IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG

Where did time go?  When I started my blog almost 14 years ago, I never expected to have only a few entries.  But as we know, LIFE happens.  During the past 14 years, I have moved countries, my eldest daughter got married and divorced and I became a grandmother to two beautiful grandchildren, lost 108 pounds and got my health back on track. 

 I got addicted to any art form, especially fantasy art and children's book illustrations.  Yes, a lot has happened.  Now I hope to continue my blog as I am retired and have a whole lot of time for myself.

The Beauty of Animals

Its been a while....I have been very busy. Just want to leave this with all of you that visit my blog.  The beauty of animals, a reminder why we love them so much and how much they compliment out lives and everything around us. I will be back soon with more blogging posts.

The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup - South Africa

Zakumi - Official Mascot of the FIFA2010 Soccer World Cup

One of the most exciting sports events, is taking place in South Africa during 2010.  The 2010Fifa Soccer World Cup.  I am so excited for South Africa.  Not only will it mean that we get tourists from around the world, but also that our soccer fans can actually see world class matches live.  

It was a very exciting day when the official Mascot, Zakumi, was revealed to the world. On 22 September 2008, Zakumi appeared for the first time at a launch in Johannesburg, South Africa. Zakumi is a Leopard who came into the world in 1994 at the same time as the new South Africa was born. 

Zakumi - a Mascot with attitude 

So what can we say about him? One thing is for sure, Zakumi will be first on the dancefloor and last off it at the biggest party in the world - the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. He wants to dance and entertain as many people as he can. He is an animator for fans, players and officials, for schoolchildren, teenagers and big kids alike! 

Needless to say, he is extremely proud to be the Official Mascot and determined to be the best host for everyone visiting his beloved country. He symbolizes South Africa and the rest of the African continent through his self-confidence, pride, hospitality, social skills and warm-heartedness. 

Zakumi is a jolly, self-confident, adventurous, spontaneous, and actually quite shrewd little fellow. He loves to perform and always follows his instinct and intuition, yet sometimes has the tendency to exaggerate a bit. You will often find him fooling about and teasing people but not in a mean way. He is warm-hearted and caring, and wants to make as many friends as possible. 

He loves to play football as it is a great way to connect with others and break down language barriers. He always carries his football around which he will use to invite people to play with him. 

Zakumi loves football. At one time he decided to dye his hair green as he felt it would be the perfect camouflage against the green of the football pitch; a bit like his rosette spots are when hunting in the wilderness!

He does have one striking weakness. With all his energy, he needs frequent rests. Occasionally, in-between performances on stage, he may suddenly fall asleep on the spot at the most random times! But rest assured, these are only short breaks that a leopard of his calibre needs to recharge his batteries. 

Over the last years he has travelled the whole of Africa where the leopard habitat is good (pretty much everywhere from open savannahs, forests, jungles to mountainous areas, even deserts). He has therefore learned to adapt to new environments; enjoying the diversity in nature and people across the African continent 

The name ‘Zakumi' is a composition of ‘ZA' standing for South Africa and ‘kumi', which translates into ‘10' in various languages across Africa. 

Zakumi's main priority is to turn the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa into one huge, joyful and unforgettable party and show the thousands of international guests the warmth and spirit of the African continent. 

"He wants to create a good mood for the fans and raise the excitement for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first on African soil. He is a proud South African and wants to ensure that the world will come together in South Africa," explained Lucas Radebe, South Africa's football icon and close friend of Zakumi.

Zakumi

TOURISTS - It is estimated that approximately 220 000 tourists from international destinations and 800 000 from within Africa, will attend the World Cup Soccer matches. Of course with so many tourists arriving in South Africa, accommodation is of utmost importance. 

Some of the most attractive and beautiful accommodation available for the World Cup soccer tourists, are situated in Cape Town...one of our three Capitals, the largest of the three and also the legislative Capital.

I visited a website that offers accommodation to tourists and was amazed to see the sizes of some of these houses/apartments. 

Apartment 1 - Beautiful sea view - Camps Bay - Cape Town

Beautiful pool with sea view

Then there are the most astonishing views.  It is very romantic and I would love to stand on the patio while the sun sets, sipping on a cocktail, having fun with good friends.  

Spirits are high in South Africa, everyone is so eager for the matches to start.  Only 1 year and two months to go!!  Construction workers are working around the clock to get all the stadiums built and in tip top condition, in time.  

