Paris!

I am finally getting around to showing off my Paris photos!
It was so surreal being there, for months before, I would look at postcards or browse through flickr and look at photos of Paris and wonder if it was really as wonderful as it seemed and looked. I even had dreams about being in Paris...for a while I thought I wasn't going to go...nearly didn't get my schengan visa in time...but I made it!
I went with two of my best friends-we took a few trains at 5 in the morning to get to London St.Pancras station to be there by the time our Eurostar left, which was at 8:30 I think. We almost didn't make it in time!!! I have never run to hard or fast in my life from one train to another!!
Talk about Panic!! I was with the friend I was staying with and the friend I stayed with the first week I got there, was meeting us there, so she had gone through to board already and was panicking because we hadn't arrived and was sending us frantic text messages to "run dammit, run!!! beg them to let you on!!! " ha ha. it was so funny.

We made it and sat down in a jumbled heap of nerves!! We had some guy sitting opposite us that fell asleep and proceeded to droll the whole way there and snore....lovely!

Anyway my day in Paris was wonderful..too short but fantastic. It IS like the photos, it is like everyone says it is!! It is romantic and charming and full of a special kind of feeling which I still can't put my figure on. The Parisians definitely have a different way of life than for instance we do here in SA. The traffic seems insane...I even saw a women driving with her top of her car down and she was DRIVING and READING a magazine at the same time!! no lies!! I have a photo to prove it!!

The french men (generalization here!) were very friendly and we got many whistles and smiles whilst we sat in the top part of the bus looking down on the city! ha ha. Stopping at traffic lights were more opportunities and this one was funny....this guy was waving frantically at us and blowing kisses so i got out my camera and made a gesture (since I cannot speak French) as in "do you mind" and he smiled and shrugged and posed for this photo!! haha. he looks like that guy from "French kiss"!! *not my cup of tea by the way* (and I am happily married-ha ha!!)
The food there is really good, we had some puddings and bagels, crepes, etc....expensive but tasty. I just love the way they give so much attention to detail with their cake and tart decoration.What I love about Paris is the architecture and attention to detail -even the scrolls and iron balustrades...so much detail and pretty handiwork. I love the flower boxes-a splash of color here and there.



The Arc de Trioumph is amazing too. The detail and intricate designs awed me! I stood for ages underneath gazing up!!

The Eiffel tower is amazing. I couldn't believe the size when I was standing right under it. The color also amazed me, as in photos it looks like a silver color, but up close it is like a brown/bronze color. Very pretty. I took so many photos, just can't show them all!



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This one is one of my favorites, I took it through the water fountation, in black and white-otherwise no touching up afterwards, and it came out looking like an old postcard!!


This guy came up to me and said "Sawbona, bafana bafana" ha ha!! "Sawbona" is zulu for "hello" and he mentioned a soccer team here-bafana bafana, do I look south africa or something? ha ha.
Anyway typically, he tried to con me by saying I could get 3 eiffel tower key rings for 1 euro and then proceeded to give me 6 key rings and ask for 2 euro! so I said "no, I only wanted the 3 for 1 euro dude" and he was not impressed...ha ha...my friend took this one of me "haggling" ha ha.
And of course we took up a walk up the montmarte steps (what a killer!!) and walked around a bit up top, I bought a beautiful painting! I just love these photos I took there, definately needed more time!!



Fantastic and unforgettable experience!!

Ready to share some photos!

It sure has taken long enough! lol! Things have been crazy. I finally have some photos re-sized to show you of my trip. I am waiting for a disc from the first friend I stayed at, as over 600 of my photos for some reason, didn't copy onto my discs, so she is posting them to me. But here are a few of my favorite so long....
This is me hanging onto a pole -the day I got to England. My friends took me to my first English pub for a "pint" and then to a little place called Stoke Bruene-and we strolled along the river and watched the barge's go up and through the locks-amazing. Someone kindly invited us to get on their barge and took us through two locks so we could experience the real thing.

the little forest walk we went on along the river.This pretty little place was in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. We went there for the day and bought a 5 -house pass to see his birthplace, his wife's (Anna Hathaway) childhood home which was their marriage home too, his mother's farm (Mary Arden), his son-in-law's and daughter's house and something else,...can't remember now. I must say, this was one of my favorite outings of my whole trip. I loved the quaint town, the history, the houses, it was all so beautiful. When I get my photos of it, I will be sure to post some.
These two photos were taken along the River Avon, in Stratford-Upon-Avon. A mother swam and her two signets.

Last of the daffodils....
sweetpeas
Shakespeare's wife-Anne Hathaway, this was her childhood home and later when they got married, it became their married home.
Some of the gorgeous flowers in her garden.


Mary Arden...her house, She was Shakespeare's mother.
I fell in love with these Tudor-Style houses whilst there, I just love the history and look to them, look at this one, how wonky it is! And yes, that is me standing in front.

gorgeous tulip


We went to Warwick Castle (pronounced War-rick)which was nice. That was a whole day outing, exploring inside and outside.
Here is me on the top of one of the towers...took a lot of courage standing near that railing, I hate heights!
A view of the side of the castle with the old mill.

I just love this old bridge and the reflection!
roses and in the background, the big castle clock.
Some of the views from the highest towers of the castle.


I still have my PARIS photos to show you and lots more...so be sure to come back..and a FREEBIE later on in the week too! Would love to hear your comments!!

