SPOT THE ANIMALS....

Hello my dear friends

I am truly a happy blogger right now!!!  The sad "Followers" spot on my blog is now a HAPPY spot with 3 FOLLOWERS!

Hi to you Merissa, Karen and inthesky1  and thank you for FOLLOWING my blog.  A special HI to Heather at my little red suitcase who  has become a regular visitor to my blog!!!

And to Karen at Sew Many Ways...: Blogging Tips
for all her help and tips on blogging.  I really have so much to learn!!!!

This morning I received an email from someone - no idea who it's from - but I thought I would share it with you.  It's really amazing and a lot of fun!!!
I have no idea who the photographer/s is/are but thank you for these amazing photo's.  You must have had a lot of fun taking them and a good eye to spot these animals!!!!

Spot the animals" A wildlife photographer's pictures of animals trying to hide from predators. Amazing

 No 1:  Giraffe!

No 2:  A wolf peering out from trees!

No 3:  Can you spot the caiman?

No 4:Tricky one this!Can you find the owl!

No 5: Don't know what a Pikka is but it’s hiding in here somewhere!

No 6:Can you find the snake by his eyes!

No 7:  How about the leopard?

No 8: Squirrel?

No 9:  Wow this owl is amazing!

No 10:  There’s definitely a spotted deer in here!  Honest!

No 11:  A white tailed ptarmigan!

No 12: There’s an impala in here somewhere!

No 13:  A cheetah cub!

No 14:  a common snipe in the shoreline!

No 15: A Night Hawk!

No 16: A Coyote at the edge of the bush!

No 17: A Blue Dacnis!

Aahhhh!!!  How amazing was that??!!!  I still can't find the little snipe!!! Can you??

Please let me know if you have a problem reading or commenting on my blog so that I can sort out these problems.  

See you soon 
Love
AMarie

My Family Valentine

A Happy Valentine to you all!!!!

This was my Valentine celebration at home with my family:  Hubby and daughters, Miss Molly and little Miss J!  

       The table was set beautifully......

     A wonderful 3 course meal prepared by                                                                                              Miss Molly ......

          ..... Creamy Mushroom starter.....

    ....Chicken Hot Pot with Garden Salad...

 ....   Waffles with fresh Strawberries and          Vanilla Ice-Cream.....

 And we enjoyed all of this in our PJ's while watching TV......
How wonderfully crazy is that??!!!!  Just LOVVVED it !!!!!

Hope you had a wonderful time with your loved ones too!!!

Love
AMarie

An almighty thunderstorm!!!

Hello Again

Last Saturday night we had a storm....!!!

A thunderstorm! An almighty thunderstorm!!!  

The kind of thunderstorm that rattles your teeth and frizzes your hair !!! ......
The kind of thunderstorm that has you sitting up straight in bed with the  blankets pulled up tight under your chin!!! .....
The kind of thunderstorm that has the children (no matter their ages of 20 & 21) crawl into bed with you to hide behind your back!!! ....
The kind of thunderstorm where dogs and cats hide in places in your house you didn't know you had!!! .......
The kind of thunderstorm where the air crackles non-stop with electricity !!! ....
The kind of thunderstorm that actually has a smell? The same sort of smell that reminds me of a Hot Water Spring??!!! .....
The kind of thunderstorm that has you waiting in fear for that one bolt that will have the house explode into a million pieces!!! ...
The kind of thunderstorm where the dark night sky can only be seen for split seconds at a time!!! ......
The kind of thunderstorm where sleep is not an option and weariness goes unnoticed!!! ....
The kind of thunderstorm that makes you fear for your lives and make you realize all the things you take for granted!!! ...
And the kind of storm you use to love but now pray for it to come to an end!!! ...
And only does so 7 hours later!!!....

While  it rained  ..........  and rained .......... and rained some more....

As soon as the storm passed, we got dressed and went outside to inspect the damage.   We expected the worst!!! ...
It was daytime but still quite dark, but storm dark, if you know what I mean???   It was still raining and the electricity had been out for hours,  but everything was fine!!!!!!  Unbelievable!!!!
We could not believe it!!!  Not even a single tree had been blown over!!!
We jumped in our trusty 4 wheel drive, "Buffy"  (she can go anywhere and everywhere and never gets stuck !!!) and inspected our fences and there also found everything in order !!!
When we got back home, we were amazed to find that even the electricity had been restored!!!  We looked at each other and almost simultaneously said... " That was not a dream!!!!! "

We had over 80 mm of rain!!!  Do you know how much rain that is???  It's a lot!!!  Really a lot!!!  In just 7 hours we had almost a 1/4 of our yearly rainfall !!!
Just look at this rainmeter!!!  I have never ever seen it like this!!!!

                    It's almost full!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The dogs really loved the wet sand and playing in the water....

But come lunchtime, the weariness of a sleepless night started to creep up on us.  It was deliciously cool, even cool enough to grab a blanket!!! We slept like babies in the cool weather but we all knew, we will  NEVER  forget  last  night's  storm and it was not a DREAM !!!!

See you soon
Love
AMarie

A trip to Johannesburg

 Hello Again

I'm back!!!   Had a lovely little visit with my sister,  Zennet and her husband Alwyn,  in Johannesburg.  It was just a day of business and a whole week of fun, fun, fun!!
They have a lovely home high up on a ridge with a really  wonderful view of the city and at night the sparkly lights stretch as  far as the eye can see!!!  Quite something for a country bumpkin  like me!!
We had a wonderful time shopping, eating, a cabaret show, 3D movies, lots of cappuccino's at quaint little coffee shops and lots of talking and laughter till late at night!!  It was just wonderful!!!!!!!

Sister Zennet and hubby Alwyn

On holiday in Zanzibar....

             And at a Dress-up party...

They have a really lovely garden with a lapa and a upper deck where the view is just amazing!!

                 On Top of the world...      
An ornamental rooster keeping a watchful eye over the valley....

 ..  A cupcake garland I made for her kitchen window....

In this photo you can see the stairs leading up to the pool area  and, then up to the lapa and then finally up to the top deck.

 I also made these buntings for the spare room just to add some color   and cheerfulness.

Unfortunately for me, my other sister Margaret, who lives just  around the corner from Zennet, was away on holiday with her  hubby, Heinie and my parents in the Kruger National Park!!!

And while I was away......

Brandy had her 5th birthday.......

            .... with a birthday message....

                         .......  Cake......

                  ...... and pressies!!!!

.....AND.. Little Miss J's books arrived for her 1st  semester of her 2nd year at varsity (wow) and that's an awful lot of  studying to be done for the 1st semester

.... And then there was a message for me.......

and before I knew it I was back home and back into the normal  routine of  "Life on a game farm".                                   
Home Sweet Home

Love Ye All
AMarie

 PS:  All these photo's were taken on my cell phone and I hope you  can forgive the poor quality!!!