Hector, School, South Africa

Steve & Helly Posted Jun 4, 2008, 9:03 pm	Hi, I'm Hector. I'm a Honeysuckle Bear - www.honeysucklebears.com - and I was hand crafted by Helly. I want to travel the world doing and seeing and meeting all things to do with bears - picnics (my favourite), teddy bear museums and fairs, and meeting other hand made bears. I'd also like to go to places where bears are making a difference to people, such as meeting Threadbear in South Africa. There's a new bear sanctuary being opened in Romania, that would be fun, I could go and find out all about the work they do.  Best of all I'd love to see Pandas, brown bears and polar bears in the wild. Please get in touch if you'd like to host me. I'm off to Oksana in Russia first to meet her lovely hand made bears but then I'd love to meet you. Lots of Beary Love and Hugs Hector xxxxx
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 5, 2008, 6:40 pm	I thought I'd show you where I come from. But first, I'd better plan what to show you . . .
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 5, 2008, 6:42 pm	Wiltshire is famous for mysterious man made hills . . . this is Silbury Hill, the largest man made hill in Europe and no one knows why it's here.
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 5, 2008, 6:44 pm	Wiltshire is also famous for its standing stones, both Avebury stone circle and Stonehenge. This is part of The Avenue which runs for a mile to Avebury stone circle.
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 6, 2008, 6:57 pm	There are also dozens of ancient burial mounds, including long barrows and round barrows. These are some of the seven round barrows you can see at Overton Down.
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 7, 2008, 9:42 am	Wiltshire also has The Ridgeway. It runs for 87 miles and has been used since prehistoric times by herdsmen, travellers and soldiers.
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 7, 2008, 7:34 pm	Here's Silbury Hill again. This time from the side of the road.
Steve & Helly Posted Jun 8, 2008, 9:02 am	Wiltshire is also famous for its White Horses. This is Cherhill, one of the largest in Wiltshire.
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jun 24, 2008, 6:43 pm	Today night Oksana and we went to the republic Altay to visit the festival of ethnic music "Live water 2008". It took us one night to get there by bus. The nature was very beautiful there- we lived  near hills, forrest and river. We saw this lizard many times near our tent house! The place where we lived: Waiting for the concert: I'm with traditional Russian dolls: At the fair:
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jun 24, 2008, 6:52 pm	Today I've arrived in Novosibirsk.  I feel very tired after my long journey but excited. Here I met my first host Oksana and 4 other TVs- teddy bear Donald, NormaNikkers, Mittens and Hedgie. They are my best friends now! Oksana took me to her work and there I could meet some other handmade teddy bears and other toys! They are so-o cute!!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jun 28, 2008, 6:14 pm	Today Oksana's colleague has her birthday, so she has brought a tasty cake for us. And we presented her this very beautiful indoor plant: In the afternoon Oksana took me and my new friend Tisha to the cafe where we had lunch: And in the evening we went to the nearest park- Narymsky garden: There is a church near the Narymsky garden-Voznesensky Cathedral:
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jun 28, 2008, 6:32 pm	Today morning we went to the beach. In fact there is no real sea in Novosibirsk, but there is a big river Ob (it devides the city into two parts) and the Ob reservoir, which is called here the Ob sea. We had a nice picnic there- played in the sand, sunbathed, ate many fruits and other tasty food, played in the forrest, etc. We came home in the evening- we felt very tired but happy We saw many beautiful sailing ships!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 5, 2008, 4:46 pm	Last Sunday- on June,29 Novosibirsk celebrated it's 115 annyversary. We enjoyed the City Day very much! Many ballons, flowers, lots of music, happy people with children... The Lenin's monument: The House of opera and ballet: I'm on the fur-tree: At the fair: With the beautiful roses: A kiss The street musicians  from Ecuador: The fountain-bear One more fountain: The donkey: In the metro on our way home:
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 8, 2008, 1:16 pm	On Sunday Oksana took me to the cinema. I felt very happy, because I wanted to watch a new cartoon "Wall*e" very much! Here I'm with some posters: And here I'm with Wall'e and Eva!! After the movie we went to the pizzeria and ate very tasty pizza!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 13, 2008, 5:05 pm	Today is our last day which we spend all together in Novosibirsk,  because tomorrow Oksana will send Mittens to Brunei, Donald to Moscow and Norma Nikkers to South Africa  to their new hosts. So we've decided to spend this evening at home. At first we were watching the detective story about Miss Marple by Agatha Christie. Then we talked a lot with our new friends who live with Oksana. We were reading a very interesting fairy tale by Alexander Volkov "The Magician of the emerald castle" Looking for the countries we are going to visit in the map. Hey, we've found Brunei and South Africa! ) It's pretty far from here... And we played the cards. It was very funy! We all  feel a bit sad because tomorrow morning 3 of our friends will have to leave- I will certainly miss my dear friends Donald, NormaNikkers and Mittens  But I hope we will meet again some day!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 13, 2008, 5:18 pm	Today 2 new TVs have arrived-  Elizabeth and Smith. They are very cute! Besides that Oksana got a parcel with a new teddybear which she bought in Moscow. The teddybear's name is Tven and he is so-o lovely! In the evening Oksana made a bath for us. We were playing there with tortoises and paper ships. We had much fun there!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 19, 2008, 5:07 pm	Today Oksana went to Ikea and took us with her. At first we went shopping, then we had our lunch in a cafe and watched children skating in the skating rink. And then we went home. On our way home Oksana showed us the monument to the Hero of the USSR that lived in Novosibirsk- Alexander Pokryshkin- he was the marshal of the air force. What we liked about Novosibirsk is that there are a lot of beautiful flowers around! The Karl Marks's square: When we came home we felt hungry again and Oksana taught us how to cook pirozhki. They were so-o tasty! )) And we fed the Guinea pigs that live with Oksana:
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 26, 2008, 1:11 pm	Some days ago our host received her traveling notebook "Getting to know you"  and she also got 2 notebooks which she ought to decorate and send to the next person. Here we are enjoying reading these notebooks: And then Oksana took us to her favourite park. Look how many yellow leaves there! And it's only July in Novosibirsk, but looks like it's autumn: And here is our  company on the stone heart. It's a stone monument in the Pervomaysky garden. Some years ago there was a festival of stone sculptures and this heart was one of the works. At first it was clean- without these writings, but then young people wrote there their works of love What a strange fish! It's near the cafe called "Aquarium": I'm with a lady with a fan: A sculpture of a girl with a cat: We had a long a interesing stroll, so we felt very hungry and Oksana took us in the cafe
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 26, 2008, 5:20 pm	Today evening Oksana took us for a walk and showed another part of Novosibirsk. This locomotive is  situated near one of Novosibirsk's universities: Some monument: The funny scultpure of a yard-keeper: A funny wooden man in one of the yards: What a lovely lady! In fact there are 3 ladies: Near the cinema-house: Some old yards- rather old, dilapidated perhaps, but very cozy: The house of Alice (from the fairy-tale): Some monument to people who died during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: The sculpture of a poet:
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 4:07 pm	Today we went to the local museum to see 2 exhibitions of handmade dolls. It was amazing! Also some exhibition of embroidery: I really can't imagine how people can make that beauty! And finally we saw this wonderful old Russian town made of wood. I was impressed very much!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 2, 2008, 4:39 am	Hey, I feel so-o happy today, because today we've had total solar eclipse in Novosibirsk! It was great!!! The eclipse started at 16:41, in about an hour it reached the full phase, the full phase lasted about 2 minutes. It was dark almost like at night. We could see the stars! And then the sun started to appear again.
