The braai king...

For as long as I can remember, Jake has loved braai'ing.  From the moment the fire is lit, Jake is outside, helping out. I'm not sure whether it's because he realises that this is a chance to spend time hanging with the guys hanging, or whether he realises that this is a man's chance to show of his culinary skills.  He might simply be a pyromaniac and I have just about everything crossed that he doesn't become a fireman one day.  Although at this stage, he seems more interested in setting things alight, rather than extinguishing the blaze.

The first pictures were taken at my parents house, while we were staying there.  We ware still busy getting things ready for our evening braai and Jake was very excited.  Note the moustache he has from trying to peep into the braai.  He soon realised that he could get higher (and further into the braai) by standing on the wheel. He was just 1 year and 5 months old at the time.  The fact that it was only October and he's wearing summer clothes gives me hope today.  Just a few more weeks of winter...

Just to prove that he really was still a baby at the time, this photo was taken after the above braai, all clean and ready for bed.  Oh, how I love that little face.  It feels like yesterday...

The next set of photos were taken in Jan 2006 and Jake was getting ready to turn 2 in May.  When we stayed with my parents, we braai'ed at least once a week for Jake's sake.  This is him opening the bag of charcoal.  I remember those shoes.  And those shorts.  And there's young Amber and Sasha's ear in the bottom corner...

That day was the first time he'd had his head shaved and he looked so grown up to us all afterwards.  He loved it though and he still likes to have his hair as short as possible...

Almost as big as the bag of coal...

The best part of a braai is always stuffing your face.  And yes, my child was walking around carrying a fork, but at least he had an apron on...

 Next up is a jump to March 2008, shortly before Jake's 4th birthday.  We went to Disney just after he turned 4 - I can't actually believe that I was brave enough to venture to Dubai, London, EuroDisney & Scotland for 2 1/2 weeks with that little mite on my own.  Here he is braai'ing with my dad one glorious summer evening...

 August 2008.  I just love this photo.  By now I had my first decent Nikon digital camera...

September 2008.  He really is allowed to do it all on his own and he is very proud when he sees everyone enjoying their meal that he slaved so hard over.  I love that concentration on his face.  Jacques used to stick his tongue out like that when he was concentrating too. Sorry to my veggie friends, this picture makes me hungry...

 See?  All on his own...

 May 2009.  Another of my favourite photos of Jake at the fireside.  I love his dirty arm and the way the smoke has made his eyes a little red and watery...

 September 2009.  My favourite part of a braai - marshmallows!

And then a huge jump to 3 weeks ago, again at my parents house.  We arrived to visit and they were mid-braai.  Jake stepped in and helped by burning garden refuse (twigs and leaves), causing the braai to smoke like mad, but he had fun...

Oh and this time the moustache was chocolate mint ice-cream.  Still the same dorky smile though...

And then last weekend, we braai'ed at Danie's house.  We have been braai'ing there quite a bit lately and I'm sure we'll be doing so more and more as the weather warms up.

He ends up getting so involved playing with the fire, that he can't even look up for a picture...

Well, maybe just one...

So, while he gets bigger by the moment and is growing up faster than I can believe, somethings never change.  I just hope that he continues to enjoy being outside around the fire, preparing delicious meals for his friends and family as he grows up.  And I hope I'm invited sometimes!

Sue X

 A couple of weeks ago, Danie took Jake and I to the Drakenstein Lion Park.  We've been before, but they have done the place up a bit and added quite a few extra cages for more rescued lions.  After our trip to Kruger, it was quite sad to see these beautiful animals in "cages".  Well, actually, decent sized camps, but I hate seeing them in captivity like this. But, living in the rescue centre, these lions can be grateful that they have been rescued from canned hunting farms and circuses around the world.

Not too long ago, the circus paid a visit to Jake's school and I managed to snap a few photos of the lions in minute cages before being told off by their security guard.  This first cage contains two adult lionesses.  The next trailer had a tiger in it, but I didn't get that far with my camera.  I've actually been meaning to post these pictures for a while, but wasn't sure if I could...

One of the lionesses - what a life this must be for them, it makes me so sad.  Oh, by the way, we didn't go to the circus, much to Jake's disappointment.  Hopefully one day he'll understand...

