I'm not a celebrity, get me out of here ...

Well I've been speaking to a producer and his assistant in Germany for the last month, they found me on the internet from my blog about the Oceanos.  They were doing a story about the sinking for television and were going over to the UK to interview Moss and Michael, and they wanted to fly me over to London as well so I could be interviewed along with them.  However it was just impossible to try and take time off work and I also had Irene and Candice coming over that exact same week, so I decided that I wouldn't give it a miss.

Then the producer phoned me and said that if I could not get time off work then they would fly to Ireland to Dublin and interview me here, wow okay, and they would fly over on a Friday and we could do all the shooting on the Saturday which meant I did not have to take time off work.

Torsten the producer said they would be at my house at 10 on Saturday morning, well they arrived early I had just got out the shower, so panic panic - anyway I was dressed, and OMG winter had arrived suddenly so it was freezing.  They wanted to go down to the harbor and do some shooting first and then come back to the house.  So I took my car and we drove into town and down along the Liffey, we arrived at one of the passenger terminals but there were all these official looking people who gave us the hairy eyeball.

So off we went to the other side of the bridge and through the Eastlink Toll, and stumbled upon a small rowing & yacht club.  The people there were so nice to us and let us film there, it was great fun but freezing!  Luckily though the sun was shining.  After interviewing me for what seemed eternity, they interviewed Irene - 4 hours later we were still there, neither Irene or I had, had any breakfast so we were starving.

Eventually we headed back to our house after making one stop on the bridge by customs house so they could get some photos, and then home.  I headed straight for the kitchen to prepare food for the masses and then it was interviewing again, while they ate they went through all my memorabilia from the Oceanos and took photos and stuff.

They eventually finished at about quarter to five and by that time Irene and Candice had to rush off to catch their plan, but what a day .... I was exhausted last night and fell asleep just after 9.  At least this time I am getting paid for my troubles.

Beautiful Dublin

 Just when I think that I have seen all the stunning views in Dublin, I stumble across more.  We found the Stella Maris rowing club today where the TV crew from Germany interviewed Irene and myself for a program.  It was stunning to say the least and we had perfect whether, I got a brilliant shot of a typical Irish fisherman putting a boat out, anyway you have a look and be the judge.

Happy Birthday A & B

Yes it's Arthur Guinness's birthday today and also the Boss - Bruce Springsteen ... so Happy Birthday to the both of you!

Yes I took this photo at his concert in 2008, what a man!

My song of the week

Don't Let it Die - Hurricane Smith 1971


You may not know this, but Hurricane Smith was the Sound Engineer for the Beatles until 1965 and then went on to Produce Albums for Pink Floyd,  he was a pilot in the RAF and he was born before my mother - A man ahead of his times, here is the only song he ever made famous for himself. 
Read is obituary here:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/mar/11/obituaries.mainsection

A mountainside, a flower grows
A riverside and the water flows forever
The jungle life of mystery
The wide and graceful history of life

Don't let it die
Don't let it die
The tiger's free, the kangaroo
It's up to me and up to you

For what we see is what we choose
What we keep or what we lose forever
The world is ours to tear apart
But what if it's too late to start again?

Don't let it die
Don't let it die
Or say good-bye - amen

Don't let it die
Don't let it die
Or say good-bye in the end

The Lost Dr. Seuss Poem ... I love my Job, I do, I do ...

I love my job, I love the pay.
I love it more and more each day.
I love my boss; he/she is the best.
I love his boss and all the rest.
I love my office and its location.
I hate to have to go on vacation.
I love my furniture, drab and gray,
And the paper that piles up every day.
I love my chair in my padded cell.
There's nothing else I love so well.
I love to work among my peers.
I love their leers and jeers and sneers.
I love my computer and its software;
I hug it often though it don't care.
I love each program and every file,
I try to understand once in a while.
I'm happy to be here, I am, I am;
I'm the happiest slave of my Uncle Sam.
I love this work; I love these chores.
I love the meetings with deadly bores.
I love my job-I'll say it again.
I even love these friendly men,
These men who've come to visit today
In lovely white coats to take me away.

Dilbert

The Household Budget

A weird thing happened last night, all my cookery books came tumbling down off the shelf, and one of my books which belonged to my mother is a cook book called : The "Royal Hostess", and it belonged to my mother before she got married, it has her maiden name imprinted on the cover, and inside it says "PRINTED IN SOUTH AFRICA PUBLISHED BY ROYAL BAKING POWDER (PTY.) LTD.  FIRST EDITION 1953", which makes it 57 years old.

