Thursday, 28 May 2009
Check out the Girls....
Another of my fav scrappers... Margie Romney-Aslett and her daughters have started their own business... The Girls Loft... it's a kit club....sure hope and pray we can get these here in South Africa soon too.
Today is....
World Play Day
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Who will participate: All people, from every generation. Celebration of World Play Day to create awareness of the importance of play, specifically in children’s lives, but also for families.
Where: Various homes, toy libraries, schools and communities across South Africa.
Why: The Right to Play and Recreation is a part of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31). The South African government has signed this convention. It is our aim to create awareness of and support for this Article by promoting the Right to Play through a day of playful activities and interaction.
So who is going to join me and PLAY today????
Read here for more info & song
ps... off to go play more spider solitaire on my pc till home time! I also saw the Grade 4s arrive at school today with a whole load of boardgames... so reckon they are playing too.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
It's our 14th wedding anniversary today...
.... wow we sure have stuck it out through lots of ups and downs... I think we each deserve a medal.
As a treat and to celebrate, Keith & I are going to watch Navi Redd in concert on Friday night at Garden World... really looking forward to this.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Do you need a holiday?
Well you will need to buy a raffle ticket from me NOW and then stand in line to win one... here's the bumph....
Aaron's school is holding a Passion 4 Wheels Festival on Saturday and to help this along we are having a Winter Breakaways Competition. Each ticket costs R 10.00 and all funds raised go to school facility improvements.
First correct entry drawn receives 2 Nights Accommodation for 2 people at Makalali ***** Game Lodge which includes all meals and 2 game drives per day. (R 5000.00).
Second prize is 3 Nights Accommodation for 2 people at Three Cities Zululand Safari Lodge *** (Ubizane Wildlife Game reserve) and includes breakfast.(R 3 200.00)
Bring your ticket on the day to enter the Smart Car Balloon competition to win 2 Nights for 2 people at Relais Hotels Casa do Sol Hotel & Resort **** Hazyview which includes Breakfast (value R2000).
Additional tickets can also be purchased on the day.
All Winter Breakaways by Tourvest: Live the Journey prizes are valid until 31 October 2009 and cannot be exchanged or claimed in cash.
So now, please let me know how many tickets you want and I will keep them to one side for you. If you win I will then post it here too.
Aaron's school is holding a Passion 4 Wheels Festival on Saturday and to help this along we are having a Winter Breakaways Competition. Each ticket costs R 10.00 and all funds raised go to school facility improvements.
First correct entry drawn receives 2 Nights Accommodation for 2 people at Makalali ***** Game Lodge which includes all meals and 2 game drives per day. (R 5000.00).
Second prize is 3 Nights Accommodation for 2 people at Three Cities Zululand Safari Lodge *** (Ubizane Wildlife Game reserve) and includes breakfast.(R 3 200.00)
Bring your ticket on the day to enter the Smart Car Balloon competition to win 2 Nights for 2 people at Relais Hotels Casa do Sol Hotel & Resort **** Hazyview which includes Breakfast (value R2000).
Additional tickets can also be purchased on the day.
All Winter Breakaways by Tourvest: Live the Journey prizes are valid until 31 October 2009 and cannot be exchanged or claimed in cash.
So now, please let me know how many tickets you want and I will keep them to one side for you. If you win I will then post it here too.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Google birthday wish
Google is wishing Mary Cassatt a happy birthday today... I presume she is an artist looking at the pic.... as I have said before I love getting surprised by Google when they change their logo for the day.
Congratulations Aaron
Well done Aaron on getting 20 merits... today he got to wear civies to school and received his certificate (a gold one!) in assembly. Wow this award sure came around quickly... at the beginning of the term he only had 3 merits and in the last week he suddenly got 7! Way to go.
And today is a much better day than when he got his last certificate... no tummy aches or rainy weather!
Early morning blessing
Now this is a definate worthwhile sight at 6am in the morning...
Aaron wakes up when I go to have bath, but instead of getting out of bed and making a noise, he now reaches for his bible and will read for up to 1/2 an hour.
It really warms my heart to see my little guy reading, but even more so to see him reading God's Word. Keep it up Aaron for many years to come.
Aaron wakes up when I go to have bath, but instead of getting out of bed and making a noise, he now reaches for his bible and will read for up to 1/2 an hour.
It really warms my heart to see my little guy reading, but even more so to see him reading God's Word. Keep it up Aaron for many years to come.
Photoshoot
Two weeks ago we went to Jacki's shop for a photoshoot by her friend Amelia... what a fun fun day... here are just some of my photos of that day...
Outside Jacki's shop there was a vintage ride on car... Aaron loved playing in and around it
The photographers in action....
Just a few of my snaps of us having our pics taken... can't wait to see what actually came out
And so we wait.... will show you a smattering of the pics when I get them.
Outside Jacki's shop there was a vintage ride on car... Aaron loved playing in and around it
The photographers in action....
