Catching a butterfly !

First ....

..... creep up ... s-l-o-w-l-y .. there's the butterfly on the pavement near the grass peeping through the bricks ...

... then .. cover him with net making sure there's space for him to fly into it ...

.... then .... call for help ....

... your 'assistant' will help you close the net so that the little butterfly doesn't fly away ...

... then .... you tell everyone that you have caught a butterfly !!!!!

... then ... your 'assistant' needs Mommy's help here too ... to get the butterfly into the cup ...

Look ... I got him ...

... and that's how you catch a butterfly !!!!

Weekly Winners :

Christmas ... this year ...

.. was hot ... very hot ...


... so Christmas Eve afternoon was spent in the pool ... cooling down ...

Our home was filled love and laughter .... with all our children and grandchildren .... my son was on duty on Christmas Day hence the family gathering on Christmas Eve .....

The littlies waited ... and waited ....


A new dolly for Erin .... she's the cutest thing .... sucks the dummy ... 'nuum nuum nuum' while the eyes close s-l-o-w-l-y ... and then she makes that nuzzling contented sound that babies make ....

There were small prezzies and large prezzies ... (Erin helping her Daddy with his large one!)

Bradley was following Santa's route on 'Norad Tracks Santa' and discovered Santa was getting close to Africa .... he had done the whole of Australia and was making his way through Malaysia !!!!!!! so they had to hurry home to bed .... Santa/Father Christmas does not come if littlies are awake!!!!

Shhh ...in a whisper to all littlies out there .... you can be awake but tucked up in bed .... and if you listen very hard ... very hard ... you can hear the reindeer land gently on the roof with a tinkle of magic bells ... but don't tell the grown ups that !!!!

You see ... I told you so ... Father Christmas always comes to our house and fills Elaine's stocking !!!

.. ooooooh .....

Jeanette, Lance and the boys spent Christmas Day with us

.. when the last of the HUGE pile of prezzies was handed out by Lainey's 'little-big' helper ...

Lots of smiles ...

... and not-a-moment-to-lose-on-cutting-down "Gwanny's big twee" with a new super-duper Black and Decker "chainthaw" !!!!!!

... and after swimming - 'cos Christmas Day was also very hot indeed - catching "butterflieth" with a new butterfly net ....

I must add here .. that that was the first butterfly he spotted .. chased it and caught it!!

Christmas was over for another year .....


For more Weekly Winners go to Lotus' sarcasticmom

Christmas wishes to all

Weekly Winners : 13 - 19 Dec

Hi there ..... !!

... look how good I look in my Christmas hat ...

... my buddie, Robbie, didn't really want his Christmas hat on ... but I think I see a little smile on his face .. do you see it too? ....

A feather ..... promise, promise, promise ... I did NOT catch that birdie ....

... even though his feathers looked sleek and shiny ...

... and so fluffy ...

Erin came to play but she went with Granny to play at Bradley and Connor's house. After swimming - 'cos it's been soooo hot lately - they had a picnic and she was 'mommy' .. pouring the 'tea' ..

.. yummy ... it must have tasted good ....

I wished Robbie and I were there too, 'cos they all played with balls ... our favourite toys ...

... they were throwing and catching ...

... and while the boys were playing with their Daddy ...

.. Erin was throwing ....

... and catching with Jeanette ... oooops ... keep your eyes on the ball, Erin ..

Lots of love from

Jackie x x woof woof !

PS. here are some flowers from my mistress' garden ... she says a Weekly Winner's isn't the same without a flower or two from our garden ...

For more Weekly Winners go to Lotus' blog

Skywatch Friday :

Could this be Santa criss-crossing the sky ? !!!!!

For more spectacular skies around the world go to Skywatch

Wordless Wednesday :

La Petite Ferme in Franschoek, Cape Province, South Africa

For more Wordless Wednesday contributions go here and here

(will submit this post once 'here' and 'here' catch up to our time!)

Weekly Winners : 6 - 12 Dec

Yesterday, I joined Jeanette and friends at a Christmas Party at the Othandweni Children's Home in Soweto ....

... there were jumping castles and yummy party food for the children ...


A group of littlies sang like little angels ...

One of the older girls wanted me to take her photograph but I see Jeanette has taken a far nicer one of her !!!!

.. and this young man INSISTED that I take his photo !!

Bradley and Connor came with us - something very good for them experience - that there are children and lots of them, who are far less fortunate than themselves ....

Bradley was pointing to the beautiful artwork on the walls surrounding the play area ...


... and this young man got stuck into his plate of yummy goodies as well as storing a couple of sweets in his pocket for later ...

I played soccer with Connor ...

... before he got stuck into a cup cake after the other children had had their full ...

... and then he wanted to go to the toilet. I was taken to the main building, by our pretty little photographed girl (4th photo) - a heart wrenching experience seeing all the cots lined up with babies sleeping .. some very small, then passing a neat dormatory with more beds than I was expecting to see, and then through the laundry area with washing machines tumbling and piles of clothes to be washed and sorted ...

... shoes too get a good scrubbing ...

Jeanette and friends .. you are doing a wonderful thing .. keep it up .. the world is a better place with caring people like you :)

Last Sunday, hubby and I went to Erin's prizegiving at her little school ....

... love the tongue !! ...

.. where Erin and her classmates sang Jingle Bells and a cute little song about a snowman being round and fat ... she sang and did all the actions with gusto ... a very enthusiastic little girl ... and then received her certificate .... 'Little Miss Independent .. oh yes .. teacher got that one right!!

After all the formalities ... it was time to play .. and jump on her favourite trampoline ... which she does on her tippy toes !!

... then off she ran to play with her best friend ...

Well done Erin, Granny and Grampa are very very proud of you !!!

Had enough ? !!!

For more Weekly Winners go to Lotus's sarcasticmom's blog