I have used this book since a child and got some of my baking recipes out of it, but the thing about this cook book is just what it says, it is a Hostess book and it tells you what cuts of meat to buy at the butchers, etc. It is really interesting.  When the book fell the hard cover became detached, so I need to stick it back together somehow.  Anyway, I was paging through the book and came across a section right at the back that says "The Household budget", and it's all kinds of tips on how to plan your budget.  So I was just skimming through it when I got to the last paragraph on the page that read:

                                A good housekeeper will put out the day's (or week's if preferred) requirements regularly and not leave it to servants to help themselves to stores.  Native servants are notoriously extravagant, but they will usually co-operate in economies if approached in the right way.
                               Put out weekly supply of their food - sugar, porridge, samp or beans, etc., and tell them that it must last a week.  Show them how to measure out by cup the amount for each day.  In small households - where only one servant is kept - it is false economy to buy separate amounts of meat etc. for the servant, and to cook an entirely separate meal.                                 
Once or twice a week the servant can be given an extra amount of meat to cook as he or she likes, but generally it can be planned that there is sufficient left over from the family meal for the servant.

I was quite taken aback with it, thinking oh my goodness this cook book actually is quite racist, but then I looked up the work "servant" and Wikipedia told me the following:

Servant is an older English term for "domestic worker", though not all servants worked inside the home.

So it's not just South Africa that had servants, they had them all over the world, even in Ireland in the last century, wealthy families had servants.

I suppose having come through the whole apartheid thing and everyone being so politically correct it just seemed strange to read it in print.  Interesting.

Births, Engagements & Weddings ... oh yes and Divorces

Births:

Seems like something in the water at the moment, you walk around Dublin and every second woman is pregnant, and yet this country was the hardest hit in the recession and we are still worse off than most European countries, except uh maybe Greece ... however, we suddenly are having the highest birth rate.  This is due to the fact that Ireland have some strong employment laws, with all the redundancies taking place in most companies, they can not make you redundant if you are out sick or on Maternity leave - so what do most woman do, fall pregnant!  And then yes while they are out for the 9 - 12 months having their baby, they fall pregnant again and the cycle just goes on and on and puts the country deeper in debt.  I agree to having 2 kids because you are replacing the population, but more than that ... why?  Surely people have noticed that the world is so over populated already, or maybe not are we so selfish that we only think of our wants and needs?

Engagements


So my good friend "Bob" finally did it, on holiday in Italy with his girlfriend Aoife, who I really like and he decided to pop the question!  I'd say about time as Bob is 33 and not getting any younger, so last night while we were out celebrating Trish's wedding, it was just wedding talk - Bob thinks he can probably get away with only spending about €10 - €15K on a big wedding .... I think he may be in for a rude awakening, has no one told him what things cost in this country!  In actual fact it is absolutely ridiculous the amount of money that gets spent on weddings in this country, I told him to elope or going and get married in some 3rd world country where it will cost you a fraction of what you would pay here.

Weddings

Yes we were out celebrating Trish's wedding last night, with a wonderful dinner at "Fallon & Byrne", so Trish is doing the sensible thing and running off to Rome to get married, just her Seamie and mom & dad ... very, very wise I say!  All the old crew from the "society" were there, some of them actually still working there, so it was a great catch up and really had a wonderful evening (considering I didn't really want to go).  I had to rush off at 12:50 before they locked up the parking garage where I was parked and I just made it!  Oh yes forgot to mention that Trish is going to one of my favourite places for her honeymoon - Sorrento, told her she has to do a trip over to the Isle of Capri and the blue grotto.

Divorces

It most cases it has been the man's fault, especially in the celebrity world, I mean look at Tiger Woods, Ashley Cole and now sweet and innocent (not), Wayne Rooney, who I only recently said of  to my mother in law "his about the nicest down to earth player of them all" but yet he has a thing for prostitutes and was even inviting woman back to his bodeaur (spelling) on his stag night ... despicable.
Yet in my world it seems to be the woman who are unhappy with the men and deciding to just up and walk out of marriages that have lasted between 10 and 20 years, and the reasons ... "I never loved him", "his too old", OMG surely when you get married in the first place you know these thing, if he wasn't too old for you when you married him, why exactly is he too old now, did he age more rapidly than you ... one day you too will be too old, and that younger man you have now fallen in love with, will leave you for a younger woman ... I always believe "what goes around, comes around".

Remembering

It's hard to believe that the 9/11 attacks on America happened 9 years ago today, it's also hard to believe that my mother passed away 8 years ago today.

I still remember where I was on 9/11, we had only been living in Ireland for less than 3months, I was hunting for that job (seems I do that a lot), my mother and father-in-law were visiting Ireland from South Africa, but were doing a bit of touring and had gone up north.  We were living in a small 2 bedroomed apartment, and I was busy cleaning the floor, I decided to put the TV on for some reason and I had it on Sky News, as I was watching they were talking about the plane that had smashed into the first of the twin towers, I grabbed the phone and immediately phoned D to tell him what was happening and while I was talking to him on the phone another plane smashed into the other twin tower.  To me it felt like the world had gone mad, but that is now all history, but never to be forgotten history.

