I'm back! {photos}

Well I am back! We had a good week away. We went to a place called Keurboom Lagoon (Boom is Afrikaans for "tree". It is situated right on the lagoon where the sea enters into the lagoon and we stayed right on the banks. It's in a camping park that is surrounded by trees, the calls of birds and a beautiful view of the lagoon right in front of our caravan. The lagoon had plenty of "springers" fish that were jumping right out the water, but for the whole week although we fished, they all alluded us! We had the kayak there, a rubber dingy boat with a motor, our fishing gear and a good book! The kids had great fun. The weather wasn't fantastic, considering we are now in our Autumn, but we did have two lovely hot days, some mediocre overcast days and two days of light drizzle. So all in all, it was fine!
This was the view looking down the beach.


This was the view from our caravan, we could sit and watch the kids play. See that funny long branch? I sat on their with a cup of coffee and my book!


Here are some photos I took from the boat as we cruised down the river.





I think these birds are called Commodores.

We went to see the World's highest bungee jumping site too. You wouldn't catch me doing that for a million rand (or dollars!!) It is 216m high, you fall 110m!! I had heart failure just watching the people doing it!






If the rope snaps and you fall....this is where you'll end up....NICE
Some of the pretty mountain flowers


crazy fools....ha ha.

We also went to The Stormsriver Tsitsikamma (pronounced: Tit-si-ka-ma) National Park
and did a hike and walked over the swaying bridges.





The next couple of photos were taken at Nature's Valley, a beautiful part of the country I just love.


This one my hubby took, I quite like it, as I was walking along, looking for drift wood, just lost in my own thoughts.



So I hope you enjoyed the photos!
Don't forget there is a little giveaway in the posts below this one...check it out and leave a comment in that post to enter!

Notice and giveaway

Quick notice: This blog is on vacation from the 31st March until the 6th April. If you purchase anything between then, please note I will send out your links after the 6th April. Thanks!



I did this collage in my art book a while back. The vintage image I used had such a look of "whatever" on her face, so i used the little word above her.
Giveaway
And finally last year the kids and I made some baked buttons. They smell just like biscuits! I use them on my cards. They don't really have holes that go all the way through, but they are pretty hard! (I don't recommend eating them, I used a lot of salt!! :)

I also was going to host a giveaway the beginning of the year, but I never got around to it, and even though we are in the 4th month of the year, I still wanted to give away this cute little desk calendar and some of my home made buttons.
An example of what it looks like inside

And all the photos for each month

So if you would like to stand a chance to win this (and a couple of other goodies thrown in!)
all you have to do is leave a comment in THIS post. Make sure that you are contactable, either a blog address or email address so that if you are picked, I can contact you. No contact details, no entry. I will announce the winner the 8th April!

Also if anyone trades ATC's, I have these new Bird ATC's I made available for trade on my flickr, you can contact me there.

Will catch up with you guys when I get back! Be good!!

Loving this outfit

Okay so this whole outfit is new...It is going to be my signature outfit for winter! But what's nice about it is that the Jersey is warm even though it is so soft and flowing and light. I can wear it with jeans too. The boots are flat and so comfie and the dress looks cute with flats and pumps too. I got a few pieces this winter that are interchangeable and mix and match with classic pieces, like a pair of jeans, a black skirt etc, rather than going for fabulous pieces that only work on their own.
To me, fashion comes and goes and i don't keep up with it. I have had clothes in my cupboard for years and years that I still wear. To me, it's about comfort but still about looking pretty. And I love winter because I love to wear my jeans!!
So I did a little self portrait fashion shoot today! ha ha...





So what's your favorite thing to wear for winter?

Autumn days

It feels like Autumn today, crisp air, cool breeze, leaves are brown and gold.



I can wear my boots for the first time and a light jersey...feels great!


This pic I took the other day, just love these gorgeous hydrangeas.!
Have a great weekend!!

The Birdcage and beads

On Friday I took a trip to one of my favorite little towns, Stellenbosch and found this cute shop there, I took these photo's with my cellphone, so bear in mind the quality isn't great!
This gorgeous Family frame

Loved the bird napkins and love heartscute little bottles and a beautiful candle holder
pretty fake flowers
gorgeous chandelier
love the color combination, so soft and pretty
love the cupboards-the color and wash effect
boudoir!
paintings on the wall


Later on we went back again, but as a family, in the evening to eat a meal at Beads. It was our first time there, the atmosphere and location was nice, a lovely courtyard under the trees and lights and even a play area for the kids but the food wasn't brilliant. For the price we paid, it definitely wasn't worth it. I hate that when it happens. We hardly ever go out to eat as a family because it is just so costly, and then to have to fork out money on something you didn't enjoy...such a waste. Anyway I enjoyed taking photographs.
Love the time of day when the sun is setting and everything gets that hazy, golden light.
Stellenbosch has a lot of French influence and style and having been to Paris, France myself, I can see the similarities. Stellenbosch has the cobbled streets, the side walk cafe's and bistro's, the expensive food (ha ha), the arty vibe and is chock a block full of art galleries, gift shops, Bistro's, cafe's, restaurants, and beautiful buildings with some dating back as far as the 1700's. The French Huguenots were the result of the French influence in the town as well as Franschhoek , another cute town, which means "French corner". So whenever I miss Paris too much, I take a stroll through Stellenbosch!






Hope you enjoyed the photo's!

A sad day....

above photo not mine
The digital collage below i made in polyvore

12 March 2010..
A sad day for me. My brother passed away this day very suddenly from a brain aneurysm. He was 45. He left behind his 6 year old daughter and wife , married for 18 years.
I miss him every day....STILL and I suppose I always will. So I will use the day to take photographs, go to the beach which was his favorite place and just think about his life and what he meant to me and smile at the good memories I have. I can't believe it's been a whole year...the time has flown by. I still remember feeling like I would never recover from the massive blow, I still remember feeling this huge suffocating blanket on me, that never seemed to lift. But it did... things did get better, I did stop crying every day, I did stop having bad dreams, I did learn to laugh and smile and be happy again. It took the better part of the year but things are a lot better. I will always miss him, I will always feel that loss, that part of me that is missing.

This photo was taken December 2009, just 3 months before. He was looking so healthy and so well and he was so happy....That's me on the left and my sister Jen on the right...

Alice in Wonderland...

So I went to see the movie "alice in wonderland" Fantastic!

Have you seen it? I didn't take my kids as I think there are a few scenes they would of been a bit scared in, but otherwise it was such a good movie, although I do think Johnny Depp could of played a bit of a more "madder" role. He was a bit too normal apart from the way he was dressed for his role.

But that's just my opinion. And I thought Anne Hathaway looked terrible with her white hair and dark make up. It did her no justice at all!


I loved the Queen of hearts, she was totally cool with her massive head and small body! I thought her clothes were so awesome too! I love the dress she had made for Alice out of the "curtains" the one with the red cord and black frill sticking out, it was gorgeous!

Important notice and my big adventure kit

My computer is crashing constantly every 15minutes it gets blue screen and shuts down, so on Monday I will be sending it in to see what is wrong with it. So if I am quite for a while, you know why. Also if you make a purchase and I don't respond with your links, please be patient, I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. I can still send email's via the email address i have given out on this blogs sidebar.

Jen has a gorgeous new kit out called "My big adventure"


I did this page with it.And turned it into a Quick page for you guys to download here. thanks to Jen too.