 Contrarily, the lions in the lion park, have lots of space, sunshine, company of other lions and food.  Some of them are slightly on the plump side, but they all seemed in pretty good condition...

 Did you know that lions sleep an average of 20 hours a day?  I think I have a little lion in me.  And elephant...

 Jake was a bit grumpy.  My boy needs his sleep.  Any changes to his sleep routine and he's a grump...

 This picture explains some of the things we saw in Kruger...

 Happy families...

 Buddies...

 They also had a rooikat, or lynx there.  I've never seen one before, but it was rumoured that there was one living in the mountains near Buitenverwachting when we lived there.  Who knows...

Jake and I also took a drive through to the World of Birds, a sanctuary for birds and monkeys.  Jake loves birds and this is always a fun outing with him.  We haven't been in ages and I was a little surprised by how expensive it was to get in now days, but I guess their running costs must be huge too.  They're also all rescued birds and it's really great to see so many being so well taken care of.  Jake loves the raptors, I love the owls.

A quizzy Macaw...

 A rock pigeon and her baby...

 This guy was enough to put me off my Christmas lunch.  He is ugly in a beautiful way, of course...

 Another Macaw, they're so pretty...

 Hungry Guinea pigs...

 A little monkey trying to get hold of some one's ice-cream through the glass...

 Jake thoroughly enjoyed our visit into the squirrel monkey cage, where you're allowed to hold the little monkeys...

 Making friends...

 Separated at birth...

And that's it.  Well worth a visit to both of these sanctuaries if you're looking for something to do with your offspring on a sunny day!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Love Sue XXX

PS.  I miss PhotoShop!!!

Today...

Just a year ago, a handsome man knocked on my door with a box of wine tucked under his arm.  It was an obvious set-up by friends and I'd warned them to warn him ahead of his arrival that I wasn't interested.  But he was cute and he had wine for me.  And he was relaxed and easy to chat to.  He came in for coffee and a freshly baked chocolate brownie, which I forgot to serve and landed up spending the entire day with us.  We went for a walk on the beach; he took his shirt off and rolled his shorts up to look for white muscles in the sand for Jake and we ended up having late afternoon drinks in the sunshine at the Blue Peter.  I was happy.  He was lovely.  He phoned me the next day and a date was set up for the following evening.  I was NERVOUS, but very excited and intrigued to learn more about the stranger I'd just met.  And I am still learning so much about him each and every day.  He is wonderful and kind and takes good care of both Jake and I and I am crazy about him.  Sure he drives me nuts sometimes (as I do him) and we wouldn't be normal if we didn't have any issues, but they are minor compared with all the happy times we share.

Unfortunately, we aren't going out to celebrate tonight because Jake has started school again today and I must have him in bed at a decent time (7pm!).  Instead I will be making a nice dinner for the two of us to enjoy at home once Jake has gone off to bed.  Danie's asked for lasagna, so I'll probably be making that. And since we both love sweets, I'll have to think of something impressively chocolaty for pudding.

So, to my wonderful boyfriend - I love you with all my heart.  You are the best (after Jake) and I look forward to celebrating many more happy occasions with you as we stack up happy memories of all our special times together.  I know I'm not always the easiest girl in the world and that I have more issues than most, but you know I'm worth it ;o)

I'd be a poor South African if I failed to mention here that today also marks Nelson Mandela's 93rd (!!!) birthday.  We live in a country filled with many angry memories for so many reasons and he is a hero to us all for the way in which he has forgiven and led us forward in forgiveness.  We still have many problems in South Africa (crime being topmost), but we have SO much to be grateful for and we really do live in such a beautiful, diverse country - we just need to take the time to look around us and to appreciate it.  Jake has a children's version of Mandela's book, "A Long Walk to Freedom" and he really is a remarkable man, who will be honoured worldwide today.  So, happy, happy birthday Madiba, I will be finding a glass of something nice to drink in honour of your birthday tonight.

Love,
Sue xxx

A school outing...

OK, so I know I'm severely behind in my blogging.  I'm trying to catch up and work is a little quiet today, so just bear with me.  I'm going to start with the oldest news and work my way forward.  Life hasn't been that busy and we just seem to be plodding along from day to day.  Jake's on holiday at the moment, so these pictures are about 2 weeks old already, but still...

