Zanzibar

So the safari was over, we flew back to Nairobi and then on to Zanzibar, now I have to admit I love flying and I'm not a nervous passenger (unlike Cath) but even I was a scared landing in Zanzibar, I kept thinking any minute now the pilot is going to slow down, but he didn't, we hit the runway full pelt, the plane swerved all over the runway, then I kept thinking again..... any minute now he's going to put on the brakes......but no we seemed to be going full speed for ages and I seemed to remember that the island of Zanzibar wasn't THAT big so the runway couldn't be very long. However we did eventually come to a stop, when I left the aircraft I was tempted to kiss the ground like the Pope but did stop myself. We left the airport, found a taxi and went to our Hotel in Stonetown, the greeting was wonderful, another hot towel, another cocktail, and as we had been delayed for four hours in Nairobi an apology that all the places to eat were closed. Still we were tired and it was almost 11pm so we went to our room, grabbed a quick shower and went to bed. The next morning we got up and went down to breakfast, the hotel was beautiful, very Moroccan in style, the breakfast room overlooked a lovely white, icing sugar, sandy beach, and we were given champagne and a wonderful breakfast, while we were eating we watched the boats as they went past.

It was extremely humid in Zanzibar and I suppose doing a walking tour at midday was a stupid idea but unfortunately we were only in Stonetown for one day, I have never sweated so much in my life ( I know women are supposed to "slightly glow" but trust me I was sweating like a glassblower!) the architecture was beautiful if a little run down, the people amazingly friendly, we walked through the town, went into a small museum, and then got to the Anglican Church which was on the sight of the slave market.

We were showed the room where the slaves were kept, and told stories of how badly they were treated, so many were put into the rooms that many of them suffocated, we went into the church and saw the location of the whipping post, there the slaves were whipped and if they cried out their price would drop as they were classed as weak, if they didn't cry the price would go up as they would be strong slaves. It made me sad, and I was glad to get outside, we were then shown the monument to the slaves.

We left the slave market, and then our guide said he would be taking us to the local food market, now being a "foodie" I as quite excited by this, however we were over half a mile away from the market when you first caught the smell, mostly very bad fish, we got to the market, I told Cath to breath through her mouth, we saw fish being gutted, the blood running down onto the floor we were walking on, there were flies everywhere on the fish, I was hoping our hotel didn't use that market as it's preferred supplier! After the fish, we moved onto the meat, exactly the same hanging meat covered in flies, blood everywhere, it was like a scene from the Texas chainsaw massacre, I was VERY glad when we moved onto the spice, fruit and vegetable section. The spices were wonderful and extremely cheap, cinnamon, saffron, nutmeg, mace everything you could think of.

The tour was over, we returned to our hotel had a very welcome drink and then got our guide, who was also our taxi driver to take us on to the Breezes Resort for 5 days of sun, sand, sea and relaxation.

There isn't much to write about Breezes because that's all we did, spent the mornings on the beach, walked out over the reef to watch the fish, had lunch, spent the afternoons by the pool, listened to Ipods, had dinner and relaxed. We met some lovely people, had some lovely food, some great entertainment, far too much wine, and an awful lot of sleep. It was the perfect end to a perfect holiday.

Out of Africa...part four

The following morning, after breakfast we met Kavishe, he asked if we enjoyed our dinner – he had known all about it the tour Company had arranged it for us as a surprise, apparently as we had booked through Trailfinders and they give Ranger Safari’s a lot of business they like to do something a bit special for their guests.

So we left Serengeti for the three (which of course meant at least five) hour drive to Lake Manyara, as we drove out of the Serengeti the number of zebra and gazelle seemed to have multiplied overnight, a giraffe popped his head out from behind a tree as if to say goodbye, we saw another blue monkey darting up a tree, and a beautiful flame headed lizard then we left the park.

On the way to the lake we stopped at a Masai village, the whole village came out and performed a welcome dance for us, their leader explained that the men and women actually sing different songs but at the same time, the men sing about becoming strong and the jump amazingly high, the women sing about how important the cow is to the Masai people, it really was a wonderful sight.

We entered the gates of the village and were told all about the life of the Masai – for the boys from the ages 0 to 5 they do nothing but play and occasionally sing songs to “make rain” , from 5 to 12 they must take care of the animals from the village, they take the animals into the bush to find food and water, between 12 and 15 they are circumcised, presented with the traditional spear, shield and red cloak, then they must go into the bush to prove themselves as worthy warriors. It used to be that they had to hunt and kill a lion, using only the spear and shield, and had to return to the village with the lions tail, however all forms of hunting wild animals thankfully is now illegal, and so it is now birds. From 17 to 30 they must protect the village, and then at 30 they become Elders of the village and make the laws. After 60 they do nothing, they are looked after by the rest of the village.

The women on the other hand are kept busy looking after the children and the Elders, helping to build huts, getting water (often from many miles away), milking the cows, making the food, and also to supplement their income they make jewellery to sell to the tourists. Although traditionally the Masai only consumed cattle blood and milk, we were told they are now getting grains and other supplies from the towns. I watched the children playing and one beautiful little girl captured my heart, I asked if I could take her picture, when you see her you will know why.

The Leader took us inside a traditional Masai hut, they are still made the same way, from sticks, and then straw and cow dung on the roof, there was a living area with a small fire in the middle and then two “bedrooms” which were small areas raised off the floor, one for the adults and one for the children, it was dark and smoky and surprisingly warm inside. They allowed us to take pictures, as long as you asked, the Masai believe if you take their photo without asking permission you take away their sole. For a moment I felt bad for the children, sleeping in huts, no electricity or running water, no toys, but then you saw them running around the camp hitting an old bicycle tyre with a stick like a hoop, laughing and happy and you realise they have never known anything else. Kavishe told us that the Masai do now send their children to school and that they are naturally bright children and are always at the top of the class. We did buy a couple of bracelets from the women that were beautifully made from porcupine spines, said goodbye, then got into the jeep for our onward trek to Lake Manyara.

Somehow despite the ridiculously bumpy (and by bumpy I mean three times I actually twonked my head on the roof of the jeep!) roads, Cathryn managed to sleep all the way to the Lake. As we drove there were zebra, giraffe and wildebeest sometimes mixed in with a herd of Masai cows, it totally amazed me. We arrived at the Serena Lodge in Manyara and a reasonably early time, which meant for the first time we could actually go for a swim in the pool, it was an infinity pool that was built into the side of the mountain, it was the most beautiful pool I have ever been in.

We jumped out of the pool, got a couple of beers in and watched the most amazing display of African acrobats around the pool, then went back to our hobbit hut to get ready for dinner, and an early night, ready for yet another game drive, but this time around Lake Manyara.

Lake Manyara was very different, it was lush and cool, an inscription on the way into the park caught my eye, it said "Remove nothing from the park except nourishment for the soul, consolation for the heart and inspiration for the mind" The park was apparently the home to thousands of baboons, we soon found a few, it reminded of trips to the local safari park when I was a child, the baboons climbed onto the jeep, one little one started licking the window, it was so cute.

Then we saw the baboons cleaning the babies, they stayed with us for ages before getting a bit bored of having their pictures taken and toddled off into the forest.

We saw so many giraffe, gazelle and elephant, some lovely pelicans that were tinged with pink, flamingos in the distance, it was another wonderful day. In thee afternoon we stopped at some tourist stalls that were on the side of the road they were filled with beautiful paintings and jewellery and the most wonderful ebony and mahogany carvings.

We left after a bit of haggling and a few souvenirs and went on to the local village which was called something like Mosquito creek....oh great I thought, but apparently all the mosquito's had gone! I wasn't convinced. We were given a lovely outdoor lunch with beer in a beautiful garden with lemon trees all around. After lunch we were taken on a tour of the local hospital where the doctor there (who was a Masai that had been lucky enough to go to school) told us of the work they were doing to try and combat AIDS, he showed us the wards, and then the kitchen where they patients have to cook their own food. They were building a maternity ward also and were also doing sterling work with immunisation. It was an eye opener and I will NEVER complain about the National Health Service here. After that we were taken to see a banana plantation, but were very surprised by a fierce hailstorm....who would have thought it? The hailstones were like golf balls, we took shelter under little hut where a family were carving the animals that go to the tourist shops, they explained that their father had come from Ethiopia (he had walked!) and he was a carver and he had taught all the boys to carve also, they were lovely, generous people and even offered to take us inside the house to shelter. The hailstorm passed and we carried on through the plantation, but the hailstones had caused devastation to all the banana plants it was a sad sight. My doubt about the mosquito's was confirmed as the dampness had brought them out in force! As we walked on we saw the local school the children ran to the fence to ask us for pens, I only had one left so popped it through the fence. I loved the fact all the children had little plastic cups and were collecting the hailstones and eating them, they had also removed their shoes and were splashing about in the water.

