We celebrated Elaine's graduation ...

.. on Saturday night with a dinner at ....

As you all know there was a mix up with dates and we will miss her graduation by ONE DAY .... very very very sad mommy and daddy here!! :(

... so we celebrated her special day .... Honours with cum laude (Marketing) ....

... with dinner and a little prezzie ...




... which she will wear tomorrow ... so that there will be a little part of us with her while she is capped ...

Congratulations, sweetie pie .. you deserve it. You have reaped the rewards of your dedication and hard work ..

.. we love you lots !

Weekly Winners : 20 - 26 Sept

"Incy Wincy spider climbing up/down the spout/wall ....."

These 'rain spiders' give me the absolute creeps !!! I hate/dislike/can't bear them with a passion!

They always appear in the rainy season. This is a youngster!!!! The other day we had a short shower of rain, which was only enough to make things even more dusty looking than they are - it needed to rain harder and longer to wash all the dust off everything !! - and this young fellow decided to see what the outside world looked like in our garage. He has since disappeared ... back to where he came from .... next time we see him he will be much larger, with a round body and furry legs ....

.... once one was quite happy in Elaine's car, unbeknown to her, and gave the car wash lady such a fright ... she screamed in terror and turned rather pale !!! We all wonder how long he had been in there .... and all the places he had visited while travelling around in her car ... university, friends houses, nightclubs etc !!!!

... a few years ago, I was checking the post box for mail and my fingers prodded the soft, warm furry body of one !!! eeeeww !!!

Much more pleasant .... flowers in my garden ... again .... like the palm tree flower ...

... a sad looking daffodil which didn't have the strength to lift it's weary head ... I have never had much success with daffodils and this one decided to join the ranks of it's unsuccessful counterparts ...

Didn't have much success with the anemones either ... planted a huge handful and only a few decided to show their pretty faces ... when spring turns to summer quickly with sudden hot days they don't have much chance ....

Indigenous .... indigenous .... indigenous .... "plant indigenous" is always drummed into our heads at garden centres ... there is a reason .... !!!!

... and finally .. from my garden is the Brunfelsia calycina ... otherwise known as the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ...

I have five bushes in the garden some are young and smallish ...

... and two are larger and covered in sweet fragrant blossoms at the moment ... these by the window have always been drastically trimmed otherwise we wouldn't see out the window!! Last year my gardener, Samuel, in his wisdom, decided to trim them, whilst I was out, and cut off all the new growth and buds !! I cried !!! This year ... NO ONE has touched them except me !!

I know I have featured them in a previous post, but we are going on holiday for two weeks and by the time we come home the flowers will be dying and falling off :( . They do have odd flowers during the summer but never such a show as in spring/early summer.

More flowers .... and dirty toes ... !!

Jackie waiting for her 'friend' next door to come and sniff and bark at the wall ... she sits for ages there - on one of the stumps from the conifers we felled recently - waiting ... waiting ... waiting ..

Now ... what would a Weekly Winners be without our little 'wild child' ....


This is my last contribution for the next two weeks ... hubby and I are 'going overseas' to Ireland for a holiday .. should be good .... green and wet !!! See you when we get back ....

For more Weekly Winners go to Sarcastic mom - Lotus

Skywatch Friday :

"I'm leaving .... on a jet plane .... "


... "don't know when I'll be back again ... "

Actually, I do ... in two weeks!!! Hubby and I are going to Ireland for a holiday on Monday. We've had quite a traumatic time with all sorts of things going wrong, it will be nice to get away - although I feel as if I am 'abandoning ship' !!


Hoping to have good news today and Nicole (my DIL) will be discharged (I told her to take/steal/borrow an oxygen tank and sneak out!!).

... hoping Carl (my son/her husband) will begin to relax - he has had it tough .. with looking after little Erin, night shifts (he is a paramedic) and now their beautiful 'gentle giant' has died

... hoping the rest of my family don't get sick .. and that includes Elaine who now seems to have the tummy bug I had !!