On Friday night I was switching between channels and there were a lot of programs about 9/11, it's actually heart wrenching some of the stories that have come out.  Amazingly though, most of the stories seem to be about New York, which of course was the major disaster - however it seems that the media forget about those who were in the Pentagon and the other airplanes that were involved in this disaster.  My heart goes out to all those families who suffered loss on that day, because only after the passing of my mother do I realise how much you can actually miss a family member so much.

My mom passed away on 9/11 8 years ago, my mother like most mothers was very wise and taught me a lot of life skills, things that I hope to pass on to my daughter one day.  The thing I miss most about my mother is that she never got to know her youngest grand daughter who was born 8 months after she left us.

Forever in our thoughts!  (The lady on the right).

If you think ...

Interesting ...

I was reading some fascinating accounts on Monsoons blog today on history of Europe and the black plaque, so now going to start studying some more history and learn about Europe's history seeing as we were never taught this in school.  But something else I found on Monsoons blog which I stole was a saying by Mark Twain:


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover"


So true.

The summer ... she is over ... or not quite yet

So the holiday was over, the in-laws back in Africa, Em back at school and hubby and I back at the salt mine, which means the summer is over, but yet we have been having fabulous weather.  It was like 23 degrees the last two days, okay you guys in Sunny South Africa don't laugh, I know that is a good winters day.  But honestly it is a different type of 23 degrees and humid and the same heat in SA would probably show about 27 on the thermometer.  

So Thursday Dianne enticed me down to the beach for lunch, pity we had to go back to work because it was just so wonderful looking out onto the blue sea and sitting in the sun.  Yesterday was another Fab day, so I went off to Avoca at lunch time and just walked around in the sunshine.

So no sooner is Em back at school and she has a birthday party tomorrow, I am going to make a big pot of veggie soup in anticipation for winter, and freeze it - that way I know summer will last a lot longer, but I am also going to try and cook some meals for the week, so there is no rushing each evening and besides that way I can get back to my aqua aerobics and the gym.  Besides I need to try and lose loads of weight in the next 3 weeks, help! Think I may have to go onto the high protein diet or starve myself.

I hear thunder - well that is what woke me up this morning and I can honestly say it is probably only the 2nd time in 9.5 years that I have heard thunder, for a minute I thought I was back in Africa, I then went back to sleep and then realised I had to get up because we all had a hair appointment this morning, the 3 of us and you think they would give us a family discount or something .... NO so 115 Euro for 1 kid, 1 man and 1 ladies cut and blow - yes you luck people down in SA, things over here are VERY expensive!  Then it was off to the shops to do the necessary shopping ugh!

This afternoon I picked up a friend from work and went for afternoon tea at my favorite little coffee shop in Milltown, I so needed to bitch about work, so it was great to get a lot of stuff off my shoulders with someone who understood where I was coming from.

So what else has happened today, well how was that earthquake in New Zealand, OMG and here one of my friends is flying over in a few weeks time, to look at going to live ... uh I don't know so much, maybe Australia is a better bet, and of course there was an anti-war protest in down town Dublin, as Tony Blair was out for the week-end to sign his autobiography, got to find out more about those.

New Post, New Month, New Season

Okay I am ditching the details of the holiday, as nobody's really interested in my cultural holiday in Portugal, so as from tomorrow it will be filling you in on "Life" and what has been happening in my little world and on my little Island of Ireland.  Till tomorrow ...

Portugal - Week 2

So after realising that we had less than a week left before we had to fly back home, we got out the tourist book and did some strategical plotting on the sight seeing front, in fact I thought that if we don't get our a into g we will never see everything we want to.  So decision was the next day we would be up early and head for Tomar which would be the furtherest point we would travel that day, then coming back stop in Fatima and lastly in Batalha.

Tomar

So next morning we managed to get out by about 9 a.m. and headed up to Tomar, by the time we arrived it felt like it must certainly be the hottest day of the year, driving into Tomar had such a nice feeling to it especially as we got into the old city and towards the beautiful castle on top of the hill.   Walking into the grounds of the castle, I wondered what it would be like to have lived there almost 400 years ago.  The grounds and the castle were absolutely stunning and so well preserved.  The chapel inside the castle is beautiful, it has a center section that is so awesome it leaves you speechless.  I would love to go back when it is not so hot or crowded, because it really is worth seeing again.  I found a little bit of History on Tomar on the internet that reads:

Although a small town, Tomar plays a large role in a very important stage of Portuguese history, with links to the Knights Templar andthe Discoveries, and remains an attractive and interesting place to visit.

Its story begins in the eleven hundreds when much land in the area was donated to the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem by the then Queen Dona Teresa and her son Dom Alfonso Henriques. Upon this land the Master of the Order of the Temple, Gualdim Pais, instigated the building of a castle which would continue to grow in size and grandeur throughout the ages until the 17th century. 

