It's Halloween!!!!!!!!!

BOO!!!!

   Happy Halloween to you all!!! 

Remember, today you can eat as much candy as you like!!!!!!

Have a wonderful time!!!

Boo!!! 'Till next time!!!!

AMarie

Greetings from Tanzania....

Hi there!!

Here are a few photos hubby send while on his trip in Tanzania...

Far in the distance, Mount Kilimanjaro.....

 ..... out on a motorbike......

  .... a view of the valley from the lodge....

 ..... fresh cheetah spores in the sand...

  .... rain sweeping over the valley....

......giraffes passing by....

 .... and a typical African landscape...

I miss them so much and can't wait to join them!!!  Soon, very soon, we'll be there with them!!!

Love
AMarie

A Picnic....

Hello all you lovely people!!

Welcome and I am so glad you could pop by to say hello!!!

Last weekend my sisters and I took our little families out for the day on a picnic!! And what a wonderful day we had!! Just relaxing, walking, eating and lots and lots of laughter and fun was had by all!!!!! 

 We didn't have to go far either!! Only about a 10 minute drive from home, you can find the most beautiful botanical gardens!!!!! 

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised to find such a beautiful spot in the middle of the city!!!! It was wonderfully peaceful!!!!

The sound of falling water surrounded us, from the waterfall all the way down to the river bed!!!!!

The dappled sunlight kept us cool and ...... 
there were plenty of interesting little places to rest weary old bones!!!!!!!!!

Sister Zennet ...... 

            .... Margaret ...

.... her daughter Shani and hubby Andrew, aka Skinny ......

.... and their daughter, Kensi!! (Just the cutest little girl you have ever seen!!!!)

.... and my own little Miss J, and yes she is also as cute as a button!!!!!!

....there were lots of giggles .......

..... sing alongs .....

                  ....and exploring ......

          ...... some friendly visitors ......

        ...... and some interesting facts ......

... "the cliff face at the waterfall is composed of quartzite of the Orange Grove Formation at the base of the Witwatersrand Super group, a thick succession of ancient sedimentary 

rocks that contain the largest known deposit of gold in the world" !!!! Interesting, don't you think??!!

We are planning on going back there soon, just to have a coffee at the little restaurant and to walk through the beautiful nursery!!!!

Well dear friends, that was fun!!! Almost as much as the picnic!!!!

This week Moms taxi will be in full swing as my little Miss J starts her final exams!!! Oh dear, the traffic in the city is really scary!!!!

Hope you have a happy, colourful and creative weekend!!!

"Till next time!!

Love Always

AMarie

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.....!!!!

Hello dear friends!!!

WOW!!!! Where do I even begin??? Everything in my life has changed so drastically and so completely!!! Nothing, and I do mean, absolutely nothing, is the same!!!

I think it's all good though?? Or at least it will be in a while from now!!!

You see, it all started back in August when Hubby was made an offer that was just too good to be true!!! At first we didn't even consider it, it was that ridiculous!!! After all we just moved into a brand new house!!! And leaving my family??? No-no, I wouldn't even consider it!!!

But it became a nag in the back of our minds and we found ourselves, (hubby, me and the girls) discussing it more and more....!!!! Then we got excited about it and when we looked again, we found ourselves planning this new adventurous life of ours!!!! In Tanzania!!!! Yes that's right, Tanzania!!!!

Starting date: 1st September 2014!!!!! Madness I tell you!!!! And all of this had to happen in just 3 short weeks!!! Chaos!!!!

The removal company came out and packed us in 3 days!!! I didn't think it would be possible, but they did a sterling job and just like that all our belongings went into storage!!! After 6 months we will either have it shipped up to Tanzania or leave it in storage 'till we have a place of our own!!! For now though, a fully furnished house will do just fine, thank you very much!!!

The only down side to this adventure is that at first we had to split up!!! Hubby and Miss Molly left first and 2 days later our animals were shipped over!!! Little Miss J and I stay behind at my sister Margaret's place for a couple of months so that she can finish her degree (thankfully this is her last year) here in South-Africa!!!! 

And that's the part that has me feeling lost!!! My heart is in Tanzania but we are still here!!! I don't have any of my "things" around me, nothing to do, and I feel vulnerable without my Hubby!!!!

But right now, he is having the time of his life!!! He is on a 10 day trip to Mount Kilimanjaro!!! I can hear that he is having a great time!!! Being the wildlife person he is, this is the ultimate experience for him!!!! To see the wildlife truly roaming freely in mass, is what he's been longing to see all of his life!!!!

But on the other hand, Miss Molly had to stay behind in Dar es Salaam and is fighting a nasty spider bite!!! She has been quite ill with it and this morning got into a taxi and took herself to a clinic where she was treated and given medication!!! I am so proud of her, all alone in a strange country, but managing just fine without us!!! Most importantly, she is feeling much, much better already!!!!

So you see, I haven't forgotten about you and a big thank you to all who emailed to ask where I have been!!! Right now I am visiting with my sisters, Margaret and Zennet in Johannesburg and I am really enjoying being able to see them every day!!!! They actually also helped made up our minds for us, you see they reckoned that is't much easier for them to fly 3.5 hours than driving 6 or 7 hours to come visit!!! And of course being so close to Zanzibar also helped the matter a lot!!! Haha!!! 

