diary of a zambian housewife

music on my blog update...

2007-12-21T14:36:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know that I've attempted to sort out the teething problems of getting music to play on my blog....
So, you should be able to listen to Slade stomping around in their wedge heels and having a blast about christmas (I mean, you gotta love that old Slade song haven't you?) plus there's a couple of my most favourite tracks over on the right there somewhere as well.
Basically, click twice on the play button and you should get to hear some sounds!
(as it plays you'll see the coloured bar 'fill' until it's full by the end of the song so when it's finished and you want to listen to it again (!) you have to just drag the 'filled bar' back over to the left and it'll start again)
(ok, that was most definitely not put in any kind of technical way, but hopefully you get it!)

"happy christmas!"

2007-12-21T14:13:00.000+02:00

That's it Linzi, just about manage to get it together enough to post a christmas message a couple of days before Christmas! Never mind the fact that you haven't posted a thing since the rugby...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.........well hey? It's better than nothing isn't it?!
So everyone, have a WONDERFUL christmas, whatever you do, wherever you are and whoever you are with or without.
Most importantly, it's just another day (and hopefully you're not working!), so just enjoy it and do whatever you want to do.
Well that's what we plan to do anyway!
(oh yeah, and my new year's resolution will no doubt be something along the lines of..."I must blog more often...")
Bye for now! xx

Linzi gets ready for the Rugby World Cup 2007!

2007-10-20T16:45:00.000+02:00

But Justin retaliates...................

May the best team win!!!!!! Enjoy watching it everyone!

"the carlisles go to england - part two!"

2007-09-22T16:43:00.000+02:00

I wish I could put more photos on my blog, there's so many, capturing so many different moments, it's hard to choose which pics to post to give you an idea of the fun we had on this trip!

Anyway, to carry on with the 'story'......................

We left Plockton on the morning of Monday 30th July, drove back to Inverness and flew back down to Luton where we were picking up another car. Though sorry to be saying goodbye to beautiful Scotland, we were also excited about the next stage of our trip as were about to 'cram in a bit of culture' before going 'ballistic on a boat' - more about the boat in a minute!

We drove off to Oxford and got there in pretty good time which was great, the only difficulty arose when we tried to locate the Randolph Hotel (part of Macdonald hotels) - it took us a while! We'd decided to stay at The Randolph as it features in Inspector Morse - our hero! don't you love him?! - in particular the episode called 'the wolvercote tongue' where the characters are actually staying at the hotel and lots of it is filmed in the hotel. In addition to this, the hotel actually has 'The Morse Bar' - need I say more?

Needless to say the hotel well and truly lived up to expectation! It was gooooorgeous! (my favourite word!) It was old-fashioned, stylish, had an air of glamour and was tastefully decorated with lovely rooms!

We were actually quite tired at this point and although we'd originally planned to shower, change and explore Oxford as much as possible in the short time that we had, we actually found ourselves chilling with drinks from room service for a while and only going out much later. We walked around for a bit and in the end we had a couple of drinks in the courtyard of a nice pub before going back to the hotel and spending some quality time in the famous 'Morse Bar'!

It's a nice little bar filled with photos of the much-loved Morse and his sidekick Lewis (who we also love!) We probably spent quite a while there soaking up the atmosphere and our drinks....!

Eventually we went up to our room for a room service meal in bed! (hey! whatever floats our boat! talking of boats.....more of that later.....!!)

an exuberant Linzi enjoying every minute in the Morse Bar!

an equally exuberant Justin!

We set off the next morning with the plan of visiting as many Cotswold villages as we could on the way to Stratford-upon-Avon! Talk about beautiful! I had no idea! We definitely want to revisit the Cotswolds properly in the future, it's a gorgeous area! I can't even remember all the names now, 'Stow on-the-Wold', 'Moreton-in-Marsh', 'Shipston on Stour' and 'Bourton-on-the-Water' are the main ones which spring to mind! Bourton-on-the-Water was our favourite and we walked around, sat by the river with warm sausage rolls from the little bakery, checked out the Dial House Hotel where we'd treated Dad & Mum to a couple of nights for Dad's 70th birthday (and very nice it looked too!) and generally soaked up the atmosphere.

We got to Stratford-upon-Avon in the afternoon and checked into the Shakespeare Hotel , a beautiful tudor building, right in the centre. We had a choice of a 'room in the old part of the hotel' (which would have been gorgeous no doubt) or a slightly more modern room which allowed smoking...I'll leave you to guess which room we went for!!! What was I saying about culture?!!! never mind!

This time we were a bit more wide awake so we did get out and about and explore. We walked around the canal area and checked out the narrowboats, had an icecream (a real, honest to goodness whippy icecream with a chocolate flake! yum!), had a pub lunch, had some drinks by the river and later on went out for a curry at a little indian restaurant down the road from the hotel!

The next morning we caught a taxi to Napton, near Rugby, and arrived at Napton Marina somewhat apprehensively!

And this is where the 'boat thing' comes in! Yes! We were about to embark on a whole new adventure! Oh brave new world! We were about to become intrepid narrowboaters! (through Black Prince Holidays) It had seemed like an excellent idea and great fun! Slowly gliding along the canals, looking at the sheep in the fields as we sipped on our ice cold wine or beer and contemplated which delightful hostelry to moor beside for a delicous home-cooked meal!

Was it that far from the truth? Noooo, not really! The bit we got wrong was the 'slowly gliding along the canals'......it's actually tremendous hard work when there's just two of you! But not all the time! We learnt a lot in our three short days on the canals, on our trusty 'Isla', a 58 foot long beauty! (that's, like, nearly as long as our house!!!)

Anyway we started off fine and only realised how difficult it was when we began to encounter other boats! Those canals are mighty narrow! Then the mooring.............you've got to line yourself up alongside the canal bank, Justin has to jump off with the centre rope leaving me in control of the tiller, then we have to get the two end ropes secured somehow, generally with giant 'tent pegs'! It's exhausting but at least you can congratulate yourselves afterwards with a nice cold drink from the lovely, lovely little fridge filled with cold wine and beer! Then you relax!

All in all, it was actually brilliant! We loved it and definitely would like to do it again, but with another couple! I didn't even mention the locks! Talk about nerve-racking! The thing is though that all the fellow narrow-boaters you encounter are really nice people, ready to help you out at any time, which they did! You're out in the fresh air all day, we were really lucky with the weather, even got sunburnt and had to buy suncream!, the ever-changing views are beautiful and there's such a feeling of peacefulness when everything's going smoothly!

We got up early each morning, we had tea and bacon rolls with one hand on the tiller, we stopped for delicious pub meals and we enjoyed our wine and beer, again with one hand on the tiller, in the afternoon manouevres and we again enjoyed our drinks in the late afternoon/early evening, once moored in a beautiful spot somewhere, looking at the view, feeding the ducks and reclining at the front of the boat!

The boat itself was so cute, like a caravan inside, with everything stretched along the length of it (obviously!), with a lounge area, dining area, kitchen, double bed, bathroom, etc.

We had the ipod pumped up and listened to good music and generally congratulated ourselves on our amazing narrowboating skills! Or discussed how damn difficult it could be!!!

We have to do it again! The canal is calling me!

Justin feeding the ducks moored outside Braunston village

Justin at the tiller!

our home for three days and three nights!

Linzi at the controls!

We were sad to say goodbye to Isla but we were also, yet again, ready and champing at the bit for the next stage of our holiday!

We packed up on the morning of Thursday 2nd August and caught a cab to Rugby station from where we travelled to our next destination............................................................................................

London!

"the carlisles go to england - part one!"