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 2, 2008, 1:05 pm	Today Oksana took us to the festival of handmade things "Artania". It was very interesting. There were many people from different parts of Russia with their goods.
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 12, 2008, 5:36 pm	Today morning we got up at 5 a.m.- very early! It's because we had our bus to Tomsk. Tomsk is another Siberian city- a very old one. It's more than 400 years old. It took us about 5 hours to get there by bus. We like the city very much, because it has beautiful architecture, lots of churches, old wooden houses. Here I'm in the Garden near river Tom. And here we are at the Tomsk State University- also a very old one and very beautiful too! It is surrounded by a beautiful garden. We saw squirrels  there! And we found two stone ancient idols that were brought from Altai: Look what a lovely sculpture of a cabbage and a baby! Small children in Russia think that they were found in a cabbage or were brought by a stork ) This sculpture stands near the maternity hospital. The main street of Tomsk- Lenin's prospect: On the embankment: We saw a kite there! And there were so-o many weddings there The emblem of Tomsk: The Tomsk drama theatre: The funny monument to the famouse Russian writer- Anton Pavlovich Chechov: We found a very old chemistry in Tomsk. It was build in the 19th century. The monument to St. Tatiana who  protects studends and helps them in their studies: We enjoyed our trip very much! What a pitty that we had only one day in Tomsk!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 15, 2008, 5:46 pm	Today we've visited the exhibition of flowers and gardens. It was very interesting! We could see many beautiful flowers there!
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 18, 2008, 6:02 pm	Today we went to the Novosibirsk Zoo. We went there by the children's railway. It's interesting that it's a real railway, only small and only children work there. It's about 5 km long and the train runs with the speed of 10 km/h. In the zoo we could see many animals like deers, monkeys, tigers and lions, leopards, different bears, etc. The Zoo is very big and it's situated in the pine forrest. And this ligr was born from a tiger and a lion. It's a girl and she lives in a cage with a lion.
Oksana oksanashevtsova77@gmail.com Posted Aug 18, 2008, 6:44 pm	Today I'm  leaving Oksana and my friends and going to my next host Fiona to South Africa. Good bye, my friends! I will miss you very much, but I hope we will meet again soon! And finally some photos with almost all teddy bears that live with Oksana:
MrsC Posted Sep 2, 2008, 11:22 pm	I have arrived! That was a quick journey. I was in full hibernation mode because I expected to be in the mail a lot longer... Fi really had to wake me up before I realised I was here... in Johannesburg... Yay! First thing she did was take me to Teddy Bear Central to meet Threadbear, what a thoroughly pleasant fellow he is! And Eloise is simply charming... He said that it will be a while before we get to the Teddy Bear Clinic so he said I should get out and about with the other TVs to see a bit of the country. Fair enough, but for now I need something to eat... I am starving...
