Weekend in Review

It was a gentle, rainy and wet weekend, perfect for how I was feeling. Lynn came over to scrap with me on Saturday.  We had lunch at Urban Angel Café in Boskruin, and then got a few things for our December scrapbooking weekend.

 

Urban Angel serves organic food, fresh juices, and is happy to offer Paleo or Banting meals.  Lynn had a pulled pork sandwich, and I had a grain-fed beef burger - delicious food with some interesting flavours.

I bought 2 salted caramel tarts for afternoon tea - totally yummy

Sunday was a very wet and cold day, so miss Ruby and I had 'book club in bed' until almost 11h00 (it felt very decadent, and I did feel sorry for parents with little children who can't indulge themselves with a 'lie in bed and read' treat like this!), and then I worked on my Week in the Life Album

 

It was a good day in Africa.

Around here

Reading Make Your Own Rules Diet by Tara Stiles and Paul by Walter Wangerin; I haven't been reading much lately, I miss it

Adjusting to life filled with hot flushes, night sweats, extreme tiredness and generally feeling ‘off’

Smiling at the silliness and adorableness (yes, that’s a word!) of my beloved Ruby child; she was quite ill recently and R6 000 later, she’s all better and out chasing lizards and the Cape Robin again

Getting excited about 2015 – a year of some lovely travel and events for me as I celebrate a big birthday; I even plan to do some regular birdwatching (a hobby of mine before my nieces were born) by undertaking a big birding year  for 365 days

Working on my week in the life album

Listening to Michael Buble’s Christmas album as I put up the Christmas tree – a beautiful African tree made of wire and beads by the Johannesburg street vendors; I’ve added just a few of my favourite ornaments (love this Siamese ornament from my sister in law which is in memory of my beloved Siamese Bella)

 

  

  

Exercising and eating as well as I can; doing some nice long walks at least once a week and getting better at more regular meal planning (thanks FlyLady!)

Thinking about my one little word for 2015 (I’m almost sure it’s going to be ‘fun’), and my goals and dreams and wish list for the new year – I love new beginnings

Preparing for our annual Christmas scrapbooking weekend in early December – 3 whole days of scrapbooking with the Scrap Addicts at a local guest house - yessss!

Wearing warm winter clothes!  It’s been freezing cold in Johannesburg for the last 10 days, even though it’s summer.  Can’t wait to get back into sandals and summer dresses

Loving this pattern for a striped crochet blanket from Lucy at Attic 24

Tolerating the traffic to my office in Sandton every day, and trying to be patient with the taxi’s and other idiot drivers on the road.  I’m so looking forward to working from home from mid-December onwards until the new year

Anticipating a family Christmas with easy casual food, 2 silly nieces who loooove presents, and spending some time with my mom

 

Documented Faith Project 2015

I need to make stuff and be creative.  Often.  It's my way of dealing with extreme pressure and stress in my life, mostly work-related.  I don't always have the time to scrapbook (which will always be my first love craft), but I potter around with mixed media very nicely while doing other things.  I never sit down and make an art journal page.  I tend to spray some inks or lay down some paint in my journal while I'm cooking dinner and then walk away and let it dry.  I come back an hour or a day later and add some stamping and doodles, and then unload the dishwasher.  Art journaling is something I do in-between and around other things, and it suits me perfectly.  I'm a 'potter-around' art journaller.

 

 

I've been following the Documented Life Project randomly during the year.  I love the idea of DLP, even though I don't use the moleskin diary which is used in the project.  Stephanie Ackerman is taking the idea of documented life a step further in 2015 and is offering the Documented Faith Project.  It's free and it's easy; just sign up by email and join the Facebook Group.  Go take a look; it's awesome goodness.

  

all images from Stephanie Ackerman

Scrap kit

This is the scrap kit which I've designed for the Scrap Addicts for our December scrapbooking weekend.  We do this every quarter - all 5 Scrap Addicts design and make up a kit containing all the supplies necessary to finish a double page layout.  Lynn gave us an additional challenge to use 50% of our own supplies to make up the kits, so that we use what we've already got.  My kits for the 4 ladies are packed and ready to go.

 

I'll show you the full page later.  We like our scrap kits to be a surprise!

 

 

Wheelbarrow garden project

I've been busy with a little garden project.  It's impossible to plant anything in the area down the side of my home, because of excessive root compacting from the trees in my own garden and those on the pavement. 

 

I bought an ordinary garden wheelbarrow, painted it beige, had some holes drilled in the bottom for drainage, and then planted some succulents. 

 

My gardener has removed all the plants in the flower beds, I've had 2 very old shrubs removed, and this will now become a succulent garden using pots and a wheelbarrow.

 

 

 

I still need to do some planting in the pots, but it's all coming along nicely

 

 

The Lotus plant

I received this Lotus plant as a gift recently; I'd never heard of it before.  It is the most unusual looking plant with beautiful fiery orange flowers.  The plant is occasionally available from Gia's Nursery in Sandton

 

Thanks to Google, here's the story : Lotus berthelotii is a perennial plant endemic to the Canary Islands.  This plant is either extinct in the wild or persists as a few individuals. In 1884 it was already classed as "exceedingly rare" and plant collection probably hastened its decline.

 

Weekend in Review

I didn't have my camera with me last weekend, so all photos taken with my iPhone 4 (shock horror! yes I still love my old iPhone and couldn't be bothered with upgrading until this one crashes).  Many of the photos are blurry, but I've included them anyway...

 

 I had breakfast at the Whippet in Linden on Saturday morning with my friend Gisi.  I've heard so much about the Whippet, so I did expect it to be a really good experience.   Breakfast was ok, not great, and the service was very poor (slow and inattentive).  The lunch menu looks good, so I may go back if I'm in the area, but I won't go out of my way to go there again.

I then went to Arthur Bales to get fabric for some tops that I'm having made, and to get crochet hooks for my sister.  Arthur Bales is a heavenly place for crafters!

 

My final stop for the morning was to get 12 bags of pebbles and some plants for a garden project in our townhouse complex.  I unloaded every (heavy!) bag of pebbles, 4 bags of compost and the plants at home.  Ouch!!  I was lucky that I had a back massage scheduled on Saturday afternoon to ease my aching muscles!

 

 

I spent the rest of the weekend at home, doing gardening, crocheting and making art.  And I washed out the freezer and made a list of what's in it.

 

 

The weekend ended off on Sunday night with 2 hours of load-shedding - ugh!  It is sooo unproductive and frustrating.  I ended up reading in bed on my kindle by headlamp

  

 

 

I work, she sleeps

Princess Ruby sleeps on my desk when I work at home.  She is the sweetest angel child.  She had her annual vaccinations this week (she really does not like the vet) and has the start of a bit of gum disease, so mom and this little princess are going to start the 'toothbrush wars'.  Yep - I need to start brushing her teeth.  Neither of us are looking forward to that daily drama!  Love you my baby.