Weekly Winners :

Connor and Jackie ... togetherness ...

A boy and a dog ....

.. a boy giving a dog a love/a squeeze ...

.... a boy telling the dog he loves her ...

... a boy giving the dog a kiss !!!!

... then 'the boy' gets hold of camera and takes photo of his granny ... (would have been legs and feet if granny hadn't crouched :) )!!!!

Connor and I (photos above !) were in the back garden having fed the birds and not long after Connor had put the apple there, it was nibbled on by a few birds ... amongst them was this Black Collared Barbet ...

Jeanette's birthday was yesterday. I made my 'speciality chocolate cake' without the usual smarties !!!! Ohhh nooo !!! ... but sprinkled it with teeny tiny stars instead ... stars for a 'star daughter' ...

Fortunately I had made the cake earlier that morning as the power went out in the afternoon and had to cook camping style !!!! (which by the way, we don't DO camping - these are for emergency use ONLY!) We have two gas bottles with cooker tops for cooking when the electricity goes off .. which used to be frequent .. very frequent .. but we are now cut off less frequently, fortunately ... but it just happen to go off when I was cooking our dinner .. Jeanette's birthday dinner!

Sooo .. out came the gas stuff. Bryan offered his Mom's Wonder Bag to help with the cooking process - dashed home to fetch it and returned with this amazing bag ...

I had heard of them years ago but had never actually seen one. I had heard how good they were for slow cooking. It's hard to believe anything could cook in it but it does! Whatever you are cooking has to be boiled first (soup, casseroles, etc) then pop the pot into the bag ... pop the lid/cover/hat on .... tie it nice and tight ... and it cooks .... s l o w l y ....!!

It works !!!! It's amazing !!! I must get one !!!!

And here's the birthday girl ...

.. blowing out her candles ...

... and finally, must add Bradley, with chocolate smeared lips and sporting his new haircut !!!!

For more Weekly Winners visit Lotus' blog

Bradley turned 7 yesterday !!!

Prezzie ready and waiting ...


.. and the 'Granny's Speciality' birthday cake .. with a difference .. I hear you say !! Yep .. not the customary Smarties as Smarties have gone 'green/organic/healthy' and contain no artificial colouring which makes 'Granny Speciality' cakes rather dull! So I tried jelly beans instead ... and added a touch of sparkle !



Bradley couldn't wait to open his prezzie .. still dressed in his karate suit .. with Connor eager .. very eager .. to help with the ribbon ..




... much to Connor's disgust he decided to open the card first ... yay .. he can read ... !!!

He wrote me a list of 'Mr Men' books - to add to his collection of Mr Men books - which has been stuck on the fridge since Christmas .. so he was thrilled that I remembered !! ...

"Yay .. new Lego .." I am amazed at Lego, how they keep up with trends .. Spiderman, Ben 10 etc as well as this one ... under the sea Atlantis .. with the usual 'goodies and badies' and odd looking vehicles with arms that do all sorts of crazy things !

"..look what you do with this one! ..."

Happy Birthday to you ... happy birthday to you .... happy birthday dear Bradley ... happy birthday to you ... hip hip hooray ...

A family photo ... !!! Rare indeed ! Pity about the background ...

Eyes tightly closed ..... making a wish .. wishing .. wishing ... wishing .. .... ..... !!

Can't believe he's 7 already !

Happy Birthday Bradley ' Bear' !! :) Granny and Papa love you lots and lots ... and lots ...

It's my Mum's birthday today !!

My thoughts have been with her all day .. hoping she is having a good day today! The last time I visited her at the Old Aged Home in Somerset West, she wasn't having a good day and she didn't know me :(

Nostalgia time : I looked at old photos that were scanned onto CD's at the time they were developed into printed photographs (our photographic shop I used to print my photos had that service .... when digital photographs became more popular than the printed form)

I get very upset when I see my Mum as she is now but will always remember her as she was - a sparkling personality living life to the fullest, enjoying every moment of whatever she did, never sitting still for a minute .. always on the go ... always busy ...

I came across these photos taken in March 2004 when Bradley was learning to crawl, with my Mum, who had come for a holiday from Zimbabwe, giving him lots of encouragement ...

I remember this moment (below) ... Bradley had been touching his toes and my Mum was showing him that she could touch hers too ...

A happy .. and healthy time .. Mum with her grandchildren (Jeanette, Carl and Elaine) and great grandchild ... (2004)

I'm going back in time here - a previous visit from Mum (she came as often as she could!) ... this one, below, was taken in 2003 ... four generations ..

... and lastly, earlier in that year when Mum met her first great grandchild, Bradley ... a special moment ...

Happy Birthday Mummy ... I love and miss you lots

Photographing a family ..

.. with two boys who would not co-operate ... at the same time - Bradley with thumbs in ears! - Connor smiling ...

... it was not easy - Mom and Dad smiling .. boys messing about!

Mom and Dad still smiling .... boys making silly faces ...

.. smile ... say cheeeeese ... look at the camera, pleeese !!

... nearly got it right this time ...

... nope .. still not ...

...the photo session all went pear-shaped and I gave up !

The occasion ? ... Lance's 40th Birthday ...!

Jackie Paper and Puff !

.. and there it is .. the LP (long playing) record .. Puff the Magic Dragon ... which Connor sings on Jeanette's blog ... she has a 'modern' CD for her car - so the boys have heard a recorded version - and not just mommy singing from memory !! ...

.. always a favourite with Jeanette and Carl ... played to 'death' and is probably rather scratched ...

Like mother .. like son ...

I just had to ... couldn't resist ... post these photos of Jeanette ... at the age of three !!!

Same hands .. same fingers ...

(below) ... oh my goodness ... same cake !!! Well .. very very similar !!! The little guy was the neighbours child - we were new to this country and hardly knew a soul !!!!! None of the few new and wonderful friends we made had babies or children - we were on our own in that department !!!!! No internet .. no google .. no support groups ... no family ... just 'Living and Loving Magazine' !!!! We survived !!!

The baby is my son, Carl .. cute hey ? !!

Gorgeous child ...

.... gorgeous mommy ...

... gorgeous family ...

Weekly Winners : 17 - 23 Jan

Focus on a flower ..... in particular ... a rose

'Garden and Home' rose

... unfolding ...

... until it opened fully ...

... with a new bud close-by ... repeating nature's wonder ...

Another of nature's wonders ..... grey rain clouds hanging overhead for days and days now ...

... and heavy rain showers everyday ....

... and beads of raindrops on window panes ...

Now .. what would a Weekly Winners be without a littlie or two ... just one today ...

... with his mommy in typical pose !!!

"Mommy ... maammy ... maaammmeeeee ..."!

A little blurred ... no .. a lot blurred but just thought I'd share !!!!

For more Weekly Winners visit Lotus' blog