Sunday, 31 May 2026
My Life's Winding Roads: Look at this, it is not even June yet
My Life's Winding Roads: Look at this, it is not even June yet: Good afternoon friends and family, I trust today's post finds everyone well and hopefully enjoying a wonderful Sunday. Wow what a month...
Look at this, it is not even June yet
Good afternoon friends and family, I trust today's post finds everyone well and hopefully enjoying a wonderful Sunday. Wow what a month and where to start - from a super quiet April we crashed into May with a blast. The first week was a normal, steady week. JB and I went through to Somerset West for the habitual shopping trip, as you may remember we tend to stack up shopping needs until we actually go in and then run ourselves ragged, even more so now with the giant leap in petrol prices. I have the "privilege" of being old enough to remember when petrol cost 17 c in 1976 - yep you read that right. Sheesh, what we are paying now per litre would have bought 2 or 3 weeks of groceries back then.
Enough of the petrol price but on the age front, after being a brunette all my life, two years ago I took the huge step and went a few shades lighter (honestly, I got really tired of looking like a badger for 3 out of 5 weeks) . This worked quite well until I got a bee in my bonnet about the colour looking more yellow and making me look beige. So, after MUCH discussion with my hairdresser I booked the appointment and we lightened it some more, I am now a blonde for the first time ever and, believe it or not, am thoroughly enjoying it. At least my hair and my skin are not the same colour now 😂
May started out sedately as a mild, gentle autumn/winter'ish month. OH my word that changed violently and suddenly. We received weather warnings, which is normal, and took the usual precautions. On Sunday the 10th the first cold front hit and initially wasn't too bad. All four Villages lost electricity at about 11.30am ( silly us, we ommitted to charge all devices) Due to no lights, and torches dimming we went to bed early. Hmmppfff we barely slept as the wind blew, and blew and continued to blow. The speeds measured here in Betty's Bay ³ measured towards the early morning hours were 148 kmph with gusts of 177 kmph. We lay there listening to the solar panels vibrating on the roof, the geyser being buffeted, the neighbour's chimney flue twisting around like a dervish. At about 3.30am Charlie jumped up barking, I got up and thought he wanted out, but he stood on the deck barking. I could not see anything with the wind and rain hammering down. At 5.30 am we were awakened from a doze with an almighty snap up on the roof. That had us on edge as you can imagine .... daylight came (sort of), still no electricity, no sun to charge the solar panels to power the inverter, and, totally unable to get out of the house because of the wind speeds and downpour. The first thing we saw was the neighbour's tree, which over the years had grown through and over our fence had been blown over and snapped. This landed on and broke the fence quite dramatically. Other big bushes along the same fence were also uprooted and broken causing yet more damage. I looked out a bit more intensly and saw that the Weber Braai had been blown along and upended against the same poor fence, together with my mop, and a stack of four plastic garden chairs that had been up against our bedroom wall. The chairs hadn't even come apart and were still a stack of four, after being blown down four stairs and along the grass to ... you guessed it - up against the fence. That was all we could confirm as it was impossible to get up on the roof to see what, if any damage had been done. Obviously all this is what caused Charlie to bark during the night, the noise of wind and rain was so loud we never heard it. The first time we ventured out was Wednesday and as I reversed out of the drive I looked at the back door and saw that our PolyCarb awning had been ripped off it's brackets and was somewhere in the Atlantic ocean or lying in someone's yard. We sprung 17 leaks and spent most of our time replacing and emptying bowls of water. Still no electricity - in all four Villages. Kleinmond was restored late Wednesday and on that evening our neighbour called me and offered to link us up to their inverter. They are off the grid and have a generator as well. Oh what joy to have a light and be able to charge phones, LED torches and lamps. Our fridge and freezer were awfully grateful. just the week before JellyBean eventually got her first Diabetic Continuous Glucose Monitor - every time she moved away from her phone, or the phone battery went low the App would beep incessantly, we have even named it haha. Nothing much changed and on Friday, by prior arrangement, she and I "abandoned" hubby and carefully drove off to Hout Bay, the weather was still foul and roads dangerous. What a joy to arrive to a non leaking, fully electrified home which also had HOT water. After 6 days of basin, cold water washes we delighted in a hot shower. We spent the following week with the Bears and having a wonderful time with our little Munchkin. The power at home was eventually restored on day 11, some homes in our 3 villages are still waiting for power. 🤦🏼♀️
No one else in the family suffered any damage, Praise the Lord, Hubby took a look at the roof and has started repairs up there. We are going to get someone in to repaint waterproofing on it. The huge snap we heard was presumably the ripping off of the awning. Many people in BB lost parts of and for some, their entire roofs. There were corrugated roof panels, one entire roof, solar panels, awnings, jojo tanks, a trampoline and many other items found "walking" along the roads or laying on the bushes. Our neighbour had the tree and bushes cut down and plans on repairing the fence and adding some new plants for replaced privacy. Some of the Malls lost parts of their roofs, solar panel installations etc, many, many trees down across the entire city and a lot of damage. Yesterday on our walk JB and I counted another 4 homes who have had their awnings rudely removed 😃
On the family front everyone is well, some recovering well from flu, and all being super busy. In 17 days my precious Princess will be landing in CT for the holidays. she will be doing a 15 day Internship whilst here, but I cannot wait to see her. Little Munchkin started Playschool, for a few days a week, at the beginning of the month. He is slowly settling in, he still finds some morning drop offs difficult but oh my goodness the words are like a waterfall. About two visits ago JB was named NeyNey by him and I eventually got called Am. This last visit he can say her full name but still calls her NeyNey and I have graduated to Gam, I take the wins people, believe me. He is such a blessing and bringer of joy and laughter.
