My Life's Winding Roads: Bye Bye September and Hello October

My Life's Winding Roads: Bye Bye September and Hello October: Hi folks, friends and family from a super windy Village in the Western Cape.  Wow the wind has not stopped for days, maybe even weeks.  Yest...

Bye Bye September and Hello October

Hi folks, friends and family from a super windy Village in the Western Cape.  Wow the wind has not stopped for days, maybe even weeks.  Yesterday a new client picked up their mending and asked me "does the wind always blow here?"  I tried to answer honestly and after thinking for a minute or so, said "honestly, yes it does".  Today when I came home to find my garden chairs lying next to the garage, which is quite normal when the South Easter is blowing.  At least the sun is shining, the wind cools things down, a lot.

Well, September can happily come to an end now and I will not be sorry to say goodbye.  What a month it has been.  It is also the Anniversary month of my late husband's passing which never gets easier.  Busy as usual which is good with all my projects or works in progress now completed.  My chunky blanket is finished and every bit as nice as I hoped it would be. It is like being held in a marshmallow.  In total it took me under four hours of actual work and seeing as it was a first for me I am super happy with the time and the end result.  The chunky zip up cardigan I was making for a client is also finished and he fetched it on Saturday.  Whew it fitted, which was the scary part and he left wearing it. What did amaze me was that it only took just over six balls of 100 gm wool - I used Elle Karoo Tweed Chunky.  There was so much wool left over because they purchased 16 balls.  I don't remember ever knitting a smart, zip up, fold over collar cardigan with only six balls of wool.  Big yaaay, as well as the fact that my pattern was worked out for me by the AI that I have used for crochet patterns, with one or two adjustments by myself and the collar from a completely different pattern.  The end result was exactly what he wanted and I envisioned.  With all my projects finished I could turn my hands to my own blanket which I've been planning for months.  I bought the wool as soon as I saw it, but my personality being what it is, I can't start something like that while I have outstanding / unfinished projects waiting.  My blanket is the same Elle Karoo Tweed in a dusky pink with the flecks in it.  I am purposely knitting on bigger needles than suggested for the wool because I am going for a particular feel and drape. It must be soft and loose, wrap around and still be airy.  The finished blanket / throw should be fairly big as I am going to knit until I run out of wool.  Watch this space going forward 😉.  Mending keeps coming in and keeps me busy which is all I can ask for, I feel truly blessed.

The family are all well although it was a trying month for some.  BigBear had a surgery near his collar bone which was successful, a bigger cut that we expected but very neat.  Naturally this restricted his movement a lot and our little prince didn't understand why Daddy couldn't pick him up and rough house with him, they adapted and did very well.  I think it will probably niggle him for quite awhile during the internal healing process. Munchkin a.k.a. Little Prince is an absolute delight, Jelly Bean and I spent a few days there earlier in the month and as he is learning to string sentences together it very often ends up with the adults in hysterics.  Mom and Dad took a video of him pulling at his shorts, he kept saying he wanted his knees closed.  Well, no one actually knew what that meant and it took some minutes of guessing (he was also in the process of toilet training).  It turns out he wanted to wear long pants and not shorts = close his knees.  😂   Princess is coming to the end of her Uni studies and is working on the last projects they have been given, well done my angel, I am so proud of you and can't wait to have you back home.  Hubby has been in hospital for a week after a roller coaster few days to get to a diagnosis.  He has upgraded our solar system and inverter, doing a marvelous job but, two Sundays ago he and our gardener lifted the three huge solar panels up onto the roof.  We all said he should get someone, more people to help him but he did not.  Sunday night he said his shoulder blades were sore and I gave him some muscle relaxants. Monday no better and then on Tuesday morning he woke me up really early in agony. He was convinced it was a kidney stone. I rushed him to our 24 hour Medical Clinic and after doing a sonar and two morphine injections, which did nothing, they sent us to Somerset West to the Hospital.  He was admitted to the ER immediately and they gave him a very strong pain killer three times, these didn't even touch the pain, sent him for a more thorough Sonar and could find nothing.  So after an entire day in ER we were sent up to the ward where he was given a bed and they planned to run more tests.  These included Xrays which showed a collapsed disc high up in his back (which we already know is not good).  There were no kidney stones and also no definitive reason for the levels of pain.  Eventually on Wednesday a Specialist was consulted and ordered an MRI (up until then he had still been under the ER doctors care)  The results of the MRI showed a serious infection around the damaged disc, in his spine.  Thus began a series of blood tests to isolate the infection in order to treat it properly. A second Specialist was called in for this and the infection was identified. No one is sure how he picked it up, when he got it or any explanation other than it is water borne.  Now they know what they are dealing with and are hammering it with antibiotics and the pain killers, the pain is almost gone. Today was the first time I have had a semi lucid conversation with him and if the infection count continues to come down adequately he may be discharged around Thursday, with oral antibiotics.  What a ride for him although I think much of it is a blur due to the drugs and it has really worrying for us.  We are praying for a full and complete recovery with no lasting side effects.