Our guide then took us to the local pub, which unfortunately was completely flooded, not deterred the "landlord" brought some benches over to a dry patch for us to sit on, and then told us how they made the banana beer, by boiling bananas for hours and then adding millet and waiting for it ferment, he then brought over a cup of the beer, which still has all the millet floating in it, and passed it around for us to taste. Now this beer looked like the muddy water we were surrounded by, but not to offend I took the cup and put it to my mouth, however I did chicken out and only smelled it, I like my beer with no lumps in! The landlord said it was traditional for a group to buy one beer and pass it around, then once empty the next person in the group of friends buy one, he said if you bough a beer just for yourself you were showing off how much money you have.

We left the pub and went back to our hotel for our final night, it had been an amazing (sorry) safari and while the safari was now at an end the holiday wasn't we had five days in Zanzibar to look forward to. Five days of relaxing, swimming and sunbathing.........no dust, no bumpy jeep rides, no more animals......I wondered how long it would take for me to get bored.

Out of Africa ....part three

We arrived at the Serengeti after a long, dusty, bumpy ride, it was completely different to the other parks, vast planes studded with remnants of volcanic rock, as soon as we entered I was blown away by the sheer number of animals, there were hundreds of gazelle, hartbeast, zebra, buffalo. Within ten minutes we had struck gold, right by the side of the road a family of lions, male sleeping fast on his back with his legs in the air, one female and two cubs, we were so close it was brilliant, we watched the cubs for ages getting some great photo's.


Not long after we came across a tree that was covered in storks, there were over 20 of them, what amazed me was the fact that the tree branches held their weight, we had arrived late at Serengeti and before long the sun began to set so we proceeded through the reserve to our lodge, but not before we saw the most beautiful giraffe, he was an adolescent male with the most gorgeous markings.

We arrived at our Serena lodge, as with the other lodges this one was wonderful, another amazing view and little hobbit huts to sleep in, again we were greeted with a white damp towel, again after I had wiped my face I was ashamed to hand it back due to the fact it was covered in red dust. We went to our room, watched the sun set set from our balcony, showered and went to dinner. We met a lovely Australian couple who were on their honeymoon, so after dinner we chatted and had a couple of drinks, but we didn't stay up too late as the next morning we were going on the hot air balloon flight over the Serengeti and we had to be up at 4am.

The one thing about the Serengeti lodge was after 7.30pm you were not allowed to walk outside alone in case of an animal attack, so you had to call reception to be escorted by a nice person with a large torch and a gun. We set the alarm for 4am, got ready, called for our escort and got taken to the breakfast room for coffee and cookies to get us going. We got into the jeep and began our trip, the drive itself was fabulous, because it was so dark (as we were in the middle of nowhere and of course there was no artificial light) the stars were unbelievable, there were so many and they were so bright. We saw eyes catching the headlights, one was the most beautiful leopard who walked right past the jeep, so at last we had made it to the famous big five, next a mother and baby hippo the first time we had seen one out of the water it was too dark for photo's but that sight is etched in my memory. All of a sudden the stars started to fade and a pink tinge hit the sky, only the very brightest stars and the moon remained we arrived at the "take off" site just as the sun began to rise.

There were two huge balloons, green and white stripes, half inflated each with a huge basket underneath lying on the side, each basket held 16 people plus the pilot so you can imagine just how big they were. We watched while the balloons were inflated, and while they were we had a briefing from the pilot, telling us how to get in and out of the basket, and which section we should get into, there were 8 little cubby holes each held 2 people, so you had to climb in feet first while the basket was on the side hold onto the ropes and then they would pull the basket upright by using a jeep, we all managed to do this apart from Esther who managed to climb in head first, so had they pulled the basket up she would have been standing on her head. Although the balloon was inflated it had only been filled with cold air from fans, so once we were all in it was time to light the burners, as the pilot hit the burner it felt like a winter night in front of a log fire, your face got that warm rosy glow, and then with a small bump we were up, as we took off a hundred or so gazelles ran underneath us, but as far as the animals go that was all we saw, they must of been hiding that day.

Although we didn't see any more animals (other than gazelle) it didn't spoil the flight at all, as there was nothing to see we went higher and further than a usual flight so it was fabulous. Then it just got better, after a very smooth landing we were presented with a champagne glass and a story from the pilot of how the first ever balloon flight had taken place over some farm land in France, the farmers had never seen anything in the sky other than birds, so in fright they tried to shoot it down but the pilot held a bottle of champagne over the side so the farmers knew they were friendly. Now bear in mind it was still only 8am, and they kept topping up our glasses, by 8.30am I had drank three glasses of champagne! We were then loaded back into the jeep and driven a short way to a clearing where there was a long table with a crisp white cloth, silver cutlery and more champagne glasses, we were treated to a full breakfast cooked in the open, more champagne, orange juice, coffee etc. As we sat eating and drinking a beautiful giraffe walked past us, I can't describe how wonderful it was. We had done so much already and it was only 9.30am (and five glasses of champers!)

We met back up with our guide Kavishe, we saw a hyrax, a flame headed lizard, some dwarf mongoose all while we were waiting to get back into the jeep, we then set off for another drive around the Serengeti. The morning started off quite poorly on the animal spotting front, we saw the odd gazelle, waterbuck, a blue crane but finally in the distance a sitting under a tree, enjoying the shade a beautiful cheetah.

We stopped for lunch, as it happened it was the same spot we had eaten breakfast, the giraffe had long gone, but we saw lots of wild mice, and golden crested starling. We finished our packed lunch and drove on, more lions under a tree, another herd of elephants more than 10 walking across the planes. We stopped by a watering hole, and found another family of lions, this time one male, two female and two cubs, they had put themselves under a tree right by the water, in the distance a line of Zebra waiting for a drink, but not coming any closer, what a clever idea any animal that comes for a drink is dinner for the lions. We watched the lions for over half an hour before continuing our drive up towards the hippo pool. We saw more buffalo on the way with tiny birds all over them picking off the insects. Then a few more giraffe, then for a long time we saw nothing, well I say nothing, of course the scenery was wonderful. The drive was long and very bumpy and I was starting to think if these hippo didn't get out of the water I would be really miffed! Then a fabulous sight, another jeep had stopped in front of us and pointed to a tree in the distance there was the most gorgeous leopard asleep in the tree. We took a couple of pictures and drove on, not two minutes later and this time right by the side of the road another leopard asleep in the tree.

His tail was wrapped around a branch and legs hanging down, we watched as it changed position. We finally arrived at the hippo pool, they did what hippos do best, snorted, rolled over in the mud and flicked water over their backs, none of them got out but I didn't mind, the sight of the leopard had appeased me. On the way back to the hotel we saw the arrival of the migration, animals that had walked up from Kenya to escape the dry season, row upon row of zebra hundreds of them all walking in lines into the Serengeti, next hundreds of wildebeest, then giraffe 10 in a row, then elephant, like they were taking it in turns, I could hardly believe my eyes.

Another game drive over, another wonderful day, you would think that we would have been tired seen as we have been up since 4am, but we were too excited. We got back to the hotel, Larry & Esther went back to their room, but Cath and I fancied a Kilimanjaro (lager) so walked over to the pool and patio area for a beer, we found an amazing patio area built into the side of the mountain, so we sat watching the sun set over the Serengeti drinking our beer. We went back to our hobbit hut to shower and get ready for dinner. As we arrived at the restaurant the waiter said to us "oh you have a bush dinner tonight" Now I had visions of I'm a celebrity get me out of here, but it was amazing we were led out into the bush, there was a big fire, a Masai group playing drums and singing, we were greeted with yet another glass of champagne and led to seats by the fire, we enjoyed the music and champagne for a while, and were taken to a table just the four of us, across the way a chef cooking BBQ for us, the food tasted better eaten under the stars, it was a perfect end to a wonderful day. ..........more to come but you'll have to wait.

