Saturday 14 December 2013

Ta-ta, Tata Mandela



('Ta-ta' in some dialects of English is an informal and friendly 'Goodbye'. 'Tata' is the isiXhosa word for 'Father')


You've heard, right?

One of my heroes passed away just recently. He was, of course, many MANY people's hero so at least I need never feel alone in my sadness.

South Africa, for the last week or so has been an understandably emotional place to be. There's been moments of great celebration and moments of great sadness. And the warmth and love of all the other people around the world who are sharing South Africa's sense of loss is tangible and comforting.

And for the most part, South Africans are united in their sadness at Madibas passing and keen to continue in his stead and with his example as their guide. The Head of opposition party the Democratic Alliance put it so simply:

“He has handed the baton to us and we dare not drop it

Saturday 2 November 2013

Time to Leave South Africa?: For This Family, The Answer's a Mixed YES!!

I am guessing this will come as much as a shock to you *taps glass* lovely peeps out there as it did to the family and friends back home but .. have you heard? We're moving back to the UK at the end of January!!

I know man :)

Er ... yeah, we'll be on a plane but go with me.
It wasn't quite as shocking to us (obviously). We had in fact discussed the very same plan for many months, even off and on throughout our years out here but it's not the kind of discussion we felt we could share with the folks back home. My darling Mum would have heard, and got excited about, the possibility of us coming back many, many times over the last six years. So we felt it best to say nothing until a definite plan had been made.

Which it now has. Woo hoo!

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Online Porn: Monitoring Our Kids


Well ... here I am. Over a month since my last post and I find myself inspired greatly to tackle a rather heavy subject this morning.

Over a month since my last post ... hang on, shouldn't I be posting pics of the kids and telling you all why I haven't posted in over a month? Isn't that the norm on WeezaFish??

It is, but then that doesn't help all the meatier posts I like to write that are backed up in my drafts folder right now.

THIS one here (which I will eventually get to, promise) has been lingering there for a while but then a story I read yesterday brought it bubbling and frothing right up to the forefront again, demanding to be finished.

In my head at least :)

Wednesday 21 August 2013

8 Cool Facebook Pages: Facebook's Still Cool, Right?

If you use Twitter or have any friends or family members under the age of 25 then you'll have probably heard the theory that Facebook is just, well ... not cool anymore.

I'm 42, which means I no longer get a say on what's cool of course.

Ha ha ha yeah right.

But I beg to differ and give you the following Facebook pages that are all cool to Like. Well, I think so anyway.

Note: A lot of them come from websites originally and I'm not including my Blogging friends in this list, mainly because there's so many good ones out there that they deserve a shout out of their own some day.

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Just Writing

I've got three posts (yes, three) in my drafts and today I don't find myself wanting to finish any of them.

But I do want to write, so this could be interesting. I wonder what I'll write about? At this point ... I have no plan! Blogging by the seat of my pants.

Photo Credit
It reminds me of a post I read on Mistys Laws this week, 'The Neverending Nothingness', in which Misty ... simply writes.

And another post I read recently by Becca on 25toFly called 'Blogging Bureaucracy', in which Becca questions why and when the love for blogging and writing themselves, get overtaken by the want for a larger audience?

They both hit home with me. I too have fallen prey to being so busy trying to gain followers, please who I thought was reading (sooo ... my best friend and my Dad?) and SEO the hell out of my posts, that I forget sometimes just to write.

And so today, I just write ...

Tuesday 6 August 2013

We're Having a Smashing Time

That's a terrible pun, that title. Which you'll realise fully if you read on.

This is one of those 'OMG you won't believe what happened to us!' type posts. Although to be fair, it happened to Hubs and he gave me his blessing to make a post of it. "It would make a good post" says he.

It also fits perfectly with a want I had to try out my newly downloaded Blogger App. I often have better internet on my phone, so if I can master and make use of this app, we might just have a more frequent blogger here. Hooray!

Wednesday 24 July 2013

5 Easy Tips for Healthy Eating

Easy Healthy Eating
Photo Credit I just added the purple :)
Can there possibly be only 5 Easy Tips for Healthy Eating?? Read on if you're interested dear friend, read on.

Have you read my page, How To Lose Weight For Keeps For Real? It's okay, if you haven't don't feel remotely obliged (no, really) to go rush there now but if you have read it then you know already that I was once a rather LARGE lady who managed over time to become a much SMALLER lady, and you'll know how I did it.

But guess what? Some weight's crept back on in the last 9 months or so as my **NEW** eating habits slip and some of my old and bad eating habits sneak back in. Sneaky buggers those bad old eating habits. I don't remember telling them they could come back.

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Caring and Sharing Social Media: And a Brand New Page

Totally unnecessary pic
Do you know (leaping right in) as I sit here at my desk at home, ignoring the chores that should really be done all around me, you'll find me in a jovial mood.



Possibly has something to do with the six squares of Dairy Milk I just found in my desk drawer and devoured. Who knows?

