JAYNE WITH A WHY


My life has endured some drastic changes over the past 5yrs. I've moved continents, moved countries, lost my partner in life, lost my dogs, lost the bikes & no doubt about it, lost more than a few marbles along the way. I'm fucked up but valiantly fighting off sanity, which snaps at my heels at regular intervals. I swear a lot. Tell someone who cares.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A LITTLE BIT OF SELF INDULGENCE

James Francis/Jimmy Frank/Jimbo/Spadge - looking terribly cool, calm & collected outside the church................................


Shanna Mai/Shans/Mummy Shans, looking just a tad nervous before arriving at the church. She'd got the driver to do a coupla circuits & had a brief stop to take in gulps of fresh Cintsa air - the Big Day for family & friends had arrived & she admitted to feeling a bit overwhelmed bless her.

Lilly Mai/Chikkin - a picture of innocence as Flower Girl for her parents & "The Wedding".


Yay - they did it! First kisses after the blessing.



After the blessing ceremony in the church, we all headed for the beach, where heaps of guests took heaps of photos of an amazingly beautiful couple.


In my opinion, Shans simply radiated beauty. She's a pretty girl to start with, but on this very special day, she truly looked stunning.

Ma's, Pa's & kids. From left to right: Barry & Bev, Shans' parents - The Kids - A beached whale in purple & Mike - i.e. Spadge's parents.


Oh so kewl & classy! From left to right - Kristie, Shans' older sister, Spadge, Shans, Stewie the Best Man & Cally, Shans' younger sister.


Three Beautiful Sisters



I absolutely love this photo! Shanna & Lilly, mother & daughter - two stunners!


Picture perfect....................awwwwwwww



All together girls!


The boys having fun - L-R Stewie, Roger, Spadge & Nick, giving a supporting hand to the bride.


At the end of the day...............Chikkin managed to bop around the dancefloor until 11.30pm & then finally gave in to sleep bless her. She simply couldn't keep awake a minute longer.


Lilly stayed with Hubs & myself that night - we put her in our bed, but despite being totally knackered, she refused to let me take her dress off!

On this special day, everything literally was perfect. Shanna did just about all of the organising for this special day & I gotta say, she did a fantastic job. I'm incredibly proud of my son - he looked so handsome & was just about glowing with love for his new bride. The rception was a real blast & definitely falls into the 'Never-to-be-Fogotten' category!
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It was a wonderful day.
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*contented sigh*















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Monday, April 13, 2009

LAST MINUTE STUFF

Just a quick one before I clear off again........................Hubs will hopefully be on his way home from work within the hour & then there'll be a mad rush to find a legit parking spot, in which to park our motor for the next 10 days. As you can see by this photo, people aren't taught to read in this place until they're about 75yrs old, because there are distinct & very clear signs posted outside this establishment, which state: NO PARKING.

These drivers fall into 2 brackets - the "I'll only be a moment, so I'll park here" & the "How dare they put a sign up saying No Parking? Don't they know who I am?". The jumbled parking lot outside our apartment block has car owners getting nailed regularly by the traffic police - quite rightly so. Idiots park on corners, in the middle of the road, in the middle of a throughfare, they double park & they triple park. I smacked a vehicle not so long ago, because he'd blocked me in. He was parked illegally so he must suffer the consequences. Tuff tits, check the worry in my eyes.


So, insh'allah, the owner of the above handsome beast will have removed it in time for hubby needing to park & the problem will be solved!

Next up, we shall await the arrival of the car which is due to take us to the airport & which is all part & parcel of Etihad's Business Class service. If it's anything like the past coupla trips we've had, I'll be turning the air blue with some choice swear words. When one gives ones address to the lovely people at Etihad (in order to be collected) one does not expect the driver to a) not understand English & b) go to a totally different address & then complain that we're not there. Hmmmmm............wish me luck!

We have a coupla hours to hang around in Oliver Tampon Airport (Joburg) before catching the connection to East London, so plenty of time to nicotene load, before taking off on the national airline, which has recently hit the headlines for a different interpretation of 'flying high'.


Perhaps we'll even have chance to browse the internet for a while. I'll be wondering what's gone wrong when I don't see this:
Finally, we'll get to see Spadge, Shans & the one & only Chikkin! The sole reason for us going home is a wedding (blessing) ceremony. Although Spadge & Shans got married in Dublin almost 4yrs ago now, no family (from SA) or friends made it to wedding. So on Friday the 17th, Hubs & I will be going to a very special wedding. I can hardly wait!


Right then, I'm outa here! I'll hopefully post a heap of photos in a coupla weeks time. Until the, be good you lot & as always, do it quietly.....................



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Sunday, April 12, 2009

LITTLE JOHNNY'S DRAWING

It was Friday morning, and that meant it was time for an activity that the teacher called 'add to the picture'. The teacher would call students to the chalkboard one at a time.The first student would draw an object on the chalkboard, and each following student would add something to the picture to make it a new picture. The teacher called on James to start things off
James returned to his seat. The teacher called on Ernie next.
Ernie returned to his seat. Now it was Suzy's turn.
Suzy returned to her seat. Next, the teacher called Jerry to the board.
Jerry returned to his seat. Kim was called to the board.


