Jacaranda Sisters with Blisters November 26 2011

The Sisters with Blisters walk finally came about once more! And Brendan and I were well near bursting with enthusiasm!! WOOHOO!!!  THIS, our second time round, was going to be our best effort yet!!

Not that last year wasn't a blast:-
http://sparkyjoadventure.blogspot.com/2010/11/sisters-with-blisters-walk-27-november.html

But this year I think it had a bit more pizzazz, 2011 style, don't you think?

Bren gets into costume! And has almost too much fun in it...
He's dressed as a sexy cat lady, complete with little ears and short, stubby tail! As you can see the look suits him! His mum was so proud!

101 Dalmatian - photos!! Yes that would be me! And in case you're wondering, no, the suit wasn't really that hot, and awfully comfortable! Seeing through the hood though is not the easiest thing this side of the Atlantic but viva a challange!

There was one colour that was rather noticeable on the day...
By the way, does anyone else find those large, bendy, inflated, vaguely humanoid things sort of creepy?

Yip there were a TONS of people there! Curiosity makes me wonder how comfortable those adult nappies (Diapers) were? Um, not that I'd ever try one!! Cough...

 A lot of people!
A lot of Pink!

Brendan get's a free yoyo! Needless to say this guy was powerless in front of Bren's overwhelming feminine wiles!

There were, of course, other princesses at the walk, but I like to think Bren was the Queen!
I should be quiet now...

 Look! Look! Look! Our costumes won a prize!! It was some voucher for shoes or something. I still have it, but am not keen on sparkly shoes so doubt I'll collect it. Want it?

All in all - GOOD JOB!!!



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Emmarentia Dam - November 2011

We went to Emmarentia Dam a few weeks ago! It was an absolute blast!! If you're planning to go, sooner rather then later should be you're war cry! Everything is green and alive and just waiting to be eaten up by your eyes!!
And if you can't go then hey, that's what this blog is for! ^_-

 Isn't it pretty? This is the back end of the dam, where many little, what would you call them, dam-lings, reside! It was woody and full of little paths you could walk down or cycle. People brought their dogs and the whole place had a very relaxed, friendly atomosphere!

 Don't you wish your dog would do that? Oh and by the looks of small landmines about the area I'd say people see this sign as more of a suggestion then a rule.

 Doesn't that look refreshing?

 What we like to call, 'Tim Burton Trees'! They give the woody area a bit of a surreal feel to it! The pine smell is heavenly though!

 The one I like the most is third from the top, no religious gatherings! Well now where will we get to sacrifice that goat we brought?

Now what the heck is this? If it's for shade why is it straddled over a fence? Could it be art? If so people's standards have dropped a bit since my day! *When I walked uphill to school 10miles in the snow - both ways!*

Isn't it pretty? With the vague scent of roses wafting in the breeze! *sniffs at air like a blood hound*

Even the most jaded person has to admit this is beautiful! The gardens are a lovely place to come to just meander about and enjoy my favorite sort of nature - the tamed, nice, neat rows sort! :P

Cor whatever he ate last night didn't agree with him...

Some statues squirrelled away from the public eye. I still get an unreasonable urge to go tripping down the pathway and draw a mousetache on them! They look very formal. They need to relax a bit!

Rob pelts off after the ice cream man! He's got competition! It's neck and neck! Who'll win? who'll get their Wild berry lolly first?! God the suspense!!!

I will admit the botanical garden's loos leave something to be desired. They're very open so all of nature can come into the stalls and snuggle up close to you. This is one of my companions!

And this was the tap outside the bathroom. And if you're thinking, yeah okay this fetish for bathroom doodads has got to stop Jo! Then no!! I took this pic to try give you and idea of how hard the water was shooting out of it! Take a look at it hitting the, very fake, marble! Sheesh, you put your hands under that stream of water and you lose a layer of skin!! I can see the guy, it would be a guy, who put this in, standing there in a white lab coat with disheveled hair and a crazed look in his eye yelling, "Hygiene has it's price! MWA HAHA!!!"

