HOME SWEET HOME

Conroy and me have been quite busy making this house in Kloof, Durban our own sanctuary for the past 4 years. Our garden was a blank canvas in 2002. We are both nature lovers and on the advice of our landscaper, Jason de Leur, we went the indigenous route. Today we are benefitting from this choice. It is not only a waterwise garden, the birdlife is absolutely amazing. With all the rockeries incorporated the reptile species has also made it their home. A bee colony also zoom-ed in and unfortunately we were forced to have them professionally removed for safety reasons. The local Kloof monkey troops also frequent the garden in search of tasty morsels (being anything that flowers) and entertains us with their clowning around. We often forget to take photos of our homes and as we move on the memories of our past homes fade. Having done this scrapbooking layout I knew that we will always have a visual memory of this house we made our home. The white irises were in full bloom one sunny afternoon and I had to take the opportunity of capturing them. The specks of white from the irises formed a nice frame around the photos of our home.

Below is a brief history of our indigenous garden, our vision for it, etc.

Brief History of the Garden We relocated from Pretoria to Kloof, Durban during January 2002. Unit 4, 4 Coghill Ave was a spec house at the time. There was no garden and no retaining walls around the back and side of the house. Due to seasonal heavy rains the unretained embankments around the house posed a serious mudslide threat. We appointed a local landscaper to solve this problem and do the basic shaping/landscaping of the garden. On recommendation from the landscaper we decided to go the indigenous route. We have had no previous knowledge or experience regarding indigenous plants and gave the landscaper carte blanche with regard to the type of plants he introduced. A year lapsed after the initial landscaping and numerous plants and ground covers seemed very messy/scraggy and just not our style. The embankment on the one side of the house was still causing mudslides during heavy rain and we struggled to keep the flagstone path, which we have in the meantime laid ourselves, free from soil. Having been to the Kloof Conservancy/Robyndale open gardens day during 2003 we got inspired by some of the gardens and decided to approach Robyndale for suggestions and a quote. After Jason de Leur took us on a tour of indigenous gardens they landscaped, we fell in love with how natural the gardens looked and blended in with the local environment. Robyndale commenced, during July/August 2003, with the FIRST PHASE of the garden. They removed 80% of the previous landscaping and started with a clean canvass. The problem embankment on the side of the house and the front garden as well as the steps up to the swing bench above the rockery at the side of the house was their first challenge – which turned out to be the key elements of the garden. The SECOND PHASE (the rest of the embankment in front of the swing bench area and the back of the house) was re‑landscaped during July 2004. The THIRD AND FINAL PHASE (removal of Yesterday-Todays-&-Tomorrow’s in front of boundary wall and relandscaping) was done during July/August 2004. This area is therefore the youngest area in the garden and has grown tremendously in the 7 months since landscaping. Vision A luscious indigenous oasis where man, birds and animals can feel free to roam and live side by side. The garden is already a place in which tired souls can unwind and find new inspiration. Particular Areas of Interest The rockery with pathway leading to relaxation area and elevated viewpoint serves as a relaxing hideaway. The flagstone path around the back of the house facilitates a peaceful walkabout whilst savouring the variety of indigenous plants which lines the pathway. The various stone bird baths attract a variety of birds and gives a cool feeling on hot sunny days. There are in the region of 14 species of aloes throughout the garden. Wildlife The blueheaded lizard and various other types of lizards live around the rockeries and stone water baths. As yet we have not spotted Chameleons and cannot wait for them to make this garden their home. The local monkey troop makes its way through the garden once a week, foraging for quick and tasty pickings, the unopened Strelitzia flowers being a favourite. Tree frogs are often spotted on windows during night time. The following birds have been observed: Woollynecked Stork (Wolnekooievaar) Brownhooded Kingfisher (Bruinkopvisvanger) Hoopoe Purplecrested Lourie (Bloukuifloerie) Bronze Mannikin (Gewone Fret) Sunbirds Redeyed Dove Blackeyed Bulbul (Tiptol) Olive Thrush (Olyflyster) Black Flycatcher (Swartvlieëvanger) Cape Wagtail (Gewone Kwikkie) Hadeda Ibis Egyptian Goose (Kolgans)

Watch this space for exciting scrapbooking layouts of our garden.!

PDAC 25km ROAD RACE - Sunday, 29 January 2006

(Pinetown Districts Athletic Club)

It was an early rise at 3:00am on this wet and misty Sunday morning to get ourselves ready for the race. We had to sort out car logistics due to the race being a one-way route. We had to take both our cars down to the finish at Lahee Park in Pinetown and leave one car there and then drive to the start at Waterfall Shopping Centre, where we left the other car. We were very appreciable of the cool and misty weather - especially at this time of year when the mercury often hits 40 degrees. The starting gun went off 5:04am and a few thousand chirpy (usual at the start of a race - until the first hill surfaces) athletes were on their way.

We made our way along Inanda Road, which was built up with new security complexes on the left and serene country side still surviving on the right. The first 8 to 9km had a gradual incline and the still cold and stiff limbs took strain warming up. The route linked up with Old Main Road going through Hillcrest, Gillits and Kloof after which it went parallel with the M13 until the 19km mark where it started winding through Pinetown suburbs towards the end at Lahee Park in Pinetown.

