Home...

OK. So. I've been a bad blogger, haven't I? I'm sorry!! You wouldn't believe me, though, if I told you how busy work's been lately. It makes the morning go by really quickly, but I just haven't had a free moment to do much else. And I don't have Internet at home yet, so I've just had to neglect my blog.

This child still pulls stupid faces for the camera - when will it end?

Even the dog's started sticking her tongue out at me...

Besides being busy at work, I'm hoping that Jake & I are over all our winter illnesses. Seriously, our house has been like a hospital. First Amber had a revolting vomit bug, which resulted in me cleaning up puke all night from 10:30 one evening after book club (just what I felt like, especially when I ran out of newspaper!). I eventually managed to get some sleep at about 3:30 that morning; I was exhausted. After another trip to the vet for anti-nausea (I couldn't go through all that again), I've now been told that she also has an enlarged heart, so I need to take her in this week (yet again!) for an ECG - it never ends! Jake was man down for about a week, also with the vomits. I had a mild dose (thank goodness, I was all puked out by then!) last week too, just felt terrible and was exhausted. So, it's all been fun and games at number 6. Visitors welcome :)

Other than that, things at the house are going well. We're all unpacked (bar one or two bags) and we're really enjoying the extra space. I have no idea where everything fitted in at my folks and I'm sure that they're also enjoying the luxury of more room. Plus, they can actually get their car into the garage now!! Now we really just need to start personalizing the place, making it home. I need to hang some pictures (I have so many to choose from) and we need to get working in the garden. I guess the main thing now is to properly prepare the soil for spring when it eventually arrives (dreading winter) and start planning what we'd like to plant and where. Most important is our veggie patch, but I do also want to have a beautiful garden and I'm sure that once it's all settled we'll feel very proud of our home (for now the garden is embarrassing - our house is the one with the ugliest garden on the block).

So, I don't really have any news. Life's had to slow down because of all this sick business and I've enjoyed taking it a bit easy. I finally got my camera out again yesterday, so I'm just going to end off with some pictures. I've got a few blog posts drifting around on my laptop unfinished that I need to remember to bring into work to upload sometime...

Princess Amber. Look how grey she's gotten... I love these ears - she's always lifted them like that and it reminds me of when she was a puppy...

I bought two Impala lilies at our local nursery. There are hundreds of these in the Kruger, so both Jake and I jumped at the chance of having some of that in our garden. Unfortunately, the climate here is vastly different from Kruger's, so we'll just have to wait and see how well they do. This one is the same colour as those in Kruger, but they do come in different shades of pink, red and white and we couldn't agree on which to choose for the second. We ended up picking one without flowers and are waiting for it to blossom to see what colour it is. I'm still looking for pots to put them into on my stoep...

Added to that, I've also been planting buffalo grass plugs. I did 400 plugs in 2 days and had the blisters to prove it! I realise that it's not really the right time of year for grass planting, but I've been watering lots and it seems to be taking. Buffalo grows slowly, but it's so much nicer than the rubbish grass that's 'growing' at the moment...

We've bought hanging baskets to hang in the tree. We've filled them with flowers, so at least we have some colour in the yard. We've also put in a bird feeder and sat on the bed watching the weavers play in our tree yesterday. When we first moved in, we never had birds in our garden, but since Jake loves birds so much, so it's been very important to find ways to attract them to our garden. Seems to be working...

Ronnie asked for some snaps of the furnished house. I must be honest, at the moment (mainly for financial reasons), its very minimalistic. I do like the lack of clutter too though. So, this is one of my new, incredibly comfortable couches. That slopey arm rest is the perfect pillow...

This is probably the most cluttered area in my house. For now...

It's the first place to look when you lose something. Like sunglasses. I lost these for 3 days and found them on a shelf next to the sugar and hundreds-and-thousands while I was taking these photos...

I can't remember if I told you, but I bought this book online. It's Ree from Pioneer Woman's cook book! It's quite fun owning a book written by someone you "know". The recipes are delicious and the in-betweens bits and photos are great too. I made her cinnamon buns last week and they are delicious...

