"the chuckle spot!"
Friday, December 21, 2007
music on my blog update...
So, you should be able to listen to Slade stomping around in their wedge heels and having a blast about christmas (I mean, you gotta love that old Slade song haven't you?) plus there's a couple of my most favourite tracks over on the right there somewhere as well.
Basically, click twice on the play button and you should get to hear some sounds!
(as it plays you'll see the coloured bar 'fill' until it's full by the end of the song so when it's finished and you want to listen to it again (!) you have to just drag the 'filled bar' back over to the left and it'll start again)
(ok, that was most definitely not put in any kind of technical way, but hopefully you get it!)
"happy christmas!"
Yeah, yeah, yeah.........well hey? It's better than nothing isn't it?!
So everyone, have a WONDERFUL christmas, whatever you do, wherever you are and whoever you are with or without.
Most importantly, it's just another day (and hopefully you're not working!), so just enjoy it and do whatever you want to do.
Well that's what we plan to do anyway!
(oh yeah, and my new year's resolution will no doubt be something along the lines of..."I must blog more often...")
Bye for now! xx
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
"the carlisles go to england - part two!"
Justin at the tiller!
our home for three days and three nights! Linzi at the controls!
We were sad to say goodbye to Isla but we were also, yet again, ready and champing at the bit for the next stage of our holiday!
We packed up on the morning of Thursday 2nd August and caught a cab to Rugby station from where we travelled to our next destination............................................................................................
London!
"the carlisles go to england - part one!"
Our plan to have a holiday in the UK started with a wedding invitation from my brother Gary and his fiancee Kathryn! It was just about time for another visit over to England, so it was perfect timing!
We decided to try and visit as many places as we could and cram in a few experiences along the way - you know us!
We arrived in England on Wednesday 25th July, early in the morning and got straight into action! Mum & Dad picked us up and we shot off to Beth Ezra to visit my lovely Grandma. She hadn't been well and had been in hospital after a stroke so it was a great relief to see her and give her a big hug!
We then dropped our bags off at Mum & Dad's lovely new apartment in Rochester and tore off to Bluewater Park for a 'spot of shopping' (hey, you gotta get it in when you can haven't you?!)
From there we went to Rochester high street and met up with Jules & Andy and Esther and her little cutie daughter, Jessica! We had a drink or two and a bite to eat and suddenly started to flag a bit....so a return to the apartment was called for! After a shower and a glass of wine/beer, we were feeling much refreshed and the we and Mum & Dad were joined by the 'infamous duo' - Pam & Gary! Fantastic friends (virtually family really) from way back forever!
We ended up having a slap up Thai meal in Rochester at 'Thai for Two' with much chatting and laughter before finally hitting the pillows for a much needed sleep!
The next morning Mum & Dad started off on their drive up to Scotland for the wedding and Justin & I got the train up to London, just like old times for me but at least it wasn't in the rush hour!
We dropped our bags at the Thistle Hotel above Charing Cross Station where we would be staying the night and caught a bus up to Oxford street! (a note here about our choice of hotel for the night: when I used to commute to London all those years ago I used to look at all the 'glamourous tourists with their suitcases' walking into the Thistle Hotel and feel overcome with part envy, part yearning for travel and the excitement of it all! when I told Justin he said we should stay there so that I could finally satisfy my fascination with the place and be 'one of those tourists'! I needed no further encouragement and booked a room straightaway amid much excitement! - some people are easily pleased!)
Needless to say it's a superb hotel and I'd recommend it to anyone!
Our first 'hiccup' was jumping on a bus and asking for two tickets to Oxford Street! Apparently you don't do that anymore! How times have changed since 'I was a girl'! We got 'thrown off' the bus and told to get our tickets from the machine at the bus stop!! This proved rather difficult with our limited small change and we were resorted to scratching around for twenty pence pieces after it swallowed one of our precious pound coins! Anyway we made it and the fun began! (or not.....ask my husband......we were, after all, on a mission to purchase outfits for the wedding on the Saturday!)
Justin's shopping proved relatively simple and his outfit was sorted pretty quickly! He's a maaaan.................and he had me helping him! I, on the other hand, being a woman...............yeah, suffice to say it took HOURS to get me sorted out!
It wasn't my fault! Honestly! All I wanted was a cool pair of jeans, a nice top and some wedgie sandals......oh, and a handbag! These items were finally secured............and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and a drink! This also took ages as we had a drink in our room (we'd treated ourselves and upgraded to a junior suite with a free bottle of wine!) and kept popping down to stand outside for a smoke! We had a great laugh with a bloke who'd arrived to pick someone up in his rolls royce and we jokingly asked him if he'd come for us! We ended up chatting with him for ages and by the time we went out and had dinner it was 11.30pm! Hey! No problem! We were on holiday! Don't even ask what time we fell into bed eventually!