MrsC Posted Sep 9, 2008, 10:21 pm	Fi and Vicki decided to take us to Museum Africa so see what it was all about...well it's not about BEARS that's for sure! But I thought I might as well go along and learn a bit about this country... Wow! It is pretty huge in here, three open plan floors... the building used to be a fruit and vegetable market in the Old Days (you know, when Fi was a kid!) Well we found some old suit cases, guess we are going on a journey... The Museum has all sorts of interesting thinks about South Africa on display, like clothing from the REALLY old days (ie. even BEFORE Fi!) like this... Here is what it says about that display: There is a huge hall dedicated to the 'Treason trial' that was held in the 1960s at the height of Apartheid. There are pictures of all the accused. One of the most famous: Nelson Mandela This is what he said about it in his book... Each of the accused has a little red book under their photo that people can write comments in... Mandela's is handled so much that it is falling apart... it is filled with words of love and admiration. There was a lot more to that section but it was all very political so I won't bore you with it. Next up: life in Johannesburg, before it was Johannesburg... This is a replica of an Iron Age Tswana house, impressive...but hey they were smart enough to smelt iron (iron melts at 1100°C / 2012°F) over half a century ago! This is what the smelt looked like, it was made from mud. It was quite a mission to melt the iron and required the efforts of at least ten people just to make one spear blade. It was always done outside the village because it was considered spiritual and mystical. From the Iron Age to the Gold age! Johannesburg is a gold mining town, still to this day and the mines go down several kilometres/miles. The managers lived in fancy big houses and ruled with an iron fist. (we are talking late 1800’s to early 1900’s) The mine workers lived like this... Pretty shocking, hmmm? They worked long hours in terrible conditions, way underground, then came up and lived in quarters that were almost as cramped as the mines. They were not allowed to leave the property without a 'pass'. Because the miners came from so many different tribes and even other countries, and the bosses all spoke English or Afrikaans - they had to develop a new language called Funigalore so they could understand each other. It is still spoken in the mines today. Also around this time, shanty towns were developing. One of these was called Sofiatown - it was the birthplace of modern South African music. Sofiatown was raised to the ground; all of the people who lived there were forcefully evicted, to make way for new developments. Here we are in a replica of a Sofiatown Shebeen (house where alcohol is sold illegally) This is the back room - see how it is lined with cardboard? This is still how it is done today, I'll show you in a bit... This is what the outside would have looked like... Then we moved on to a section which shows you how the shacks look today. THIS is how MILLIONS of people live in this country; often there is no running water or electricity. The shack is built from 'found' items, usually corrugated sheet metal. Sometimes it is plastered with mud or old boards. It is then lined with cardboard from packaging boxes for insulation. Sometimes this is decorated with 'wallpaper' - old newspaper, adverts, sheets of uncut food canning labels... Cooking is done on a primus stove (fuelled by paraffin). These shacks are TINY and Fi felt very claustrophobic in them. Often you will find the whole place crowded with people living in there... The good news is that government is (very slowly) building houses for these people, with running water, electricity and other amenities. There is a huge, huge housing project just up the road from Fi called Cosmo City - proof that it is happening. Now I am sure you have heard of Ghandi (kind of the Nelson Mandela of his day...) Well he lived in Johannesburg for a while, and the terrible suffering he witnessed and suffered from led him to start a movement for peace, called Satyagraha, which had a massive influence in India, the USA (with the African American Civil Rights movement) and locally. There were a lot of other exhibits but we were running out of time as it was a long journey back to fetch children from school. Here we all are signing the visitor’s book...
MrsC Posted Sep 9, 2008, 11:03 pm	Well, after we left the museum, we went across the road to the Gauteng Tourist Information Centre (Gauteng is the province that Johannesburg is in). Fi went to pick up some brochures of nice places to take ToyVoyagers... Look who had also popped in! Hi Madiba! (Madiba is the nick name Mandela is known as in South Africa) And that is the president, Thabo Mbeki, in the middle photo.
MrsC Posted Sep 14, 2008, 8:19 pm	Fi said she was taking NormaNikkers somewhere really special today and that we could go with, so in the car we got… We were heading for the Magaliesburg, a mountain range just past Johannesburg. After a long winding drive through the beautiful hills of the Magaliesburg, and an unintentional detour (yep, we got a little lost), we stopped to turn right...now what does this mean? This is looking very interesting... Oh we seem to be going into the woods...lots of little streams and bridges and woven sticks...Norma went crazy! LOOK! Little people! I wonder if there are any more of them? Trust her to find them! We decided to stop off for a drink and a snack.... Norma was way too excited she went to go explore...Bye! We’ll save you some milkshake...maybe... When she came back she told us we had to have a little look in the room full of fairies…we were a bit big to sit amongst them, so if you want to see more have a look at her travelog. She found another little house... ...with some family members inside! Look what we saw in the woods...pretty hmm? Norma went inside the restaurant, but it was a bit busy to take photos. She said it was so cute in there! Lots of little nooks and crannies. Some rooms were only big enough for two people and some were big enough for twenty or more. There was a very large upstairs, open air part but it was rather full so she never went for a look. Some of the doors were so tiny Fi had to hold her breath to squeeze through! The gardens outside were very pretty too, but it has only just turned spring. I am sure in summer it is a lot greener and more lush. Ahh, what a dreamy place...Norma hasn't stopped talking about it! We should have maybe left her behind....
MrsC Posted Sep 28, 2008, 10:06 am	At last we get to go to the Teddy Bear Clinic! The bears were hugely excited; they never slept all night... Fi had to calm them all down and put them back in the big boxes. Her friend Lara came to help with transport. Luckily the big boxes managed to fit in... Threadbear and Gracy guided boxes in from the back... ...and I sat this side... all done, we can go! Half an hour later we reached our destination. We went upstairs to get some help with the boxes... here we are at reception. Whew! It was hard work getting all the boxes up here... Ohhh....it’s rather dark in here with all the doors closed... It is nice and bright in the waiting room though! This is the office of the psychologist...lots of bears in here... looks a little boring this side, but the other side was painted with brightly coloured puzzle pieces. The bears that we brought today will be distributed amongst all the different branches of the Teddy Bear Clinic. There are four of five branches. Even though every surface possible is covered in bears, the whole clinic is tinged in sadness. Fi doesn't like to stay there long, so we just said hello to everyone quickly and then goodbye. Gracy had some work to do in the building too so we went with her upstairs to Bigshoes... Bigshoes is another children’s clinic that has four divisions. Gracy had come to deliver some soft toys for the Abandoned Baby Clinic (an outpatient department). This clinic is nice and bright and has a happier feel to it... we dropped of the toys and had a little wander around. This is where they do medical examinations. They do a general check, DNA testing and HIV status. Some of the older babies get given soft toys if they are crying or upset. That is why Gracy brought two big boxes of the nicest, softest, fluffiest toys. There were no babies in today though. So we had fun in one of the cots... This clinic is nice and bright because it is in a nice sunny spot. We went outside for a bit... The building is very old and is in need of lots of repair. It has been painted recently on the inside though, so it looks a whole lot better. We had a little adventure, looking around the hospital as Lara had never been there before. The building is known as the Transvaal Memorial Institute -TMI for short. Is was exclusively a children’s hospital that was run by the government. Once the huge New Johannesburg Hospital was built in the late 1970's, the children’s hospital moved over there. This building became a children’s outpatient department. It is now exclusively occupied by NGO (Non Government Organisation) Children’s Clinics. (And although it is stilled called the TMI - the province has changed name from Transvaal to Gauteng) This is a list of the clinics in the building. Gracy will be back soon to drop off more toys. Maybe she will let me come with her....
