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Nature study #3
I know there isn't a no.2 yrt but thats because my photos are on the camera which I can't download ! I took no.3 on the new iphone which is so much easier to download. Anyway, nature walk number 3 was an impromtu unplanned nature study of a wild laburnum on the way to our monthly homeschool get- together. We walked there as the kids needed the exercise and fresh air. We had just read Nama Kwaas Garden by Mary Clanahan so we felt the joy of nature before we set foot out of the door. and just passed the tree which was in full bloom. It was really striking - lots of yellow flowers. The kids were pleased to be able to see another example of compound leave which we had found out about last week (you'll hear about that later when I do week 2). The pods were also in three stages of development - green, going brown and brown. Anyway the kids and I examined the bush comparing the leaves to those of the sausage tree which we looked at last week. We noticed all the pods were on the flower stem and all the leaves were separate. After asking the home owner if we could nick a few we took samples of each. Next time I'll just take photos - the leaves and flower stank - a very earthy smell that wasn't particularly pleasant. Here are the photos...

Looking at the photos I would've been better off taking a photo of the tree I'm sure it would have come out better!!!

Afrikaans

Just started learning Afrikaans today after eight years of being here I thought it was about time. I also don't want the kids to be able to discuss things with their dad without me being able to understand. Just going to see what I can learn in 6 months. I'm not sure whether my brain can cope with a large amount of new data at this stage of my life but lets give it a go.

Totseins!!

Nature Study OHC #1

Our first outdoor hour challenge. The first of many I hope. We three set off with our bags in hand (just in case there was something interesting to put in there) and off we went around the dam. The dam had been a place of beauty in the past withlots of different water birds to see and different water plants. More recently it is just a brown patch of land with very few different species of bird left. None the less it was a trip outdoors and therefore warranted excitement. The kids wern't sure what to look for so I pointed out a few feathers lying on the ground and we tried to guess the bird it had belonged to (not difficult given the limited number of species around the dam at present). The kids also thought it fun to guess which bird the different shaped poo came from (Big - the domestic geese, medium -Egyptian Geese and small the duck or Guinea fowl was our guess). We actually saw quite a few different birds - the blacksmith plover with its distinctive 'tink tink' call, a wagtail, guinea fowl, egyptian geese, white ducks, mallards, a moorhen. On our way back into the garden we also saw a large spiders nest. We have been reading charlottes web in which charlotte the grey spider weaves an egg sac just before she dies. The kids enjoyed the thought that within the unusually shaped sac were hundreds of babies. Later in the week we read up more about spiders although I don't have too much material ooh I feel a book buying opportunity coming along....

Its been a long time....

since I was on here - february in fact. What has been going on since then - a trip to the uk for the kids and I, a fantastic holiday in Mozambique for the whole family, lots of home schooling ups and downs. My life coaching has been having a major impact on my attitude to everything. The kids are just great - I am so happy with our decision to home school and can't wait until Max joins us, hopefully at the end of this year. Peanut is the latest addition to the family -a very noisy and messy african grey parrot. I never thought I could be anywhere near a bird having been afraid of them all my life but he is actually really cute. I am also fulfilling a life long dream of learning the piano. It just goes to show that you are never to old to learn and that life does begin at forty. I have such an inner confidence these days that I never had when I was younger.

What a long time....

it seems since I was on here - thanks for jogging my memory Jess. Well we've started the homeschool journey with Hannah and she is doing really well. Max is at Valmary and is loving it. Its been difficult to establish what level Hannah is at as I don't know what she had done previously - particularly with Maths so we're just rushing ahead until I get to the point where she is getting new stuff to do instead of just repeating what she did at Valmary. We have packed our afternoons with activities but we may have to rethink it as she has little time to socialise - potentially a problem as she can be quite shy. Anyway its a wait and see type situation - we must just be aware that it could become a problem.

The school work is going well though. We have just had my dear friend over from the uk for 2 weeks so we didn't do school as such but had lots of 'educational fieldtrips' - robben island, kirstenbosch, aquarium etc. Max has settled in to school much better than expected. He seems to have come into his own.

