Spring is springy...

I don't have any photos for you today.  I need to take some, but it's been a really busy week, both at home and at work.

Work-wise things are a little stressful at the moment and every one's on tender hooks for some reason.  Month-end looms with vat returns needing completing (done today) and everyone shouting for money for one thing or another.  It's good, I'd rather be too busy than too quiet, but it does mean that I haven't had time for blogging :o(

On the home front, my garden is gorgeous and Jake and I spent a bit of time this week planting our seeds in our new veggie patch.  It's been raining all morning today, so I'm really glad for everything to have a good soaking for free.  I must take pictures of everything over the weekend, I'm so chuffed with how it's all coming together and looking so gorgeous.  We'll be having picnics on the lawn all summer.

I've also started choosing photos to put up all over the house, which is always fun.  I love my pictures and I have some very special ones of some very special people that I'd like to see all the time.  It's just so hard to narrow it down, so that the house doesn't end up looking cluttered.  I don't like cluttered.

Since we aren't spending all of our free time travelling across Cape Town these days, it's been really nice for Jake and I to have time to relax and enjoy our home and garden together.  For the first time since we moved in, in February 2010, it's actually starting to feel like a real home - lived in.  I love our home and I love creating a special place with Jake.

In other news, Jake has started swimming again at the gym.  He's got a new coach and she's really sweet.  She takes her swimming very seriously and it's good to see Jake being encouraged to do better in the pool.  He needs plenty of help as far as stroke correction goes.  That said, I'm very uncompetitive and I have no real desire to push him too hard.  He's doing swimming only because he wants to do it and I'll encourage him as much as I can, but if he loses his enthusiasm for it, then he'll stop.  His new coach trains at a different gym to the previous one, so I've had to take out a membership too, which I'm actually quite excited about.  Jake will be swimming twice a week and it gives me some time to run on the treadmill.  Looking forward to starting up a healthy eating and exercise plan from Monday.

Oh, we also bumped into the incredibly, droolisious, skyscraping tall Eben Etzebeth at the gym.  Seriously?  That guy has some muscles!  Jake, ever the Springbok supporter, was thrilled and headed over (with me in tow, I couldn't miss) to shake hands and get an autograph.  Jake only takes Eben up to his hips - he's that big!  Needless to say, Jake is beside himself that he'll maybe get to see Eben at the gym from time to time and I dread having to run on the treadmill next to him.  I do have a photo on my phone of Jake and Eben, but the guy at the gym took it and it's so bad... I must remember to pack my camera next time...

Hope that you all have a great weekend and enjoy the long one.  Happy Heritage Day to all my local readers!  Oh and it's the equinox, so happy spring/autumn to you all.

Lots of love,
Sue XXX

Just a few...

 I've been bad at blogging lately.  I haven't had time.  I haven't even read yours, so don't blame you for not reading mine... sorry, I am trying to catch up.  Work has been stressful and life is busy!  No more lame excuses, I promise to be better...

 

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing (very unprofessionally) precious Eve's first birthday party.  She was born in the UK and moved to South Africa, back home with her mom and dad.  Both her parents are amazing and I have known them for the longest time.  Jason was in pre-school with Jacques and I and he was one of the best men at our wedding.  His beautiful wife, Sandi is quite a bit younger than us - I think she was 14 and he 19 when they first met.  She wasn't allowed a boyfriend until she was 16 and so for nearly 2 years, we used to help them see each other on the sly...  The were also on holiday in Croatia when Jacques died and both flew back here for the funeral.  Sandi also flew to SA for my 30th - they're that type of deeply caring friends.  I love having them living back around the corner from us...

 In other news, my parents got home again on Sunday and we organised a little surprise lunch for them with the whole family.  Just burgers on the braai, but it was good.  They had a wonderful trip and spoilt the kids with books (for Jake & Corky), t-shirts (for Bi), marula jam (Jake's fave from Kruger), macadamia nuts and sweets.  They saw so much while they were away and before Jake and I went home, we had a quick look through their stunning photos.  It made me even more jealous - a leopard right next to the road, staring straight at the camera!!  Lions next to the road!  They were lucky enough to see the big 5 over and over...  I can't wait to start planning our next trip to Kruger...