2007-09-22T14:09:00.000+02:00

Right! Here we go! Part one of our brilliant trip to the UK in July/August 2007!
Our plan to have a holiday in the UK started with a wedding invitation from my brother Gary and his fiancee Kathryn! It was just about time for another visit over to England, so it was perfect timing!
We decided to try and visit as many places as we could and cram in a few experiences along the way - you know us!
We arrived in England on Wednesday 25th July, early in the morning and got straight into action! Mum & Dad picked us up and we shot off to Beth Ezra to visit my lovely Grandma. She hadn't been well and had been in hospital after a stroke so it was a great relief to see her and give her a big hug!
We then dropped our bags off at Mum & Dad's lovely new apartment in Rochester and tore off to Bluewater Park for a 'spot of shopping' (hey, you gotta get it in when you can haven't you?!)
From there we went to Rochester high street and met up with Jules & Andy and Esther and her little cutie daughter, Jessica! We had a drink or two and a bite to eat and suddenly started to flag a bit....so a return to the apartment was called for! After a shower and a glass of wine/beer, we were feeling much refreshed and the we and Mum & Dad were joined by the 'infamous duo' - Pam & Gary! Fantastic friends (virtually family really) from way back forever!
We ended up having a slap up Thai meal in Rochester at 'Thai for Two' with much chatting and laughter before finally hitting the pillows for a much needed sleep!
The next morning Mum & Dad started off on their drive up to Scotland for the wedding and Justin & I got the train up to London, just like old times for me but at least it wasn't in the rush hour!
We dropped our bags at the Thistle Hotel above Charing Cross Station where we would be staying the night and caught a bus up to Oxford street! (a note here about our choice of hotel for the night: when I used to commute to London all those years ago I used to look at all the 'glamourous tourists with their suitcases' walking into the Thistle Hotel and feel overcome with part envy, part yearning for travel and the excitement of it all! when I told Justin he said we should stay there so that I could finally satisfy my fascination with the place and be 'one of those tourists'! I needed no further encouragement and booked a room straightaway amid much excitement! - some people are easily pleased!)
Needless to say it's a superb hotel and I'd recommend it to anyone!
Our first 'hiccup' was jumping on a bus and asking for two tickets to Oxford Street! Apparently you don't do that anymore! How times have changed since 'I was a girl'! We got 'thrown off' the bus and told to get our tickets from the machine at the bus stop!! This proved rather difficult with our limited small change and we were resorted to scratching around for twenty pence pieces after it swallowed one of our precious pound coins! Anyway we made it and the fun began! (or not.....ask my husband......we were, after all, on a mission to purchase outfits for the wedding on the Saturday!)
Justin's shopping proved relatively simple and his outfit was sorted pretty quickly! He's a maaaan.................and he had me helping him! I, on the other hand, being a woman...............yeah, suffice to say it took HOURS to get me sorted out!
It wasn't my fault! Honestly! All I wanted was a cool pair of jeans, a nice top and some wedgie sandals......oh, and a handbag! These items were finally secured............and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and a drink! This also took ages as we had a drink in our room (we'd treated ourselves and upgraded to a junior suite with a free bottle of wine!) and kept popping down to stand outside for a smoke! We had a great laugh with a bloke who'd arrived to pick someone up in his rolls royce and we jokingly asked him if he'd come for us! We ended up chatting with him for ages and by the time we went out and had dinner it was 11.30pm! Hey! No problem! We were on holiday! Don't even ask what time we fell into bed eventually!
We caught a black cab to Farringdon station the next morning and got the train out to Luton airport for our Easy Jet flight to Inverness! From Inverness we drove through to Kyle of Lochalsh, stopping for a moment on the way to admire the beautiful and perfect Eilean Donan Castle where the wedding would be held the following day!
We checked into the Balmacara Hotel and found that Mum & Dad had already arrived safely and that various other members of the wedding party were already there, including Gaz & Kathryn of course!
That night (Friday) was such a laugh! We all ended up in the bar behind the Balmacara Hotel, it was raining on and off, it was freezing cold (when we ALL popped out for smokes!), we had plenty of drinks, plenty of laughs and just enjoyed the excellent company soooo much! Gaz & Kathryn were around and all Kathryn's family, Gaz's long-standing best friend Angus was there (in capacity of best man having flown in from Jo'burg) he's such a great person, Trevor (Gaz's old school mate and 'still a mate' and Jenny, his girlfriend, arrived during the evening and, to be honest that's probably when things really started to deteriorate! Only kidding! They were really good company and we had a great laugh with them for hours!
Somehow we made our way to our rooms for some much needed sleep before rising 'bright and early' (???) on the day of the wedding, Saturday July 28th, for a good old Scottish brekkie including the dreaded black pudding.........yurk.....I don't think anyone actually ate the black pudding......
The wedding was due to start at about 6pm (remember it only gets dark around 10pm!!) so we had a few hours to go off exploring before getting ready and Justin and I decided to take a drive over the bridge to the Isle of Skye (where Gaz & Kathryn would be honeymooning) and cruise around for a while before getting ourselves 'glammed up'! We also popped through to the castle again to meet my cousin Kirsty and family and say 'howzit' as they'd just arrived and were staying up the road.
So, we all got ready and gathered around outside the hotel having a drink before heading off for the castle where the kilted scotsman was waiting with his bagpipes! At this point some bloke gave me a weird look and went 'Linzi?' I gave him a weird look and went 'Brett?' and that was how Brett, my cousin, and I renewed our acquaintance after about fifteen years! It didn't end there, this was followed by shrieks, hugs, laughter and much friendly abuse during which time Justin was introduced and also joined in the abuse (friendly, that is - that's what you do with Brett!!)!
The weather was a bit dodgy and we knew it would probably rain at any moment...what we didn't reckon on was that it would decide to burst from the sky as Justin & I crossed the bridge (on foot)! We arrived at the castle looking like two completely drowned rats! So much for the hairdo! None of that mattered though!
The wedding was really lovely, what a great setting, there was a great atmosphere and a great feeling of happiness among us all.
Gary & Kathryn had devised their own vows and it all went off perfectly, followed by champagne in another of the castle's rooms.

Gaz & Kathryn take their vows
Trevor and Jenny having a glass of champers!

We then all went down to the castle 'battlements'? overlooking loch duich and had the photographs.

Gaz, Kathryn, the photographer getting them organised and Angus in the kilt!

We all made our way back to the Balmacara for a delicious meal followed by speeches and then entertainment by a local band playing celtic music, at which point my Aunty hilary decided it was time for a dance and Justin obliged! Justin & Aunty Hils doing the scottish 'reel'!
the kids went mad over the confetti throwing!

It was a wonderfully happy day and one which we won't forget! A big thank you to Gary and our new lovely sister-in-law Kathryn for gathering us all together in such a beautiful setting with so many wonderful people!

The next morning we were all pretty tired, that goes without saying, and had to check out of our hotel after breakfast so goodbyes were being said all over the show! Some people were staying up in Scotland, some were moving on elsewhere, some were heading home and we were moving a few miles up the road to the picture postcard perfect village of Plockton for the night, as were my Mum & Dad and Uncle Peter & Aunty Margaret.

We stayed at the quaint Plockton Hotel, which was very nice, and basically relaxed and recharged our batteries in readiness for the next stage of our trip...................................Justin in the hotel's garden - what a view!

Coming soon on the blog.......

2007-09-01T18:25:00.000+02:00

Coming soon on the blog...............
The inside story on The Carlisles' trip to the UK!
What really happened at the bar behind the Balmacara Hotel, the night before the wedding?
Gary & Kathryn's wedding and the lowdown on Eilean Donan Castle!
The truth about the narrowboat trip, how many times did we really crash?!!
London! Four days in Soho! (or thereabouts!)
Whodunnit? Four go to see The Mousetrap by the one and only 'Queen of Crime', Agatha Christie!
Drinks at the Dog & Duck and chips in Ramsgate!
Princess Di's memorial and revisiting the movie scenes in Notting Hill!
Watch this space!!!

"Family lunch on the long weekend"

2007-09-01T17:42:00.000+02:00

Shortly before we went to the UK we had a lovely long weekend (don't you love those?!!) and we decided to have a 'proper' lunch out in the garden.
It was a family affair and we were joined by vaious of our 'children' throughout the meal!

my gorgeous husband!
his gorgeous wife! ok, ok....
Satchel & Tali join us
the gorgous Clyde pushing his luck!
our little gypsy trying not to look like she's after the food!

Anyway, it was very nice, especially the cornbread, yum! Which reminds me, I need to get baking, we've got Rex & Prue arriving in 2 weeks!

Having a drink at the Morse Bar in the Randolph Hotel, Oxford!

2007-09-01T17:07:00.000+02:00

Actually I'm just trying to sort out my profile photo!

So you get a sneak preview of one of our UK trip photos!

"Paris Hilton wannabees? Don't think so!!!"

2007-09-01T16:44:00.000+02:00

Ok, this was just us being silly, quite some time ago now, but I'm trying to catch up on my pics and things.........

Linzi models the 'Bella' bag!

Justin joins in the fun with the 'Tali' bag!

Mum & Dad celebrate 50 years of marriage!

2007-08-24T14:35:00.000+02:00

My Mum & Dad celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 11th May this year and were generous enough to treat us all to a trip to Livingstone!
This entailed flying Gaz & Kathryn out from the UK to arrive in Zambia 5th May and spend four nights at our spot in Chingola first of all (for general orientation I think.....which mainly meant
orienting Gaz with a big bottle of whisky!)
Then Mum & Dad got to Livingstone on 8th May and we four joined them the next day where we visited Vic Falls and got drenched as usual!
We spent the first night at The Zambezi Sun and dined up at The Royal Livingstone before transferring to The Islands of Siankaba up river for three nights.
Anyone who's read my blog before will know how much we love Siankaba and it's still wonderful and we'll still always love to go back there! check it out at: http://www.siankaba.net/
Anyway, the idea at Siankaba is to basically become completely relaxed, be completely spoilt, eat loads of delicious food, drink lots of very healthy fruit juices.......hmm, well, ok I was kidding! more like........wine, beer, whisky, you name it..... and to enjoy the odd activity when you're in the mood, plus, of course, enjoy each other's company and conversation!
Our big extra treat from Mum & Dad was to go on the elephant ride which the four of us did early one morning and it was amazing and also humbling to be on these massive creatures who are so powerful yet so gentle and, sadly, with only one enemy.
We did the sundowner cruise on a couple of nights where the main activity was lifting your arm to sip your drink and craning your neck to look at the amazing sunset on the river - totally beautiful.
On the 11th, the actual anniversary, we had a special meal set up down at Mum & Dad's honeymoon suite deck!
Justin & I bade farewell to the 'Nokes' party on Sunday 13th May as they flew off home via Johannesburg and we then later caught a flight to Lusaka where we overnighted at the Taj Pamodzi before flying back to Chingola the next morning early.
We knew that the next time we'd see them all would be when we got to the UK in July for Gaz & Kathryn's wedding!
So, it was a lovely trip, short but sweet and very generous of our parents and we all really enjoyed it! Thanks Mum & Dad!

the boat transfer to the islands!

Gaz & Kathryn drinking it all in!

Gaz & Kathryn on their elephant beside the zambezi river

Justin & Linzi on Marula!

Justin giving Marula a treat to say thank you!

Linzi & Marula have a chat

the brothers-in-law after the elephant ride!

the 'soon to be sisters-in-law' tired after the early morning!

the happy golden couple welcome us back from their lovely honeymoon suite deck!

Gonna miss my babies......

2007-07-21T17:42:00.000+02:00

Have just put a new tune on for you to listen to.........
I'm gonna miss my babies while we're in the UK...........
Sorry for the lack of recent postings....was about to update but am a bit out of time........
And secondlife is calling for a last play......!
If you haven't joined secondlife yet check it out http://secondlife.com/ you won't regret it!!!
See you soon, I'm off for a jol!!!
xxx

The Carlisles go on a 'rave'! (grown-up style!)

2007-07-04T16:00:00.000+02:00

Okay, we went all out for a great treat for the long weekend at the end of April (we usually just stay at home on long weekends but fancied having a rave for a change!)
We decided to fly to South on the Friday evening, then we had four nights before flying back on the Tuesday - not bad!
We stayed at our old favourite, the Balalaika Hotel at Village Walk - http://balalaika.co.za/
(no upgrade to a suite this time as they were full)
This trip was JUST FOR FUN!!!! No doctors, no appointments, no shopping list, etc! What a difference it made! We just enjoyed ourselves, got up leisurely, enjoyed delicious breakfasts, visited the Rosebank fleamarket, shopped for pleasure, lunched, went out in the evenings and BASICALLY HAD A BALL!
We watched live music at the Blues Room (in Village Walk, so perfect access from the hotel) and had a great evening! http://bluesroom.co.za/
We found the most WONDERFUL restaurant EVER!!!

TIVOLI

This restaurant is also in Village Walk and how we missed it before I do not know - what a waste of our lives up until now!!! It will be very difficult to ever eat anywhere else again when in Jo'burg! We visited twice on this short trip!