... hoping that her graduation goes well. We will be there in thought and spirit to watch her receive her Honours with cum laude .... and still very very very upset that the University messed us around with not giving us a firm date of the graduation ... hence the bad timing !! :(

... hoping we don't get another swarm of bees which decided to make a hive in an air vent at the back of the house the other day

... hoping that Elaine and Bryan are safe whilst looking after our house (our friends were the victims of an armed robbery in their home and were thankfully not physically hurt)

... hoping that it rains so that my garden will be watered while we are away

... hoping that my hubby and I will relax over a beer/wine at the airport and drink a toast to our family and a wonderful holiday

One more thing .... below .... Erin, our two year old granddaughter ... a future Skywatcher !!!!!

For more beautiful skies around the world visit Skywatch Friday

RIP Dumbledore

With Nicole still in hospital ... improving daily, thank heavens, Carl has been 'stretched' a little ... with looking after little Erin, who has now had to stay with Nicole's Mum while Carl is on night duty (he is a paramedic) ... and now to top it all ...

... their beautiful 8 year old Great Dane, Dumbledore died yesterday evening

Rest in peace 'gentle giant'

Portrait of a budding photographer ..

Camera in hand ... "are we ready, Grwanny ...



".. nice shot of my Daddy ....

"... a Skywatch photo ....

"look, Grwanny ... there are fairies ... sshhhh .... let's take a photo or two .. or three .. or four .. or five ......

" look ... Daddy .. this is how my Grwanny does it ?

Carl and Erin came on Sunday as he needed time to relax. He, as are we all, are going through a worrying time with Nicole in hospital with no firm diagnosis as to what is wrong with her. She improves slightly daily but is being carefully monitored in the cardiac ward as they have now found that whatever she has is affecting her heart.

Jeanette and I are going to see her later today. Going across town is not that 'easy' anymore with massive road works on our 'highways and by-ways' (they live about half an hour's 'normal driving time' on the highway from here)

Hopefully we will find Nicole much improved.

Jackie went to school ...

.. for Bradley's 'Pet Day' and she loved it !!



Jeanette and family don't have a pet and as Bradley has grown up with our dogs, Robbie and Jackie, we thought it good idea for me to take Jackie. I would have loved to have taken Robbie as Robbie would have absolutely loved all the attention but it would have been too much for 'the old man', so I took our little Jackie - whose not that much of a 'spring chicken' ... she's 10 !!

Bradley was delighted !!! Only four dogs went along to his class that day .. no other pets .. I thought there would be hamsters, mice, rats .... !!! There were other dogs waiting outside the other Grade 0's ... some small, medium, large and extra large !!! I carried her passed the 'extra large' ones !!!!

All the other children in his class brought photographs. Our little Jackie was a star!! She was so well-behaved that we were the last up !!! She sniffed around the classroom in between sitting quietly waiting our turn ....

Oh yes ... very proud of our little 'girlie' !!

Weekly Winners : 13 - 19 September

Angel's wings appeared in the sky last Sunday morning and I knew that my two year old grandson, Connor, would recover. He was in hospital with suspected pneumonia. He did recover and was discharged soon after I took this photo. Do you also see the wing shapes in the Banksia rose?

I am sending these angel's wings to Nicole, my daughter-in-law, together with all our prayers for her speedy recovery. She became ill last Sunday and has spent a few days in High Care in hospital with no definite diagnosis. Tests for various diseases, including Swine Flu came back negative. More tests are being done, and, fortunately, she is improving slightly (we are waiting to hear now as my son has gone to the hospital on his way home from spending a quiet day with us). The thinking now is that she has some sort of immune deficiency but what it is, has still to be pinpointed.

Our love and prayers are with you, Nicole. Erin has taken hundreds of photos today to show you!!!!!

I am also sending these angel's wings to friends of ours who were victims of an armed robbery on Friday night. Their home and lives have been invaded and personal possessions taken but they were not physically hurt. Trauma councelling has helped a lot. Elaine, Bryan and I along with a few other friends, went to be with them after the councelling and we drank wine and celebrated life!

Our love and prayers are with you all. Keep strong and keep safe.

See you on Tuesday, S ... we will have a lovely lunch and celebrate life ..... again!!

What would a Weekly Winners be without flowers from my garden ... like the Banksia rose which is just soooo beautiful at this time of year ....

... and fragrant freesia ....

... and the pale yellow clivia ...