Legend tells us that the position of the castle, and indeed its name, came to the Templars in a vision upon their arrival in the area.  The castle and the Knights of the Order served to defend the centre of Portugal from attack and invasion, and often they were besieged, but by the 14th century there was a movement throughout Europe to ban the Templars and so came about the extinction of the Order. However, they continued to be supported by the Portuguese royals and so in 1319 Dom Dinis eventually succeeded in negotiating with the Catholic powers the establishment of the new Order of Christ, which would basically take over from where the Templars left off, with the same people, property and privileges. It was this Order which worked alongside Henry the Navigator in the 15th century and whose knowledge and financial backing aided his voyages of discovery. The knights became explorers in their own right with a remit to extend Portuguese influence in the world and to spread Christianity to these new lands.

These voyages and discoveries over the ages are represented in the enormous variety of architectural styles which adorn the castle and convent.

After spending a few hours there, we walked through the old town however everything was closed as it was obviously now Siesta, so off we went to find a nice little restaurant for lunch.  Tomar is such a pretty little town and the river that runs through it, the Nabão and the park just make it stand out from all the other towns we visited whilst in Portugal. 

Fatima

Next stop was Fatima, which according to the books is what Lourdes is to France and Bethlehem to Israel a place of pilgrimage where every good Catholic person want to visit.  D went exploring and came across what was almost like the Vatican, however could not go in because they were having some kind of ceremony.  Now I realise why almost every second Portuguese girl in my school was called Fatima or had it somewhere amongst all her names.

Overall I was not very impressed and spent the hour or so we were there going up and down the souvenir street, which was rather tacky to put it mildly.  I couldn't wait to leave and get onto our next stop Batalha.

Batalha

Batalha was not very far from Fatima, and driving into the town the first thing you see is the huge Medieval Gothic monastery absolutely stunning.  It was getting late so we did not have time to explore too much and only went into the "Founders Chapel" which was completed in 1434, It contains the tombs of King João I and his English queen, Philippa of Lancaster (daughter of John of Gaunt), whose stone effigies lie in repose with their hands entwined. The tomb of their famous son, Prince Henry the Navigator, is nearby.


Very beautiful, however a 7 year old does not fully appreciate all this history and while D was snapping away and exploring I had to try and keep her from dying of boredom, with the heat from that I think she had already had 3 ice-creams but who's counting.


We eventually decided it was time to go home, it had been a long lovely day but now was time to depart.  On our way we saw the sign for Nazare and I said that seeing as we were so close we may as well go and see it.  However, driving into the town was a nightmare, it is obviously a very popular holiday destination and has wonderful beaches and restaurants, probably like Durban was in the late 70's, so we managed to bypass with out going in and took the scenic route home.


The next day was a well deserved rest day and then onto Sintra the following day, another palace and castle to explore - well in actual fact you probably need to spend a few days here and again not in the height of the summer tourist month, we only managed to see the palace in the middle of the town, so will return to do the castle someday.

The palace however was something else, the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, one wonders how many royal families there were in Portugal to have so many many palaces and Castles and not small ones either.  It is the best preserved mediaeval Royal Palace in Portugal, having been inhabited more or less continuously at least from the early 15th up to the late 19th century. It is an important tourist attraction and is part of the Cultural landscape of Sintra, designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  It also seems that every place we visited in Portugal has be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.


I enjoyed walking around this palace however once again Em was bored, which you can't blame her, going through the rooms one by one was eye opening, imagining the queen retiring to her bedroom whilst walking past this gigantic bed where once she slept, and the wardrobe that once housed her many fine clothes.  The Swan room which was probably used for entertaining, the beautiful chandeliers that hung in huge ballrooms.    The kitchen where copper pots and utensils still hang around the iron stove.  All you can say is wow.

Palaces, Castles and Cathedrals - Portugal Week 1

Well although the holiday now seems like a distant memory, and I am in the end stage of a chest infection and conjunctivitis, my will to finally blog again seems it may have returned.

So, the holiday was wonderful although I can't say very relaxing as we did a whole bunch of sightseeing, we flew into Lisbon, then got the car and headed up to our accommodation 90 KM's north of Lisbon in a golfing estate called Praie Del Ray, you can always Google it on Google earth if you want to see exactly where it is.   Although none of us are golfers or anything, the accommodation seemed perfect for touring up and down the coast of Lisbon which it was, close to the beach and pool.


We took 2 days just to acclimatise and then ventured out on the Thursday albeit not too far, we went to one of the closest villages called Caldas da Rainha, we arrived just before lunch which wasn't such a good idea as most places were closing for Siesta.  We stumbled onto the Farmers market in the middle of the town and when we saw the fruit and veggies, wished we had not just done a shop the day before.  It's amazing how fruit and vegetables can have so much flavour when they are organic.

The next day we had made arrangements for D's folks to see mom's long lost niece who had moved to Lisbon  about 15 years earlier, so we ended up at their lovely little house near Estoril for some family memories and beautiful Portuguese chicken and salads.

Saturday we decided to relax and just do the pool thing, which was great!

