Heeeellllllloooooo!!!

I guess now is a good time as ever to start blogging again!  I'm NOT going into the detail of why I stopped blogging but all I can say is I missed it - a LOT!!!!!


I'm also not even going to try to catch up on what I missed or try to tell you what happened with me in these past dad quiet months.  The good stuff (any maybe some of the bad) will surface at some time or another I'm sure.

I have to start with the good news!  I am sooooo excited!  I am planning a trip to Italy and France during the winter holidays (summer in Europe)!!!!  I'm going with a friend - we will be 6 women only on the trip!  I don't really know the other girls and only met one of them the other day but they all sound great!  The first week of the trip we will spend on a farm close to Perugia in the beautiful province of Umbria - right in the heart of Italy. 

This part of the holiday will be a "cooking vacation" where we will have cooking classes in the mornings and go on excursions in the afternoons.  Italian food has always been my absolute favourite!!!


After that we will travel through the Italian and French countryside mainly.  We will end our journey in Paris - the only city that I really would love to see on this trip. 


It all feels so unreal still.  We're finalising our flights and booking at the farm this week.  Maybe once I've paid my deposit it will start feeling real and not just like a beautiful dream that might end at any moment!

So - that's it for now.  I will try to not be a stranger again!

Feedback

Some feedback about the new job.  Well, I survived the first week.  Can't say that it wasn't stressful but at least I felt very welcome.  Apart from the unfamiliar surroundings, I really didn't feel like the new kid on the block.  My new teammates are wonderful people who really went out of their way to make me feel welcome and to show me the ropes.  There where so many things on my to-do list for this week but you know how it goes.  Life has a way of interfering when you make other plans. 

Over the weekend I got sick!  On Saturday I ignored the little voice that told me to go to the doctor and started self medication.  On Sunday morning I literally couldn't get out of bed.  I had a very high fever, throbbing headache, a throat that made me believe that my tonsils grew back overnight and aching muscles all over.  Leon managed to get hold of a doctor who was willing to see me which is a major accomplishment if you consider that it was a Sunday in Parys!  The doctor awarded me the price of the highest fever for the week award! 39.2 degrees!  Plus low blood pressure which explained my dizziness.  After an injection and anti-biotics plus lots of pain pills I started feeling human again - even if it was still a rather sick human!

Today I really feel a lot better.  The headache is still lurking and my throat is still VERY sore but at least the muscle ache and tiredness is better.  I'm still at home and decided to use the opportunity to do a quick blog post as I don't know when I will get the chance again. 

Apart from illness I must say that I feel great!  I'm enjoying the weather, even if we get cold spells every now and again.  The greenness of everything around me just have a way of cheering me up!  Feels like this new challenge came at exactly the right time for me too!  I feel so extremely blessed.

On the creative front, nothing has really happened since the SB convention in September.  There are so many things that I want to do but absolutely no time to do anything! :(  I don't even get time to go to art class to finish the paintings that I'm busy with.

I haven't even taken pictures of my convention layouts.  Maybe later today.  Will post it as soon as I can cause I really like how some of them turned out.

I did however buy a new toy last week!  My friend Tanya gave me the heads up on a special offer on our favourite online shop Creative Xpress.  They're selling the Your Story book binding / laminating machine  plus extras for a ridiculous price of USD29.99 the regular price is USD239.94)

It really sounds too good to be true but we decided to go ahead and take the chance.  We got the machines delivered last week.  I haven't tried it out but it looks like good quality on the outside at least.  It's a Provocraft product so I trust that it will work as good as they say.

I really thought that this will just be a quick post and now I went and blabbered on and on.  Now I'm off to make myself some scrambled eggs to eat so I can drink my medicine.  Think I'll get back into bed after that cause I feel my headache is protesting against all this blogging!

Upside down ...

My little world is rather upside down at the moment.  This time the crazyness revolves mostly around my job.  I've been doing the same job for the past 10 years.  Although I've been rather sick of my job recently, I've been in a really comfy comfort zone.  On Tuesday my boss asked me to step into a new position.  The same type of work but on a MUCH larger scale.  Lots more responsibilities!  Worst of all - I have to take over almost immediately.  No time to even get used to the idea.  This will only be the start of a rollercoaster ride of changes upon changes as we are in the midst of a total restructuring process.  Stressfull times for me!

At least I'll have a bit of a breather before I officially step into my new role on Monday.  I have an invite to go to the Huisgenoot Skouspel at Sun City on Saturday with Leon's sister.  That should be lots of fun as we will only be girls!

My friend Michelle Van Wyk has a Blog Candy Giveaway on her blog!  Check out all the chipboard yummyness that you can win!

Now I'm off to bed - totally poofed out! 

Aardklop

Woweeee!!!! This week has been soooo much fun!!

I took a week's leave from work to spend time with the kids on they short school break and to go to the "Aardklop" Arts Festival in Potchefstroom.

I bought tickets for one show per day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  This way I allowed myself enough time to browse the art galleries and craft market.

This was the TV ad for the festival:



In the ad they they imply (in a rather tongue in the cheek kind of way) that art is therapeutic and can let you live longer.  I have to agree with that!  Although I came home totally exhausted every evening, I now feel refreshed and inspired and energised and in the mood to create! 

I've seen so many stunning paintings but if I have to pick one artist to win the prize it would have to be MARIA.  Unfortunately I couldn't afford one of her original paintings, so I settled for 3 beautiful prints of her work.  I also had the privilege to meet her.  What a beautiful woman she is - inside and out!  Here are some of her work.  You have to check out the rest on her website - absolutely stunning!

