So after being so mingy...

and writing that post about all the people I need, I've made some progress on my list:

Sucked it up, ordered curtains online and two days later, happiness = curtains in my lounge. Yes!

I also got a quote from people who fix damp (Mandy, the walls are literally damp...), carpet people and wood people, but still haven't decided on paint. Understandably, the painter is now hounding me but I have decision fatigue from work.

Work-wise, I'm working so hard I feel like I'm going crazy. Convinced that the universe knows I'm going on leave soon because everyone (every.single.one) wants a meeting in the next week. For the love.


And some other things I don't feel like talking about here :)

Now what's been happening in your world?



PS I think 5 days is the longest I've not blogged for YEARRRRRRS. It's so easy to fall off the bandwagon!

PPS photos from a nearby antiques store. They have a coffee shop and you sit on and at antique furniture. It's slightly nerve-wracking but mostly cool.

People I need in my life

I really thought we'd have loadshedding tonight because we haven't had the evening session since this night.

So I'm slightly at a loss on what to do because I'm caught up with SUPER essentials at home and I didn't bring the work laptop home... on purpose.

Blogging will give me a chance to gather my thoughts and remember the other things on the list :)

So my house seems to be falling apart and I need a person to sort out damp, a pool person and a plumber. I have a damp problem in the kids' bedroom (does anyone know what one does in this situation?), a green pool, and a few leaking taps.

I asked for a quote from a local pool place to maintain this green pool monthly and they said R600 pm. Guys, I just can't. Our pool is so small it's laughable. R600 is daylight robbery.



I also need a paint colour chooser still haven't decided on the right grey paint for the outside of the house. Some of you kindly commented on my instagram feed and the popular grey was also my choice until I looked at it in fading light. Then it looked too purple. Back to the drawing board.

I mentioned to D that we might as well just repaint white again and that was a problem..... except I really have no mental space to decide on a shade of grey. Do they have people at Mega Mica who come to your house to advise on colours, because I could use one of those!

And let's not mention I need another very very light (proper) grey for all the inside common areas.



My carpets are driving me nuts and need replacing sooner than I thought. I need someone to quote on carpets vs wooden floor sander/ repairers. MeeA, do you know wooden floor people in the area?

And last but not least, I need someone to run to the shops to buy me some curtains. OY! I have them all picked out but I'm being mingy about paying R250 for delivery :)

And my life would really be swell if I had a competent assistant at work. My colleague and I dream of hiring a super-switched on intern and paying her ourselves from our salaries just to ease the crazy :)

Which people do you need in your life?

PS This pic is for Louisa and for Se7en :) Dreaming of summer! Blue nails for Mrs FF.

Magical Magaliesburg Memories - part 2

I really do believe ANYTHING can look good in the right light :)

The place we stayed at looked nice enough in the early evening light but in the beautiful morning light the next day, it was just magical.

D booked a massage (I have a perfectly reasonable place I go to in the building next door to my work) and I went on a photowalk which, I might add, was a million times more relaxing for me.

I adore this one!

I took 399 photos, got them down to 154, starred 42, and these are the ones I'm sharing with you.

Could you even choose a favourite?

Our winter bucket list

I took this photo outside my MIL's house last year winter and yesterday when we fetched the kids, the tree looked exactly the same. Freaky... only because I remembered this photo.

Our winter list:

1. Go for colour, texture, pattern walks and a scavenger hunt
2. Have a great holiday at the beach
3. Meet up with a friend who shares the twins' birthday
4. Have a good party
5. Make pancakes with Kendra
6. Make an apple crumble with Connor
7. Have a good celebration in PE
8. Meet up with Lynette and Pamela
9. Go take photos at the beach
10. Go out to eat at nice places three times with the family
11. Make wraps again - everrrrybody loves them
12. Make 6 new recipes from my Pinterest boards
13. Come home early once a week to go for a walk with the kids
14. Have a few people over for my birthday
15.  Finish sorting out my website (removing products, tidying up sidebars, etc.)

And.... that should take us to 1 September!

What's on your winter bucket list?

PS for those in the Northern Hemisphere, tell me 3 things on your summer list.

What does (Facebook) friendship mean to you?

I overheard a conversation at work the other day so I stopped to participate.

It was so interesting.

The one guy said to the other that he wouldn't accept his friendship request on Facebook (no offense and all that!) because they're not really friends, they just work on one or two projects together.

