Friday 7 January 2011

From the Jungle (before the next power failure!)

The African stereotype is far off the mark for the part of South Africa we live in.  Right now though what you imagine Africa to be is right where I am - although not in a mud hut!  We are visiting family in the heart of one of South Africa's neighbouring countries, Zambia.  It is my first visit here but it is where my husband was brought up for his primary school years, before he went to High School in the UK (as a boarder obviously!)  We are not in his hometown of Ndola though, which is a one and a half hour car trip away.  We are in Mkushi, 4 hours from Lusaka (the nation's capital) by road, right in the heart of the African bush.  It is, however, a veritable oasis of fertility as we are nestled amidst the commercial maize farms, on a little property the farming community frequent every Sunday for their church services.  Yes, my brother-in-law is the local pastor here & lives in a quaint little house surrounded by beautiful trees & bushland.

Unfortunately that is all that I have time to tell you now folks as I have been called to dinner.  My sister-in-law is a splendid cook so I dare not delay!  I haven't been able to log on here much before now, I did have a couple of hours luck a few days ago but that certainly wasn't enough time to visit all my favourite peeps, so please forgive me for not commenting.  I am looking forward to a really good catch-up with lots of coffee by my keyboard, when I get back home.  For now I can share some wonderful news, but not in it's entirity until it is published elsewhere.  So far my year has got off to a cracking start.  I will be designing for a local wholesaler to showcase some of their new products, am Scrapper in the Spotlight on another site this month & have been accepted onto the design team of an international challenge blog.  Woohoo!  More to follow when I am all settled back at home.

Miss you madly.

12 comments:

Jolanda said...

Hi,welcome to SC!!!So nice to work with you this term!!!
Have a nice vacation!!!

Bente Fagerberg said...

Helen this is all fantastic news!! I am so excited for you!
Furthemore I am very excited about your jungle adventure. A little envious really.
Many years ago mu husband and I visited Tanzania and Kenya for a month (well he stayed longer because of work..) and it was so different from here. I loved Africa. We went to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and even the outskirts of the Serengeti, and also some parks in Kenya. Fantastic.
Hope for a 'visit' when you get back to civilization!! LOL!

Diana said...

You are right where I would love to be... I adore the African bush... . Can't wait to hear more deets of your new accomplishments!
I haven't been posting so I haven't missed any comments from you heeeee

Jessy Christopher said...

Oh great that you are having an awesome time!! Congrats on your new scrapbook related stint and can't wait for you to spill more!!

topkatnz said...

Congrats on all your good news and enjoy your time away!

Sasha Farina said...

that place you're in.. sounds like my kind of place. :)) have fun!!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Enjoy your holiday and congratulations on your scrappy achievements.

tania said...

Enjoy,enjoy,enjoy!!
Congratulations on your scrappy achievements!
Can't wait to see what you will dish up!!

Bernadine said...

Missing you to. Hope you are resting on your holiday. :)

Stefanie said...

Greetings,
We're back and I am slowly ploughing through the washing, my inbox and google reader.
Had to pop in here too and leave some love though.
Great new look to your place in space.
Congrats on your achievements too.
I loved your "too full" LO and it sure is inspiring me.

Christine said...

wow, it sounds amazing! Enjoy your holiday!

Ella Swan said...

Thanks girls - just got home this minute...Can't wait to come & check out all your blogs & see what you have been up to! Life in the bush is definitely not for me - I like to be part of bustling city life! And not having a laptop (as I don't travel often) definitely made me feel very cut off - although for the most part there was no Wifi connection in any case so it wouldn't have helped! Thank you for your support anyway - even though I wasn't able to immediately return the favour ;)