Business - well we're in the car industry so nuff said!

Me - well still chasing that elusive ideal weight and optimum fitness. I am currently boot camping it 3 times a week, gym twice a week and running at least twice a week in preparation for the next 2 oceans.

Here are a few recent photos

hannah putting daddy's make up on - max is wondering whether its such a good idea having kids after all!

Max and Jayden trashing my garden

and finally Hannah and her fairy godmother Aunty Lou at Cape Point

let the homeschooling begin!

It's 10.03am on Friday 5 December 2008 and Hannah's public school life is about to come to an end. I am nervous but very excited and can't wait to get going. She is insisting on getting a uniform but she gets to choose what it looks like - at the moment its a sort of rainbow coloured affair - I'm hoping it will change mind. I'm picking her up at 10.30 as they finish early and taking her to Macdonalds as a treat - that was what she wanted to do. How exciting I am so looking forward to starting with her and hopefully seeing a shift from an occasional cheeky little madam to a confident happy girl with a great attitude to life and others! Lets see.......

Hannahs Christmas Concert

Hannah's Christmas Concert
Hurray Hurray Hurray - its over! Hannah has sucessfully participated in her school concert. Last year was just too overwhelming for her and she crumbled part way through. Everyone laughed at the little girls doing the macarena and poor Hannah thought they were all laughing at her. Well a year later and the emotional scars having healed somewhat she did it this year with a big smile on her face. Hannah we are all so proud of you - not only were you gorgeous and danced beautifully you overcame one of your greatest fears - well done!

Halloween

My nose was so big I had to use a straw to drink the wine as my honker kept getting in the way

sorry but can't get this the right way around but these two were my cat and my bat

Hey Pauline you look hhmmmmm SCARY!

VERY SCARY!!!!

Halloween is such a good laugh and one of the best bits is getting dressed up - I just love it. Here are a couple of shots of us before and a couple of my friend Pauline (sorry to drag you into this Karen) who kindly posted pictues of me looking less than beautiful on her face book page for all to see - note not of herself. She had a feeble excuse of "well I was too busy taking the photos to be on them" pooh pooh I say well here for the record are a few of Pauline (the disco demon)

get your own back time for the witch!

Happy Christmas update

Happy Christmas to you all - I am abysmal at sending christmas cards and have been since I arrived in SA and had kids. I'd like to be better and I always start each November with great plans to send everyone a christmas card but I just end up with drawers full of unsent cards.

Well lots of time has passed since my last post. What's been happening -well alot but not alot. We were going to move to the seaside and then the new house was valued by the bank at half a million less than our offer so it fell through. Barely a week later the world economy seemed to have been shook at its core meaning our business went from doing very well one day to having to having to adopt survival strategies to see us through what is going to be a very difficult few years.

Apart from all that our home school curriculum has landed (talking of which you english readers - can you believe that South Africans don't know what a dalek is and when you say don't you know Dr Who they say "who?") and I can't wait to get started. It is taking much self discipline to keep the kids in school to the end of the year as I'm itching to get started. I am going to have to contain my enthusiasm though as the kids will quickly decide that the much less exhuberant and energetic teachers are probably an easier option than education a la mummy! Lets see what we're like after year 1.

Max had his tonsils out after his 4th lot of tonsilitus (Max and I have been sick in rotation since July) Poor little thing was hysterical when he came around from the anasthetic - akin to a fatally wounded wild animal in its last throes of death. Very upsetting for me but he didn't remember anything. Needless to say he enjoyed the Ice cream, Jelly, chips and coke diet he went on for the next 2 weeks. Anyway he is back to normal.