This other guy thought it was hilarious and crazy.... (imagine if they were girls!)

Guy 1 then said that he considers friends people who come to his house, they know his daughter and wife, and he trusts them to be there for him practically and otherwise if he might need them.

Guy 2 was like "everybody is my friend"




It was so interesting.

At the time, I said that I think of it as circles of friends: 3 am friends, work friends, Facebook friends, school friends, restaurant friends, mothers' group friends and so on.

And obviously 3 am friends are different to Facebook friends because while you click LIKE on posts with Facebook friends, you share your heart with 3 am friends. It's more superficial with people who you don't let into your inner circle.

Guy 1 agreed but said he's sticking with his method. I then agreed with him and said that it is certainly easier and more straightforward his way, because I have mixed up the circles of friends and been hurt as a result, which totally proves his point.



Also, guys are so black and white with this stuff, isn't it?

Actually I shouldn't generalise because from previous conversations, some of you are too :)

Tell me about your friendship circles.

Will you accept all Facebook friend requests?

I used to accept much more FB requests but now I make sure I actually know the person well enough to talk to, or they engage with me a bit in comments, messages, etc.

It almost feels like Christmas when we have power

We've had loadshedding for 2 nights from 6pm and tonight we have POWER!

Hallelujah!

Thurs - 6 - 11:15 (I was so cold I waited up to have a proper hot mug of tea - the water wasn't that warm when I had my cup-a-soup for supper a few hours earlier)
Friday - 6 - .... (not sure because I went to sleep at 9.07)

I really can deal with it if they do it exactly when they say they will.

Then there's a point in rushing home earlier and not finishing everything I want to at work, heating food, etc.

But when you rush home and nothing, and then they just spring it on you whenever they want, it drives me nuts.

We're all tired of eating cold food, I'm tired of not reading at night and most of all, I'm super tired of not having a leisurely evening going for a little walk, making supper at my leisure, having to be concerned with food we can eat cold.

As I said, last night I went to bed at 9:07 (I was reading on the ipad for about 45 minutes before that), but because it was so early, I was wide awake at about 3:30 am (this never, ever happens) for about an hour... and then my nose started running (an annoying thing that happens to me is if I'm awake and lying down too long, my nose starts running/ I start sneezing, etc.), eventually went back to sleep and got up at my usual Saturday time, 8. So I'm knackered today.

The only good thing (really, the only one) is we all pile into my bed for bedtime stories and such, and I get to snuggle with the babies.

Work is behind, blogging is behind (I don't mind that), and personal tidying up and sorting stuff out is also behind.

So what are the rest of you doing about loadshedding?

Have you accepted it? Do you buy takeaways? Are you braai-ing? Are some parts of your life falling through the cracks?

Celebrating 20 years!

I know Terisha asked a few weeks ago, and I forgot to say... but I posted the Sabie pics on the kids' blog here.

Then D and I managed to go away for two nights to the Magaliesburg, a place I'd never been, maybe because it's so close?

Two friends and I spoke about going away to the area for a weekend about two years ago, there was a lot of back and forth and it never happened, so I was pleased to finally get to go.

This was day 1 :)
 

at MIL's house. I took pics of red leaves for about 10 minutes!

the cutest 5-year-old girl in the whole, entire world :)

Hartbeespoort

Have you been to the Magaliesburg area?
Where did you stay?

A few of the things I love about winter

Most people think I'm crazy but I love winter.

I said to D the other day that we should write down some of the things we like about each season (I love looking for the different things in each season too) so we don't forget.

So I went through some of my favourite pics, found some that were taken (made!) during winter last year, and here they are:

the most amazing sunsets ever

just look at those colours

this tree in my garden. I ADORE naked branches against the sky (against a grey sky is even better)

the lavender in front of a neighbour's house, and of course, those two kids in blue who come for walks with me

this one was taken in the Drakensberg but our Jhb skies are just as blue. At the beginning of our winters, the grass is still green but by mid-winter it's dry and brown :(

the soft glow of gorgeous winter light (the kids' bedroom has the best light during winter - I'm going to take lots of pics in there)

more blue skies. The bluer the sky, the colder it is!

I'll challenge us to all go on a scavenger hunt for things we love about winter (the challenge may be to find some everyday winter beauty, like it is for me in summer!) and then write a post, share your pics and tell me so I can come see.

What are some of the things you love about winter?