NEGLECTED HUSBAND - Sunday, 24 June 2007

Well, I think most of our lady scrappers tend to neglect the male generation when creating layouts. I'm for one, are quite guilty. But, on the other hand, we cannot be blamed all together. Where have you ever found a husband or any male for that matter who willingly and keenly pose for a shot.

So, when hubby asked me to take some portrait shots of him for a website his in the process of creating, I grabbed the opportunity to create a quilt layout with some of the shots and called it 'EXPRESSIONS OF CONROY'.

Hubby has also written his autobiography for a project his currently doing with The Graduate School of Business' in Cape Town. For me, it made quite interesting reading and reminded me of some facts distant in memory. I incorporated his autobiography as a pull-out page behind the above layout's right hand page. Here's the autobiography:

"Autobiography of Conroy Fourie: Born 12 January 1961

The Early Years…

My mom (Marie) and dad (Coen) married in Oudtshoorn, and soon thereafter moved to a small mining town on the Cape Westcoast called Kleinzee. My older sister Louise was born on 18 November 1959 and I was born on 12 January 1961 in Kleinzee. I also have a younger brother Leon, and a younger sister, Moira, born in July 1963 and February 1967 respectively.

During our formative years we relocated frequently, first to Oranjemund, another small diamond town in the southern part of Namibia. When I was 6 or 7 years old we moved to Oudsthoorn and when I was 9 we moved to a small town in the Eastern Cape called Uitenhage.

We always had a very tightknit family unit, within our immediate family and also with our extended family relations.

My School Years…

After initially moving a few times during my “Sub A to Standard 1” school years I spent most of my primary school career at Innes Primary in Uitenhage from middle Standard 1 to Standard 5. I chose to enrol at the local “Acadamically Orientated” secondary school in Uitenhage and started Standard 6 in January 1974. During my Matric year, I managed to secure a place on the Veld & Vlei Leadership Adventure School held close to the Wilderness on the Garden Route. This leadership school took place during the winter school break in 1978 and was for a full 3 weeks. A vivid experience that I believe played a strong role in some of my later decisions in life. It really taught me a lot about myself, and what I was capable of. I passed my Matric with full university exemption and a “C” average.

National Service…

Oblivious to the political environment of the time I complied with the formalities of the day, registered, and was instructed to join the army for two years’ compulsory National Service in January 1979. I was allocated to the support corps - the Army Chef School. After basics and the Chef’s course, I volunteered to join 1 Parachute Batallion in Bloemfontein. I had the notion to do the qualifying course for Parachute Training but never pursued this further once at the unit. The association with an elite army unit rubbed off even on the support staff in the base and we were subjected to excellent discipline and built a really good spirit. We worked extremely hard and maintained excellent standards.

During 1980, my second and last year of national service, I firmed my plans to go to university and enrolled for a degree in commerce, with Professional Accountancy (CA route) as the major discipline, at the University of Port Elizabeth.

Varsity!!…

Although UPE was only 30km or so from my parents’ home, I elected to stay in university residence. This was a great time of my life. I had a close circle of friends that worked hard but also played hard. I was probably top 20% in my class most subjects. In addition to the academic and social life, I played a lot of sport socially and formally. Eventually I redirected my degree majors and settled on Accounting and Business Economics rather than following the CA route.

The largely carefree first year continued into the second year, especially now that I was a senior in the residence. At the start of my third year, on Valentine’s Day 1983, our flat entertained a ladies residence flat and I met my lovely wife-to-be Desíre. This serious-looking lady with her white windbreaker sitting around the fire with her friends really was a sight to behold. My varsity life and beyond changed forever. We got engaged December 17th 1983; I was a mere 22 years old and she 19!! I still remember my future father in law going silent when I asked him if I could marry her…he must have thought we were too young! We got married 30 November 1984 and I received my B.Com degree in December 1984.