 Alcobaca 

On Sunday we headed out to a town called Alcobaca which is home to Portugal's largest church, although I enjoy seeing all the old churches and stuff, I am not obsessed by every detail which in one way D is, so after a walk through the main church, Mom, Dad, Em and I excused ourselves and left D to explore all the alleyways of the church.  We opted for shopping for souvenirs and having ice-cream at the pavement cafes. 

The traditional hand painted crockery is really nice, although not quite the style I would like to decorate my house, but very beautiful.

One thing that struck me was the amount of money spent on building lavish churches and decorating them with expensive works of arts, surely in those times the money could have been spent on other things that would possibly have benefited the people.  The church in the photograph is called the Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaca, it is renowned for it's medieval architecture and was founded in 1153.

In the 2 weeks that we spent in Portugal I think D managed to take 700 photographs and of course I took at least 300, although I must say mine contain people and not just statues.

Peniche & Obidos

Two days later we headed off to a little fishing village called Peniche and then over to Obidos, although we had had dinner in Peniche a couple of days earlier we had not done any sightseeing there, to the side of the town there is a 16th century Fortazela used as a prison during the Salazar regime.  It also harboured South African soldiers during the Anglo Boer war, not quite sure what they were doing up in Portugal but I am going to Google it and see what I find.

Just about lost everything trying to Google what I read, but did not find anything, so I guess we will leave that bit of history for another day.

Obidos 

After a lovely seafood lunch, although I decided to try the grilled sardines for a change and really not to my liking, I think sardines are just meant to belong in cans and fed to cats.  We head over to Obidos which is one of the towns closest to where we were staying.  A beautiful village still enclosed by it's 14th century walls.  The castle is now a boutique hotel and you can view it here:  http://www.pousadasofportugal.com/portugal/pousada/obidos.html  

Obidos is now a tourist haven and you battle to find parking let alone walking space in the height of summer time, we had a lovely afternoon tough, Emily had her caricature portrait done and we browsed all the little souvenir shops in the alley, we had intended taking a walk around the wall, but being unprepared in the scorching heat we decided to give that a miss.

Choices

Life is full of choices, how do we know if we are making the right one or the wrong one - how do we know what the consequences of our actions would be months after those choices?

Dumping Friends and Influencing Garbage

Dumping Friends and Influencing Garbage

This is something I have been wanting to blog for a long time and it has been put so brilliantly in this post.

Holiday

I know I have been a useless blogger for the past while, what with work, a child and visitors keeping me busy, but I thought I would let you know that I have not abandoned you and will be back in full swing in a couple of weeks, with lots to tell you about our holiday in Portugal.  Just to make you envious I found some photos, we are staying in a village near Obidos, called Praia del Rey which is 90km's north of Lisbon.  Will be basking in 39 degrees and eating loads of seafood and spending plenty of time at the pool.

Till we meet again, have a wonderful two weeks without me.

Life's a Beach ...

Thank you God, now do you think you could get them to legalize it! 

How can anything so natural be bad for you?

Christmas in July

The in-laws / grandparents arrived yesterday from Johannesburg and it felt like Christmas. I have never seen so many packets of Woollies Raisin chuckles in one place before, beside in the store, and D was chuffed to bits with a kilo of Rooibok bok and a kilo of Ostrich biltong, wow. I got my annual dose of South African magazines, The Fairlady, Getaway, Country Magazine, GeoAfrica and the cosmopolitan.


Emily got loads of Dresses and stickers from her fairy godmother and she sent us load of South African paraphernalia from the Soccer world cup, rainbow nation scarves – which we will proudly wear when we watch the Boks being annihilated by the Irish in November (as usual). Wow just so many things.

My sister sent some really cute stuff for Em and the sister-in-laws went overboard with the sweets and chocolates, peppermint crisps, and all kinds of things. Em got beautiful pyjamas and another beautiful dress from her cousin.

Just so many things to comprehend and take in, a beautful cookery book from Melinds by Evita Bezuidenhout.  And Gran knitted tons of dolls clothes for Em's baby born, that's when you realise how much we miss out on family by living 6000 miles away, although I must say that when we do have them visit we manage to spend loads of quality time together.  Must dash ... later.

End of the Week

So what do we do at the end of a cr@p week , hell yes go out and party ... I am still suffering with a hangover, so as soon as I have rested I will tell all.  Oh my word what a "Jol" and I never even took my camera with!

New kid on the block

I'm the NEWBIE as J.D. would have called me in scrubs.  This sign should say Welcome Newbie, handle with care!

I really hate being the new kid on the block, I have had the F*cking worst week of my life at work.  The senior lady is out, so there was only Mr T. and I in the office, then someone called and said they had been waiting 15 minutes for someone to answer the phone.  So I went to the big Boss and said put me on calls, I can handle it, I mean there is nothing like being thrown in the deep end to learn.  But ... besides not understanding half of these peoples accents (all corners of Oireland I tell you), when I ask Mr T. to help me, he gives me attitude.