The race was well organised except for a 'very dry' waterpoint at the 9km mark which had no water or Coke and worries started setting in on what the water situation will be at the rest of the waterpoints. Fortunately all the waterpoints were well stocked further on. (There are waterpoints at 3km intervals.)

We both finished the race well within the cut-off time of 4h15min, with very sore/stiff/aching bodies to show for it. Conroy's running time was 2h23min and my walking time was 3h18min.

A huge thank you to Shelley and Nicky (my scrapping students/friends) who was the greatest support team I have ever had on a race. They drove along the route and stopped every 3/4km cheering and motivating their friends along - even stood ready with a 'Bar-one' choccie at the 20km mark - Thanks I needed it!!!

We got a T-shirt and a Huletts Sugar carry-bag with a 1kg packet of sugar in it for our efforts.

Needless to say the rest of the Sunday was spent in a horizontal state of vegetation!!!

From left to right: Yours truly, Jenny Reid, Charmian MacKenzie, Sophia Allison, Suzette Witteveen and Ellie Griffiths XMAS 2005 with PICK-OF-THE-CROP Monday, 19 December 2005 From left to right: Me, Jenny, Charmian, Sophia, Suzette and Ellie. We (Pick-of-the-Crop) celebrated another year of scrapbooking together. We come together every Monday evening for three hours, scrapping, socialising and catching up on the latest gossip/trends in the scrapbooking industry. We have been doing this since November 2002 and have become very close friends. As you can see we usually go the whole hog (outfits) when celebrating - which is of course very important for capturing on camera and getting scrapbooked! It has become custom for us to exchange small gifts amongst each other during the festive season. I am briefly giving each of my (scrapping) friends' profiles: Jenny Reid "Hi, I am Jennifer-Ann Reid, fondly called Jenny by my friends. I was born on 31st October 1953 (you can work out my age as each year passes). I’m a born and bred Durbanite, which means I have grown up by the sea and not far from the mountains and the Game reserves. I got married in January 1976 to my still gorgeous husband Bruce, who is truly one in a million! (This seems to be a common trait amongst my Scrapbooking pals – see other profiles). I have been treated to surprise trips to Mauritius, the QE2, and the latest…flown to Johannesburg for a Valentine’s dinner! So just imagine all the photos. But I must point out he is an Arian, which means he is self-seeking in his sporting activities, i.e. the one’s I can’t take part in! [golf] At first this wasn’t an issue as the lack of free time, due to raising my two girls whilst working full time, meant I didn’t have the time to notice this small flaw. With the girls now grown-up and living in the UK, I now have a lot of time to myself…this has encouraged me to find a hobby. Up till now my only hobby has been work, work AND more work; until I was introduced to Scrapbooking that is! This took place when I got involved in completing a Scrapbooking project for my youngest daughter’s 21st in 2001. At first I was over whelmed by the time consumption of this art and on completion of the album I ceased to scrapbook for almost a year. But in August 2002 the bug bit again as I had decided I can no longer keep putting things on hold for when I retire – NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT! And so I started lessons with Desire. Our group now meet once a week and ‘scrap’ together. For me it is so wonderfully relaxing, and I have now made some fantastic friends – who are willing to share their ideas, their tools, papers & gadgets as well as give constructive advice to help with my Scrapbooking improvement" Charmian MacKenzie "Born and bred in Cape Town, the mother city, I moved to the Durban area in 1985. After moving from house to house, my husband and I finally settled in Pinetown (+/-20 Km outside Durban) about 10 years ago. I am a trained medical technologist and work mornings in a laboratory. This leaves my afternoons "free" to do the school run and supervise homework, etc. for my sons Rory (12) and Cameron (7). My husband, Duncan, is a seafarer and sometimes spends months away from home. As a family, we try to make up for lost time when Dad is home and spend time doing special things together and these are then duly recorded photographically and ultimately in the pages of my scrapbook. In October 2002, by my friend Ellie asked me to go with her to a scrapbook class. Always one to take lots of photo's, scrapping seemed a natural progression and I was hooked! Initially, places stocking paper and scrapping paraphernalia were thin on the ground, but as the hobby in this country has grown, more outlets are stocking more supplies! Bad news for the credit card! I am now a confirmed "scrapaholic" and since there is no known cure, I may as well enjoy the addiction.I also enjoy sewing and am interested in interior decorating." Sophia Allison "Live each day like there is no tomorrow" Born and bred in Durban on 30th July 1968 and the eldest of 4. I have 3 younger brothers and my parents hail from a little island called Mauritius. My hobbies include reading, cooking and of course 'SCRAPBOOKING'. Married my loving and caring husband, Murray on the 10th November 2001. I am currently working as a Secretary for the MD at Shave Paints in Pinetown. I was introduced to Scrapbooking by my sister-in-law in October 2002, then started taking lessons with Desire and got hooked... Our family grew to three with the birth of our beautiful daughter Amy, in January 2004. She has brought us nothing but joy since she came into our lives, we both feel so blessed! I am part of a social Scrapbooking club, where we get together at each others home once a week to scrap our pages and generally share exciting and new ideas with each other. The 6 of us have become very good friends and we all try to attend Crop days as a group and just have fun!! Suzette Witteveen "I was born in Cape Town and at the age of 10 my father was transferred to Durban. Our family settled in Westville and I attended the local Westville schools. As a young scholar I was passionate about ballet and after matric danced professionally. From The Ballet company I moved on to gain my Teacher's qualifications and then taught Ballet for many years. In 1989 I married Tjebbe - who is of Dutch descent, and my ballet career came to an end after the birth of my daughter Minke in 1990. Two years later Nicholas was born. My husband is an avid bird watcher, nature lover, camper and hiker so we spend as much time as we can outdoors. Photography is another passion of ours and many, many photographs are taken. My mother had an immense interest in anything creative and it was upon her suggestion that we attended some scrapbooking lessons with Desire. I find the process of creating my "Memory Albums" relaxing, thought provoking and very satisfying with a wonderful sense of achievement upon completion of a page. It has certainly changed the way I look at and photograph life" Ellie Griffiths "I don't drink, I don't smoke, but I must confess...I'm an addicted SCRAP-a-holic" Hi. My name is Ellen (pronounced Allen) as I was born in Oberstaufen, Germany, the beautiful southern part right next to the international ski slope town of Oberstdorf. Most people fondly abbreviate my name to Ellie. After leaving Germany, living in Afghanistan for 3 years, we emigrated to South Africa. My father’s profession in textiles was sort after in Pinetown, Durban and we have lived here ever since. I’ve been married for 13 years to a wonderful, loving and caring husband, Philip. We have a 10-year-old son Peter (pronounced Peta). He is an absolute joy to both of us. One day in November 2002, when I was shopping for bee’s wax paper for my Dad’s birthday bash, which we were holding for him at our home, by pure chance I discovered “Scrapbooking” in a fantastic craft shop in Kloof and decided to go for a lesson. Since then, I’ve been hooked. Even though Scrapbooking started out purely as a hobby, I have now progressed to the extent where I have become a consultant and give lessons to people who are keen to learn. Both my “boys” are very supportive of my decision to do Scrapbooking and Peter will even hunt out articles and magazines in stores and bring them to my attention. My husband even builds light boxes for all Scrapbooking ladies. My hobbies used to be sewing, dancing (ballet and modern) and being in several amateur shows, swimming, travelling. Now in between Scrapbooking, I manage to fit in some sailing and we go caravanning once a month (but I still sneak some Scrapbooking with me). I am a typesetter (setting up articles and books/magazines prior to printing) by trade but after discovering Scrapbooking, nothing can take its place. Since discovering Scrapbooking, I really enjoy taking photos (which are better than they used to be) and can’t wait for them to be developed so that I can add them to my Scrapbook collection." Signing off: SCRAPAHOLIC