Jake was tired from a late night on Saturday and didn't want to smile, but he's beautiful even with a pouty frown on his face...

 Corky's managed to learn how to ride the bike he got last Christmas.  He was very proud to show us all how it's done...

 I'm sure he'll be joining his dad on the dirt tracks in a few years time...

 The weather was most summer-like on Sunday and we all took advantage of shorts and t-shirts.  Bi looked too cute in her little grey & white checkered dress and leggings...

 In other news, our garden is done.  I have one corner that I'm not happy with, but I am going to convert it into a carport eventually, so I'm not worrying about it for now.  I have taken photos and will share them with you tomorrow.  I am so happy with it, I love being outside and Jake and I are very excited about planting in our veggie patch this afternoon, providing the rain holds off.

Love,

Sue xxx

It's a Crazy Life...

 

Yellow roses are my favourite flower of all time.  That and sunflowers.  Red and pink are the colour of love, but for me, yellow is a vibrant, happy colour.  My mom bought these for me the night before they left on their trip to the Kruger National Park almost 2 weeks ago and they're still going strong.  Mom and Dad are having a wonderful holiday and have seen so many things, including a leopard right next to their car this morning and lions just off the roadside a couple of days ago.  They've seen elephants and buffalo too and plenty of buck and birds and smaller animals too.  The most important thing is that they're having the most relaxing break ever.  Jake and I are completely green with envy and have begun planning our trip there for mid-2014.

 

Over the last weekend, Jake went to a Boot Camp party.  The kids had a ball, but it was serious hard work.  They did sprints and press-ups and obstacles - Jake loved every minute.  The weather was perfect too and we all enjoyed lazing it up in the sunshine while the kids sweated off some of their energy.

 

This is Jake and his friend Noah running across a rugby field, after they'd done 10 press-ups, chanting "I love my mom" in between each push...

Being divided up into teams.  The kid in the Spiderman top is Neo, he was the birthday boy...

After they'd been divided up into teams, they headed off into Tokai Forest, finishing off knee deep in a river, before heading back to the hut for some water.  They were dirty, exhausted, hungry, thirsty, but ready for more.  Wolverine...

With a dirty face - they had to scoop mud out the river and get themselves dirty...

Next, they were challenged with obstacles - that's Jake swinging upside down along the rope...

Next up was paintball.  And no, Jake wasn't a human target, he was just playing the fool with the target.  Paintball was a highlight for Jake...

On Sunday morning, I bought Jake a chocolate pancake for breakfast (nice and healthy).  I expected it to be filled with chocolate sauce, but it was an actual chocolate pancake.  With melted chocolate inside.  Jake couldn't finish it...

Gooey chocolate heaven.  Next time I make pancakes, I'm also making chocolate ones...

On Sunday, we joined Rosanne and Gareth for a delicious lunch at Joanne and Paul's.  After we'd literally stuffed ourselves, we decided to go for a little walk with the kids to go and see Jo and Paul's new house.  Here's Jo and Princess...

Gareth and Jake with Paul and Connor in the distance...

Jake found a crab on someone else's doorstep...

Here's Connor at his new house.  We're not actually supposed to go on site, but we're rule breakers...

And for a 3-year old boy, this is just about the most exciting thing to do...

Going in the front door...

Hard to imagine that this soggy room will be a kitchen and lounge area in the not-too-distant future...

Bi apparently also enjoys visiting her new home.  She's stolen every single one of our hearts, she's just too cute...

Looking out from the dining room, with the lounge on your right, towards the swimming pool and patio.  Jo and Paul's current house, is directly in front...

The swimming pool-to-be...

Jake was pretty grumpy on Sunday.  He'd had a late night on Friday and Saturday nights (we went to a friend's birthday braai), so he wasn't much interested in posing for pictures, let alone do his hair.  I love you scruffy boy.  More than you will ever know...

Looking back at the house from the stoep, lounge in front, dining room on the right...

