Christmas Day with A Daft Scots Lass Clan

Christmas Morning Loot

Megan soopa happy about her electric scooter

A Daft Scots Lass opening her prezzies in her jammies

Megan and her Lego

KK and her microphone

More gifts

My 15 inch digital photo frame

Hubby and his Tom Tom

KK and her electric Lamborgini

Megan and her scooter

Christmas Lunch by the Pool

Christmas Eve with A Daft Scots Lass and Gang

Christmas Eve was spent with close friends at Mandy's place and tradition goes that we spend R30 on everyone's gag gift and we wait until midnight and then spend ages getting Santa to dish out the presents.  Until midnight we played the board game 30 seconds and drank strawberry dacquiries.

Good Times!

Mandy, Kaylin and Tammy

All the presents under the Christmas Tree

30 Seconds Game

Emma Pup joined in the festivities

But Midnight was too far away...

Friends with Dacquiris.  Yum!

Kaylin wearing her mohican wig.

Group Christmas shot

Meet Santa

Midnight finally arrived and it was gift opening time

Kaylin and Missy

Gift Ripping

Mandy shows off her balls

Norman strikes a pose

Ouma with a festive drinkie

Percy opens his presents

Megan's debri

Dirk was lucky enough to get a turn sit on Santa's lap

A Pair o' Jaggie Pockies

A True Christmas story.

I shite you not.

My Aunt Jan and Uncle Robert got married really young and she wasn’t the most domesticated goddess under the sun, in fact, she was pretty useless in the kitchen and even more hopeless at homemade crafts – but hell, did she try really hard!

When we still lived in Scotland, every Christmas my sister and I used to get showered by gifts by all our family. I mean TOTALLY spoiled. We used to spend half the day opening gifts! It was completely insane.

Let me set the picture for you. I have quite an extensive extended family in Scotland. My dad is a family of four siblings and my mum is from a family of 6 siblings. Hence, we had 10 aunties and uncles who spoiled us broken at Christmas time (that’s not including grandparents, cousins and plenty family friends).

Anyway back to Aunt Jan…because she married my Uncle Robert so young, they really didn’t have much money and so when Christmas time came she spent countless hours making everyone home-made gifts and, bless her, they weren’t really, well lets put it this way…you used it or wore it once and then it accidentally fell into the back of your cupboard, never to be seen again.

I will never forget this one year, Aunt Jan knitted my sister and I pockies (you would probably know them as mittens). She must’ve bought the scratchy wool at the local 10p bargain bin store because the wool was a mucky blue colour and had the texture of fucking Grade A steel wool. 

Awww her heart was in the right place. She’d even embroidered teeny weeny yellow and white flowers and a leaf on the top side on the pokkies. Not only that, she even used to make her own homemade Christmas wrapping paper and tie it with recycled string or ribbon. So you now you understand - a lot of effort and preparation went into her Christmas gifts.

So, I opened her pockies on Christmas morning and tried them on. One hand fitted beautifully but the other hand’s thumb was sticking straight up in the air. Och, bless her, Aunt Jan had gotten the pattern wrong and knitted two mittens but they were the SAME HAND! Two right hands. This meant that the pretty embroidery was on the top of the right hand and on the palm side of the left hand (the only way you could wear them to make the thumbs fit). My mum still made us wear them but only once, to visit Aunt Jan's house.

This wasn’t the only gifts Aunt Jan made us that were crooked or mismatched…one year we got little knitted waist coats which were actually dead cute - however, the buttons didn’t match up with the button holes and one side was longer than the other. Another year we got knitted jumpers with cut out felt Santas on the front and one sleeve was longer than the other and slipped stitches magically appeared when you put it on.

The point I'm trying to make is…who cares what the gift is or what it looks like or even if its a little lopsided – she spent loads of her time and effort making these wonderful gifts that contained truck loads of love. The point being, she thought of us when she made these gifts and that's why I'll NEVER forget them.

I miss getting gifts like this. I don’t mean gifts that you throw in the cupboard and hopefully never see again. I’m talking about gifts that someone has put their heart and soul into. It is so easy these days to go to the shops and buy something last minute and not put any thought whatsoever into it. That's so impersonal.

I’d rather receive Aunt Jan’s jaggy pockies any day.

I only wish I’d kept those pokey pockies as a treasured possession. They were so unique and so very special.

Thanks Aunt Jan, wherever you are!

Cooo-eeee I'm back! User Friendly Beach Holiday - That's what she said!

The long road to the seaside

I'm back in smelly, smoggy Johannesburg and just because you can't smell it doesn't mean the rest of us aren't sufferning.

I missed you guys and I missed my wee blog.

Yeeehaw!  Five days at the Natal South Coast and what a great wee holiday it was.

We arrived at about lunch time on Monday after a 7 hour drive and checked into our large beach flat. We were right on the beach and could hear the waves crashing from our balcony. 

We hardly unpacked and went around to see my mum and dad. My mum was so weak and frail she couldn't even get out of bed to greet us. She looked so pale and exhausted but I still managed to give her a long gentle cuddle, I just didn't squeeze too hard! 

Mum and Kaylin

I had waited a whole year to give her a hug and it was so worth it.

We spent most of the holiday either on the beach or at the pool or just hanging out with my folks, nattering and catching up at at their place.   I always forget how loud our family is and how much we talk. We don't stop and my accent instantly becomes thicker without me even realising it. Hubby always points this out though.

Anyhoover, I had a good chat with both of my parents individually and let them know that they need only ask me for help with anything and I'll be there.   They are not getting any younger and luckily they care for each other at at the moment, but there will come a time when one or both of them will not be able to do these things and then they will need myself and my sister to step in and help.

We are so far away from them and we'd love for them to move back to Johannesburg and be closer but they will NOT hear anything of it right now.

Dilema.

The time will come.

Nevertheless, it was a wicked wee break with loads of relaxing in the sun, playing in the surf and truck loads of special times.

Here are some of the daft pix

On the way to the beach

Palm Beach

My Dad and Kaylin

Family Shot

My Mummy

My folks.  They will be married for 46 years in January!

My Mum posing for the camera

Kaylin on the rocks at Palm Beach

Megan swinging on the big tree branch on Palm Beach

The monkeys were a twice a day occurrence at our wee beach flat

Megan and Kaylin playing in the pool

Megan riding the waves on her Boogie Board

Sandcastles

Sandcastles with Dad

My Three in the Sea

Kaylin riding the ways with her Boogie Board

The pathway from our beach flat down to Palm Beach

Fun in the car - a long 7 hour trip.