Lifestyle Nursery - Randburg - May 2012

I feel this is such a wonderfully interesting place that it cannot be adequately described in words, so lets use a ton of pics shall we? 

Brilliant!!

The have a ton of pets you can buy such as:

Fat fluffy bunnies!

Inquisitive hamsters!

And Guinea pigs who'd rather have slept in!

A wealth of fish

 And twice that of spiders!

Snakes

More spiders

And yet MORE spiders!

And birds in any colour you require! (I want one that eats spiders!!!)

Their flowers are a range of near edible colours!

 And the roses in techni-colour!

 Just ask any bee!

 Any plant you want, they probably have it. And in taupe!

Not to mention the standard naff pottery that every nursery seems to stock.

And a restaurant for a nosh when you're all 'tuckered' out!

And many little odd shops where you can get that clown wig you've always wanted

Up this alleyway and down that one! There's something here for everyone

Snack Break!

Care for a good book then? Or a trashy teen vampire book?

How about some stained glass for your castle Dracula?

Or maybe a little something softer?

 And silkier! A whole shop of silk that is!

 Maybe, with the profusion of life around you, you'd rather have fake flowers? Easier to care for. Why water them when you can dust?

And sticks in various shades to stick where ever you want... let's not ask too deeply on that one!

And fine woman's wear for the man of your choice! I think the T-shirt describes that headgear best!

And then what better way to end the celebration of life than with a large hunk of dried, raw meat?

May I recommend a visit to the nursery? Ideally with me? You won't leave empty handed! (If only because I'll show you a ton of stuff you can buy me! ^_-)

WITS uni - RAPS plays - May 2012

It was a cold, winter's Wednesday, when the brave band of family and friends set forth to go watch school plays at the WITS University Theatre! Would the cold phase them? Would the cramped car deter them? Would they even make it there alive?!?!?!

As you can tell there was plenty drama to go around already! Here's hoping the plays are as good!

The plays were high school ones that were competing for the prize at the WITS RAPS festival. (I forget what RAPS stood for - no wait, no one told me in the first place...)

R65 to see 3 high school plays? What a rip! No wonder folk stay home and rent movies. Still, for the experience I was willing to pay any price!!!
(No not really, but that did sound good didn't it?)

Ok this is a photo I got of the stage just micro-seconds before they told us to switch off cellphones and how you're not allowed to take pictures, as in EVER!!!!!
Since this was taken before the polite warning, I consider it fair game to use. Even if people can't tell what in the world it was taken of!

 Intermission and we were allowed to snap a few pics of the posters the schools made for their plays. Some were terribly clever. Others were best glossed over with a, "Well, erm, they're still kids... cough cough" mentality.

All in all the plays were awesome though! The two girls high schools absolutely excelled! Funny, interesting, dramatic! They kept you glued to your seat! Thank goodness they were comfy seats.
The boy's high school play was a bit weaker, being too dramatic and dry and preachy. Good acting mind, just I found myself wiggling a lot and scrolling through the pics on my camera more then once.
(Yes I know we were supposed to turn them off but would you shoosh and just watch the play dammit!)

There's a lot of talent in those young critters though! I like to think one day they will be super famous and I'll look back and say, "Lordy I remember back in the day, before they invented Brain Capsules, how I saw their very first RAPS play!"
(Probably though I'll just forget and think they're annoying young gits who have to STAY OFFA MA LAWN!)

Siyakhana Gardens - the sequel! May 2012

Once again groups of Discovery volunteers headed out to make the world a better place! This time our mission? To bold go where no weed should have gone before!! 

Or in plain English, off we went to help out at the Siykhana gardens in Midrand and Observatory, to weed, paint, plant, push and pull! A chunk of a day off work, getting physical exercise AND helping out the community? Let me on that bus!!

I'd gone once before to the Observatory garden and that's where I went back to again! This time with a camera that works! (Last time it ran out of battery power and I couldn't blog the event! But really it is so much more fun to live a story then write about it! And writing about it is awesome!)

But back to our adventure!

This was my view for most of the bus ride. It was nippy and she had a pom-pom hat on.
I want a pom-pom hat...

 The gardens grow many foods and herbs that shared with the community and schools. They also teach people about food security and how to grow a lot with very very little.