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 8:46 am	Fi has silkworms and we are all completely fascinated by them! They get fed mulberry leaves several times a day (there are so many of them the leaves never last long!) and they are getting bigger and bigger - I can't believe how fast they grow!
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 9:18 am	Today was Heritage Day in South Africa. It is a National Holiday. As well as that, someone decided it would be a good idea to make it National Braai Day too. A BRAAI is the South African name for a barbeque. Traditionally it is the only meal most men will 'cook' (they do the meat, the important bit!) Fi had friends around for the day, so she made it a bit more special. It was a lovely sunny day so she set the table outside under the silver birch trees which have lovely new green leaves... The smell wafting over was mouth watering! Hmmm...oh...oh...oh... I am trying not to drool! Fi's husband let us have a smell of a pork chop... Oooooohhhh! And he let Bullet have a little taste! Hey! What about me? Fi made some easy mielie bread. (Mielie is corn/maize) 1 can of creamed corn 1 small packet self raising flour (500g) 1 can evaporated milk Pinch of salt Mix it all up, pop it in a loaf pan and bake at 180°C (350°f) for an hour. Delicious warm with fresh butter...I had a whole slice! There were also baked potatoes, salad and garlic bread - the table was groaning... and after a while so was I because I ate too much!
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 9:29 am	Wow! Look how fat the silkworms have grown!
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 9:56 am	Fi confessed that she had wanted to take me to what was billed as 'Africa's largest Teddy Bear Fair' but she had misread the date and missed it. To make up for it, she said she would take me to the Toy Collectors Fair instead as there would probabbly be bears on show. So off we went. It had been such a quiet morning that they stall holders were already packing up but we managed to find a few bears! The middle one in the back row was born in 1901 and comes from Columbia... Some of these were really old too... We found a lady who makes handmade bears! This is just a wig for fun, not a permanent hairstyle! She makes other toys too... I made a friend, his name is Noseworthy! Hmmm...is that one over there a dog or a bear? Whatever he is, there is a pattern to make him! What a pitiful pile of pandas.... Well, that was all the bears we could find. But I want to see more!
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 10:25 am	Silkworm update! This lazy lot are still eating and eating and growing and growing... But this one is spinning a cocoon! None of them would spin at first, so Fi moved them into other boxes so they were less crowded as they like to have a nice secluded spot (which is impossible if you share one box with 63 other silkworms!) As soon as they were moved, they started spinning like mad...
MrsC Posted Oct 1, 2008, 10:55 am	OOOOHHHHHH! Bears, bears and more bears! Fi took me to a Teddy Bear shop at her local shopping mall. Here I am meeting an Olympic champion, who is currently residing in the window display. He is a prize winning bear made by one of the ladies that runs the shop. He looks so strong! I really like this guy... he lives on the top of a display cabinet. I met some fellow handmade mohair bears...cute noses! They give classes in bear making on the weekends. (Maybe Fi should attend?) If anyone doubts their abilities, Gift, who works at the till, shows customers his FIRST attempt at bear making...very impressive! There are bears in every corner! This is a handmade South African bear... A hand made New Zealand bear... Handmade German bears... And some fellow handmade British bears... These handmade bears were made by talented South African artists. They are being raffled to raise funds for the Teddy Bear Clinic! Fi had better buy a ticket... Here is a close up of the 'African' Bear. You can buy all sorts of bear making accessories here. They sure pack a whole lot of bears in this tiny little space!
MrsC Posted Oct 20, 2008, 11:02 am	Todays the day! Time for Gracy to take the toys and distribute them amongst the children's clinics... she asked if we would go with and help her. Fi ran up to the Teddy Bear Clinic first to borrow a trolley as we had lots of boxes. This was the crew: Bullet, Threadbear, myself, Gracy and NormaNikkers. Our first stop was Sunshine Centre. We gave them two boxes of soft toys that they will distribute as Christmas presents. Our second stop was the Thusanani Children's Foundation (they were so excited to hear about us that they have signed up on the ToyVoyager website!) We gave then two boxes of soft toys too... We also dropped another box off at the Bigshoes Clinic. Our last stop for donating soft toys was The Toy Library this was the very first charity Fi ever collected toys for. There were some children who were quite excited to see us but Fi never took photos of them. Our last stop was the Teddy Bear Clinic to drop off some curtains, late comer bears and the trolley we borrowed! Her job here is done. She will be headed home soon, and the others will be leaving too...wonder when it's my turn to travel?
MrsC Posted Oct 20, 2008, 1:45 pm	Last night we had friends around for dinner and decided that it was high time we went out into the country for a picnic and some relaxation. So this morning Fi ran around like mad - shops only open at 9am on a Sunday - buying salad ingredients and cold drinks. At 10 am, we met up with the friends and were on our way. I thought we were in for a long trip but it only took us a bout 20 minutes, maybe half an hour, till we reached our destination. It was a place called Hennops Pride in the Hennops River Valley. You can camp there or just do a day trip. There are 4 x 4 trails if you are interested and plenty of swimming pools. We found a nice spot to sit, unloaded the TON of supplies and wandered down to the river to have a look.... This is the Hennops River....and me in the middle of it! That was fun! I found a really cool tree to climb and called the others to join me... Then we lay around reading for a bit, swam in the pool, walked about in the veld looking for interesting things with the kids... African land snails, centipedes and eeek! Scorpions! We came back after the scorpions and saw that lunch was almost ready... There was also potato salad, regular salad and Portuguese bread with homemade jam...yummy...and to top it all off...ice cream! Then it was time to lie around doing nothing for a bit.... After all that laziness, one of the dads decided to take a walk up the hills with the children... it was so dry... and the grass had been burned so their feet were pitch black when they got back! We wisely just climbed another tree to watch them. Then it was time for another swim then we packed up and went home - all vowing that we would do that more often!
