A part of me has always been jealous of people living in the Northern Hemisphere ... especially during this time of year ... you have Christmases with family huddled together inside with warm cosy fireplaces while the snow is softly falling just to add more to that feeling... (‘you know - like in the movies’) 

BUT then I thought more of how we do Christmas here at the South tip of Africa and realised that it is not really that much different.  (Apart from the snow falling softly...) 

Christmas is a time when family get together and it may not be in a warm cosy room with the crackling sound of firewood burning in the fireplace but rather on the “stoep” (veranda) and the crackling sound coming from the barbeque or ‘braai’ as we call it, all enjoying a memory, a laugh, a dream, a tear, a Birth story that made life possible for us... the biggest Gift of all!

It is a time in which I count my Blessings with a heart warmer than the summer sun while I watch my kids counting the days ‘till Christmas. Their excitement is more than contagious and the best part is that it is not necessarily about the wrapped gifts waiting to be opened, but they are looking forward to seeing their cousins, uncles & aunts, grannies & grandpas. They have big plans for fishing, sleeping outside and ‘braaiing’ marshmallows until late in the night...

I have big plans for the huge table surrounded by those dear to us ... this year I made a new ‘centre piece’ and it all started with a piece of yarn and a crochet needle.

See, it is not much different than any other place in the world – we all have a need to be with the ones that we love! 

Like the words from one of our country's most beloved men : 

My wish for you this Christmas is to be surrounded by those you love, sharing joy and laughter and filling up your happy-memory-cup to last you the whole year through !!

Tip Tap ..

This morning I was staring at the 'water worms' working their way down my kitchen window with the comforting smell of freshly brewed coffee while listening to the tip..tap..tip..tap of the rain dripping outside – it quickly changed into ‘tipity tap tipity tap’ and I was filled with joy!  

I love rainy days and the fact that we are on holiday made it even better ... those lazy days with no hurry to go somewhere or do something.  We are even more blessed with a few days to ourselves while the kids are visiting Granny – it is a weird feeling being just the two of us again at home ... and even though I love the freedom and the special blessing of time for just Riaan and myself - I keep looking for the kids. It’s like an invisible inner compass steering you to where they are (or should be)! 

My mother told me while I was expecting Ralden, that the day I have my baby in my arms will be the day that I will start moving with my heart outside my body ... how true!!

Anyway – getting back to rain ... and my joy filled moment for today:

This is it...

I luv blogs ...  there are a few blogs which I try to visit whenever I possibly can.  It's a great feeling that you get when you see and read something inspiring. By inspiring I mean something that let me go "ahh - that's stunning" ... a way with words, a beautiful photo (i luv photos) or something creative ... it energizes me and fuels my soul in a way that I cannot explain! 

(I read on a t-shirt once : "If I have to explain - you wouldn't understand" and that is exactly that ...)

In sharing my excitement on things that I've seen / read on blogs many friends convinced me to start my own ... so here goes - 'This is it' .... the beginning of my blog on:  the stuff that I love...

Today I love the fact that I finally took the first step into the unknown world of blogging as a blogger. 

This is actually a scary feeling in a way - putting myself out there ... hoping to inspire?  

Not to mention the fact that I am doing this in English (my second language) - so apologies in advance for spelling / grammar errors!!!

I'm still figuring out how all this works and hopefully I will be able to add my own photo's and details soon.