Wild at Heart

To my darling boys,
Just a very quick update so that you guys at home know that I am alive and well....and having the most amazing time - my only regret is that you three are not here, experiencing and sharing the dream with me as I am missing you all so much.

OK - so here's what I've been up to since I waved you all good bye last week.

Day 1 - flight from Bristol was fine - arrived in Amsterdam and managed to grab a quick bite to eat before jumping on my flight to Jo'berg. Flying over the dessert was an unbelievable sight to see.....miles and miles of nothing but sand!


Arrived in Jo'berg 12 hours later and met up with Glenda (event organiser extraordinaire), Aunty Val (Glenda's right hand woman - and what a woman she is - I ADORE her and know that you would too) and Tami ( Prima's Product Development and Creative Director) - who is one of life's sweeties and has been my room mate through out this amazing adventure.


Day 2. Woke to delish food - then headed off to the convention centre to be part of the retailers day and spent the evening with the rest of the guys and gals who are all here teaching.


Day 3. Taught a class to 154 delegates who all enjoyed playing with Prima and having a little fun distressing and bashing the heck out of flowers :D


Day 4. Another day teaching - this time to 124 eager students who all created the most stunning pages.
I need to say a big thanks to all Jo'berg dharls for making my time spent with you so amazing.....you are all THE BEST.
Day 5. Early rise to set off to Jo'berg airport where we took a flight to Port Elizabeth......followed by a 45 minutes car journey to heaven on earth - Kichaka.


At 3.30pm we set off for an afternoons game drive and spotted hippo's, cheetahs, Nelliphants and a whole host of bugs, birds and other beauties.....I even ate termites!!!! Yep.....I ate real life, straight out of the ground termites - which tasted just like Christmas trees - weird huh?

We pulled over for much needed refreshments and picked a spot to settle down in the bush to watch the sunset.


The evening sunset reduced me to tears - the sky became the most amazing fiery red - you know how much red skies remind me of my dad - remember the night he died and how the sky was so beautiful and how Bobs said that the sky was so red because Grand Pappy was up there now making it warm - so the skies last night really made me miss my Dad so much but it kinda felt like he was here with me.....if I could have had you with me right at that moment, I think I would have been the happiest woman alive.
We really HAVE to come back here as a family and share this amazing ride together....I know you would all love it just as much as I do.
Anyways - we arrived back from the game drive VERY cold - its like 14 degrees here and overcast......but the roaring log fire soon warmed our bones.
We enjoyed the most divine meal and then headed off to bed.......our room is soooo luxurious.....just look!!


Day 6. Jamie, our drive ranger woke us from our slumbers with an early morning call - and off we went back out to discover more of the natural beauty which surrounds us.
Our early morning game drive proved successful and we spotted lions - with cubs too.


We saw a giant bull Elephant - and I mean huge - seriously it was soooo much larger than I had ever imagined an elephant could be - anyways - the Elephant got a bit pi%%ed with having a group of tourists invading his turf - so he started to get a bit gnarly and decided to charge at us!!! OK so it was for all of a blip second - but my heart was beating sooo fast as the adrenalin began to surge - it was all over before it began, as our expert ranger took control and told the big guy to relax and back off - it really was quite scary at the time!

We got back from the game drive just in time to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast and then spent the rest of the day relaxing before heading out again on our third game drive.

We didn't manage to see any Rhino today - but we did see lots of Giraffes. One of the Giraffe was limping really badly because just a few days ago her baby was taken by the lions and killed - the rangers think that maybe she got injured too and so they are going to get her checked out by the vet tomorrow - its a bit like the TV programme Wild at Heart - LOL!!
We saw a group of nine Nelliephants which were amazing to watch - well until they all decided to charge at us!!!!! This time it was REALLY scary and we had to make a fast getaway in the truck. I managed to get it on film, so when I get home you will see for yourself.

I'm just off to bed now because we need to leave here very early tomorrow - we are heading down to Cape Town by plane. We will be there for a couple of days, spending our time sight seeing and checking out Table Mountain. If I get up early enough in the morning - at 4.30am - I may just be able to see a Rhino before we leave the reserve.....some of the guys here are all wanting to go out on another game drive before we leave - but we will see....4.30am is really early eh?

Missing you guys more than you will ever know.
I'll update some more when I can - Internet connection isn't so good here and mobiles work as and when they want!

Catch ya laters.
1.4.3.

Mom.x.x.x.

Im off!

Bags packed, passport ready, flight checked in, itinerary printed off, vaccines administered (ouch!), food cupboards well stocked, freezer fit to bursting with meals for the guys, currency collected.....I guess that means I'm ready for the off!

First stop Jo'berg....


Then on to Kichaka game reserve....


before heading to Cape Town....


where I will end my trip to South Africa.



Excited? - you bet I am :D
Have fun!

T.x.x.x

Catch up...

Whizzing around from one place to the next....that's how life has been for me over the past few days....I've been kept busy with daily appointments, kids stuff to deal with, family life to organise, restocking the freezer and cooking lots, which left me with not a lot of time for very much else....well apart from a couple of hours at the hairdressers, getting my roots done!

