The Wild Wild West

Well,  I  cannot  believe  how  long  it  has  been  since  I  have  had  time  to  blog,  but  after  this  weekend I  will  at  last  have  some  time,  holiday  club is  done and  dusted   ladies  retreat  is  this  weekend,   Kayla's matric  farewell is over,  and  now  the  final  3  months  and  Kayla  is  finished  with  school  and  on  to  University.  Kayla  got  her  drivers  license  so  is  now  mobile,  now  she  needs  a  car,   So with exams just around the  corner  we  have  no  plans  the  only  plan  is for  Kayla  to study,  study,  study  and  i  will  be  at  home  hopefully  blogging  and  reading  all  my  friends  blogs,  boy  how  I  have  missed  all the  fun  things  my  blogging  friends  get  up  to,  Kathy,  Donna,  Maggie,  Pennie,  and  so  many  others.

In    last  month  I  did  have  a  holiday  a  week  away  at the  coast,  but  I  decided  to  leave  my computer  at  home  and  just  read,  some  quiet  time  with  my God,  some  inspirational  reading,  some  deep  contemplation  and  self  analysis  and  I  was  good  to  go................  The  girls  decided  they  wanted  to  do  everything  different  so  we  could  not  go  to any  place  we  had  been  before,  so we  found  a  whole  load  of  new  places  and  they  wanted  to  do  something  extreme,  either  jumping  off  the  highest  bridge  in  South  Africa  or  doing  a 4 hour    bush,  beach  and night  horse  ride,  we  voted ..........and  the  horse  ride  won.  At  the time  I  thought  it  was a  good  idea,  but  in hindsight  at  least the  bridge  jumping  would  have  been  over  in 5 minutes ...........


So  off we  went,  when  I  saw  the  horses  I  didn't want  the  third  horse  from the  right,  its  foot  was  raised  and  it  looked  ready  to  go............................  haha  its  name  was  Jet,  and  here  I  am  on  Jet
we  took  a  while  to  get  to  know  one  another,  but  he  really  was  quite  a  sweetie,  you  just  had  to  keep  him  on a  very........  short  rein..........

(Please  note  the  apprehension  on my face)
Some  of  the  people  had  never  been  on horses  before,  luckily  we  have  horses  so  we  were  all quite  confident,  we had  an  hour   walkthrough  the  bush, to  get  to  the  beach, I  was  nearly  decapitated  a  few  times  by  low  hanging  branches  and  I  forgot  when  I  bent  forward,  to  miss  a  branch,  to  put  my legs  forward  instead  they  automatically  go  backwards,  and  after  nearly  do  a somersault  over  the  horse  head........  I  quickly  learnt  that  lesson.

In order  to  get  to  the  beach  we  had  to  cross  a  main  road,  no  problem  except  what  is  it  about  people  who  think  they  need  to  hoot  when  they  see  a  horse  do  they  not  know  that  horses  SPOOK  and  get  frights,  more  than  a  few  scary  moments  here............ I  wondered  what  I  would  look  like  screaming  on a  runaway  horse............  not a pretty  sight I  am  sure.

The  beach  was  fantastic,  to  ride  a horse  along  the  beach,  with  the  waves  at  your  feet,  is  to  say the  least  absolutely  unbelievable  until  you  have  tried  it  you  cannot  describe  it........  awesome,  man  and beast  what   more  could  you  ask  for,  the  sunset  was one of the  most  amazing  I  have  seen  and  so  much  more  special  because of  the horse.

We  then  took  a  slow  ride  home,  luckily  it  was  full moon,  I  don't  think  I  would  have liked doing  that  ride  in the  dark,  when  we  went  through  the  bush,  there  was  a  river  on the  one  side,  one  wrong  move  and  you  would  have  been  swimming  ............ and  of  course  the horses  were  very  eager  to  get  home,  so  we  kept  our  distance  from  one  another..........  far  away  from  one  another...........

4 hours  on  a  horse,  well  I  can  tell  you  I  was  sore  in places  which humans  just  shouldn't  have  places,  John  Wayne,  and  Clint  Eastwood  would  have  taken  off  their  hats  to me.......  the  Lone  Ranger  would  have  given  me  Tonto,  he  would  have  been  so  proud........    .  this  is  life  at  its  best..............................

