Some more visiting with the nephews :-)

Anthony and Douglas are sleeping at our home again tonight.

I think I had better get some sleep too, because they get up early.

We had a fun night.

I made my version of Sloppy Joes. Mince in a bun with tomato sauce. That went down well.

Then I spoke on the phone to my mom while Michael and the boys watched Dynamo. (Something about a street magician, I’m not all that into it, myself).

Michael went to sleep and Douglas played some games on the iPad.

I asked Anthony if he wanted to make a blow-up bunny. He said okay, but with the caveat that he is not crafty at all.

It turns out that he’s crafty enough to fold a bunny and draw a pretty cute face on it! He ended up by requesting that we make more bunnies and admitted that it is pretty fun. I believe the word he used was ‘awesome’.

Tomorrow, we will play some table-tennis and after that, we have been invited for lunch by the boys’ ouma, a.k.a my dear Mother-in-law

And we’ll say goodbye to Michael’s dad, who is going on a much-anticipated trip to Zimbabwe on an expedition to see a rare bird there.

Good times!

 

 

Skirts :-)

I had a really nice day in town yesterday.

I asked Michael if I could take the car for the afternoon. He said I could, but then I’d have to take it to have its tyre fixed and swapped. He’d had a flat that morning, and had had to put on the spare. And it’s dicey to drive around without a spare, so it had to be fixed asap.

I’m not too fond of doing ‘car stuff’. As far as I’m concerned, we have a magic car. It’s fuel level magically rises when it starts looking a bit empty and it keeps itself in tip-top shape.

Michael is a little bitter about this, seeing as he is the magic behind the car, always taking care of services, tyre pressure, re-fuelling etc.

Anyway, I wanted the car, so had to do some ‘car stuff’ for a change.

It wasn’t bad. The staff were so friendly and helpful. They were quick about it and only charged me R40. I quite enjoyed the whole thing.

And while I was waiting there, I got a call from Michael asking if I wanted to join him for a quick Wimpy coffee. Wimpy is next door to the tyre place, and Michael happened to be driving past with one of his work vehicles. So we did just that.

Before that, I went to find out about getting us an additional remote for our gate. Since the electric gate’s motor has been replaced, we only have one remote between us and it is very inconvenient. Unfortunately the store is out of stock and are only getting in on Wednesday. But at least I put my order in.

Then I went to GAME and drooled over Christmas trees a bit. Didn’t buy any yet though.

Then I went on a very specific clothes shopping expedition. I need some new clothes, and got it into my head that I want some skirts. I’m not really a dress kind of gal, but all the colourful skirts that are currently in fashion look so nice. I feel extremely uncomfortable in a dress, but quite like a skirt. So that was the mission.

First stop: Woolworths.

Nothing particularly caught my eye, and the stuff was hellishly expensive. There was a dress there for R445! I did see a top that I liked a lot which I may go back for, but the dresses/ pants/ skirts would take up my whole budget on one item.

Next stop: Fashion World. I always like their displays in the window but have never been in. As the shop came into sight, I immediately saw a lovely outfit in the window. Just what I was looking for. I went in, found it on the rack and tried the whole ensemble on in the fitting rooms. Now, lately I have gotten stuck on Mr Price’s clothes. And when you try something on there, you leave feeling like an old hag. The lighting is SO unflattering. And the clothes look nice enough on the rack, but don’t seem to fit that well when you try them on. Maybe it’s just me.

But Fashion World’s fitting rooms are magical. The lighting is flattering and there are plenty of hooks to hang the clothes on.

I must say, the shop assistant was pretty surly. I had to interrupt her conversation that she was having with a colleague (while they were folding clothes) to get some service. And she didn’t look happy about it.

Still, I’m happy with my new skirts. And they cost me less than R200 for both of them. Bargain.

 

 

 

 

Visiting nephews

There will not be too much blogging going on tonight.

See below for reason why. Visitors! (And yes, it is nearly midnight and we are all still awake (except for Uncle Michael, who is asleep).

Glorious rain and not-so-glorious drain eruptions

Today was a sh*tty day!

Literally.

The drain problem around here seems to hitting a bit of a peak. This morning I heard faint (and ominous) gurgling sounds coming from our shower and hand-basin, especially after the toilet was flushed.

It rained for most of last night, and that seems to aggravate the blockage.

The dogs were begging me to go out, but outside our back door swirled a mini-river of brown-coloured water. So they had to hold it until Michael came home for lunch and took them for a walk to do their ablutions.

When the three of them came back again (relief plain to see on the chows’ faces!) I noticed that there was water seeping out from under my neighbours’ bedroom door. Our two town-houses share a wall, so we’re pretty close to them.

I phoned her and she came hurrying home. Upon entering her house, she saw that their bedroom was ankle-deep in sewerage! Euwww! She understandably lost her sh*t a bit at that stage and said, “As if my Monday wasn’t k@k enough already!)

They have it cleaned up now, but I reckon it will be a while before they get the smell out. Yuck. I only hope the municipality will come and do something about the drain. Next time it could be out turn! (Luckily the water-level outside our own door has subsided and been sprayed clean with the hose-pipe. Still, it is such a health-risk, this carry-on.)