Remember the story of the "Penis Fly Trap" that Jake wanted for Christmas 2 years back (can you believe it was so long ago?)? Well, it died. Mainly because we watered it from above, but secondly because the stupid woman in the nursery removed the plastic housing from over the top. The plastic creates a hot house effect and the plant sucks water up from below, so hopefully second time around we'll be more successful. Jake's just bummed because he hasn't seen it catch a fly yet...

Ever the clown...

So, there's me in the dining room (I have a plastic table in there for now) - yes, it's small, but sometimes smaller is better. Less mess to clean up and believe me with 2 dogs and a child, it gets VERY messy in there. I seem to spend my life sweeping up dog hair and sand. Seriously, Jake even asked me the other day how come I love sweeping so much. Jacques' grandfather was a carpenter and he made both this mirror frame and my bed...

My room - pink (did you know that I don't even like pink? It's like my tattoo - just a rebellious moment. Except that I would LOVE another tattoo and I doubt I'll ever do my room in pink again!). Like I said, I love my bed. It's got two huge drawers in the base, that are great for storing any and everything. Oh and please excuse the skew lamps and messy wiring. I'm looking for a man to sort out these issues for me. At least the tissue box matches the bedspread...

Pink orchids to match my room...

I love my orchids. They're gorgeous, don't you think? I have always been nervous about growing orchids for some reason, but have thoroughly enjoyed this plant. The flowers are starting to drop off and I am already excited for next season. I definitely need to get another one. Maybe a different variety...

This mirror is also very special. Jacques helped his grandfather make if for me for my 20th birthday. Finger prints compliments of Connor...

It's extra special because they broke the glass when they put it in and covered the crack up with this...

When I moved out, my mom gave me this old kist, which she got given for her 21st by my gran. I've used it to store away all of my little memories of Jacques'. This is a new chapter, a new beginning... It's in some serious need of a good sanding (winter project) and re-varnish, but I like it...

This is our spare bedroom, which is in some serious need of decorating. It just hasn't been top of the list and I'm guessing it'll be a while before it's taken care of... This old chest is in the bathroom. It's super convenient having some storage space in the bathroom. Again, the chest is old and used to be in our bedroom when Joanne and I were kids. It's been painted every colour under the sun and Jacques and I cleaned it up a few years ago. Turned out to be Teak... I keep these little elephants on top of it. A friend brought them for me in Thailand and they're supposed to bring you good luck - worth a try... In addition to all the chaos that is becoming home, Jake has finally convinced me that we really need a hamster. For those of you who know me well, I don't do rodents of any kind. I don't even like cute fluffy bunnies and rats and mice are just totally disgusting. Any how, on Sunday we were at Cape Garden Center looking at the shedding python in the pet shop, when we came across these baby hamsters. Jake's cousins each have one and he's got quite a few friends who have, so I convinced myself that I was mean and unkind and ended up buying a baby hamster, which, I might add, came free with a cage full of hamster goodies. So, without further ado, meet Bullet...

Jake named him, I liked Buddy, Guy and Grey Matter (one of the Ben 10 characters). Anyway, Bullet it is. And let me tell you, he's cute. And his cage doesn't stink (yet)! Jake's filled it with sawdust and shredded newspaper and he's promised me that he'll clean it out once a week to keep it from smelling yuck (I think that's the part that has put me off most - the stink of them!). Jake also knows that if he doesn't take good care of his pet, it's going back to the store. I don't mind helping (to ensure the beastie doesn't get loose in my house), but I am NOT doing it for him, this is his responsibility... Oh, I never told you, despite all his cute, twitching fluffiness, he does bite from time to time, especially when we take him out his cage. Once he's out, he's fine. Needless to say, taking him out his cage has become my job. It's not really sore and he's only drawn blood once, but you get a bloody big fright when it happens. He's still a baby though, just 3 months old, so hopefully as he gets used to us, he'll grow out of it (or again, he's going back to the shop). By the way, Bullet is a Dwarf Russian hamster and probably won't get too much bigger than he already is (thank goodness)...

Needless to say, he is probably also going to be the most man-handled hamster on the continent of Africa, so I can't really blame him for defending himself by biting Jake. Biting me is just not on! Here he's trying to run away, so Jake's holding him tighter...

Was it worth it? To see this precious (spoiled brat) face looking at me through the window? You betcha...

Sending love, Sue X