And that folks is why I am more than happy to see the end of September and start a bright, shiny new month.  After all that I am now more than ready for a cup of coffee and to get back to my knitting.  Our four Villages have no electricity due to maintenance and JB and I are more than grateful for our upgraded inverter, it is doing a marvelous job.  I am going to sign off for this month and wish each one of you a wonderful week. May October be kind to us all. Stay safe and well Ciao Ciao.    

Big, soft chunky blanket.

Client's Jersey

My blanket wool waiting in the queue 

My Life's Winding Roads: Family Birthday Month Done and Dusted.

My Life's Winding Roads: Family Birthday Month Done and Dusted.:   Good morning family and friends from a sunny, quiet little Village by the sea in South Africa.  With all the reports of El Nino the weathe...

Family Birthday Month Done and Dusted.

 Good morning family and friends from a sunny, quiet little Village by the sea in South Africa.  With all the reports of El Nino the weather seems to be all upside down here in the Cape.  Today the air is still but cold, the sea is flat and the sun is shining.  We are swinging between really hot days and then snow up country days later, looking out of the window to gauge what to wear is just not working at the moment.  Normally we would be heading into the lovely mild days of Spring but seem to be stuck between complete opposites.  To say that I am not looking forward to summer would be the understatement of the year.

What a month we have just had, WOW.  This year truly seems to have been busier and gone much faster than normal.  As a family we started off the month with our precious little Munchkin's 2nd Birthday, yep already, can you believe it?  Mom and Dad had a super little party for him with his little buddies and friends, then on his birthday he had a little party at Playschool.  He truly brings so much life and laughter into our lives and is a continual source of joy.  He is such a gentle, appreciative little boy with a personality that absolutely sparkles.  Every present was met with delight and wonder and some unique responses.  When opening a gift we gave him all he could say was "Oh my soul", "Oh my Soul".  We have the video to prove it and none of us realised how often we say that, heart melting moments I tell you.

Life on our home front was equally busy with work coming in, in a steady stream.  I am still amazed that a chance remark by Poppet after I did an alteration for her three years ago, led to me starting a business and even more that it is still going and doing well.  Sometimes it feels as if I can't keep up, but for the most part it is steady and at a pace that I can keep up with.  God has shown His faithfulness to me in just this alone that I stand in awe.  If anyone had told me I would do sewing, mending and alterations for a living I would have laughed them away.  Special thanks must go to Big Guy for all the ripped rugby shorts and shirts that he produced during his career, that by necessity needed mending and fixing.  Also to his brother and sisters for their ongoing contributions to the mending piles over the years, who knew guys?  The knitting and crocheting seem to have quieted down somewhat ( also seasonal I guess).  I am still busy with my Big chunky blanket which I have purposely drawn out, just because it is such fun to do, I also had to wait for extra wool to be delivered.  Yesterday I started knitting a Chunky zip up Cardigan as an order for a client, this is a first for me so holding thumbs that it all works out and fits properly.  I have noticed though, a strange thing, one cannot just go into a store and buy a knitting pattern anymore, no one sells them. 

Princess is doing well and busy with her last push before finishing Uni in November.  She has done so well and is looking forward to moving back to the Cape and putting all her knowledge into action.  BigBear took part in a huge sporting even during the  middle of the month, Hyrox Cape Town, and finished with his partner in  1:26:35. Well done guys for an outstanding achievement.   Wednesday was MamaBear's Birthday and today is BigBear's birthday,  Happy Birthday to both you you.  I pray God continues to bless you both in every area for many years still to come.   . Most of the family have been down with this year's version of flu, some more than once.  Currently Jelly Bean, Poppet and Myself are trying to shake it off, it is a nasty one for sure.  I haven't had flu in years, but this is the second bout this year and I am not impressed.  When I saw the Dr last Wednesday he said that they have seen more people with this flu than they saw patients during CoVid.

Last weekend was my 70th Birthday and the whole family came together for the weekend, except for my little Princess.  BigGuy flew down and we all spent a wonderful weekend with the Bears in Hout Bay.  MamaBear had organised everything to a T, thank you precious for all the planning and preparation and thank you family for showing up and all you did, for all the spoils and love and just being present.  At one point on Saturday night during the Rugby match we were watching, I was sitting slightly apart from the group and looked at all of the people I love most in the world (minus Princess), and I just thanked God for the privilege of being here to see my family all together, shouting at the TV just the way they did when they still lived at home, interacting with each other and just being .. FAMILY.  It was a moment that touched me deeply as a privilege and honour to be here and share this time with them.  I love you guys and being your Mom and Granny / AmAm is the greatest honour I have been given and what I dreamt of as a child growing up.

