My hubby turned 60 on Sunday ...

... and before the rest of our family and friends arrived, Erin helped her Grandpa open his presents ... two BIG presents ....


... oooooh ....
.. 'what is it, Erin' ..... her reply .... "a box!!" ....

... 'what's inside the box?' ..... "a pot !"

.... "Nooo ... Grandpa .. not on your head" ....

... ooooh .. another box ....

.... we gave a delighted hubby/dad/grandpa a Weber Braai/Bbq ....

Happy 60th Birthday to my wonderful hubby !!

Jeanette took more photos of his special day shared by family and friends

http://www.jeanetteverster.com/2010/07/my-dad-turned-60-today/

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

Weekly Winners :

Lots of photos today so I hope you don't get bored before you get to the last few photos!

Last Sunday was Erin's 3rd birthday party ... such excitement written all over her sweet little face ...



She loves pink .. so in her honour .. here is the small delicate pink rose of the ground cover, Apple Blossom ..

... and another ground cover rose ... Sensation ...

.... and another, Brilliant Iceberg, catching the light of the afternoon autumn sun ...

Blooming Plectranthus of pinks, lilacs and purples, pretty and dainty - I need to encourage these plants around the garden as I was so impressed with all the plantings at Kirstenbosch Gardens on our recent visit to the Cape ...

... delicate but make a gorgeous show when massed ...

Teeny tiny pink baubles of the Polygonum capitatum .....

... and a droopy white ground cover rose ... soon to join it's mate on the right ... but there is a hope on the left of more to come ... !!

What else is coming ? .... winter bulbs and sweet peas ....

... and nectar loving birds ... (an innovative gift from Cheryl and Bob!!)

... all will be watched over by the garden fairies - who don't feel the cold, during the winter months ahead ...

... when we can cuddle up with a good glass of red wine and a wholesome beef stew ... (note to Kathy - do you see, I bought a new heat diffuser from that shop in the Mall in SW during our recent stay!) ...

... or should we arrange table settings on the newly stripped and waxed oak dining table ... yes ... I finished the job that BIL started !! I am ready for inspection when they return ...

But before I end, I have to share these gorgeous pups !!! Jeanette and family have two new additions to their family ... meet our new grandpuppies ... I just had to be there when they arrived ...

Kimo and Kitara

... aren't they just tooooo gorgeous for words ... !!

"Which way to the play area ... ?"

All the excitement of a new home with a big garden and little boys was just a little too much after a while ...

Aaaawww ... what more can I say ...

I have to say it again ... aaaaww !! 8 week old paw .. and nose .. !!

For more Weekly Winners visit Lotus' blog