Sixth Sense fully operational.

This morning, Dael was still tired on waking and dawdled getting ready for work. As he was sitting on his motorbike, he checked his petrol which was very low and said to me that he didn't even feel like going to work. I eventually said "Come On Dael" and he galvanized himself into action. Soon after he left though I started feeling a sense of foreboding, that maybe I should have left him to make his own decision about going or staying. He wasn't on mxit for me to ask if everything was okay and that he had got to work fine. I restrained myself from phoning him during the morning while he was working but I had the feeling that I had to get in touch with him.

So at 1.15pm when I knew he would be at lunch, I phoned. He was walking back from the shop where he had gone to buy lunch but he said it was okay to talk. He was fine but by the way there had been a fire in the workshop that morning.

A vehicle that the team had been working on had caught fire while they were running it to test the engine. Something to do with petrol that had spilled or leaked in the boot and an electrical wire that caused a spark and whoosh a big flame had gone up. Apparently all the other workers had rushed out of the way, not knowing what to do. There are apparently fire extinguishers but they didn't know how to use them. Dael grabbed an extinguisher and began to use it to put out the fire, not missing a beat. Then the spraypainter grabbed another extinguisher and also joined in and they put out the flames, averting a disaster.

Dael says he breathed in some of the white powder from the extinguisher and this was causing a burning sensation in the back of his throat. I just hope there are no side effects from this. I was very proud of him for reacting to decisively and bravely. I said to him that now he knows that he will react well in an emergency. He showed leadership qualities. I hope his employers are grateful that a disaster was averted by Dael. I have watched so many programs on tv recently which show how fast a fire can spread, especially where there are a lot of flammable substances, literally within minutes or seconds.

Never disregard your sixth sense or any feeling that you have to contact someone and speak to them.

My two cents worth on......

Hoarding.... As in collecting items which other people might view as useless or junk but which you regard as useful and necessary and can't bear to part with.

I have been watching a tv programme on satellite tv which is on every day and find it absolutely amazing and surreal how people get trapped in this cycle of collecting material items and burying themselves in these items. Even the messiest and untidiest of us would feel a lot better about our homes and our lives after watching a few of these episodes.

However, each and every one of us has a couple of boxes of clutter and disorganisation which we don't need and can't get rid of. This is a common human condition which some people have taken to the extreme, almost associating inanimate objects with human status.

I am prepared to admit that I have a little bit of the hoarder which wars with the organiser in me that has no problem throwing things away. I will hold onto items in the hope that they will be used and eventually will get the heck in with keeping that particular item or a lot of items and chuck, chuck, chuck. I usually take advantage of the chucking mood and clean out a few different areas. I am sometimes sorry afterwards but once it is fait accompli there's no bringing an item back.

Okay so here are my collecting areas. I have a LARGE box of baby clothes including receiving blankets (which are like gold to me). These are being kept for my grandchildren. I will not give those away. Then there are Brad's last toys before he stopped playing with them. I cant just give them away because they are still good and there are still children in the family. My linen cupboard. I have a lot of little cloths and items which my mother has thrown out. I have been keeping these for a long time in case they become useful. Ditto my crockery cupboard. Ditto my clothes cupboard. I had quite a bit of paper stationery, book covers and the like, before my cat took the decision out of my hands and pee'd on everything, necessitating the big chuck out of that. Now by no means do I have anything like the problem you would see on the programme Hoarders but We All Do It. I think if we are honest with ourselves, we are afraid that once we thin out everything we don't use we will be afraid at how little of our many items we actually use regularly!

Just remember, material clutter makes our minds cluttered and the new years resolution of many of us is to thin out our collected clutter. And maybe our lives will be able to function in a more organised and calm manner too.

So be honest, what have you been collecting or holding on to for many years that is of no use to you and not used by you at all. You just feel that it is or could be useful in the future.

I seem to have the floor.

I keep checking and a lot of bloggers whose musings I follow seem to be in Winter hibernation at the moment while I have an urge to write. I guess this means I'm not a bear after all!