My Professional Career…

Towards the end of my fourth year, as I prepared for the responsibilities of marriage, I started working for my “part” university sponsor, Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company, in their finance division at Head Office in Port Elizabeth, as accountant, on 17 September 1984. An interesting conversation just prior to me starting was with the HR manager and he asked me something to this effect: “you won’t have a problem reporting to a coloured person?” I was bemused – suffice to say, Len Van Wyk (“The Coloured”) and I had a magnificent relationship. We had many discussions about our individual experiences and built an excellent rapport. I attended his wedding roundabout 1986 or 1987 in one of the “coloured” townships and what an experience this was. We got lost driving to the church and had to ask a few of the local residents the way – as I opened the car window I heard one of the children in the street with eyes widening saying something like: “hier’s wittes!! (here are whites!!)”.

While at Goodyear I completed a B.Com Honours in business economics and in my last year at Goodyear (1988) started my MBL masters (MBA) through Unisa’s School of Business Leadership. I finished this degree while at Toyota. To meet my aspirations to move into a General Management career path, I joined Toyota SA Marketing (1989) after nearly five years at Goodyear.

At Toyota, I spend most of my ten years’ tenure in a Dealer Development capacity, in various managerial roles. I received several promotions, relocated to Pretoria (1991 December) and gained extensive experience in General Management. After ten years at Toyota, I felt that to stimulate further career growth, I needed to expand my horizons and take charge of the redefinition of my career. As I had an interest in Information Technology, when an opportunity arose, I accepted a position as Project Manager at Kerridge Computer Company in their Motor Dealer Management Systems division (1999). At the time, it was my view that the IT industry offered an interesting career option, and the move to Kerridge allowed me to pursue this while at the same time remaining close to the Motor Industry.

In 2001, Shell approached me to join Shell Autoserv as General Manager. This opportunity offered me great scope to leverage my General Management career in a key area of the Motor Industry, after-sales service. I joined Shell Autoserv in December 2001, and as a result of this appointment relocated to Durban. While working at Kerridge I started a Masters in IT through the University of Pretoria which I completed in 2003 while at Shell Autoserv.

As a result of a Shell Group portfolio decision, the local Shell Autoserv business has been made available for sale in April 2005. After a deal failure in October 2006, I was asked to take over the divestment project management role. I successfully negotiated a sale of the branches of the business at 30 April 2007.

Desíre and I, A Partnership For Life…

Desíre and I have been together for 24 years, and our bond is now as strong as ever. We have not been blessed with children, but with one another. She is the most supportive, loving, loyal person. We enjoy being together and doing hikes or just breaking away for the odd getaway to preferably somewhere in a mountain. We have done some major multi-day hikes such as the Outeniqua (1995), Swellendam (1998), Fishriver Canyon (2002), Otter (2004), Tsitsikamma (2005) and numerous smaller hikes in between. From about 1995 to 2001, while in Pretoria, we were regular road runners; however, the move to Durban has broken the cycle we were in then. Now we particpate in road runs (jogs/walks) irregularly and go to gym occassionally.

Seminal Events…

1. Choosing my secondary school to be an academic track as opposed to a technical track stimulated my university career and subsequent professional general managerial career.

2. Securing a place on the Veld & Vlei Leadership Adventure School during my matric year – an intense physical and psychological experience that taught me a lot about myself, and what I was capable of.

3. Attending University and the resultant stimulus for lifelong learning that this exposure left me with.

4. Meeting Desíre and getting married; apart from the wonderful richness of our personal relationship I also gained parents-in-law that added immense quality of life to me.

5. Joining Toyota and subsequently relocating to Gauteng from Port Elizabeth. This consolidated my career decision to be in general management rather than in a finance specialist role.

6. Leaving Toyota to stimulate further career growth was the right strategy but joining Kerridge was the wrong implementation and a sobering experience. This move subsequently led to my career at Shell Autoserv and relocation to Durban. Furthermore, the move from Toyota (in 1999) stimulated nine years of introspection and an examination of my leadership style – an exciting although sometimes daunting journey.

7. A Shell Group portfolio decision (April 2005) to divest the Autoserv business unit in South Africa and my decision to stay with the business to influence a positive divestment outcome. This lead to a period of intense emotional roller coasters and culminating in a successful sale of the branches of the business but the closure of the head office with the resultant redundancy of head office colleagues including myself.

Most Influential People In My Life…

1. My parents for teaching me sound life principles and values, supportive, encouraging, and for always seeing the good in everyone.