MrsC Posted Oct 20, 2008, 2:39 pm	Ooooh! How exciting! There is an exhibition on at Fi's local shopping mall called BEAR FANATIX...sounds right up my alley, I am sure you will agree. It took her ages to get ready this morning; I really thought we were going to miss it! She told me to calm down. The mall was way to busy on a Saturday morning for photos, if we leave it a bit longer it will be quieter...oh man..... At last we got there. In the centre of the mall is an eating/playing/socializing area that has a retractable roof, so it can be indoors or outdoors. The Teddy Exhibition was held here. Lots of the stall holders were happy to have photos taken and others were very worried about their copyrights so we took photos where we could. We had met some of the stall holders a while back and they recognised me! Ha ha ha - I am famous... See if you can spot me again in each photo. The Teddy Bear Clinic was also there selling the raffle tickets for the handmade bears I met the other day. This cute guy is  a mascot for one of the local rugby teams - the Blou Bulle (blue bulls) And this one led the South African Olympic Team to China this year... These are embroidered bears that you can buy kits for. The photo doesn't do justice to the amazingly intricate stitches. Wow! That was a lot of bears for one morning...need to go home and nap....
MrsC Posted Nov 2, 2008, 7:55 pm	The children were on mid-term break and were visiting some friends for a pirate party. We were allowed to go with, but first we had to help make some hearty pirate grub! I think I'll skip the octopus.... h ...look, a flotilla of pirate ships... Yo ho ho! A band of scurvy sea dogs! All aboard and we'll sail the seven seas... This lot sure know how to have fun... after an afternoon of eating and swimming, and eating some more - we headed back to Fi's place.  It is always good to go home.
MrsC Posted Nov 2, 2008, 8:27 pm	Oh happy day! The children were invited to a Teddy Bears Tea Party, that is one step up from a Teddy Bear's Picnic...and they let me, me, me join them! Hmmmm....heaven… Aren't the seat covers so pretty? I had a lovely cup of tea. Since I been in South Africa, I have been drinking the local brew Rooibos (red bush) tea. The best thing about it is that you have it with HONEY...schlurp.... The children each brought a bear. It was a very overcast day, which was lovely as it brought relief from the heat, which has been unBEARable... we sat outside and had a chat without fear of burning to a frizzle.... After a bit I felt the need to explore, so I went inside the cabin. The first thing I saw were all these bears! I climbed up the ladder and introduced myself. Not a smackeral of honey in any of these jars - how disappointing! There are lots of pretty displays in the room... Hmmm...'Happy Birthday"...that means cake in my book! Aha! I was quite correct.... I'd better not help myself, Alicia might get upset... This is the Jukskei River that the River Cabin gets its name from. I need a little rest. I only have little legs and I have had quite a walk around here. I wonder if anybirdy lives in here? I can tell nobody lives in here... this is a play house! Oh my poor little legs! I climbed up to have a seat and a rest and this is what I found. Fi took pity on me and carried me back up to the cabin...what a lovely view from here.... Oooh! Look!!!! What a pleasant afternoon. I don't really want to leave either - I may just pout like the children did! On the way out we saw another buck. Home James!
MrsC Posted Nov 2, 2008, 9:04 pm	...ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night.... Tonight is Halloween, and although it is not traditionally celebrated in South Africa there are a few parties going on...one of them in this very haunted house! A skeleton hangs from the door, bats hang from the ceilings and cover the walls, cob webs cover every surface. The guests are Jack 'O Lanterns and demons... ....chain rattling ghosts and wicked witches (Wicked! Stop grinning Norma!) The tables are littered with bones, and rats scurry past... Ohhhhh.....what a Haunted House this is...... Bubble, bubble toil and trouble...the disgusting smell of entrails and tumours fills the already rancid air (fortunately they taste just like spaghetti and meat balls - I'm starving!) Help...help....help....cries a ghost trapped in the cobwebs.... Beware the haunted sewing machine...the devil steals your souls and sews them into his cape......mwah ha ha...... What? Of course I'll be able to sleep tonight... maybe you should leave the light on though....
MrsC Posted Jan 15, 2009, 8:42 pm	Today we went to watch Fi's son play in his last mini cricket match of the season. It was an amazing sight. There are about twenty games going on at the same time on one field! The field is circular and the teams spread out around the perimeter - kind of like a clock, here we are at half past four    That's our boy batting (in the blue shorts)  They won their match but scores are not kept at this level. They are encouraged to play for the love of it, not for winning - they save that for later when they go up against us Brits! It was a sweltering hot day (38°C / 100.4°F) and there was NO SHADE and Fi got sunstroke (she really can't handle the heat - I can't believe she lives in Africa!) Well that put paid to any plans for the next few days....
MrsC Posted Jan 15, 2009, 9:11 pm	As a special treat we all went out this evening to a family restaurant called the Lone Wolf Spur. Spur is a franchise right across the country. It has an American Indian theme though they are basically a steak house. Hmmm...I'm starving, I wonder what's to eat? Ooh! Pizza...wait, ribs! No, fish fingers....aarggh! Yeah baby! Hang on, that's bigger than me! Who wants to share? We were sitting outside as there is a huge play area for the children. Don't the lights look pretty? (Okay, okay - and a bit fuzzy...) Naturally, as we were sitting outside, it started raining... so we went inside to the other play area. We watched a bit of a movie with Shane till we got bored and then played computer games with Natalie for a while. ...and then we climbed the wall...no really! Fi can we have five Rand please?
MrsC Posted Jan 15, 2009, 9:18 pm	It rains an awful lot in summer in Jo'burg.....
MrsC Posted Jan 15, 2009, 9:29 pm	Oh dear, Pinky Bear returned from her 'holiday' in a very bad mood. She stuck her head under a pillow and would not speak to anyone at all.... It turns out that she was supposed to go to Romania with Fi's brother and the simpleton left her behind... in a bag full of important documents... and then when he returned he LEFT her in the bag for ages before returning her to Fi. Wow, no wonder she was so upset... We told her she was lucky that she got left in Jo'burg - imagine he had left her somewhere in Romania! It turns out he left his best fishing rod behind. Well that made her think that it wasn't so bad after all and she agreed to play a game of basketball with us. SLAM DUNK!!!!! ...and then it started raining again... so we went inside.