We caught a black cab to Farringdon station the next morning and got the train out to Luton airport for our Easy Jet flight to Inverness! From Inverness we drove through to Kyle of Lochalsh, stopping for a moment on the way to admire the beautiful and perfect Eilean Donan Castle where the wedding would be held the following day!
We checked into the Balmacara Hotel and found that Mum & Dad had already arrived safely and that various other members of the wedding party were already there, including Gaz & Kathryn of course!
That night (Friday) was such a laugh! We all ended up in the bar behind the Balmacara Hotel, it was raining on and off, it was freezing cold (when we ALL popped out for smokes!), we had plenty of drinks, plenty of laughs and just enjoyed the excellent company soooo much! Gaz & Kathryn were around and all Kathryn's family, Gaz's long-standing best friend Angus was there (in capacity of best man having flown in from Jo'burg) he's such a great person, Trevor (Gaz's old school mate and 'still a mate' and Jenny, his girlfriend, arrived during the evening and, to be honest that's probably when things really started to deteriorate! Only kidding! They were really good company and we had a great laugh with them for hours!
Somehow we made our way to our rooms for some much needed sleep before rising 'bright and early' (???) on the day of the wedding, Saturday July 28th, for a good old Scottish brekkie including the dreaded black pudding.........yurk.....I don't think anyone actually ate the black pudding......
The wedding was due to start at about 6pm (remember it only gets dark around 10pm!!) so we had a few hours to go off exploring before getting ready and Justin and I decided to take a drive over the bridge to the Isle of Skye (where Gaz & Kathryn would be honeymooning) and cruise around for a while before getting ourselves 'glammed up'! We also popped through to the castle again to meet my cousin Kirsty and family and say 'howzit' as they'd just arrived and were staying up the road.
So, we all got ready and gathered around outside the hotel having a drink before heading off for the castle where the kilted scotsman was waiting with his bagpipes! At this point some bloke gave me a weird look and went 'Linzi?' I gave him a weird look and went 'Brett?' and that was how Brett, my cousin, and I renewed our acquaintance after about fifteen years! It didn't end there, this was followed by shrieks, hugs, laughter and much friendly abuse during which time Justin was introduced and also joined in the abuse (friendly, that is - that's what you do with Brett!!)!
The weather was a bit dodgy and we knew it would probably rain at any moment...what we didn't reckon on was that it would decide to burst from the sky as Justin & I crossed the bridge (on foot)! We arrived at the castle looking like two completely drowned rats! So much for the hairdo! None of that mattered though!
The wedding was really lovely, what a great setting, there was a great atmosphere and a great feeling of happiness among us all.
Gary & Kathryn had devised their own vows and it all went off perfectly, followed by champagne in another of the castle's rooms.
We all made our way back to the Balmacara for a delicious meal followed by speeches and then entertainment by a local band playing celtic music, at which point my Aunty hilary decided it was time for a dance and Justin obliged! Justin & Aunty Hils doing the scottish 'reel'!
the kids went mad over the confetti throwing!
It was a wonderfully happy day and one which we won't forget! A big thank you to Gary and our new lovely sister-in-law Kathryn for gathering us all together in such a beautiful setting with so many wonderful people!
The next morning we were all pretty tired, that goes without saying, and had to check out of our hotel after breakfast so goodbyes were being said all over the show! Some people were staying up in Scotland, some were moving on elsewhere, some were heading home and we were moving a few miles up the road to the picture postcard perfect village of Plockton for the night, as were my Mum & Dad and Uncle Peter & Aunty Margaret.
We stayed at the quaint Plockton Hotel, which was very nice, and basically relaxed and recharged our batteries in readiness for the next stage of our trip...................................Justin in the hotel's garden - what a view!
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Coming soon on the blog.......
The inside story on The Carlisles' trip to the UK!
What really happened at the bar behind the Balmacara Hotel, the night before the wedding?
Gary & Kathryn's wedding and the lowdown on Eilean Donan Castle!
The truth about the narrowboat trip, how many times did we really crash?!!
London! Four days in Soho! (or thereabouts!)
Whodunnit? Four go to see The Mousetrap by the one and only 'Queen of Crime', Agatha Christie!
Drinks at the Dog & Duck and chips in Ramsgate!
Princess Di's memorial and revisiting the movie scenes in Notting Hill!
Watch this space!!!
"Family lunch on the long weekend"
It was a family affair and we were joined by vaious of our 'children' throughout the meal!
his gorgeous wife! ok, ok....
Satchel & Tali join us
the gorgous Clyde pushing his luck!
our little gypsy trying not to look like she's after the food!
Having a drink at the Morse Bar in the Randolph Hotel, Oxford!
"Paris Hilton wannabees? Don't think so!!!"
Friday, August 24, 2007
Mum & Dad celebrate 50 years of marriage!