I have propped the curtain open so that I can glance to my left as I type and see clear across the tops of the trees in the valley below my house to the sea on the horizon. The weather is still overcast but not raining and it has cleared enough for the view to be visible. I very seldom go to the beach and have not swum in the ocean for a long time but I love being able to see it from my house. I live at the coast. Its great.

I had a very positive meeting with a consultant at a recruitment agency in Westville. I drove to Westville VERY slowly as I don't like the rattle coming from my front wheel. (Dael checked it and seems to think it is the cv joint again!). The consultant and I sat in their meeting room and had a very pleasant chat about all my work experience and skills. She seemed impressed with the 'top notch' companies I have worked for. She introduced me to her colleagues so they could fit my face to my name and cv. She is keeping me in mind for temp work and then I did my tests. These don't really phase me any more. I don't take them too seriously. For my Word test I got 88%, my Excel test where I ran out of time as I have to think and fiddle with Excel I got 70% and my typing test I got 99%. I've done typing from my school days and I was in the last grade bar one that was taught touch typing. We used typewriters in those day. Not so long ago so don't start counting my grey hairs.

And then I helped the environment...

Knowing I was coming down to Westville and would be opposite The Pavilion shopping centre in Westville I had loaded my glass bottles and food cans in my boot. I had two heavy black bags of bottles and one black bag filled with cans. The centre has a recycling depot run by a private contractor right in the bottom car park and I was thrilled to make a deposit with them. Fortunately my plastic and paper is picked up by Mondi whose truck comes along behind the Municipal refuse truck every week and picks up the orange bag of recycling which is left on the verge with the refuse. If only they would pick up the glass and metal too but I suppose doing good can't be too easy otherwise there wouldn't be any merit in it.

I was rewarded for my recycling. I went into the centre and Checkers Hyper was having their market day and I managed to pick up a few items on a one day special. I came back to Pinetown and then visited my mom. I didn't want to come home as I had to pick up Dael from work. He went to work today but didn't want to ride the bike with his leg still being very sore. He reckons its getting worse not better. I might need to get him through to a doctor for an xray or something but right now I'm just observing it. If it doesn't come right in a few days I'll make a decision what to do.

Signing off to go and make supper. Its pork sausages tonight since I let them defrost. :)

Eyes Wide Shut!

Dael didn't make it to work again today. He was dressed and almost ready to go when he walked into the kitchen. All of a sudden he was doubled over clutching his leg. He felt as if his knee had 'gone backwards'. He limped out of the kitchen, making for the couch. After an examination by Dr Mom and a massage with Deep Heat also by the resident doctor (mom), it was decided that Dael's personal assistant (mom) would phone Dael's work and explain to the first person answering the phone that Dael would not make it in today as he could hardly walk. His line of work requires him to be on his feet and walking up and down the workshop all day so the 'doctor' had decided that this would not be a good idea.

Anyway, a bit later on, in conversation with big sister Robynne on Facebook, she commented that Dael was always breaking this or twisting that and it was because he didn't eat his vegetables. She felt that he should go on a course of vitamins to replace whatever vitamins and minerals and other good stuff he is missing out on by not eating veggies. Well, I feel that this issue is not just as simply solved as that but there is probably some truth to her 'diagnosis'.

My mind then wandered on to how as humans we very seldom make all the right decision with regard to what we are eating or putting into our bodies (or not putting in) by whatever means. Whatever problem or issue is proven to be caused by whatever we are doing or not doing will always happen to someone else, not ourselves.

Robynne eats all her veggies but buys fast food and takeaways probably more than once a week. She also smokes and has since she was a teenager. Okay she wants to stop but the thought of all the poisons which are proven to be in cigarettes has not been sufficient incentive for her to stop smoking yet. Drugs, alcohol, pornography, cigarettes, fast food, whatever it is that we love to partake in, as humans we never consider that it will affect us personally...

Until It Does!

As a mom, I know what I would want for my children but as I am going through the teenage years with my third child, I am realistic about what I can expect to achieve by 'requesting' or demanding my kids eat their veggies or stop smoking. I wait for the right moment and drop a comment. But it is up to each of my children and to myself and to every human being to stop pointing a finger at another person for what they are doing and to be aware of the destructive nature of their own and individual unhealthy indulgences and to be realistic about what that indulgence is doing to harm their life. I doubt that if you look at a dangerous habit eyes wide open and fully aware of its ability to cause your death that you would continue to do it?