Hannah on the other hand will never be the same. Two of her front lower baby teeth have come out and she looks like a bugs bunny negative. She is so proud of the gaps. When she woke up in the morning she followed the fairy dust into her room and then it suddenly stopped. I saw her puzzled face as she looked first under her bed and then up towards the light fitting and not really getting it came to her own conclusion as to what had happened to the fairy, began to occupy her mind elsewhere. What actually happened was the fairy got a little Tipsy when after Jan's birthday, Corelia and I came back for a quick drink. Before crawling upstairs, I remembered my role as the tooth fairy and grabbed the glitter. I promptly spilled it on the floor near the gift and then ran out before I could reach the window.

What else, well basically the kids are doing great and we are really enjoying them. Its going to be a tough time for the next 18 months but hopefully we'll get through (can I suggest you all go out and buy new cars (Daimler Chrysler, VW or fords) or at the very least replace your shock absorbers (gabriel only - maybe get a spare set just in case while you're at it!).

Here are a few pics from the last couple of months:

Max's school photo - what a stunner - there are loads of others all gorgeous

Me doing a duathlon - just ignore the boob enhancer (number strap) which makes me look like my waist is somewhere just under my neck

Remember you're a womble

Check Max dancing to Remember you're a womble

It was the first time I had seen Max dancing or doing actions to a song. He was just too cute for words. One of the moments that makes being a mum so worthwhile.

the next to last post shouldve been first to read but never mind

Here are a few more pics

Daddy and Max made a go kart

Hannahs 6th Birthday - the best yet!

And a cute movie clip of 'remember you're a womble' danced by Max! Just too cute - check the dentists son whose head you see in the corner - he will be a wild one some day! Itwont save the movie so i'll try it on a separate post

photo highlights from the last month or so

The kids after eating blue sherbert at Dylans birthday party scary heh!

The beautiful cottage we stayed at in the cedarberg - Enjoylife is the name of the farm and we just loved it. It was soooo windy the smoke blew down the chimney half the time so we came back stinking of smoke
Hannah pretending to be a baby lion in the river in front of our cottage

Hannah's birthday cake - all my own design!

Our new cat Cedar making itself at home on sparti's tummy - sparti is such a gentleman he didn't move an inch

Pringle Bay

How time passes. I tried to post a few weeks ago but there was something wrong with the net / computer and it wouldn't save the photos. Anyway things have moved along quite rapidly since then. Despite having someone sick every week for the last six weeks we have had two weekends away (Cedarburg and Pringle Bay) Hannah's birthday (a great success and the first birthday I can honestly say she really enjoyed every minute rather than just the last half an hour), decided to homeschool, been to two homeschooling events and ordered next years stuff, decided to move to Pringle Bay and hopefully found our new home, lost R300k on the stock market, Simon has been to CHina, got a new cat and I can't remember what else. Oh and we celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary on Sunday and had two great nights out at Die Boer (Candy Kayne top US blues act was excellent) and then the blues night at Bloemendal for the Sauvignon weekend. Gosh we have been busy. Oh and I forgot the Valmary Park golf day on the 18th September - the day it poured all day and myself and a couple of our emloyees stood atop a large mound exposed to the elements for a large part of the day until it was so wet on the greens that it was no longer possible to hit the ball let alone get it in a hole!

The main news I guess is the fact that we have decided to move to Pringle Bay. Made possible by our decision to homeschool and Simons work being commutable from there. Made desirable because of my inability to come to terms with the level of crime in Durbanville and my wish to feel more secure for the kids. Added to that of course is the bonus that we'll be just 600 metres from the beach and living in a protected Biosphere reserve. We are going to rent out our house just in case it all becomes to much like hard work, lonely, far away whatever...