Innocence of little children ... may they keep safe under the shadow of angel's wings forever


For more Weekly Winners can be seen at Lotus' blog

What a traumatic few days we've had ...

Firstly Connor spending last weekend in hospital with suspected pneumonia and thankfully as fully recovered - back to his normal 'wild child' self! On asthma medication for the next six months.

Then my daughter in law - who started feeling ill on Sunday while they were with us for lunch, ending up in High Care a few days later and is still very ill. The first thoughts were 'swine flu' as she had all the symptons but tests came back negative. A battery of tests have now been conducted and hopefully today there will be progress and confirmation as what she has. Very worrying. Waiting to hear from my son what progress has been made and then she will be on the road to recovery.

Little Erin is missing her mommy.

And now ... friends of ours have been the latest victims of an armed robbery - it happened last night while they were having supper. We don't know all the details yet as they are busy sorting and putting back the pieces of their lives - including trauma councelling today. I cannot imagine what they must be going through. They were, thankfully, not physically hurt.
Tied up, threatened and traumatised.

What more can we do .... electric fences, pallisade fencing, alarms, passive alarms ...

Skywatch Friday : Angel's wings

My two year old grandson spent last weekend in hospital with suspected pneumonia ... a little worrying but when I saw these 'angel's wings' on Sunday morning, I knew he would be fine - and he was ... discharged from hospital a little while later.

For more spectacular skies around the world go to Skywatch

Through my kitchen window ...

... I see my yellow Banksia rose arching over the garden wall (photo is a little dark as this was taken yesterday evening) ...

I took this photo the other morning .. love this plant - such a pity it only flowers in spring/early summer and then it's just green for the rest of year ..

Delicate, dainty pale yellow flowers ...

Also 'through my kitchen window' I can see my white Banksia which isn't quite in full bloom yet ..

Early morning sunshine over part of the front garden ... for those interested in what my garden looks like !

Another plant I love is the Cape May which is covered with tiny white blossoms at this time of year

- Janet .. note the 'Yesterday Today and Tomorrow' (Brunfelsia calycina) in full bloom against the house .. this is one of five I have in the garden - their scents waft around the garden and into the house in the evenings

Tiny delicate flowers of the Cape May ...

I haven't finished replantng the side area where the trees came down - but it's coming right ...

The little ditch/river/dried up river bed/where the outlet-water-from-the-pool-goes has needed 'repairs' and there are spaces where I can plant new plants and seedlings etc ....

We've had glorious days lately - although I see it's a little cloudy today and rain would be good!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon the two boys and I spent the whole afternoon on the picnic rug (as I do most afternoons in summer with them) ... we watched the sky and the birds, the fresh new leaves on the trees, counted the aeroplanes ..."jets" ... watched a yellow weaver start another nest just above us, read books ..... it's great being a granny!

Wordless Wednesday : Chocolate hands!

Explanation necessary ...... go to Jeanette's post 'Granny's chocolate pudding' .... just before going home, Connor asked for MORE chocolate pudding. He sat quietly on his own and unbeknown to all of us he left me with a little piece of artwork !!!

There are more Wordless Wednesday's here and here

Weekly Winners : 6 - 12 September

There doesn't seem to be a dull moment in our lives at the moment!!! I have so many photos it was difficult to choose a couple for Weekly Winners !!!!

Sooo ... will start with a bunch of roses I bought to brighten up the dining room ...

Sunday was spent with children and grandchildren at Jeanette's house - here's our little wild child who has thankfully recovered enough to come home from a weekend in hospital ... never a dull moment for this little guy !!!

Our cutie pie, Erin .. blowing her whistle ...

... showing me her pigtails ...

... and having a special moment with Grampa ...

Chandelier in the Freemason's Hall ....

Back into my garden..... well, what would a Weekly Winner's be without shots in my garden ..

Update on the indigenous Blue Squill .....

.... which eventually starts looking like this ...

... and a frilly palm tree flower ....

... and the Clivia at our driveway gate ...

and lastly the fresh new green growth of the Silver Birch .. peek-a-boo .. nice to see you too !

One of our usual visitors to the garden, the Hadeda, decided to rest near the pool ..