By Tuesday evening I was ready to throw the Towel at Mr T., at 17:30 on the dot, I stormed out of there and the next day dragged my sorry ass back in at 9:00 a.m., Missy D could see how upset I was and told me to go and speak to the big "D", so I toyed with it all day and decided I would stay late and then go and chat to him, I had spent the day ignoring Mr T. and the other dude.  But it turned out that Mr T. stayed late too, he must have had a premonition or something.  Then today he's as sweet as honey to me, F%ck he is worse than a woman with PMS, so now what to do - then I had some B*tch phone with a query and start shouting down the phone at me, and Mr T. and dude were all so nice to me.  Turned out the itch didn't know what she was talking about.

Then spent the afternoon with the big "D" sitting at my desk because of a crisis, which unfolded because another itch went on the war path, I am starting to wonder if I will ever cope in this job ... I hate being the new kid on the block especially when these kids know more than I do ... but only for the moment!

Got to get myself one of these ->>>>>>>>>

Voted Best Joke in Ireland

John O'Reilly hoisted his beer and said, 'Here's to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me wife!'

That won him the top prize at the pub for the best toast of the night!

He went home and told his wife, Mary, 'I won the prize for the Best toast of the night.'

She said, 'Aye, did ye now. And what was your toast?'

John said, 'Here's to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife.'

'Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!' Mary said.

The next day, Mary ran into one of John's drinking buddies on the street corner.

The man chuckled leeringly and said, 'John won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary..'

She said, 'Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised myself. You know, he's only been there twice in the last four years. Once he fell asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come.'

Annual Summer BBQ

The weather tunred out just perfect even though it was raining buckets an hour before D put the Boerewors on the braai!  But we had loads of fun with good friends, too much to eat as always and lots of little ones to keep us entertained.  Louve Summer and my friends, you are all awesome!!!

Danyel Gerard - Butterfly 1987 (English)

This song popped into my head yesterday, it was originally made in 1971 and I loved it. It must have been a one hit wonder though, because I can't remember anything else Danyel Gerard sang.

Howzit

Jislaaik, ever since I read the ol' slang from the home town I have soooo wanted to write a post in my own slang.  Jees I can't remember the laas time I did speek like this, probably the time I was ripping off my ex brother in-law for the way he spokes English. He was pretty Dof too.  Anyways bokke let me tune you what is happening in our little world.

Well we are having our annual braai, for all the old Irish peoples, you check every year since Trish bought her new digs we have been having a braai at her house and every year D ends up doing the braaing.  So this year I decided well lets have it at ours, so we invited all the China's and they are going to pitch up at about 3 bells on Saturday arvie!  Somma a bring and braai, jou dop and jou chop.  Guess I'll be making most of the salads although most of them are not big salad eaters so will just do a small one.

You know whenever we had a braai back home, I always used to drink "spoeg & diesel" or Brandy & Coke as they say in English, but hell since the old age has kicked in, I really hate waking up with a babelaas, so I don't think we will be partaking, besides we have to go and see the old folks on Sunday and can't pitch up with a barbie!

Anyways, most of the people whos all coming to the braai are peoples I worked with at the "Society", the one Damo who is always big mouth about these events, went and double booked his day, ja well no fine so I told him in no uncertain words that he had better come else he will get moered stukkend, so I guess he is only showing his face but that is fine, can moer him later.

I think Saturday night will be quite a Jol, it won't be a mad party as most of the folks with kids are coming, and D has ordered some lekker boerewors from the butcher in town, so it will feel a bit like back home.  And with the kids running around there won't be any dagga or anything like that, it should be all pretty civilized, will curb the drinking a bit too, except possibly for those single characters who maybe putting them back.

Yissis I am really moeg now so this post is becoming a bit difficult to write, especially as I have to keep referring to my slang list, gone are those days where I's could just roll them off the tongue like it was my mother language, now I have all the Irish slang tucked up in this kop, you know like yissis we would say bejaysus.   One thing the Irish do have in common wif the Souf Effrikens is the term ewes, do ewes know where you are going?  Hey ewes oakes, except they don't use oakes.

Anyways like I said I is lekker moeg, had a day of driving and walking all over the dorpie, so I am going to hit the sack, but look out for my next "blast from the past" post using our long lost Souf Effriken terminology to boot!

Nightie Night.

Two little Dicky birds ...

Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall,
One named Peter, one named Paul.
Fly away Peter, fly away Paul,
Come back Peter, come back Paul!

Come back TERRI

Come back GAIL

Come back EILEN

I really miss your blog posts updates!!!  COME BACK!!!  I have to endure all the other blog which are no where near as interesting as yours!

I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but I religiously go into my blog to check the updates, and only get Maurice having his mid life crises, (where to from 40) with long posts about his emotions - which honestly (don't tell him) but bore me to tears.  You're 45 now Maurice, Mid life crisis over unless you are planning to live to a hundred.

