My Life's Winding Roads: Happy New Year all and welcome 2026.

My Life's Winding Roads: Happy New Year all and welcome 2026.:   Good morning friends and family all around the world. I hope you all had a very peace filled and blessed Christmas.  As I write this we ar...

Happy New Year all and welcome 2026.

 Good morning friends and family all around the world. I hope you all had a very peace filled and blessed Christmas.  As I write this we are on our way to the Bears for the day as well as dropping. BigGuy off with them for his last night in Cape Town.  What a joy it has been having him here with us and seeing him bonding with his little nephew (he is an absolute baby and dog magnet - they all naturally gravitate to him).  We have had a wonderful time with him visiting. He cooked so many meals, we went for coffees and breakfasts.  We also went through to Lourensford  Wine Farm on Friday evening for their night market, which was a first for JB. When he arrived he spent two days with the Bears and then the entire family met up last Sunday for brunch and Big Guy came home with us. Christmas day was spent in Hout Bay with the Bears and some family from MamaBear's family as well as friends who were not with family.  What a truly wonderful day, Soo much food, so many laughs, people got sunburnt 🥴 in the pool (not me 😉). It was the first time in many years that the whole family was all together on Christmas Day and I was so blessed and will treasure all the memories. Thank you everyone making it so special, my heart is full.n

Backing up a bit we did our makeover day, which took three days and oh my goodness it was chaotic. We all painted, and painted and painted.  Eventually on the Friday we paid our gardener, who is also a painter , to come in for the last coat on the walls.  It looks absolutely stunning and I could not be happier.  I also got my sheer curtains up on the deck. I will post a pic below. N

There was also a lot of heartbreak just before Christmas. Our precious little Dash has always hated our one neighbour and the feeling was very mutual.  He would bark whenever he saw them and they are in the garden all the time. They would react by spraying him with water and swearing at him. Naturally this only escalated the barking.  On the Friday before Christmas he was barking and as usual JB went out to stop him (we did this every time he barked, we never left him). This day the neighbour was spraying him with water and when she got outside, he looked her in the eyes and let forth a string of abuse and swearing.  This was so upsetting that she made the extremely difficult decision to surrender Dash back to the Dachshund Rescue we got him from,  the fear that the neighbour could be so violent and out of control , was what the next level he would resort to.  This has really caused so much heartache, he is truly the most lovable dog we have ever owned, he brought us so much joy.  His welfare is the most important and happily he is being fostered by his previous foster mom and she has another three daxies at the moment. She keeps us updated and gave him his Christmas presents and treats from us.  JB and   I still get very emotional about it and are working through the anger and sadness.  Even Charlie has been very low key since he went. We are praying that he finds the perfect home where he can run around outside without a care in the world. 

Weather wise, oh gosh it has been unbearably hot.  Most days with no wind at all. Today however the South Easter is blowing so hard that it is difficult to walk . I am already counting down to winter 🙏🏻.  The fans have not stopped lol, perhaps we will get to swim today if the wind is not blowing a gale in HB. 

This is usually the time that many people will be making. New Year Resolutions, what are your resolutions or the things you want to change  or accomplish in the New Year ?  As for me, I want to handle my work time better. Making time for myself and for my home. Ie. Baking more, cooking the kind of meals I enjoy as opposed to standing in front of the freezer at 5pm when I'm exhausted and trying to come up with a menu. More time for beach walks and my hobbies.  It is a tall order and one that I alone can control, so here goes. 

Feeling a little bit sad, having said goodbye to Big Guy for now, he flies out tomorrow morning. It was super special having you son, thank you for the laughs, all the meals and our special family hugs. 

Folks that is all from me for this year. I wish you only the best for 2026. May you make memories, try new things, step out of your comfort zones and take time for yourselves.  Please stay safe wherever you are and enjoy good health.  With love from a small seaside Village in the Cape.  Ciao ciao

2 of the 3 units we painted, before and after.

In this pic you can see the previously pink unit now Navy in the mirror 😉

The whole room then the deck with curtains.

We actually did it !!!!

I love our Christmas tree this year

l

My Life's Winding Roads: December and we made it.

My Life's Winding Roads: December and we made it.: Ooops and good morning everyone.  I am so sorry, I completely forgot it was Blog time. 🤦🏼‍♀️. It truly has been so busy that I have had a ...

