Holidays.. almost..

Well it has been a very long time since I blogged, but it has been hectic. I am finishing my job on Monday (no more earthworms!!! :) ). Then I have a nice week at home before going to my other home in Bloem for Christmas. Of course its not all fun next week, I have to go to the doctor cause I think my thyroid gland (think that's what its called) may be giving some problems. Hopefully not, but it will explain the funny things my body keeps doing. I am quite nervous about it, don't like needles! (they have to do a blood test).

At the end of November I went to Bloem for a weekend and then to the Sterkfontein dam for a week. It really is a very inpressive dam. This was taken on the cliff near our chalet:


We stayed at a resort called Qwantani. It has some nice walking routes, horseriding and some other activities. One of these included a ferry ride on the Dam itself, which took about one and a half hours. It was my first time on a boat type thing that's not a canoe so it was very nice. :) This is just a picture of the resort:


I will be in Bloem from the 24th to the 4th of January so I am going to have a nice time at home, strange how I still call it my home, after all I don't really live there anymore. We finally bought a new car last month, which my husband just adores, though so far it has only cost us a lot of money.. typical. Nothing noteworthy has happened further, but some big things will happen next month. I am turning 25 and two days later is our one year anniversary! :) And hopefully next year I may even decide what I want to do with my life...sigh..

Earthworms and rain...

I have had an incredibly busy two weeks since I last blogged. Have been going out to do some fieldwork for the first time in my life and it was rather.. interesting. We have to collect earthworms, millipedes and snails! I thought it would be rather easy to collect but no, firstly you have to dig around in the ground which is really very hard, secondly, you have to try to collect them without hurting them (which is difficult) and thirdly, earthworms are really, really fast! The ones we always had in Bloem was small but these ones! I caught one today that was 50 cm long and 3 cm wide, did not know they got that big. But its still all good fun, its nice to get out of the laboratory.

It constantly rains here in Pietermaritzburg and today I got properly caught in the rain. Its nice to ride a scooter in the rain when its a misty rain but the moment it gets heavier.. :) I slipped on my home from work and had to use all my strength to keep the scooter from falling down. Just because someone behind me was riding on my butt the entire time and I had to go faster.

I am going to Bloemfontein on Friday! A whole weekend there and then a week at the Sterkfontein dam. And I am also having a braai on Saturday for all my friends just to get to see them all at once. :) The last time I was in Bloem was with my Grandma's funeral in September. I miss her so much, never got to say goodbye. She was 90 years old and she passed peacefully in her sleep. I wish I can go like that one day..

Well, nothing else really happened to me in the last two weeks, lets hope the next two are a little more eventful!

Scooters and bees...

I own a scooter and its the only way I can get anywhere. Today I was coming home from work and the next thing I know I entered a swarm of bees! Luckily I only got stung once on my arm but its not helping me overcome my fear for them. I don't like them and counting the number of times I have been stung in my life shows that they are not so fond of me either. :(

While I was still living in Bloemfontein a similar incident took place. In that case there was only one bee that singled me out. It was a week after I got engaged and my ring had not yet been fitted. So the bee landed on my leg and stung me and I went into a large state of panic and started hitting the bee and my leg. After that I rode on a short while and suddenly realized my ring was gone! I went back to the street where it happened but could not remember the exact spot. Spent at least an hour searching, become more hysterical every second and being too scared to call my husband. Finally I gave up and phoned him, though he only heard something about a bee and scooter and thought I fell! He was not angry at all! When he arrived I hugged him and at that moment I saw my ring. Thought of that as a pretty good sign that I have chosen the right man.. :P

That is why I hate bees, they have something against me. I am not even going to start on spiders.. Have been bitten once now I just run away.. hehe.

My ratties...

Since I can remember we have had rats in our home. So as soon as could I started looking for my own rat in Pietermaritzburg. I finally found her in a pet shop in the beginning of June. She was a light brown colour when I got her but overnight (it seems) she started showing some siamese markings. Named her Izzy and she is a very temperamental and moody rat.

Izzy

A week later we went to Bloemfontein where my sister gave me my second girl, Lily. One should not have favourites but she is definitely mine. She always comes up for a quick cuddle and loves posing for photos.

Lily

In September I decided to get 2 more girls, mostly for Lily's sake cause Izzy is not really a playful rat and Lily is. I have always wanted a black rat and after a search that went on for two weeks I finally found her. I also took one of her sisters, who to this day can be classified as a real doofus who only eats and sleeps. :) The black girl was named Pan and though she was very shy at first, she is usually the first one climbing on me when I open the cage.

Pan

The other girl started out as a brown hooded, but turned into siamese with a few brown spots remaining on her back. Named her Penny.

Penny

So that is my ratties! Apart from a dog they are the best pets someone can have!

My ratties

These are my girls, past and present. Now I am one of those people who can't think of a rat as a pest, but rather as a very entertaining pet.

Izzy is my eldest. She is a Siamese. She can be extremely grumpy on some days, and is the only rat who has ever bitten me. She can also be the most lovable rattie if she is given the chance.


This is Penny, my other Siamese. I never thought that something like a dumb rat existed, but she proved otherwise :). She is not always aware of things happening around her, and can sleep through any loud sound it seems. She also got a new habit of taking a bit of food with her whenever I take her out. Oh yes, she loves to eat. She is also the softest little rattie I have ever met, with the loveliest fur.



R.I.P

This was Lily, my little sweetheart. She was a black-hooded. She was the tamest and most lovable of all my rats. She was also fabulous when it comes to posing for photos. She unfortunately started to develop some breathing problems, and had to be put down on the 30th of November 2009.I don't know how many times I said goodbye to her, thinking each time I was not going to see her the next day but she kept pulling through, up to the day she gave me such a look and I knew it was time.