White Elephant Tea

It is amazing how quickly the time flies  and three  months  have  passed  since  our Victorian  Tea.  The  theme  for  this  tea  was  "White Elephant"  at the  back  of  the  invitation  was  the  instructions for those  ladies  "brave"  enough  to join  us.........

Instructions

Please  bring something from your home

that you have bought and never used, or seldom

used, DO NOT buy something new.

Please wrap your "White Elephant Gift" 

attractively in gift wrap,  not a gift bag

the fun is not  knowing what the  "gift" is...

The  table  was  "decorated"  with the  most  amazing looking  gifts.......  that  looked  almost  too nice to be  true.....  and they  were.......

All the  ladies  were  given  a number  and they could choose  a  gift,  did  we  laugh  people  had   really used  more  than  a  little  imagination  when  deciding  on what  to  bring, I have  not see  such  an  array  of  useless  gifts,  there  was  a car  coffee  maker, (apparently  by the  time  you get to  Durban  the  coffee  would be  hot  enough  to  drink), there  was  the  ugliest jam  server  I  have  ever  seen, and  I  mean  ever,  there  were  icing  pipers,  foot  massagers, there  were plastic  beads  to make  your  own  jewellery, there  were  some  quite  cool things  as  well..............  strongly  fought  for  I  might  add, the  twist  however  was  that you  were  allowed  to steal   the  gift from the  person before  you.................  at  one  point  I  thought  I  would  have  to call in  some  additional  help  and  911  was  already  on my  speed dial............ thankfully  we  were  all  good  Christian  ladies.........well almost  all of  us.

The  talk  for the  day  was  getting  rid  of  your  White  Elephants,  materially,  emotionally and perceptionally,    a friend  shared  with  us  her  life,  and how she had  to get  rid of her White  Elephants,  one  husband killed in a  car  accident,  one  husband  committed  suicide,  one husband had a stroke and is  completely paralised and one husband  divorced....................   and  how  she  has  had  to overcome anger, grief  and disappointments  and  I  know  that  a number  of  people were more  than a little  affected by  her  unique  life  story

We  shared  some  laughs,  and  drank  some  afternoon  tea,  we  played  some  games it  is  absolutely amazing  what  women  have  in there  hand  bags.  I was the  MC for the afternoon,  director  of  games and  sole  judge  and  jury.................  I was  not responsible  for the  photo's  that  was  Kayla's job,  all of which  she  took before  everyone had  arrived,  5 in total...........  thanks  Kayla................. thanks  Penny for the  idea,  it  was  great  fun.

Stop the World I want to get OFF

I cannot  believe  that  it  is a month  since  I  last  had  the  time  to sit  on my computer, I  have  so missed  reading everyone's  blogs,  it is  like  I have  lost  touch  with  all my friends.......  which  I  have......  it  will take  me  some  time  to  catch  up,  but  at  long  last  things  are  slowing  down  and things  are  back  to normal........  well  as   normal  as  my  life  can  be.

Financial  year  is  over,  with going on our new  computer  system  in June last  year,  this  was  our  first  financial  year  end  and  it was  tough,  it  was  rough  and  it  was  dirty......  I  feel  like  I  have  gone  10 rounds  with  Mohamed  Alie,  and  had  both  my ears, eyes  and  tongue  bitten  off  my Mike  Tyson,  and  just  for  good  measure  have  been worked  over  by the  Gladiators............  and  that  doesn't  begin  to explain  how  touch  it has  been.

I have  been  spring  cleaning,  I reached  a  stage  when  I could  not  live  any more  with  all  the "Ex's"  personal things,  and  so  I  advised  his  lawyer  he  had  21  days  to  collect.......  surprise.......  he  didn't  and  so  I packed,  and  packed  and  packed,  he  had  3  boxes  of  shoes........  he  had  more  shoes  than  me.........  he  had  15  bags  of  clothes................15  bags..............  and  with  every load  I  carried  outside  it  was  like a piece  of the  hurt  dropping  off.