Kim returned to her seat. About this time, little Johnny began waving his arm hysterically. Little Johnny was well known for being off centre, so the teacher was reluctant to call on him for anything. But as the teacher looked at the picture on the chalkboard, she thought that there was no way that little Johnny could possibly do anything to make this picture dirty. So she called on little Johnny, and he ran to the chalkboard.




The entire class erupted with laughter... the Teacher fainted.

Little Johnny had done it again.

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Wednesday, April 08, 2009

I RECKON................ FLOWERPOT

A year ago today, our oh-so-special Flowerpot went to meet up again with Grandad, in that Big Meeting Place Above The Sky. I reckon she's done nowt but wind his ear off ever since...................I reckon she started off telling him about how much she loved living her 'life of luxury' in Abu Dhabi & then progressed to every single detail about her baby boy*, his baby boy** & the pride of all of us, Lilly Mai***.

I reckon that Grandad would've listened & marvelled, probably over a strong cuppee tea to start with & then maybe topped off each listening session with a stiff G & T. I reckon Flowerpot would've joined him with her brandy & water.............she always said Coke was a waste when mixed with a dop.

I reckon our Flowerpot would've said "Eeeh, it's a bugger tha knows" & "Yer'll never guess wha' Our Kid is up to " & "Did I tell yer 'bout tha' there 'Arley Our Kid has got?"

I reckon Grandad would've told her that we were well lucky to have her with us for so long.


I reckon Grandad will never understand just how much she impacted our lives & just how much we miss her.



My motherbylaw - aka Flowerpot - aka Grandma - lived with us & was part of our home for 18yrs. She died a year ago today, here in Abu Dhabi, after a short but bravely fought battle against the Big C.


I reckon she knows she's sorely missed.




Thank you/shukran habibti for the beautiful white roses you brought today. Your friendship & thoughtfulness knows no bounds.


* Hubs
** Our son Spadge
*** Our granddaughter

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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

KIDS SAYING IT LIKE IT IS

The charming stories of life as a schools inspector in the Yorkshire Dales have enchanted millions. Here Gervase Phinn shares his latest hilarious reminiscences...



The new Chairman of the Education Committee was a man of striking appearance, with his red cheeks and great walrus moustache.
We were visiting a village primary school together when he was approached by a little girl called Tracey who stared at his drooping moustache for a long time before asking, 'What is it?'
'That on your face.'
'It's a moustache.'
'What does it do?'
'It doesn't do anything.'
'Does it go up your nose?'
'No.'
'Is it alive?
'No, it's not alive.'
'Can I have one?'
'No little girls and ladies don't have moustaches.'
Tracey paused, tilted her head on one side and delivered her winning shot, 'Well my grannie's got one.'




The children were giving the teacher Easter presents at the end of term: chocolates, flowers, handkerchiefs and colourful scarves.
One little girl presented the teacher with a small bag of sugar-coated chocolate eggs, 'These are for you miss because you're my favourite teacher.'
A small boy then approached and he, too, proffered a little egg.
'My goodness!' said Miss, 'Thank you. Shall I eat that now?'
She popped it in her mouth and crunched, just as he proudly announced: 'Our budgie laid it this morning.'


In the Home Corner, in an infant school classroom, a boy and girl, rising five, were arguing-stabbing the air with small fingers, jutting out their chins, and stamping little feet.
'Oh, do shut up!'
'No, you shut up!'
'I'm sick of you!'
'And I'm sick of you!'
'Oh, just be quiet!'
'No, you be quiet!'
'Oh, do shut up!'
'What's all this?' the teacher cried.
'We're playing mums and dads,' the infants both replied.



Janice was a large, healthy-looking girl sporting straw-coloured hair gathered up in enormous bushy bunches.
She deposited her reading book and folder of written work in front of me, plopped onto the chair and stared up with a weary expression.
'Well, would you like to read to me?' I asked her.
'I'm not dead keen, but I will if I 'ave to,' came the response.
After she had ploughed through seven verses of a poem, reading it as if it were Morse code, I suggested: 'Well, shall we look at your written work?'
'Can if tha wants.'
Janice's written work consisted largely of spelling exercises, short pedestrian passages of prose, a few poor-quality rhyming poems and numerous accounts, rather more lively and descriptive, of calving, lambing, sheep-shearing and other farming matters.
I decided to concentrate on these. 'You keep cows on your farm then, do you, Janice?'
'Yeah.'
'And pigs?' '
Yeah.'
'And what about sheep?'
'What about 'em?'
'Do you have any?'
'Yeah.'
This was hard work, but I persevered.
'It must be wonderful each year to see those little woolly creatures, like the ones in the poem, all wet and steaming in the morning air.'
'It's all reet,' she said, stifling a yawn.
'And what do you like best about lambing?'
She considered me again with the doleful eyes before telling me without batting an eyelid: 'Best part's when me and mi brother slide on t'afterbirth in t'yard.'



