Weekend in review

It was little miss Katy's nursery school concert last Friday so I rushed through to the Northwest Province on Friday afternoon - a 2 hour drive from Johannesburg.  Seriously, why can't the schools arrange the concerts on a Saturday afternoon so that it's easier for 'out of town' family to attend??  We dropped Katy off at school at 5; the concert only started at 7pm and ended at 8.30pm - very late for little people.  Anyhow, we were there to support Katy, she is such a cutie!

 

Not the best photos but good enough for Katy's scrapbook.  I forgot to change my camera settings to low light conditions before the concert

On Saturday, we went to a fishing spot along the Vaal River.  I don't fish but it was good to be outdoors; it was hot hot hot until the late afternoon rains cooled things down

I'm so proud of Elizabeth - she's really growing up into a great little lady.  She takes instruction reasonably well, she generally listens well, we can reason with her and she's starting to make good choices.  Love you princess!

This little lady is starting to speak so well, her aunty understands about 80% of what she says.  Love you baby girl!  

 

Mmmmmm - marshmallows (or as Katy says - "mashimoos") over the coals - delicious!

 

Scrapbook layouts

I'm working on scrapping my Alaska photos, while the memories are still fresh and the longing is great.  Here are a few recent layouts...

 

we used coloured moulding paste to make the stamp impressions on the background

Most of the layouts are kits from Lara Hanna or Scissor Sisters.  I'm really enjoying working on the layouts and remembering the awesome trip...and wishing we could be back there again.

Roadtrip

I used to be very very active in the bird watching and conservation space.  I gave it up when I did an MBA in 2008 and then once I graduated, my niece Elizabeth was born so any spare time I had was spent visiting family instead of bird watching. 

 

As part of my big year, I'm keeping a bird list.  My longtime friend Gisela arranged a bird watching roadtrip for us last weekend with an overnight stay at a cottage in the bush.

 

We first drove through Pretoria to see the jacaranda trees in bloom but I think that we were just a bit too late to see them in full bloom.

 

We then headed to Mkhombo dam and spent a few hours bird watching and enjoying a picnic lunch

In the late afternoon, we headed to Birdsong cottages near Modimolle for the night

We were up early on Sunday morning with coffee and binoculars in hand

 

 

I really enjoyed the little roadtrip but I confess...I don't love birdwatching as much as I used to.  The passion is gone.  I will always love the outdoors and love birds, but I don't want to spend days just watching birds anymore.  We all change, I've changed, and I'm ok with that.  There are other things which are more important to me now.

 

 

Faith journalling

I spent time doing Bible study and faith journaling on Heritage day during September.  I'm participating in Stephanie Ackerman's year long Documented Faith project, but I don't do all the weekly tasks.  I don't want this to be yet another thing on my looong to-do list, so I only do what has real meaning for me.  Here are some of my recent pages...

 

 

I'm challenged and love the idea of 'radical' faith 

Radical faith is:

• believing when I don't see it
• obeying when I do not understand
• persisting when I don't feel like it
• giving when I don't have it to give
• thanking before I receive it
• trusting if I don't get it

 I prepare the base layout of a few pages in advance, so that once I'm ready to journal, I can get straight to it.  Here is one of my pages ready for journaling; I mostly use Ranger and Dylusions spray inks

 

 

Family time

Family and friends are very important to me.  Even though my cousins live in Joburg, it's easy to get disconnected because we're all so busy.  I made time last Saturday to take some yummy eats to my cousin Owen's home and relax over tea...it was a lovely afternoon

 My cousin Bev's daughter Amy waiting to dig in to the cheesecake,

salted caramel tarts and spinach and feta tarts

 

 

With their mom, Aunty May

Bev is 6 months older than me, and her brother Owen

is 6 months younger than me; right now, we're all 50!

 

Bev painted this king protea for me as a belated birthday present