I did however manage to complete a layout for this weeks Pencil Lines sketch :D

click on image to enlarge

The Fancy Pants transparency was a purchase made whilst I was away in Germany - I couldn't resist buying something from each of the stores we visited.
The photograph was taken by Sharon as we walked and talked our way around Wageningen, in The Netherlands. We stumbled upon this spot, which was so tranquil and beautiful.....I could have sat there all day and watched life pass us by.
As we moved on and wandered around the town some more, we discovered a little junk store and I managed to pick up a new wooden easel for my LO's.....I found a couple of beautiful cast iron ones in Brugge too.


I also used Prima flowers on the page with some of the new E line pearls and crystals added to the centers too......what a bargain these beauties are - you can buy them here or here.

Thanks for popping by.
T.x.x.

WOW!

There wasn't a dry eye in our house tonight as Hubs and I watched X Factor - what a complete inspiration Scott James is.....he filled my heart with so much hope....made me see that anything is possible and that the skies are not so grey after all.....as parents of a child with ASD, we know and understand only to well how difficult it must have been for him to stand on stage and perform so beautifully in front of an audience of 2,000+ - his mother must be so very proud of him - and so she should be.

Go Scott....Go!

T.x.x.

Part two....

Part two of the tour continues.....

So like I said in my last post, on day 4 of our trip we were treated to an amazing evening barbecue at the home of our adorable host, Joan.


Her garden was filled with the most amazing array of nooks and crannies - all hiding in amongst the foliage. It was such a tranquil setting and gave Jen and I the opportunity to meet with friends old and new, whilst taking a much needed night off from travelling.

Day 5 began, and after a wonderful nights sleep we headed over to Joan Gevaerts Scrapbooking and Rubber Stamp Art store in Ede, The Netherlands. This store must have the biggest workshop area in Europe - seriously its HUGE and is basked in natural daylight from dawn til dusk.


Much fun was had by us all and at 9pm we waved our goodbye and started to make our way to Hagen, Germany - thanks to Hetty and Lida who offered us a lift half way to our next destination.

After just 3 hours sleep the alarm clock woke us from our slumbers and Jen and I started the drive to Frankfurt to teach at our final event of the trip.
The journey down to Frankfurt was hysterical but you kinda needed to be there to get what was going on - have you ever tried to barter with a Turkish Taxi driver??? LOL!

We arrived at Scrapbook Werkstatt, in Glenhausen, and were greeted by the owner Mireia and Tina who instantly made Jen and I feel very welcomed.
We met up with another of the Prima Educators, Nat Kalbach, and spent the weekend busying ourselves with classes and lots of chatter. The store is such a quaint old building - I instantly fell in love with the beams and uneven walls - they kinda reminded me of home :D


Finally on Sunday evening we were done - another tour complete - many new friends made - lots of places seen but sadly with very little time to explore - it was a fun trip and I want to thank everyone who came to our classes - you made the trip so much fun and I shall treasure the memories forever.
Big thanks to my room mates Sharon, Jenn and Nat - it was a blast and I cant wait til next time :D

Arriving back home was bliss - the guys seem to have grown so much in the short time I have been away! Is that possible?? I really missed them whilst away and have spent as much time as possible with them this week - hence my lack of blogging. During the day, whilst the guys have been at school, I have been running around like a loon as I'm getting myself all organised for yet another trip overseas - I leave on Wednesday and I have sooooo much left to do!

Anyone wanna come and do my ironing????? LOL!

T.x.

it's good to be back

Its sooo wonderful to be back home in Blighty.

After spending the last 10 days on the road, teaching for Prima, I'm more than glad to be home with my guys....I missed them all so much and will admit to sharing a few tears when I finally got to give them all a big cuddle late last night.

My trip began on 5th Sept in Amsterdam where I met up with Sharon Laakkonen and Jen Starr at Schiphol airport. After a quick catch up, Jen waved us goodbye as Sharon and I were heading over to Ochten to go teach Prima Make and Takes at Kars Krazy Days event, and Jen was off to play at Scrapbookmate for the weekend.


We arrived at the hotel, dropped off our bags and headed out for a walk around Wageningen - which was such a pretty little town.
Sunday and Monday were spent at the show where I got to meet up with UK retailers as well as some of my scrapping pals, including the lovely Rebbecca from Sassafras.


Tuesday morning saw me waving goodbye to my room mate, Sharon, as well as the rest of the guys whom I had meet over the weekend - Layle, Suzie, Lindsey, Donald, Norla Lee etc - *sniff sniff*- I was left all on my lonesome at the hotel but not for long as Jen arrived shortly afterwards and we were whisked away to Venlo to go teach at Manita's store,"Special Memories".
Jen and I had a fantastic time at the store and enjoyed meeting new faces. We had such a giggle trying on hats which were all creative masterpieces.

From Venlo we headed across the border to Belgium and spent 24 hours in the company of Vicky and her adorable father, Mark, who own Tiny's craft store - it certainly isnt tiny tho and is stacked full to bursting with the most amazing crafting finds.


As Thursday was our day off Vicky and Mark took us on a quick tour around Brugge, which is such a beautiful city. After seeing the sights it was time for lunch - so we sat in the square, eating Belgian Waffles and watched the world go by - bliss.



Jen and I arrived back in The Netherlands around teatime on Thursday and were treated to a wonderful evening barbecue at the home of our next class host.

I'll update more tomorrow....I need to catch up on emails and spend some much needed time with the guys.

Thanks for popping by.

T.x.x.x