Out of Africa ....part two

After we watched the sun come up which incidentally was amazing (there's that word again ...sorry) we went to breakfast, while we were eating there were elephants just outside as the lodge was actually in part of the park. We finished eating and the much needed and fabulous Tanzanian coffee and joined Kavishe and Larry & Esther at the jeep. We began the decent into the Ngorogoro crater, now if you are of a nervous disposition you would be advised to close your eyes. The road was VERY primitive, the drop over the side enormous, the width of the road was narrow and the bumps and potholes very large. It was like being on a roller coaster ride, exhilarating, a little scary, and again if you are a girl, murder on the boobs!

Once we got to the flat of the crater my breath was taken away, it was the sheer number of animals, Kavishe told us there were over seven thousand wildebeest, four thousand zebra and four thousand antelope of one variety or another,they all stood or walked in lines, so you saw row after row of them, as far as the eye could see there were animals and birds, we saw crested crane, fish eagles, egret and a huge number of flamingos by the lake.

We saw the Masai children bringing their cows down the side of the crater to allow them to drink at the lake. The Masai are no longer allowed to live within the crater but they are allowed to use it for grazing and watering their animals during the day.

We drove slowly (pole pole in Swahili) through the crater and came across a golden jackal, and then a three hyena's eating a freshly killed zebra with at least twenty vultures close by waiting for their turn at the carcass. We saw more zebra, some warthogs, and then a large pond filled with hippos, snorting and flicking water over themselves to keep cool, it was then I decided I would quite like to come back as a hippo, they spend all day lying in cool water and mud, and then at night they come out eat their own body weight in food, and then slip back into the water....not bad eh?

Then in the distance and only with binoculars we saw a black rhino, Kavishe told us there were now only about 70 in the whole of Africa and to see one was rare as they were very shy, although we couldn't get close enough to get photo we had now seen four of the big five, but I did feel sad at the demise of this beautiful creature. We carried on driving and came across two more warthogs this time with 5 tiny babies, the funny thing is ALL baby animals are extremely cute, even though you know when they are fully grown they could probably tear you limb from limb.

We stopped at a lovely spot by a pond (I never know when a pond becomes a lake so it could have been a lake) for a packed lunch, while we ate we saw two hippo cooling themselves and lots of birds trying to get any crumbs they could. The guides were telling everyone not to feed the birds as when the tourists go they don't know how to find their own food. After lunch and a toilet break (now here I will mention that the toilets in the game reserves and a lot of the places you stop are actually holes in the floor and not very pleasant but when you gotta go you gotta go, and really speaking you don't want to go crouching behind a bush in a place that is filled with things that could kill you in seconds so you have to grin and bear it and breath through your mouth!)

We got back in the jeep and carried on with our tour of the crater, our guide Kavishe spotted a lion snoozing in the grass just next to the road, he explained it was up to the females to do the hunting, and sure enough the female crossed the road right in front of us, the second lot of lions we had seen up close, we watched until they disappeared and carried on driving.

We carried on driving and saw a hartbeast which was a type of antelope that looked like it had 4 ears, then lying in the sun another hyena. Kavishe told us there were no giraffe in the crater as they can't get up and down the sides, but there were elephant, buffalo and various other animals all of which we lucky enough to see. Just like that 4 hours were over and it was time to leave Ngorogoro crater and all it's inhabitants. Kavishe pointed to a red dirt road at an almost 90 degree angle on the side of the crater, and said "see that - we're going up there", apparently the crater has a one way system! Now if I thought the drive down was a little scary the drive back up was terrifying, again the road was narrow the drop a long way down, several times the jeep skidded and I thought that's it, I resisted the urge to ask if any jeeps had ever gone over the side! we held on for dear life and laughed nervously, one particular wheel spin that took us extremely close to the edge found me praying to God, and eventually we made it to the top. Just as we got to the top the heavens opened, torrential rain, thunder and lightening, I thanked God again that we weren't trying to drive up from the crater now the road was muddy! So it was on to our next stop the Serengeti.....to be continued again......

Out of Africa....part one

I am going to have to do this in parts or it will take longer to read than the last Harry Potter!

It began on November 1st, we flew from Heathrow to Nairobi, lovely flight, Nairobi airport mind you was a bit stressful, we were told to go to gate 6, then after queuing they told us to go to gate 11, after queuing there they told us to go back to gate 6... we finally picked up the connecting flight to Kilimanjaro, we didn't catch sight of the great mountain as it was shrouded in white clouds. We were met at the airport and drove towards The Mountain Village Hotel in Arusha for our first night, I had a Meryl Streep moment as soon as I saw the flat acacia trees, as we were driving, the warm air was comforting and the roads bumpy We arrived at our hotel, it was lovely, we had our own little hobbit hut with an amazing view, we overlooked a beautiful lake, with Kilimanjaro on one side and Mount Meru on the other.

We didn't unpack we went for lunch and then went canoeing on the lake which we learned was called Lake Deluti. Cath and I each had our own canoe, with a guide helping us paddle (they were doing the steering which was just as well if you saw us I kept paddling into the side, and Cath wasn't keen on paddling much at all. We spent over two hours canoeing around the lake while our guides pointed out birds and monitor lizards, and beautiful trees and flowers. We got out of the canoes and walked back up the hill to the hotel, sat on the lawn, drank a beer which was named Kilimanjaro and was surprisingly good, the sun warmed my face and I felt relaxed and happy. We made our way back to our little hobbit hut to get showered and ready for dinner, five courses of lovely food with a lot of wine made for a great nights sleep!

Day two began with a lovely breakfast and what was billed as a "nature walk" around Lake Deluti, by now we had met up with our travelling companions for the Safari, a lovely older couple from New York State, Larry & Esther, both retired and (as they put it) spending their kids inheritance! Anyway the "nature walk" turned into a three hour hike around the lake, climbing over tree stumps, up hills, across very narrow walkways, health and safety had not arrived in Arusha and I for one was very glad it hadn't we had such a good time clambering over trees and through bushes and the three hours went by in a flash. Larry & Esther went off to look at the local market, while I recovered at the top of the hill with another cold Kilimanjaro beer (you'll see a pattern emerging here!) After lunch we met our safari guide Kavishe and got into our lovely green landcruiser and began the trip to Tarangerie National Park where we would be spending the night, the drive itself was fabulous, we drove through coffee plantations, past banana plantations, through lovely villages, then finally drove through the gates of Tarangerie. Kavishe put the top of the landcrusiser up so we could stand up, and within two minutes we came face to face with a beautiful giraffe.

For a moment it felt like something you would see at a Disney Park, but then you realised this was their natural habitat. The jeep picked up speed, we stood looking out of the top and the amazing scenery, the warm air hit my face and all of a sudden all was well with the world.

It wasn't long before we came across a herd of elephants that were right in the road in front of us Kavishe pulled up the jeep, switched off the engine and we just watched them, I can't begin to describe how amazing it was, they really are beautiful creatures. We carried on through the park, saw antelope, zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, and not just antelopes we saw the most beautiful trees, acacia (umbrella) trees, candelabra trees and my favourite baobab trees (called the tree of life as they can live up to 2,000 years also called the upside down tree)

We saw monkeys, more giraffe, more elephants, so many types of antelope and gazelle I forget the names. Then all too soon we arrived at the Sopa lodge where we were staying for the night, I could have gone on all night watching the animals. The hotel was lovely, as we arrived, sweaty, hot, dusty and tired we were greeted with hot towels and a glass of fresh pineapple juice. We got to our room, showered off the dust, went for dinner and of course a couple of night caps,I went to bed the happiest girl in the world!