2. My life partner Desíre for being a natural peoples person, loving me unconditionally, supporting me, having a bias for action (as opposed to my sometimes analytical paralysis), being unselfish, demonstrating loyalty and commitment, and just for being there – by her actions she truly shows me how to enrich the lifes of others.

3. My first boss Len Van Wyk for demonstrating the true meaning of respect for diversity and thereby transferring the seeds of this quality to me.

4. My second boss Harold Barnard, my first “unintended” mentor and coach, amongst others for demonstrating the qualities of a truly people and team focused leadership to me in my early career.

5. Brand Pretorius, an icon in the motor industry – for being a role model for inspirational and charismatic leadership.

6. To all the people that I had the privilege to interact with in the past and for those I will interact with in the future - for the richness of experience and learning this brought to me and will bring to me in future."

- Wife with Pampered Hubby Signing Off

TP GANG {RUDELY} GATE CRASHED - Thursday, 21 June 2007

Stepping into the blue room, the TP {teacher's pet} Gang immediately noticed an impostor who was gate crashing on their exclusive self proclaimed Thursday evening territory. The situation was aggravated by the impostor being a member of the infamous Botha's Hill Gang.

Tha Teacha had to contend with loud tongue lashings aimed at expelling the Botha's Hill Gang member leaving her with no choice but to seriously reprimand the TP Gang for their raucous behaviour in order for her scrapping instructions to be clear - not that the TP Gang members ever pay attention to Tha Teacha's rules and instructions.

To aggravate matters even more, another Botha's Hill Gang member aka 'Shelley the Perfectionist' pitched up to purchase some scrapping papers. Needless to say that the TP Gang members' blood pressure shot through the roof.

Proceedings turned for the worse when one of the more decent TP Gang Members aka Quilt Queen requested a quick private one-on-one advice session in the Dining Room regarding a mini album wedding gift for her daughter's upcoming wedding. The Blue Room door was shut closed by the TP Gang Leader assisted by her fellow gangsters, the Green Mamba and Greek Connection barring one of their own members re-entering.

A sign was hastily fixed to the Blue Room door stating 'NO CRAPERS' meaning no 'gat-KRUIPERS' in Afrikaans, translated back to English meaning 'don't suck up to Tha Teacha'. Fortunately the Botha's Gang Imposter aka 'Most Frequent Visitor to DOING LIFE' came to the rescue of the Quilt Queen.

Instead of the situation turning back to decent, the party became seriously rough with accusations running rife. Tea break could not have arrived sooner and the emotions became stable again. The Botha's Hill gate crasher earned some serious brownie points with the TP Gang (no hard feelings) when she presented a plate of scrumptious CHOCOLATE CRUNCHIES baked personally by her. The plate of crunchies did not even had time to hit the table as the TP Gang of commando worms polished the crunchies in a blink of the eye. Whilst licking their fingers, the TP Gang immediately demanded the recipe as a peace offering. Tha Teacha would like to warn the Botha's Hill Gang that there are sure signs of a walk over looming.

{The last crunchie rescued from the chomping jaws of the TP Gang Leader!}

So, to keep the peace here's the recipe and Tha Teacha would like to add that DOING LIFE visitors are free to try out this recipe - it is really the most divine Chocolate Crunchies.

CHOCOLATE CRUNCHIES (Michelle Ramsay - Botha's Hill Gang Member) 2 cups flour, 2 cups oats, 2 cups coconut , 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon cocoa, 250g margarine, 3 teaspoons baking powder, Mix all dry ingredients together. Melt margarine and add to dry ingredients, mixing well. Press into greased tray (I use my oven tray) and bake for 25 minutes at 160°C. Topping: ½ packet icing sugar, +- 2 tablespoons cocoa, 2½ tablespoons milk, +- 2 table spoons margarine (45g), Sieve icing sugar. Melt margarine and add milk. Add dry ingredients to liquid and mix well until smooth. Pour onto crunchies as soon as they come out of the oven. Cut into squares when cool. Enjoy! - Tha Teacha: Chocolate Crunchie Addict Signing Off

THE 'OBSCENE' HEDGEHOG ALOE (...cont)

I received this interesting email from a visitor to DOING LIFE and thought I will share it with all the other DOING LIFERS. I am so glad that it is not only my Hedgehog Aloe which is obscene, but that there are others out there looking the same.