December and we made it.

Ooops and good morning everyone.  I am so sorry, I completely forgot it was Blog time. 🤦🏼‍♀️. It truly has been so busy that I have had a hard time keeping days straight.  My apologies.  

Let me back up to November.  We were mostly home all month, can you believe it ?  Being home doesn't mean it was any quieter lol.  Home is busy. Work coming and going, I got a LOT of our mending and alterations done which was really good.  I also took "the leap" and emailed our biggest local hospital re my Ollie Octopuses.  I truly did not expecting any kind of response.  In the meantime I was chatting with an old school friend who shared how she worked with the Hospitals.  This is something that BigBear has been telling me to do for a long time, but I really didn't think I had a chance or any idea how to go about it.  Anyhoo ...I  drew up a flyer (yep all by myself) and then gave it over to the Designer and Marketer of the family, BigBear.  PS. He was quite impressed with what I had done.  He took a few minutes and transformed my flyer into beautiful and designed me a business card as well.  At the same time I received an email back from the hospital asking me to bring in one packaged Ollie and flyers and they will put the flyers into each goody bag they hand out in the pre-natal classes and every month one mommy-to-be gets a free gift. Ie. Ollie. Whoop whoop, I was so excited I could not stop shaking. So the race to get the flyers and biz cards printed has been on and I will collect tomorrow as well as deliver to the Hospital.  Who knew ??  I also worked on an idea and created a Rainbow Ollie especially for those extra special Rainbow Babies. (You can see it in the pic below)

JB and I spent last week in Hout Bay helping with our little Munchkin, it was so good to see him after almost a month away.  He is growing so quickly in every area and every day is an absolute delight.

Business is going well for Hubby and he finds clocks in the oddest places but is always busy.  Between that and his sailing his is on the go.

Princess received an award for Best Sustainable Design 2.  Well done my angel you are rocking this and we are so proud of you.  Big Guy is also doing really well in his new job and thoroughly enjoying it all.  THE best news is Princess and C fly down on Sunday and Big Guy flies down on the 19th. I am SO excited to see them all and can't wait for all the hugs, fun, laughter and cups of tea.

As for Christmas all our shopping is done and I still have 2 Christmas cakes to make. Today Hubby and I will move some of the furniture around in readiness for our makeover in 2 weeks.  He has been prepping the walls with damp patches, we've had our carprt cleaned (I am not putting it down until all is done and dusted )  I sewed all the deck curtains yesterday and just need to sew on the loops, today hopefully . When I've moved the furniture then our Christmas tree can go up. 🎄Tomorrow I collect the printing and drop it all off at the Hospital amongst a gazillion other things that need to be done in town.

Belatedly 😂 the weather has been unbearable. It has been so hot that I have really struggled. I find that when it gets this hot, with Fibro my body overheats and I keep having faint spells. As you can imagine this is most inconvenient grrr.  There has been no let up with the heat, last week in Cape Town and Hout Bay it was 37 c. Which is about 20 degrees too hot for me 😄.

Folks I'm going to close off with wishing each of you and your families a very Blessed Christmas. May it be joyful and may you make wonderful memories.  We are going to be an entire family all together, on Christmas Day, for the first time in many years.  Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this year and I am looking forward to a new year of achievements, happy times and peace. Please stays safe on the roads and wherever you are.  Ciao ciao.

The Ollie Range 

My new Flyer

My Life's Winding Roads: November is upon us, what happened to October.

My Life's Winding Roads: November is upon us, what happened to October.:   Good morning world, I trust everyone is well and pushing hard to get through these last few months of the year.  This year has gone by so ...

November is upon us, what happened to October.

 Good morning world, I trust everyone is well and pushing hard to get through these last few months of the year.  This year has gone by so very fast that it still feels like June and I actually feel a bit panicked at how close Christmas is. Eeek, I am definitely going to have to up my game here.

October, like every other month was a blur. Sitting here I  am actually trying to remember what actually happened.  On the home front sewing work was steady and manageable, a few new skills I learnt which is always a good thing and just expands what I can take in.   I have a couple of new ideas for Hooked_in_Luv which I want to start on this week. I made a couple of Sunglasses pouches which myself and a couple of the girls are trying out.  They seem to be working well and I am thinking of adding them as a special "for Mom" item on the site. See pic at the end.  