I had  an  18th  party  for  my daughter,  planned  an  outside party  under  the  trees,   with  umbrella's  it  looked stunning  but  before  I  could  take  pictures  and  10 minutes  before  the  25  guests  arrived...........  the  heavens  opened...............  so  it became  an inside  party...........  oh my goodness..................  this  was  a  big  one  for me  i  had  to allow  people  to eat  in my lounge.................  in my  lounge...........  on my  couches...............actually eat.............
Then  it  was  Easter,  and  all the  preparation  that  goes  around  that..................
Then  I  went  back  to  court...............................................................................
And  then  I  did  a  Woman's  tea ........................
And  now that   I  have  my life  back,  and  some  time  on my  hands with  only  the  lessons  for  the  Holiday  club  in  June,  and the organisation for the Woman's  retreat  in  August, the painting  of  Kayla's  room,  a  Sunday  sermon,  and a  cell  group  lesson  to  do.....................   I  will be  completely  up  to date..................

 Will be  checking  up  on you  all in the  next  few  days.................

Eighteen today

Today  is  my  baby  girls  eighteenth  birthday,  I  cannot  believe  the  time  has  flown  by  so  quickly  it  was  only  yesterday  that I  held  her  in my  arms  for  the  first  time,  where  have  the  years  gone............... After  the  birth  of  my  fist daughter  they  told  me I  would have,  no  more  children  and  I was  okay  with  that  I  had  a  little  girl,  a  career  to  build.
And  then  10 years  later I was  feeling  a  little  sick.........  with  my  first  pregnancy  I was  sick  for eight  and  a  half  months,  and  put  on  only  5  kilograms,  left  the  hospital  in  my normal  jeans................ so  off  i  went  to the  doctor,  I  thought  he  has  lost  his  mind  when  he  wanted  to  do  a  pregnancy  test..............  and  it  was  positive.....................
I  cried  all the  way  back  to  work.............  told  my  boss  I  needed  to  go  home................... it  is  strange  how  when  you  know  you  have  a  little  person  growing  inside  you  how  quickly  you  accept  how  quickly  you fall in  love..............   I  was  sick  again  for 8 months  at  one  time  they  wanted  to  put  my in hospital  because  I  had  pulled  the  muscles  in  my  back,  I  lived  off  bread  with  sugar  on.............   that  was  about  all I  could  keep down.........  mind  you  if  you  think  about  it  I at  least  got I my  starch  and  sugar  intake  each  day.

I  went  to  the  doctor  in the  morning,  to  do  a lung  test on the  baby, the  doctor  phoned  to  ask  where  I  was,  and  I  told  him  at  work.............  they  wanted  to  do  the  ceaser   at  9 that  evening..........  They  allowed  Kira  to  hold  her as  soon  as  she  was  born  and  they  have  had  a  special  bond  ever  since...  I  must  admit  she  was  the  ugliest  baby  I  had  ever  seen,  she  looked  like  a  little  vulture..........  talk  about  turning  into  a  swan............
The  second  night  I  was  in hospital  one  of  the  water  pipes  broke  and  the whole  floor  was  flooded,  they  nurses  had  dished  out  sleeping  pills  to  all the other   Mom's,   so  24 hours  after  having  Kayla,  I  was  helping  move  sleeping  moms  and  babies  into  other  rooms,  the  next  day  I  got  a    bouquet  of  flowers  from  the  hospital  to  say  thank you.........  It  was  in  hospital  I  met  my  friend  Helen,  she  and  I  had  daughters  on the  same  day,  and  when  we  were  chatting  we  discovered  we  had  much  more  in  common,  out  older  daughters  were  also  the  same  age.............  we  became  good  friends.
Kayla  had  a  difficult  first  six  years,  and  eye  operation  at  three months  for  blocked  tear ducts,  tonsils  out  at  18 months she  was  always  sick,  and  then the  big shock,  we  discovered  she  was  born  without  a hip  on her  right  hand  side.............  something  they  should  have  picked  up  at  birth...............  12  hospital stays,  and  two  operations  later,  lots of  sleepless nights,  hydro therapy, physio therapy, occupational  therapy, and  any other therapy  that  you  can  think  of she  could  walk.  I  think  at  some point  I  should  write  a  book  about  those  6  years.

And  now  here  we  are  18 years  old....................  Happy  birthday  baby................

Whoosh........................