 

Other than that, I actrually had a nice day. I finished reading Eloisa James’ book When Beauty Tamed the Beast which was billiant! I enjoyed it so much. It is one of the best romance novels I have ever read. The dialogue was so witty, the characters so classic, and the love scenes quite beautiful. I mean, they were steamy enough but in a classy manner

Actually, I have been meaning to buy this book for ages, but the first time I searched for it on Kobo, instead of finding Eloisa James, I found E.L. James.

She of the Fifty Shades notoriety

(This was way before the 50 Shades hype). I ended up buying 50 Shades, not knowing what it went about at all. Got a bit of a shock a couple of chapters into the book, I can tell you, lol. But I ended up reading all three in the series and enjoying them a lot.

I will definitely read more of Eloisa’s books. She is an English Professor by day (real name Mary Bly) and in her spare time writes these delicious romance novels. Love it.

I’m not sure if it’s all the rain, or the runaway sh*t, but my roses are doing great! Also my veggie garden, which is fortunately not in the firing-line of the troublesome drain. We had a whole lot of fresh produce from our garden for supper. One of my prouder moments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, apparently Prince William and Princess Kate have announced that she is pregnant. It is going to be fun to see that little royal munchkin when he/ she makes an appearance.

Till next time then…

Happy 70th birthday…

… to my dear Pa.

He is 70 today.

He said he didn’t want a big fuss for his birthday, as he had his hip-replacement op very recently, and didn’t know how long the recuperation period would be. So he wanted it low-key and said we could come round for snacks if we liked.

Sooo.

We all rock up for what we think is going to be a quiet celebration, only to discover that MY SISTER FROM OZ AND HER HUSBAND CAME TO SURPRISE US ALL!!!

They told no-one they were coming over to surprise my dad for his 70th. (Don’t even know how they managed to keep that big a secret, lol)

There was so much excitement and we had a great party

My aunt made this lovely (and truly delicious) cake…

And here is a photo of the birthday boy himself (2nd from left) flanked my sis, Karina and her husband, Kous. And little Cayleigh, my niece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have some more photo’s but they still have to be uploaded (tomorrow’s job).

But it was a fantastic visit, and so, SO lovely to have Karina back in South Africa. I have missed her!

They had us in fits of laughter at their anecdotes. Will have to share some of the stories sometime.

For now, though, off to bed, as usual. Ten minutes to midnight by the kitchen clock

Happy December

I think the shops are a bit ridiculous with how they start with their Christmas promotions in October already. It diminishes the value of Christmas a little, the way they carry on.

Anyway, once it is December, I start feeling Chrismassy. That is just me, but it feels more sane.

I will try not to be a bit of a Grinch this year, but instead delight in all the festivity and merriment, and above all, focus on the reason for the season. Maybe I will acquire a lovely nativity scene from the shops instead of a Christmas tree. Maybe, I will get both and a wreath and an advent calendar (preferably with chocolates). Make up for all the years where I didn’t do anything.

Also, must track down my Bony-M Christmas CD.

And put up some hand-made paper decorations.

That should keep me busy for a while

 

I saw an advert on tv for a Lindt chocolate Bear. And naturally had to have one. Marketing is powerful stuff, who am I to resist? lol.

So I bought the bear today at Woolworths. It was R39.99 for a 100g chocolate, which is fairly insane, I must admit.

To get my money’s worth, I decided to have a photo-shoot with the little guy. Michael kept saying, “Where’s the bear? I’m hungry.”

And I’d say, “Just wait, I’m not done yet.”

The chocolate is now long gone, but at least I have these photo’s to show for it, with the bear in various poses with my vegetables and roses. lol (Oh, and it was delicious!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did it :-)

Well, I did it.

I managed to post an entry on my blog for every day in November.

Even though I did it last thing every day, and sometimes had to cobble together an entry real quick

Instead of ending with a bang, though, I’m going to keep this pretty short. It’s 11:30 and I need to be getting to bed.

I have loved this November. It’s been a fun, relaxing month, filled with good books and a new Kobo e-reader.

I have also finally gotten relief from my back-pain. My back is just about back to normal again. I want to look into a serious preventative program to stabilise and strengthen my back muscles to prevent this from happening periodically. Maybe even go and see a physiotherapist or biokineticist. But that is December’s worries.

I am very excited about December. I am really getting into the festive mood and am looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my loved ones.

Some fly in the ointment? I have been having a slight MS episode. Remember when I posted about feeling so tired and headachey and demotivated? Well, earlier in the week I realised that I’ve lost some vision in my left eye (where the headaches were centered around) and then I recalled seeing some ‘little flashing purple lights’ which is usually an indication for me of an Optic Neuritis attack.

And then I realised that my feet were quite a lot number than usual.

I think the worst is past, and hopefully I’m already on the mend. I’ve been taking the homeopathic drops that I usually take for Optic Neuritis and with any luck, that’ll clear it up for good.

I must stress that these mild attacks that I get from time to time are a) few and far between, and b) very mild compared to the relapses I used to have prior to starting on Gilenya.

In a way I am almost glad about the few symptoms I have had (not really, but if there is a positive spin then this is it) because it has reminded me how very fortunate I am to be on this medication that has helped me so much.

All the same, I’m ready for it to clear off now. I don’t like it when my MS starts acting up in any way, mild or not!

Going to bed now, but I have no intention of stopping the blogging now that I’ve gotten back in the groove.

See y’all in December.