Scrapbook layouts

Lynn and I had a gentle scrapbooking day on Saturday - it was lovely.  These are the double page layouts that I started at the Scissor Sisters event last weekend, and mostly finished this weekend...

Making those chevrons on the left hand page was hard work but it looks great.  I still need to add photos of the 2 grandfathers to this layout

On the right hand page, I really like this idea of sticking punched strips inside a square

Weekend in review

Our Scrap Addicts group spent the weekend scrapping at the 2-day Scissor Sisters event on the West Rand.  The venue and food were awful but we always enjoy being together and the scrapbook layouts were great, so we ended up having a great time.  We're still settling in to being a group of 4 instead of 5 since Lynette retired to Cape Town recently...we really miss you my friend!!

An owl family lives in one of the courtyards at the school, and baby owl was quite chilled with all the ladies taking photos of him/her; Mom glared at us from a nearby tree

 

Linda had these cool T-shirts made for us which we all wore on Sunday...

Linda

Leonie

Lynn

Family time

After spending a gorgeous weekend at Zaagkuilsdrift, I headed to Mabalingwe to spend a few days with my family.  We swam, we did a few game drives, we braaied, we had afternoon snoozes, we played snap and super-stretchy - all good!

 

Little miss Katy is such a cutie - I wish that we could 'freeze' her at this age!

 

Playing with the sport setting on my new camera - Elizabeth happily obliged with action shots

 

I headed home on Tuesday morning, leaving my family to enjoy the rest of their holiday.  Thanks for inviting me Robbie and Tonia!

 

 

Bird sanctuary

While at Zaagkuilsdrift last weekend, we visited the bird sanctuary on the property. 

 

The birds in the cages have either been injured (hit by cars or have flown into power lines), or have been habituated from being around humans in captivity so they can't live independently in the wild, or they are second-egg babies - when the second egg in a nest is removed to prevent the parents from killing the second hatchling, or they are unwanted pets. 

 

 

 

The sanctuary is under the care of the KZN Wildlife Society, but is privately funded.  They are doing excellent work at the sanctuary to protect and care for wild birds.

 

 

 

Bush breakaway

I was blessed to have a few days away last week.  First stop was a weekend away with Leonie at Zaagkuilsdrift Lodge (find them on Facebook) near Bela-Bela, an awesome lodge deep in the African bush owned by Gerrie and Jaco.  It is recognized as one of the top birding areas in South Africa; a group of birdwatchers from America were at the lodge while we were there.

 

The entire lodge is off grid, but you won't now it unless they tell you.  The lodge opened in December last year, and the cost of R650 per person per night including dinner and breakfast is ridiculously good value.  We shared an upstairs loft with 2 separate bedrooms and a huge bathroom with beautiful views out over the bush.

 

 

Gerrie welcomed us after our journey along a long and dusty sand road, and a beer shandy on the verandah washed the dust away.  The lodge staff then proceeded to spoil us and take care of our every need until we left on Sunday. 

 

We spent some time at the dam watching birds, and slowly switching to "relax you're out of the city" mode

Sunset in the bush was spectacular

 

Dinner was hosted in the boma, where our food was cooked over the open fire by Jaco

A bucket containing a flask of hot water and delicious rusks was at our door early in the morning for coffee in bed

Jaco and his team cooked up a delicious breakfast the next morning, which we enjoyed while watching the wild birds and the turkey mama and her babies

Hmmm - the tables are the perfect size for scrapbooking...

It was hot hot hot - 39 degrees in the shade!  After an afternoon snooze, we headed out on a game drive.  The property is relatively small, but we enjoyed seeing several buck species, giraffe and zebra

Jaco and Gerrie are the perfect hosts, and they really made us feel at home - thanks guys.  This is their 'weekend hobby' - they both have regular jobs in the city.  We loved our stay at Zaagkuil...we will definitely be back!