MrsC Posted Jan 15, 2009, 10:05 pm	Tonight we went to Carol's by Candle light at the children's school. The entire playing field is covered in people having picnics and the children sit up on the stands and sing and dance. It was lovely... Heh heh, we ate Reindeer eggs! And sausages and carrot cake and...ooh, my tummy is grumbling with hunger just thinking about it.... ...and chocolate hedgehogs too! Yummy! The children were to far away to get nice photos of, so you will just have to imagine them all in Santa hats, or reindeer antlers waving big green shakers around. Once it got dark we lit our candles. Luckily the rain held off until it was time to go home, but it sure cleared the field fast!
MrsC Posted Jan 16, 2009, 9:31 pm	I could not understand why Fi was running around like a nut, moving stuff and setting up tables and while her husband was reeling out metres and metres of cables.... Before long the gate intercom was buzzing and strange men drove in with...their entire PC strapped in their cars! The War Geeks had arrived. Usually they play a game called Battelfield on line. They have a forum too and they have funny nicknames like 'Useless' and 'You are toast', Fi's son is called Shrapnel (cause he is small and annoying? ). Today however, they were having a network session and taking over the house! When I say taking over the house I mean it! Upstairs… (Wow! That is a massive screen!) In the garage!!!! Two teams... In the dining room...oh, umm... that's me having a turn! They were in the lounge and someone even commandeered Fi's PC. Aha! It was Shrapnel - that's okay then. He plays quite well for a kid (though his mother would prefer he didn't play at all!) Could someone send out for pizza? The troops are starving - an army marches on its stomach you know!
MrsC Posted Jan 16, 2009, 9:54 pm	Fi and her friends formed a book club for their children called Bookworms. They meet once a month, share books, read stories, have lunch and play. They have been doing this for about three years now. Today was the Christmas meet up as most of them would be on holiday in December. We all met at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. Each child gave a book present to another. The children also gave their Dads a small gift to thank them for attending Bookworms for the VERY FIRST TIME! One of the Dads took the children down to the waterfall to see it. (We had to stay behind because Fi had just found out that her Grandmother had passed away after a very long and happy life) We wandered around the area and found a tortoise! There was another, bigger one but they move faster than you think! After a picnic lunch, we all sat down and listened to Christmas stories... and 50% of the Dads fell asleep  I had some left over pudding that Fi made - oh it was yummy!
MrsC Posted Jan 16, 2009, 10:08 pm	There is always something going on in this house. Every year Natalie and Shane take part in an international Christmas card swap. The rules are simple: the children have to make ten cards by themselves and then they get sent to other children who are partaking and whose names are randomly drawn. Well, we really wanted to help so they let us! As you can see we went with an 'African Christmas' theme. We helped with cutting, gluing and glittering (and we stayed clean and glitter free!) and then popped the cards in envelopes.
MrsC Posted Jan 16, 2009, 11:06 pm	Tomorrow is the last day of school. Fi had decided to give the children's teachers a platter of home baked biscuits as an end of year gift. Nice, but she only started baking once the children were in bed! We got roped in to help - to speed things up, but all the posing for photos actually slowed things down  We ended up going to bed at 4 in the morning!  We had an extra pair of fins to help. A little turtle called Squirt arrived from Okinawa today. First up: Pistachio and cranberry biscotti (if you want any recipes just ask Fi) Looking good, but a bit too big... That's better! Pop them on a baking tray and in the oven they go! Shall we mix the next batch while that bakes? Good idea! Okay, we need butter... Chopped nuts... Fi wouldn't let us help here; she said the knife was too sharp and dangerous. Oooooohhhh! Treacle sugar! Yummy! Now that it is all mixed up we need to add the nuts and chocolate chips... it is very hard working with all these yummy things and not being allowed to eat anything - my tummy is grumbling...  Tada! The first batch of choc chip cookies! The biscotti comes out the oven and the choc chips go in... The loaves get sliced...another big sharp knife! ...and put back on the baking tray... biscotti means 'twice baked biscuit'. The choc chips are done! The smell! My tummy is EATING itself.... The biscotti are done! There is a hole in my stomach...I think I am digesting my own stuffing... Fi says she usually uses the ends of the loaves as 'testers'. She gave us one to taste (heavenly - what a relief for my poor starved tummy) it got passed around and we all had a nibble... Going…. Going…. Going…. All gone! Next up: gingerbread! Ooohhh...molasses! The dough was all mixed up and the counter cleared, ready for rolling. Can you make out the time on the clock behind us? 23.20! We'd better get moving. Good grief! What a lot of cookie cutters! And these in this jar are JUST the Christmas ones... I tried to get Fi to use these bear shaped ones but she said no... Rolling out the dough was such hard work we had to take it in turns. Oh my hat! It has just gone mid-night and Fi is starting on fudge...it takes almost an hour to make... yaWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWn I can't keep my eyes open any more...I need to sleep now... fudge is setting, gingerbread is decorated...what more? Ah, trays! Fudge is till to warm - Fi says she will get up early to sort it out  she hasn't even gone to sleep yet and it is four in the morning! I bet she will have a mid morning nap! Bed time!
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 6:46 pm	Today we all packed into the car very excitedly as we were going somewhere that was a surprise... As we set off it became apparent that we were driving into a massive storm! Fi and her husband looked a little worried as the surprise was outdoors. We finally drove into the parking lot of the Montecasino...which was mostly flooded because the rain was bucketing down... We went upstairs to the outdoor arena to be met with a solid sheet of water and hundreds of sad looking children and grumpy looking parents. We had come to see 'The Beautiful Creatures' concert and it was the very last show and it looked like it would be cancelled. After much milling about and unhelpfulness from the ticket agents, we went to have some lunch. On the way back we saw that all the children were still hanging about with their even grumpier parents, so we went to ask what was happening...aha, if the rain stopped by 4 the concert would go ahead! At quarter past four we took out our tissues to try and dry our seats! The children eventually just moved to the front and sat on the wet floor because they were so excited to see their favourite African animal songs come to life... The children did all the actions and sang along (actually, so did most of the parents - once you have heard the CDs a million times in the car, you pretty much know all the words!) Oh it was lovely! Worth the rain and the wait and the damp seating...and I was right up front to watch it! After the show, we queued up to buy the new CD and had it autographed by Ed Jordan who created the series (and Alan Glass, but we never got a photo of him) and sings on the CDs.