"Hi Desire - how coincidental! I also have a Canon with Tamron telephoto lens, and we went along to the Pretoria Botanical Gardens on Sunday for me to hone my skills (!) While there, I took a photo of what I termed an "obscene" looking aloe. Now at least I know what it is! Thank you for that.

Hedgehog Aloe Flower in Pretoria Botanical Gardens

I am also a keen scrapbooker, but don't seem to find enough time. I buy loads of paper and goodies and then feel guilty because I am not using them! Great website. Kind regards. Ann Donnelly"

My response:

"Dear Ann. It was a nice surprise to here from a visitor to DOING LIFE. Sjoe, now I can rest assured that it is not only my Hedgehog Aloe which is obscene but that there are others out there as well. Thank you so much for your informative email. It looks like you are also enjoying your new telephoto lens. Do you use a monopod with your telephoto lens or do you try using it handheld (very difficult for me, need serious upper arm strength for this). I know the feeling of buying scrapping goodies which always seems to shout at one 'take me, take me, you must have me'. But I have developed my own style over the years which utilises a lot of photos on a layout and only embellishing for finishing touches. I also tend to do a bit of stamping for the finishing touches. I do not have loads of embellishments and only buy neutral coloured embellishments i.e. (black, cream, silver, brown, etc.) which will blend in with any colour. I do however have a fetish for 'Whale of a Punches' of which I have about 15. All the circle sizes, square sizes, tags, ovals, etc. you can think of, I have and it comes in very handy for putting those finishing touches to layouts."

- Relieved Hedgehog Mum Signing Off

CUTE AS A BUTTON - Sunday, 17 June 2007 It was quite a big Sunday here in sunny South Africa. Apart from being Fathers Day, the 82nd Comrades Ultra Marathon (89km) from Pietermaritzburg to Durban also took place. Bruce Fordyce's record for the down run which stood for 21 years was broken with 4 minutes by the Russian athlete Leonid Shvetsov, a medical doctor cum professional athlete.

Apart from teaching two classes yesterday, I kept a low profile nursing a head cold which started on Wednesday - nothing that Corenza C and Berrocca can't fix.

One of my students, Shelley Candiotes completed this layout I am teaching based on Candice Greenway's online class hosted recently on DesignersNotes. Candice - hope you like it. Shelley is a meticulous scrapper bordering on perfectionism. Well done Shelley!

I have been snapping away in our garden this morning. I just cannot take enough photos of the one and only DOMBEYA PULCHRA (Silver Dombeya). The early morning winter sun was just perfect to achieve lovely back/side lighting. This shrub is endemic to the northeastern Drakensberg.

"The leaves are huge and maple-like, with a texture of dense velvet and give the shrub a lush appearance. Its leafless period is short. The flowers are GLORIOUS, cup-shaped, very pale pink with a deep pink centre, and may dominate the plant in midsummer."

Surprisingly it is now midwinter and the flowers are dominating the shrub.

- Hooked on Dombeya signing off

THE COLOURS OF WINTER

- Sunday. 10 June 2007

There is a general belief that an indigenous garden is a garden without colour. Looking at these pics I have taken today in our garden, I tend to disagree.

It is nearly the middle of winter and our garden is vibrant with colour.

I am still intrigued by the knob on the Hedgehog Aloe's flower. It definitely looks like a genetic deformity. Can't wait to see whether the next flower also has the same knob.

The Strelitzias are flowering profusely at the moment ....

... and the bees are very active around the Pom Pom tree's flowers.

I'm leaving you with the following words of inspiration:

"The mind can go in a thousand directions,

but on this beautiful path,

I walk in peace.

With each step, a gentle wind blows.

With each step, a flower blooms."

- Flower power signing off

'CHEERS' TO THE HEDGEHOG ALOE

- Thursday, 7 June 2007

It is nearly a year ago that I reported on DOING LIFE that we have added another variety of aloe to our current aloe collection in the garden, namely the newly cultivated HEDGEHOG Aloe which of course was indigenous to South Africa. As yet I have not discovered any write-ups about it in garden books.

