Return from Oz.

Sister Cheryl & Husband Ross.Yes we really were there.!!Son Mike & his family.

Well, it's all a memory already,& life has to get back to normal again. We enjoyed some wonderful trips out to see the sights of Sydney in the very competent hands of Ross & Cheryl.

Did all the tourist things, but had some great chatting time as well.

Enjoyed getting to know my Grandsons,who I hadn't seen for 9 years.Caught up with all the developments of boys who are eager to be the best that they can be.

Felt very special as Mike & his Wife Caron kept the children off school to get to know there Grandparents.

Really enjoyed the Adelaide Hills,with all the wineries & wonderful scenery.Can't believe my son is a bit of a wine fundy, after living in the area for the last few years.

Appreciated all the differences,but also felt that SA is now my home after 24years.Home is where the heart is, but also where the mortgage is paid off!!!

Had plenty of special moments,but my best was just being called Gran after all these years.

Sloppy, but true!!

We returned to grass that hadn't been cut for 3 weeks, a home that hadn't been cleaned,& 9 notes our security company had posted after various alarms!!

Still par for the course here in South Africa.

I am happy to have been watching our TV to witness the new President Elect of America.

Here's hoping that he keeps to his promises & maybe it will be a new dawn for the whole world.

There's a thunderstorm coming so I'll sign off for now. God Bless us all.xxxx

Last post for now.

Dear All,

This is my last post for awhile as we are jetting off to Australia on Friday.

We spent a lovely day on Sunday visiting Heidi,Steve & Luc. They had their first night in their new home & invited both sets of Parents for a Braai to celebrate. There is still a lot of work to do on the outside with landscaping & the pool to be finished, so the house will have to remain dusty for awhile longer. Everywhere is dusty here right now as we haven't had rain for so long.My windows are grimy & the garden is crying out for water, but there's not much one can do about it. I hope that while we are away the rainy season will start.

Well, I'm basically packed & ready to go & hope that I haven't forgotten anything. Today I am having a quiet day & hope to recharge my energy levels. I know that we are going to be very welcomed by both Cheryl & Ross & Michael & Caron & have my camera at the ready to capture all the wonderful moments.

Now it's time to try & finish off any washing & to clear out the fridge so I don't come back to any nasty surprises!!

Love you all Bye, bye.

Wow, time is flying by.

Is it just me, or does time seem to be going quicker? Had a lovely public holiday yesterday. The weather was lovely & John & I just relaxed & spent the time reading & doing more crosswords.

Today has been lovely too,with my two helpers here today getting the garden & my house into shape.It's only once a week,but I enjoy having the day off,although I can't say that I did anything remarkable with my time.

Only two weeks tomorrow 'till we leave for Aussie. So we've started to organize things a bit.
Had a bit of a clear out yesterday, going through our wardrobes.Finally plucked up the courage to give away all the clothes that we haven't worn for a long time. (Plus it will give us reason to replenish some things) John & I aren't extravagant most of the time,but it's simply stupid to keep items that are not being used. I bet there are other people out there who wear their favorite things over & over again. I'm sure that it's just good old human nature to have favorites.

We still haven't had any rain for ages & we really need it,however much you water,even with sprinklers it is as nothing compared to a good shower of rain.

A poor family 3 doors down from our house had their house burn down on Tuesday.It was a great spectator attraction with flames leaping into the air & an awful lot of smoke.The Fire service took half an hour to arrive so not much was saved. One of those occasions when one says thank God it wasn't us!!

I have enjoyed reading Hazel & Heidi's blogs,& have to admire their creativeness. My life appears quite dull in comparison, but that's another story about the empty nest syndrome !!

Well, I must get on & decide what we are having for supper tonight.So will love you & leave you all for now.

Spring has arrived in Benoni.

Well, it's the first day of Spring, & with it came some high winds & low temperatures. I couldn't believe it when we took my car in for it's first service this morning, it was only 2.5c.

John & I returned yesterday from a two night trip to see my Daughter Heidi, son-in-law Steve & Grandson Luc. We had a lovely time,especially the 4 hours that we spent on our own with Luc.

Much as we love our children, there is nothing to beat having Luc by ourselves.Being called Granny & Granddad, & finding a little hand clasping yours is happiness to the best degree. He is fast approaching 4 years of age & any time that we can spend with him is precious.

We came home to find our pool full of blossom from our Prunus tree, it had obviously been very windy while we were away.The whole garden was littered with debris & our front stoep was covered with leaves & pollen. This morning has been operation clean up for me but there is plenty more to come before we have any decent rain to dampen things down a bit.

Once the rains come it will be time for spring cleaning again. Any effort now will be wasted as the dirt & dust just keeps blowing.