Another artist whose work I'm totally crazy about is Ronald West.  His paintings is so much fun.  He says that he paints life - not as it really is but the way we would love life to be.  Here are some of his work:

Love it!!!!!
I'll try to take photos of some of the pretty little things that I bought at Aardklop to share with you later.

What a week!!!!

The past seven days of my life has been so enriching and fulfilling in so many different ways that I don't even know where to start!

Last Friday I drove off to Pretoria to visit my sister and her family for the weekend.  I have to admit that I used her house as a guesthouse to a certain extend as I didn't really spend a lot of time with them. Saturday and Sunday I attended the Scrapbook Convention at Emperor's Palace.  I met so many of my online friends for the very first time in real life.  That was such an amazing experience on it's own.  I want to say a SPECIAL thanks to Tracy, Belma, Sophia Jenny and Amanda who shared my table.  It was so nice to get to know you all.You're a bunch of super dooper great girls!!! 

I also got to meet Michelle Van Wyk, Tertia Jacobs, Cathy Saunders and Jacqui Bourne.  It was so great to see the faces that I've only seen on my screen before, come alive! 

It was absolutely amazing to see Candice Greenway again!  Her class was just as amazing! 

On Saturday evening I had to earn my boarding and lodging by babysitting my little Leeloo angel!  Not that it was any effort at all for me - only one BIG pleasure from beginning to end! :)

We got to make beautiful layouts using the most beautiful products!  Can't wait to unpack it all and play with it again!  Will post some of it once it's completed.

On Monday morning I had to attend a meeting in Rosebank but I also got to visit my other niece, Monya and her beautiful little 6 week old baby boy Danru.  How cute is he?!

Tuesday, I was back at work and had to deal with a personnel crisis of a totally different nature.  I cannot share the details here but it really gave me perspective on my own problems.

From Wednesday to Friday I had to attend a "Personal Insight Workshop".  To be honest, I really didn't feel to positive about this thing that I had to do and I was so NOT looking forward to "talk about my feelings" with a bunch of people I hardly knew.

Boy - how wrong I was!  It turned out to be a real life changing experience for me!  I got the opportunity to get to know a side of my colleagues that I never knew existed! It really turned out to be exactly what the name says - it gave me so much insight into my own heart and soul as well as that of others.  I'm really grateful for the opportunity that I had to attend.

This weekend I hope to get my scraproom sorted and get some of those beautiful layouts from the convention completed. 

But now I'm off to have a relaxing, romantic dinner at my favourite restaurant (Hoi Poloi) with Leon ...

Spring has finally arrived!!!

Finally this dreary winter is officially a thing of the past!!!  We celebrated spring in the office on Wednesday with fresh flowers in pots and even fresh flower corsages!  When I came home, this beautiful bunch of roses (plus a sweet treat!) was waiting for me! :) 

Can't believe that it's been 2 years since I last posted about our Casual Day at work (click here to see that post).  This year the theme was "Dress for Laughs".  We decided to go all out - again.  We dressed as the Hippy (Kim), the Nun (me), the Prostitute (Angelique) and the Party Animal (Benny).  Needless to say, we had loads of fun!

Today I'm getting my last bit of photos as stash sorted for the convention.  Photos are all printed - only need to cut them.  I need a couple of inkpads and don't know where I will be able to get them before the convention but that's the way it goes if you leave things for the last minute like I always do!

Now that I'm almost ready to go, I'm even more exited about the convention.  Not sure though what I'm more excited about - playing with all the beautiful goodies from the fabulous sponsors or meeting some of my online friends for the first time in real life!  I even made a list so that I won't miss out on the opportunity.  If you know me and you're going to the convention and you're not on the list - please let me know so that I can make sure to meet you while we're there.  Here's my list:

Sophia Allison
Tracy Gardiner
Amanda Dovey
Jacqui Bourne
Cathy Saunders
Michelle Van Wyk
Tertia Jacobs
Mara Swanepoel
Melanie Davis
Ingrid Pistorius

Lazy Sunday ...

Can't remember when last I had such a lazy Sunday!  Only time I went out of the gate was to fetch fast food!  Actually it's been a rather productive day as I sorted out my photos for the Scrapbooking convention that's coming up in 2 weeks time.  I managed to get photos for 10 of the 12 pages done.  Hope to finish the other 2 sets of photos done before the end of today too.

Céline decided that today was the day to break the ice and take the first swim in the swimming pool.  The water temperature was only 17 degrees C, but that didn't seem to bother her too much.  They boys will be sorry that they missed this event!

As you can see the back garden is still non existent.  We're waiting for September to arrrive before we plant the grass and rest of the plants.

In my previous post I told you about the fish pond that we built - also in the back yard.  This is what it looks like:

It's been about 10 days since we first put water in the pond and today Leon bought the first three koi fish.

It looks like they're enjoying their new home.

I haven't done any scrapping in ages, but I still have photos of a couple of layouts that I finished a couple of months ago:

 As you can see  - I love using my Cuttlebug to create titles,

Now that I've seen these finished pages, my fingers itch to get scrapping again. Too bad I won't have time to get something done today still. 

I really want to start spinning again this week.  Don't know how I will get the energy and willpower to start but I guess I'll just have to get up and do it.  Wish me luck! :)