Here is a couple of pics of our new house (we hope). Offer has been accepted so failing disaterous survey or other major problem we should be in and settled by the end of this year. Pretty scary thought for a brit. We usually have a good few months before we become absolutelly committed and then another couple of months to get used to the idea. You can find more pictures (dont do the place justice) on the seeff website just go to http://www.seeff.com/searchresults/property.asp?web_reference=79789&areaId=1102&actionId=2&categoryId=1&curpage=3

here are a couple of the pics I took

this will be our bedroom - not a good shot really

This will be our teacher room - its a whopping 8 metres by 5 with windows on every wall - my favourite room in the house. The guy is an artist and this is the room he uses for his studio

And this photo gives you a sense of the style of the house lots of arches and curves - there is even a spiral staircase - hannah thinks its a cinderella tower.

for some reason the computer won't let me add any more photos so I'll just post this in case I lose it again and don't get on for another month

50 things about me

50 things about me

1. I grew up in a single parent family and only met my father when I was 18 years old
2. I love cats
3. I used to speak Hebrew fluently – my degree was in Hebrew and law
4. I am not Jewish
5. I left home when I was sixteen
6. I once ate so much garlic I passed out (it could’ve been the wine though)
7. I once sneaked into the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen with a Russian pianist friend who played the most fantastic music all evening. It was in the dark with only street lights as we were not supposed to be there.
8. I lived in Holland for a year and spent the whole time in a doped up world of my own.
9. I spent a year on a kibbutz
10. I am on my second marriage – the first had no kids and no passion
11. I used to be a divorce lawyer for the firm that did Lady Di and Prince Charles divorce.
12. The thing I love doing most is laughing.
13. My favourite author is Dostoyevsky (bit of a contradiction with no. 12 above).
14.My favourite film is the Colour Purple – the book was a bit disappointing.
15 .My favourite artists are Van Morrison and Jimi Hendrix
16. I despise superficial relationships – they are such a waste of effort.
17. My feet are size 8.
18. I’d like my jeans to also be a size 8 (they are most definitely not at the moment).
19. I ran my first half marathon this year (Two Oceans). I had never run in my life until 8 weeks before the race.
20. I have a brother James who lives in the UK who does I don’t know what but seems very happy and doesn’t harm anyone so I don’t care what he does (he is always very evasive).
21. I married my first husband in San Francisco.
22. I edited two academic books on Middle Eastern Law – Commercial Law in the Middle East and The Arab Israeli Accords.
23. I used to be able to do the Rubik’s cube in under one minute 30 seconds – with a bit of help from sunlight liquid to make the joints more smooth.
24. My favourite colours are purple and green.
25. I once appeared on E News talking about Jurgen Harkson – the German fraudster.
26. My favourite SA bands are Southern Gypsy Queen and Bed on Bricks – my favourite solo artist (SA) is Dave Ferguson – a wicked harmonica player.
27. I love chocolate but unfortunately I am diabetic
28. I am determined to kick diabetes into touch so if you wonder why I spend so much time at the gym and running now you know.
29. I can lift 70kgs with my legs (leg press) and 18kgs using my none too measly chest (chest press).
30. The thing that has brought me greatest happiness in life is my husband and two lovely children.
31. On my bucket list I would have swimming with dolphins near to the top.
32. I really find it difficult to like Americans/
33. I once pulled a knife on a Greek policeman.
34. I almost got caught with cannabis (for personal use only) on a train on the Yugoslav/Greek border and on a bus on the Dutch/Belgium border.
35. My greatest fear is anything bad happening to my children.
36. One of the most inspirational people for me is an ex domestic worker – Lindiwe – who has gone from nothing (arriving in a taxi from Transkei with one bag) to training to be a nursing sister, owning her own two story home and all the while maintaining a family of 13 people single handed.
37. Before I die I must learn a musical instrument (recorder doesn’t count).
38. The thing I miss most about England besides the sweets, biscuits and real chippy chips is the light hearted approach to life the people I grew up with had – maybe its just age but everyone I meet seems to take life so seriously (with one or two exceptions).
39. The person I miss the most is my Nannah – Hannah who died just after my daughter Hannah was born.
40. The meanest thing I’ve done in my life ---- I can’t think of anything really mean.
41. I thought I could tell you all my darkest secret but I can’t – it’ll just have to be a few of you that know and you know who you are.
42. I want to home school my children.
43. The thing I miss most about me is my originality and spontaneity.
44. The thing I love most about me is my frustration with standing still – it keeps me interested in life.
45. I dislike intensely my big boobs – give me a 32AA any day.
46. I love watching fish swimming and I especially love the Kelp Forest at the Aquarium.
47. I am a compulsive bookaholic and if ever my husband can’t find me he just goes to the nearest book shop. I just don’t get the general lack of interest in this country in buying books.
48. Why is it that having no maid is a real bummer yet having one can be just as difficult.
49. I really need to thank the person that told me that whenever I feel intimidated by a person (they were referring to judges in particular) I must just imagine them in their underpants – it really brings them down to the same level (and lower even if they are fat balding and over 70!).
50. Another great piece of advice I received (also from a lawyer) is to keep quiet when arguing a point as people hate silence and if you keep quiet the other will either give in or give valuable concession or information or just give up giving you time to go away calm down and think more carefully about things. Silence is truly golden.