Stadiums

My Heart is in Biddulph

There is a little town in England who has captured my heart forever.BIDDULPH, Stoke-on-Trent. It brings back memories of love, peace, tranquility, the true spirit of being human and dreams. The citizens are beautiful, not only in looks but their nature is one of a kind. They do not hesitate to help, always willing to do and give kind advice. The most memorable time for me was my wedding in 1989, venturing late at night into the quiet streets of Biddulph, going to Mowcop Castle and of course, riding in the Red Bus, on our way to London. Oh, and the great time I had travelling to Wales...a beautiful, beautiful place.

To start off on my journey, I would like to introduce you to MowCop Castle.  

THE HISTORY OF MOWCOP CASTLE

Mow Cop (pronunciation: rhymes with cow, not with cutting the grass), considered to be the site of an open-air religious gathering on 31 May 1807 that is considered to be the start of Primitive Methodism. It remained a popular location for revivalist meetings. 

This is a photo of the folly (more to come over the next day or two), built in 1754. Access is now fairly restricted due to a sucide that took place a few years ago off the cliff face. The structure is protected with various bits of metal and fencing, but you can easily walk around its base.

The castle was built in 1754 by local stone masons John and Ralph Harding, for Randle Wilbraham of Rode Hall. The ruined curtain wall was never more than a picturesque folly to add effect to the eastern skyline as seen from Rode Hall 3 miles away. The tower was a summerhouse, originally two storeys high with a cone shaped roof which could be used as a beacon.

"I can remember when the floor was there, the windows in and glassed, 
when the door was locked by an inside lock and key...." 

" We were accustomed to boil our kettle and have tea in it (tower) on calm days..."

It was built exactly on the county boundary and used by two families, the Wilbrahams and the Sneyd family of Keele who owned the Staffordshire side. The idea of the structure possibly perpetuated the custom of building a tower as part of the ancient celebrations held at Lammastide (1st August). These festivities became formalised as Mow Wake, an event which survived to the 19th century. Quarrying of the hard-wearing rock known as millstone grit probably began on Mow Cop during the iron age. The first product was querns, the hand mills used for grinding corn. By early medieval times these were replaced by flat circular millstones. Below the tower on the eastern side may still be seen a half-hewn millstone. The stone was also used for buildings, sinks, troughs and othe domestic or agricultural items. This outcrop of rock is the western limit of the folded Carboniferous rocks which form the Pennine chain. On the eastern side of the summit coal was mined, and limestone was quarried on the western slope. Further west are the low-lying softer rocks of the Cheshire Plain. The OLD MAN OF MOW stands as a rock pinnacle isolated by quarrying. Its top is the highest piece of solid ground on the hill, 356 metres (1170 ft) above sea level.

Local historians suggest that it marks the original position of a cairn, which may have been a burial chamber of the type seen 6 miles to the north at Bridestones. This would have contributed to the spiritual significance of the hill-top and might explain why the quarrymen left it.

Photos of MowCop with thanks to: 

First two photo's with thanks to:

History of MowCop

They are getting out of Hand

My baby kitties are exactly 31 days old and wow, they are becoming a handful.  They have discovered that the white tiled floor, running from the bedroom they are in up to the kitchen, can be a very nice slippery slide.  There are five of them and my daughters have given them each a name.Two black ones..Crispy Claws and Junior.  The fat grey one...Chipmunk.  The Grey-ish spottey ginger one...Yoda and then the most beautiful of them all, the multicoloured one...Fluffy.

About a week ago, their mom Gracey, decided to take leave of absence at the most crucial time of the day, feeding time. These poor little ones started moaning and later it turned into screams of hunger.  Hectic!!  My heart was pounding, I dont have experience in feeding baby animals and really did not know what to do.  We tried dripping milk onto our legs and some of them started licking it off but the most pressing issue was getting their bladders and tummies emptied. Thank goodness for my Jack Russel AMY. She is a real little mommy and started cleaning them.  Their cries got less and we decided to phone the Pet Deli up the road from us.  We urgently needed Kitty formula and tiny bottles to feed these little ones.  By then, Gracy Mommy was still not in sight.  I explain to the lady that we don't have any transport to get there.  Forty five minutes later, the owner of the Vet Deli stopped in front of our gate with the package and I thanked her so much for saving the day.

I spoke too early.....what a mission to feed these babies.  They did not want to drink from the teats.No matter how much we tried to squirt milk into their mouths, they just kept on pushing the formula out of their mouths.  By now, three hours have passed and we were all exhausted. The babies fell asleep and I went to lay down on my bed.  I thought I heard a soft scratch somewhere and when I lifted my head, Gracey was scratching on the bedroom door to get to her babies.  I almost cried, I could have kissed her to death.  We had a very quiet peaceful night's sleep.

Here are pictures of the little ones.....hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy the kitties everyday.

