PROJECT 365: Part 19

Good Heaven's there are a lot of photographs to get through today!

Well, I'm back.  I hope everybody had a fantastic festive season, a silly New Year's and I wish everybody sunshine and puppies and unicorns for 2013.

I had a lovely Christmas and a very good rest, although my time off was not long enough.  It's never long enough. Let me show you what I got up to during my 3 weeks off and my first week back at
work.

Day 258: A week ago, this was a pumpkin seed :)

From the pumpkin pie I made on Day 250!  Mmm pie....

Day 259: 1930's wind up gramophone. One of the many things on my wish list from today's antique fair.

There is a cluster of antique shops near where my folks live.  They have antique fairs, toy fairs, food and wine fairs on a regular basis and always have seasonal fairs too, for Halloween, or Valentines, Spring Day and of course Christmas.  I didn't make it to any of the fairs last year, including the Christmas one, which is always really nice as they do it night and there's pretty lights and music and a bonfire...  But I missed it.  So when I saw they were having one last antique fair before Christmas I dragged CheeseHaw along.  You never know what Christmas prezzies you might find.

Day 260: Big Wheel and Blue Sky

I dunno what you folks around the world call these but we call them fairs. They travel around and set up all over the place. But never with a circus...  Anyway, they set up this fair in the parking lot of one of the shopping malls near me.  I went there to do some Christmas shopping and when I got out of my car, the Big Wheel (or Ferris Wheel, I guess) was up against the gorgeous blue sky.  It was such a pretty picture.

Day 261: A mountain of clouds.

I warned y'all about photos of the sky, right?  Lots of them.  Lots and lots of them.

Day 262: I'd like one of these for Christmas. Pretty please?

Needless to say, I never got one...  I just love these retro scooters that are all the rage here at the moment.

Day 263: Christmas mail is ready to send!

Better late than never, right?  I don't think one item I sent got to it's destination before Christmas.  Not even the local Christmas cards.  Oh well.

Day 264: I wear my continent on my wrist.

A bunch of these were included in some of the parcels I sent.  Now my continent is all over the world!

Day 265: High class, public toilet graffiti.

I found this in the movie house bathroom when I took a bathroom break during The Hobbit.  I didn't have anything to take a photo of it with me at the time, so once the movie was finished I ran back, found the right stall, and snapped it.  I was just tickled that the only graffiti on the entire wall was a Shakespeare quote.

Day 266: Sparkly Christmas bear.

My sister bought this for me to add to my Christmas decorations.  Isn't he great?

Day 267: A very busy, and very large spider just outside my kitchen door.

This poor spider.  He had made his web from the gutter to the lid of the outside dustbin.  But every time I took the rubbish out, I ruined his web.  And every evening he made it again.  Or she.  Whatever.

Day 268: Swaziland Candle Reflection

For a few days over December the power went out.  It was just on our property and I cannot think how it took them three days to fix it.  And then it went out again the day after they fixed it.  Aaargh!  Anyway, I spent a few nights in candle light.  This is one of the candles I bought from a well known candle making place in Swaziland during my holiday there in 2010.   I had it placed just in front of my mirror and the reflection and the glowing was just so pretty.

Day 269: Africa.

So, in order to get out of my no electricity house, and to charge my phone via my car charger, I spent the next afternoon in a nature reserve a few minutes from my house.  It was so hot so I didn't see many animals, but I did see a tortoise crossing the road which was cool, and some Impala and some Warthogs.  The babies were so damn cute.  Anyway while I was driving around this caught my eye.  It just said 'Africa'.

Day 270: my bedside light for the last 3 nights in a row...

Yeah...  The great thing about this lamp is it burns citronella oil.  Beware mosquitoes!

Day 271: Sunset from Dad's car.

I cannot for the life of me remember why I was in my Dad's car.  I know I was sitting in the back with my parents in the front...  But I can't remember where we'd been or where we were going... I do remember taking this photograph.  I always try to take photos of sunsets and my iTouch gets the colours just right.

Ha! I just remembered!  We went to family friends for a braai and met up with Sis and Darren there.  That was a great evening, even if it took me a while to remember it.

Day 272: Gift wrapping wrapped up.