But it's not that easy to fit into the city life when you have been a farm girl nearly all of your life!!!!! The nights are noisy with the sound of traffic and not dead quiet with just the cry of a jackal or an owl hooting somewhere!!! I also miss the beautiful sunsets and I really, really miss seeing the stars!!!! The city sky is so bright at night from all the lights, you simply do not see the stars!!!!

So for now we are packed up and waiting to join Hubby dearest and my beautiful, all grown up daughter, Miss Molly, in Tanzania!! And we are so looking forward to see the beautiful islands with their white beaches, the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, the many, many lakes and just explore this new country where we will be living an expat life for a while!!!!!
Hope you are all keeping well and have a crafty, color filled and happy weekend!!!! 'Till later my lovies!!!!!

Love Always
AMarie
xxxx

My Beautiful Brave Sister!!!!!!

My Beautiful BRAVE Sister....

Last Thursday night...

My sister Zennet and niece Shani, both work in the city of Johannesburg.  And on their way home from work last Thursday night, her car broke down!!! 

Zennet                                            Shani

A new car, but still, (and these things happen right) it broke down!!! But it broke down in the worst possible place!!! On the freeway next to a township!!!
A very,very bad, bad place!!! And true to form, minutes later, they were attacked!!!!
First he smashed the driver's (Shani) window, and it shatters but doesn't break!!! Then he walked around to the passenger side (Zennet) and threw a rock through her window and of course, the window breaks and the glass and rock hits her in the face!!! Immediately he grabs her.....
But he couldn't possibly have foreseen what happened next!!! He must have thought to himself, two helpless woman, an easy, soft target!!! 
Zennet threw the window back out at him and then... SHE attacked!!!! Armed with her pepper spray and the will to survive and protect herself and Shani, she fought and fought and fought!!! He came back at her 3 times but she fought him off each time!!! She pepper sprayed the "living crap" out of him, 'till he crawled away in defeat (and hopefully in a lot of pain!!!!)
Battered, bruised, cut and bleeding, help finally arrived for them!!! But by then he was gone too!!!
She just decided that she could not allow him to get to them and that she was not going to become just another victim or statistic!!!!   So she fought for her life and that of Shani's!!!!

           My Beautiful BRAVE Sister!!!! 

I Love You Endlessly!!!! And I am so very very proud of you!!!!
                                xxxxxx


ps: I have probably written and rewritten this post a dozen times!!! I am so angry but at the same time, I am all too aware of how easily this could have turned into a horrible tragedy for our family!!!  But at least one #*@$*&^ got what he deserved!!!!


            ....  happy families.....

Zennet with her husband Alwyn



And

Shani with husband Skinny and daughter Kensi

I hope and pray with all of my heart that this will never ever happen again and that perhaps this guy will think twice before attacking innocent woman again!!!! 

All my love

AMarie 
xxx

Strange and wonderful things!!!!!

Hi There!!!

I have a few strange but wonderful things to share with you....

A big male lion up in a tree...?? It seems a very "poofy" thing for a big male lion to do but I suppose at least he had a good vantage point!!!

A family of mice enjoying the warm sunlight on a crisp and frosty morning.....
(I really had to be as quiet as a church mouse to get this shot...hehehe!!!!)

I found these bats in our shed....sadly I cannot identify them and the photo isn't good enough for a image search on Google...but even unknown, they're still cute!!!!

This is a grasshopper I have never seen before....

Yesterday I found this little fella taking a shortcut through my house...

and my brother-in-law Alwyn, dislocated his finger ..... ouch!!!!!ouch!!!!!!ouch!!!!!!

During a recent power failure, I managed a close up of this prey mantis on a candle holder... 

This perfect web was glistening with early morning dew drops!!!!

Don't you just love this sign?!!!  Perfect for a  stargazer like me!!!!

And this is my little Miss J!!! She has passed all of her exams and is about to start her last semester in B.com financial accounting!!! The end is near and boy,!! has she worked hard the past 3 years!!! We are so very proud of her!!!!

   

This week the weather has been rather chilly....

  
...but these two had no problem finding some warmth in these cosy blankets!!!!!

It was fun visiting with you again and I'll be back soon again!!!

Hope you have a colourful, happy and fun time wherever you are and keep those creative juices flowing!!!!

Love
AMarie

Keeping busy...

Hello there...

Keeping busy with.... 

Making kitchen curtains for a customer!!!!

with eyelet tape and rings....

 Really love this material....

 I think Emily is really cute....

 But I think this would be ......

Beautiful in a study....

But I am sure it is still going to look great!!!

Trying out a new recipe....

Savoury muffins....

Topped with cheese....

Sooooo yummy.....

With butter and a little apricot jam....

And of course.... A lovely cappuccino!!!!

They were crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside and the sweetness of the jam with the savoury, cheesy muffin was just soooooo yummy!!!!
Would you like to try them? Its so easy....
2 cups cake flour, 15ml baking powder, 5 ml salt, 1 cup buttermilk, 100ml oil, 1xl egg, 2 cups of cheddar cheese - mix all together and spoon into muffin pans - top with cheese and bake at 200degrC for 15-20min. That's it!!! 
Next time I think I might add some chives and bacon pieces!!!...maybe...it was quite perfect just like this!!!!

Right now this is the view from my kitchen...

Giraffes

Well dear friends, I better get back to the curtains, they are due tomorrow and as you can see from the photo above, the shadows are getting longer and the time is getting shorter for delivery on these curtains!!!!

A big thank you for stopping by and hope to see you soon again!!!

"Till next time!!!!

Love Always
AMarie
xxx