Tivoli has a fantastic Italian menu with pastas to die for among other choices, a great owner/executive chef, Tinus, so friendly without ever being overbearing and we had the most brilliantly efficient pleasant and enjoyable waiter we've ever been served by.

The ambience is great, we were made to feel so welcome, it's up on its own floor/indoor balcony at the top of 'the Walk' and we could even smoke!!! We were even given complimentary shooters and desserts which was absolutely the icing on the cake!

I defy anyone to visit and not have an excellent dining experience!

http://http://www.tivoliristorante.co.za/

So, well, what a trip! Can't wait to go back for a meal at Tivoli to be honest....

Doctors and birthday parties!

2007-07-04T15:03:00.000+02:00

At the beginning of March we shot to South for four nights - "short breaks rule!"
Actually it was mainly for doctors, which we crammed in back to back in order to utilise our time fully. ie. to allow time for some shopping!!!
We actually had a ball, we stayed at the Palazzo Hotel, Montecasino, at Fourways, for three nights and had the coolest room - beautiful large windows opening right up with a view of the 'old' clocktower and entrance to Montecasino, etc.
It was a great place to stay, nice room (except for the 'American' mini-bar), easy access with our own key, along a walkway to Montecasino where you can dine and shop at all hours undercover, even though it feels like you're outside!
We lunched there (at the hotel, on the terrace) with Rex & Prue too before moving on to Dekuilen Cottages where we treated Prue (& Rex!) to an overnight stay, including a luxury, private five course gourmet meal set up for the four of us in the private dining room.
This was in honour of Prue's 70th birthday! She had no idea where we were taking her for the night so it was a bit of fun!
We gave Prue her gifts and flowers and basically had a really nice time together.
Ann-Marie organised a splendid meal and did her utmost to look after us. Sadly Charles had been ill so things were not quite up to the standard they had been the last two times we had stayed there. The grounds are also smaller so unfortunately it does not have the same feel as before. Nonetheless all the stops were pulled out for Prue!

Prue & Linzi deciding what to have for lunch!
Justin & his Mom & Dad at the Palazzo.
the private dining room at Dekuilen!

The Palazzo Hotel, Montecasino is part of the Southern Sun group:
http://www.southernsun.com/SSH/VHB/25383cf8de46a010VgnVCM100000650114acRCRD/74/72

Blinded by the light (not)

2007-06-24T11:42:00.000+02:00

Following the spate of lovely, lovely, fun power cuts we've been having recently, like every day, sometimes three times a day, sometimes all evening, sometimes all night, sometimes all day.... we've had to go 'back to basics' to get by!
We hope the problems get resolved soon.........but then again we hope global warming can be reversed, that world peace will be achieved by the end of the year and that we'll find out that cigarettes and alcohol are actually good for us after all! Yeah right...... better light that braai again Linzi!

knocking up a quick bit of lunch, as you do!
making a 'quick' cuppa!

Going topless in Chingola!

2007-06-24T11:10:00.000+02:00

What? What's the problem with going topless? You what? Oh....I see....! You thought.......

No! I'm talking about our house! Yeah, the roof's being fixed!

It's great fun, banging and crashing all day, dirt, dust and ceiling filler falling all around us, the wind whistling in through the gaps.....anyway, it's just a job, that's got to be done, and we're doing it....the only worry we had was that the guys would accidentally smash holes through the ceiling boards,, but Osman assured us this would not happen! (oh yeah??!)

So for those with an interest in roof fixing.....here are the pics!

the front roof

the back roof

Osman's plan to fix the hole his guys smashed through the ceiling board in the lounge...

Then, I just thought this was interesting, we got an old geyser out of the roof that had obviously been there for years and couldn't be removed. The label on it (see below) says "Bulawayo, Kitwe, Salisbury" then "Rhodesia"! How long ago was that?!! (Kitwe being in Zambia, of course, and Bulawayo and Salisbury - Harare now?? - being in Zimbabwe!)

the label on the old geyser

Last Crimbo!

2007-06-24T10:01:00.000+02:00

Right, on with the catch up of months past!
Okay, as soon as Justin & I got back from our trip, Mum and Dad arrived, about four days later! So I wasn't very organised!
Anyway, it worked out very well for them as their apartment wasn't ready for them to move into so as they came out for a month it helped them with the whole situation.
At this point - a mention of Uncle John and Aunty Hils who have been absolutely magnificent with Mum & Dad - they basically gave them a key to their house and told them to feel at home and have a bed for the night whenever they needed - without their kind help Mum & Dad would really have been stuck. (They sold their house in Dickens Close and ended up with delays of about a year before they had a home again -apart from the caravan at Pluck's Gutter for the summer months - not easy) So, thanks Guys!!!
Anyway, we basically went into christmas prep mode which was quite fun for us as we're normally on our lonesome!
The weather was the usual rainy season but we did manage some swimming - even got Dad in the pool on Christmas morning with a glass of champers!!

It was really just about relaxing and spending time together......here are a few pics of Christmas day!

me & mum!

Tali & Bella playing with their new toys!

Christmas lunch

a pooped out Pooch with his new toy (note he's nicked his sisters' toys too!)

too much excitment for Dad & Satchel!

Kenya!

2007-06-13T13:21:00.000+02:00

So there we were in November last year with some lovely leave available and nowhere to go! What a wonderful position to be in! We didn't want to spend too much as we'd had quite a lot of expense with the house during the year, (what's new?!!) so we decided to look for a good "all-in deal" - somewhere to just laze around, swim, walk on the beach, etc (the kind of holiday we actually rarely do!)
We found it at "Papillon Lagoon Reef" at Diani Beach, Kenya!
We went there at the end of November for a week and had an 'all-inclusive package' which meant accommodation, all meals (including afternoon tea!) and both soft and alcoholic drinks!!! wahaaaay!!!!
We were concerned that it would be pretty basic but decided that we'd just have a rage whatever!
Here's the web link for those interested: http://www.rexresorts.com/_africa/_papillon_lagoon_reef/index.html
Overall it was pretty cool, the room was basic but no less than expected and it did have a great view. We had a balcony, with table and chairs, overlooking the garden and beach and we had a fridge in our 'beachfront room' which was very handy as it was sizzling there!
The food was amazing! We could honestly find absolutely nothing to complain about, there was a massive selection at all meals and as fast as dishes were emptied they were replenished - something you don't often see!! And, most importantly, the food was delicious!
The setting was great, the beach was beautiful although there were lots of 'beach boys' who terrorised the merry hell out of many of the tourists there (especially the English! Shame!). We actually chatted to quite a few Brits who admitted to being scared to even walk on the beach as they found the boys too persistent and quite aggressive when they wouldn't buy anything from them, etc.
We went for quite a few walks and runs on the beach and often went in the sea late afternoon (which was like a bath!) and had no real problems from the boys but, of course, we're used to all that!
Finally the drinks...........there was a 'swim-up' bar in the pool and a bar overlooking the beach (drinks served in plastic cups here - not great but good enough!). When you ate, your drinks were served at your table in 'proper glasses'!!
The pool was massive and very nice (very hot too!!) although they did have times when they did entertainment which was a pain, but again, to be expected at a resort like that.
The beach bar was also used for evening entertainment after dinner and after checking it out on our first night we gave it a miss after that! It was mainly a DJ gabbling away loudly into his microphone and playing cheesy music or a band playing cheesy music! But hey! generally people seemed to be enjoying themselves and dancing, etc, so good for them I say!
We got a taxi to the tiny Diani shopping centre on about our second day and bought some wine and beer for our room which we could keep in the fridge and enjoy after dinner, on our balcony, as we watched the shimmering, moonlit waves lapping the shore....................ho hum.....................................................

our room
the shimmering, moonlit waves.....(from our balcony)
sitting in the lunch area
feeling full after an evening meal!
looking gorgeous after an evening meal!

lunch area by pool

CAUTION! MALE PIN-UP BELOW!

early morning run

When we got back to Johannesburg we spent a few nights at The Balalaika Hotel which is our favourite hotel! We were lucky enough to get upgraded to a suite as I have my prokard which guarantees an automatic upgrade subject to availability!

http://www.balalaika.co.za/

We just did the usual Jo'burg stuff for a few days: shopping, eating, drinking and more shopping before flying home to our 'kids' and a quick preparation for my parents arrival about four days later!!

Talitha goes to the dentist

2007-06-12T11:45:00.000+02:00

Patrick assists Doctor Chitambala to 'operate' on our little girl!

Actually, more like 'the dentist comes to Talitha' except he's not a dentist he's a vet - our very own "Dr Chitambala"!!!

Poor Tali, she's getting on a bit now and her teeth have not been in good shape at all.

'Doc' was called in to the rescue back in December '06......"Just put me a table and chair in the garden under a tree for shade".......how cool is that! Who needs the hassle of transporting your dog to the vet when 'Doc' can come in and transform your back garden into an instant veterinary surgery!!!

Anyway, sure enough, Tal's had her little jab to knock her out and proceeded to get very wobbly and sleepy and once she was out for the count the Doc did the business on her little teeth - pulling a good few out in the process unfortunately - but hey! she's happier for it!

Doc said he didn't mind me taking his photo 'in action' for the interest of my 'worldwide readers' (!!) who may not have seen such a thing! (well you have now.......!)
Poor little Tals!

Boy's fishing trip

2007-06-11T16:15:00.001+02:00

Now, let me see..............when was this exactly....? I reckon it was about last September? Early September probably as I think it was just before Rex & Prue came out to stay.
It was Donald's fishing trip which he organised as a way of doing something special on his 40th with some of his old college friends - namely, Justin, Greg, James, Leon, Adriaan & Moose and last but not least, Adam his brother!
Basically the guys all flew out to Zambia,we had a great evening at Shalux (wives were included - at least those of us here in Chingola! And Mel too! So I should say 'and mum's too'!)
The next night they set off for their 'all night, nearly all day' drive to get to the camp on the bank of the Zambezi......and the rest? Well, you'll have to ask them! Hey! You don't really think they were gonna tell us what they got up to do you?! No! I'm only kidding! They had a great time together in a very beautiful place, not somewhere many people get to spend time very often, if at all. They fished, they drank beer, they talked, they drank beer, they laughed, they drank beer, they ate, they drank beer, they slept, they drank beer, they snored (very loudly apparently), they drank beer......you get the picture!!!!
Anyway, here are a few of the photos which Justin took on the trip!