A deer statue used to stand in the gardens. I remember climbing it when I was a wee thing. But it got stolen to be melted down for bronze. The police got the head back and it lasted maybe 6 months. Then it was stolen again. I think it a perfect monument to the joys of living in South Africa. :P

The Huguenot monument. I don't remember hearing anything about these guys in history class. What a woeful thing is education!

There's tons of birds out and about in the gardens, they're mostly too busy to chat though...

Just going to mow me some hay!! We snuck into the back part of the gardens, where technically you're not supposed to go, and I found this too good an opertunity to miss out on! The seat is very comfie.
Sadly they hadn't left the keys in! Where's the trust?

Team Building @ Jozi X - October 2011

Ah there's nothing like a little team building to bring out the best in everyone!
And this was nothing like that!
A bunch of computer jocks and an obstacle course... you just know this is going to get interesting...

14 October 2011 - Divorce Day!!!

Now a Friday is a lovely creature as it is, full of hopes and expectations and the promise of a flavourful weekend. But this one was, like your daft cousin Nammy, just a little extra special.

This one was... DIVORCE DAY!! Dum dum DUM!!!!

I'd been waiting for it all week and it was finally here!!!!! And we were finally going to do this!!!!! It was a day of a a heck of a lot of exclamation marks!!!!! I think I talked non-stop from well near beginning to end and by evening my face actually hurt from smiling too much. Who knew something like that could happen?

I was up early, bright eyed and bushy haired and ready for the day! After over a year of waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting and just a bit more waiting, it was finally time to snip this septic rose in the bud!


Okay so we got to the court really, really early and had to stand and wait outside with a few other hopefuls for the doors to be opened and our dreams to be made flesh.

One of the warnings on this here fine piece of glass is one telling you that you are not allowed to take photos without permission. I decided I'd ponder that later after I took all the pics. It's a lot easier to ask forgiveness then permission!



This is the door to what I, rather unoriginally, call 'The Divorce Room!' (Said in a scary sounding stage whisper!!). You get applications for divorce, where you fill in all the grizzly details of why your marriages is doomed to failure and then stack your case file with all the other unhappy stories weighing down the shelves there in. The sights and stories that the people working there must have witnessed...

Just after I snuck this photo they put up a white sheet of paper, they never do the same colour twice it seems, with a list of everyone who was due for court. I was 3rd on the list! Bronze medal woohoo!!! (Hey they took ages getting ready for us, I had to keep my imagination busy.)



Okay about now you are wondering just what my obsession with taking photos of doors is. (All with brightly coloured bit's of paper stuck on it seems). But the fact of the matter is the day was mostly about us waiting in front of doors to get things done. I'm sure if I was in the timber industry it would have been fascinating. "By George lad, 'tis sold genuine fake walnut that is!"

This is the rather understated door to the court where we'd go to tell our tales and be heard by a judge. You have to admit it's a little unimpressive. No intimidating towers or bad art work or columns where criminals had etched their last word and testament. Kempton court is not about flair.



Yay, I managed to get this pic before they told us to turn all cellphones off! I like to think that makes it a perfectly legal (pardon the pun) pic to have taken!

This is inside of the courtroom. I'd like to say it was minutes before the judge came in, but we sat and waited for AGES before she appeared. I Was half nervous, half excited and as a result the most talkative person in the room. There were only 10 - 12 of us in the whole court. It was very snug and appealing, so may I recommend Kempton Court for all your divorce needs?

Finally the judge, a small yet severe, looking Indian woman, came in and we all stood and looked respectful of the law. (We weren't told what her name was! I felt a bit gyp'd at that! Should they say, the Honourable Judge Whatsamaface presiding? I mean hello, don't they watch TV?)

There were two cases before me. One was a guy who got married on THE SAME DAY as I was!
I whispered to Rob that it was a cursed day!!
Then there was a woman who'd been married in the SAME MONTH as I was!
I whispered to Rob that it was a cursed month!!
Then it was my turn and no more whispering which I think Rob was kind of glad of.

