BOM Challenge #8 My Family and #9 Fashion

It is a lovely misty morning here in Pinetown, South Africa and Summer is certainly arriving. When I wake up at 5h30, before my alarm at 6h00, then I know that Summer is on its way!! So, that means that I have already taken the dogs out to do their business, fed them, done a load of washing, took the photos of my layouts and sent them to Tracy and now am updating my blog (while I suppose quite a few of you are still sleeping!! he he).


On Friday evening I finished my Family layout and here it is:

The journalling reads as follows:

Ok, so you want to know all about my family. Let me tell you about my side…….
My parents are Lu and Laura.
I am the eldest of 4 children and am married to Dereck. We have two children, Leanne (currently living and working in England) and Grant.
I have a brother, Malcolm who is 17 months younger than me. He is married to Carol and they have two children Byron and Cassandra.
I have a sister, Liesel who is not married and she is 5 years younger than me.
I have another brother, Warren who is 7 years younger than me. He is married to Debbie and they have two children, Luke and Rebekah.
My mom’s parents were known to us as Granny and Grandpa Farquharson and they were always very fair in what all of us grandchildren got. I certainly enjoyed spending week-ends with them at their house in Westbrook (near Tongaat) and a favourite treat there was having Melrose cheese wedges on toast and jelly everyday for pudding at lunch time. My Gran was a wonderful person so full of life, considering that she was crippled in a wheelchair with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She never complained of how much pain she was in and sadly passed away at the age of 83. My one good deed was giving them the pleasure of a great grandchild – Leanne. I was pregnant with Grant when my Gran died. My Grandpa was a very patient and perfect gentleman who always had such wonderful stories to tell us. He died at the age of 88.
My dad’s parents were known as Granny and Grandpa Engler and lived in East London. My Grandpa died while I was quite young, so don’t remember too much about him except that he used to have a pet crow called “Joe”. I always remember my Gran as someone who baked delicious biscuits, who crotched all the time and made lovely blankets for each of my children when they were borne and whenever we were around her, all we heard was the clinking of her 3 wide gold bracelets that she always wore. She also always had her hair under a hair net. When she passed away, each of the 3 girls on the Engler side of the family received one of these bangles. She passed away a few months short of her birthday when she would have turned 99!

Now, for Dereck’s side of the family…...
Dereck’s mom’s name was Francis but was referred to by all of us as “Papi”. A name she got from when Janine was small and she always used to call her “Poppet”. Sadly she passed away in July 2008 having suffered with Cancer. His dad’s name was John and he passed away tragically in a car accident in 1972. Dereck is the eldest of 4 children.
He has a sister, Lesley who is about 2 years younger than him. She is married to Alex and they have two children, Janine (who lives and works in England) and Nicholas. Lesley, Alex and Nicholas used to live in Holland and have recently come back to South Africa.
The next sister is Jennifer who is about 7 years younger than Dereck and she has recently got divorced from her husband Greg. They have two children, Samantha and Kirsten.
The youngest sister is Joanne and she is about 18 years younger than Dereck. Dereck’s mom was pregnant with Joanne when his dad was killed, so sadly she has never known her dad. She is married to Brendon and they have two children Kerin and Ryan.
Dereck’s Gran on his mom’s side was known as “Ouma”. She lived in Parys so we never saw her too often. But when she did visit, she used to make the most divine ginger pudding and then “Papi” used to make it and it is a definite Ramsay family favourite. As the family grew, we needed to have two of these puddings at any function as everyone liked it!!

I get on with all my family and especially enjoy our family get togethers as we always have so much fun – taking the mickey out of each other and generally just having a good laugh. Warren and I seem to have a similar sense of humour! Each family member in their own way is very special to me. I numbered all the pictures in order to indicate who they were:

1. Janine
2. Lu
3. Laura
4. Debbie
5. Nicholas
6. Papi
7. Joanne
8. Kirsten
9. Samantha
10. Luke
11. Byron
12. Cassandra
13. Rebekah
14. Carol
15. Leanne
16. Grandpa F
17. Ouma
18. Granny F
19. Malcolm
20. Warren
21. Dereck
22. Ryan
23. Lesley
24. Brendon
25. Kerin
26. Jennifer
27. Greg
28 Grandpa E
29. Alex
30. Granny E
31. Grant
32. Liesel

The next layout for the BOM Challenge #9 was to do with our fashion sense through the years. I managed to finish this layout yesterday - it helps when you have a husband who watches the Grand Prix and who was in so much pain from his gym session that he couldn't walk around too much, so we didn't need to go anywhere!!!! Here is my layout:

And the journalling reads as follows:

I am not a fashion conscious person. I like practicle clothes that can be mixed and matched and that will last. I like bright vibrant colours. For work I like to wear skirts and loose fitting shirts. For casual wear I enjoy jeans, shorts or ¾ pants with t/.shirts or loose shirts. I don’t often wear dresses. If I am at a shopping mall and I see something I like, I buy it as chances are that when I am looking for something I won’t find it. I have a few necklaces that I wear but I am not big on accessories. I have a couple of pairs of black and white shoes as this is the most common colour I wear to work. I do buy others that will match clothes that I already have. This saves on wearing the same shoes all the time. When I was younger I enjoyed long hair. Since I started walking and now doing gym, I find that that short hair suits me better as I wash it every day. I have had perms over the years but prefer it natural now. I have my hair highlighted – originally for a bit of colour but nowt it is to start hiding the grey!! I am not a big make-up person. I always wear lipstick and if I am going out I will add mascara and blush. My favourite perfume is CHANEL No. 5 and RED DOOR. My taste hasn’t changed – I am still a conservative and practicle dresser. The style of my glasses …… well at the time they were fashionable so I hope in 20 years time I won’t be laughed at!!!

Thanks for looking.

BOM Challenger up to date signing off ....