Just before schools closed, I was lucky enough to be asked to help lift for a school outing.  I always say how I'd love to be a fly on the wall, especially now that Jake's in formal education, so it was the perfect way to do just that.  It was lovely to see Jake playing with his friends, listening to his teacher (why doesn't he listen to me like that??) and it was really good to see that he's actually a pretty well behaved kid.  I know he's not perfect, but his behaviour was good enough for me ;o).

The outing was to de Grendel Farm, which is literally just up the road from home and we were blessed to have one of the most gorgeous winter days for it.  They had been learning about farm animals in class and Jake had just done an oral on cows, so it was great to go and see everything for themselves.  I think I probably enjoyed it as much as the kids did...

The view from de Grendel...

 Kids all lining up in their class groups (2 classes did the outing together).  Jake in his competitiveness always wants to be first in line.  The class captains are though, so he was happy to be second...

 The farmer arrived to discuss the cow's anatomy with the kids.  They were all horrified by the smell of the farm and even more disgusted when the cow lifted her tail and made a wee in front of them.  Manners dear Daisy...

 Mom's and kids listening...

 And learning...

 Question time...

 After the cow discussion, we headed off to see the milking shed.  My punk is near the back there pulling a silly face...

 The cows were brought in - the kids were warned to stand back from the front facing rear ends of the cows, but fortunately the cows managed to control their stomachs until after the show...

 They were hooked up and milking began.  This ol' girl looks a little dried up...

 The milk is pumped into a tank and chilled until the big dairy comes and fetches it.  The kids were allowed to check inside the tank to see how much milk had been collected that morning...

Monkeys on the fence...

Next up, we went to see the newborn calves...

Getting a cuddle (I think Jake has cowboy potential)...

And a nuzzle...

And then it was off to go and bottle feed the lambs...

And last, but not least, the kids were invited into the farmer's garden to enjoy their packed lunches and have a bit of a run around.  Note Jake's flask.  He got it from a friend for his birthday.  It's filled with hot chocolate and he didn't share.  Thankfully the farmer's wife made all the mom's tea and took us to see how she makes her own yoghurt...

All in all, it was a super fun day out and we all learnt so much.  It was fabulous to be the "little" fly on the wall and I'm so glad that I remembered to take my camera - happy memories!

Sue X

Goodbye old faithful...

On Friday I got confirmation from the insurance assessors that my car is indeed a write-off.  The trade-in value of the car is R42,000.00; resale is just over R50,000.00 and the damage amounted to a whopping R90,149.36.  Virtually double the value of my car.  While I am lucky to have had it insured at all, there is no way that insurance will ever pay out the true value of my car.  It has been a reliable car and very economical to run.  Plus, it was Jacques' old car so there is a sentimental value attached to it that can never be replaced.  I can remember so clearly getting the car and taking it out for it's first drive - we'd moved up in the world from our humble Mazda 323 and finally had a real car. So, I'm sure you'll understand when I say that I feel a little sad to see it sent to the scrap heap.  On Thursday afternoon, I had to stop past the panel beaters to drop off the radio face, so was able to take a few last snaps.

I was quite surprised when I saw the car, that there is absolutely no damage within the car, besides the deployed airbag, but the exterior is pretty bad, although I can't imagine how they managed such a steep quote.  I know the airbag and ABS braking system contributed extensively, but that amount??  The passenger door couldn't be opened more than about 15cm, so I guess the whole thing was bent.  Bloody taxi...

 And one last one of Jake with our wreck...

That aside, I am now the owner (almost, I just need to pay for it) of a little silver Yaris.  It's a work car, has low mileage and goes well.  The boot is teeny though, so I'm not sure how it's going to work for us, but for now, it seems to be the wisest option.

I also want to say thanks to everyone for your wishes and thoughts after our accident.  I am still suffering a bit with a sore back, but it's much better.  Jake seems totally unscathed by the whole thing, although he did tell Danie that my folks were brave to lend me their car last week.  And when he saw that I'd arrived safely from their house at my own, he said to Danie "shew, she made it".  That was the night of the accident though and I think his trust in me as a driver is back in place.  He absolutely loves the new car and we are both being very strict these days about wearing our safety belts.  Lesson learnt, thank you!


Sending lots of love,
Sue XXX