happy birthday me. braai and hampton court

the only way to travel

the maze. oldest in the world

the boat up the Thames from Richmond

our back garden

how to exhaust yourself having fun

Mum has arrived safe and sound one week ago now. Its absolutely flown by, which is always the terrible thing. we have been having such fun though beginning on the Sunday where we had a boerewors braai (sausage barbeque) Tuesday was my birthday and we went off to Hampton court palace. It was the worst weather we have had all week unfortunately and our picnic was rained upon , but the maze was a great success and the gardens and really wonderful.
Wednesday we went swimming and then went to the monthly dinner club with the girls which was enjoyed by all. Thursday mum and I went to the Chelsea flower show. You have never seen a sight like it. Really its quite mindblowing. This post is dedicated to those photos and I will post more photos of the other bits.
tonight we are off to see Wicked!!! YAY!! Kristian gave me 2 tickets so I could go with my mum. Oh yes and inbetween all this I went to the cinema with Kristian to see State of play with russel crowe and helen mirren, Ben Affleck. Very good. I dont know if a girl in her 30's can take all this activity but I am loving it.

The Alchemists garden another of the courtyard gardens

cottage courtyard garden

clay garden. all sculpted

the Kirstenbosch stand. Thats the western Capes botanical gardens. We have flora that is indigenous to our area of the world only. We won GOLD!!

Clematis

orchids

the island of Jerseys veggie stand

If you love sculpture like me you would have loved this. All bronze tree
sculptures that serve as water features

the best sculpture here was this mans. David Goode

David Goode

some more sculpture I liked One of the show gardens

show garden. just adored the colours the designer used and all the dill planted between it all

Well , well, I hope I have not lost you all due to my extended absence ,but if you have ever moved you will know how time consuming and exhausting it is. As I type i am sitting in my beautiful , new house. I could not be happier with it. If I could buy a house this would be it.
I will take some photos when I am all done packing everything away.

This post will serve as a major catch up on my life so lets begin....
we moved 2 weeks ago now and the week prior to moving was awful due to our previous landlords being a "a bit difficult". All I ever hear about is poor landlords and awful tenants who ruin properties but I am here to tell you I have rented for 10 years and I treat a house as my own . I just wish tenants could get a break. All was sorted in the end though and we moved without incident. We hired a man and van to move us,well actually two men so I thought fabulous, until the first man to step from the truck was about 75!! Luckily he brought two younger men with him but as it turns out he was strong as an ox. Never underestimate the elderly. Bar his frequent toilet breaks he helped with all the moving and when Kristian tried to help with moving the sofa into place ,and then tumbled over, he was ever so concerned :)

The new house has been so fabulous. beautiful new bathroom with velux window skylight. new kitchen with dishwasher, new carpets, reclaimed oak flooring. We have it all and its amazing.We have needed a few bits of furniture which we picked up from ikea. Has anyone ever heard of Ikea leading to divorce? they should warn you that assembling the furniture could have a negative impact on your relationship. Its all up and lovely now and finally Kristian and I are speaking again.

Mum arrives in 3 sleeps time now. Saturday morning. How wonderful it will be to have her here and then my dad 2 weeks later. I cant wait. It is so difficult being separated from them. Birthdays and mothers day and fathers day. They become very difficult to deal with. Mostly I just shrug them off and ignore them in true Wendy style. I find that easier. I recently missed my lovely friend , Caroline's , birthday as well. I think that's amongst the worst things to deal with. that life continues and everyone you love continues doing the things you used to be part of. And you miss all the small stuff. all the bits of news and funny moments that you will never get back. I hear all about my friends children but some of them I am yet to meet and others . like my little Sarah, have developed personalities that I know nothing about. I know I am sounding all morbid but its just an observation and its how I feel.

On the other hand when i have times like this that are coming up I enjoy the quality time with my loved ones and we do such great things and make memories that last me till the next time.

Right in my first moving week , my friend Jacki has a friend who organised tickets to the peacock theatre , sadler wells, to see Havana Racatana. Amazing dance show. I so enjoyed myself. the salsa dancing was awe inspiring and it was wonderful to have a night out. Hoping to see another show when mum and dad are here. There are so many I want to see but I think wicked will be my next one. I hear its great.

Bar that little Lily is doing great. She has a full blown personality and is so clever. cant get a thing by her. At times her character is so like mine its quite scary. She does things that i recognise. In other ways she has all her own little traits coming though. *warning..story that only a mum will find interesting* Yesterday morning Lily needed a wee quite early, at 6am (yawn), so as she is sitting on the toilet and i am staring blearily at her she says" Mummy , you have some seaweed in your eye" I discovered that it was not in fact seaweed but crusty sleepy stuff.(don't try and deny you don't get that) Where on earth does she get this stuff. We don't even live near the sea!! after I laughed she then revised her opinion and changed it to "a flake"

I promise I will post some photos after my birthday do on Sunday of Lily and us and the house and whoever gets in the way of my camera.
until then..
xxxx