Then there is Headrambles who regularly has a post each day but does nothing but moan or complain about something, but I like keeping his link as he does post some interesting stuff about Ireland.

Then the I love SA blog, mainly negative stuff about SA but I like to keep updated with what is going on, and sometimes research the stuff to see if it really true, I think if every South African believed everything that is written on Iluvsa, there would be no whites, coloureds or educated blacks left in SA, oh wait forgot about the injuns sorry the Asians seeing as even though apartheid died 16 years ago, everyone still gets classified into race groups so they know not to employ the whities.  Still going to change my name to Rosie Matwetwe and see if I get a Senior post on the SABC board - :) 

My Dublin Life is a Canadian girl who has been studying in Ireland and has made it her home for the past 2 years, she loves Dublin so advertises all kinds of cool goings on, which is great to find out about up coming events and stuff. 

My super Yachting experience is my hubby's nephews new blog, now this is one kid I am as jealous as hell of, he is doing all the right kind of things that young kids should be doing.  He matriculated last year, spent the most part of the first half of this year down in Cape Town getting his seaman's licence to sail yachts, then got a Shengan visa, hopped on a plane and went off to the parts of France that I can't spell, to party with the rich and famous and find a job.  He has had quite a few jobs earning 100 euro a day - more than likely tax free and is having the time of his life.  Now why didn't I do that ... what kept me at home, it's not like I got on my parents or anything, I guess when I started working I was just enjoying life too much to contemplate leaving home, wish I could roll the clock back 30 years! 

Then there is getting legless with Lorna who currently has the most grotesque photo of an open wound.  Lorna shot her self in the abdomen and started the blog to write the whole experience, I admire her courage as she realizes that she made a big mistake, I mean haven't we all made mistakes in life, some are just so much bigger than others. 

And then there are others that haven't updated them for ages, but I really love seeing updates to Terri, Gail and Eilen's blogs.

SO COME ON GIRLS PLEASE COME BACK SOON!

South Park and Facebook

This is Excellent and every Facebook user should watch it!  Just shows you how ridiculous Facebook can be!

2nd Part

Movies

I can't tell you the last time I saw an "adult" film at the movies, its seems that since Emily came along the only movies I get to see are animated, however I shall not complain because before Emily came along I can't remember when last I actually went to the movies to see a movie, oh wait I think it was in 2001 when D was in Ireland and I went to see run away bride with Heather, or of course with the girls on a girls night out in Dublin to see one or other Sex and the city movie.  However, I don't remember going on a movie date with my husband since before we were married ... sad.  But I enjoy the kids movies and today our little family went to see Shrek forever after, which as always has snipes in it that only the adults understand.

There were two adults sitting next to D thoroughly enjoying the movie, and guess what they had no kids with them, so just shows you that "DreamWorks" are very cunning in getting adults to watch their "kids" movies too.  Anyway it definitely is a must to see, and the Tooth Fairy and of course the plan is to see Toy Story 3 in 3D next, so watch this space.

Oh yes and of course Em enjoyed it so much she was clapping after the show!

Countdown...

I decided to change my background on my blog as this is the start of my countdown to my holiday, 3 weeks and counting and then we are off to sun and sea for 2 weeks .... can't wait!

Pass Love On ...

South African Lingo and Jo'burg by night

While doing a workout tonight I was watching the news on TV but with no sound and it's funny how I recognised Jo'burg within a few seconds of it being shown on TV, I guess you always know your home town.  (Not my birth town though, it was only my home town)  - Here is a picture someone sent me of Jo'burg by night, with the soccer stadium in the front.

Another friend sent me an email for the foreigners coming to the South African world cup.  

Check out the Video beneath which has different ones and is very comical!

