Same great stuff just a new location. Please click here to be redirected to our new Marakye blog site
http://www.marakye.com.au/blog
I am still working on the appearance so apologies for the boring background!
Happy Easter March 21, 2008
Wishing you and your family a Safe & Happy Easter Break and a relaxing long weekend!
Hippo & the Tortoise March 19, 2008
This is a bit of a different post for my blog but I just received the most beautiful email that I wanted to share with you.
“ Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed” - Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
NAIROBI ( AFP ) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
“It is incredible.. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP
“After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added. “The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
This is a real story that shows that our differences don’t matter much when we need the comfort of another.
We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God,
“Look beyond the differences and find away to walk the path together.”
Bead & Gem Show March 16, 2008
I am really dissapointed to say that the Bead and Gem show for 2008 has been cancelled in Perth due to a lack of support. Having made the HUGE decision to start making a lot more of my jewellery range and offer one off original pieces I was extremely excited about the upcoming event that was due to kick off the nation wide shows in early April.
I am sure I am not the only dissapointed WA jewellery maker….
If you are in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane you can find out more about the Shows at
and I would love some feedback if you get along to any of the shows.
Margaret River ~ Laurance Winery February 26, 2008
Well I had an absolutely wonderful weekend away with a friend (no kids) to Margaret River and we visited some amazing wineries on our travels. I thought that one of them deserved a special mention as it went down as my favourite for the weekend.
Renowned for 2 things – strangely enough the first is their toilets – OMG!!! Amazing… and the Lady over the lake or as I have seen it referred to online “The chic on the stick” – I think I prefer the Lady over the lake myself! Apparently it was build without planning approval and caused quite a stir as it is not classed to be in the style of the winery region but they managed to get away with it and I am sure have appreciated the media attention that it created.
OK so I am not in the habit of taking snap shots of toilets but I did think that this one was worth it. This is the baby change room and the other toilets are equally impressive. This is in pic of one cubicle. Each one has its own wooden bench and basin, one of the carved mirrors as shown and an array of original artworks… Rightfully so they are probably the most talked about toilets in the region!
Needless to say the winery is divine. The grounds are immaculate, the food was great, the wine was even better and although we went without the kids it has an awesome children’s playground as well.
Wine tasting is done at your table with your purchased wine plate. We went for the larger one and split it between us (I had to drive) and tasted 6 of their wines including the Rose’, Chardonnay and the white. I purchased their Rose’ and another special gift (can’t tell you what because she is probably going to read this before I give it to her!) but their gift range was excellent. They had a whole range of beautifully packaged wines in carry bags, with all the tools, bathrobes, beach towels you name it and they looked great. Their wine bottles are an amazing shape and I had to buy at least 1 bottle so I can keep one!
The grounds provide a lot to talk about from the Garden of Eden with its apple tree as you drive in to the above mentioned gold statue over the lake in her Titanic pose along to their amazing rose bushes with an eye-catching bird bath – a tribute to Steve Irwin.
Garden of Eden with the Lady over the Lake in the Background 
Steve Irwin Tribute Bird BathFor a good look at the famous “Lady” have a look at the Laurance Wines web site
All in all it was an A+ from me and we have bookmarked it as a definite place to visit with the kids.
Welcome to The Jungle Bar January 31, 2008
Well I had considered calling this category the coffee lounge but in reality I can not stand coffee and the smell of it just does not give me that warm fuzzy feeling that it does to so many…. So where can we sit around and openly chat about the world & irrelevant topics?
The Jungle Bar of course!
I do love to drag the old heels and a gorgeous new dress from the closet, shake the cobwebs from the hair dryer and splash on some ferfume and make up for a great night on the town…. I do live a good party!
So kick back, relax and speak freely in The Jungle Bar!
And the best part is we are always open…..