If  I  had  any  time  at  all to  blog  I  would  tell you  that the  last  few  months  have  flown  by  so  quickly,  that  I  feel  like  my  life  is  moving  like  a super  sonic  jet,  you  don't  see  it  just  hear  the  noise  as  it  breaks  the  sound  barrier. If  I  was  to  tell you  about  what  I  have  been  up to,  I  would  tell you  about  the  birthday  present  that  the  girls  bought  me  for  my birthday,  his  name  is  Dash  and  is a Jack  Russel  and the  naughtiest  thing you  have  ever  met  in your  life, and he  has  me  wrapped  around  his  paw  already.

 I would tell you  the  wedding  that  we  started  organising  in  October,  was a success and was on the  26th  February and was absolutely  beautiful  everything was  perfect,  the  bride  looked  beautiful,   the  best part  for  me  was  the brides  dance  with  her  father it   brought  tears  to everyone's  eyes  it  was to the  song  "Butterfly kisses", and  was  just  so  special. The  fact  there  was  a  really  sexy  guy sitting  next  to me,  and  we  laughed  all night  had  nothing  to do  with  it at  all.............mmmmmmmmmmmm.

If  I  had  time  to  blog  I will tell you  I  have  been  to  court  3  times  in the  past  month  to  get  garnishee  orders  so that  my  ex-husband (  still feels  really good  to say  that)  pays  the  court  ordered  maintenance, not exactly my favourite  place  in the  world,  but at  last  step  one is  done,  I have  a garnishee for the arrears  and  step two,  for the  monthly maintenance  is  well down  the  road......  I knew  I should  have  been  a  lawyer.

If  I had  any  time  left  at the  end  of the  day  to  blog,  I  would  tell you  about  my son-in-laws  surprise  birthday  party  on Saturday  the  theme  was  St  Patrick's  day,  he  just  loves  everything  Irish,  it  was  great  fun,  and  much  fun  was  had  by  all,  it  was  held  at our farm,  just  on the  outskirts  of  Heidelberg,  there  was  no entry  unless  you  were  dressed  in green.

I would  tell you  that  the  food  was  absolutely stunning..............  the  cake  was  made  by my "bestest"  friend  in the  whole  world..........

If  I  wasn't  so  busy  and  I  didn't  know  whether  I  was  coming  or  going,  whether  I  was  here  or  there, whether  I  was  upside  or  downside,  whether  I  was  Arthur  or  Martha,  in fact  I  would have  so much  to tell you  if  I  didn't  feel  like  this...............................

Smile..

Smile 

Smile though your heart is aching; Smile even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by. If you smile through your fear and sorrow, Smile and maybe tomorrow, You'll see the sun come shining through for you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.

That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

THE wedding..........

