Its Time...

As summer bears down on us so does time, and mine my friends is in short supply for the next few weeks..as I pack the last few boxes and relocate to a new city, new job..unpack ..paint..and start all over again...oh and train for a frigging marathon..I apologize for not visiting sites replying to emails, the quickest way to touch base with me is by text or phone call for a little while. Youre all in my thoughts though..I carry you all close I promise

..much love xxx

We all had dinner...

and we loooved it!

Picture Perfect ~ Scaly

Yesterdays theme was SCALY..I didnt have time to post this then..so here it is now :)

Met this sweet girl with this gorgeous baby Burmese python in Vons the other day, the beautifully patterned skin gleamed as it wound around her arm. I couldnt resist holding it and snapping a pic with my iphone!

Picture Perfect ~ Gooey

Welcome

to

Picture Perfect

and

the week of themes

today its

Gooey

My grandson Josh made us all pancakes one morning while I was home in South Africa, we thought this gooey mess would land on the floor..but he didn't drop one, and we all enjoyed a fabulous breakfast!

Picture Perfect ~ Week of Themes ~ Spiky

Picture Perfect

is having a

Week of Themes

today's theme is

Spiky

Some things I'm good at..many that I'm not!

A fun meme (havent done one of those in ages) tagged by Moni..who was tagged by Cynde..who was..you get the picture!

A few things I'm good at:

1. Taking pictures, and other artsy fartsy stuff

2. Decorating my home

3. Delivering babies (in 5 different languages)

4. making people laugh..hmm and cry

5. swimming, with a swimsuit and without

6. healing a broken heart

7. kissing

8. being a mom

9. packing boxes

10. finding a plane seat right next to a woman with a baby..on 10hr flight

A few things I'm not:

1. Looking the other way

2. flirting

3. making the first move

4. cooking anything more intricate than the basic food groups

5. multitasking

6. lists

7. shopping

8. early morning wake ups

9. keeping quiet

10. being nice to people I dont like

Reflections at Midnight

I slip out of my bedroom door

into the garden

at midnight

and walk barefoot across wet grass

to the edge

where I drop my towel and

slide silently into warm dark water...

I swim lengths until exhausted

then lay back and watch the sky

there is no moon tonight

a shooting star, its green I muse,

appears suddenly from nowhere

and drops, just as quickly, out of sight

behind the tall palm tree stretching upwards

like a feather duster stuck upside down

in the dirt

I make a wish, fervently, deeply...and suck breath into

my tired body. I feel tearful, my arms ache, every pore of me screams sleep

A finger of light pokes through a gap in

the wooden fence and squiggles across the water

it fascinates me..and I drift

I empty my head

The creak of an impatient dog

on a canvas deck chair brings

me back to reality

and the glow from my window

beckons

I climb out and dry myself slowly

and walk back across

the wet grass...

Heading North

At last the verbal job offer in Lodi has been put into writing! The job in Napa was only a short term 13week contract so I turned that down, but I have signed the papers for my new townhouse in Sacramento and move in on the 5th July and start my new job on the 9th. So for now packing is the name of the game...

Wordless Wednesday

where I take the pic and you post the caption

The Best Wedding Proposal Ever!

why its nice to have well co-ordinated friends and family!!

about the last the few days...

Picture Perfect

Welcome

to

Picture Perfect

and a light hearted theme this week

'show me some fun'

Senga and my mum have a laugh, while Hughey looks on in utter confusion!

Then and Now

Caroline and I were usually the only ones who took pictures in those days, so this is a rare shot with both of us in it! Caroline is the blonde third from the left...I think it was taken in 1972/3

Michael, Caroline and Kali

Wordless Wednesday

where I take the picture..and you post the caption

In Bakersfield once more...

Home after a long drive and a busy day, had a wonderful dinner with my mum, sister and nephew..(the one who didnt win the wedding contest) had a walk with two happy pups in the gorgeous fresh night air..and now heading to bed for a deeeep sleep....

My Daily Grind

This is certainly not what I do every day, but it is what I was doing this weekend. A very good school friend of mine..and I re-connected via Facebook a few months ago, when I heard she lived in Napa and was only a few hours drive away we made tentative arrangements to meet..soon. 6 months came and went and although we both knew we would see each other one day, dates never seemed to pan out!

I then had a job opportunity in the area and suddenly after 38yrs..we were face to face!!

welcome sign in her kitchen

The first meeting was tearful and funny all rolled in to one, we were never quite sure as we hugged and laughed, if the tears were from mirth or the sheer joy of connecting with someone from wayyy back when...or a healthy dose of both. We grew up in tiny little Swaziland together, attended boarding school together for 7yrs. We had not seen or spoken since I graduated high school in 1974 (she has picture proof I did...lol) she was a year behind me. I went to nursing school, and she went back to Swaziland, got married and had two babies.While I was living in Johannesburg finishing my studies and also marrying and having children, she got divorced, met an American in Swaziland, traveled to Napa and remarried an extremely smart and innovative businessman who was many years older than her. They were married for almost 21 years when he died after a long illness, and she has become the very deserving heiress of his business, home and small fortune. She has since met and married the kindest most wonderful man, they can travel a lot, love a lot.. and live a good life in the very best way!

the reflection of the bathroom mural

She demolished the home they had lived in together some years after his death, and built the home of her dreams. A Cape Dutch Contemporary marvel. It is filled with paintings and artwork, rugs and other collectibles from all over the world, there are many sculpture pieces from South Africa which she has carefully shipped over here to the USA..

Her garden is eco-friendly and water smart, she has underwater drainage systems which store rainwater for garden irrigation, and plants which are native to the area..and succulents from South Africa.

Its a wonderfully peaceful oasis, and I feel so privileged to have been invited in to share a little of her lifestyle. She is generous to all those she loves, and is very involved in a charity in Napa called Hanna House.

We spent so much time laughing as we reminisced about school, and the friends we both knew there, 'remember when' conversations which I don't have with anyone else.

Who would ever have known that two girls from a country on the other side of the world, would end up living a few hours apart in this one...aint life strange? And wonderful!

Sleeping in Napa

and then I wake to this....

Wordless Wednesday

where I take the picture... and you post the caption

All Mine

I've made the last payment on my car and it feels soo good!!

Every now and then I get lucky...

Picture Perfect ~ Idioms

Welcome

to

Picture Perfect

this weeks theme is

Idioms

Life is a Bowl of Cherries