Sending out a ping post to see who is still reading this or who still has this in their bookmarks. Trying to decide whether I need to start another Blog or just carry on with this one.

Please leave a comment or send me an email if you still read this. Thanks. T.

Photo by Chris Engel, www.chrisengel.com

We lost Casey on Wednesday evening, New Years Eve.

He was stuck by a vehicle on our street. At least the person had the heart to stop and move Casey to our neighbors porch. (I saw a plumbers truck stopped outside my neighbors house and slowly pull away. I believe I saw the person and he saw me. But I did not make any connection.) When our neighbor arrived home 20 min later she came right over and asked us to come and identify if the cat on her porch was ours. There are no words to describe the sadness that hits you when you see your pet dead. We buried him in his favourite part of the garden where he used to hang out and watch the birds and squirrels.

His death squashed any New Years Eve spirit we had, even going out for dinner to try get away from the house did not help.

There is a definite hole in our family now. Yes, I know he was just a cat, an independent inside/outside one at that, but he was still a part of our crazy family.

He used to just melt into your arms when you picked him up, no matter how he was held. He would sit on the bathroom sink while you were around, until you turned the water on at a trickle so he could drink fresh water. In the Summer time one of his favourite places to sleep was in the bathroom sinks, probably because it was nice and cool.

It is hard to think that he will not be there in the morning bugging me for wet food or terrorising the other animals. Time to try move on and focus on the other animals.

Casey was an inside/outside cat so there is always the risk that this would happen especially as we live on a cut through street. This makes it no less bearable. I have since clipped Oscar's claws (our other indoor outdoor cat), so preventing him from climbing the fence, and running the risk of him suffering the same fate.

In the Christian faith we are told animals do not go to heaven. I guess I like to believe that if they don't then than their spirit lives on in some other way, shape or form. To quote a movie "The Universe wastes nothing." I believe this is true.

Casey (AKA Casey Cookie/Cooks), you were a great cat. We love and miss you dearly.

Rest in peace.

For Caitlin and Hayley

I Love You!

Thanks for being an inspiration! Congratulations Caitlin, I am very proud of you. You have so much talent I had no doubt gold was in your future :) Hayley, I would love to see you play more music, I was really impressed by what I heard the last time I was there.

I miss you and wish we could spend more time together, hopefully one day (SOON :-) ) you will be able to meet the zoo. We have 3 spare rooms and love visitors....Space for more than just you two, so get mom and Clare to come with!

Hugs all around!

Gosh how time flies!
Sorry for the silence! Caitlin, thanks for the comments!

We have a "new" pet to add to our zoo. Her name, after 2 weeks of being called everything under the sun, is Belle. Chris named her this as she loves grits with shrimp broth, which makes her a true Southern 'Belle'. She is growing daily and although we were told she was a lab mix, she has really long legs and an excited personality, so we shall just have to see how she turns out. She is only 15 weeks so has much growing to do.

So in order of appearance
Felix - (King) Cat, male, made the cross country drive with Chris from CA, and rules this zoo.
Oscar - Cat, male, sweetest gentlest most loving cat unless you are a mouse or chipmunk.
Casey - Cat, male, loves to live outside during the day.
Alex - Dog, Alpha male, has been a great sport with Belle, he lets her chew on him then climbs the chair like a mountain goat to get away from her when she gets too much.
Xavier - Dog, male, Litter brother to Alex. Most gentle of all out animals. Had learned to tolerate Belle.
Cleo - Cat, female, commonly known as "The Under the Bed Cat" as she rarely comes out, unless we are having a really load party ??????
Belle - Dog, female, terrorizer of all other animals in this house. Obliterator of branches. Takes baths in her water dish. Cause for constant cleaning of floors!

Quite the zoo! But loads of fun.

Working hard to make ends meet. So far so good. Now if only we could get our tax return filed!
To do list grows everyday but there is always something else that pops up that needs doing. Oh well, all in good time.

50th Post

Well another year come and gone. Don't feel older for it though.

Had a great birthday, complete with fantastic birthday cake (had pineapple filling), yumm.
I went with Kim to go get pedicures while Chris did some running around, so got my girly thing done for the summer :P
Chris did a great job for my birthday party on Saturday. I normally spend the entire night on my feet when we have people over to our house for supper, but I actually managed to sit down a few times and socialise, it was really great being able to chat to people and look at them instead of at some plate of food I was preparing!

Thanks to all who called especially Taryn D, wow you really blew me away.
I received many calls, emails and sms's on the day before, the day of and the day after my birthday. Thanks for remembering!

Sorry the Boks lost in the Rugby, Dad. Maybe next time they will kick some All Black be-hinds!

Time is really flying by, the Summer is half way over and we are almost half way to Christmas! Lot of Christmas in July parties springing up everywhere. Don you thought advertising for Halloween was a little early this year :P

Wish we could travel more and take a proper vacation but with Chris being out of a steady job and the price of travel (gas/petrol and airfare) being so high we just cannot afford it. So this year I think we will be 'Stay'cationers and try get some of the work done on our house that has been in the pipeline for 1 1/2 years!
Chris' family reunion (Engel side) is next weekend, we will not be going. Perhaps one day I will get to meet some of the extended family and cousins on both side of his family.

