The reason i decided to write a combined letter is because both of you tagged me for the same meme…and since we all know that I’m not the most enthusiastic meme participant, and also it would be quite ridiculous to do the same meme twice, I’ve decided to write one letter and just address it to both of you:)

As far as I understand, the meme works like this:
– Link back to the original meme (that would be this post) and the meme inspirer (that would be
EXMI)
– Link to the person who tagged you (Caz) and (Tamara) the other person who tagged you
– Give (at least) 5 reasons why you love SA
– Tag at least 5 peeps
– Let me know when you’ve done it!

1. I love the way my countryman react to a crisis. I swear, Saffers are the only people in the
world who, when faced with a crisis, find their strength in humor. Every time when things
go really pear shaped in our country the sms and e-mail jokes start flying around on the
subject of the crisis, putting everyone into a slightly better mood and ensuring that we’re all
geared to deal with the consequences of whatever we’re facing.

2. I love the fact that we don’t only have 11 official languages, but we have a 12th, very much
unofficial language – Souf Efricun. Containing a mish mash of words from all of the languages
spoken in our beautiful country…..word that just don’t quite mean the same thing when you
try saying it in a different language: braai, eish, akhona, voertsek, gatvol, lekker

3. I love the fact that there is still so much unspoilt beauty. Mountain ranges, bosveld, desert,
vlaktes, rivers and forests. I honestly believe that we have one of the most beautiful
countries in the world….certainly the most diverse when it comes to nature.

4. I love the fact that we have a country rich in culture and history. All the quaint little towns
you can visit while touring through the country, exploring museums and famous battle fields
Little towns like, Kakamas, Pelgrimsrus, Pofadder, Paternoster and many many many more
There is so much to see and do if you only take the time to look for it.

5. I love the fact that we’re the only country in the world with a National Braai day label stuck
to it:) Sure, the official name of tomorrow’s public holiday is Heritage day, and my my do we
have a rich heritage, but tomorrow is also National Braai day, now where else would you have
something like that??

Well you two……I have to admit that i have a much longer list, but i simply don’t have the time to list them all. I’m off to visit the parentals for a couple of days….yes, I will not be working again until next week Monday, but after the 3 months I’ve had I think I deserve two days off;) So if you don’t hear from me until next week, don’t be too upset:)

Love

Ruby

P.S. Tamara…….that’s like your third letter!!! i swear, you just keep tagging me cause you want a whole lot of letters addressed to you don’t you??? (grappie julle)

P.P.S. I usually don’t tag anyone, because I hate doing meme’s so much myself, but since this one is quite good I’ll be tagging AK , yes i realise you’ve already been tagged, Glug not sure if you’ve been tagged, and Blondie.

yes yes yes, I know that it’s taken me long enough to write this letter, but my life has been pretty hectic, so I’m trying my best to catch up on all the stuff i should have done ages ago.

So, according to your post I have to
1. post at least 5 of my current addictions with some detail
2. Mention the person who started this game….well, that could only be you(being brazen), and
the person who tagged me, which is also you, hence the letter being addressed to you:)
3. Label the post: Current addictions
4. Tag at least 2 people

Unfortunately, i don’t think I’m going to comply with numbers 3 and 4. 3, for the obvious reason that none of my posts have labels, they all start with “Dear ……..” and 4, simply because I’m not fond of being tagged, i won’t tag anybody else.

OK, so here goes nothing!

1. Lacoste Touch of PinkThis is just the most divine fragrance ever, ever ever!!! I’ve been addicted to it since the first time I smelt it……4 years ago, and was immensely pleased with myself when my housemate at the time remembered this and convinced all the housemates to buy me some for my birthday:)

2. Black XS
So this is my number 2 fragrance, and I’m pretty much addicted to this one also…he he:) I like to smell nice….OK?

3. Green tea

I have a deep rooted love for all kinds of tea, but green tea remains one of my favourites

4. Motorbikes
To my father’s absolute horror I have been fascinated by Motorbikes as long as I can remember. Speed bikes, Harley’s, tour bikes, you name it…i love them all! The one in the picture is one I am particularly fond of, the Ducati 996……………..*sigh*

5. Researching and talking about my upcoming boat cruise
Yep, I’m going on a boat cruise in December…..jealous yet? I’ve been a little pre-occupied with talking about it and of course, shedding the winter weight……i have to, have to, have to, have to look super duper hot in a teeny tiny bikini……….not that i don’t at the moment, but a little weight loss never hurt anyone;)

So my dear, i hope you enjoyed this little piece of information?

Hugs and Kisses

Ruby

yes yes yes, I realise that it is already Wednesday and that you, Angel and Glug have already posted about Sunday, but things have been a bit hectic this week. So today i finally found a couple of minutes to do my part.

To start off with I’d like to thank you for inviting us to the combined birthday picnic. I had a lot of fun. AK and I started off our adventure by driving around the Linden/Emerentia area for quite some time before I finally realised that I knew exactly where the place was and that I’ve driven past it a thousand times before….but you have to forgive me for this as I’m not from Joburg🙂 We then proceeded to drive around the emerentia dam…..twice, before we decided which entrance to take. This was due to a number of reasons, one of which was the fact that I was trying my best to convince AK that your e-mail definitely said Emerentia Dam Botanical Gardens.

