Weekly Winners : 18 - 24 July

I was so delighted to receive a gorgeous bunch of flowers from hubby's cousin when they joined our celebration for his 60th birthday last Sunday ..

... petals perfectly pink ...

... furled from the inside out ...

... with a whiter shade of green ..

... a greener shade of green .... (and must add here .. whenever Connor passes the vase of flowers he says ... "I love green flowers" .. strange child !)

... and a greener shade of white .... (lucky me .. Elaine also gave me a gorgeous bunch of St Joseph lilies !! :)

Is it spring? This yellow weaver thinks so .. one or two warmish days and the birds are busy ....

... still looking up ... I loved this delicate twirly chandelier which hung above our heads at a Winter Wine Evening ...

... back to ground level ... when boys are quiet you wonder what they're up to - I spotted Connor playing on his own in the garden ..

... lining up his cars on the garden bench ..

His cars didn't need batteries ..... but his mommy did ... Jeanette had a power failure at their house the night before a wedding where she was taking photos, so dashed over - in her jarmies -to recharge all the batteries for the camera equipment ..

Finally .. I must add this photo ... taken by a friend last Sunday at my hubby's 60th birthday ...

OUR FAMILY

For more Weekly Winners go to .... I am Lotus

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/

Father's Day lunch at Mo-Zam-Bik

Adding to Jeanette's post yesterday of our most enjoyable and special family Father's Day lunch at a new Mozambican restaurant ...

.. where our children ... Bryan included .. spoilt their Dads (and me!) .... to the most delicious food ... Mozambique style ...

... peri peri sauce in it's 'unique' bottle and roasted peanuts wrapped in brown paper on each table .....

.... although we had wine ... the Mozambican beer was more of hit !!!

... our family ....

Jeanette and Lance ...

Carl with his 'little' sister Elaine (who organised the whole the thing ... thanks so much, sweetie pie :)

Carl and Nicole ..

.... with Erin ..

..." hey ... that's my ice cream ... !!! "

... yummmmm !!

Boys will be boys .... I wonder how secure that boat is on that wall ? ... Connor testing it ... !!!!

Definitely a winner ... Mo-Zam-Bik Restaurant at Trinity Centre, Randpark Ridge

I wish I could tell my Mum...

..that the beautiful bride in this photo has recently made contact with my cousin through Rhodesian's Worldwide ... she used to work for the accounting company his Dad and my Dad used to own in Bulawayo. The company still exists today ...with our family name, but sadly no members of the family are there anymore.


She asked after our families remembering the two little boys at her wedding being the sons of one of the partners ... and also the little flower girl on the left of photo.

That's me !!! aged 5 .. in 1957 !!

It was the one and only time I have ever been a flower girl or bridesmaid and it was on the occasion of her wedding. The wedding reception was held in our beautiful garden ...

It was the one and only time I have ever been a flower girl .. or bridesmaid .. and the wedding reception was held in our garden of our beautiful home, Craigo, in Bulawayo. Our home .. built by my paternal grandfather. The photograph below is in a collage of my child/growing-up photos which my Mum put together years ago and hangs on the wall .. right in front of me as I am typing this ...

From my Mum's photograph album, where I found the wedding photo, on the same page, was this photo of me with my cousins, in the middle and my eldest brother on the right - I grew up with boys ! ... no sisters and no girl cousins close by! I always had beautifully made dresses .. all made by my Mum


I wish I could tell my Mum that this beautiful bride has made contact after so many years ... and she and her husband are well ...

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 ...

"Rub a dub dub ...

.. one man needs to rub ...
with scourer ...
and liquid ....
on the old oak table ..."


Look what I get my guests to do when they visit !!!!



Hubby's sister and BIL, C and B stayed for two nights on their way through from the Cape to the Kruger National Park and we were discussing our dining room table, the top of which has gone sticky from years of a build-up of wax/polish with the added heat from serving dishes - even though I always use thick wooden mats to protect the wood. I always serve meals from serving dishes and platters on the dining room table when we are seated and never 'dish-up' in the kitchen.

My BIL, B, said he knew how to get it off, which confirmed a hint I heard on a DIY programme on the radio recently. The DIY Guru said methylated spirits and elbow grease ... lots of it ... gets it off but B said parafin works better ... sooooo ... off C and I went to the shop up the road to buy the parafin so that he could show me how ... :) :) ...

You see ... he was happy doing the job ... so with lots of encouragement, ooohing and aaahing at the fine job he was doing .... he did most of it ... leaving C and I to do finish it off - which took us most of the afternoon (!) - while he retired for a snooze on a comfy chair .... book on tummy !!

The job is not quite finished - I now have to apply a polish with added beeswax, which I have not been able to find yet but I will endeavour to buy it - and apply it before they return. They will be staying longer on their return visit so I wonder if I should get a list together of more tasks !!!!! :)

Does anyone want to come and stay with us ?? We have a garden facing guest room with comfy beds, soft fluffy towels and good wholesome meals are served daily !!

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 ...!