Workwise has been a bit slow but I have some possible good news with Hooked-in-Luv coming up. I am also busy working on a slight transition under that heading and hopefully in next month's Blog will be able to show you the result, so look out for the announcement 😉. Currently 8 am halfway through knitting a jersey for the youngest member of the family. A.k.a. Munchkin. It has been awhile since I have knitted and it makes a nice change for a bit
The mysterious smell - for the last 10 days or so I have smelt a horrible, dusty, musty smell whenever I sit in my chair in the lounge. 🤔 I have half blamed the cat, the dog, one of the leaks in the carpet. I have sniffed everything in the vicinity and could not find the source. With Fibro, I am super sensitive to smells, and it has just about driven me crazy. Just now I stood up and looked at my palm tree, next to my chair. This tree has given me a hard time from the day I got it and it has moved all around the house. I jumped up, sniffed and voila ... THE culprit. It has little, minute gnats/miggie's in it. It is also now out in the deck. It has had less water lately because of the samp weather and I have no earthly clue how or why. For now, on the deck it will stay, while I sit in my smell free zone. Mystery solved, just not sure why.
Well folks after this "longer than usual" Blog, I am parched, off to put the the kettle on and make myself a delicious cup of tea. Have a wonderful month of June and whatever life (and the weather) throws at you, remember you have got this. Stay safe and stay well please. Ciao Ciao.
The morning after the storm plus how far the chairs travelled.
Newly blonde 😊
Sunday, 3 May 2026
My Life's Winding Roads: May is here
My Life's Winding Roads: May is here: Good afternoon everyone, oh my goodness me. My apologies for being late with this month's Blog. A true blonde moment. All through the w...
May is here
Good afternoon everyone, oh my goodness me. My apologies for being late with this month's Blog. A true blonde moment. All through the week I kept thinking of getting down to it and then come Friday I completely forgot, and I mean completely. Just now I had just brought some washing inside and sat down thinking "hmm, I've done everything I needed to do, and ... wham ... no I haven't, I haven't done the Blog." This is a first for me. So here we go, hello May.
April was, most unusually, a very quiet month. To start I was on a mandatory recovery period which seemed to extend itself, maybe God was trying to tell me something? Recovery wise, things have gone very well. No complications or problems Praise the Lord. They warned me that I might have some symptoms / episodes for up to three months and not to be worried about them. I have had a few very slight feeling of faintness, until last week when I was walking across a room and wow, out of nowhere. I found myself a surface quickly until it passed and was fine. I do find that I get breathless and tired more quickly but it hasn't stopped me from following my normal schedule. 😊
The little Penguin, Percy, that I had so much trouble with, was eventually conquered and is now ready for a new home, he is actually quite adorable if I do say so. Princess has offered to help me create a bigger awareness of all the toys on social media and I am so excited for her help. I have spent quite a bit of time edging Quilt Squares and am getting closer and closer to being able to finish. I have calculated that there will be about seven short for the required size and so will need to embroider those extras when all the others are completed. Yaaay.
For the first time since we moved down to the Western Cape winter arrived on time. The first, minor cold front arrived at Easter and the temperatures have been noticeably cooler, thank goodness. there are still one or two hot days but on the whole we are having much more comfortable weather and a fair bit of rain to go with it. Sadly the Province's dam levels are still critically low and we need much, much more rain.
The family are all doing well and healthy. JB had a major breathrough last week. she was diagnosed 18 years ago as a Type 1 Diabetic and over the years we have repeatedly tried applying for the Diabetic Sensor and or the Insulin Pump. The Doctors have applied, the Endocrinologists have applied and were turned down every time. JB is Insulin Resistant as well and as a result has always had very unstable glucose figures. A couple of months we saw a new GP who was recommended to us as she specialises in Diabetes. This Dr added a medication and applied for the Sensor, last week the letter came through giving permission for JB to get it. This is nothing short of a miracle and she will be receiving it this week.