I thought it would be nice to get a picture of Corky sitting on the scaffolding of his new house and it was going well until he fell backwards just after I took this cute picture of him winking for the camera.  I love you Corky, sorry I asked you to pose for me...

Jake was most fascinated by the pool.  Perhaps he was considering going for a swim...

Despite Rosanne's outfit, the weather was beautiful over the weekend...

This looks back down the side of the house.  The bit sticking out is the scullery and the lounge is on the right.  Jo's going to use the garden here for a herb garden eventually - she'll have to ask Jake to come and set it up for her...

Getting a ride on mommy's shoulders...

Another view of their house.  The second floor with the bedrooms should start soon...

And then was the long walk back to Jo's house for coffee and the most heavenly chocolate cupcakes...

Hi Bi, I love you too...

Jake and Connor have it in for each other at the moment.  In this series of pictures, they're actually arguing over who the cat (Jemma) loves most.  Bianca's just looking on with disgust...

But I have a feeling she might be a tittle tale...

Jake was thrilled when Jemma came and sat right next to him, moving away from her loving boy child...

And Connor got upset.  Very upset.  Shortly after this picture, he stripped off his jacket to show off his Superman top while running around the garden...

And then he asked Jo to help him put his top back on and went back to fighting with Jake over the cat until she got bored of all their attention...

I love this action shot of Jo throwing the ball to Bi.  She knows she's not going to be able to catch it and that it's going to hit her on the tummy.  She's just waiting for it to happen.  Check that cute pose.  That tongue.  Oh my... maybe I do want another baby.  Not really, just saying...

Jake's still teasing Connor with the cat...

Before we left though, Connor hauled out "his" iPad to show Jake a few things, that had them (and us) giggling.  They really do love each other, they just don't understand one another properly yet.  It will come...

Since my blog is more of a diary than anything else, I'm going to mention here that Danie and I have split up.  It was a very hard decision, but I feel like it has been the right one and realise now that things haven't been as good as they should have been for a long time.  The split hasn't been easy, but I am enjoying being in my own home over the weekends and it is nice for life to be less frantic.  Jake has adjusted well and we are settling into our new lifestyle with ease.  We have been spending a lot of time working in our garden, which is fast taking shape and we are excited about getting our new veggie patch going now too.  I don't have anything bad to say about Danie, he is a wonderful man, who will make some lucky girl very happy one day, "we" just weren't working together any more.  For now, I've had enough of broken hearts and plan to enjoy the single life for as long as possible.  Jake sure keeps me busy enough and for now, I'm prepared to dedicate all my time and energy into him.  He needs me and I don't want to put him through any of this again.

 

And that's all the news for now.  I promise to be back again real soon, with more pictures and news.

 

Love,

Sue XXX

Having a ball...

Jake's rugby season has come to an end.  He is very disappointed that he can't keep playing throughout summer, but it'll do him good to try out at something else.  Last Wednesday was their final official match, against his grandpa's old school.

 

Sadly, while our wonderful coaches encourage our children to be good sportsmen; at no time putting pressure on our 8-year olds to go out and win.  This is apparently not taught at all schools.  For us, it's all about doing your best and having fun and regardless of whether Jake's played for 5 minutes or the entire match, win or lose, he's glowing with excitement when he gets in the car after a game.  Not all the kids are future Springboks; some, like Jake, play the game just for fun.  So when you play against a team who's rude parents are shouting at our ref (the coach above) and telling their boys not to shake our kids hands at the end of the game, well, I think it's safe to say we were all upset and annoyed by their poor sportsmanship.  The Edgemead parents are all very good about clapping and cheering for the visiting team, so it was disappointing for all of us and really put a damper on their last match.  At least we ended on a win (and personally, I think the other team were very sore losers).

Jake joined in the game for the second half... 

  Getting ready to tackle...

 There's Jake at the back, ready to pull their guy down...

 We made a quick stop to see the puppies on Saturday afternoon.  Jake is completely smitten with this little guy, so we're hoping he's the one Rosie & Gareth choose to take home with them.  Jake tells me that this puppy comes to him... 