By the time we got inside, AK was dying for a smoke, as she’s not allowed to smoke in my car…..so we sat down in the Tranquility garden where she had her smoke and I got to spend some much needed time on my phone. At 1 o’clock I texted you to find out where you guys were, but you hadn’t yet arrived, so we sat around a while longer. When you finally did arrive, you sent me a message explaining where you were, but since neither of us really knew the Gardens, we spent quite some time strolling around trying our best to take a good look at the people around us, convinced that we’ll be able to find you guys by looking for Angel’s hair:)

In the end you phoned me and explained exactly where you were. And then it was time for the big meet. The picnic was fabulous, the friends i did get to meet were very interesting, meeting Angel and Glug in person was awesome and of course meeting you and the hubby was a pleasure. Angel and Glugs were of course accompanied by Angel’s knucklehead, Damien. What a delightful teenager. Yes, and I realised that I used delightful and teenager in the same sentence, but as 17 year olds go, he was quite remarkable. And I know that this has been mentioned before, but I have to mention it again, I loved the Hah! game, mostly because I was one of the winners, but also because it was fun…he he:)

It was a pity you couldn’t join us at Cool Runnings, where we had the pleasure of a very brief meeting with Exmi before she had to rush off to fetch the kidlet. We ended up staying at Cool Runnings for a bite to eat and some divine cocktails.

I had an amazing day and I look forward to spending some more time with you guys. I’m so glad that you and the hubby enjoyed your joint gift:) So how did you like the little button??? and what did hubby have to say about that??

Have a fab week sweety pie!

Love

Ruby

P.S. That’s your second letter you lucky cow! tee hee hee🙂

Ok, so you did this food meme a while back on your blog a while ago…..and it sort of got stuck in my mind because i’ve eaten a number of really odd things in my life. So friendster, even though you were kind enough not to tag me, because i hate memes, I will do it anyway…..hurray hurray another meme done via a letter:)

Now, if I understood the instructions correctly I’m supposed to
1. Bold the ones I’ve had
2. Strike through the ones that would make my great-grand kids gag from the after taste.
3. Italicise potential delicacies….stuff that would go down with a double shot of tequila.

Unfortunately we have a slight problem. After bugging you on msn to find out how on earth I’m supposed to strike through stuff on blogger, and finding out that you cheated when you did the post to begin with, i decided to change the rules ever so slightly. So, the Ruby instructions are as follows:
1. Bold the ones I’ve had
2. Italicise the ones that would make my great-grand kids gag from the after taste
3. Everything else will go down well with a double shot of tequila…..even the italicised ones..ha!

Ok friendster, here goes nothing……….

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros – fried eggs on corn chips, served with salsa…sounds like a
breakfast nacho – erm OK, officialy I’ve never ordered this, but i suspect I might have eaten
something like it
4. Steak tartare – raw mince meat….blegh
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding – sausage made from blood
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht – beet soup with beef….could work
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho – Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup
13. PB & J sarmie
14. Aloo gobi – potato and cauliflower curry type thingy
15. Hot dog from street cart – NYC here I come!
16. Epoisses – French cheese
17. Black truffle – black, underground mushroom
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns – Thai Pork Dumplings, basically
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes – Not that i’m aware of
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans – anyone ever have jumping jack???
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas – if my great grandchildren are anything like me they won’t only gag…..
they’ll die!!!!!
32. Clam chowder in sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi – it’s like salty Yogi-Sip
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea – I’m gagging!!
38. Vodka jelly – for the afrikaans people – wie kom saam my robotjie speel?????
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects – Mopani worms
43. Phaal – it’s just curry
44. Goat’s milk in cheese form – feta, haloumi
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more – thanx to all my clients
and my boss!
46. Fugu – Japanese pufferfish
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel – sushiiiii
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut – i think i’ve hadthis
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi – pickled Japanese ume fruit
53. Abalone
54. Paneer – Persian cheese
55. McDonald’s Bic Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle – German egg noodle or dumpling
57. Dirty Gin Martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine – chips with cheese and gravy
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin – it’s a rock???
64. Currywurst
65. Durian – that smelly fruit from Thailand
66. Frog’s legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – some type of doughnut
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain – some sort of fruit from the Caribbean
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette – pig’s intestines
71. Gazpacho
72 Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost – Norwegian cheese
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum – thai soup
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky – chocolate on a stick
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85.Kobe beef – from a special cow…..right??
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa – it’s a spice with rose petals in
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano – Mexican chilli chocolate sauce
96. Bagel and lox – bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake – should tast like crocodile

Gosh, I’ve eaten quite a lot of this stuff…..scary! Well my friend, this should keep you busy for a while:) Have a fab weekend!!!!

Love

Ruby

Sweets recently posted about party favourites. I realise that this is probably going to sound ever so slightly insane. But i’ve only recently discovered that something i am able to do is quite rare and very….well, weird.

Yes, my palm is pointing downward.

So tell me…..is this weird? Can you do it to?

Regards

Ruby

xxxxx