Just in time too.

Day 273: I think we're ready.

Sis slept over on the 23rd to help with preparations for the 24th, when the folks were coming over for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  The presents were all under the tree and the house was halfway clean, so yep, we were ready!

Day 274: The Roast Christmas Beast for the Haw Christmas Feast.

We were running late and there were a few hormonal outbursts from Sis but all in all everything worked out fine.  For starters, Sis made garlic mussels.  Then we had roast duck with sage and onion stuffing with a South African twist; we made it with boerewors instead of pork bangers.  We had roast potatoes, creamed spinach and... (seriously, I cannot remember anything right now.  It was almost a month ago, what do you expect?!) ... oh and fried mushrooms to go with the duck, aand Sis made peanut butter ice cream for pudding!

Day 275: Happy Christmas!

Minutes after midnight.  And then we opened presents!

Day 276: The day after.

Could have been worse, I guess.

Day 277: Canoodling with my girl.

Suffice to say that the majority of days after Christmas were spent in a similar manner.

Day 278: Gotta love this country.

SisHaw and I spent the day at a private zoo about 50km's north of my house.  The zoo is located within a large conservancy.  And these signs were all along the road.  Didn't see any hippos though...

Day 279: Yummy scrummy homemade Christmas prezzy!

My best friend from school made this for me, after hearing me go on and on about how much I love tomato jam, but can't always find it.  She's such a sweetie, she doesn't even eat tomatoes!  But she made me jam :)

Day 280: Sleep formation.

Such technique takes years of practice.

Day 281: Happy Haw New Year!

I spent a quiet New Year's Eve with the Haw Folks.  A good time was had by all with good food and good TV.

Day 282: Seasoned travellers.

On our way back home from the Haw House.  Shilo was pooped from all the socialising.  Penny only really collapsed once we got home.

Day 283: Angels we have heard on Christmas trees...

One of my favourite decorations.  She's actually part of a set of glass ornaments.  There is also a star, a snowflake, an angle icicle, and two birds.  They're so pretty.

Day 284: Snack time.

I had been craving these for a while, so I went out and got a packet.  What is it, you ask?  Sweet potato and beetroot chips.  The sweet potato chips are more yummy than the beetroot ones, but all together it makes for a yummy snack.

Day 285: Pop.

I had been waiting and waiting for two packages - one was presents I had ordered for myself, and one from the lovely Dangrdafne - and they finally came.  There was bubble wrap in both parcels and I spent the next two days popping to my heart's content.

Day 286: Fangirl.

Present to me from me, number one.  If you're a Supernatural fan you'll get it.  If you're not, what is wrong with you?!

Day 287: Shotgun shuts his cakehole.

Present to me from me, number two. If you're a Supernatural fan you'll get it. If you're not, WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU?!

Day 288: Our Old Man is on all our new money!

I would love to keep an example of each of these lovely crispy new notes but unfortunately I'm too poor right now.

Day 289: Knot ring.

I just love this ring.  I wear it almost every day!

Day 290: We're having a heatwave.

Yep.  Temperatures reached around 35 degrees Celsius at certain points last week.

Day 291: Icy cool water.

Literally.  I was putting my water in the freezer most days.

Day 292: Chai latte before bed? Don't mind if I do!

Lori got me curious about these, as vanilla chai lattes feature in her book series and I had never even heard of them before.  Now I haven't been able to find vanilla chai anywhere yet but I have found this.  It's just so good that I sent tins of Instant Chai Latte to a lot of people for Christmas.

Day 293: BUBBLE GUN! Coz I refuse to grow up.

Seriously.  This thing is like, the coolest toy ever!

Day 294: Fuzzy ducky the first.

I have a lot of rubber duckies but this is my first fuzzy ducky.  And I learnt from Dangrdafne that the day I posted this photo, 13th of January, was Rubber Ducky Day!

Day 295: Africa Sky Blue.

More sky.

Day 296: Peeking through.

Sky through my office window one day...

Day 297: And today...

Sky through my office window the next day.


I did warn you there would be many sky photos.

Phew!  That's it. Forty photos in one post!

I won't subject you to such a photo-bomb again.  Promise :)