Charity & Home.......

On Saturday night, Dean and I attended a Charity Ball

at one of the beach front hotels. I was invited by my

company to attend. The ball was to raise funds for

the h o s p i c e c a n c e r unit in EL. Lauren stayed

at gran & grandpa R's house and we fetched her

at 23h00. I interviewed a new domestic on Sunday

and had to sort out all the admin related to that.

The weather was very windy and not pleasant

at all. Let's hope better weather is on the way.

Wind & Wattles on the weekend......

We travelled up to Stutterheim on Saturday morning.
Dean on his motorbike and we followed in the car.
We stayed at a friend’s B & B, called W.a.t.t.l.e C.h.o.p
just outside of town. It is very dry in-land and a fire

broke out on a nearby property on Saturday night,

but was successfully managed. We enjoyed rowing

on the little dam and Dean and Lauren made clay

figurines.

Lauren made friends with the neighbours horses

and spent plenty of time talking to them. She was

excited about sleeping on the top of a double bunk.

There were two aloof donkeys and chickens which

L was introduced to.

The weather was hot and it was terribly windy when

we left for home. When we arrived back in EL, it was

30 degrees with no wind!

Springtime soon........

Winter is officially over! However, the weather doesn’t
show it. The wind was gusting and then it was raining

while the sun was shining. Dean and Lauren have a photo

every year in front of the ‘Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow’

tree in full bloom, since Lauren was a baby. Lauren’s

friend Amber (our sister-in-law Terri’s brother’s daughter)

turned 5 this weekend. Lauren and I had another photo

session with some old fashioned clothes and lipstick. Girls

mostly enjoy dressing-up and putting on a little make-up.

Our little girl could play dress-up all day. She does get a bit

tired when the photo sessions go on too long. Tomorrow is

Spring, let’s hope for good weather soon.

Show & tell on the weekend......

This weekend was one of relaxing, tea with a friend and

attending a tribute to N.e.i.l D.i.a.m.o.n.d show, performed

by C.e.n.t.r.e S.t.a.g.e at the G.u.i.l.d T.h.e.a.t.r.e. My two

sister-in-laws, Terri-anne & Charne’, and I decided at the

last minute to go and our dear husbands so kindly got

together for a curry evening on Saturday night and looked

after all the children. The show was great and the performances

were very professional.

Winter sunset.........

Yesterday it was 29 degrees in EL with hot dry winds,

so we decided to head to the beach after we arrived

home from work and playschool.

Winter sunsets are often dramatic. There was no wind

when the sun was setting and the river looked like glass.

Lauren enjoyed the time running on the sand and

putting her feet in the shallow waves.

My Birthday.......

Today was my special day. Lauren was sick last night,

so we had a difficult time with her and a high temperature

all night. I was feeling a little old when I woke up this

morning. Dean and Lauren gave me Noa perfume with

a delicious nougat.

I had my parents, gran, brother and Allison around for

tea and cake this afternoon. I had planned a garden

tea party, but the weather was sunny with a sneaky

cool breeze. So we rather sat inside on this winters

day.

I received plenty of messages and phone calls & felt

really special.

In touch with nature.............

On Friday afternoon Dean and Lauren went to see the Ballet
- The Ugly Duckling at the Guild Theatre. It was a lovely
performance and L really enjoyed it.

Granny & Grandpa R were baby-sitting on Saturday night,
while Dean and I attended a games evening with some friends.

Sunday, Lauren and I joined my colleague and friend, Mindanao
to visit the EL zoo. Lauren always enjoys visiting the zoo. This
time we tried to see the Zoo’s Big 4…. Giraffe, Lions, Monkeys
and we skipped the Bears. It can take hours to see everything.
In the afternoon, Dean and Lauren went to the shopping centre’s
quiet parking-lot, so L could practice riding her bike. I tried to
complete the painting in Lauren’s room, where the new aluminum
window was installed.
Late afternoon, I took some photos of Lauren in the garden

and edited them to look Vintage style.

Wanderings on the weekend.....

I took leave on Friday and participated in Lauren's playschool
Big walk and Sports Day in the morning. The weather was cold
and the grass was slightly wet. The little ones were partly
competing and also learning how-to at the same time. I won
in the moms race. Cupcakes and juice were served at the end
of the the event.


I delivered L back to school and joined a long time friend, Dee,
at a new coffee shop in EL called Salad daze. It is decorated
all in pink and white with pink roses everywhere. Really
pretty and quaint with delightful, delicious lemon
meringue!


Saturday, L and I attended an enjoyable service at church
and Pathfinders in the afternoon. Dean's brother Bryan
was having plenty of folk around to his house for a sheep
spit braai. Brother Geoff & Nigel attended from PE & Jhb.
The children had a fun time playing games and running
around in the garden at night.


Sunday was another celebration get-together. My mom
& Lance had a birthday on 17 July and Allison on 7 July.
My mom made a mutton roast with roast potato and veg.
Allison made scrumptious strawberry cheesecake.
It was a warm winters day and rather pleasant to sit outside
in the sun. Lauren found a ladybird and inspected the
blossoms on the peach tree.

In the wild....

I attended a weekend get-away with MBSA Secretaries,

hosted by our in-house Travel Agents. We left EL and

stopped over for lunch at the Halyards Hotel in Port Alfred.

We travelled to Bushman Sands, booked into our rooms and
got back into the Vito vans and headed for Lalibela Game

Reserve, where we went on a 3 hour game drive until 19h00,

when supper was served in the main Lapa. They decorated

our faces with Xhosa markings and there was some
Xhosa cuisine and then the Xhosa traditional dances

entertained us. Everyone had the opportunity of drumming

along to the songs and performances.
The weather was freezing, so gloves, scarves and woollen

hats had to be worn.
The weekend was relaxing and enjoyable.

Winter warmers........

The weekend was really cold, but we had some quality time

with family and friends. We visited my parents, visited

my brother & sister-in-law, attended a birthday party,

cleaned house, made a fire in the lounge to keep warm.

Did loads of washing and put some clothes and toys together

to be donated.

I call this a snow tree... when i look out the bathroom window,

I see this tree that looks like snow has fallen and just remained

on its leaves.