Or maybe I'm wrong...

Job hunting sux!

Oh my gosh. What a pile of cr*ppy jobs there are available in KZN. So low paid. Robynne says she doesn't know how anyone survives in this province. Well, I wouldn't be able to and I'm starting to think I won't find something here before my funds run out.

So I have been applying for positions in Gauteng in the Northern Suburbs side where Robynne lives. Her roommate is moving out so that wouldn't be a problem but I would still keep my house here in KZN.

This is rather stressful for me because I'm a big nester by nature and I've been roosting here for 6 years now. I don't like moving and neither will my kitties but its do or die at this stage.

Another thing is I won't have my own vehicle to start with when I go to Gauteng. But I have to do it. I can't afford to go under. I have such a lot of experience and skills to offer that its an insult to have to apply for jobs for about R7-8k (or less!) a month which is what is on offer locally here. And nothing directly on my doorstep. And they expect the earth for the miniscule money they are offering. Senior skills for junior money...

I am so ticked off. No wonder I'm getting a headache every day! I am so tired of sitting at home now. I feel like my brain is turning to mush. HELP!

PS A note to my friends. If you have any connections with personnel agencies, please drop me a line and I will get my CV through to you. I have always been employed via agencies and not through answering ads.

New Official Driver on the road!

Yes, Dael passed his driver's test yesterday afternoon. I am so proud - and so relieved!

He went for lessons on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and on Monday. Then yesterday, he was being picked up by Lisa of the driving school at 1pm for a double lesson before his test at 3pm. I thought it would be nice for him to come home and change and relax a bit before the afternoon's activities rather than going straight from work straight to his lesson and test. So he went on his bike and was going to ask to go off at 12pm to come home. He had originally wanted to take the whole day off so he could focus on the test but I persuaded him to go in to work as the test was in the afternoon.

Well, by 12.15pm when he wasn't home yet, I phoned him. After a long while he picked up and rather frustratedly told me that he had a job to finish and would be home as soon as he could. By quarter to one he still wasn't home and I phoned his work to be told that he had just left. I was worried as I knew that he would be rushing home now on his bike. A few minutes later I heard him screaming up the drive on his bike and I unlocked the back door. He stormed in, hot and extremely angry and threw his keys down on the counter, causing the cats to scatter. I immediately went into soothing mommy mode and sent him off to shower, preparing him a cup of coffee in the meantime. I made him some sandwiches but he couldn't eat. One good thing was that the driving school was a bit late so he had time to calm down a bit. He was very disappointed with his work though as his test has been booked since before he started working there. They knew the importance of the day but they still gave him work to do in the hot sun and also a last minute job that HAD to be done before he left. The one boss was even asking him if he was going to come back after he had finished. Fat chance!

He asked me if I was going to come to the testing ground and I was in two minds whether to go or not but I eventually decided to go over as Dael like my support. I was driving into the testing grounds as he was driving out with the examiner. He gave me a sideways glance as he drove out, looking very tense. I missed his parking but apparently that went quite smoothly and he hadn't had to repeat any of the manoeuvres. He returned and both he and the examiner got out the car. He followed the examiner into an office with a very serious expression on his face. He soon returned and a big smile broke across his face because the paper had a small cross in the block that said Passed! So well done my son. That's two out of three children that have passed both their learners and drivers tests first time!

Fish are worse than rabbits..

at least as far as breeding goes and maybe eating! I had 6 small fish left in the baby box and decided to release another two into the main tank this morning. I emptied all of them into another container and washed the box, filled it with new water from the main tank and returned the small fish back to the box with the other two being released into the big tank. The box was still floating around in the big tank when I noticed a very small fish hiding under one of the side pieces that connect to the suckers on the side of the big tank. I managed to catch it with my small cup and then I noticed another very small baby. What the heck! Just then I realised that the mother fish was dropping a tiny fish from her body every minute or so. And the older small fish were eating them! I spent about an hour watching the mother and as she wriggled away from the baby it would rise up to the surface of the water and then I would try to catch it. It was a mission as the light was shining on the water and these babies are really tiny. I think there are some more hiding in the tank but they are not showing themselves at the moment. This is getting a bit chronic now and I'm going to have to make a plan to get another tank or take some fish back to the pet shop if the big fish cant stop procreating. Anyway that was my excitement of the day!