Either way I find myself with both time and internet (you don't know how rare that is) to bang a little post out, so to speak and I've been meaning to do just that for quite a while.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Freecycle: Encouraging a Would-Be Crafter


You know, if you read my last post, that I'm a fan of secondhand. Thrift Stores, recycling and upcycling. Has occurred to me that I also enjoy going through peoples old stuff but that sounds odd and a bit grimy so let's not dwell on that aspect.

Recently, Hubby and I drove to the South of Joburg (we live in the North) to collect a wardrobe that had been advertised on Freecycle. During the collection we met a man, in his late forties, who's parents had sadly both passed recently.

He has no siblings and is single; he told us he was Freecycling all his parents furniture and odds and sods as well as a lot of his own as he was selling his house and off to start a new life in Australia. How exciting, thought we, as we loaded our wardrobe and chatted. Not easy, as Hubs and he manoeurvered a solid and very large wardrobe down a flight of windy stone stairs and onto the back of our bakkie.

As we were preparing to leave, the chap asks us if we won't take a few bags of "Mum's crafty bits" because he didn't think they were of real use to anyone.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

My Favourite Places in Joburg: Independent Traders Unlimited, Northriding

antiques collectibles
Ah me, do you remember my post about one of my favourite places to go with the kids in Joburg, Gecko Jewellers in Crowthorne? Doesn't really matter if you don't, or if you have no idea where Crowthorne is. The point being (I am getting to it, honest) is that when I wrote it blinking yonks ago, it occurred to me that it would make a good regular posting, places that I like to visit.

You see, not only do I always take loads of photos, which we all like to look at no? The places I like, for some reason, tend not to be the same places other people like. But I know that out there - *prods glass of screen* - amongst you guys, there are those who will love these odd little places I seem to find, as much as I do.

So here's number two in hopefully a series of posts;

Thursday 30 May 2013

An Interesting Blog Award from The Reluctant Mom


Guess what? I won an Interesting Blog Award!!

Did I 'win'? I’m not sure, it’s one of those very lovely awards bestowed from a fellow blogger and personally, I like those types of awards more than most prizes. So as far as I’m concerned, I won … yay!!

It’s come from one of those bloggers too. You know the really good ones? The ones who win proper awards like “Best Blimmin’ Blog in South Africa EVERRR” (can’t be sure of the wording). The bloggers that bloggers like me look up to. One of THOSE.

The Reluctant Mom’s blog was (not fibbing, I promise) the very first blog I started to read. Because what do we all do when we first start blogging? We realise we need/want to read others blogs too and we Google search “best blogs everrr”. Reluctant Mom came up and I’ve read her avidly ever since. She is a bit special and awesomely ‘real’, so go check her out if you haven’t already. Really, don’t delay. Her recent post of pics of Celebs, as they'd look if they were ordinary people. Man. You will need to empty your bladder first. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Photo Diary Time: Where TF Have I been??!!

You know that feeling you get when you turn up late? And possibly last to arrive also, to something really important that you really should have been on time for?

That's how I feel now, as I sit down (at friggin' last) to write this post.

I mean, seriously, where TF have I been?

I'm not going to say simply 'busy' or 'out of internet scope' (as we are in our new home, apparently) but both have been factors to my absence. Still, I feel bad. My last post was at the end of January FFS so I'm going to try and catch you up quick with what I've been up to before getting myself settled down to some nice juicy blog post writing and reading *sips tea, stretches fingers like a pianist*

The quickest way I can think of to catch you up, is a PHOTO DIARY POST YAYYY! No? Just me then.

Wednesday 30 January 2013

If Men and Women are Equal: Let Young Hearts Run Free

This post (right here) that I sit down to write, is inspired by others. I've read many posts recently that seem to ponder on the same subject, namely - what is the best way to have a happy and successful modern day loving relationship.

Clearly Made for Each Other
And I add the phrase 'Modern Day' because that seems to be part of the issue of confusion, that we feel that to evolve and better we must always change.

So where is the Loving Relationship now, in 2013?

I have read posts recently on Polygamy and Polyamory (former meaning married to many, latter meaning loving many) and Cheating being on the rise and even accepted and I have been intrigued by some of the comments and opinions.

(All darned good posts too btw if you have the time to read, by writers I know and love).

Especially intrigued, as I live in Africa where Polygamy is considered an outdated, sexist tradition currently being fought against by many African women.

Our President has five wives and at last count, twenty one children FFS!

Despite this, it would seem there is a growing thought elsewhere in the world that as we struggle so at times with fidelity and not wanting others outside of our relationships, we should consider the possibility that humans were not meant to mate for life.

Monday 7 January 2013

Back to School: Ready or Not

Don't tell anyone, but speaking as a Mum of young boys, I'm not quite ready for 'Back to School'.

Anyone else with me? No? All you Mums out there over excited at the thought of getting your days back? Eagerly pushing your little bearers of over laden back-packs out the door? Uhuh.

back to school
I've packed their bags. Written their names on the labels of their new clothes and rinsed out their drinking bottles, which have been lingering in the back of a kitchen cupboard all Summer.

Our boys Pre school opens on Wednesday and it's my youngest boy Nate's first day. I am thus far definitely finding it harder than him. In fact, harder than when his older brother Tallen started and much harder than I thought it would be also.