Justin with his Tiger fish and some of the guys on the boat.

Justin & James and Greg & Adam in the boat with villagers looking on.

The guys in the camp and view of river.

Holiday Makers flock to new Leisure Resort in Chingola!

2006-09-30T14:24:00.000+02:00

The Carlisle Hotel in Chingola, Zambia, recently opened it's doors to guests again after extensive refurbishment to the pool area.

Last year a major refurbishment programme was undertaken which included the addition of a new honeymoon suite.

"We've been coming here for a number of years now", said Mr Rex Carlisle, (yes! same name as the hotel!) "we find it a really relaxing place!"

Fellow guest Mrs Prue Carlisle commented "The food is excellent!"

When asked which room they were staying in they told our reporter that they were in the 'Honeymoon Suite' and both said they found it extremely comfortable.

"The nicest aspect is the double door opening onto a private courtyard" said Mr Carlisle.

Mrs Carlisle added "We can make our way straight out to the delightful new pool and jump straight onto the floating lilos, it's great!"

Mr & Mrs Carlisle having fun on the floating lilos

"Was it....Colonel Mustard, in the Library....with the Candlestick?"

2006-09-07T17:18:00.000+02:00

No..........................wrong! It wasn't Colonel Mustard.....it was Justin & Linzi!
It was the Library....correct ! But it wasn't the Candlestick, it was a bottle of wine!

Our Library is finally finished and we're soooo chuffed with it! At last! Somewhere to put all our books, movies and stuff! So we've been hanging out in the Library of late and filling shelves as we sipped on chilled wine to keep us going!

"Bubble, are you there?"

2006-09-07T17:06:00.000+02:00

"Bubble? We're getting into the pool now darling. Literally, as we speak, our feet are entering the pool! We've got the bolly stolly darling and we're going in.......!"

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR READERS

2006-09-01T09:13:00.000+02:00

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL BEING POSTED TO THIS BLOG LATELY, POSTS ARE RAPIDLY BEING TRANSFERRED TO THE ARCHIVES. THESE CAN EASILY BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING ON PREVIOUS MONTHS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THIS PAGE UNDER THE HEADING 'ARCHIVES'.

Vegas Wedding!

2006-09-01T09:07:00.000+02:00

A quick snippet here! My cousin Stef is getting married in Vegas next Tuesday! (5th September) She's marrying Darren. My Mum & Dad are going out there together with Peter & Margaret (Stef's Mum & Dad) & Andrew & Zoe (brother & fiancee).
So, wishing Stef all the best for a great day! Wishing everyone a great trip!
Apparently it'll be live online but I don't have any details............
Stef, if you send me a photo of the wedding I'll post it on here for you!

Our little piece of paradise!

2006-09-01T08:49:00.000+02:00

Here's the latest pool photo and things are definitely looking better! The water's crystal clear, we're slowly getting grass around the pool, we've re-done all the rockeries and, as I type, Collins the new garden boy, is, under strict supervision from Patrick, vacuuming up the last 'dirties' in the bottom of the pool!
So we're all set for Saturday afternoon! Got the champagne chilling.................in we'll go, hand in hand, clutching the 'bolly' and two flutes...............and we shall then declare the pool officially christened!

"Blogging or Bragging?"

2006-09-01T08:17:00.000+02:00

It's a good question isn't it? Are we bloggers just sad people who feel a need to express themselves in cyberspace to unknown hordes (hordes? who am I kidding!) of people? Or are we just complete show-offs?!!
Well....................................in this instant I must confess to a teensy bit of showing off......or maybe we could call it "self-appreciation of my artistic abilities"...........
Ok, enough of the rambling on, what I'm getting round to is that we've just fitted our new bathroom door which was completely hand-carved by a man called Chris. Sadly Chris isn't very well, like, REALLY not well, so he struggles to do work at all. (we're trying to rectify this with ARVs) The door has probably taken him about nine months or more to complete, using ideas from a photograph we took of a door at Timamoon. Have I mentioned Timamoon before? One of the most beautiful, romantic & creative places to stay in South Africa http://timamoon.co.za

So, Chris made this amazing door which is totally cool, funky & arty and .............. I made the handle! whooooo! go Linzi!
Well, yes, I'm pretty chuffed with my handle! I made it from thick rope threaded with hollowed out bits of bamboo and then I threaded beads and seed pods onto the copper wire I used to tie it with and also onto the frayed rope ends!

the handle!
the door!

So, there you have it, a fantastic door, we just need to re-do the whole bathroom now....................

Anyone for a swim??!!!

2006-08-27T12:53:00.000+02:00

"Come on in the water's lovely!"

Hmmmm, well, after three and a half days of filling we're there......................only problem, we appear to have accidentally filled our pool with dark green sludge with a delicate hint of brown.....................lovely!!!!! But hey! It was still lovely to get in the pool again, refreshing, invigorating, we had a great swim! Come and join us! Ok, we're kidding.......the shock packs are in and we wait for clarity.....................watch this space!

The Last Day

2006-08-24T10:25:00.000+02:00

Well, here it is! Wednesday 23rd August! The plastering was finished by about 2pm! We started filling straightaway! (It's Thursday 10.30am at this moment and the water's only just lapping against the shallow end wall!) We hope the pool will be filled by tomorrow night although the water will be quite dirty and we'll then have to treat it. The colour should actually be fine as it's already slightly darker when it's wet and has a nice look to it! Can't wait for a swim!!!!! We're now busy filling in around the remaining areas, above the piping, with red laterite, black soil and finally grass. So the next photo I post on here should show a sparkling clear pool with everything looking much tidier all around it!

Welcome back Gordon!

2006-08-24T09:20:00.000+02:00

Before work began on the pool we traced our original 'Gordon the gecko' on massive, sellotaped together, pieces of paper! Thus, when the time came, the 'paper Gordon' was positioned in the new pool and a team of us traced his shape with chalk! Omari and his guys then sprang into action on day 17 of the job (which was actually Tuesday 22nd Aaugust!), mixed plaster, tinted it and produced a perfect Gordon for us!

The next day, Wednesday 23rd August, was D-Day! They guys started at 7am, mixing the plaster in the deep end of the pool and tinting it. We used pva paint for the tint, mixed with white cement and marble dust. We had a little difficulty selecting the colour as we actually didn't know we were going to need pva paint for tinting until the night before we did Gordon! So we had a last minute panic rush job, frantically trying to decide on the colours which would give an end result of "light grey rock colour....................with Gordon slightly darker............." Hmmm....tricky! Honestly? We probably didn't get it quite right because Gordon's definitely 'feeling a bit blue' and, as you'll see in the next posting, the rest of the pool is quite light, although definitely grey.

Happy Birthday Gaz!

2006-08-19T17:00:00.000+02:00

It's my brother Gary's birthday today, 42!
Last night he & Kathryn (his fiancee) went out to dinner with Mum & Dad in Ma & Pa's new silver Toyota Rav4! Oooooeeee! Mum & dad are getting rather cool in their old age!!
Hope they had a nice time anyway!
Gary & Kathryn are actually getting married next year, 2007, on July 28th at Eilean Donan Castle on the beautiful Isle of Skye!
So, here's my little experiment..............sharp-eyed readers of my blog may have noticed the adverts at the top of the page..............they tend to be travel ads for Zambia due to my constant ramblings about our trips in Africa.
Suddenly they became a veritable feast of swimming pool construction ads - wonder why?!
So now, in one posting, I've mentioned: birthdays, the Toyota Rav 4, weddings and Eilean Donan Castle - wonder what turn the ads will take.....? It will be interesting to see.........................
Maybe I should just start blogging about the most odd things I can think about (shouldn't be hard I know!) just for the fun of seeing which ads come up!
Well at least if I start ranting about odd stuff at some point you'll know why!

Patience is a virtue................

2006-08-19T16:37:00.000+02:00

Yeah well, we're not that virtuous and we started to get impatient after about a week!

So anyway, we decided to try and get some grass laid. The bottom photo shows Fred putting black soil down and the top photo shows Patrick (left) and Fred finishing one whole section of grass! (nicked from the front verge - we'll worry about what to do with the verge later!)

They did this from Wednesday 16th to Friday 18th August.

Hard to believe there were pool steps and the old pool right where they're standing only two and a half weeks ago!

So now we await the final stage..............................................!

Day 14....then.....nothing............!!!

2006-08-19T16:21:00.000+02:00

At this point we've got the old pool walls bashed away at the top and red laterite filled in between the old pool walls and the new pool walls. The pool guys then pretty much did a 'disappearing act' as they're waiting for 'the boss' to come from lusaka with the white cement for the finishing. This was Tuesday 8th August.

Fast forward to day 12, Sat. 5th Aug.

2006-08-08T09:12:00.000+02:00

Day 12

Day 13 (Mon. 7th Aug.)

Pool fever! The latest!

2006-08-03T10:41:00.000+02:00

Day 9

(view from deep end, new steps will be where wheelbarrow is)

Day 9

Satchel inspects the day's progress from the shallow end!

Day 8

Base slab laid

Latest pool progress Day 8 - 1st August!

2006-08-01T08:55:00.000+02:00

Day 8 early morning

(preparing the mix for laying slab in the bottom of the pool)

Day 7

Our new swimming pool!

2006-07-29T17:55:00.001+02:00

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1 (above)
We finally went ahead and started work on our new pool this week!
Our original pool was a 1950s monster and we really wanted something smaller, of a more natural shape and warmer!
So, for all of you out there who have a major interest in the building of swimming pools.......(which might not be many of you!).....I've decided to post photos of the progress!
Well I think it's interesting anyway!

Wild dog spotted!

2006-07-29T17:18:00.000+02:00

A wild dog was recently spotted in the undergrowth in a Chingola garden. She was behaving in a very fierce and frightening manner. This is the first recorded 'Wild Dog' sighting for years and could be very exciting for future wild animal viewing trips to the Copperbelt!

***stop press***

Hopes of millions of wild dog fans were dashed just before this went to press when local woman, Linzi Carlisle, came forward and informed us that the 'wild dog' in question was, in fact, "My cute, sweet, little pet dog Talitha!" she went on to say "She wouldn't hurt a fly! She just gets a teensy bit agitated when anyone goes near where she's hidden one of her bones!"

Photos of Rex's 70th

2006-06-24T14:38:00.000+02:00

Rex is pleased with his surprise!