On Sunday afternoon, after visiting my parents, I made a stop at the local shop to buy supplies and draw money at the ATM which is situated just inside the entrance to the shop. I noticed that their was a plastic gadget in front of the slot to insert the bank card and a notice attached said that this had been installed as an anti-skimming device. I drew money but this gadget worried me. On my return home, I went online to my bank's website where there was no mention of any device like this being used. I phoned the bank's fraud hotline and they advised me that they had no knowledge of this device and that I should stop my card. This I did and I had to start my week on Monday morning at the bank to get another bank card (at my cost). The owner of the shop as well as the guy from the bank that had installed the device phoned me to tell me that I had been rather paranoid as this was a legitimate bank device but my point was: Why did the no one at the bank know anything about the installation of these devices. The bank does not communicate with its clients but expects them to blindly trust and then wonders why people are being scammed by being too trusting. I was not and am still not happy about this inconvenience and cost to myself but what does the bank care?

The weather for the past three days has been hot and humid and it is difficult to find the energy to accomplish anything that requires movement.. I have started making small inroads on the jungle that is my garden late in the afternoon. It only gets dark by 7.30pm so there are a few cooler hours that can be used for this activity but I am a little out of condition and I don't chop anything more than I feel that I will have the energy to pick up and cart to the garden heap in one session.

The kitties are all asleep at this hottest time of the day and I think I'll go and see if I can see any more tiny fish bobbing around.

The cats are helping me sort out my cupboards..

and not in a good way.

My fluffy orange cat, Torgen, has always had issues of some sort. Some years ago when I adopted a big dog he was petrified and started hiding in odd and sometimes dangerous places. For instance he spent a whole day in the wood storage hole of a built in braai (barbecue) of a house we were renting. Another time he was found huddling on top of the support pillar of the precast fence in the middle of rolls of security razor wire. He would never come home on his own but would always have to be searched for and extricated. He can go for a while without any odd behaviour but something else eventually surfaces.

His latest thing is to not use the cat litter box for urinating or even go outside. He just holds his pee in until he starts peeing just wherever he is or he sprints to my bedroom and jumps in my cupboard and starts peeing there.

So this is how he is 'helping' me in my cleaning venture. I have had to clean one shelf FULL of items that were stored in there. He had been hiding and sleeping on a pile of stationery and just peeing in there as and when required. I had to eventually clean out and move everything from there and just toss out all the stationery which was obviously ruined by the urine. I have to make an effort to remember to close this cupboard. Dael's clothes are stored on one long shelf of this cupboard and he always leaves the doors open.

This morning, I had barely got up and ventured out my room when Torgen raced past me at high speed and leapt into his new cupboard. This section has been storing all Bradley's old toys, army men, some books, etc. An ideal hideaway spot for a troubled cat. As I peered into the cupboard, Torgen was urinating a steady stream of pee into the box of toys. I saw red and knew that some immediate action was required (at just after 5am).

With the cat still in the cupboard, crouching in the back, I fetched a black garbage bag which I placed on the floor and started pulling out the damaged contents of the cupboard onto the black bag. Eventually the nervous cat got the idea and leapt out of the cupboard and zoomed through the cat hole in the french doors and outside, which is where he should have gone in the first place! Once everything was out I could see that he has been peeing in there for a while and the urine has soaked through to the chipboard on the bottom of the cupboard which fortunately Dael says can be removed without causing the main cupboard to fall down. In the meantime I have just sprayed that area liberally with my Bleach and water mixture to at least sanitize it a bit so my room doesn't continue to stink of pee.

Now the next thing is to go through all the toys that I removed from the cupboard and throw them into a bucket of bleach water to clean them. Then they will have to be dried and stored in a bag probably in one of my top cupboards.