Cor but you are nervous up on the podium where you testify! Everyone is watching you and you have to answer all sorts of semi-intimate questions on - where do you live? Is this your marriage certificate? And the one that never fails to grip the audience's attention, tell the court why you are getting a divorce? I'm not telling you what I said, you had your chance to come with! But I managed to do pretty well! (Though I kept saying 'Yip' instead of 'Yes', I blame bad internet chat habits for that, yip I do!)

Then the judge pronounced, after getting my ex-spouse's gender wrong a few times, that the court has heard my tale of woe and deems that, BAM, I am divorced and that whatever property we own is now ours exclusively and if you never see your ex again ever ever ever, well, shucks too bad!!

We were then dismissed and we bowed to the judge and left. (My now-truely-official-ex was worried I'd not want to bow to the judge. Silly rabbit. I'd have donned a bear costume and danced a 'Hey nonny nonny' if it was required!)

And that was it!
Done and dusted!!!
3 weeks later I pick up the divorce decree, which I can then show off to friends and neighbours and random surprised looking people in the streets!

I don't recommend having a divorce, you know, just for poops and giggles but if you do, well this is one way to do it!

Now onwards to new adventures, new relationships and, hopefully, not a new divorce! (I don't want to be spoilt you know...)

Happy Freedom Day!!!

Gautrain ride - September 1 2011

Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?!
I got to ride the Gautrain for the first time ever, ever, ever, last Thursday! Now it was already my first day of work, so there was excitement enough, but then to have to go on the train all by my lonesome? What if I got lost? Got on the wrong train and ended up in Albuquerque?!
It was terribly exciting!! Want to go on a virtual ride with me?

Well then first we need to get you a ticket! Well a card more likely! You go to these semi-automatic teller type machines, where a bored guard who looks like he's seen it all in life and nothing could surprise him, helps you select the amount to put on the card and which buttons to press that won't cause a serious malfunction and have you being taken into the station where a duo of "Good cop, Creepy cop" give you a cavity search!
The amount on the card then gets deducted each time you swipe it to enter or leave a station! We're all loaded up - let's RIDE!!

The stations are actually very well marked and I think you'd have to work at it to get lost. Worse comes to worse, you'll get to see a whole 'nother side of Joburg in the complete opposite direction of where you were going! And even then the trains are so fast, stop frequently and kinda tell you where you're going, so chances are you could do all that and still get to the office for that annoying 9am meeting you just HAVE to chair!

Here comes the train!! "Stand back from the edge" intones the pre-recorded female voice. I suppose people falling onto the tracks and getting squished would be a bother, it's hard to remove bone fragments from those tiny wheels...
Race you on!!

Here are some of my travelling companions from my first ride ever! They're a bit blurry cause the jolting of the train is not a photographer's friend! Funny thing was that there were some open seats but people got spooked and decide they'd rather stand then sit near strangers. I got to stand right by the door and freak out this skittish lady with my cell phone snaps! (She has nice hair don't you think?)

On my ride back home the train was much emptier and I got to sit down. I tell you, standing is way more fun! It feels like you're surfing, whereas sitting makes you just feel lazy! The chairs are pretty comfie and clean. You get an R700 fine if you smoke, eat or drink on the train! Hooray!! I mean you never know what's out there in the dark tunnels and anything that reduces my chances of being set on by giant mutant cockroaches is grand by my standards!

This pic gives you an idea of the speed of the train. The frame is all in focus and dandy but wow, check out how fast that grass is just whizzing by! I think it goes around 160km an hour but it really feels more like 60 - 80km! Deceptive!!

Below is a pic of the warning sign on the sliding door, reminding people that the doors are automatic and that, should you decide to lean on them in abject bliss, well, falling out will be your own problem! (And whomever the luckless CSI chap is who removes the bone fragments, please don't overwork our police force!)

But it is sort of nice to just look out the window and day dream the trip away...

Oh here is our station and so soon!


Wasn't that fun? The real life thing is so much better! Want to ride with me next time? We can have a grand old gossip about terrible train accidents and OH MY GOD WHAT'S THAT SOUND?!?!?!?!