Say "cheese"!

The magnificent man in his flying machine!

Lunch at the Westcliff!

Justin's Dad's 70th!

2006-06-08T14:26:00.000+02:00

'Tis the time for turning 70 it appears..................Justin's Dad, Rex, also turned 70 on April 24th but we couldn't actually get down to South Africa right then.
We flew down on Sunday 7th May and stayed at The Melrose Arch Hotel (www.africanpridehotels.com/melrosearch) where we stayed on Justin's 40th. We decided to treat ourselves to three nights there as it's so cool! (plus I got a great rate through my prokard -
www.prokard.co.za - worth getting and paying R300 for if you want even one night there plus you get discounts at loads of protea hotels and with Budget car rental!
So, on the Monday we picked up Rex & Prue and took Rex on a little magical mystery tour!
All he knew was that we were going to Rand Airport so he was pretty nonplussed!
Justin had arranged for Rex to be taken up in an old Boeing Stearman Biplane and he was absolutely thrilled when we told him! (Prue was actually a bit fed-up that she wasn't going too!)
He had a de-briefing, was kitted out in flight overalls, biggles helmet, the whole toot and up he went!!!
He had a great time, flew the plane himself a bit and experienced some 'mid-air acrobatics', all of which he thoroughly enjoyed!
After all the excitement we moved on to the Westcliff Hotel for a 'posh lunch'! www.westcliff.co.za
They have fantastic views from La Belle Terrasse!
So, it was a great success and we met up again the next day for lunch at Hyde Park before Justin & I headed off to The Drakensberg Mountains and Rex & Prue headed off to Plettenburg Bay!
We stayed in Gallery Suite at Acorn Cottages in the central 'berg area www.acornsinchampagne.co.za for just four nights and we had an excellent little holiday!
The view from our verandah was amazing, the weather was beautiful during the day and we went on two really long hikes. It got freezing as soon as the sun went down so we had to have strict planning in place: Get back from hike, light braai, shower, put on all warm clothes including thermals, light fire inside, eat on verandah, go inside as sun drops, close doors and sit as close to fire as possible! It was lovely and cosy and we just really enjoyed ourselves.
In addition we visited Baz, Justin's great friend who owns Thokozisa and went round for dinner to his & Tracy's house where we had a great evening!
We felt as if we'd been away a lot longer than we actually were - that's the amazing power of the 'berg - or any mountain I suppose.
We ended up at The Indaba Hotel for our last night in Jo'burg itself - near Fourways Mall - for last minute shopping - www.indabahotel.co.za - we find it a very handy hotel for the Fourways area and although it's large and geared for conferences it's very efficient on the whole, food's good, rooms are pretty nice - we had a room with a verandah by the dam and the grounds are large so you can really have a wander around.
We spent our last night at the airport at Southern Sun Garden Court (the old Holiday Inn Garden Court) and flew back home on Tuesday 16th May to our babies!

Rick

2006-06-08T14:11:00.000+02:00

Ha! Did I get you worried there Rick?!!!! You're thinking, "whaaaat? An article about me? Oh no!"
Do not be afraid! There is nothing to fear! Trust me.....................................
So, what about Rick then? Oh yeah, I was just going to say that Rick was over in Zambia with Mel over Easter for about a week (they also indulged at Siankaba!) and we ended up round at Mel's for dinner, with Michelle too (Donald was fishing I think?), a couple of nights before he went back to the States.
We had a lovely meal prepared by Mel & Rick and downed plenty of vino (of course!) and had a great evening with good company!
Rick, thanks for the absolutely lovely photo book you gave us on America, it's really lovely and only serves to whet our appetite all the more for a future trip!
And while we're on the subject of Rick, we hope Mel arrives safely in the States (any minute now presumably?) and that you guys have a brilliant time together! We'll be thinking of you!
And don't worry Mel, if anything shocking happens in Eastenders I'll blog it for you!
There, I told you there was nothing to worry about Rick!

Some photos of Dad's 70th

2006-06-08T11:36:00.000+02:00

The start of the adventure - on the boat crossing to Siankaba!

Justin & Linzi having sundowners during mokoro trip!

Mum & Dad on sundowner cruise!

Enjoying!

Dad's 70th - 30th March 2006

2006-06-05T13:39:00.000+02:00

Well, my dear Dad turned 70 on 3oth March this year so Mum & Dad came out to us for a nice long visit.

Mum & I came up with a nice trip as a surpise for Dad: A two day drive, with an overnight at the Chisamba Safari Lodge, to Livingstone. Two nights at the Islands of Siankaba http://siankaba.net/ followed by a night at the Royal Livingstone Hotel then two days drive back, overnighting at the same lodge again.

We had a wonderful time, the best of all being Siankaba - we would recommend it to anyone as the place to go for absolute relaxation. The setting is superb, amazing views, delicious food, excellent staff, extremely tasteful decor in the tented chalets and the view from your bed in the morning is one that you will not easily forget.................the river flowing past your verandah.......sights and sounds of Africa right under your nose - nothing better!

We truly felt that we'd been on a much longer break, that's how brilliant it was!

In addition to the trip we also hooked up with the indomitable twosome "Pat & Amy" who were staying with Mel! We saw them round at Donald & Michelle's where Michelle aka 'superwoman' dished up enormous platters of finger snacks and the like for a great crowd of us! Also again when superwoman dished up a three courser for us all so we were spoiled well and truly!

Other than that we all just lazed around an awful lot, went out for plenty of meals - always nice - and did lots of planning for Mum & Dad's new apartment that they should be moving into soon!

All in all a very relaxing time and very enjoyable.

We also did research into caravan parks for Mum & Dad as they also planned to buy a caravan so that they can spend some time there when the weather's nice.

we settled on www.dogandduck.co.uk it's lovely apparently - as I type they are living there in their new caravan until their apartment's finished!!! They moved in last Friday.

Well, I'm struggling to type anything that makes any sense as there's this woman in England called Julie Haywood who won't stop messaging me!!!!!!! I obviously have to reply each time so my blog is suffering..........

Oh yeah!

2006-05-31T12:27:00.000+02:00

Oh, Mel & Michelle came round the other night.Did I mention it?...............

No? Oh, ok, well, nothing to report anyway, just thought I'd mention, it you know?.........

Blogger's Guilt

2006-05-31T11:47:00.000+02:00

Oh dear....................I appear to have joined the ranks of the anxious, guilt-ridden, conscience-swamped, shame-filled bloggers who have failed to keep their blogs up to date and are now suffering from feelings of total inadequacy! (brought on in no small measure by people - who shall remain nameless - YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! - who make comments that make them feel that they have FAILED..............)
Can I go on? Will I muster up the willpower to continue blogging? Do I have anything worth saying? (now there's a question!)
Well, check back some time soon and hopefully I won't disappoint!
Bye for now!

"Mystery couple cut the cake!"

2006-02-26T12:14:00.000+02:00

Local paparazzi snapped this photo of a ‘mystery woman’ and ‘mystery man’ posing for the camera as they ‘cut the cake’……..
In true journalistic style the reporter wondered if this could be ‘the big break’…”Are they famous?” “Is he an American oil tycoon?” “Is she a Zambian actress?” “Just what exactly have they been getting up to….?”
Fellow diners who were interviewed at the scene had this to say:
“No comment”, said Mrs Carlisle, “People have a right to privacy, next thing you know this’ll be plastered all over someone’s blog, it’s just not right.”
“Don’t ask me”, said Mr Carlisle, “I was busy with my chicken madras and garlic naan, and very nice it was too.”
So no-one’s giving anything away…….for now!
But rumour has it that the ‘mystery man’ will be back in town before too long so who knows?
Until then we’ll have to leave it as yet another ‘small town mystery’ (we’ve certainly got plenty of those…..)
p.s. thanks for a great evening guys ,and, Rick, it was great to be able to spend some time with you, we look forward to the next visit! (Oooops! Did I just give the game away there? Not a mystery anymore!)

A 'Good Karma' Gift

2006-02-25T11:25:00.000+02:00

Well, just a little story about a poor little old man in town..... Shame, he sells (or tries to sell) wooden carvings that aren't particularly good most of the time but he's always got a smile on his face.
I've bought the odd thing from him over the years.
Anyway, the poor old chap wasn't well and needed some medicine from the chemist which he couldn't afford so I took him into Stubbs chemist and we got him sorted out.
Bless him, as I got into the car to go, he appeared with this wooden duck and gave it to me!
It might seem like a small thing but it's a big thing to me, I mean, he really hasn't got anything and he still gave me something!
So I call it my 'good karma' gift and feel sure it's bringing some extra little piece of goodness into our home..........

Justin's 40th & a surprise trip to awesome Namibia!

2006-01-08T11:34:00.000+02:00

Justin turned 40 on October 27th 2005! We had agreed that I'd plan a surprise trip for him so I had the pleasure of spending many happy hours online perusing travel sites, accommodation, flights, etc! So, here is what we did..... (the good and the bad!)