We got up early, had breakfast and set off for a morning drive through Tarangerie, it was a day of amazing spots ( I think I will apologise now as the word amazing may be seriously over used) First we saw the cutest, smallest deer called a Dik Dik, they are always found in twos as they mate for life. We saw more zebra including an albino zebra, our guide told us he would be an easy target and without his properly formed stripes he would be easy to spot I tried not to think about it! Next we saw a family of warthogs, they were so ugly you just have to love them, then we came cross a huge herd of wildebeest and another herd of elephants including a few babies. We crossed a dried up river and saw a hyrax sunbathing on a rock, more dik dik, some blue monkeys and more Thompson and Grants gazelle it was brilliant.

Then the funniest thing happened, we saw a lone male ostrich right next to the side of the jeep, we took some pictures of him, and I don't know whether it was Larry's aftershave or my perfume but he took a shine to us and started following us, he followed for miles, even when we got up to 40 mph, eventually we lost him or so we thought, we stopped at a picnic site for a toilet break, and there he was again, this time though he had got between us and the jeep, and started hissing and sticking his wings up so our guide Kavishe had to try and scare him off while we ran for the jeep.

We started driving again and finally lost the ostrich, we knew why a few minutes later, the most wonderful site two lionesses lying in the grass right by the side of the road, we stopped and took some amazing close up photo's.

Then more wildebeest another beautiful candelabra tree, and some secretary birds that made me feel like I was in Jurassic park, they looked so prehistoric. Next we saw another huge herd of elephants, we stopped and watched them for ages. We saw a flame headed lizard basking in the sunshine, more elephant, more gazelle and then in the distance sitting under a tree the most beautiful cheetah we watched her as she scoured the horizon. As we drove out of the park we saw more elephant, giraffe and zebra, it had been an amazing day but it wasn't over. We left Tarangerie and began the long drive to Ngorogoro Crater,we drove through a small village and had to stop as our guide had to get a permit to go to the crater. A lot of children came up to the jeep and were waving at us so we thought, and we waved back, but they were actually writing in the air, all they wanted was a pen, I wound down the window and passed the only pen I had to a beautiful little girl, her face will stay with me always it lit up, you would swear I had given her the crown jewels.

It would be a good point to mention here that any girls out there who are thinking of going on safari and who are on the large side chest wise to bring a sports bra! Some, actually most of the roads are just dirt and stone and very bumpy and the lads get shook up pretty bad, I spent a lot of the trip with my arms folded across my chest I can tell you! We drove up the side of a mountain, bumping all the way and then Kavishe stopped the jeep, we got out at a lookout point, it overlooked the Ngorogor crater, it was one of the most beautiful sights I think I have ever seen, you try and capture it on camera, but it didn't do it justice, you just couldn't capture the vastness, or the beauty, we stood for almost twenty minutes taking in that view and knowing that each tiny black dot you could see was an animal and that in the morning we would be driving down into the crater to see them. The drive to the Serena lodge was wonderful, the scenery breathtaking to top it off we saw a herd of buffalo on the side of the road, so we had seen three of the big five already and it was only day three.

We arrived at the lodge, and were again greeted with a warm towel, and a glass of juice, it's hard to tell you how much dust you get covered with on the drives but you kind of get embarrassed to give the towels back after you have wiped your hands and face with them!

The people of Tanzania are warm, welcoming and friendly, they love it if you at least try to speak Swahili, so a Jambo (hello) or asante sana (thank you very much) is welcomed. We were taken to our room, each of the lodges merge in with it's surroundings, so you can hardly see them off the road, I couldn't help thinking that if this was the UK or USA they would have built a huge ten storey monstrosity on the side of the crater, but this lodge was made from natural wood and stone and you would never know it was there. We entered our room, and went straight out onto the balcony, we had the most outstanding view of the crater, we didn't want to waste a minute so we showered and went over to the bar area to watch the sunset, the colours were vivid, and as we were in the park there were elephants just outside the window. We ate dinner and went back to our room, on the balcony door was a huge spider eating a moth, since neither Cath nor I are the most at ease with 8 legged friends I switched off the balcony light so we couldn't see it. We decided to set our alarm early and sleep with curtains open so we could watch the sunrise........to be continued

TTFN....again

Well readers (I am assuming I have one or two even if it is mostly family!!!) I am off to Africa for a bit, as I have said previously bit of a year for me healthwise so I am blowing my savings and I am going to Tanzania and Zanzibar with my mate CJ. We are spending 8 days doing a Safari starting in Arusha, and driving through the Serengetti, doing a hot air balloon flight, then flying to Zanzibar spending some time in Stone Town, and then a nice relaxing 5 days at Breezes on the beach - We went all out five star, suites, what the heck it's a once in a lifetime trip and as my Dad always says "There's no pockets in a shroud!!!". While I am away my lovely Brother (helped by my Dad) is fitting my new kitchen.

So I'll be gone for three weeks, but look forward to some long blogs when I get back and hopefully some great pictures & experiences.
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Aaaahhhhhhh

Bit of a nightmare week last week, really busy at work, which culminated in a visit to a customer in Ipswich, the visit went very well and it is always a pleasure to visit Customers and Brokers, but it happened to be on Black Friday and it took me over nine hours to drive back! Never mind I thought Saturday will be great, as I will be away for my Sister-in-Laws birthday I had bought her tickets to see Ray Quinn in Cardiff and we were staying over in a hotel (my Brother was babysitting) so we got up Saturday, got ready, went into Cardiff, had a lovely lunch, bit of a shop, checked into the hotel, met a couple of mates for dinner, and then went over to the Cardiff International Arena ready for the concert......that’s where it started.

We had really good seats, and got settled there were quite a lot of young girls obviously and quite a few elderly also, so it was a real family atmosphere, so we settled down for a lovely evening. The support acts finished and Ray Quinn came on. In front of us however was a girl and her friend probably in their 20’s, this girl was absolutely plastered, as soon as he came on she stood up and was flailing about, tipping her drink over the poor lady next to her. The people behind me asked me to tell her to sit down as their children couldn’t see. I reached over and tapped her friend and passed the message on, that’s when the tirade of “F” words started. She then left the concert hall to go to the bar ….mid song!!!.....and returned with a triple Bacardi – now there is no way this girl should have been served she was paralytic. She returned to her seat and tried to grab the lady next to her to sway her back and fore. Then she grabbed hold of two little girls in front of her, until their mother pulled her off, more “F” words. No sign of a security guard anywhere! My Sister –in-law (Amanda) said very politely “look we have come to listen to Ray not you, and you are spoiling this for a lot of people” more “F” words. By this time her friend was so embarrassed she had left her and gone to sit up the back! She dropped her bag over the back of the seat so I leaned over to pick it up ….get off my “F” bag – I said I’m just passing it to you! More “F” words – so my Sister-in-Law said look just sit down and enjoy the show, she then tried to fight us, slapping Amanda. The gentleman sitting next to this drunken idiot wet to get a security guard who didn’t want to know – so in the end the man said if you don’t remove her I will, Finally a security guard came and took her out, and everyone in the surrounding area cheered. Just as Ray Quinn said “now it’s time for my last song” – so we only heard that and his encore, he was excellent, but the birthday treat I had been planning since June for Amanda was ruined. Why on earth would you pay for a ticket for a concert that you didn’t want to see?

Still we finished the evening off with a few drinks in the bar and watched Parky and laughed, and I know Amanda still enjoyed the weekend but you can’t help feeling bad that a really nice weekend had been spoiled by one drunken fool.

Other than that I’m still trying to empty my kitchen.....and only 8 more sleeps until I go to Africa......
Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl

p.s. Jeni B’s new show (albeit her voice only) Food Poker starts on Monday so tune in.

Like living in Tupperware

How rubbish is the weather at the moment I feel like I'm living in a piece of tupperware! Never mind only two weeks before I go off to Africa on safari, I have just started on the Malaria pills and I have to say the side affects are horrible, my mouth tastes like mothballs and I feel sick and headachy, I think Malaria wouldn't be so bad (well apart from the possible death bit!) Still after spending half the year in hospital/off work I'm in a live for today type mood, so Africa is always somewhere I have wanted to go, and I am and buggar the expense.

While I'm away as I mentioned my lovely Brother is fitting a new kitchen for me, so I am attempting to box everything up, it's a nightmare, I have bought the paint and tiles and it's all systems go, he and my Dad have already taken out a few cupboards and a huge bit of work surface so cooking is out of the question, but at least I'm losing weight......always a silver lining eh?

Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Don't make friends with salad !

Hooray it’s Friday which means although we are all still working hard, we do have that almost the weekend feeling about us. Hence the fact we have been singing the Homer Simpson conga song “you don’t make friends with salad” interspersed with Gina Gee all day. Oh Ok we are not working particularly that hard, me and Hitch (see below) have checked into the land of can't be arsed - we have nicknamed our desks CBA Towers!

I sit next to a lovely girl in work, but she is one of those extremely thin people who doesn’t stop eating and I know I shouldn’t be jealous, but hell on wheels I am!! – I usually have an alpen light bar for breakfast while she tucks into a full cooked breakfast in a box from the canteen upstairs. Lunch time for me is usually a jacket potato or soup and a yogurt, while Hitch (as she is affectionately know for trying to fix everyone up) tucks into something and chips, and between meals she is constantly eating chocolate and cakes. Today she munched her way through faggots, chips and gravy, and has now spent the afternoon suffering from faggot backlash (which isn’t a form of homophobia but a form of indigestion).

By the way COMPLETELY hooked on Facebook now, am spending hours doing random quizzes people keep sending me I think I have lost days!

Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Down with the kids

Well I thought I was quite computer literate by being a blogger, but apparently you are nothing if you are not a "facebooker" so one of the youngsters in work signed me up about a month ago, but I have to confess I haven't touched it since. That was until I went to a party last night, my friend Sarah's Mum & Dad had been married for fifty years, they had a party in exactly the same room in the same hotel they held their wedding. Anyway everyone I spoke to (under 40)said they were on facebook so I figured I had better get on with it. It's flippin addictive I can tell you!

I had an e-mail from the wonderful Silvena Rowe yesterday which was very un-expected, and very lovely, She also said to stop by facebook so you see it's everywhere. I'm still not sure how the heck it works though, but I have up-loaded photos, I seem to be playing an endless movie quiz, I've done a 10 second interview and don't ask me how but one of my friends has sent me a drink.....and I think I sent one back but who knows. I have 3 friends now and feel ever so popular.

Did the usual Sunday roast today which was lovely, Cara was a joy as always, I'm babysitting again next Friday and I can't wait.

Got loads to do this week, working the whole week and also need to empty my kitchen cupboards ready for the new one to be installed, you wouldn't believe how much junk (and by junk I mean Tupperware/addis/empty Chinese containers/tubits kind of junk) how many containers can one person use I live on my own!!! Need to go to Ikea to order the kitchen, find tiles and paint. My Brother is going to fit the new kitchen while I go off to Africa on my safari, so hopefully when I get back it will all be done.

Ruby has had her hair cut by the lovely Maria this week, she does such a great job, Ruby is white and gorgeous and smells like baby powder.

Oh well bed calls
Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx

The height of "Chavness"

OK so I have always thought personalised number plates are a bit Chav, but driving to work this morning I was obviously stuck in a jam behind someone called "Bev" firstly I didn't really care what her name was and secondly the personalised number plate was on a flamin Nissan Micra!!!!! I mean come on!!

Did a bit of baking last week for the Macmillan Worlds largest coffee morning, made some muffins and jam thumbprints, took them into work along with several other masterbakers and £636 was raised for this fab cause. I felt a bit bad really, I hadn't made jam thumbprints before but found a recipe (thanks Barefoot Contessa) anyway I made them, they looked lovely but as I am still slimming worlding :( I couldn't' actually taste one to see what it was like, so I called my friend Sarah who lives a few doors down and asked her to come over and taste one for me, luckily she said they were lovely and tried a muffin as well, that's when I said right now hand over a couple of quid as it's for a good cause!

Had Cara for the weekend, she was a joy as always, Saturday I found her trying to pour juice from her beaker down poor Ruby's throat, I asked her what she was doing and she turned around looked at me as if I was stupid and said "I'M SHARING" she makes me laugh so much.

Well that's about it
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

The long & winding road

Well Ruby had a much longer walk than usual on Friday, I had just taken her around our usual route, past the graveyard (which she will only walk past in the daytime incidentally) and up to Arthur Llewellyn Jenkins furniture store, then back down past the stream (where I have seen a real life kingfisher and a woodpecker this year) and made my way back towards my house after filling my gob with blackberries, when I saw some Jehovah's Witnesses walking towards my house, I can never say no to anyone, so end up listening for ages, or if I get chance I turn the lights out and hide behind the door, it's not that I want to offend, and I have nothing against any religion, but I have a hard time with people pushing their religion on me. Anyway as I had spotted them I turned around and took Ruby on another hike, I've never seen her drink so much water when we got back!

Saturday was very productive, I managed to sort out the shed ready for winter, dead headed all my plants, cleaned my house (for shames sake) and caught up on a pile of Sky+ things I had recorded. Just the ever growing ironing pile left.

Sunday was the usual Sunday Roast at my folks, it was my Dad's birthday last Tuesday but as my Brother et al were away, we had his birthday today, so it was full roast beef with all the trimmings (except for me as I am slimming worlding) and a huge Happy Birthday chocolate cake with cream (except for me as I am slimming worlding....boohoo)

Came home and decided to make some more raspberry and white chocolate muffins, but this time put a teaspoon of jam mid muffin, I'm baking some stuff for the Macmillan Worlds largest coffee morning on Thursday so will test my new recipe on my work colleagues (I can't because I'm slimming worlding.....I'm beginning to hate slimming worlding!!!) Off to weigh tomorrow and if I don't lose weight tomorrow after being this good all week you will hear the scream from wherever you are! Before I go to SW though I have to go and have a yellow fever jab ready for my safari, what a great day eh?

Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Sun, Sand, Sea and Slides

I have to say I had the most wonderful time in Tenby, my Brother, Sister-in-law and gorgeous Niece had booked a house for 2 weeks in Penally which is a lovely village outside Tenby, so I got a couple of days off work and drove down to join them. They had a lovely house and it was wonderful to see my Niece Cara, we took her to Folly Farm, she loved that, not so much the animals (I actually loved the fact you could feed a bottle of milk to a little baby goat - Cara not so much) but the soft play area (until she got stuck in the ball pit, and my poor 6ft odd Brother had to climb through a hole the size of a watermelon to drag her out), the swings and of course the slides (which I also loved, of course I only went on the slide to help Cara) She did fall over in one of the tubes and bit through her lip, it bled like you wouldn't believe, but it didn't put her off. To cheer her up I bought her a little stuffed toy rabbit we called Stu (as in rabbit Stu)

The next day we went to Pembroke, again to a park so she could go on the swings (I also went on the big girl swings haven't done that since I was 12 it was amazing but I couldn't believe how out of breath I was, I don't remember that when I was a kid! me and my 35 year old Brother were racing to see who could go higher he won but I reckon it's because he's almost a foot taller than me) Then we got some bread and went to feed the Swans, well we fed the swans, Cara was stuffing the bread in her mouth!. We went to a lovely place for lunch and on the menu was Ham, peas, mash and parsley sauce which is my condemned man's meal, and to top it off I had dandelion and burdock pop, it was like going back in time, absolutely loved it.

Saturday the weather was amazing and we spent the whole day on the beach, even went in the sea, Cara loved the sea until a monster got her, it was actually a bit of seaweed that got stuck round her foot, but she didn't like it at all.

What was really cute was that every day when we came back from whatever we were doing Cara would pick up rabbit Stu and you could hear her saying "Hiya Stu, What you been doing? I've been splashing and making sandcastles etc, and she would rattle off everything she had done during the day, she has an amazing vocabulary for a 21 month old.

We went to a lovely pub for Sunday lunch then I drove home and left them in Penally for their second week. So after a very bad weekend, I gave Slimming World a miss on Monday, but to compensate I have been exceptionally good this week, not even a drink ......which is amazing for me as I am a bottle of wine a night girl.

Loving Dexter - hope you are all watching it, no-one on my section at work does so it's annoying when you want to talk about what happened in last nights episode!
Well as I am not going out so I can't cheat, there's not much else to report so I'll close now, but ...
Keep Smiling
love Marmite Girl xx

Ok I'm Rubbish!

I know it's been three weeks since my last blog, and I don't even have any excuses, I haven't been that busy, I have had things to write about, but I appear to have checked myself into a private suite in the hotel of "can't be arsed".

