Sketching and Sewing Some Skirts :)

Hello!

I greet you from sunny South Africa!!

Summer begins next month for us and one can feel it warming up, some days are quite hot actually.

I sewed my first real thing all on my own....... :) I mentioned my new sewing machine in an earlier post and this week, I decided to try out my sewing skills! I made a peasant style skirt.
Then, yesterday, my Mom taught me how to sew 2 little skirts for Sne and Grace, who live here on the mission too. Grace is 3 and Sne is 4.
I've just got one problem......I use a chair while I sew of course and every time I get up, little Blitzy races to claim that specific chair! I tried bringing another chair for her but it didn't work, she wants THAT one. I use it because it's just the right height for my desk but Blitzy thinks it's perfect for her too.
This week, I also did some sketching.....I was in a "Victorian mood" so to say, so I drew something along those lines. In August, I drew a cat hunting a bird, I included the deck that my Dad is building in my drawing.

Since it is the end of the year, we have been busy sorting through things and giving stuff away that we do not need. I didn't realise how many clothes I had accumulated over this year! Blitzy was of course poking her nose into everything!

I'd appreciate it if you don't use the photo's of my sketches without proper accreditation and permission from me. You can find my email address on my Google+ page. Thanks for the co-operation!

God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡

My first skirt!!!

Sne's skirt

Grace's skirt 

Cat hunting a bird on the deck.

My Victorian inspired sketch.

It was cold one day last week and Blitzy was already plastered to the heater!

Blitzy "helping" me to sort though stuff.

Queen of the chair!

I wonder where she ran off to now.........

A Spectacular Play & a Surprised Jackal!

Hello,

I just wanted to give you a short update for this week.
Okay, on Saturday evening, we headed for the main mission in Kranskop for the school play, the mission's school, that is. It's Domino Servite School, you can take a look at their website : www.dss.org.za

Anyway the high school students did a stage performance of "A Christmas Carol" and it was spectacular!! The props, costumes and the set was so realistic and beautiful. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photo's but if you keep an eye on their website, they should upload some photo's soon. I'm sure that the main mission website will upload some too. For those of you who don't know that website, it is : www.ksb.org.za
Last year, Cedar College of Education did a play, I'm not sure if I mentioned it on my blog before or not. You can see some photo's from that play on CCE's website which is : cedar.org.za
Renate was the lead in that play by the way!! It was also very well done!

Anyway, back to Saturday, the play was at 7 in the evening and due to travel time, we arrived home at about 23:00! Quite late! So, as we were coming up our driveway, we saw a jackal! Yes, a jackal! I didn't even know that there were any in our area. Well, when he saw that he had some onlookers, he ran into one of the greenhouses next to our house. We decided to leave him alone as he (or she) wasn't really doing any harm. He was just as surprised to see us. If you've never heard of a jackal before, it's a bit like a cayote. You should Google it. ;)
We tend to miss lots of wildlife that visit our farm during the night and early morning, thankfully we were right on time to see that little guy! ;)

Claridge has received lots of rain lately and we are very thankful for that. Though, we continue to pray for the rest of South Africa, I heard that the Free State is very, very dry....animals and plants are dying.

I don't have any photo's for you guys this time unfortunately!

May the Lord bless you,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡

Sewing, Storms and Some Hail

Hi there!

We are so thankful for the rain we have received this week!! Though, don't stop praying for the rest of South Africa, which is very dry. It has been cold this week, we had to even use the heater!

My parents bought me a lovely sewing machine recently and I've been trying it out! My Mom will give me proper lessons soon, she is very talented with sewing. Actually, my grandmother on my Mom's side and my Mom's aunts from that side are all gifted with sewing! Also, my grandmother on my Dad's side was a dressmaker so, sewing runs in the family as does knitting, embroidery and all sorts of needlework. I'm glad that I've received this love for needlework too and all crafty things, Iike sketching and card-making.