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 7:56 pm	Usually Fi puts up her Christmas tree on the first day of December. This year she didn't feel inclined to bother.... so the children nagged and nagged and said they would decorate it. Eventually she decided to haul it out of the trunk it is kept in - it is just too hot for a real tree, it would be dead way before Christmas! So we helped 'puff' it all out. Not very awe inspiring is it? Oh...<blush> that was just the bottom piece, it comes in segments... That's more like it! Fi said we could stay on there if we wanted and be the decorations. Ha ha ha! Always so funny...Hey! Take me down!!! The children started decorating the tree - three days later they still hadn't finished so Fi took pity on them and finished it off - You will have to wait then to see what it looked like. In the meantime, we popped up our tree - easy peasy - it took 2 seconds! ...and we hung up our stockings... there is no fire place and therefore: no mantle, so we found the next best thing: the gas heater. Voila!
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 8:07 pm	You know, Fi really takes advantage of us.... baking, tree puffing and now KNITTING! Honestly... I didn't even know I COULD knit!
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 8:19 pm	She's at it AGAIN...or rather WE are at it again... We are not really even that sure of what we are making...
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 8:30 pm	Oh! They are mice, Christmas mice! They are gifts for fi's friends - they each get a bowl of tree decorations.... ...and what would Christmas be without gingerbread men...and ladies?
MrsC Posted Jan 19, 2009, 9:06 pm	Today is a public holiday in South Africa called 'The Day of Reconciliation' read about it here. We went to visit Fi's Mom for lunch. We thought we would stop by the Zoo in the afternoon to look at the animals and then wait till the lights came on.... Luckily we passed the Zoo on our way and saw that it was jam packed, so we gave up on that idea and just waited until dusk to go when we knew most of the people would have left. This is the closest you'll ever get me to an ostrich. I have an uneasy feeling that something is going to drop down on me.... This is the entrance to the gorilla enclosure. They were inside though as they have a new baby (a few days later Fi's brother walked through here and the gorilla threw a stone at him!) How brave am I? Actually, I think I am too small for him to see or bother with. But if he takes a step sideways he will squash me! This has got to be the only place a lioness would meet a polar bear... This Christmas tree looks tiny in the photo but is was really, really big! Whoops, the top lights seem to be off... Yikes! A hippo wants to eat us! Run for your lives.... Phew! We had to sit down and catch our breath after all that running! We are safe here... oh! The flash just blinded me - it lit up the whole area, could you see what was behind us Fi? Why are you laughing? That is one grumpy looking buffalo. Hey! We found the gorilla! Mostly, because we nearly tripped over him in the dark. This was Natalie's favourite. Oh and this one! We had a few turns on the funfair rides and then we left as it was getting late and very dark and none of us had eaten supper.
MrsC Posted Jan 20, 2009, 7:39 am	We went to Fi's sister for supper as the children had been swimming there all afternoon. This is a traditional way of cooking food. It is called a 'potjie' which means 'small pot'. Usually it is placed on a fire but a Cadac gas cooker works just as well. The food is layered in the pot, with the longest cooking ingredients (meat usually) at the bottom and the quickest cooking at the top. In the rural areas this is the only way to cook when you have no electricity. These post range in size from tiny to ridiculously enormous (a friend of Fi's has one so huge it takes three strapping men to lift it!) Hmmm! Smells delicious! Lamb and rice...
MrsC Posted Jan 20, 2009, 8:03 am	Today we went to the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, but we didn't see a single animal... We were there for an end of year party with some friends and just went to the recreational part of the reserve. Mostly we sat under a thatched umbrella to stay out of the sun (it was so hot!) and the children swam... We watched some young men playing soccer....South Africans are CRAZY about soccer. We made some international friends... (We may have eaten them...oops, tasted just like chocolate!) …and we just hung around chatting and listening to music... Then we ate too much...Braaied (BBQ'd) chicken and pap (finely ground corn meal that is mixed with water and salt and cooked to a stiff porridge - it is a staple in the diet of most South African people) with tomato and onion gravy and carrot and pineapple salad.
MrsC Posted Jan 20, 2009, 8:56 am	It's Christmas Eve! There is a great air of expectancy around the house, everyone is excited! Well... the children and TVs are excited... To keep us occupied Fi gave us and the children a job (as usual) but this one was fun! We got to decorate the gingerbread house. Fi had assembled the house the day before, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth - the icing would not set - most likely due to the fact that it was 36°C (96.8°F) and the air was humid, thanks to a brewing storm. It set very nicely once Fi re-arranged the entire fridge to remove one shelf so the house could fit in! Burp! Pardon me! I may just have eaten more sweets than I put on the house.... Once we were done with that, Fi banished the children upstairs to watch a movie and threatended them that Christmas would be CANCELLED if they so much as peeked down the stairs! Hmmm...smells like more work for us.... Oh boy, here we go again... None of us could figure it out....a sort of nappy? Who knows...all we did know is that the fabric is a local one called shwe-shwe. It is a stiff cotton that becomes softer with washing. Traditionally it was made in blue or brown but now comes in a slightly wider range of colours like red and yellow. It has pretty patterns on it, usually small repeats. On the back there is always an animal stamp to denote the manufacturer. We have a leopard and an elephant here. Maybe these are elephant pants...um no...too small... Now that it is turned the right way round it looks like a doll with a flat head! AH! The penny drops.... It is a pouch for Natalie to carry her doll in! This pram had belonged to Fi's sister in law 25 years ago. The plastic had all deteriorated and the children improvised with a blanket! Fi got rid of the blanket.... Then the natives started getting restless and demanded to be released from captivity! So Fi released them and wrapped the gifts in her room safe from prying eyes. And then a million people descended on the house for supper... well ten adults and three children and four TVs... but it felt like a million and her husband certainly catered for a million- we ate left overs for the next three days (interspersed with Christmas lunch)!