("whoops! photos appear to be completely and utterly back to front regarding the order of the trip!" sorry about that!)
I ended up using Tshokwane Safaris for the Namibian part of the trip and Johann was fantastic, so helpful, I'd recommend him any day! www.tshokwane.co.za He basically took all my requests and put a perfect itinerary together, right down to getting the dates right so that we were in the right place at the right time for Justin's birthday!
First we stayed in Melville, South Africa, for the weekend http://www.saffronhousebnb.com/ which was nice but they gave us the wrong room for the first night, something about a leak in the roof....but there were other people in there so I was a fed up as I'd already paid in advance and it was the most expensive and the guy had even recommended it to me! They moved us the next day for the last two nights but we found it wasn't very private, it was very arty decor but the doors had loads of coloured glass in and you could actually see into the rooms! So it was a bit embarrassing getting dressed and stuff! To finish off, on our last night there was an awful fight outside our room! It was over the wall in a car park but we laid in bed flinching as we heard all this shouting and punching, we could 'feel' the punches, hear the people falling over and smacking into the ground and everything, they were really shouting aggressively so it wasn't great! (It turns out that Saffron House has been taken over by a company with various properties - it used to be personally owned by a lady and was probably more thoughtfully run) Nonetheless while we were in Melville we met up with Justin's folks for lunch and also went to his sister Jane and Tracy's for lunch in their new townhouse on the Sunday for lunch which was really nice. We had a couple of meals out and did some shopping.
Then on the Monday we went to the airport and Justin assumed we were flying to Cape Town or something so it was a great surprise to go to International Departures! We managed to check in without him seeing where we were going and I finally told him as we had something to eat about half an hour before we boarded that we were off to Namibia!
So we were in great moods and had a good flight but when we arrived at Windhoek my bag didn't arrive, only Justin's!
This really knocked us flat! Anyway, we transferred to the guesthouse for the night www.tourism-africa.co.za/namibia-accommodation/hilltop-house which was really nice. I had to wash out my clothes as all I had was what I was wearing - t-shirt, cargo pants and slip-slops. The guy there made us some toasted cheese sarnies and got us a big bottle of wine (there was also a mini bar which we pretty much emptied in our stress!!!) so we had a nice evening on the verandah outside our room and it was ok except for the worry about my bag. Next morning we had breakfast in our room but instead of it being leisurely as was my plan, we had to get up early and cab it into Windhoek town centre to get me some clothes and toiletries!
Luckily it's like Jo'burg so there were normal shops (I'd been a bit worried thinking it might be like Chingola!!!!) So I got a few basics.
One of my worries was that we were about to board the Desert Express and you're supposed to dress up quite nicely for dinner on the train, you know how it is, and I'd had nice clothes in my bag so that we could enjoy the opportunity of getting dressed up.
When we got back to the guesthouse with about ten minutes to spare before we left there was a message that they'd found my bag and it would arrive a couple of nights later!
So, we transferred to Windhoek station and checked in for the train http://www.desertexpress.com.na/ and it was great! We had SUCH a laugh! The cabin was gorgeous and it was just so surreal to be slowly chugging along watching the scenery change out of the window. The food was great, the drinks were great, we had to walk along to the end of the train for a smoke and sit in the conference room which had a little dance floor even and some chairs and tables arranged for us smokers!! There were only 15 of us on the train so it was quite empty which was also nice. We stopped for sundowners and got taken on a drive and saw white rhino and then had drinks laid on. The train pulled into a siding after dinner and we could get off and stretch our legs then go to bed. It started moving about 3am and I remember waking at about 5am and looking out of the curtains to see the desert passing slowly by! It was just too amazing for words! It was all like some adventure -Enid Blyton famous five or something!!!! We had breakfast in the dining car and then the train stopped in the middle of the desert and we walked across the sand to "Rand Rifles Dune" and climbed up it - pretty high! Quite hard walking up a dune as you keep sliding and sinking!! Apparently they filmed there, Dennis Quaid I think? Flight of the phoenix maybe? Knowing me I've got that all wrong, but something like that! IF YOU DO ONE SPECIAL THING IN YOUR LIFE, TAKE A TRIP ON THE DESERT EXPRESS!!!! We will never forget it!
We arrived in Swakopmund and had an hour or two to walk around and have a drink then we transferred to the airport there and boarded our light aircraft! We were the only two passengers so it was extra cool! The flight over the desert was amazing and we landed after about an hour and transferred to "Little Kulala Desert Camp" www.wilderness-safaris.com/camps (then click on Namibia camps and you'll see it).
This was beautiful, your own star-gazing deck, front deck and plunge pool (so hot there you needed it to cool down) lovely room, outdoor shower, brilliant view and very private, only nine 'kulalas'.
The first night we had dinner on our private star-gazing deck and also slept up there in the special beds they put out for us! Duvets and everything! It was great! Fab! (oh, my bag arrived that night, someone drove it there all through the desert from Windhoek, about five hours drive!) My bag had been broken into and straps cut and locks wrenched open so we did panic but found that they only nicked our small 'emergency' whisky bottle. They had put other people's stuff in my bag though so had obviously been rummaging through loads of people's bags. We have now heard that this happens quite a lot so advise anyone flying via Jo'burg airport to get luggage security wrapped - R50 per item of luggage - worth it for peace of mind). So the next morning we got up at 5am and went hot air ballooning! Yay! It was Justin's actual birthday 'day' so perfect! It was a bit windy and we nearly couldn't 'take off' but then we were ok! A great experience, surreal again!
We landed after an hour and had champagne brekkie in the middle of the desert! Surreal yet again!!! A long table laid up beautifully just sitting there waiting for us all to arrive! Weird! But brilliant! So we can never forget Justin's 40th that's for sure!
Back at the camp we chilled out for the rest of the day, lunched, had dinner on our little front deck that night, relaxed the next morning and transferred by game-viewing vehicle to our last camp for one night - Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp - website as above, you'll see it there as well.
We had lunch there and then spent the afternoon dipping in and out of our little plunge pool, drinking wine and drinking in the view! Amazing! It got really windy in the afternoon and was actually hectic, like a hurricane, apparently the wind gets up every afternoon and everything has to be closed up. It made us realise that the desert is not actually meant for man to live in, we can visit and see it's beauty but it's not ours. Yeah, ok, I'm sounding a bit poetic here or something I know!!!! It makes you feel that way though!
So the next day we had to hang around until about 3pm for our flight back to Windhoek by light aircraft again - just the two of us again! There was a storm coming - the first! The pilot pretended not to be scared -French guy, young, scruffy, long hair, with his chick in tow!!!! It was a hair raising flight for an hour or more! We flew into the storm, through thick clouds with no visibility, through rain, bumped all over the show, had lightening flashing all around us! At one point we were so low and so close to a rocky outcrop that I really thought the wing was going to smash into it and we were going to crash! I was not exactly the most happiest of bunnies at that point! I felt pretty grotty too I must admit! Was very relieved to land in Windhoek! Then when we boarded the 'big' plane for our flight to Jo'burg the pilot announced "there will be turbulence all the way due to storms"!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaargh!
That night we stayed at African Dreams Guest House near the airport which was ok. We were pretty tired as it was getting late by then. We went to bed quite quickly.
The next morning Justin's sister phoned to say she was sick and her and Tracy wouldn't be joining us for lunch. I was devastated! I felt like it was all going wrong! I'd got a limo arriving (www.limohire.co.za) to pick us up and then we were on to pick up Justin's parents and Jane & Tracy! He kept saying 'what is it babe? Tell me', so I had to tell him and he'd kind of guessed he said! Anyway, it was all fine, the limo was BRILLIANT! We just ended up the four of us but had a great laugh in the limo and had an amazing lunch at Bellgables Country Restaurant. www.bellgables.co.za The food was gorgeous and the restaurant was just beautiful - owned by two gay guys and had lots of glamourous diners (including us of course!!!).
The limo took me and Justin to Melrose Arch Hotel after dropping Rex & Prue home. http://www.africanpridehotels.com/ (then select melrose arch) which is the most hip and trendy hotel in South Africa (so they say!) I got a discount because I have a protea hotel prokard (www.prokard.co.za) which helped with the price! (I also got a discount at Budget car hire with the card!) It was excellent! The room was so cool! M & Ms in a bowl on the desk for you to munch on! A mini bar stocked like you wouldn't believe with even lots of chocolate and in the cupboard pringles and nuts and stuff! The tea tray had proper milk and even packets of biscuits! Under the TV was a drawer with five DVDs in it for you to watch! It was a very cool place, the decor was fab, very modern and funky, a nice change from the 'traditional african look'. We didn't go there but outside they have a bar with giant flowerpots in a shallow swimming pool and tables and chairs so you take off your shoes and paddle out!
We hung out in the lounge and had a few drinks - a real smoking lounge - funniest thing was - all smoking - nowhere for non-smoking which makes a change!
So that was a really cool night!
The next day we flew to Cape Town and the apartment was nice but the website had made it look much nicer that it actually was. (I think it had just seen better days)
http://www.campsbayapartments.com/ (then click on Rutland Place). We were having a great laugh and in high spirits, planning to go out for dinner all three nights. We had some bread, cheese & salami which the girl there had organised for me and I had a glass of wine, Justin had a couple of beers. Then we walked into Camps Bay, about five minutes, stopped for a sundowner (I had a whisky sour, hadn't had one in years and saw it on the menu). We decided to walk back and then checked out the video/dvd store on the way. While in there I felt odd, hot and uncomfortable and we had to hurry home. I had a dodgy stomach and wasn't feeling hundreds so we decided to drive back down, pick up Nando's and a dvd for the evening.
So something made me really sick. Justin was fine. He ended up having to go out to a late night pharmacy in Sea Point - dodgy area - and get me medicine as I was feeling so terrible.
So that was the end of that! Our short stay in Cape Town never amounted to much thanks to me! Or maybe thanks to the whisky sour! I never really got back on my feet properly. We had a couple of drives out but that was all.
On our last night, having flown back to Jo'burg, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Garden Court (about ten minutes from the airport by shuttle and our favoured place to stay for an 'airport overnight') and had the afternoon so that was quite leisurely and I was feeling much better. We had a couple of drinks at McGinty's Bar and some food, then went to our room where we watched Mr & Mrs Smith and thought it was pretty good!
And that was it!
We arrived home on the Friday 4th November afternoon to be welcomed by six absolutely gorgeous babies going mad with excitement!
I then gave Justin his forty presents which I'd been slowly buying, some online, some in England when I was there! He couldn't believe it!
The 'piece de resistance' being a cd that I'd had made for him, totally personalised with basically the 'story of us' with lyrics including all our 'babies' and their foibles! Alan, the guy who made it, had incorporated lines from poetry that I'd sent him as well as words from our favourite songs, all adapted to fit in but with great meaning. www.give-a-song.com
So all I can say in closing is....."roll on my 40th!" hmmmm, wonder where Justin'll take me.....?!

New Top Level High Security Company launches in Chingola!

2006-01-08T11:02:00.000+02:00

One of the guards on duty

A new 'high tech' security company has opened up in Chingola and demand is high for their services, so high in fact that there is now a waiting list! Mr & Mrs Carlisle were one of the lucky pairs to get a new guard for their home! "It's great!" said Justin Carlisle in an interview with a local newspaper, "I feel really secure now!" "Now I can sleep easy at night" said Linzi Carlisle "I feel great relief knowing that we are protected at such a high level with the best security available!"

Fantastic New Job Creation Scheme in Chingola!