Entering the infant classroom, I was approached by a small serious-faced boy with bright blue eyes magnified by a pair of spectacles.
'You must be the school inspector?' he said precociously.
I acknowledged that I was.
'Mr Phinn? We've been expecting you. Have you travelled far?'
Marvelling at his self-assurance, I told him I had not.
The child went on: 'I've been looking forward to meeting you. We've been reading your poems, and some of them are quite delightful.'
I was taken aback.
'That's very nice of you.'
The boy studied me carefully.
'Mrs McGuire says there are much better words to use than "nice".'
I agreed that there were indeed and Mrs McGuire was absolutely right.
'I'm Benedict,' the child went on, holding out a small hand which I shook formally.
'Do you know Mr Phinn, we've had a very interesting conversation,' and with this Benedict patted me on the arm before departing for the Reading Corner, calling over his shoulder:
'We must do lunch sometime.'


I found Hyacinth poring over a large picture book at her desk.
'I'm special needs,' she told me, wiping her nose on her finger.
I asked her to read to me.
'Are you the infector?' she demanded.
'Inspector,' I replied, to which she said she couldn't 'see t'difference'.
Reluctantly, she read to me, finger following each word, never pausing for breath, hurrying on to get it over with.
'Hyacinth,' I said, 'that was very good, but what do you do when you come to a full stop?
She eyed me like an expert in the presence of an ignoramus. 'You gerroff t'bus,' she replied.



In a corner of the classroom, set out as Fred's Cafe, I met a six-year-old boy wearing a large blue apron over his school clothes.
All around him were notices and signs: NO DOGS ALLOWED, SPECIAL OF THE WEEK, COD 'N' CHIPS, NO SMOKING!
I seated myself and looked at a blank piece of paper at the top of which was written: MENU.
The little boy sidled up.
'What's it to be?' he asked.
'Oh,' I said, 'I think I'll just have something to drink.'
'Anything to eat?'
'No, I don't think so.'
'What about some fish an' chips?'
'No, I'm really not that hungry.' '
Just a drink?'
'That's right.'
The boy disappeared and returned a moment later with a small, empty plastic beaker.
He watched intently as I drank the imaginary liquid, licked my lips and exclaimed: 'That was the nicest cup of tea I have had in a long while.'
'It was an 'arf o' bitter,' he told me bluntly and walked off.



The vicar began assembly by asking the children to guess what was in his head.
He told them that walking through the churchyard that morning he had seen something in a tree.
'I had such a surprise. There it was, poking its little grey head through the branches, its great bushy tail twitching, and its little darting, black eyes staring at me.
What do you think I am talking about?'
'Well,' replied a boy at the front, 'I know it's Jesus, but it sounds very like a squirrel to me.'



An anxious boy called Roger looked terrified when I began to examine his book.
'It's not very good, I'm not much good at writing,' he said.
'It's not bad at all,' I replied, leafing through,
'You just need to write a bit more and check your spellings and punctuation.'
Then I came across something rather different.
'This is rather good,' I said, impressed.
'What a wonderful little poem,' and I began to copy it out: Yesterday yesterday yesterday Sorrow sorrow sorrow Today today today Hope hope hope Tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow Love love love
Roger looked at me in surprise: 'That's not a poem, sir. They're my spelling corrections.'


• Extracted from TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STARS by Gervase Phinn, published by Michael Joseph at £10. © Gervase Phinn 2008.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1102801/How-did-cow-swallow-dog-What-young-boy-said-saw-calf-born.html

Posted by Jayne :: 13:16 :: 4 Had Somminc To Say

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Saturday, April 04, 2009

QUICK, WHILE THEY'RE NOT LOOKING!!!

It turns out that a really good friend of ours is on the Feebies list of 'People of Interest'. His picture is on an FBI site, where they describe him as 'blatantly' wearing a specific item of clothing, here in the UAE.
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Shock horror!!!
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What a fucking joke, really! You'd think the FBI had better things to worry about.
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Whilst it made really funny dinner conversation with our 'Feebie Friend' last night, it just goes to show that there are some rather suspicious people in our midst - namely those whom we mix with.
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I'll be paying more attention in future, to anyone who takes photos of our friend.
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Perhaps the Feebs will foot his/her hospital bill.

Quick 'Sleepy', let's go for a ride while they're not looking.........................




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Thursday, April 02, 2009

FOR LULU(lululululu)



Once upon a time, 3 bloggers from this part of the Sandpit got together.

We had a whole heap of fun & friendships were truly cemented.


We did what friends do - we always had fun, there was never any pressure, no hassles & always an ear to listen to tales of woe or wonder.



And then one day, our friend said she was gatvol* of the Sandpit & would be going home. We didn't believe her at first, but the weeks flew by & next thing we know, it was time for her to go.



"Among Life's precious jewels,
Genuine and rare,
The one that we call friendship
Has worth beyond compare."
~
author unknown

The wonderful lady behind Just call me Lulu has been a blessing to Kaya & myself over the past couple of years. She may have buggered off to her home country, but she's still deep in our hearts & mustn't think she's got shot of us so easily! If you get to read this skattie, ag well, snot 'n trana aside, alles van die beste & insh'allah we'll all meet up again one day.

Thank you for being a wonderful friend.

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*sniff*

*fed up (in polite terms)


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