We bought two HEDGEHOG Aloe plants which were quite small initially. But they thrived in ceramic pots on the patio and have grown to fill the pots. Winter has set in and I was quite curious to see whether they will flower during their first winter. During the last week in May I was excited to see the first flower bud revealing itself. The shape of the flower bud strike me as being quite unusual for the beginning of an aloe flower. The shape resembles the flower of a Scottish Thistle's flower.

I have captured its progress. Thus far the main part of the flower is resembling the familiar shape of an aloe flower, but the knob on top is still puzzling me - wonder how the final flower with reveal itself. I will keep you posted. This is still the one and only flower between the two plants. Nature has its surprises.

I wonder how many of you DOING LIFERS have noticed that one of the layouts have vanished from the Bundu Flickr in the sidebar (let me know if you did). Well, this was the first layout I have redone from scratch in the nearly nine years I have been scrapping. So here's the final version of us Bundu Chicks flopping around in the Bundu Photo Studio! I have done a pull-out pocket in which the write-up of our weekend is kept. Reading this in 20-30 years time will definitely bring back fond memories.

- Hedgehogs' mum signing off

SHADES OF AUTUMN

- Sunday, 3 June 2007

I have been threatening for quite a few years now to venture to this little park just off Springdale Road in our neighbourhood, Kloof. Remember, I was going on about the weight of my new Tamron telephoto lens in the previous post, well I did something about this and purchased myself a monopod this morning. Of course this new toy had to be put to the test and this scenic park just round the corner was just the perfect playground to test drive it and at the same time get those autumn shots I were so desperate for.

I am totally thrilled with the Monopod. Like they say 'no frills - no fuss'. I had my normal lens on the camera and even with just this, it made a world of difference. It was easier to transport the camera attached to the monopod, in the boot of my car. It made carrying the camera around whilst searching for the best angle to shoot from, much easier. In addition, I did not have to worry about keeping the camera still by keeping my elbows close to my body because camera shake is totally eliminated with the monopod stuck into the ground. So if you are serious about your photography - go and spoil yourself with a Monopod. I still need to test drive it with my telephoto lens, but I just know that it will take a lot of weight off my shoulders.

So these pics are the result of the test drive. I just love the bronze hues contrasted by the crisp blue sky. So here's a challenge to my fellow bloggers out there - capture autumn in your neighbourhood and post it on your blog. Remember to invite me though to come and have a look!

I leave you with these words of beauty:

"Nature is painting for us,

day after day,

pictures of infinite beauty

if only we have eyes to see them ...."

- John Ruskin (1819-1900)

- Monopod Autumn Fan Signing Off

NEW TAMRON TELEPHOTO LENS PUT TO THE TEST

- Sunday, 27 May 2007

You all perhaps recall that I received an early birthday gift from hubby during March this year. To date I haven't had an opportunity to put it to the test. I have been walking around our garden with this massive lens, about half a metre when on full zoom. So you can imagine how difficult it is to keep this length of equipment still whilst snapping away. I still need to get a monopod (one legged 'tripod') for it.

There seems to be quite a bit of activity high up in our two Aloe trees. I managed to capture a Bull-Bull high up in one of the Aloe Trees enjoying the nectar of the Aloe tree's flowers as well as a dragon fly using the Aloe Tree's leaves to perch on. All these photos were taken with the Tamron Telephone Lens handheld. Must say my upper arm muscles are getting good workouts.

Another layout for my garden album saw the light. There were quite a few firsts on this layout.

Above and Below: I have used my first serious arrow on a layout and of course this was a Candice Greenway inspiration. I used this arrow to indicate where the journal tag is located and in which direction the tag needs be pulled from the pocket located behind the two photographs.

Below: I used my first Cream Giant 7 Gypsies Photo Turns, which complimented the cream flowers perfectly and naturally culminates into 'Perfection'.

Above: It was also the first time that I used the Making Memories button shaped brads. Just love them.

I used Making Memories' Foam Stamps for the title.

FINAL REMINDER:

Watch this space for the launch of another competition. Another great prize will be up for grabs. I am sure the previous competition winner, Susanne van Niekerk was impressed with the hamper of scrapbooking goodies she received.

Hint:

Upcoming Cathedral Peak 4-day Scrapbooking/Photography Breakaway!

- Signing off from a chilly Kloof here in Durban, South Africa