On Saturday evening hubby and I were joined by Elaine and Bryan, and we dined at the Kai Thai in Monte Casino ... food was yummy - far, far nicer than the Kai Thai near where we live ...

... and then we watched the Tattoo which was held in the grounds of Monte Casino. I booked as soon as the bookings opened, months ago, as we had heard so many great revues from the past two years performances. We were all a little disappointed - maybe I had greater expectations but it wasn't what I was expecting.

It was very colourful .. with flags being whirled ...

...and the gum boot dancers pounded the floor and their boots in typical ethnic rhythm ..

... and the highlight - for me anyway .... well, I do have a bit of Scottish blood running through me ... were the Pipes and Drums and the Highland dancers !

It ended too soon ... I was expecting more! Will do a post on the Tattoo later this week

For more Weekly Winners visit Sarcastic Mom's post

Skywatch Friday : Spring - ing into the blue!

My Silver Birches are covered ... (well, the younger trees are) .. with fresh new growth ... the big older one is like the mommy ... she waits for all the littlies to flourish first and then it's her turn to show her beauty .... it's Spring ...

For more beautiful skies from around the world go to Skywatch

My Great Grandfather ....

... Robert McMurray, was the Grand Master of the Bulawayo Masonic Lodge in Rhodesia in the early 1900's

..my son, Carl was introduced to the Freemasons by his father in law and is now a Junior Warden

He invited us to a 'Ladies dinner' the other evening where the wives, girlfriends and guests can get a 'peek' inside the walls of the Freemasons Lodge ... this one, in particular, is the Orphic Lodge in Johannesburg ...

As the meeting of the Masons was being held - which is behind closed doors - we, as guests, were able to enjoy the beauty of this old building with it's grand staircase and ornate ballistrade incorporating the Freemasons symbol of the Square and Compass ...

We were treated to sherry and port in the Library whilst a couple of the Masons chatted to us about their organisation and giving us an insight into this society which is shrouded in mystery for most people. The photograph below is taken in the Library ... there is a beautifully iced cake in a glass case which celebrated the Orphic Lodge's 100 years in 1995 ..

Along the corridors are paintings of past and present Freemasons, including the Duke of Kent ...




... and photographs of past Freemasons, which includes Oscar Wilde and Lord Kitchener ...

... and as the Freemason's business is a benevolent organization there are photographs of presentations of substantial donations to various organizations, including the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund ..

Once the meeting came to a close, we were invited into 'Lodge Room #1' which is the main hall and meeting place, and where guests are permitted. There are other such rooms upstairs but they are for members only.



We found it so interesting!! There was a further talk about Freemasonry - what they do, what the symbols are for etc. At last we were given an insight into what the organization is all about!
I now know lots more than I did before!!!!! It's a fraternity which always appears to be so secretive but as was explained to us, it's a organization which meetings are held behind closed doors, as is the case with many organizations. As was said "it's not a secret society, it's a society with secrets".
I am not going to go into depth about it all but if anyone is interested, there is a very informative website :
www.exsequi.org.za

I took photographs after the proceedings in the Hall - the above photo shows the Senior Warden's table with the smooth ashlar ... below is the Junior Warden's chair and table with the rough ashlar ... ie rough edges of a man are smoothed out as he advances to become able to sit in the chair as a Master of the Lodge



Below is the Grand Master's chair - there was a beautiful Bible on the table while the proceedings were in progress and was whipped away before I get a photo of it!!!




I took this photo on our way out. I have lived in Johannesburg for over 30 years and I have never seen the building!!!! That's shocking!!! .. but I have never had the need to go down the road that runs in front of it. I must make a point of going during the day so that I can get a better photograph and a photo of the huge heavy door.


Carl asked us to go the Grand Lodge in London when we were there last year - wow - that was an impressive building with a magnificent front door, marble staircase, huge library and very interesting museum. I should do a post about it ... I sneeked a few photos inside the museum even though there was 'no photographs' notice! Well .... I had to show Carl what it looked like, not so?

Wordless Wednesday :

For more Wordless Wednesday's go HERE and HERE

Wizards, pirates ... and a knight !