Dreams and the Psychology of Dreaming

"Dreams are the touchstones of our characters." - Henry David Thoreau

Dreams, they can be incredibly satisfying or incredibly horrific….but we all want to know why and what and where…what does it mean? Why do I dream?
All I ever known about dreaming, is that mostly I want to stay in my dream, kissing and smootching away at that tall dark stranger with the strong arms!!

Dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of years, but only recently have dreams been subjected to empirical research and concentrated scientific study. Chances are that you’ve often found yourself puzzling over the mysterious content of a dream, or perhaps you’ve wondered why you dream at all.

What is a dream? The very basic question. Your dream can include so many thoughts, emotions and images. Your dream can be extraordinary vivid or vague, filled with joy or filled with pain and fear.
So what is the purpose of our dreams? No consensus could be reached about the purpose of our dreams.
Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while other believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being.

Ernest Hoffman, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston, Mass., suggests that "...a possible (though certainly not proven) function of a dream to be weaving new material into the memory system in a way that both reduces emotional arousal and is adaptive in helping us cope with further trauma or stressful events."

More prominent dream theories include…….

Psychoanalytic Theory of Dreams: Consistent with the psychoanalytic perspective, Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams suggested that dreams were a representation of unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic view of personality, people are driven by aggressive and sexual instincts that are repressed from conscious awareness. While these thoughts are not consciously expressed, Freud suggested that they find their way into our awareness via dreams. A good read is his famous book… The Interpretation of Dreams.

Other Theories of Dreams:

One theory suggests that dreams are the result of our brain trying to interpret external stimuli during sleep. For example, the sound of the radio may be incorporated into the content of a dream.
Another theory uses a computer metaphor to account for dreams. According to this theory, dreams serve to ‘clean up’ clutter from the mind, much like clean-up operations in a computer, refreshing the mind to prepare for the next day.

Yet another model proposes that dreams function as a form of psychotherapy. In this theory, the dreamer is able to make connections between different thoughts and emotions in a safe environment.
A contemporary model of dreaming combines some elements of various theories. The activation of the brain creates loose connections between thoughts and ideas, which are then guided by the emotions of the dreamer.

Characteristics of Dreams:

1. Dreams Often Feature Intense Emotions
2. Dreams Are Frequently Disorganized and Illogical
3. Strange Dream Content Is Accepted Without Question
4. People Often Experience Bizarre Sensations
5. Dreams Are Difficult to Remember

Link to Dream information

Link to Dream Moods A-Z

My First Post

To think that Blogging unite so many people from different countries, backgrounds and ethnic groups!!  Its mind boggling and so exciting to know that a few thousand miles from where I am, someone might just read this.  I have decided to give Blogging a chance, so many are doing it and the Blogs I have read in the past month or so, really captivated my sense of curiosity. There are many things in this world that interests me and as I have mentioned already, people is my passion.

My motto, you better be willing to chew properly on the tough cookie of life!! Thereafter its plain sailing...well almost.  One thing that I battle with though, is procrastination.  I have never been able to master it.  How do people do it?  How do they manage to keep to schedules and notes they leave for themselves?  What makes them do it and not just look at it and turn around and say.."tomorrow is another day?" It really irks me, but I am trying.  As something pops up that needs attention, I tell myself...DO IT NOW!  

Gazing out my bedroom window right now....a washing line full of clothes.  It was ready to be taken down this afternoon already but I told myself there is still time, I will do it later.  Almost six hours later, its still hanging and swining in the cool breeze.  Now I will have to lift my butt and go take it off otherwise it might be wet tomorrow morning, who knows the weather patterns these days.

There are so much that I still want to accomplish in life too!  The dreaded weight issue, I have to loose the few extra pounds....no I am really telling a fib here.  There are POUNDS that needs to fall off.  Working hard to get to it and well meaning friends with cream cakes don't help the issue one bit.  I had a friend over yesterday.  Keita.  He is wonderful and kind, but too kind if you ask me.  He arrived with Chinese bow ties, two packs of them (12), eight chocolate danish sort of cakes and eight strawberry mousse cups decorated with strawberries and kiwi fruits.  Oh my goodness, did I enjoy them.  NOT all of them of course but had my fair share.  So Keita, I loved them but the fat rolls around the hips are moaning today! Thanks anyway dearest friend, it broke the monotonous regime of lettuce leaves and tomato slices!

Well, hopefully tonight will be a good night for me, without dogs staring me awake, making me get out of bed two or three times because they want to go and chase cats around at three in the morning. Then racing back to bed before they get there so I can have the bigger sleeping space!! Wish me luck...I am going to need it if I want to sleep through!