Anyway, today we had a short but powerful storm!! My Dad had just finished some work that he was doing on the roof when the storm arrived, the deck had also just been oiled. There was heavy rain and thunder, a bit of lightning and also hail! Claridge has had hail often actually though this year, we didn't see a lot of it. Thankfully, the hail stones were small.

Curly and Joshy had instantly gone into fear mode when the thunder sounded but little Blitzy was so hyperactive then! One time, Joshy just sat all solemnly outside the room, with that worried look on his little ginger face. Then, Blitzy raced down the hallway, bounced against the wall and onto him! As she flew towards him, she shot her skinny paws up and it knocked into Joshy's chest! Poor Josh! He just hissed at her and ran away, he doesn't like to show Blitzy that he is worried or afraid.
The storm lasted only a few minutes and then it stopped and the kids calmed down, including the wild little one, Blitz.

Kenzo came to visit Curly, she was so excited, she hadn't seen him in quite a while!

Anyway, here are a few photo's for you to enjoy!

God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡

P.S You see? I am updating more often now. ;)

Curly, caught during a yawn ;)

Blitzy tightly curled up due to the cold.

Blitzy on her shelves at night, I'm trying to sleep whilst she burns her energy off!

Kenzo and Curly

She's so scared during storms!

My Mom made a delicious stew for us!

The hail, bad quality picture, sorry.

More flowers have bloomed!

 Hydrangeas, one of my favorite flowers!

Little Lassie, fooling around!

An Early Morning Visitor

Hey everybody,

I just thought I'd share these photo's with you guys.....

On Monday morning, at about 05:40, my Dad and I saw this beautiful sight through the window in our lounge! How lovely? :) ♡

Oom Peet says that she is a Duiker, (we're presuming it's a female). My Dad and I initially thought it was a Grey Reedbuck. We saw Duiker at Kruger National Park too, we're so priveleged to have this beautiful creature visit our farm. We have seen other buck and deer come to Claridge previously but not for a while. Sorry that the photo's are not too clear, we didn't want to startle her by opening the window.
Oh! It rained on Monday and Tuesday this week! God is so faithful and good to us. We are very thankful!

Now, I am off to plant those rose cuttings from my Mom's beautiful bouquet!

God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡ ♡ ♡

P.S. I hope you like the new header! ;)

Grazing near our flower patch.

She still looks young.

Here, she is standing in front of the deck that my Dad is building.

Dry Days

Hi,

This is just a short post to keep you guys going. :)
Well, these days have been HOT! You would not believe it, just a few days ago, it was really cold and then it just became hot! It's a wonder that we can adjust to this extreme change in weather. Though, some people did catch a cold, especially the children. Kids get sick easily!
The land is very dry at the moment too, we really need some rain! Today, we've heard that in some parts of South Africa 30 000 cows have died due to this drought. The rivers are low and one has dried up completely. I don't mean to dampen your mood with the news but just remember to pray for rain in KwaZulu-Natal! Other parts of South Africa seem to be fine as far as I know.

Blitzy was very skinny when she came back from the cattery last week. We're pretty sure that Joshy took the lion's share of the food there. So, we will definitely have to put them in separate enclosures next time! Anyway, Blitzy has fattened up a bit and is returning to her curious personality and wild antics!
Curly and Lassie are really close friends now, Curly is acting as if she is a puppy now, playing and wanting to be outside with her pal most of the time.
My Dad returned to his task of finishing the deck, it's really a tiring job especially in this heat!
So, everyone is back to work and studies and we have resumed the routine of life once again.


Anyway, thanks for reading!

God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡

Joshy, enjoying the afternoon shade in our courtyard.

And Curly, squinting as the sun shines in her little eyes.

Then Blitzy at the front door, staring at Curly & Joshy from inside the house. 

My Mom was not too well recently and my Dad gifted her with these beauties! Notice the lilac one --->

It's sitting proudly on our dining-room table. ;)