Just a few of my snaps of us having our pics taken... can't wait to see what actually came out
And so we wait.... will show you a smattering of the pics when I get them.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Ascension Day
Today commemorates the day that Jesus rose up to heaven (see Acts 1) ... and for the first time in many years I plan to go to church tonight.... our church hasn't had a service for as long as I've been a member, but our new minister, Brian, has instituted one for tonight.
Our minister raised a very interesting point on Sunday.... who gave us Ascension Day? God of course... before the government made it a public holiday and then subsequently took it away again.... so that doesn't mean that we CAN'T celebrate.
Will report back tomorrow (hopefully) on how it went.
God be with you today and in to the future.... I worship the risen Saviour.
Our minister raised a very interesting point on Sunday.... who gave us Ascension Day? God of course... before the government made it a public holiday and then subsequently took it away again.... so that doesn't mean that we CAN'T celebrate.
Will report back tomorrow (hopefully) on how it went.
God be with you today and in to the future.... I worship the risen Saviour.
Monday, 18 May 2009
been busy scrapping
I took a week or two off from scrapping... not intentionally mind you... just been busy being creative in other directions.... I'm looking at making Christmas goodies for a Christmas market type thing that my Mom's church is holding in November.... so now I'm looking at quilling, origami, prick and stitch and even searching cross stitch patterns for my mom...
But this weekend it was back to scrapping... oh it is nice to get my hands on my goodies again! Us girls met at Gayle's house for a good scrap afternoon and a major catch up chat session.... I did manage to do some good stuff:
This was one of the layouts from the "mega day" scrap that I went to on the 1st of May.. the only one that I've finished so far... I'm quiet happy how it turned out... slightly different from the original.... they used orange for the accents but I decided red was more suited to my pics. The weaving was interesting but not something I will do in a hurry again!
Then I tackled an easy layout... used Bo bunny easter stickers and hey presto... layout done!
My fav scrap shop, Scraptifity, is closing down... sniff sniff.... but also yippee as they are having a sale... 50% off EVERYTHING... so I've been stocking up a bit... I bought a great Cosmo Cricket paper pack... Get Happy... and have used it to do the following three layouts
The middle one is one I did on Saturday and then I did the other two yesterday. As the paper is all double sided and sooooooooooooooooo nice I didn't want to waste it, so I used the back of the middle ones as the backing for both the others... they all follow each other in the album.
And to add to my scrapping addiction I'm contemplating entering to get a place on the Scrap Shack's design team.... going to be doing lots of scrapping in the next two weeks to get my entries organised.... still trying to source the stuff I need to use though :(
Well to end on a happier note, here is a recipe for Mocha Brownies that I made for the scrap day on Saturday... everyone has raved about them.
Mocha Brownies
Lining the pan isn't busywork; it makes it easy to remove the brownies.
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 3 hours Makes 16
Ingredients
125gm unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
225gm semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Add instant espresso powder. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.
CATHY'S NOTES: I didn't line my pan... just used spray 'n cook and then butter and they came out okay. Secondly I baked them for the 60 minutes (didn't check them) and they came out hard... next time will cook them for shorter.
But this weekend it was back to scrapping... oh it is nice to get my hands on my goodies again! Us girls met at Gayle's house for a good scrap afternoon and a major catch up chat session.... I did manage to do some good stuff:
This was one of the layouts from the "mega day" scrap that I went to on the 1st of May.. the only one that I've finished so far... I'm quiet happy how it turned out... slightly different from the original.... they used orange for the accents but I decided red was more suited to my pics. The weaving was interesting but not something I will do in a hurry again!
Then I tackled an easy layout... used Bo bunny easter stickers and hey presto... layout done!
My fav scrap shop, Scraptifity, is closing down... sniff sniff.... but also yippee as they are having a sale... 50% off EVERYTHING... so I've been stocking up a bit... I bought a great Cosmo Cricket paper pack... Get Happy... and have used it to do the following three layouts
The middle one is one I did on Saturday and then I did the other two yesterday. As the paper is all double sided and sooooooooooooooooo nice I didn't want to waste it, so I used the back of the middle ones as the backing for both the others... they all follow each other in the album.
And to add to my scrapping addiction I'm contemplating entering to get a place on the Scrap Shack's design team.... going to be doing lots of scrapping in the next two weeks to get my entries organised.... still trying to source the stuff I need to use though :(
Well to end on a happier note, here is a recipe for Mocha Brownies that I made for the scrap day on Saturday... everyone has raved about them.
Mocha Brownies
Lining the pan isn't busywork; it makes it easy to remove the brownies.
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 3 hours Makes 16
Ingredients
125gm unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
225gm semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Add instant espresso powder. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.
CATHY'S NOTES: I didn't line my pan... just used spray 'n cook and then butter and they came out okay. Secondly I baked them for the 60 minutes (didn't check them) and they came out hard... next time will cook them for shorter.
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