Baby Jem has finally arrived

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I finally got my hands on her. After much deliberation I decided to go with it and get myself an iPad. I can't put her down, she's like this real lovable character and every App I add she just gets better!

Watch this space...

In the next few weeks we're going to release the band line-up for Up The Creek Music Festival. The confirmation emails have been sent out and post Daisies we'll start releasing the official line-up for 2013 so...watch this space! Or actually watch the official website because that's where it will be posted mid-October.

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Team Ayoba! on the Mashie golf course

Bee and Robs (own photo)

The girls (own photo)

Waiting for the rest of the team (own photo)

Photo opportunity (own photo)

Robs warming up before tee-off (own photo)

Hole 7 (own photo)

Hole 7: Calf fetishes (own photo)

Follow through (own photo)

Coli's 'hat' at the formal (own photo)

My favourite Dr Seuss book

The Once-ler Wagon (image exported from www.greenopolis.com) 

My favourite is definitely The Lorax and for a number of different reasons:

1. It's got a message; Save Trees,
2. There's a love story within,
3. The movie version is just too cute,
4. And the trees are the coolest looking trees I've ever seen.

Why I have conversations?

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Where I work we thrive off conversation; bouncing ideas off of each other, using criticism constructively, etc. 

I have conversations so that the end product is better. 

 

Moving a lifetime worth of stuff

My grandparents have eventually agreed to move into a retirement village. Cue my mother and a sigh of relief. However, its not aneasy hill to climb. My grandmother is a type A hoarder, which means she can't let go of anything without much ummmm-ing and ahhh-ing. "Oh, but all old people are like that," you might say.  I hope not, for my sake as much as yours.

When my grandparents left their farm in Pietermaritzburg outside Durban, they downgraded the size of their home, but they didn't get rid of anything. Everything was boxed up and stored in their double garage. Boxes piled up to the ceiling with little paths created in between them is the order of the day it seems. 

My mum almost lot the plot last week when my grandmother refused to throw out two boxes worth of jam she'd made on the farm (more than 10 years ago), unless all the jam was emptied, the jars were cleaned, and  then taken to the recycling depot. Environmentally friendly she might be, but when you're scraping out all that rotting jam you just want to scream, 'SCREW YOU environment, these jars aren't worth the time OR energy!'

I'm off to do my duty on Thursday, and possibly stake my claim on some kitchenware, but Lord help me and grant me patience!

The pose I'm going to adopt on Thursday
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Drawing up a bucket list

Jumping into the unknown. Isn't that what a bucket list is all about!?

Cliff jumping: image exported from www.murraymitchell.com 

At the moment my bucket list may seem short but being the ultimate realist, I only write the things down I really think I can do, and with a shorter list I've got no excuses not to try.

I've been working my way (very slowly) through my current bucket list, but this post has made me want to add a couple more things. And so the list gets longer:

• Bungy Jump  (2009)
• Try Diving  (2010)
• Sky Diving
• Get my Dive Masters
• Visit Machu Picchu
• Canoe down the Orange River

Helloooooo sunshine!

Even though I can't pull myself away from my laptop today I've moved myself into my sunny lounge. The couch has become my temporary desk because I can't bear the thought of sitting in the cold dark study while there is all this sunshine out there.

Its days like these when I know why I could never live in the UK, I need the sun in my life, it makes me happy just knowing its out there. Even if I can't lie and bask in it I'll make damn sure I can soak it up from behind these glass doors!

Machu Picchu- My Big Fat Big Dream

There are so many things I'd love to do, note to self 'I need to write a bucket list sometime,' that it is difficult to decide between them all. How do I choose my 'big fat big' dream?

As most of you know by now I am a realist, and as one of my least favourite traits it is always the first 'person' to crush my dreams. Being a realist means that I always think of the things a lot of other people don't when I'm planning a trip or thinking of all the places around the world I'd love to see. But for the first time, in a long time, the realist on my shoulder didn't say anything, it just sat there in silence rolling the words around its mouth; Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu.

At a dinner last weekend I heard about this place for this first time. My cousin and I were discussing his honeymoon plans and he mentioned this place, Machu Picchu, that he'd love to visit sometime. He told me that it's in Peru, South America, and its a part of the Inca Trail. Now the Inca Trail I'd heard about, but the idea that there is this hidden city of ruins high up in the mountains just seemed so exciting. I'm not generally a big fan of hiking or venturing outdoors to do anything too adventurous; an outdoor music festival has enough dirt for me for one weekend! But, this idea has been floating around in my head for a couple of days now and just Google-ing some pictures has brought to this conclusion...

My Big Fat Big Dream is to some day see Machu Pichu!

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