 He used to have a little diamond on his forehead, but it's almost faded completely now...

 My beautiful Prince...

 The puppies have changed so much.  They're starting to look like little boxers now.  Jake's excited with their growing lips - this guy's gonna be a drooler...

 Flap, flap (I did warn you they've been manhandled)... 

 He is beautiful, with a perfect face and soft, wrinkly, fuzzy nose, that I just want to kiss...

We spent most of the weekend working in our garden, which is fast taking shape.  I must try dig out some before photos sometime.  Jacques' parents have been wonderful and helped us all weekend to get our irrigation system bought and fitted (Thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much!!).  It's not quite complete, but it's working.  And it's going to be computerised, so I won't have to do a thing.  My kinda watering and at least the plants will have some chance of survival once it stops raining so much.  We found this "pretty" spider in an old bowl in the garden on Sunday morning.  He was pretending to be dead.  He had hairy legs and I'm really glad that he's no longer in my garden (Jake and his Granny Karen set it free on the field opposite our house)...

This is our veggie patch.  It's got a long way to go still, but has at least been levelled off and the irrigation's in (the long white pipes for now).  Our gardener finished putting the compost in yesterday and we still need to lay the pavers.  Jake is very excited about his veggie patch...

 The garden's coming on nicely and most of our plants have survived.  The lawns starting to close up nicely (although there's quite a bit of winter grass that will die off now).  I need to pain the walls, but they have to wait for now...

 Most of the time while we were working outside, Jake played Lego.  He found a bag with all his dad's old Lego in it, so it was something special for him to play with...

He's busy building a house and tells me that he feels quite sad playing with his dad's toys that his dad used to play with when he was Jake's age.  I'm pretty sure his dad would be happy to share... 

 Here's another view of the garden.  Hi Duracell.  My stoep is going to be well used this summer, I just need to get a little braai for Jake & I and then we'll be happy.  I've also moved the big wine vat to the other side of the garden for now...

 Pop ups in the "lawn"...

 Sprayers in the garden...

 The pipework is hidden at the back, so you hardly notice it, but you can see it if you look for it, so I won't be chopping through it with a spade anytime soon...

 Another view of the garden...

 From the other side of the veggie patch (the funny tree on the field opposite was burnt down by some kids smoking in it about 2 years ago).  Duracell likes to follow me when I'm taking photos.  He wants some attention...

 This is looking down the side of the house, towards the garage.  The little steps lead into my kitchen and I'm planning on putting an assortment of pots down here with herbs in them eventually... 

 My fancy sprinkler system.  The computer part's not in yet, but it works manually...

 Jake and I put all our seeds into trays last Thursday, so we're waiting for these to establish themselves before we transfer them into our veggie patch, which gives the patch a chance to settle down too...

We've also dug out another bed in the front of our house, the compost will be delivered tomorrow, so hopefully the front of our house will start looking prettier soon too! 

 

Yesterday saw us playing one last friendly match against a neighbouring school.  Jake's such a clown, when I asked him why he plays so hard during practise, but then seems to hang back a bit during matches, he told me that he plays hard at practise so that he can get into the matches.  Logic, I guess...

 He had fun though, I think it was nice for them just to have a run with some other boys, it's what it should be about at their level anyway...

 Ha!  There's Jake going being tackled just short of the try line...  

And that's pretty much it.  My parents are on holiday at the moment; they're actually due to arrive in the Kruger National Park today and will be there for 11 nights.  Jake and I are extremely jealous that we couldn't join them this time.  Funny enough, when I asked Jake recently where he'd like to go on holiday if money wasn't an issue (I listed a whole bunch of places) he replied "well, you know Kruger's my best", so guess we'll be planning a good break up there sometime soon too.  Fortunately, I love the bush too, so I'm looking forward to planning our next trip.  We haven't been anywhere in ages, so it's high time we had some fun.

Other than that, I've had a fair bit my plate just lately, so sorry for my blogging absences.  Hopefully I'll be back at it more regularly again soon.

Love,

Sue XXX