't think either would work on his blonde hair so we didn't get it. I then did a few internet searches to see what other options we might have... you know food colouring or some such... it all sounded WAY to messy and time intensive.... and Aaron had just said "spiky hair".... so after lathering him full of gell and then applying hairspray to make sure it stuck, this is the result:

One of the leaders said he looked like a porcupine! hehehe.

There were some very crazy hairstyles all over the school this morning.... ponytails in odd places, coloured hair and even multiple ponys.... the girl leaders got hold of one of the guy leaders who has fairly long hair and made LOTS of little ponies all over his head... looked scary never mind crazy!!! Didn't get photos, sorry!

Holiday Club

Aaron has gone to Holiday Club at school for this week... it is run by Northcliff Union Church with the help of youth from various other churches... including 8 youngsters from our church, Strubensvalley United. Each morning Aaron is very excited about going, so here's a bit of the goings on for you to enjoy too....

On Monday afternoon he came home and said that he had to have a crazy hat for Tuesday... so with some help from Mommy we made him a paper hat, wrote bible verses on circles and cut them into spirals then stapled them all over his hat. He actually got to go up on stage and received a chomp for his effort... well done!

This morning I took my camera along and took a few pics of the goings one.. this is the hall that has been done up...
Aaron is in the Troopers team.

Early morning madness... registration and collection of name tags... plus each day the kids have a memory verse to learn and have to recite it as soon as they arrive... on Monday Aaron forgot totally so it wasn't done but we did practice yesterday's one ... Romans 3:23 and so he recited it this morning.

And today is "Inside Out" day... the kids had to wear their clothes inside out... Aaron had lots of laughs about this.
One of the other things that they can do is write letters to each other... so Aaron wrote to one of the girls ... nope not a girlfriend just a friend from Sunday School.... and he proudly posted it this morning too.

Will find out later today what tomorrow holds in stall.... plus I still want to get a few more pics during the week.... will make a nice scrapbook page I'm sure.