Animal lover or just plain crazy?

I know, I have been a very bad blogger, but I was having such a good time on holiday with all my family that I did not even open my laptop the whole time we were there! Hope everybody's Christmas was as magical as mine. I will be posting a lot of photo's and family stories in the next few days, but while I was editing the holiday photo's I found these and started wondering about this girl.
She is my baby, Anke. The one who starts to cry when she sees roadkill. The one who makes her boyfriend stop on the Highway to save a dog. The one who nursed an almost dead baby bird back to life, taught it to fly and set it free when she was 12 and the vet said that wild birds can not be saved when they had fallen out of the nest.

These photo's were taken the day before we came home from holiday. It was pouring. Hail as big as bird's eggs and lightning (Whats up with that? I thought you do not get lightning in the Cape?!) The people staying accross from us had dogs, lots and lots of dogs! They were running wild, tearing the dustbin bags and being a really big irritation. Their house looked really run down, grass growing up to my knees, fence patched with odd pieces of wood and Ankie discovered behind the wall (she had to look when she heard them cry:) ) a LOT of puppies. She said at least 4 litters of different ages!

When it started raining, we heard the puppies crying and that set Ankie off. Within minutes she was sobbing, worrying about the poor puppies, out in the rain, crying and obviously in distress. Eventually she convinced her boyfriend to run accross the street with her and look to see of they were OK. She looked over the wall and saw some puppies floating in a puddle of water. Then there was no stopping her, she was over that wall in a flash and got the pups out of the rain and to the safety of their kennel. The people inside the house did not even look to see why the dogs were crying like that!

When she finally got back, she (and poor Darryl) were soaked to the bone. She then phoned the SPCA and asked them to please go and rescue the puppies. They did go out the next day, but phoned her and said that the dogs were OK and that they gave the owners a warning about the living conditions of the dogs. This morning her status on Fb is - Hope the puppies are safe!

Now this got me wondering. Is she mad? or just an animal lover in the extreme? I don't know which one it is, I just know I love this girl for caring so much about those that can not fend for themselves.

Have a great week everybody, I might be back a little later with some more holiday stories if you would like to hear them.

WOYWW - Jeffreys Bay here I come!

Good morning everybody! I am on my way to Jeffreys Bay. Leaving on Friday and will only be back on the 29th. I am taking my laptop, so will try to check in every now and then.
Wish me luck, we are going on holiday with the whole family. 15 People in total! First holiday for DH and myself in 15 years. I can't wait! This is what my work area looks like. Disgusting, I know, but its the only little area I could find to work on. There are photo's I printed from the little ones'birthday , stamps, my cutter, my Cuttlebug and I only just discovered from the pic, my glasses.

To my right on the back of DD's couch, some glitter paper and ods and ends. Even DD's microwave is a flat surface to store things. LOL.

These two beautiful children just turned one over the last while. Little Gemma on the 8th of December and Liam on the 29th of November. I might be very biased, but aren't they just too gorgeous for words?

If I don't manage to visit before Christmas, may you all have a blessed, Christ filled Christmas.

Don't forget to visit Julia over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com.

WOYWW - I am on holiday!!!!

Good morning all of you out there. When I say GOOD morning, I mean it in every sense of the word! It is 6h15 in my house, DH has left for work, DD is fast asleep and all is quiet. I have nowhere to go today, well, nowhere I don't want to go!! Marking? Done! Marks? Submitted. Reports? Done and dusted! School year is officially over for me. Can you all say: YAY!!!
This is the only space I could find to actually do some crafting last week. But, the good news is, I found a little flat surface not covered in DD's junk and if I climb over and sqeeze behind all her furniture, I can actually get to most of my stuff! I made this card for a dear friend and a fellow teacher who had a Matectomy on Monday. They discovered the cancer when she went for her yearly check up! She is one of the most amazing women I know, so strong and so dignified. I think I would be freaking out. I saw a card like this one a while ago on Becca Freeken's blog and knew I had to make one for Cindy. Hope Becca doesn't mind. ( http://amazingpapergrace.com )

Please say a prayer for Cindy for a full and speedy recovery.

I have been telling you that mr. Mojo has been back, but I had no time to share. So here goes, some of the Christmas cards that I made. First one is an image from Mo Manning called Sugarplum Fairy. I just love her! All papers and embellishments are from my scrapbox and from whatever I could get to. Cardstock is Bazzil and all images were coloured with my beloved Copic markers.

The next one is a Magnolia image that was sent to me as part of a RAK about 2 years ago. I just never got round to colouring her. Isn't this little Tilda adorable? She got a liberal Stickle treatment to her wings, halo and stars.

Lastly the wonderful La La Land stamp by Irena Blount. I fell in love with her Marci and Luca stamps at CHA and had to have most of them. LOL This one is so wonderful, because it is so hard to find summery images for Christmas! My son keeps having a hissy fit when I use snowmen or Reindeer on my cards. I get the whole 'for goodness sake mom, we live in Africa, it is 35 degrees out there!' thing from him every year, so finding the Summery Marci and Luca was such a bonus!

Have a great week everybody! I am going clothes shopping with the grandies today. We are leaving for Jeffrey's Bay on the 15th and the all need new costumes ans of course ouma has to take them (because I will buy what their mothers won't AND we always go for lunch afterwards!LOL)
Remember to pop over to Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com for your weekly WOYWW fix.

WOYWW - Are you sure you want to see this?

I don't think I should. I might be arrested for Public Indecency, oh what the heck.... I am going to show you, but don't say I did not warn you OK!
This is what I am busy doing (errr.... this is what is staring at me from the dining room table), marking exam papers. I swear these papers breed during the night, they just seem to get more and more! I hate marking!