Just to add to Jeanette's post ... and as I never go anywhere without my camera - well not usually anyway ... I also have photos of the littlies who were having a ball on Sunday playing together. Erin spent the day with us and had such fun with the others.

Sooo ... when they all dressed up ... there was a wizard with his 'wands' ...

... a pirate/wizard ...

... a knight amongst the lavender ...

.. our pirate/wizard with supergirl ...

.. and when they tired of dressing up Bradley and his friend played with Transformers. What a difference in height! .. they are the same age. It's not that Bradley is exceptionally tall, it's the friend who is very short! .. and supergirl is 4!! They are 'littlies' !!

There was a quiet moment with Grampa and Erin ....

... before Grampa/Papa had fun pushing Connor and Erin who were calling 'higher' and 'higher' ...

... oooops !!

A week ago today ...

our three diseased and dying conifers were cut down ...

... they housed a nest or two ... or three .. belonging to birds including this dove who sat on this branch while the tree feller started cutting ....

The blade was sharpened several times during the day ...

.. and hoisted up the trees ....

... the ropes were tied ...

... and pulled ...

.... and tightened ...
... and the trees were cut ...

... heavy logs were cut half ....

.. and squashing my garden in the process !!!! ...

... and were carried away ...

... to a waiting rather-dilapidated vehicle ... (!!!!!) ... note the stone to keep it from rolling down our driveway - backwards !! ...

... leaving us with sawdust ...

.. logs to play on ...

... and a part of the garden to restore and an neighbours ugly house exposed!!!

The house is fine ... it's just the paintwork and THAT bathroom window overlooking our garden/I look right into from our front\side garden !!

I was kept busy over the weekend - our gardener didn't pitch up on Saturday .. so had lots to do in the garden ... we went out on Saturday evening .. and Sunday - to Jeanette's so that Erin (who we looked after as C and N went to play golf) could play with the boys and their friends .. and then last night I sat and relaxed watching the Sunday night movie on TV .......

... sooooo ... these are my Weekly Winners for this week ... for more go to Lotus - (sarcasticmom)

Skywatch Friday :

We had treefellers take down three conifers ... sadly they were diseased .... and I captured their progress ... looks like he's standing on the roof of the house - cropping the roof cuts off his feet and then he doesn't look right ... so here's the treefeller up-a-tree-but-on-the-roof ...

Sad day for me ...

Preparing the last tree with a couples of strong ties .... (I hoped strong ties - the house and garden wall was sooo close!)

.. which were knotted together ....!!!

Miss those trees now ... all that open space with sky, hot summer afternoon sun (or will be hot soon) and an ugly house next door!

I planted them almost 30 years ago - for screening the neighbour and afternoon shade.

We begin again ...

For more spectacular skies around the world visit Skywatch

Fun with logs!

Sanding ....

Standing ...

Jumping...

Doing some-sort-of cartoon character 'thingie'...

Rolling ...

Sitting ...

Falling ...

Being Tarzan ...

Wordless Wednesday : Circles of life

I loved you too!

For more Wordless Wednesday contributions go HERE and HERE

"Spring has sprung....

... the grass has ris,

I wonder where the birdie is ..

Some say the bird is on the wing ...

but I say the wing is on the bird ! "

And this morning, being officially Spring ... these birds have no home! They flew around and around yesterday evening wondering where the conifers were that housed their nest .... I am hoping there were no eggs or worse .. babies!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, our three magnificent conifers were felled - took photos of the whole process which will be in later post - but my garden now looks like this ... :(

... trampled roses, agapanthus, salvias, Mackaya Bella, and even a new Flowering Plum! The only plant standing, unscathed is a young Silver Birch! Fortunately it's only one corner and as my hubby said ... I now have a project to do .. again ! First things first ... need to either move the Silver Birch to a strategic spot to hide the most hideous of houses next door which is now exposed ... or plant something else .. maybe evergreen, narrowish, doesn't make a mess because the pool is right there ... oh I yes .. that's why I planted conifers !!! aaarrgh! Have to find something else !

On a happier note : it's Spring I shall focus on the beautiful delicate pink flowers of Flowering Plum ..

..this is my opposite neighbour's magnificent speciman - perfect!!

.. and a quick update on the Blue Squill - looks like a ballet tutu now ...