My brother Tony & wife Gill phoned yesterday, but they may regret that they did, as I realised later that we spoke for about an hour & a half!!!! Much as I like the internet, there is still nothing to beat a phone call for one on one conversation.

As a family we are all living in different places & travel is still an expensive option. Last year John & I went to Nova Scotia to visit my Daughter Hazel & her family,UK to see my sister Joy & various good friends & John's Mum & sister in Nottingham. We finished our travels with Spain to spend some good times with said brother & sister-in-law Gilly. All in all it was a wonderful 3 weeks,time & money well spent, but the memories being priceless.

In October we are travelling to Australia for the first time, visiting my sister Cheryl & husband Ross, & also my son Michael & daughter-in-law Caron with their 3 sons Colin, Brody & Alec. We haven't seen them for over 9 years so I expect conversation to be very easy as there will be so much catching up to do.

I am currently keeping up with the latest hurricane Gustav & feel so sorry for the people who once again have to leave their homes.The current weather patterns are certainly playing havoc with peoples lives & hopefully all our Governments will sit up & take notice.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympic's this year & wish that the spirit of " We are all just members of the human race" could continue after all the pomp & ceremony is over. It is wonderful to watch 10,000 athletes having a ball together.

The wind has quietened down again now & it is looking good for a lovely afternoon. My washing is fluttering on the line,so I have some ironing to do later.I am looking forward to the next few weeks as we plan what to plant in our hanging baskets. Before too long there will be new signs of life everywhere.It still seems like a miracle to me that all the plants & trees renew themselves every year & we can enjoy every individual thing coming to life again.

Well hopefully all the joys of Spring will transfer me into a happy bunny with lots of zest for the new tasks at hand. I'm sorry for you northern hemishere people who are now beginning to see your days shorten again, but luckily what goes round comes round again to you.

Much love people everywhere & God Bless.

New POST!!

Well hi there everyone, thought I'd better let you know that I'm still here. Just read your latest Heidi, & will soon read Hazel's to see if she has added anymore since her visitors. I did a long blog recently, only to find that there was a problem & it didn't publish. After all my efforts I was quite disheartened & gave it up as a bad job.
Been having more problems with our alarm system,but at last I am assured that now all is well.
Can't say that we enjoy being woken at 4.30 am, but was more worried when we found that the control room weren't aware of it!!
I had a lovely birthday made even more special by several phone calls from my family.When all is said & done one's family & friends are the best gift in the world.
The weather is slowly improving with signs of new life here & there. Daffodils in bloom & new growth starting on a quite a few plants.
John enjoyed his trip to Madagascar & is enjoying a new challenge.It's always better to be in at the start of something.Maybe I will get to see the country myself one day!
No new photos to add right now so this is a bit boring,but it's just to show that I'm still alive !!

Hi I'm back.

Hello again from Benoni. Yes I've been in hibernation mode for awhile. It's been so cold here & my Study/ Spare room is in the coldest part of the house. It takes real dedication to sit here & compose while one's fingers & toes gradually freeze. So I've been doing some reading instead & have been keeping warm with some good company in the form of two good books. The first one was "Awakening to your life's purpose" by Eckhart Tolle & the second was "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I got hooked straight away by the second book & enjoyed a great journey with her to some amazing places. The first book was a lot deeper & has taken some time to be absorbed. Both books were recommended by Oprah, so I knew that they would be interesting.There is a lot of new information out there right now with regard to our inner selves etc; I am open to new thoughts but find the implementation a lot harder to achieve.Your subconcious mind knows that there is something else in there but it is very difficult to stay on track for long.

Apart from reading & the obvious everyday jobs I've been quiet. We did go & see Heidi & Steve's new home last monday.It is a lovely home, quite different from their pad in Sun City & will take a lot of new furniture to fill it.I know that they will enjoy shopping for everything, but probably not the bill's at the end of it!! We are looking forward to our first invite, when they have organised things to their liking & have got to grips with the new kitchen.

Hazel & Craig have also been busy building a lovely new patio at the back of their home.It looks great.

I will now add a pretty photo to remind me that winter doesn't last forever.

It's sunday morning & still pretty cold, the shortest day of the year here,so it can only get better from now on. Watching the weather on TV I can see that Tony & Gilly are having the best of it.Quite a sensible move they made in moving to Spain. Poor UK is still having a lousy summer but they are enjoying lovely high temperatures.

Ah well, the cold is beginning to get the better of me again so I'll stop for now. Bye .

Holiday Memories.

This time I am going to add some more photos. On the left is my precious grandson Luc.

Then a view from our holiday cottage, & John enjoying the scenery there.

I can't believe that just as I started to write this, the sky went black & we are now in the throws of a major storm.Well, that's South Africa for you, you never know what's coming.

I think I'll sign off for now, as computers & storms don't mix very well.