STELLA 15KM ROAD RACE

Sunday, 22 January 2006 We rose early (4:30am) on this hot, humid, summer Sunday morning to get ready for this race held by the Stella Athletic Club in Durban (about 30km from our home in Kloof). The starting gun went off as scheduled at 6:00am. I am race walking at the moment (no technique - just my own plodding), which I found more enjoyable than running which is more jarring on the body. The race was very well organised with water and Coke at every 2km mark. The road marshalls were also great controlling the early morning traffic (not too serious) , seeing to it that we had no sudden stops waiting for traffic and we could keep our pace. I did a PB today for a 15km Walk i.e. 1h59min. I was very pleased being able to break the 2 hour mark, although this meant a tired and aching body. Hubby, Conroy ran the race in 1h23min. We went for our usual post race breakfast at the Bizzy Lizzy tea garden situated within the Dunrobin Nursery in Bothas Hill. We are still contemplating doing the PDAC 25km race on Sunday, 29 January 2006. This will be the furthest that I have ever walked a race - my furthest walking race being 21.1km. I have also joined Run & Walk 4 Life yesterday doing a 7.6km with them. The plan is to train with them on Monday and Wednesday afternoons at 5:30pm and on Saturday mornings at 6:00am. At the moment I will only be doing Saturdays and Mondays and from March I will be doing Wednesday afternoons as well, when I will be ceasing teaching Scrapbooking on Wednesday evenings. Signing off from a very hot, humid and stuffy Kloof!

Me on the top of the world

We have been quite active during the 2005 December holidays. Amongst other me and Conroy have done the 6-day Tsitsikamma hiking trail (Western Cape, South Africa) with our backpacks. The Hike starts at Natures Valley along the coast and then winds its way up and over the Tsitsikamma mountains, ending at Storms River Village. The total distance is +/- 65km. It is always very sole refreshing for us to be in and one with nature.

The scenery was absolutely stunning and there were photo opportunities everywhere. The area had an 18-day fire during November 2005 and evidence of this was all around us every day. Apart from +/-60% of the route being burnt it was still beautiful in a different way. Contrasts in colours i.e. green grass growing again, black tree stumps, burnt brown leaves and blue skies with white clouds made for stunning photos as can be seen from the photos below.