This entailed flying Gaz & Kathryn out from the UK to arrive in Zambia 5th May and spend four nights at our spot in Chingola first of all (for general orientation I think.....which mainly meant
orienting Gaz with a big bottle of whisky!)
Then Mum & Dad got to Livingstone on 8th May and we four joined them the next day where we visited Vic Falls and got drenched as usual!
We spent the first night at The Zambezi Sun and dined up at The Royal Livingstone before transferring to The Islands of Siankaba up river for three nights.
Anyone who's read my blog before will know how much we love Siankaba and it's still wonderful and we'll still always love to go back there! check it out at: http://www.siankaba.net/
Anyway, the idea at Siankaba is to basically become completely relaxed, be completely spoilt, eat loads of delicious food, drink lots of very healthy fruit juices.......hmm, well, ok I was kidding! more like........wine, beer, whisky, you name it..... and to enjoy the odd activity when you're in the mood, plus, of course, enjoy each other's company and conversation!
Our big extra treat from Mum & Dad was to go on the elephant ride which the four of us did early one morning and it was amazing and also humbling to be on these massive creatures who are so powerful yet so gentle and, sadly, with only one enemy.
We did the sundowner cruise on a couple of nights where the main activity was lifting your arm to sip your drink and craning your neck to look at the amazing sunset on the river - totally beautiful.
On the 11th, the actual anniversary, we had a special meal set up down at Mum & Dad's honeymoon suite deck!
Justin & I bade farewell to the 'Nokes' party on Sunday 13th May as they flew off home via Johannesburg and we then later caught a flight to Lusaka where we overnighted at the Taj Pamodzi before flying back to Chingola the next morning early.
We knew that the next time we'd see them all would be when we got to the UK in July for Gaz & Kathryn's wedding!
So, it was a lovely trip, short but sweet and very generous of our parents and we all really enjoyed it! Thanks Mum & Dad!
Gaz & Kathryn drinking it all in!
Gaz & Kathryn on their elephant beside the zambezi river
Justin giving Marula a treat to say thank you!
Linzi & Marula have a chat
the brothers-in-law after the elephant ride!
the 'soon to be sisters-in-law' tired after the early morning!
the happy golden couple welcome us back from their lovely honeymoon suite deck!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Gonna miss my babies......
I'm gonna miss my babies while we're in the UK...........
Sorry for the lack of recent postings....was about to update but am a bit out of time........
And secondlife is calling for a last play......!
If you haven't joined secondlife yet check it out http://secondlife.com/ you won't regret it!!!
See you soon, I'm off for a jol!!!
xxx
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Carlisles go on a 'rave'! (grown-up style!)
We decided to fly to South on the Friday evening, then we had four nights before flying back on the Tuesday - not bad!
We stayed at our old favourite, the Balalaika Hotel at Village Walk - http://balalaika.co.za/
(no upgrade to a suite this time as they were full)
This trip was JUST FOR FUN!!!! No doctors, no appointments, no shopping list, etc! What a difference it made! We just enjoyed ourselves, got up leisurely, enjoyed delicious breakfasts, visited the Rosebank fleamarket, shopped for pleasure, lunched, went out in the evenings and BASICALLY HAD A BALL!
We watched live music at the Blues Room (in Village Walk, so perfect access from the hotel) and had a great evening! http://bluesroom.co.za/
We found the most WONDERFUL restaurant EVER!!!
Doctors and birthday parties!
Actually it was mainly for doctors, which we crammed in back to back in order to utilise our time fully. ie. to allow time for some shopping!!!
We actually had a ball, we stayed at the Palazzo Hotel, Montecasino, at Fourways, for three nights and had the coolest room - beautiful large windows opening right up with a view of the 'old' clocktower and entrance to Montecasino, etc.
It was a great place to stay, nice room (except for the 'American' mini-bar), easy access with our own key, along a walkway to Montecasino where you can dine and shop at all hours undercover, even though it feels like you're outside!
We lunched there (at the hotel, on the terrace) with Rex & Prue too before moving on to Dekuilen Cottages where we treated Prue (& Rex!) to an overnight stay, including a luxury, private five course gourmet meal set up for the four of us in the private dining room.
This was in honour of Prue's 70th birthday! She had no idea where we were taking her for the night so it was a bit of fun!
We gave Prue her gifts and flowers and basically had a really nice time together.
Ann-Marie organised a splendid meal and did her utmost to look after us. Sadly Charles had been ill so things were not quite up to the standard they had been the last two times we had stayed there. The grounds are also smaller so unfortunately it does not have the same feel as before. Nonetheless all the stops were pulled out for Prue!
Justin & his Mom & Dad at the Palazzo.
the private dining room at Dekuilen!
The Palazzo Hotel, Montecasino is part of the Southern Sun group:
http://www.southernsun.com/SSH/VHB/25383cf8de46a010VgnVCM100000650114acRCRD/74/72