2006-01-08T10:41:00.000+02:00

A highly innovative new job creation scheme has been started up in Chingola, Zambia! It aims to provide extra jobs for the local people by initially employing workers for one particular job, then they ensure that other workers will be employed after they have finished by ensuring that there is a new job requiring attention and so on. The scheme is highly successful and the lucky house chosen to start off the scheme was the home of Justin & Linzi Carlisle.
"It worked like a dream" said Mrs Carlisle when interviewed, "We employed electricians to work on wiring in our home, they managed to wire things up so badly that we were then able to emply new electricians to correct the wiring! While they were working on this one of the workers carefully shoved his foot straight through the kitchen ceiling making a lovely hole! This enabled us to then employ a carpenter to repair the damaged ceiling! We were then able to employ painters to repaint the ceiling!"
It looks like this scheme will really take off and there is every hope that it will be a long-running scheme with no plans to make any changes to it!

My lovely Grandma

2006-01-08T08:55:00.000+02:00

Well, as I've previously written, I was in the UK and part of that trip was to spend time with Grandma. My Grandma is very important to me, she's my last surviving grandparent and my earliest memories include her. She's been a part of my life always, she's been there for the fun times and also for the hard times, never judgemental, always supportive and understanding, a true friend in every sense and I miss her terribly every day and wish that I was able to see her more often. She lived through the second world war with Grandad 'in the army', raised three kids and didn't have the easiest of lives. She looked after Grandad for many years and after he died she coped brilliantly and always loved to have people drop in on her at '230' (230 Watling St) a.k.a. "Aud's Caff" (she cooked up a mean egg and chips!). She hung in there, kept house, cooked healthy meals, lost her son Mike to cancer, looked after dear little Aunty Sylvia (her sister) until she had to go into Beth Ezra but eventually her age and health caught up with her and she is now in Beth Ezra (sadly without Aunty Sylvia anymore). So Grandma is now the star of Beth Ezra, she's 'carpet bowls champ'!!, loves every minute of every day, joins in everything, really enjoys being 'pampered' and having her meals made for her, her hair done, etc. She's enjoying life! These photos are of Grandma, me and Mum on Grandma's 90th! So, to finish, "Carpe Diem", 'sieze the day', you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Appreciate loved ones and life now!

What about me?

2006-01-08T08:39:00.000+02:00

What about me indeed? Well, I got to thinking (with a bit of a push from Jules in the form of a photo sent via e-mail) that it would be too terrible for the world not to see how 'fab' (Jules' word not mine!!) I looked at THE wedding! so without further ado........................... (I'm the one on the right....!!) That's Daemon's brother on the left and of course the groom and bride in centre place!

Wedding of the year!

2006-01-07T11:35:00.000+02:00

Ok, confession time......I was in the UK in September / October! I know! I know! I should have told you.........but if I'd told you I'd never have got anything done and I was on a very special mission..................To attend my fabulous brilliant dearest friend Jules' wedding to Daemon (as official witness nogal!) on October 1st and also to spend as much time as possible with my absolutely wonderful Grandma 'Carps', who I love dearly and who turned 90 on October 6th!
Well, the mission was accomplished, alone, I'm sorry to report...Justin had to stay and work....but he'd probably have found it a nightmare time, it was exhausting.....although fun!
So I apologise to my friends who had absolutely no idea that I was there, down the road (literally) from some of them! I had to do it, sorry loves! Believe me when I say I didn't stop the whole week, late to bed, early to rise and on the go the whole time!
The main thing is that I had a ball! It was wonderful! Shopping! Friends! Yakking! Family! Meals out! More shopping!
Jules was the perfect bride, right down to getting completely plastered during the wedding breakfast, off her face by the evening reception and in tears declaring her undying love for each and every one of us by the end of the evening!
Shame Jules! Sorry love! I'm exaggerating a bit (well, just a tad!) no seriously it was a brilliant day filled with happiness, laughter and friendship, we had a day that we'll never forget. And neither will "Ben & Gleth" Daemon!!!!! And neither will "Linzi from South Africa" John!!!!!
I Wish a lifetime of happiness to my friend Jules and her husband Daemon!
Now, does anyone know of any nice boys for my Poppett? About 33-40 yrs, handsome, fun and LOADED!!!! And hurry up, another wedding next year would be awfullly nice......!!!!!

Spot the difference!

2005-07-16T18:11:00.000+02:00

Here's a little puzzle for you to do!
Can you spot the difference between the three photos below?

2005-07-16T18:10:00.000+02:00

Photo A

2005-07-16T18:05:00.000+02:00

Photo B

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Photo C

Did you guess correctly?

2005-07-16T17:55:00.000+02:00

That's right! There is no difference! The characters in all three photos are the same! Namely Melanie Bousfield and Rick Ress! Ok, if you want to get clever, the backgrounds might be a bit different but that's not the point is it? Is it Mel?!!!!!!!!!

Publisher accepts no responsibility

2005-07-16T17:49:00.000+02:00

The publisher accepts no responsibilty for any pictures or implications posted in the above article.
Any information sent to the publisher is sent, by the sender, on the understanding that it may be published on this famous blog, viewed by millions worldwide and any consequences of sending in material to the zambian housewife are to be accepted by the contributor!!!!!

Mum & Dad visit!

2005-05-25T11:16:00.000+02:00

Mum & Dad were out for a long time recently, over three weeks!
We had a good time, went to Lusaka and stayed at the Chisamba Safari Lodge, always a pleasure.
Also went out for loads of meals, did lots of gym, swimming, sunning, talking non stop (of course), had both our wedding anniversaries (!!!) and generally a great time.......
until Justin got 'giardia'......"AAAAAAARGHG! WHAT THE HELL'S GIARDIA?" I hear you scream!
Well, Justin is now the expert (wouldn't you be if you found you had little nasty things living in your gut?!)
Anyway, it's like this..... apparently it's rampant all over the Copperbelt, so we're told by anyone we mention it to, and is a waterborne parasite, picked up from water contaminated by wildlife.............EEEEEK! Could it have been from our dead snake in the well? Seems likely but then again I've been fine and how would thousands (?) of people on the Copperbelt have got it then?
Long and short of it is...Justin took the pills, I took the pills (as precaution) and now our night guard appears to have it so he's on the pills and now our other two staff are also on the pills as a precaution.
So there you have it, but for the record, you need a 5 day course of metronidazole - 30 tablets 200mg - take 2 every 8 hours.
If that doesn't kill it (and it didn't Justin's) then take Tinidazole 2grm - 4 x 500mg tabs in one go and they should be well and truly dead and buried.

2005-05-25T11:09:00.000+02:00

public snog!

2005-05-25T11:08:00.000+02:00

Dinner at The Protea in Chingola

2005-05-25T11:04:00.000+02:00

Cyril? At a curry night at the Shalux? Are you mad?

2005-05-25T11:03:00.000+02:00

Justin has a chat with the gorgeous "Mphamvu"

"Horror of man eaten limb by limb in Chingola!"

2005-05-25T10:47:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time there was a man called Mr Rowntree....yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah,..................
Ok, due to the fact that my husband is totally addicted to Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles and due to the fact that my Mum and Dad always go mad when they come out to visit us, we ended up with enough fruit pastilles to...um.....make a 'man on the bed'....for instance!! well, I did, for fun.....you know what I say about having fun here....gotta do whatever it takes....and if that means behaving like a twelve year old and making up men shapes out of packets of sweets and displaying them 'proudly' on the bed, then so be it.....so that's it really, so he was a man and he has been eaten limb by limb in Chingola................but I don't think he endured too much pain.... I did though, all I got was a couple of packets of M & S walnut whips, squashed as well, oh, and some fudge, hmmm, dairy milk too I seem to recall.....and......alright I didn't do so badly...

2005-05-25T10:43:00.000+02:00

Mr Rowntree before his unfortunate experience

A house warming with a difference!

2005-04-23T19:54:00.001+02:00

We were well chuffed to spend yesterday evening at Donald & Michelle's new house which they've been building for the last two years!
It was just the four of us,a bottle of Moet, a few beers, a bottle of red and a bottle of whisky!
We had a guided tour of the house, almost ready for them to move into, and very nice it is too!
We sat for hours on their bedroom verandah sipping our drinks and chatting and had a great evening!
Thanks guys! We wish you years of happiness in your new home and many more evenings like last night's!

2005-04-23T19:54:00.000+02:00

Donald pours the Moet!

2005-04-23T19:53:00.000+02:00

Enjoy your new home guys!

Snakes Alive!

2005-04-23T19:29:00.000+02:00

I had quite a scare about a week ago when I found Tali, our little jack russell, staring at a cobra through the animals' 'tunnel' from their room. I was alerted to this when Satchel, our big lab,, went up behind her and dropped down low and started growling. I knew that a fast movement was probably a bad idea but the thing was sitting up and swaying and staring right at Tali and she appeared hypnotised (do they hypnotise? Does anyone know?). I thought it was probably about to strike or spit. so I grabbed her straight up in the air, shoved Satchel with my knees out of the room and ran down the passage with Tali in my arms, shoving Satchel with me! I screamed for Patrick who was down there cleaning. He opened the door, I put the dogs in (Bella our sausage dog was already in there) and we both ran back up. the cobra was still there, Patrick ran for a stick, calling for Fred, the gardener while I grabbed Ziggy, one of our three cats, and literally threw him out of the front door, poor thing!
The two boys ran to the verandah but the snake suddenly disappeared. We all spent the next few hours searching for the snake as we couldn't risk leaving it. We also didn't know if it had come in the house so we had to check right through inside as well. Eventually Fred announced that it was in the storm drain tunnel that runs under our bedroom passage! We blocked it up and tried to smoke it out, etc, to no avail. We temporarily blocked up the drain and then we had to brick up the storm drain the next day permanently. We had discovered that there was a kind of ledge in the drain, under the house and it had obviously gone in there. The ideal snake nest!
This was enough to stress me out (ok, we've had plenty of snakes in the garden, mainly black mambas, as far as we knew, but the boys always got them further down the garden, this one was a but too close to home!)
The end of the story one would think, but no..........
A couple of days ago we noticed that our water was smelling very unpleasant and when the boys checked our well they found a very large dead snake! Charming! (look, I feel sorry for the snakes, we have, after all, encroached on their natural habitats over the years and where are the poor things supposed to go?)
They got the snake out and it was pretty awful, I must say....took us two days to clear the well and tank, even using pool chlorine to sanitise it.
So now we're left with the mystery................
Was it a cobra sitting on the verandah? (apparently mambas also 'sit' up and they're all part of the same family) Was it a cobra in the well? Have the snakes been nesting under our passage in the ledge in the storm drain? Is that why we've had so many snakes compared with everyone else, in our garden? If so, have we solved it by blocking up the drain? Was the snake in the well the one I saw or another one and what was the one in the drain?
Questions, questions....
But mainly relief that for now, at least, we feel a bit safer!
I've posted a couple of photos of the snake in the well and when we got it out.......not very tasteful, sorry about that, but can anyone tell me if it is a cobra?