... and another cute muttering

This evening I was trying to teach the kids the rhyme "what are little girls made of". Now Hannah was quite pleased with her ingredients (sugar and spice and all things nice). Max on the other hand was not - slugs and snails and puppy dog tails! He hates snails with a passion and isnt that keen on noodle our puppy dog with a tail (the rottweiler has no tail and he quite likes her). Sorry I digress. So he says to me "mummy Im not made of snails and slugs - Im made of flowers!"

Simon also reminded me of an earlier cute uttering from a couple of weeks back that I guess I should write down before we forget. He said "daddy do you know what your lips are for?" "well eer go on tell me then" says dad. "They are for keeping your lips warm"

Hannahs dream

Today in the car on the way to school hannah said "mummy, I have a secret that no-one knows" when I asked her if she wanted to tell me she said "mummy I want to be famous - really famous". I wonder where that came from? It's not as if she enjoys being in the public eye. Watch this space.

By the way caterpillas are doing well despite my less than green fingers. Will post photos once they reach an impressive phase.

I bought some baby daffodils this morning. It really made me feel homesick for the thousands of daffodils that line the grass verges every spring where I grew up.

Hannah the photographer

We decided to make some new Sylvanian clothes which hannah thought was a great idea. SHe chose the material and decided which clothes needed to be made.


Whilst I was busy cutting the stuff out Hannah decided to do a photoshoot of the Sylvanians. SHe set all of them out and took quite a few photos.



That was it. Now she was a photographer. SHe then went through the house taking photos of everything that took her fancy. She does so well given I have shown her no more than how to turn on the camera and point.

And these were some of the finished articles (Bag, Hat (circle thing) and jacket. Very cute. I love how she sets out the shot. We received a free camera with a national geographic subscription which we will give her for her birthday. She will love it!

The dangers of talcum powder

Lauren came to play last week. When her mum arrived to pick her up I was busy with something so went to tell Lauren her mum had arrived. Hannahs bedroom door was closed and it was very quiet in there. Anyway I opened the door to a sight to behold. You know when the TV ariel isn't in quite right and the image is all snowy - and the smell was overpowering - Talcum powder filled the air and was everywhere! A whole large container full. The kids (yes Max was in on it too) all looked very sheepish but rather pleased with themselves. The pictures don't really do justice to the mayhem created but they give you an idea.

Here you can see where they tried to 'clean up' the mess.

A very guilty little face! This is after the dust had settled.

creepy cress caterpillars

Its the winter holidays and its chucking it down so we are trying to be creative to keep ourselves entertained. The kids loved doing the cress caterpillars as they got to do paintinf , water play (taking cotton wool balls and wetting them. Then squeezing them out) and the best is yet to come as we put the seeds on the wet cotton wool and expect to get a good cress crop shortly.
Hannah is really growing up - she no loger looks like a baby. She is starting to develop 'older' features
They look a bit pathetic now but just watch this space!Hannah is such a good photographer although I look a bit gormless! We have also just started charlie and the chocolate factory. They are both loving it. This was my first long book and has always been my favourite childrens book. After just one day we have reached the chocolate room (about chapter 14). I'm so excited that we can now begin more substantial books like stig of the dump and carries war.