MrsC Posted Jan 26, 2009, 9:32 pm	Merry Christmas! At last! Why am I hanging in the tree? Um...I am not quite sure...but it's Christmas at last! And how do I know this? I have been counting down everyday since the first of December with the aid of an advent calendar and there are NO MORE CHOCOLATES! Our Christmas stockings were filled with candy canes and chocolates and SOMEONE seems to have forgotten to take the photo.... Never mind. Put on a silly paper hat and pull a cracker with me! BANG! Oh that was scary and fun! Squirt read the silly jokes and we all fell about laughing... Someone else have a turn.... BANG! Ha ha ha....look what we all won! Shaggy Bear Hmmm....those will come in useful late at night when everyone else is sleeping.... Oooh! Ladybug crayons.... Pinky Bear A yo-yo! Can you do any tricks with it? Squirt A pipe? How odd... oh, you blow out of it and try balance the ball. Squirt is very good at that because he can take such deep breaths and let them out slowly... Right, is everybody ready for turkey? Time to leave and visit Fi's sister for Christmas lunch... I can't believe SOMEONE left the camera at home..... There was a power failure so the potatoes and veges were roasted in the Weber (BBQ). Luckily the turkey was smoked and the ham had been cooked on the gas braai (BBQ) the day before (during the previous power outage). It was so good, but there was a lot of turkey left over - I can already tell we'll get sick of it soon!
MrsC Posted Jan 26, 2009, 9:50 pm	It has been raining....again... look at that miserable sky...
MrsC Posted Jan 26, 2009, 10:17 pm	If you go down to the woods today, You're sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the woods today, You'd better go in disguise. For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic. Picnic time for teddy bears; The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today. Watch us catch them unawares, And see them picnic on their holiday. See them gaily gad about. They love to play and shout, They never have any cares. At six o'clock their mummies and daddies Will take them home to bed Because they're tired little teddy bears. SURPRISE! Happy Birthday Pinky Bear! We have been slaving away in the kitchen - well we had nothing better to do in all the rain. We made bear biscuits and a chocolate cake with bear sprinkles so we could have a surprise picnic party for Pinky's third birthday. Fi lit the candles for us (we are not allowed, it is against THE RULES.) Blow out those candles and make a wish! Hmmmmm....honey tea and cake! Once we were all rolling around from eating and drinking so much, we surprised Pinky with a birthday present! I sure hope she plans on sharing! That is the biggest bottle of honey I have ever seen....
MrsC Posted Jan 26, 2009, 10:34 pm	And suddenly...to make up for all the horrid rain... Mother Nature gave us this sky....BEAUTIFUL!
MrsC Posted Feb 9, 2009, 7:46 pm	Tonight is New Year's Eve! We ended up at Fi's sister again, this time we had to make supper ourselves... Roll out the dough... ...smear it with a tomato sauce and pile it with ham and cheeses and whatever else you feel like! Then pop it in the table top pizza oven. And wait and wait and wait and wait....guess it wasn't hot enough yet or it needed more coals. By the time it was ready we were too hungry to take a photo of it! It tasted really good and the next ones didn't take as long to bake, but by then we wondered off to play a game called 'Cranium'. We were on Fi's team so we won of course. It wasn't long before someone asked what the time was.... HAPPY NEW YEAR! Luckily there were no fire works to terrify the dogs because it was bucketing down with rain!
MrsC Posted Feb 9, 2009, 8:05 pm	Today we went to a cute restaurant to help celebrate a friend’s birthday. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the suburbs, is a walled off property. It is like a tropical jungle inside, with a quaint little tea room, a few craft shops, as well as an antique/ junk shop and a book store. The whole place is decorated with old farm equipment (possibly because the property WAS once a farm - the tea room certainly looked like an old farm house. Chickens run around underfoot and you feel like you are miles away from the city. ...and look at the cakes! Hmmm…blueberry pancakes! They grow their own flowers to decorate the dishes with.... I can't believe it is not raining today!
MrsC Posted Feb 9, 2009, 8:37 pm	We were all starting to get cabin fever from all the sitting at home during the never ending rain Fi had to take a 'little' drive out to the Cradle of Humankind, so she stopped here at Maropeng  so we could have a look. We didn't go into the centre as there wasn't time. But we learned a few cool facts. This area is where the oldest evidence of mankind is found. AND, some of the earliest forms of dinosaur were found here too (200 million years old! Wow!) The first stone tools were used in Africa (2.6 million years ago). This is a 'dig' site where fossils are excavated from. You can clearly see the layer of fossils in this bit (about half way down). I also learned that former South African president, Thabo Mbeki , has tiny feet! ...and Kofi Annan has big feet! Then just for the heck of it, we drove down to the actual Sterkfontein Caves where the important fossils like 'Mrs Ples' and 'Little Foot' were actually found. Isn't it a beautiful view? This is where our ancestors once roamed....okay, I'm a stuffed toy... YOUR ancestors.
MrsC Posted Feb 9, 2009, 9:07 pm	OH. MY. WORD. You know the insistent rain I keep mentioning? Today I had the most terrifying experience of my short little life. Fi was driving to school to fetch the children and the rain was absolutely pouring down. The area she was driving through was in FLOOD! The road she drove on had become a raging river... and to make matters worse, paving bricks were tumbling down through the water too... the windscreen wipers could hardly keep up with the downpour. At one stage she felt a rather large void under her tyre and knew the road was being washed away underneath her... Indeed...this is what the patch of road looked like once the water drained away.... Some roads completely washed away and several cars did the same.... ENOUGH RAIN ALREADY!
MrsC Posted Feb 9, 2009, 9:11 pm	After all of that I needed to take a deep, deep, deep sniff of honeysuckle! Once I calmed down, I said my goodbyes and climbed into my travelling box. I'm headed for FRANCE! So long South Africa! So long Rain!

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