So what has been happening, well I had a party for the drama group, our Director was going back to Florida for the winter so it was a kind of Bon Voyage party, it took me 2 days to clean the house and make the food and it was all over in 5 hours but it was a really good night, the weather held off, and we spent most of the night in the garden, lots of people got drunk and we sang old songs into the early hours it was lovely.

The weekend after I had Cara which is always a joy, I put her to bed at 7pm and around 4am she woke and shouted for me, I went into her room and she informed me that she needed a drink of beer! not bad for a 21 month old.

Friday was our Company sports day, I didn't partake, Dawn and I were in charge of the soft drinks stand, we dressed up in aprons and hairnets and had badges that said Marge & Beryl complete with our MacDonalds type gold stars, we looked ridiculous as you can see from the picture, but we did have a laugh.

This weekend the girls and I did a pot luck supper, we put starter, main, dessert and wine onto bits of paper and then all drew one out of a hat, I was on dessert so I made a chocolate mousse and a lime tart (don't tell slimming world!) we had a really nice evening although I did drink a little too much wine and woke up with a bit of a head! There will be six of us next time so we added chocolates and cheese and biscuits, so that should be a huge meal.

I have finally booked my holiday after much deliberation, my mate CJ and I are going on safari, we go on 29th October to Tanzania then fly to Arusha for a 7 day safari, then spend a week in Zanzibar relaxing by the beach, it was ridiculously expensive, I have to have a zillion injections, but I can't wait.

This week I am going to Tenby for a long weekend, my Brother, Sister-in-law and Cara have gone for 2 weeks, so I am driving dowon wednesday and coming back sunday, should be brillinat can't wait to take Cara to Folly Farm and the beach.

So there we are I'm sure lots of other stuff has gone on but I've forgotten.
Will try and be better at keeping this up faithful readers.

Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

No excuses...

So I have been a bit rubbish at keeping this up, in my defence it has been incredibly busy at work, and by the time I get home, walk the dog, feed the dog, make myself some dinner, I only want to introduce my butt to the sofa and stay there until it's time to go to bed!

Last weekend I had Cara and we had a brilliant time, she was dropped off on Wednesday night, and I took her back Sunday. She is such a cutie, I was tucking her in on Thursday night, and I said "I love you" - she said in her gorgeous baby voice " I love you too" and I could feel my heart in my throat,and my eyes well up that usually only happens when Bambi's mother dies or I watch the WSPA advert. Friday I took her into the office to meet everyone, Moyna met us for lunch and then I took Cara on a boat trip around the bay (£5 and she fell asleep within two seconds) I had Sky plused loose women and a repeat of Great Food Live, and sat down with Cara to watch them (by now I had had enough of Lazytown and Balamory and don't get me started on "In the night garden") anyway we watched GFL, when there was a close up of Jeni Barnett Cara piped up "pretty lady cooking" I was really impressed, then we watched loose women Jane Macdonald was doing a number and Cara said "pretty lady singing" she is so smart, although she has never called me "pretty lady" so we'll have to have words. Moyna came over on Saturday and we went to the beach and took a picnic of course I hadn't checked and the tide was in so there was no sand, Cara wasn't keen on the pebbles so after making a picnic and specially buying a bucket and spade and driving all the way there...we didn't stay long!

I'm supposed to be cleaning right now, got out the Mr Sheen and the Dyson but so far all I have done is drink two cups of espresso, watch all the Stephen Fry stuff I recorded from BBC 4 last night and type this.......have to clean the girls are coming over later, we are going to the Barley Mow tonight for dinner, and a walk down memory lane, it was an old haunt back when we were all Young Farmers eons ago......I have a feeling it won't be the same.

So that's it I am warming up my polishing arm....damn Barefoot Contessa is on I'll just get another cuppa and watch that first.........

Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

The day I was Frank Spencer!!!

It started yesterday when I thought....Oooo the sun is out I'll wear my sandals, got to my Mum & Dad's ready to make the dinner, and they were sitting outside so I went to go up the step, the front of my sandal caught the lip of the step and down I went like a wounded gazelle.....or a stunned hippopotamus as my Brother said nice huh?? Cut hand and knee! Then I made a drink with ice for everyone, didn't notice that I had dropped an ice cube, so when I went back into the kitchen with it's tiled floor slipped over on the ice cube! Bugger this I though and took off said sandals and walked around bare foot, then as I closed the fridge door, managed to get my toe under the door and scraped off all the skin......"For God's sake" I said to my Sister-in-Law, "don't let me pick up Cara today". I thought oh well it all happens in threes I'll be fine now..........famous last words, Dad and Steve came back from the pub, I dished up a delicious dinner, and then my Dad said that looks nice - what happened to the starter, it was in the oven I had forgotten about it! Anyway we had the main for starter and the starter for main course, I had taken up some of the muffins I cooked on Saturday for dessert, my Brother reckoned it wasn't a real dessert, that muffins were for a cup of coffee and a snack at 4pm, so I chucked two muffins in a bowl and poured cream over them and said "They are now!"

Got home and decided to dye my hair....see I know I should have stopped myself after the day so far, but I though what else can go wrong, well I had half dyed my hair when the dye bottle jumped out of my hand, hit the basin, bounced off the toilet lid and splattered all down the lemon wall (which now needs re-painting) After this incident I moulded my backside to the sofa and refused to move until bed-time.

I think I slept it off, today has been OK, the muffins were extremely well received by my work buddies (note to self next time make double raspberry and white chocolate to banana nut) Greg has now taken to requests, next time can you make old fashioned butterfly cakes or anything with hundreds and thousands, muffins apparently are too healthy!

Right I'm off to water the plants.
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Essay, schmessay - muffins rule!!!

OK so I was too excited to do my NVQ assignment, I got my magic bullet through the post yesterday so I had to try it out didn't I? So popped off shopping this morning and by lunch had whipped up 20 banana & walnut muffins and 20 white chocolate & raspberry. That should please my work mates who keep moaning at me because I'm always on a diet (I know usually failed) I haven't been taking in goodies. I used to bake all the time, shortbread, muffins, cakes etc and take the stuff into work, but the thing is if it's there I eat it, so I kind of stopped. This time though I feel so sick from licking out the bowls, I don't think I'll fancy the muffins! I did however remember just how much I really love baking. Have washed it all out now so I can make pesto for tea later.

Right now I really am going to my essay on mentoring! Want to finish it before I listen to Jeni on LBC! Well maybe a cup of coffee and one of those white chocolate and raspberry muffins first.....oh come on I had better test them to make sure they are OK!!!

Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Why put off til tomorrow ...bla bla bla

Had a great weekend, had a cleaning frenzy, I was like a woman possessed did the whole house, changed all the beds...OK it was only because my Brother, Sister-in-Law and Cara were coming over, but I still did it. Had a lovely evening Saturday, my Brother (who is a bit "chefy") made a fabulous dinner which included a whole wheel of Camembert cooked until melted, ripped open and then we just dunked in crusty bread. We had a perfect rare steak, with asparagus drizzled in lemon oil (well drowned in lemon oil - the same lemon oil that cost me £8 from the food fair that I've since seen it in Tesco for £1.99) and a potato gratin which would have been potato and celeriac if the guy in Tesco knew what celeriac was!! Sunday as the weather was lovely we took the Cara and Ruby to the beach and I'm not sure which one of them had the best time, but they both ended up soaking wet and covered in sand. We ended a lovely weekend with the traditional family roast at my folks house, where I stood in the glass lean to, over 4 gas rings and the oven on full sweating like a glass blowers ass! Sorry but it was WAY passed "slightly glowing" still the dinner was lovely.

Well the diet didn't start Monday ....well it did and it was over by Wednesday, I can't help it I'm a foodie! The NVQ assignment still isn't done, the grass isn't cut, the ironing pile looks like the leaning tower of Pisa and all the dust I cleaned up on Saturday is back but to be honest it has been incredibly busy at work and I haven't been getting home until 7pm most nights, by the time I've walked the dog, and made something for tea it's almost bed time.