We went through to Hout Bay to babysit little Munchkin for the weekend, Hubby had a sailing weekend away and we got the dogs in with a dog sitter in Gordon's Bay.  Dash had a whale of a time but, Charlie I don't think enjoyed himself as much. He came home with a raging ear infection and would not let me touch it. He gets them quite often and normally allows me to put in the meds.  Not this time - Mr Snappy would be a mild title. So off to the vet and when he saw the bared teeth he took my word and explanation for it. Cortisone, antibiotic and ongoing stronger alllergy meds (and a large amount of money later) we were able to clear it up.  He has been on allergy meds almost since I got him and apparently it is quite a normal thing down here with the fynbos and the humidity. Dr has put him onto much stronger meds and they do appear to be working, so here is praying and believing . 🙏🏻

Hubby's sailing went well and his ongoing clock repair business is thriving. Our garage is fill to overflowing with tick tocking clocks of all sizes, shapes and ages.

The family are well, everyone is tired and trying hard to keep heads above water to the end of the year. Exams, projects, sales, new deals, standing in for other people, etc.  our Grandson in the UK managed to break his arm playing soccer, thank goodness it is his right arm.  Get better big boy. It is quite crazy actually how the pace of life just seems to get faster and longer every year.  Where does normality kick in ? The best news is that Big Guy will be with us for 10 days over Christmas and for the first time in a long time the whole family will be together on Christmas Day, my heart's desire filled. ❤️

I have been struggling (it's part of a fibro thing) with sensory and visual overload.  I look at the house and see everything as a jumble with no cohesion or order. Hmmm its new for me.  We had Poppet around for lunch a week ago and were talking about it.  She looked around and the ideas started flowing, my head was spinning.  But, I am Soo excited. We are going to set aside a weekend at the beginning of Dec when Princess and Sunshine get here and are going to move stuff around, paint my three antique pieces of furniture a statement colour, paint the walls and generally take things up a level. Small things which will make a huge, huge  visual difference.   I have also bought a fairly lightweight sheer curtain fabric for the deck ( it is polyester so will not attract mildew)  BUT I forgot to allow for seams at the top in the measurements. 🤦🏼‍♀️. After weeks of racking my brains we collectively came up with a solution. I love the boho look (still find memories of  the '70's)j so, I am going to put a white crochet type lace/braid on the top and crochet white tabs instead of rings or hooks. Lots of crochet tabs/straps in my  immediate future LOL.  

This past week MamaBear had to be in Jhb for Business and JB and I came through to Help BigBear with Munchkin.  Wow, 14 months and he is so strong and a true busy bee. Just in this last week he has learnt to open the heavy glass sliding door onto the deck.  Thank you Grandpa for the security of the gates.  Then this morning he reached up and pulled the cord which switches on the extractor fan and light in the guest bedroom.  We have developed eyes in the back or our heads haha.  Last Wednesday though (clearly not using all my eyes) I was walking across the room with my cereal bowl and tripped over a mat that had been folded double. Well, not a pretty sight, it happened so quickly but felt like slow motion. I tripped and kept trying to stay upright and not drop anything, until the glass door and wall and book shelf stopped me, head first. I then tried to turn around, still holding onto bowl, phone and glasses and ended up on the mat. Hmmm one of the worst falls I've had in a long time.  I was actually fine - stunned for a few minutes, didn't break anything, have an egg bump on my head, two bruised knuckles 🤷🏼‍♀️, some aches and pains and then last night saw an enormous black bruise on my hip. Humpff. I find I am very aware / nervous walking at the moment, checking the floor constantly.

Apart from that folks it was just a month like any other 🤣🤣🤣. Yesterday BigBear took us for a quick brunch before nap time and then we relaxed for the rest of the day. Tomorrow JB and I head east back home. Please take extra care on the roads and of yourselves and be safe.  Much love from me in my little Village by the sea. Ciao Ciao

Off for a walk with Daddy.

Soft Sunglasses Case

My Life's Winding Roads: October is underway.

My Life's Winding Roads: October is underway.: Greeting folks and apologies for the late post. For the first time decades I have a very heavy head cold with all its associated delights, i...