40 South Africanisms you should know 

BABBELAS (BUBBLE-US): Hangover. Usage: "Jeez, I had too many dops last night. I've got a hectic babbelas."
BAKKIE (BUCKY): What Americans would term a "pick-up". A two-seater light vehicle with an open rear cargo area. The rear is often used to transport an impossible number of workers who stare back at you in traffic and make you feel awkward and a bit guilty.
BERGIE: Term used for a type of homeless person in Cape Town. Originates from "berg", which is the Afrikaans word for mountain, referring to the homeless people who used to live on Table Mountain but who now live mainly in the city. Pronounce the harsh "g" as if you've swallowed an insect and are trying to clear it from your throat.
BLIKSEM (BLUK-SEM): If you're in a pub and you accidentally spill a beer belonging to a man with a thick neck, he may say: "Do you want me to bliksem you?" Don't respond. Just run. Run for your life. It's the Afrikaans word for hit or strike or punch.
BOET: Means "brother" in Afrikaans. An affectionate (though not too much) term for a friend. It's like saying "dude" or "buddy".
BROEKIES (BROOKIES): Panties or underwear. Usage: "I phuza'd with this girl last night and she came back to my hotel. When I woke up this morning, she was gone but she left her broekies behind."
CAR GUARD: Found in most urban areas, a car guard's office is the parking lot. He keeps an eye on your car while you're at the match, in the mall or at the pub. You're expected to tip him when you return to your car and it hasn't been stolen or broken into. No. That's a lie. You'll be expected to tip him even if it has.
DAGGA: Again pronounced with a harsh "g". Marijuana. Illegal, but admittedly very easy to get hold if you're so inclined. Just ask your car guard.
DINGES (DING-US): An indeterminate, nondescript thing or term for an object whose name you've momentarily forgotten. Like this: "Please pass me my dinges there." "What?" "My dinges. I want to blow it." "You mean your vuvuzela?" "Yes, my vuvuzela."
DOF: Stupid.
DOP: If someone says "Do you want to go for a dop?" always say yes. It means you'll be going for a drink.
DORPIE (DOORPEE): Small town. But no matter how small, you'll always find a KFC. And a pregnant 17 year old.
DOSS: Slang for "sleep". Usage: "Is it cool if I doss at your place tonight?"
EINA (AY-NA): Expression of pain, as in "ouch". Usage: "Ooh, looks like Rooney just shattered his pelvis. Eina!"
EISH (AYSH): Common term that denotes a wide range of emotions from joy and surprise to confusion and anger. When in doubt, use it.
EITA (AY-TA): Casual African greeting, like "Hey". Actually, it's the same as "Howzit".
GATVOL: Literally means "hole fill" in Afrikaans. Means you've had enough of something that's making you angry. Usage: "Boet, I'm gatvol of this ref's bad decisions." Again with the harsh "g".
HUNDREDS: Normally repeated twice in a sentence as in "Hundreds, bru, hundreds." It expresses either total agreement with what someone has just said, or confirmation that your life is all good (eg: "How are you?" "Ah, hundreds, man, hundreds"). Can also be used as a way of simply saying yes.
IS IT?: Actually pronounced "uzz ut". It's a casual way of saying "Oh really?". Usage: "Dude, I saw Messi coming out of a ladies toilet yesterday." "Uzz ut?"
JA-WELL-NO-FINE: Nobody really knows what this means, because it doesn't really mean anything. But we like saying it.
JOL: Party. Can be used as either a noun or verb, as in "That was a lekker jol" or "I went jolling last night and ended up in Fabio Cannavaro's hotel room. It was great. We set fire to it."
JUST NOW: An indeterminate amount of time. If a waiter says "I'll be with you just now", it could mean anything from five minutes, to 10, to never.
KAK (KUK): Literally "shit". Popular uses include "What a load of kak" and "Don't talk kak".
LADUMA: Celebratory exclamation when a goal is scored. For best effect, try to hold the "u" for as long as possible on one breath, so that the "ma" comes out as a desperate choke. Laduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.ma.
LANK: Beyond cool is lank cool. Also means a large amount of, as in "There were lank vuvuzelas at the game last night."
LEKKER (LAKKA): Great, awesome, amazing.
MAMPARA: Idiot.
MY CHINA: Or just "China". An affectionate term similar to "boet". "Howzit China" is a standard South African greeting. Except when meeting an actual Chinese person. Then you probably shouldn't say it.
MZANSI: Popular term for South Africa. Best describes our country's gritty energy and loud African spirit.
NOOIT (NOYT): Expression of disbelief or disdain. As in "Aah, nooit! There's chewing gum on my seat!" or "When I saw that advert with Ronaldo striking a homoerotic pose in a pair of tight underpants, I just thought 'Nooit, bru!'"
NOW-NOW: Not to be confused with "Just now". Now-now is a much smaller indeterminate amount of time. Hmm. Don't worry - you'll get it.
PHUZA (POO-ZA): A drinking session. "Phuza Thursday" is a noble tradition in South Africa. Try to uphold it while you're here.
ROBOT: When you're asking for directions and someone says: "Left at the third robot," it is not because our streets are overrun with menacing cyborgs made by Japanese scientists. No. A robot is simply our word for traffic light.
SHARP-SHARP!: Okay. This is a complicated one. An expression of agreement. Or a greeting. Or a way of saying goodbye. Or a way of saying "Okay, sure." Or a way of ... forget it.
SIFF: Gross, disgusting. "Check, that guy is picking his nose." "Siff, boet."
STOEP: A verandah or porch.
TEKKIE (TACKY): Common word for sneakers.
TSOTSI (TOT-SI): Not just the name of the Oscar-winning film made by local director Gavin Hood. Tsotsi is a township term for a young boy who's already committing crimes like hijacking cars and stealing. Hopefully not from you.
UMLUNGU (OOM-LOONG-GU): African word for "white man". For a laugh, if someone says "Eita, umlungu!" reply "Sharp-sharp!"
ZHOOSH: Very fancy. A word normally utilised by well-kept women with French manicures who will never, ever understand the off-side rule. Use the word if you must (it feels nice in the mouth), but aggressively avoid these women