I did decide to have a really early night on Tuesday so went to bed, went straight to sleep, then was woken at 1am by the dog making heaving noises, I dived out of bed but too late she had been sick all over the bed covers, I picked her up and started to run downstairs to put her out, and wouldn't you know it, another heave and it was all down the stairs, I know I shouldn't let the dog sleep on the bed, but she always has, and I love it. Anyway upshot of my early night was I went to bed at 2.30am after stripping the bed, and cleaning the stairs!

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend but I really do have to do my NVQ assignment on mentoring if nothing else.

Have fun, you deserve it!
Marmite Girl xx

p.s Apols to Jeni B for mentioning Tesco but we don't have any local shops left!

Big, Blonde and Beautiful..

Well OK, not blonde, and not beautiful, but big......Just been to see Hairspray and have to say it was fabulous. I saw it on Broadway for my birthday a couple of years ago and was amazed,I had never seen the original film, and after seeing the show on Broadway had rushed onto EBay and bought it, and was sorely disappointed as it wasn't a musical, and honestly if I had seen the original film before I got to Broadway I would never have picked that show to go and see, so if you were less than impressed by the original film I urge you to go and see the new one. The casting was brilliant, the songs catchy to say the least and by the time I left the cinema my cheeks hurt from smiling...well that and biting my tongue so I wouldn't sing along to all the songs (well I was under threat of severe and painful death from Sarah and Moyna if I did!)Anyway Big, Blonde and Beautiful has one of my favourite song lyrics of all time....being a little buxom myself....and it is (I may be paraphrasing here) " Who wants a twig when you can have the whole damn tree?"

Other than that just been extremely busy at work, and playing with Sky +, Drama group did get together last night for a end of season meal, and a discussion over what to do next, not sure anything was decided.

My Brother, Sister-in-Law and Cara are down this weekend so I can't wait....The Dora the Explorer quilt has been washed and ironed ready, I have petit filous in the fridge to make her bones grow strongerer, and the fact that I get the sofa to sleep on is a small price to pay for a family weekend.

So just to reiterate, if the weather is getting you down....(I swear I could grow rice in my front lawn now it's under water) then go and see Hairspray, you'll come out smiling I bet ya!

OOOoo and all you Jeni Barnett fans don't forget her new slot on LBC Radio on Saturday six til eight (pm)

Lots of love
Marmite Girl xx

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Rubeeeee

It's funny, I'm fine leaving Ruby if I am on holidays or away from home, but I hate being in the house without her. Ruby however has been having a great time at my Mum & Dad's, she gets ruined, she gets twice as many treats. I had left her at my Mum & Dad's as I away seeing Barbra Streisand, then I stayed with my friend Emma and her Mum & Dad on the Friday night (and I remembered to give Emma the keys to her flat back), and as I was doing Canterbury Tales on the Saturday it wouldn't have been fair to have her at home on her own, so it meant Thursday and Saturday night at home without Ruby, it was weird. I have her back now so normal service has resumed.

Canterbury Tales went well, thankfully Julie had booked a hall rather than us doing it in her garden which was the original plan, and over £1,200 was raised for Helen House in Oxford which is a hospice for children, so I was glad about that.

I now have so much housework, and ironing to catch up with I am ashamed to let anyone in, my house looks like Miss Haversham's! I blame Sky plus I always seem to have something to watch now, so spend less time doing the jobs I should, not that I am a telly addict, but I can now squeeze about five days worth of recorded stuff, into the three spare evenings I have.

I'm just watching the Victoria Beckham thingy (I know I recorded it) and she is surprisingly funny, I loved it when she dressed a blow up doll as herself to fool the paparazzi so she could go shopping, faabulous idea dahling.

Well that's it from me, I'm off to sort out out the recycling.
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Memories, like the corners of my mind....

Well, I know the press will probably giver her a hard time over the autocue (but to be fair she is 65, and a lot of 65 years olds can't remember where they left their glasses let alone an hour and a half of songs and talk - so give her a break), and the choice of songs, but when you have been recording for over 40 years there are a lot of songs to choose from and you'll never please everyone! Personally I thought Barbra Streisand was worth every penny, sure some of the talk was scripted, and she did sound a little hoarse in places (probably two months of singing would do that you) but the magic was there, the hairs on my arms and neck spent the night standing to attention, she was brilliant and I had the best time. If I could, I would have bought another ticket to see the Sunday show, but I do have to work for a living! Although I swear I have something written on my head that says "Idiots come and sit next to me" - it happened at the Dolly Parton concert someone was actually having a full blown conversation on the phone, it happened last night two idiots with a bag of chips sat next to me talked through half the concert, I did tell them to shut up, as did the man in front, but they were three sheets to the wind and it fell on deaf ears, until Barbra sang "Smile though your heart is aching" and then the woman started that drunk I love everyone crying, by then I wanted to poke them in the eyes with hot needles! It didn't spoil my night though, I was in awe the whole time, and the memory of that night will stay with me always. I did find out Lord Lloyd Webber was in the audience but couldn't get close enough to give him a quick blast of "Think of Me" so it's back to the day job.

Stayed at my friends flat in London and drove back today, thankfully the sun is out so I am dead heading the flowers and catching up on the washing. Got rehearsal later, we are doing a version of Canterbury Tales on Saturday for charity, it's to raise money for Helen House in Oxford, so it's a great cause, it was to be held in my friend Julie's garden but as the weather has been so bad she has booked a hall now instead.

Well gotta shoot off, I need to cut out a chicken mask for the "Nun's Priests Tale" if ever I did get famous and someone asked me the strangest thing I have ever done, it would be this..... doing the "Macarena" in a chicken costume ......told you it was a "VERSION" of Canterbury Tales!

Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Remember I said....

Remember back in one of my blogs on my trip to Bruges I said if ever I saw the Hairy Bikers I was going to kiss them for recommending Den Dyvers restaurant? well look what happened yesterday! I did see the Hairy Bikers and I did kiss them, and I have to say they are genuinely the nicest, most down to earth guys you could ever wish to meet, we chatted for ages.

We had a lovely time at the Food Festival in Cardiff, Moyna, Sarah, CJ and me went, I was so glad the weather was better yesterday, we had glorious sunshine all day, the food tents were amazing, the live music was great, there was a really great atmosphere and a heck of a lot of people which is great for the small producers. By the time I made it over to the Farmers Market everything had sold out much to my disappointment, but I did get some rather gorgeous lemon infused olive oil which is fantastic over a salad. We met up with my Brother, Sister-in-Law and gorgeous Niece who was completely unfazed by all crowds and had a whale of a time, we took her on the Ferris wheel, but she wasn't too sure about that, but she loved running around and being in the park.

So today the weather is back to being lousy, I'm sitting at home sweltering, as I need the radiators on to dry my clothes for work tomorrow. Just off to the folks now to do the Sunday Roast for the family, still not salad weather. I swear I'm eating more because the weather is so bad, I don't know how Jeni Barnett is still sticking to her raw food diet in this, I can't get enough mashed potato and comfort food at the moment.

Then I need to keep everything crossed that my Barbra Streisand tickets turn up, as the concert is wednesday and still no sign........flamin postal strikes.

Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx

I'll never get to used to......

Eating in restaurants on my own, just did a business trip to Hull, which was a heck of a drive, six hours! and I don't mind the driving, I love the meetings, staying away from home is fine, but the eating on your own is awful, you keep getting " awww bless" looks, I kept my suit on so people knew I was on business but still the sympathetic eyes! Not sure the best corporate gift to give to my Customer in Hull (where all the awful floods are) was an umbrella!

Ruby goes to the groomer today and then to V.E.T. for her booster so I have had to get choccie drops in, so by the end of the day she will still love me!

I am now the proud new owner of an LCD TV and Sky+ which I love, how did I ever manage without it? those annoying phone calls in the middle of your favourite programme, not a problem anymore, trying to find a five year old child to programme my video, not needed, it's brilliant!

I don't know about everyone else, but this weather is starting to get me down, I noticed today that sunscreen is all half price in our local supermarket, I wonder why! I wanted to do much in the garden, but it never stops, the plants I do have look all soggy and sorry for themselves. I'm also fed up of having to put the radiators on to dry the washing!

Looking forward to the weekend though being a foodie, there is a huge food and drink festival this weekend in Cardiff, so me and all the girls are going for a look (and hopefully a taste) I spent a fortune last year, mostly on things I will never use, although the black cherry liquer I got is amazing for making black forest trifle.