I think  that  it  might  be  safe  now  to blog about THE wedding  I went  to last  year  in November when we  flew  down  to  Cape Town  for the  weekend,  this  is  a  true  story  but  names and places  have been changed  to protect innocent  people involved.............. and no pictures........... to protect me  from a law  suit....
Lets  start  at the  very  beginning............... the wedding was  supposed  to take  place in March 2011,  and  we had  planned  to take a week and spend the time  in Cape  Town,  it  was  brought forward  because the brides parents  were  emigrating  to  Australia in December................  we are   now in  March,  and her  parents  are  still here.................
My eldest  daughter  was a bridesmaid so she  spent  all afternoon with the bride,  us lucky  ones  arrived at the venue  at  4pm  the  wedding was to start at 4.30pm.  The  place  The Cape  Pillars  is  a  four  star  bed and breakfast, and conference centre,   and  a very  pretty  place,   there  was a welcome table  set up in the lobby of the venue  with some  tea,  coffee,  and iced  water............  no glasses.........  only  coffee  mugs..............     although I must  admit  the  snacks  were  really good,   so I assumed   that  supper  was  going to be good because I was starving and  we  all know  what assume  means.
We  were  asked  to come  through  to the hall  in which the wedding would take  place,  the  colour scheme for the wedding  was maroon and  brown,  the  chairs  were  orange,  all different  shapes  and  sizes,  and on each chair  scribbled  in pencil  on a piece of paper torn  into  small pieces  from an  A4 sheet  was our names,  we  were  back  row,  now  I wonder  why that  was,  we  were  next  to the  nurse  who was  looking after  the brides  granny,  everyone  at last is  seated..........
The music  started  and the  bride appears at the top of the  stairway,   her  dress  was  really beautiful,  she  is a  slim  young  lady  with  beautiful hair,  but  attached  to her  headdress,   was  a dead  drooping  flower,   she walked  down  the  aisle,  the minister  smiled,   said the  vows, asked  if they took each  other  as  husband and wife,  read a poem about what  love  is,  you may  kiss the  bride........  7 minutes  later  the  wedding  is  over..........  no really the  wedding  is  over...........  no prayer,  no  bible  reading,  no message,  no inspiration,  nothing..........   we  travelled  1500km and spent  R 10 000 for  7 minutes,  that  is  R .. .........  a lot  per  minute.  Kira  told  me later  that  she  had  seen  the bride  paying the  minister  R 800 for these  7 minutes,  I would  have  done it  better  for  free...........
The  first photo's  are  being  taken  outside in the garden,     I tell Kira  about the  dead  flower  on the  brides head,  and her  looks  turn  me  into a tea  strainer,  I am let  into the  fact later  that the  mother,  insisted  that the  flowers  looked nice,  but that  was before  they  had  become thirsty  and started  heading  downwards  looking  for  water.  The  grooms mother,  who it was  quite  obvious  it  not too fond of the  bride   is  crying she   is refusing  to have  her  photo  taken  with the  couple, she  obviously  did  not get an invitation  to the wedding  which  said  formal,   she is dressed as thought  she has just come back from a picnic,  the  photographer  convinces  her  just  one  photo....... which because  two  and three,  until  she  stormed  off the  set..........  I mean  left the garden.
The second  photo  shoot  was taken inside  on the  stairs,  lovely  photo,  I warned  them that the  sign "mind the step"  was  visible , and  was  shot down,  they can  all be  photo shopped  out they  said ..........  well they  weren't.....  While this was  happening  the  owner wanted to put the  TV on  and can you imagine  an important  rugby game,  guys,  no one  would be taking part in the wedding,  so I put my foot  down ......
then , politely of course   that  my bed and breakfast  was much nicer that this,  and why would I change,  not sure  why but she didn't ask me again......................

We then  went  out to the back   garden  for the  reception,  where  we  took turns  in sitting  down,  as  someone  stood  up,  there  would be another  body  sitting  on the chair,  before  you  knew  what  was  happening.  As  are  most  wedding  here   it was a  cash  bar,    should  have  been  called  a day light robbery  bar,  a 2 litre  bottle  of  Coca Cola  is   R 12.99,  and  one  bottle  gives  you  8  glasses  of coke,  and they  were  charging  R 15.00  per  glass,  daylight  robbery,   we  just  refused to buy anything,  and  I stuck  with the  tea,  coffee and  water,  After the  toasts however  the champagne was  free  so with the help of the  brides  aunt  we "affirmative shopped" a couple of  bottles........... the wedding  did not seem  so bad  after  that.

Now  it is  time for the  toasts,  we are  all called  to assemble  for them,  and the  brides  step father  gives  the  first  toast..........................  no champagne  ................    he  rambled  on for  about  20 minutes,  then  her  mom  had 20  minutes, then the  best man had  20 minutes,  then the groom had  20 minutes,  that the  bride had 20 minutes ...............  is this  normal at a  wedding........................ and  his  mom cried,  and  cried  and cried...........
Now  it is  time  to get this  party going.........................  and the  DJ  for the evening  is..................... the bride................. forcing  everyone  onto the dance floor,  and  no one is in the mood,  oh  wait  a minute  there  is no mood..........

The wedding  starts  at  4pm and  now  it is  7pm  and everyone  is  starving,  and  out  comes,  finger  food,  how much  finger  food  can  one person  eat...........  lots  when  you are  all starving,  so  we  quickly ran  out of  food.  The  wedding  cake  was  chocolate  and really nice,  and came  with  a liquour  called  Amarela Cream  really nice.............. and  free..................
The brides  parents,  have a printing  company,  and the  thank you gifts  were  all left  overs  from  jobs  they had  done...........  I got a pen set for my desk,  Kayla got a mug, Kira  got a picture frame,  at  8.30  it was at  last  safe to leave..................      I pray with all my heart  that  God  was at their wedding and that  he will bless then and guide them, and protect them, I pray that the mother-in-law,  with whom they live,  will learn tolerence and acceptance, and I pray that  love  is enough  to see them  through ...........