And finally my little girl Pan, a black rattie. She took the longest to become completely tame, but once she got hold of you, she would not stop licking you! :) Unfortunately she was my first rattie to develop a tumour underneath her front leg. On the day Lily was taken to the vet she went along for an opinion, but it turned out the tumour was inoperable. She was also put down on the 30th of November 2009. I never really got to say goodbye to her, but I console myself on the fact that my rats all got an equal amount of love and attention, so she was never neglected in that department.

About me

Well, where to start... I am 26 years old and have been married since January 2008. I adore animals, and own 2 adorable rats, which are substituting for the dog I can't have at the moment. I love watching movies, playing computer games and reading. I am currently busy with my first novel, which will be finished in a couple of years I hope lol.

This is not a blog that will have a great effect on the world or even your life, but this is my little corner of the web where I can chat about my life and say my opinion on things, even though it will only sound like a bunch of ramblings to you.

I hope you enjoy your time here!

This is me.. :)

I can describe myself as a very imaginative, and extremely confused short person. Confused as in I still don't know what I want to do with my life, or I have an idea but its going to take a while to get there. I got married in January after dating my husband for 4 years and 10 months. We were actually in the same school from grade 1 but never took notice of each other. Strange how life works that way.. I have lived in one place my entire life but in April of this year my husband heard that he got a job in another city! I was still getting used to the idea of being married and then this! We have now been here for 6 months and I still have not really settled. It is not a bad place but as a shy person I don't make friends that easily. I have some wonderful friends back in myhometown and no one here. The people I have become acquainted with are all much older than me so its not the same. Hopefully that will change in the next year.

Me and my husband

Further I am one of 4 children and my brother and sisters are respectively 15, 14 and 11 years older than me. Therefore I grew up pretty much on my own and because of that I have a huge imagination. :) Since I was little all I ever wanted to do was work with animals. I connect better with them than I do with people. I am crazy about dogs and rats as these are the pets I grew up with. Strangely I was extremely scared of dogs from the time I was bitten at age 6 to the time I got my spaniel Flappies when I was 10, I could not go near them. Now I can't keep away from them! I wanted to become a vet but now ended up becoming an Entomologist. But I realised that insects are really not that interesting any more.. I finished my honours but decided not to do my masters cause I have no interest in the field anymore. I am still looking for something that I can do that will make me really happy...

My rats

These are my girls, past and present. Now I am one of those people who can't think of a rat as a pest, but rather as a very entertaining pet.

This is Penny, my Siamese. I never thought that something like a dumb rat existed, but she proved otherwise :). She is not always aware of things happening around her, and can sleep through any loud sound it seems. She also got a new habit of taking a bit of food with her whenever I take her out. Oh yes, she loves to eat. She is also the softest little rattie I have ever met, with the loveliest fur.

R.I.P

Izzy was my first rat I got since I left school. She was a Siamese. She could be extremely grumpy on some days, and is the only rat who has ever bitten me. She could also be the most lovable rattie if she was given the chance. She died on the 26th of February 2010 at my mom's home, and was buried under the most beautiful rose bush in the garden.

This was Lily, my little sweetheart. She was a black-hooded. She was the tamest and most lovable of all my rats. She was also fabulous when it comes to posing for photos. She unfortunately started to develop some breathing problems, and had to be put down on the 30th of November 2009.I don't know how many times I said goodbye to her, thinking each time I was not going to see her the next day but she kept pulling through, up to the day she gave me such a look and I knew it was time.

And finally my little girl Pan, a black rattie. She took the longest to become completely tame, but once she got hold of you, she would not stop licking you! :) Unfortunately she was my first rattie to develop a tumour underneath her front leg. On the day Lily was taken to the vet she went along for an opinion, but it turned out the tumour was inoperable. She was also put down on the 30th of November 2009. I never really got to say goodbye to her, but I console myself on the fact that my rats all got an equal amount of love and attention, so she was never neglected in that department.

My Novel

My personal novel

Okay so I am not a professional writer, and have never thought of doing something like that, until now. Since I can remember I have build a story in my head. I started when I was very little and to me it was an escape from everyday life. So the years went by and the story became more intricate. A while back I got scared that I would one day forget this world I created, so I decided to finally write it down. I have started the book over so many times, not quite knowing how I will do it.

The amount of written words are not so much at the moment, but will be soon enough I hope. It is quite exhausting to write! Especially when I have to force myself to sit down and do it. But this is one project I intend on completing. I will not give anything away, not until it is finished. I already have ideas on a prequel and sequel too :)

Novels in the making

My personal novel

Okay so I am not a professional writer, and have never thought of doing something like that, until now. Since I can remember I have build a story in my head. I started when I was very little and to me it was an escape from everyday life. So the years went by and the story became more intricate. A while back I got scared that I would one day forget this world I created, so I decided to finally write it down. I have started the book over so many times, not quite knowing how I will do it.

The amount of written words are not so much at the moment, but will be soon enough I hope. It is quite exhausting to write! Especially when I have to force myself to sit down and do it. But this is one project I intend on completing. I will not give anything away, not until it is finished. I already have ideas on a prequel and sequel too :)

My reading list

We have a lots of books, and I enjoy collecting these books, but I have yet to read them all. This is to be a list of everything I own and also to be a guide to me on which books to read next. Hopefully by the end of the year I would have crossed off all of them.

I am currently reading

This is the second book in the trilogy. I have read the first and is still waiting for a chance to buy the third book.