Hubby is inundated with clocks at the moment, with some very special and even rare clocks that are in for repair and or service.  I can't keep track of what comes in and what goes out and, again, it is all thanks to the Lord because it is all word of mouth and his clients come from the other side of Cape Town to bring their clocks (or, more normally he collects the clocks) .  After a couple of extended power failures recently here he has decided to upgrade our Inverter and Solar system.  To that end he is busy gathering the needed upgrades and preparing to install it all.  There are a lot of people upgrading their systems and so some of what we need he has been able to buy from people he knows, which is a huge help cost wise.  Our current Inverter is small and just enough to charge phones and keep the fridge running, when we have sun.  We had a period not long ago when we were without power for  close to eleven days and most of those were wet and cold. The Electrical and Plumbing infrastructure in our three Villages is old and was not designed to carry the load that the influx of people has caused.  also the weather plays a big part, poles get blown over and then Substations blow up and we then sit in darkness, so, every step individuals can take to get off the grid is important all round.

Well folks, I think I have rambled on long enough and brought you all up to date, more or less, on what is going on in my life.  As we bring August to a close and start the last quarter of 2026 I pray that it will be a kind season for us all, a healthy season and a peaceful  journey to the end of the year.  Stay well and stay safe wherever you are.  Ciao Ciao.

2nd Birthday Party treats.

Hout Bay.

My Life's Winding Roads: This year has flown July is history.

My Life's Winding Roads: This year has flown July is history.:   Good morning all, I trust that this finds everyone well and carrying on with life.  I know that there are speed bumps in all of our lives ...

This year has flown July is history.

 Good morning all, I trust that this finds everyone well and carrying on with life.  I know that there are speed bumps in all of our lives and sometimes negotiating them takes a lot of fortitude, strength and wisdom.  What I try and remember everytime I hit one is that so far I have overcome every single one, some more successfully than others, but, I am still here to tell the story.  I'm not sure how I got onto this subject but for those who need it, chin up, prayer line busy, and keep going. 🙏🏻

It feels very odd that we are in August and that July just seemed to evaporate.  It was busy as usual but a different kind of busy.  I may have mentioned that there is a Wool Shop who is now stocking my Octopuses, and crochet toys.  They also requested some Beanies which I delivered. Some sold and now there is an order for more.  Eeek. I have been knitting beanies that I almost know the pattern out of my head.  There was one that totally messed with my brain. I tried crocheting it thinking it would be quicker, it wasnt. So I frogged it and started again trying a different pattern.  Oh my goodness, truly Sharon just stick with what works.  I think I frogged (unwound) that one beanie about 5 times. It is now finished, there is another one which I should get finished today and I will try and squeeze in a third one. I have to deliver on Tuesday.  This has lead to some expansions on my original range of just baby toys.  I am also trying to finish a blanket that will become part of the Hooked_in_Luv range.

In between the crazy knitting I still have mending work coming is.  Some are really straightforward and some are mind benders of note. See pic at the bottom.  I can't explain why I find mending fulfilling, but I do and for the most part really enjoy it.

JB and I went through to Hout Bay as BigBear was overseas on business for 10 days. We had a wonderful time exploring somewhere new every day and keeping his busy.  One of the places we went to was the Rondebosch Library which is housed in what used to be the Town Hall.  This was an emotion morning for me, because I the '80's my late husband and I had our Church in this building. I was taking photos and the Librarian told me I couldn't.  When I told her my history with the building she gave me free reign and even let me go back to the offices where we had our Admin Centre.  Wow what a trip down memory lane 42 years later and apart from becoming a library it is still the same and a glorious old building. We also went Clay Paid the f which was so much fun. Our precious little Prince is growing so fast, that it is hard to keep up.  He is a total little parrot and copies every word.  He has a lisp and so some words don't quite come out the way they should, which has caused some shock and then great laughter.  This little angel has settled in his mind that I am called "AmAm", his version of gramgram I think. JB is and always has been "NeyNey" we have no idea how that originated.  Prince is an absolute joy to be around and every day becomes more independent and lovable. mommy started potty training the week we left as he would complain when his nappy was wet, and is doing so well with it that I am amazed.  We're not 100% there but he is well on his way.

The family are all well. Everyone either getting over the flu or fighting off round two of it including JB and I.  Princess is busy with her second last project before she finishes her degree in November and, after having been home last month is finding it a difficult adjustment to be back for a short time.  You are nearly there Princess, keep pushing, you will be home soon. Big Guy will be in Cape Town in 19 days Yippeeee. He is coming down for my Birthday, I cannot wait to see him and spend some time catching up and visiting. As some of you might remember, August In our family is Birthday Month with four of us, in our direct family, celebrating birthdays. Whoop whoop, I love it.

Weather wise it has been, for the most part, a mild winter.  The storms we've had have been epic and vicious but our rainfall figures for July are way down on what they should be.  We really need a lot  more rain, hopefully without the damage and destruction. The temperatures are also slightly higher and are in the mild side. Cold at night but generally comfortable during the day. I could have these temperatures all the time and am dreading the onslaught of summer, especially with all the warnings and predictions of El Nino. I'm already trying to think of cooking solutions.

Folks that is about all my news for now. I wish you all a good month, stay safe and well. Ciao ciao.

The first batch of Beanies

A repair project.

My Life's Winding Roads: June ? What June ?

My Life's Winding Roads: June ? What June ?:   Good morning everybody, today's Blog comes to you from a very cold Hout Bay.  We have had a good number of cold fronts so far and  eac...