Cannot believe the price of Medical Aid Coverage here in the US $700+ seems excessive but it looks like it will be our only option as the one we are currently on runs out at the end of the month! Anyone know of any that may be better for the money?

We have had several downpours of late which is great for 1. alleviating the drought 2. my jungle of a veggie garden but bad for 1. Our patio problem 2. Leaking roof. Time to get serious about home improvement and maintenance. We have let it slide for too long.

My garden is in full production. This [link] is what happens when I spend anytime outside in my garden. 'spose you have to take the good with the bad.
Stargazer Lilies [link] - My favourite flower, I planted many of these bulbs last year so they have kept me in cut flowers for the past few weeks - perfect timing for my birthday too!
Radish. 12 radish plucked so far. The 'watermelon' variety was really pretty but boy was it a fiery one!
Lettuce. Boston bibb/butter. The iceberg variety died back from too much water :(
Broccoli. Not enough light yield very small.
Cabbage. 3 miniatures should be ready next week.
Onions. Will be ready in time for the Fall.
Leeks. Can anyone say Soup?
Meilies/Sweetcorn. Didn't get enough light so have produced the tiniest of corn cobs, still good.
Zucchini/Courgette/Baby marrow - not enough light, but 3 good sized squash so far.
Spaghetti Squash - 19 squash gave most away, ate 4. 2 left on vine.
Acorn Squash - So far 6 squash on vine picked first one yesterday.
Patty Pan Squash [link] - best producer of the squash. So far ate 12 gave 4 away 10 still on plant.
Aubergine/Brinjal/Eggplant - 8 buds hopefully will produce fruit soon.
Sugar snap Peas - died off now but good production early on
Green Beans - munched on by japanese beetles yield of 2 beans to date.
Potatoes - still in ground
Okra - Too little light did not thrive. 2 healthy fruit will cook tonight.
Watermelon - Flowers but no fruit yet.
Herbs - Parsley (2 varieties), Thyme, Basil (3 different varieties), Mint, Oreganum, Catnip, Sage, Chives, Rosemary and Lavender.
Tomatoes [link] - the pride and joy of my garden this year. Maxed out at a height of ~3.5meters. I am just not tall enough to reach the top of the plants to truss them up anymore so they are having to double over. Have picked 16 tomatoes consumed 9 given away rest. About 50+ still on plants. "Big boy" variety producing heirloom type tomatoes (HUGE with fat folds). "Pink beefsteak" and "Early and Often" have also been good producers.

Made mini Caprese Salads for supper Monday - YUM!

Okay I think this might be a good place to stop...I could go on forever. I micro-blog on twitter so if you want to keep up with my daily rambling go HERE [link]

I hope you are all well.

Cheerybyebye
O:o)

Happy Memorial Day!

This week in the rear view mirror...
1. Worked everyday
2. Walked everyday
3. Used my new Kangoo Jumps a little more everyday. (Thanks Simone and Claire). I can honestly say that it is wonderful to be able to run/jog without ending up with migraines! I love my Kangoo's!
4. Washed all the curtains in my house.
5. Went to the Duran Duran Concert. Was in the golden circle and got to be 3 rows from front! They are great entertainers and put on a fantastic show, complete with banks of strobes! Reminded me of a U2 concert!
6. Lost 3 lbs (~1.4kg)
7. Went and saw Iron Man. I enjoyed it. Special effects were very well done and the concept is realistic enough to be believable.
8. Took dogs to dog park yesterday. We are looking after Miles (border collie) for the holiday weekend. He played frisbee until I thought he would collapse. All dogs slept really well last night :D

Today...
1. Have to wake Chris up (it's after 11am) and get his butt moving.
2. Go to brunch with Kim and Ethan, followed by going to see the new "Indiana Jones" Movie.
3. Going Strawberry picking
4. Cookout with David, Lori, Austin and Raven in Wake Forest.

Week ahead...
1. Many birthdays this week including Chris' 40th.
2. Lots of planning to do for Chris birthday dinner on Thursday and party Saturday.
3. Work

Busy times.

Thanks C for the comment :D

Cheerybyebye for now

O:o)

I'm Home!

The flights went well, the lay overs were terribly long and boring, but I made it in one (tired) piece.

Chris did a great job of getting the house cleaned up before I got back, he had lit candles too so it smelt divine! Today is another matter though and I see scrubbing walls and curtains in my near future!

It was wonderful to catch up with a few friends while back in SA, sorry to everyone who I did not have time to see. I will make advance reservations for your time before I come out next time. This trip was all for Gran and left very little time for anyone else.

Got most of my unpacking done last night found a couple things missing, but nothing major and it is to be expected when bags pass through SA airports.

Now to force myself to stay awake for an entire day. I have a mountain of pictures to post and will have to buy a Flickr pro account so that I have space to post them.
Also my garden has turned into a jungle, time to do some thinning, maybe if the rain lets up I will get it done.

Okay not firing on all cylinders. Have much to do before returning to work on Monday.

Cheerybyebye for now.

O:o)