See how my cats help me to get to my tasks that I have been procrastinating about doing. They so helpful to their mom. :)

Getting into the New Year

aka known as My State of Mind.

I feel as if I am being torn in several different directions.

My immediate challenges are:

1) Organising my paperwork. This has been getting out of control for over a year now. My home desk is covered in papers and these are covered in paw prints. The cats LOVE walking and lying on these and this doesn't improve the appearance of anything that they have used as a bed.

2) Organising my Parents paperwork!? Several years ago (maybe 10) I bought files and sorted out as much of their paperwork as I could. This was a mission and for months afterwards I was being asked where various bits of paper were so needless to say I am not enthusiastic to do this again. The filing was never continued and papers are in various containers and boxes and heaps! Nonetheless, being the dutiful daughter that I am, I emptied one of my own alphabetical sorters and ventured forth yesterday to my parents home. I have started sorting out my mom's filing and need to get down there again for another session. This is likely to be a slow process as I don't have solid blocks of time to devote to this duty.

3) Looking for a job. My new procrastination. Mainly because all the consultants are situated out of town and my car is not up to scratch anymore so that making any trips at all are a cause of anxiety for me. Also this would entail me primping and getting all dressed up in work clothes which I am kind of getting out of the habit of! Terrible to hear, isn't it.

4) Cleaning up the house and the garden. Not happening. Oh I tidy up but please open the cupboards with care. You have been warned.

The easiest and most unnecessary pastimes for me at the moment are knitting and sewing my gorgeous toys up while I listen to (watch) tv. This is easily classed as being my escapism at the moment and I have to force myself away from it every day in order to achieve all or some of the above items which needs to be done. I wish I could be making a good living out of the knitting but I am not so I need to put it into perspective.

All this is part of the process for me. I will get there eventually but forging ahead with all that needs to be done requires constant mental organising and planning on a daily basis to get accomplished. Fortunately the angel of action on my shoulder is very insistent and NAGS to get me to move away from the couch and the knitting until I almost throw the knitting down in frustration and move off to get down to one of my many tasks to be done.

The best way I have of getting things done at the moment is breaking all the above big tasks down into small chunks and just doing a little bit of everything every day.

Wish me luck!

Continuing the theme of satisfying work environments

I have to mention that Dael has now completed his three month probation period at the panelbeating/mechanic workshop where he started just after I came back to KZN after my Jhb trip. After a few frustrating weeks where he just seemed to be sanding the vehicles and almost put himself to sleep during a bout of monotonous sanding, he has moved on to being a valued member of staff.

He worked until about 2pm on Christmas Eve and only received R50 extra on top of his week's pay as a Christmas bonus. He still raced off and purchased small gifts for everyone with his meagre money, carrying everything back home in his backpack. All I saw when he came up the driveway on his motorbike was the top half of a garden gnome sticking out of his backpack.

He had to return to work on the Tuesday following Christmas and that day was left to work in the factory as well as receive vehicles and talk to clients and also answer the phones as not everyone had returned to work. He proved himself with his reliability and responsibility.

He has become a working dynamo and knows almost everything about bodywork already including operating the hydraulic equipment used to pull out dents. He brings the vehicles he works on to primer stage ready for final spraypainting. He instructs the indigenous workers, some of whom have been there longer than him. They try to get away with shortcuts and he doesn't allow that but rather confronts them as needed to get the job done right. He is not intimidated.

Last week he worked one day less as he was off work the day he had his fall from his bike. The next day he worked overtime to finish a vehicle and in fact only got home at 8pm. He received R100 on the spot from his boss. On payday he received the full five days pay and R50 extra. He was very pleased.

He comes home filthy every day with dirt on his face even having worked on about 4 vehicles in a day, just going from vehicle to vehicle not having to be told what to do or how to do it anymore. As long as my son is learning new things and being treated like an intelligent being he is happy. I am proud of him and I am very glad we held out for the right job for him.

I drove him to work this morning as my old driving school instructor who taught me 27 years ago and also taught Robynne, will be meeting him at work after his day is over and taking him for a driving lesson, just to see how his driving is and to give him some pointers. I am sure he will learn fast. His driving test is next week Wednesday at 3pm and I am counting on him passing first time. Once he has his drivers licence, it will benefit him at his job too.

