Our National flower - The..........King Protea!

On our weekend trip to the Pilansberg, we visited the Sun City Resort. In the foyer was this magnificent flower arrangement consisting of our National flower....... the Protea.

Okay, so they aren't your conventional, pretty flower, and they smell nothing like roses, but they definately demand a second look because of their unusual artichoke appearance and glorious colours!

love Fifi

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Ode to a Breadcrumb

I just love this poem WizzKid wrote today. I thought the task was a hard one, but in 20 minutes he was finished!

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Why waste paper on a breadcrumb you ask

Ah-ha but take off that mask.

I know that you are curious

and if I don't carry on you'll be furious!

A breadcrumb looks like a bold bright cloud

If you knew it's value you would shout it aloud!

A breadcrumb may seem so utterly minute

but I'll tell you why the breadcrumbs a hoot!

It can be puffy and brown like the bark of the oak.

Steady yourself now you don't want to choke!

I'll tell you it's value without a glitch

the breadcrumb is part of the famous sandwich!

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.by WizzKid (almost 12yrs)

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Africa...... the land of oxymorons!

This past weekend Hubby and I took the kids to a Private Game Lodge called Bakubang. Our almost 2 hour trip took us through a pretty little town called Hartbeesport. The houses are built on the side of the hill and overlook a large dam. The views are beautiful.
Below.......... Hartbeespoort Dam and it's little town.

Below....... One of the Hartbeespoort houses and it's spectacular view!

We also drove through a local township. Although the community was extremely poor, we could see that they took pride in their town. The roads weren't strewn with litter (this is unusual for Africa!) and their gardens were neat and well kept.
Below...... this house had a much loved hedge all around it!


Below...... we have the Tea Room or Cafe.

Below.............The locals make their money from the passing trade..... us! Naartjies, avocados and oranges galore!

Below........ we saw quite a few donkey-driven carts.

Below.......... The local school.

Below....... a memento to take home for your backyard?!

What always humbles me, is to see the people living in these conditions smile and joyfully wave to us as we wizz past in our smart SUVs!!

Love Fifi
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People of the Hippo!

Hubby surprised me! He decided we were getting out of Johannesburg, and going away for the weekend! So I phoned around and got a booking at a place called the Bakubung Guest Lodge. (Bakubung means "People of the Hippo.) It was only a 90 minutes drive from where we live, so we left just after lunch on Friday.
We where pleasantly surprised at the beautiful surroundings,very comfortable rooms, friendly staff and great dinner and breakfast menus! yum.....yum!
Okay ... so we are in Winter at the moment and everything looks rather brown and dry! In Summer it's a different story!
Below............ our chalet was one of these.

Below....... inside.

Below.........Hubby and his precious girlie!


Below................. the view of the bush from our balcony.

Below...... the pesky monkey who came into our room and stole our coffee and sugar!

Below..............WizzKid and TanziPanzi with the Pilansberg Mountain range in the background.

Below............ brothers fooling around!

Below...... Brothers and best Buddies!

Below....... The diva TanziPanzi dressed up to the 9's!

It's amazing how when everyone is relaxed, they enjoy each other a whole lot more! We definately had great family time this past weekend !

I will be sharing a whole lot more on this holiday soon!

Bye for now and love

Fifi

Do you still want to be my friend?

Your Blogging Type is Logical and Principled

You like to voice your well thought out opinions on your blog.And if someone doesn't like what you write, you really don't care!Serious and blunt, sometimes people take your blog the wrong way.But you're a true and loyal friend to those who truly get you.

What's" Your Blogging Personality?

I wouldn't say my opinions are well thought out! and....... I have no intentions on rubbing any up the wrong way! I do like the friend part though!

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Finished at last!

Today I finished the Bistro table........................

It took 12 hours to make! Now I know why these tables are so expensive to buy...... they are very labour intensive! But I loved making it!

Top for how long? But I'll always remain Momma!

This is something I thought would be fun to take part in........ so please support me and click on the badge below.It will take you to the Top Mamma's Site. Every referral I get from this badge adds to my ratings and keeps me on the Top Mamma's Page a little longer!

When you're at Top Mommas, you will see a Mr Einstein avatar...... that's me!

Thanks!

Love Fifi

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Dash ------------- it!

The littlest and most sneakiest member of our family is Dash and he can be a right royal pain! We always keep a puzzle on one of the desks in the learning room. When the kids are finished their allocated work for that subject, they are free to put on some selected music, either on the CD player or on their cell phones and work at the puzzle!
Dash persists on sleeping ontop of our masterpiece..... and it's Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Carribean! I mean really how selfish...... Johnny being quite nice to look at an' all! teehee..... Hide the Rum me hearties

Love Fifi
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From the sublime to the ridiculous

This idiom describes my weekend in one neat sentence!

Imagine this..... it's a Saturday morning, you open your eyes and a sweet smile explodes upon your face. You swiftly get dressed into rather homely clothes and you exit the house without a care or a single cling-on. It is 9 am and you do not feel guilty about leaving the house in disarray. And of course why should you, as you have organised a cleaner for the day, and Hubby is taking the kids out to Gold Reef City, an exciting amusement park!
That's how my weekend started....

The homely clothes were a necessity, as I was off to a craft workshop for the day. And what a great time I had mosaicing a bistro table.(It's almost complete.)
At 5:30 I came home to an imaculate home, 3 exhausted kids and Hubby who had that so-glad-to-see-you look upon his face.
After sprucing myself up and making sure that the boys weren't wearing their army trousers for the fifth day in a row, we all left for an evening of dinner and theatre.
Now this is were it starts to get interesting. About half an hour into the show CoolDude said... "Mom, I don't feel too well, I think I'm going to vommit." I had TanziPanzi asleep on my lap, so Hubby took him to the loo. Well, they never made it there in time! OOOPS! For the rest of the night he looked gastly. Eventually at home we all crashed.
Sunday morning I did not wake with a sweet smile upon my face. I was exhausted from having to attend to a sick child, and in between wrestling TanziPanzi for the duvet.(She still sleeps in our bed.... shocking I know!) As I hoisted myself off the bed, I heard a familiar phrase.... " I don't feel to well." It was Hubby and he dashed through to the loo! An hour later it hit me too. Boy did I feel horrid.

We spent the whole of Sunday resting and hurling. Not a pretty sight. WizzKid started feeling sick in the evening, and he too ended up taking regular trips to the bathroom!
As I stared into the lavatory bowl yesterday, for the umpteenth time, I reflected upon how family continues to keep me oh so grounded!

Love Fifi

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Daddy's a winner in more ways than one!

TanziPanzi was delighted with the big pink Piglet Daddy won for her at the amusement park!

And the pink Hello Kitty Jacket he bought for her!Hubby, you certainly know how to win her over!!

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