Oh well best get Ruby to the V.E.T.
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Accidental Road Rage....

So I was driving home from work yesterday, going around a roundabout when some idiot beeped me, so without thinking I held up my fingers to show there were TWO lanes ....of course then he flipped me the bird, in retrospect I guess holding up two fingers and shouting TWO lanes probably did look like road rage but it wasn't honestly.........

One of my friends this week asked me if I could choose only one book, one DVD and one CD to have which would they be, and I have to say I have had real trouble choosing. I suppose you are expected to say things like War & Peace or Catch 22 or some documentary type film that made a huge differrence but hey I'm going for pure entertainment! I had trouble deciding between a "real" book and a cookery book as I love reading recipes, but I guess the book would be The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, the DVD gave me a bit of trouble, but there is one film I always watch if it's on, even though I have seen it many times and that is Divine secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the CD gave me the most trouble, I love a bit of Rachmaninoff, and a bit of snow patrol, and then there's Barbra Streisand (I'm off to see her on the 18th I'm excited my bank account isn't!) but in the end I picked a compilation of Broadway songs so I could sing a long, not sure what it says about me, but it's really tough to just choose one of each!

I have my Niece this weekend and as the sun is finally out took a trip to Cardiff Bay to see the boats, and we met my friend Teresa for coffee, can't remember if I had a cappuccino or mochaccino or al paccino but it was lovely, Cara was the entertainment though, her Mum & Dad teach her all the clever things like numbers and colours, so far I have taught her "take a bow", "jazz hands" "work it" (she puts her hands up to her cheeks and looks so cute!) and if you say "what do you think of the show" she shouts RUBBISH! There were some builders doing a bit of drilling next to the coffee shop as we were sitting outside, so Cara said to me "they are noisy" I said yes, so at the top of her voice she shouted "QUIET" everyone laughed, I told you she was smart for 17 months!! She is busy terrorising Ruby who gives me a do I have to put up with this? look.

Well best get on I actually need to water my plants this evening....who would have thought it????

Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Boo......

Well we didn't win, England did, but we had the best weekend!

We turned up Friday and did have quite a few technical problems, but going on about that will sound like sour grapes so there's no point. We gave a great performance, and didn't let Wales down, the Adjudicator didn't like the set, but did like the acting and direction. After the play we went back to the party that had been arranged at the hotel, it wasn't bad they had arranged for a "barn dance" type thing, but few people danced, that finished at 1am, and that's were the party really started we drank lots and sang even more, mostly the old Welsh Favourites and whatever we could think of, a couple of the organisers of the festival stayed up too, I got to bed at 3.30am.

The next morning we had to meet the Mayor at 11am, I was so hungover I had to get ready in stages, I washed then had a lie down, I put my make up on....then had a lie down....I got dressed ...then had a lie down, I didn't make breakfast at all, and proclaimed that if anyone saw me drinking ANYTHING other than coke, they could shoot me! We got to the arts complex where the meeting was to take place, it was hotter than the Serengeti, and of course we were all dressed up, they offered us coffee (which helped enormously with the sweating NOT!) The Mayor arrived and we had to exchange gifts that had been given to us by our respective local councils. This is where it got embarrassing, our local Council had given us a crystal clock for the Mayor.....which didn't work, and these awful flag type pennant things for the other three teams, we were ashamed to give them out, especially when we had huge boxes of stuff from the other teams, Irish whiskey, Scottish whiskey with glasses and a water jug, and lovely things that all came from Tamworth from the English team. In fact we were SO ashamed we went out and bought each team a bottle of champagne and gave it to them in the evening. After all my no more drinking, after meeting the Mayor we went to the pub and I tried a hair of the dog, well half a lager anyway which did cure me, in fact it cured me enough to have a bottle of champagne ourselves at lunch. We did a bit of shopping and I must say Solihull is a really nice town with really good shopping.

At 5.30pm we were invited to Jon's parents room (Jon's parents are Players Theatres biggest groupies)for drinks and nibbles before going to the theatre for the remaining two plays. We went to the theatre watched the entries from Ireland and Scotland listened to the adjudicator, who made me laugh when one thing he criticised was the fact that Ireland had a dripping tap in their play as a sound effect, and he said the drips were too close together!!! As I said England won, and while we were disappointed the thing about the festival is that it didn't last long. We went back to the hotel and partied hard, tonights entertainment was a folk group, it wasn't good, it just wasn't the kind of music to get a party going, but it was one of those situations that turned out to be really funny, especially as the one lady (who looked like Morticia Adams) put some wooden thing with a dancing man on it between her legs, and slapped it back and forth in time to the music!!! Moyna reckoned you couldn't get those in Ann Summers!!!!! England went home and the Celts started singing, Wales first, then Scotland would do a number then Ireland, slowly Ireland left then Scotland and by 3am it was just Wales.....there's stamina in Welsh Wales! I think we got to bed at around 5am, but as I stuck to vodka all night, no hangover the next day and I made it to breakfast!

All in all it was a brilliant weekend, I still get a bit fed up that it's not televised, if it was a British Final of anything sporty it would have coverage, but Amateur Theatre....no chance, not even a newspaper article.

Here's to next year, the finals are being hosted by Wales and will be held in Swansea.

Bit tired this week mind you!!
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl xx

Fingers, Toes and Eyes Crossed!

And so I am off to the British One Act Drama Finals, in a bit of a dilemma, is it worth spending an hour this morning drying and straightening my hair, when, for the purposes of the play we are doing, I have to be soaked to the skin before I go on (been running through a heavy storm see!) On one hand we do have to meet the other teams, organisers etc. and have a technical rehearsal (you can only have half the lights in a competition as there isn't enough time to re-rig in between plays) but on the other hand I could just tie it back....I think the lazy part of me might go for that one, especially seen as it is pouring with rain again and one ounce of dampness and an hour with the straightening irons is wasted anyway as I look like Leo Sayer!

We had a reasonably good dress rehearsal last night, but I do have a lot of trouble with and forgive me for this ....snot - I spend the majority of this play crying, and I can't cry without snot, I don't know how they do it in the films, but by the time I finally get a hug from the Gabe (who plays my husband) his coat looks like a slug has crawled across it.

See while I have been typing this and throwing things in a case, the rain has stopped, perhaps it's a sign I should get the irons out......keep everything crossed for us, we keep being reminded Wales hasn't won since 1992 but no pressure!!!

Lots of love
Marmite Girl xx

Einstein Hair and spilled coffee

After I wrote my Sunday evening blog I decided to have a nice soak in a bath full of bubbles, also decided not to wash my hair but leave that for Monday mornings shower before work. So had a soak, got into my PJ's, hair had got wet and I now looked like Einstein, made a cup of coffee which I managed to tip all down my PJ's so I just mopped it up with kitchen roll and settled down to watch The Chase.....what did it matter I thought I'm off to bed after that. Unfortunately half way through The Chase the flamin doorbell went, it was (thankfully) my mate CJ who lives in Oxford, she had stopped in for a cuppa on her way home, and to tell me all about her trip to Barcelona. She was dressed to kill, and sun tanned and looked wonderful, while I sat there with my Einstein hair and coffee smelling PJ's! Lesson learned then, you never know when someone is going to call, so try and stay reasonably tidy!

Monday was uneventful, work was busy and by the time I got home I was too tired to do anything. Tuesday I was off work, so made sure I watched the repeat of Great Food Live on UKTV Bright Ideas, then listened to Jeni on LBC radio, e-mailed in and it got read out by Jeni herself I felt really chuffed. Oh and I finally managed to cut my grass, yes it stopped raining long enough for me to trim my Kansas Plains, of course it was SO wet I looked like the jolly green giant when I had finished. Went to rehearsal and dropped Ruby off and my parents, they are looking after her as I will be away for the weekend (at the British Finals....I may have mentioned that somewhere!)

So there we are it's Wednesday already and it's back to being busy at work, I am going for a swift half later to celebrate my mate Teresa's birthday so looking forward to that (as you can see the diet hasn't lasted again)

Will let you all know how we get on at the British Finals
Keep smiling
Marmite Girl