52 walks in 2010 week 2

I did my second week yesterday, we went along Umhlanga Pier late in the afternoon. Unfortunately Brenda is developing a fear of tsunamis and refused to stay there for long. Funnily though, she is happy to swim in the sea, you just cant walk!

This little bird was eating in the bird feeder when we got there, and was still there when we got back.

Umhlanga Pier, this is the first time we have managed to walk on it because everytime we have been down it has been closed for something.

Umhlanga Lighthouse

Umhlanga looking north

Looking south

Not really a great photo, light was bad and Brenda was not co-operating!

This little seagull was flying all over!

First day of school tomorrow..................

Well, the holidays are over, and Brenda is back at school tomorrow. This holiday was only 4 weeks as the kids are getting 5 weeks in July. As a result we didnt really get much done besides Christmas, New Year etc. What have I been doing for the last two evenings? Marking stationery! Felt like hundreds of pens, pencils, crayons, kokis, roll ups, pencil crayons, books, file and the list goes on and on. I have boxes of broken pastels at home and every year end up buying new. We do donate the old ones to underpriviledged schools, but still, surely there should be a limit. The school is always asking for paper for recycling and her previous school was always telling the kids how many trees they saved with the paper sent, but what about all the pencils, and half used books. How does that impact our environment? Why does one child need so much stationery I hear you ask? Absolutely no idea, but what the teachers ask for is what the teachers get! Otherwise, "Mommy, my teacher will shout at me if I dont have it!" Only another 7 years to go, by that time we will be able to fill a tip! And not to mention, made myself nearly bankrupt!

Its Monday what are you reading this week?

I am quite impressed with myself as so far I have managed to keep up and in fact am actually a bit ahead of the game. This is good though, because I know that at some stage life will get in the way of the reading! So, for what are you reading this week I actually have quite a few books.

This week I have read:

1) Finished the courtship of Nellie Fisher series, The Longing and The Forbidden

2) Making your mind up by Jill Mansell I really enjoyed this book, such fun, lighthearted comedy.

3) Little Face by Sophie Hannah. This book was read for an online book club. It is really not the sort of book I usually read, but I enjoyed it. Very intense though, and lots of layers, you really have to think about it, well I did anyway.

4) Polar Shift by Clive Cussler. I love all of Clive Cussler's books. I was introduced to him through my real life bookclub and honestly is one of my favourite authors now. I love the fact that his books are so fast paced and find it very hard to put them down.

5) Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein. Once again, one of my favourite authors so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

As for what I am going to read this week, last night I started English Passengers by Matthew Kneale. While I am enjoying it I can see it is one that may take me a little longer to read. After that I am not actually sure what I will read. I will have to hit the library!

Favourite Foto Friday #71 - Grandparents

The theme this week is Grandparents. With us living on the same property as my parents, Brenda sees a lot of them and has a special relationship with both of them. This is Brenda and my mom early in 2009 and with my dad at Christmas 2008.

In other news, Brenda turned 12 on Wednesday. I really cannot believe where the time has gone, it seems like just the other day she was born. We went out to lunch at a restaurant about half an hour from here which has a lovely play area. She may be 12, but Brenda is still a real tomboy at heart. Unfortunately there were not that many other kids there but she had fun anyway.   Sorry, no idea why blogger, put the photos like this, but I cant seem to move them.

After that we stopped off at Gateway Shopping Centre where we went to the new indoor funfair that has just opened. Brenda had an amazing time and even persuaded my mum to go on the dodgems with her!

Please hop on over to Hannah's blog to see lots of cute kiddies with their grandparents!

52 walks in 2010

Over on UKS a few of us are doing a photography challenge for 2010, to do 52 walks in 2010 and then post the photos. I have attempted to do a walk every day since last Friday and every day something has happened. Actually went down to the beach last Friday but couldnt get parking, and various other things have happened, culminating with today when our geyser burst this afternoon. So, to make sure that we got this weeks walk in, just landed up walking up the road this afternoon with Brenda and my mom. The first picture is of the view from our road, unfortunely it was a bit hazy so you cant really see the sea!

Another one of the view

Brenda took her scooter, and had a wonderful time going up and down the hill, until the rubber came off the wheel.

I think this is a White Hibiscus, but not 100% sure. Despite it being summer, I found very few flowers to take photos of.

Our neighbours still have their Christmas decorations up!

Oh well, that was our walk, hopefully the next one will be a little bit more exciting. I have been trying to come up with 52 different walks, and off hand can only think of about 10. Will have to do some researching over the next year!

Its Monday, What are you reading this week?

Over on J. Kayes Book Blog there is a meme on Mondays to say what you are reading. I am going to try as far as possible to keep up with this, which will help me see how far I am with my challenge. I think I have done quite well this weekend as I have managed to finish 3 books already! I know that realistically I wont be able to keep up this pace once I am back to work, so I think it will be nice to be a bit ahead!

So far I have read:

1. The Covenant of Genesis by Andy Mc Dermott. This is the second book of his that I have read and I really love them. If you enjoyed the Da Vinci Code or Indiana Jones, then this is a good one for you.

2. The Parting by Beverly Lewis. This was a Christmas gift from my sister and I had never read any books by this author. It was a little slow paced for me, but I did enjoy the story, and will be reading the rest of the series next. It is set in Amish Country, which is something that has always fascinated me.

3. A thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I really enjoyed The Kite Runner and bought this book for my bookclub last year. I have had to wait a whole year to read it, and can honestly say that it was worth the wait! I love the way he makes you feel as if you are actually there in the story, the author has an amazing ability to create atmosphere. Definitely a keeper!

For the rest of the week I am planning on reading:

The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis, The Longing by Beverly Lewis and This Year it will be different by Maeve Binchy.

Goals for 2010

For the first time this year I heard about Ali Edwards idea of having a word for the year. I really liked this idea, as more and more I am starting to accept that I need a plan to focus on otherwise I will just keep drifting from one thing to the next. This year, my word is going to be Organisation! I am really organised and up to date at work,  but can never seem to carry that over into my personal life. So my plan this year is to organise my life! Sounds pretty all-encompassing doesnt it? Oh well, it is really something that I need to get done and I really cannot leave it any longer so there it is!
Main goals for 2010 are:
1. Organise my craft room, accounts, letters and schedule!
2. Be well on my way to paying off all my accounts by the end of the year!
3. Lose weight/get fitter
4. Read 100 books (see sidebar)
5. I am also joining in the 52 walks in 2010 which will encourage me to get out and about with my camera and help with no 3!
Well, there they are hopefully not too unobtainable as I do not have a very good track record with these things!