Things are moving ahead with my son and I am sure this year will be positive for Dael too.

Positive start to the year.

Robynne had registered on the Au Pair website, looking for work and while she was visiting me over Christmas, she received a call from a gentleman who was also registered on the site looking for an au pair for his 14 year old son. They made arrangements for an interview the following week.

Robynne attended the interview and liked the family although she didn't receive a reply immediately as the man was still interviewing another candidate. She sms'd me on New Years Day so say that she had the got the job.

Unfortunately it worked out that she hadn't worked her notice at her current employers and was in fact on leave from them. She decided that she wasn't going to work her whole month's notice as she hadn't been happy with them for a long time and despite meetings with her bosses, conditions were still onerous with nasty emails and comments flying about. She went in to work on the day that the company opened and cleared her computer and packed a box with her personal belongings. She had intended to work at least that week but the only other person at work was a woman who had hounded her for the entire period of her employment and she decided to just leave that same day. She emailed her resignation to all the applicable people, got in her car and left.

She apparently had a phone call from her boss as she was driving away saying that her leaving like that was illegal and she should return to work immediately. She phoned me for moral support and information and I told her that these people were just trying to intimidate her. Obviously, this is not the usual way to handle a change of employment but these people were pushing her into depression. It was only by me counselling her over the phone on various occasions that I think she hadn't walked away from this company before now. I told her that the most they could do was to charge her with absconding, hold a disciplinary enquiry and dismiss her in absentia.

She started work with her new family yesterday. The 14 year old and his younger sister (who will be living with her mom but is there this week) were playing Xbox and then Robynne helped make a meal. She had to take the kids to meet their dad later that afternoon to register at a new school. Today Robynne and the kids were going for brunch and then ice skating this afternoon. What fun. From working in a stuffy office to being able to have fun with kids and earn your living while doing it. Robynne is very responsible and quite strict but she knows how to have fun and enjoys going places and doing things. I'm sure she will do wonderfully in this job and its so different from what she was doing before that I'm sure it will have a positive impact on her health and outlook. Also good as while the boy is at school, she will be able to return home to supervise Brad with his work and spend time with him. Much more flexibility now and she gets a car while she is at work so she doesn't need to use her own car for running about.

I'm so happy my girl has made this a positive start to the new year.

Another year older and more handsome every day.

This pic of Bradley was taken at the Johannesburg Zoo at the end of September 2010 the day before I had to leave him with his sister and return alone to KZN. :(

My baby celebrated his 15th birthday on December 25th, 2010 - my Christmas baby.

This fact went unannounced on Blogger but not unnoticed in our family. Bradley came down from Jhb with Robynne for just six days.

When I saw Brad again after two and a half months, I couldn't believe how much taller he had grown. He is towering over me now. He seems to be maturing so much now at this stage and unfortunately I am not there to spend this time with him.

Happy Birthday, my Brad and may this next year bring you a lot of success as you continue with your homeschooling and also continue to develop your character as a strong, resilient, good-natured and loving young man of principle. I have every faith in you, my son.

I love you and miss you a lot.

Lots of love, Mom. xxx

Babies in the house

I have a big fish tank which sits on my kitchen counter and I decided towards the end of last year that I needed some more fish as I was down to two neons and one of those big tank cleaning fish whose name I can never remember. So I popped into our local petshop and bought two Platies one orangey one and one yellowy one which turned out to be a pair. I only realised this when, while making coffee one morning I glanced into the tank and noticed some tiny new inhabitants looking out at me. I did a double take in surprise and then sprang into action as I knew that the bigger fish would soon be trying to eat them. I got a small bowl (since I can never find my fishnet when I need it) and after scooping and chasing for a while had caught them all and placed them in a large vase.