It was heading into winter and yet there were still some interesting looking things growing here, there and everywhere!

 I elected to be one of only two people who decided to paint! Last time I came to the gardens I dug and weeded with the best of them, but this time, it was me and the fence, one on one!

 There is a very godly feeling in changing the colour of something! HAHA!

Also changed the colour of my jeans and T-shirt! I get fully body involved in all I do!

 They gave me a mask to paint with but I took it home for use in ... other indevours. Jo's are big fans of props!

 And a little lunch provided to keep the energy up! Then back to the paint!

 GASP! The illusive mushroom shed! I so want to go in there! We did last time but alas not this time round. When I had a camera. That worked. Life's cruel irony.

Then off we trotted back to the bus. Tired, sweaty and smelling vaguely like jungle.
Another job conquered!!! HAHA!

Lets Kinect! XBox 360! 19 May 2012

The time had come!

Time to play with Rob's Kinect on his XBox!

Basically it's a nifty doo-dad that tracks your movement and makes you "move" inside a game. It's a fun way to get a bit of exercise and still play and have fun indoors. We're doing the sports variety!

Time to PLAY!!!

We did bowling and then next, some ping pong! (Table tennis for the anally retentive)

Oh dude, I'm so psyched! Bring it it on!

Who's ready to play?

Jo's new patented funky chicken flap ensured victory over a wily computerized opponent! (Who may have been on amateur level but it still counts!)

Slid to the left! Slide to the right! Do-si-do and back again!

What? Elegance and grace are not my strong suit!

Then soccer! Kicking and scrambling about! It gets pretty tiring!

Block the non-existent ball! Block the non-existent ball!!!!

Cor Blimey I'm knackered!!
YOUR TURN!!

ILab Training - 16 - 18 May 2012

From Wednesday to Friday - very agreeable study days, I was off work and on Course learning all about the ins and outs of being a software tester! I was doing the very basic Practical Software Testing course, but you do have to start somewhere.

Aaaah was I so excited!!! I've never been on a course for work before! Didn't know what to expect or if I'd be any good or if there'd be  tons of friendly people or would it just be me and a disgruntled lecturer who's got a chronic mint addiction? You just don't know!

Admittedly things started off a bit wonky as I had the wrong address for the place, but once that small but telling bug was sorted I was soon in class and learning with the best of them!

ILabs was fantastic! The lecturers knew their stuff and made the learning smooth and entertaining. The class was small so you could have all the individual attention your needy heart required and even the little cafeteria served healthy, tasty snacks and beverages.

And the building complex! Oh it was beautiful! All the trees in autumn colour! I made a point of walking up and down the long driveway each day to soak in the scenery, my photo below just doesn't do it justice!

But I have to say the course was an eye opener! In three days they managed to shove a ton of knowledge in my grey matter in such a way that suddenly so many things were making real sense! 

I now know everything from EXACTLY what a test procedure is, to how to do an S graph, to effective testing designs to even what RFC stood for! I didn't realize learning could be so fun! I'm actually quite sorry it's over for all I am keen to test my knowledge back at work! 

I feel very useful and that makes me just that bit extra happy to be alive! I feel sorry for anyone who isn't a tester and didn't get to go on training with me! 

So, when's the next course due?!

Great Bouncing Bunnies!!!

A few months ago we noticed a new visitor to our garden. 

It seems the neighbour's black rabbit was coming to visit and nosh on our grass and veggie patch. 

It is rather a cheeky little bugger, here seen sleeping in the grass RIGHT in front of the gate that keeps the dog in. This buff bunny is no fraidy cat! (Mind the dog wasn't so pleased with this arrangement...)

We soon discovered that he had two other black bunny friends! Though they ran all about the neighbourhood, seeing this little fellow in our garden was always best! (It could be a lady rabbit mind you, it wouldn't let me close enough for a good shot, let alone a conversation on gender equality.)

And then, a  little while later, TADA, 2 baby bunnies added themselves to the mix! Hooray!! (Proving that at least one of the furballs was of the female persuasion.)

We drive past them in the early morning (They're also up at 5am!), and late afternoons. We love trying to spot a critter or two as we head home. A day just isn't the same if we don't see some furry little beasty industriously hovering up the neighbour-of-choice's grass. 

Can you spot the bunny?