Grab some coffee and a biscuit!

So much to write about..so little time...hee hee.
Going to have to type extra fast as I have to leave in 10 minutes to fetch my kids from school!

First of all, today and tomorrow I have a $1 sale on 3 products!

So grab 'em quick!! advert linked for your convenience.

Here in South Africa it is Autumn..The days are colder, the trees are beautiful turning gold, yellow, orange, red and brown. We don't have a full-on autumn like some places with just about every avenue of trees in those colors, but I have been driving around, and when I do spot a beautiful tree or something that strikes, I have been taking photos to show you what our autumn is like. So here are a few photos! Enjoy!
The first one is of a sunset taken the other day from my back garden. No touching up done, it really was this color!! so gorgeous!
I pass this fence on the way to take my daughter to school everyday. I love it, I have watched it over the weeks turn from green to brown, to gold and then to red! The sun was shining on it when I took this picture and it just looked so amazing.
I just love this corner. This corner is on the road that goes to my inlaws house. It is also the corner that goes to my sisters-Jen's holiday house. I love this road and these trees.

This is the view I have from my dining room. I love to look out at this mountain.
yesterday, It was a rare beautiful day. Cold, but at least it was dry and the sun was shining, so I took the opportunity and took my kids to our local nature reserve. We had a picnic there and went on a lovely walk. Here are some photos i took! (just as well as I took them because today is back to being cold, wet and raining!)
I love how this came out-a spider web.Some buck in the park
Two dragon flies.
Some nice, bright berries-I think these will be in a kit soon!
my kids running in the reserve
A beautiful plant
i love this one-with the oak trees in the mist.

In this photo below, if you look carefully you will see a spotted hawk and a squirrel.
We sat and watched in amazement as this Hawk tried to catch the squirrel and attack it! The Squirrel wouldn't hear of it and when the Hawk came closer, he attacked it with a nut still in his mouth! Actually I am sure he had a nut in each cheek and had just found another one and was probably protecting his dear stash!! ha ha. It was hilarious. Unfortunately in my excitement, I didn't catch any photos of the whole fight,but I got these!
Here is the hawk-it is so beautiful!

The poor little squirrel with his poor little heart probably beating a mile a minute!This one is of me with my kids! love how this came out! love having a self-timer on my camera!

And the last one I snuck in-some fancy home with this gorgeous oak-tree lined driveway!!
BACK TO THE DIGI-STUFF!!

Then I have some freebies!!! I meant to post about this one a few days ago,..but forgot! Anyway better late than never! I made a desktop for you for May. It contains products from some of my kits like A breath of Fresh Air, and also from a NEW Kit which is a secret...coming out in June..It is a collab I am doing with a fellow designer of ESS....you will have to wait and see! Please note the desktop size is only made to fit one screen..so check if it is the right one for your screen first before downloading.
size: approx 2MB

I am also happy to introduce a CT member of mine who is making it into the designing world...FanFan Rue Des Anges. She really scraps so beautifully and is making beautiful kits now!
Take a look at her first kit which will be in her store soon!
DOWNLOAD HERE

I also have done some pages for CT kimB Designs

And Here is a QP made with this one for you.

DOWNLOAD HERE

I hope you enjoyed todays post! making up for my lack of being around in the digi world for so long!

Thank you

Me, my brother Rob and my sister Jen December 2008.

Thank you for all your thoughts for our family.

Finding strength for "normal" things is just very, very hard and I am taking one day at a time. Getting through each day is my main focus at this point. My sister arrives tomorrow of which I am so grateful for. My other brother who lives in London cannot come right now, which is terrible, I last saw him 8 years ago...I wish he could be with us right now, but we speak on the phone everyday. I feel the most for my dad...I can't imagine loosing a child...he already lost my mom when I was two. And of course I feel so much for my sister in law...they had been married 18 years this month (had just celebrated their anniversary)...
It helps me personally to cry, to talk about it when I need too. It is my own way of dealing with it.Sometimes I just can't and I just need to shut myself up or sleep. Sleeping helps and is great, because then I don't have to feel anything. The mornings are the worst as I wake up and for a few brief seconds life is normal until it hits me all over again...

The hardest thing is that life around you carries on. You still need to feed the kids, be a mom, do the washing, etc etc. you wish the world could stop so that you could just grieve. I suppose in time it will be the normality of these little things that will help me. My husband has been the most amazing man in the world. So utterly supportive and kind. He cries with me, he cleans for me, he does everything he can. And shame, he is still suffering with his own physical pain from his broken leg and limping around.

Devastated

Just a quick note, so you all don't think I dropped off the planet.
My dear and beloved brother passed away today. He had gone in for a procedure to cut a small piece of skull out to relieve the pressure and swelling in the brain. It was just too much,the pressure too great. He was pronounced brain dead and as per his wishes, my sister in law had his life support switched off. It is a great shock and sadness, the last 4 days have been like a bad dream, in fact it still feels like a bad dream. I am surprised I have the strength to write this, but I know a lot of you will be wondering and thank you for your support. Even though we have never met, it still means a lot to me. I won't be going over to NZ anymore. My sister in law will be coming over in a few months time. We will be having a memorial service her for him too.

Keep those you love safe and tell them every second you love them. I am so grateful I have no regrets and my memories of him are all good. He was here for 4 wonderful weeks in December and we had the best holiday ever. I will always cherish that as long as I live.