And this, is my craftroom at the moment! I want to cry just looking at the photo's. DD has moved back home temporarily (I hope VERY temporarily) and all her stuff had to go somewhere. The craftroom sounded like a good idea to everybody except me. In the corner you can see my die cut area, which I can get to if I try very hard.

This is the view when you look at my ribbon storage area and my sewing cabinet and this is the view when you look at my paper storage. Now tell me thats not a sad sight. Mr. Mojo is here and I can not get to anything. I just hope he sticks around untill DD finds a new place to stay.

Don't get me wrong, I love having her here, its just the stuff that gets to me. LOL

I better get up now and go and finish that marking, because I think I could just shoot myself if I still have marking to do next week this time.

Have a great week everybody, I will be visiting as soon as the marking is done.

WOYWW - Everything but the kitchen sink!

I tell you, mr. Mojo is back with a vengeance! His timing could not be worse - I mean, I am supposed to be marking exam papers, they are lying there, looking at me with a lot of reproach, but what can I do? The fickle mr. Mojo might just decide to leave if I do not listen to him.
So you see, its all his fault that my beautiful desk is not so beautiful any more. I started on my Christmas cards, I am making mini cards for a swap (they are actually all finished) I am making good luck cards for my girls and there is my son's bowling trousers that need shortening ( why is Twiglet and Wipso on the other side of the world when you need them?)

It is so bad that it even spilled over to the lounge - there was no room left to colour on my desk. The images all went on the mini cards. Only fitting to use mini Tildas for mini cards don't you think?

Had to just show you there is still one area in my craftroom that shows some order. My die cut area. I will show you the fruits of my labour next week, but now I really have to go and mark those exam papers, I need my job to feed my obsession!

Don't forget to visit Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see what all the WOYWWers are up to. I live in hope to find a messier desk than mine.

Have a great week.

WOYWW - Good news

Before I show you my desk, I want to say a very big thank you for all of your wonderful comments and special thank you for all the prayers that went up last week for Michael. I am so happy to report that we experienced a small miracle, Michael's skin cancer was removed, but when the dr opened up the area, there was no need to remove the nerve ( that according to the dr, would definately have had to go) and no need for a skin graft. The cancer= as big as the top af a tea cup - was sucessfully removed and he will need no further surgery or chemo! Drs are surprised, but his mom and I are just smiling, because we know, our Father in Heaven is so good to us and we are humbled by this miracle in Mike's life. He is still in a lot of pain, but a very happy young man.
My desk, as you can see, is just getting worse and worse, without actually doing anything. You will see my son's trousers that need shortening. ( It has been pinned and just needs doing!) Better get a move on, he needs it for a bowls game this weekend. There are some coloured images, cut and ready to go on cards - no finished cards yet.

Thought I would also share this pic with you. My DD, the waterpolo coach. Sad, I know, but I love watching her do what she loves doing. Never thought for a minute that it would be just as stressful to watch the team she is coaching as watching her play. Weird that. So nice to see such a young person so passionate about the game and so commited to giving back to the game that she loves so much.

While I was watching the game, my eye caught sight of this beautiful Jacaranda tree, with its distinctive purple flowers. Reminded me that it is time for the final exams soon. Some schools have already started, we start on Monday. The legend here in South Africa says that: if a Jacaranda blossom should fall on your head, it is a sign that you will definately pass your exams.

My best wishes to all scholars and students writing. May you be rewarded for a years hard work. and may the Jacaranda blossoms fall on every head. Happy Wednesday to you all. Remember to pop in at Julia's to snoop at everybody's desk. (http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com )

WOYWW - I have a desk??? and some positive thoughts needed.

I am still in end of year mode at school, so I have kind of forgotten that there is a craftroom in my house that actually has a desk for me to work on. It has kinda changed from being a desk to being a dumping ground. I have just left everything after my last scrapping party and it has steadily grown into piles of unknown origin. Strange that!? I thought I was the only one that ever went in there, but I promise, I can't remember putting half the stuff there. The Copic colour chart was me - I took it out to start coulouring, but never got round to it.
Here are some of my lovely group of leaders. I had the priviledge to take 10 of them to a Leadership training day on Saturday (I know, a Saturday! Now school is even invading my weekends!!!) It was hosted by the Catholic Schools Organisation and was all about how to be servant leader in stead of a dictator. The girls enjoyed every minute of the day (the fact that all other Catholic schools in Gauteng were there and they got to mingle with them , and there were BOYS!!! could have something to do with that,. LOL)

My girls did me and the school very proud, as usual. They were divided into groups with the leaders from the other schools and had work sessions. I am so proud to report that most of the report backs were done by my girls. Quite something if you think that the head prefects from the other schools were in those groups too. Just realising I am sounding like a proud mommy bragging about her children. Plrase forgive me, but they are a very special group of young ladies.

Had to show you the chandelier. Made me and the girls laugh. It is beautiful, just amusing to find four of them high up in the roof at a boys school. Very rugged ceiling and typical school hall and then this.

Now on to a more serious matter. One of my very dear friends, Melanie's son Michael(25) has been diagnosed with a very rare form of skin cancer. He is being operated today. They will be removing a whole flap of skin on the right side of his face and as well as some facial nerves. They will also be taking a nerve from his wrist and try to repair the nerve and do some skin grafts. The cancer is situated on his temple which apparantly makes it even more dangerous. I am asking for some very earnest prayers for this young man and his mommy. I know how the people from WOYWW rally round in support, so I am confidant that a lot of prayer will go up for him and his mom all over the world today.

Have a great week everybody, I will tell you about Michael's progress next week.