And it didn't get any better today!

OK, so I figured things had to get better today - hah!

To be honest the day did start with promise, the girl child got out of bed on only the 2nd banging on the door and we did manage to get on the road to the stables before 8:30. The jumping lesson went well with Elvis making a supreme effort to concentrate and behave. The hubby phoned to say my car was repaired and ready to run and it was smiles all round.

Then I collected my car and discovered that now the central locking wasn't working - no problem, I can live without it for a few days! By the time I got the car home there was a mighty rattling and clunking coming from 'somewhere'! So it was back to the workshop, where they tightened everything they should have tightened the first time!

Then I got the phone call to say that the horse truck we are HIRING to move our horses had been double booked and so now would we mind loading our horses at 3am, in the dark and travel them 400kms on some of the most dangerous roads so that the other party wouldn't be inconvenienced! I shall not print my reply - it really is just too rude! I mean, really, do I CARE about the sensitivities of the 'other party'? I don't think so! So we have compromised on a 5:30am start, which means I shall have to be up and on the road to the stables at 4:30am!

And now I am sitting here typing this when I should be packing and sorting but I am just so fed up I don't know where to start! I think I may just go and soak in the bath!

Just another day in the life.....

Ever get that feeling that your life is just falling apart around you? This last week has been particularly challenging, what with the horse show coming up this weekend and our holiday starting the following week. So much to do and so much to go wrong!

It all started last November when I mistakenly left my horse trailer in the hubby's company workshop for 'repairs and maintenance' - to be ready in time for the start of the show season. Now in fact! It didn't need a lot doing to it - new tyres, the rims and hubs cleaning up and a few new studs fitting, a new piece of glass for the front window and a chain welded across the one back stall due to theft of the original! And here I am, the show is upon me and my trailer is still not ready. To top that off my car, which went in for a service, has developed several other interesting defects whilst in their care. It is now suffering from a burnt out alternator which is going to either cost US$2000 (YES, I did type that right!) from the dealer or $350 from the 'copy cat' little shop but will not be available until the day after I am supposed to be at the show, some 400km away!

Meanwhile the girl child has contracted an extremely painful ear infection and there is a desperate shortage of diesel in the country.

In the midst of all this chaos I am also trying to get organised for our annual trip to the UK, flying out the day after we get back from the show! There are re-entry visas to organise and travel insurance as well as packing, dog and cat food sufficient for a month and a multitude of small but irritating details to deal with.

I really must be mad and if I'm not now, I certainly will be by the end of next week!

The World's Biggest Dog!

This is Hercules, officially the biggest dog in the world, the Guinness Book of Records has him down as weighing a massive 282 pounds with a 38 inch collar size! Believe it or not, he is a standard bred English Mastiff and his owner claims that he was never fed any special food, just normal doggy chow. Imagine meeting that when you knock at someone's door? All I can say is............... WOW!

School's Out - just fooling around after Graduation!

The Prom Part 2 - the big night!

As promised....The Prom Pictures - Part 1 - the preparation!

Preparing for the big night

<-------Before!

After------>

Sins of the Mother.....

Do we girls get more like our mothers as we get older? Not that I mind very much, my mum was a fabulous lady and I would be proud to be anything like her - really! But I often wonder how many of our mother's 'not-so-nice' traits we take on board without even realising it? How many times do we hear our mother's voice as the very same words she used to us as children come tripping out? And what about those of us who didn't have a very good relationship with our mothers and vowed to NEVER be like them? Do those traits come out anyway and do we treat our children in the same way that we found horrible when we were growing up, without realising it?

Now my mum and I had a wonderful relationship which persisted into my adult life unchanged. I like to THINK my daughter and I have the same bond. She was a wonderful woman who protected her offspring with a fierceness that daunted even the most determined teacher at school. She could always be relied upon to rush to my rescue, leaving all in her path vanquished! I thought she was amazing. As my children have grown I have found myself doing exactly the same thing with the same results.

On the other hand I have a friend who never got on with her mother. They fought all the time, often resulting in her running away from home and arriving on our doorstep, a trait that persists to this day even though she has been married for 21 years and has four children of her own. Her mother used to do the same thing to them when conflict in the home became overwhelming. She was a very controlling woman with her children, so is my friend. Often she was extremely irrational, she had a phenomenal memory for 'slights' and never forgave the perpetrator! I see the same trait in my friend which is very sad as she fights hard to NOT be the same as her own mother! I see her husband and children pulling away from her in the same way that she pulled away from her mother.

My question - can you tell someone that you can see them walking the same unhappy path that their mother walked before them? Can you tell them to pull themselves together and to see the damage they are doing to themselves and their family? How do you say these things when they don't want to believe it and they will most likely never speak to you again? I care deeply about my friend, I don't want to hurt her feelings but I can't bear to watch her rip her family apart in the same way her mother did to her.

How brave should I be?

Downtown Kitwe

Life is slow in the city! This is Kitwe city centre on a lazy Monday afternoon. Kitwe, although not the Regional Capital, is the biggest city in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. Originally built in the bad old colonial days with the money from the rich copper mining industry, very little has changed except for the slow deterioration of the streets and buildings over the years. A can of paint and a paintbrush seem as much a foreign concept to the city fathers as does the cleaning out of the storm water drains before the rainy season starts! The roads are a minefield of potholes and badly done patches and the shops are, for the most, a messy mixture of security bars and unwashed windows. So sad really, it must have been a pretty little city in its heyday!

Just a heartfelt Thank You to Blogger Admin!

If you have been wondering why I haven't updated my blog this past week - it's been down to a very annoying technical problem that I have been so distracted by that I eventually threw my hands up in despair and sent a report to Blogger Help. For some reason my 'Add a Page Element' facility just disappeared off my layout page, leaving me bereft and depressed!

So, THANK YOU, Blogger for so promptly taking pity on me and sorting it out within 24 hours! I am impressed! After all there must be thousands of little people like me using this site. It is so nice to know that there IS someone out there who reads all the reports and jumps into action to aid a damsel in distress!

Blogger ROCKS! :)

Shall I let this picture speak for itself? LOL