After a few days the water in the vase was getting smelly and I decided to visit the petshop again for a better method of separating the tiny fish. I purchased a little plastic box with tiny holes in the bottom of it which is placed in the main tank with the top of the box just above the surface of the water in the main tank. Then I separated out the slightly bigger baby fish from the really tiny ones and the bigger ones went straight into the big tank with the really tiny ones being placed into the box. I think I'm going to have a population explosion soon as I now have about six baby fish of various sizes of growth in the main tank and nine teeny tiny fish in the box. From having an empty tank Ive now got a fair fishy population from one set of parents. I'll have to start selling them back to the pet shop soon.

Anyway I decided to take some of the larger babies out of the box on Thursday but while I was pouring the water in the box into a container I was careless and two tiny babies fell into the main tank. Immediately, one of the neons was chasing after them wanting to eat them. I chased the neon away and luckily managed to catch the babies again as they come right up to the surface of the tank. I got a fright though. I also saw a tiny tiny baby which hasn't been in the box at all but it was too wily for me to catch. I have some floating bushy plants which the little fish love hiding in so I think these have helped the babies to hide away from the bigger fish when necessary.

I have started talking to the fish as well. I call to them: "Fish, fish, fish" They come over to the side of the tank that I'm on. I'm sure they recognise me.

Obviously not being goldfish, they have more than a three second memory. :)

Its time to blog - and a Happy 2011 to you all too..

A couple of my friends in the blogging community have come looking for me to see if I'm still alive - and I am! I greatly appreciate your concern as we all like to know that we have left a tiny footprint somewhere in the world.

Christmas has come and gone and I enjoyed a visit from Robynne and Bradley who drove down from Jhb with Marco, Robynne's boyfriend. It was also an introduction for Marco to my parents and our Christmas traditions. He is probably still getting over the shock of it all! Kidding, we're not that bad.

Unfortunately for a lot of Jhb holidaymakers, Durban is not the sunny destination it used to be some years ago at this time of the year and the weather is very unpredictable. I think we had two days of sun out of the six that my kids were here visiting. They brought 3 baby bunnies that couldn't be left at home and two dogs, my granddoggies, Tiny and Mini who are miniature Doberman Pinschers. As they arrived my youngest kittens, Dusty, Toby and Pixie decided to leave. Dusty in particular decided to go live in the garden under the trees for the entire duration of the visitors' stay only sneaking back for meals when the coast was clear.

I am now one dog down. Robynne decided to take Piglet, my cross Dachshund/Maltese who is about eight years old to live with her in Jhb. He is actually her dog from when she was still in school but basically also my dog from living with me all these years. I decided to let him go because he really loves her a lot. Bradley is also up there and he knows him and he will be spoiled up there even being allowed to sleep on the bed and being sent to the doggie parlour. He was really being dominated down here by Pup, his own son who made his father groom him all the time. Sadly, just after getting to Jhb, Piglet killed one of Robynne's guinea pigs in the garden. I think he must have thought it was a mole and my dogs have always been very good at catching moles. She is having to retrain him on how to act around bunnies and guinea pigs and is watching him closely at the moment.

My favourite Christmas gift was from Robynne - a book of patterns of knitted toys and I have been like a machine or a robot since they left knitting almost all the toys in the book and building up my stock for when we next go to the market. Now you know what has been keeping me busy. I have spent some time this first week of the new year looking for work and phoning some agents and am still positive that I will find the right position soon.

Dael only had Christmas weekend off and then had to return to work. He has bought a motorbike courtesy of a loan from me and has been riding to and from work. He is very sensible with his riding and doesn't mess around. Unfortunately though, on Wednesday he had just left home in the rain only to return a few minutes later saying that he had fallen. A medical vehicle had passed him on a blind corner sounding its alarm and he slowed down but suddenly realised that the car in front of him had stopped and was turning off the road. He thinks he pressed his brakes too hard for the wet conditions and his wheel slipped out and down he went. Luckily he was wearing jeans and another pair of waterproof pants. He still suffered roasties on his foot and knee and banged his shoulder and his head. He was a bit shaken and he ended up staying home. Its lucky he was only going about 40kms/hour at the time otherwise it could have been much worse. Bikes are very unforgiving and other drivers can be very thoughtless. His guardian angel was really looking after him.

I'll sign off now but I'm very glad to be back again and to see that my blogging mojo has returned. :)