2005-04-23T19:28:00.001+02:00

The dead cobra in the well

2005-04-23T19:28:00.000+02:00

Dead cobra?

Scene in Chingola

2005-04-23T19:25:00.000+02:00

Patrick finds a new, handy place to keep the dustpan and brush..............

2005-04-23T19:24:00.000+02:00

Well, it's a nice splash of colour!

Scene in Chingola

2005-04-23T19:22:00.000+02:00

A spider weaves it's web of intrigue in the garden.

2005-04-23T19:18:00.000+02:00

spider's web in our garden at night!

Clint & Perri's Wedding!

2005-04-23T19:08:00.000+02:00

We all had a rare treat in March when we were invited to Clint & Perri's wedding at the Chisamba Safari lodge, just outside Lusaka!
Friends and family travelled from far and wide (it made our four hour drive from Chingola seem rather paltry!) to attend and it was a fabulous day!
Clint looked very smart and Perri looked absolutely lovely in a dress to die for!
We were chuffed to find out that the DJ was none other than 'Guido', our DJ from the copperbelt...........so we were secure in the knowledge that we would, yet again, be dancing to familiar tunes!!!!!
We all had a ball and wobbled off to our rooms at various late hours to finally appear at varying times for a good old English brekkie!
Mel had supplied herself, Justin & me with KGB hangover pills the night before...........hmmm, she's definitely a bad influence..........but whether they worked or not is an ongoing topic of conversation.................
The drive home certainly seemed to take an inordinately long time.......................

2005-04-23T19:07:00.000+02:00

Clint, Perri & elephant!

Karaoke night at the Carlisles!

2005-04-23T18:37:00.000+02:00

Right, the first thing I need to make absolutely clear is that this was not, absolutely not, intended to be a karaoke night! I mean, those things are trashy right? We'd never set out to host a scaly, trashy, bad taste karaoke night, ok??? (alright, so we've got the microphone and the karaoke disc but who hasn't?!!!) (what? you haven't got one?!)
It was just a tasteful dinner party, held at ours in January, with Mel, Donald & Michelle and Val (out from the UK).
What went wrong? To be honest I really don't know. Maybe it was Mel's influence. After all, she does seem to feature with amazing regularity, whenever there's anything untoward going on.............
So, anyway, before I go off on a tangent, basically we had a great dinner party and the wine flowed........Oh! Maybe that was it! It's the wine's fault!
We had this great evening and suddenly we found ourselves up, on the 'stage', microphone in hand, belting out hits at top volume in our best, out of tune, screeching voices!
We sang and we sang...................my poor husband was working that weekend so had to get up early the next morning. At some point he even disappeared for snooze..........
There was no stopping us........until Justin arrived back on the scene with the words "hasn't anyone got homes to go to?"!!!!!! This was about 3am by the way!
The screeching came to a halt at that point and Justin's favourite saying is now "that's the first time I've had to boot a 60 year old from my home!" Good on you Mel! Come back soon for another karaoke night! oooops! I mean, come back soon for dinner (and maybe we can get out the karaoke discs!) sssshhhh!
And Val! As for you! Please come back! Can I tempt you with the fact that I've just purchased four new karaoke discs and two new remote control microphones? Hell, I have got it bad..........................!!!!!
And Donald & Michelle? no worries there, they're just waiting for the next invite!!!!!
Watch this space!

2005-04-23T18:36:00.000+02:00

Way before things got too out of hand.....

2005-04-23T18:31:00.000+02:00

Oh it's us again! (well, I am the blogger.....)

2005-04-23T18:28:00.000+02:00

Val & Donald try to wrestle the mike from Mel....but she aint givin' it up!

2005-04-23T18:26:00.000+02:00

About 2am and we...are...raging!

2005-04-23T18:24:00.000+02:00

Michelle & Val share a chuckle!

"Caught in action! Photographic evidence of debauched fairies!"

2005-04-23T18:13:00.000+02:00

Thanks to all the reporters from all over Zambia and even some from overseas (they were keen!) who sent me photos of the frolicking fairies in Mel's garden!
It's thanks to people like them, who risk life and limb climbing up ladders and things to see over walls, that we, the common people get to see the truth for ourselves. No longer is it just a rumour!
No more words are needed, the photos speak for themselves.........................

2005-04-23T18:12:00.000+02:00

photo courtesy of paparrazzi inc.

2005-04-23T18:11:00.000+02:00

photo courtesy of paparrazzi inc.

Zambian night at Adam & Charmaine's!

2005-04-23T18:01:00.000+02:00

In mid Feb. Adam and Charmaine decided to host a Zambian night at their new home by way of a house warming! (it was also Charmaine's birthday)
Charmaine really did go to a lot of trouble, the place was transformed into a Zambian village complete with thatched huts, log seats around a fire, Zambian drummers and dancers and, of course, all of us in 'authentic' Zambian outfits!
It was highly amusing to see us all, some in wigs, and every style of outfit imaginable!
It was a lovely night although we didn't last 'til the end this time (WHAAAAAT??? THE CARLISLES COULDN'T TAKE THE PACE????.......it happens......!)
Sadly I don't have photos apart from the one of us but if anyone wants to send me one or two good ones......

2005-04-23T18:00:00.000+02:00

I know, we even look cool draped in chitenge fabric and me wearing a mad wig.....!

Ma & Pa's last visit

2005-04-23T17:56:00.000+02:00

See the full story below!

2005-04-23T17:54:00.000+02:00

Chopsticks in action at home! (like my mural? It's Talk Talk's Colour of Spring which Justin asked me to paint when we first moved in!)

Linzi's Travel & Tours...(probably) the best travel company in the world...ever!

2005-04-23T17:30:00.000+02:00

Linzi's Travel & Tours really did the business when Mr & Mrs Nokes visited Zambia and South Africa in January!
A trip was organised that would take your breath away! Well......ok........slight exaggeration!
Anyway, it all started when Justin said he fancied going to the cricket and taking his dad and my dad. The idea grew and the next thing was a whole whistle stop tour from Jo'burg to the Drakensberg, Cape Town via Durban and a grand finale back in Jo'burg!
We spent a few days at our house here in Zambia but basically had a restful time (sadly dad was unwell) and just got ourselves mentally prepared for the forthcoming trip. ( my preparation was mainly to do with writing shopping lists......)
We started off at De Kuilen Cottages in Jo'burg (near fourways) which has to be one of the most gorgeous, tasteful and pleasant places to stay for a couple of nights. No small detail is missed there and the cottages are furnished with antiques and everything you could possibly need.
Justin went to the cricket with his dad on the first Sunday while me and mum & dad shopped up a storm all over Jo'burg and met my dear friend Karen for lunch!
On the Monday we drove to the Drakensberg and stayed at Champagne Valley (courtesy of Dad's RCI swap!) which was also really lovely and peaceful. Justin and I squeezed in a small hike up to the Sphinx and we also visited Thokozisa (owned by Justin's oldest friend Baz) a couple of times for meals. We were also fortunate enough to have dinner cooked by the said Basil one night (a rare feat!)
After a few days there we drove to Durban and flew on to Cape Town where, yes, we shopped.....and Justin & Dad went to the cricket (this is England v South Africa, by the way!) while Mum & me braved the roads to find Canal Walk for, yes, more shopping!
We had some lovely meals out and finally flew back to Jo'burg, where, upon completion of their crossword and word search puzzles I'd designed for them, mum & dad finally worked out that we were staying at The Castle Kyalami!
It was FANTASTIC there! What a brilliant place to stay! Mmmmm, definitely have to go there again some time.....
We hooked up with Justin's folks for lunch the next day and then it was off to the airport for mum & dad and a final night for Justin and me at the good old Holiday Inn before we returned to Zambia!

2005-04-23T17:29:00.000+02:00

Mother and daughter relax....

2005-04-23T17:27:00.000+02:00

Mum & Dad tuck in at De Kuilen!

2005-04-23T17:26:00.000+02:00

Ooooh! Thought that was Brad Pitt for a moment.....but this guy's far more handsome.....it's Justin!

2005-04-23T17:23:00.000+02:00

Me and my gorgeous husband at The Castle Kyalami

Sex, Drugs & Striptease in Chingola!

2005-03-17T12:30:00.000+02:00

The full shocking truth revealed below!

2005-03-17T12:22:00.000+02:00

"The above photographic material is not for sensitive viewers"

Small town secrets revealed!

2005-03-17T12:13:00.000+02:00

She may look sweet and innocent but she could be YOUR neighbour! Do we really know what goes on in the gardens of our neighbours? Melanie Bousfield, it is alleged, has been allowing frolicking fairies to get up to all sorts of mischief in her garden in Kabundi!
The photograph above proves just how bad things really are.Rumour has it that there may even be more evidence around showing the fairies misbehaving as they pose beside their signs....(intrepid reporter Val may have this evidence???)
Ok! Ok! Enough of the nonsense!The truth is, Mel asked me if I'd paint some fairy signs for her fairy garden.
This was obviously a dangerous request as I immediately started imagining these really bad, naughty fairies up to all sorts with signs to prove it! Even better, the thought of handing the signs back to Mel and seeing her face as she realised that by giving me 'carte blanche' to paint on them what I wanted had resulted in a big problem for her - especially for when her grandchildren next played in the fairy garden!!!
My plan back-fired though.......Mel actually loved the naughty signs and showed little or no interest in the real signs (which were underneath the cardboard 'bad' ones)!
And so that's the story really, it was just another bit of fun had in Chingola (well, we have to try and keep life interesting don't we?!!)
So........... if you ever find yourself up Kabundi way...................try and take a peek over the wall.................and let me know what those fairies are up to!

2005-03-17T11:22:00.000+02:00

"The real fairy signs!"

2005-03-17T11:01:00.000+02:00

"Linzi & Justin hold Mel up after one too many..." (only kidding Mel!)