The way that April played out we did not get to go through and see our little Munchkin, it was one of the longest 'breaks" we have had from him in a long while. Due to a Business trip that BigBear had to make last week we went through last Sunday and came home on Thursday. My he has grown so much in a month, not in size but developmentally. New words are pouring out and he is becoming more and more of a little human. His biggest love is music and he has his own way of explaining exactly which kids songs he wants. If we get it wrong he will continue to "explain" with his words and hand signals until we silly adults get the right song. It truly is an absolute joy and honour to spend time with him and watch as he grows and develops. The added bonus is that we get to spend special time with MamaBear as well. Last Sunday we all went for a lovely walk in the Constantia Forest until the rain came down and all five of us got soaked haha. It truly is such a beautiful place, we are really spoilt living here where there
is beauty all around us and always something different. Between the oceans and the mountains, the forests and the fynbos there are surprises around every corner.
Folks that is all, given it was a quiet month. May is already starting to increase speed, but that is for next time. Have a wonderful week, please stay safe and healthy. Ciao Ciao.
Constantia Forest.
Percy Penguin
Sunday, 29 March 2026
My Life's Winding Roads: Hello April
My Life's Winding Roads: Hello April: Greetings everyone both near and far, known and unknown. I am always flabbergasted when I see how far my readership extends. That is such ...
Hello April
Greetings everyone both near and far, known and unknown. I am always flabbergasted when I see how far my readership extends. That is such a blessing and to all I would like to say " thank you for taking the time to keep up with what goes on in our lives." Initially when I started this Blog ten years ago. we were considering retirement and the family were all going in different ways, so it was started as a "keep up with us" for friends and family to keep them informed, Haha i guess we have moved on from that over the years. I still try and keep you informed whilst respecting the "kids" personal lives, not always easy I can tell you.😀😀
What happened this month ? Oh my gosh it feels like it was a year long. I am not sure how the busyness keeps rolling or even trying to slow it down, I really do try. One of the things I am really working hard on, for many reasons, is that I am allowed to rest and not be productive all my waking hours ... definitely a challenge. Currently as I type this I do not actually have a choice. Last month I shared all the 'drama" surrounding the diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation which was discovered. After seeing the Electrophysiologist the Doctors did not waste much time. This past Thursday, 26th March, I was admitted to the Cardio Ward and after being told I was no 3 on the surgical list, I lay around until past 18.15 before being wheeled into Theatre, not my favourite place. When I came round from the Anaesthetic in ICU, Poppet was there and what a blessing she was. There are some anaesthetic combinations that I do not tolerate very well and I came to feeling extremely nauseous and claustrophobic. Poppet prayed with me which helped immensely. I fell asleep and awoke at 02.30 and was awake from then on, such fun. This ICU operates on one patient, one Nurse, the nurses were amazing. Everything went well and I was discharged at midday on Friday. My surgeon said there were many misfiring ventricles that she had to ablate. There has not been much pain, rather more discomfort and bruising from the wound site (they go in through the groin ) and feeling like I have a stitch in my left side. These feeling are normal and it can apparently take three months for all symptoms to cease and become normal. Sooo, all that to say I have been told to rest, not lift or carry anything heavy etc. My kids are also being quite bossy and watchful in making sure I actually am resting. I am, I am, I promise.😀
JB and I are have a girl day and catching up on our TV viewing and reading (Hubby is sailing for the day). She is doing so much better under her new Doctor, in fact she is now battling with regular "lows" and getting her Insulin doses correct. She has been living with 'high insulin' for so many years that it became the norm for her. Folks Diabetes Type 1 is no joy ride. Only living with someone who has it gives you a very small window into what they deal with on a daily basis. Many people say "exercise" for some that causes a rise in Glucose levels. Eat meat/protein - can also cause a spike, and so it goes on. That is not counting into effect the needle pricks, constant counting and mental maths, having snacks that don't adversely affect your glucose. The effects of highs and lows on their body and overall health are on a different level. Praise God for at last finding a Doctor who not only cares but takes action and stays in contact.
We were in Hout Bay as well, looking after the little Prince. Oh my word, he grows daily and is developing such a personality. He had his first haircut at the beginning of the month and already the curls are growing all over. It might sound odd to most people but even at his age he has a sense of humour and keeps us entertained every minute. Congratulations to the Bears on celebrating your 13th Anniversary, well done you two and may you have many, many more years of love, good health and adventures together, your are a testimony to all who know you.
Poppet had a short but good trip up to Pretoria with Princess, they managed to accomplish a huge amount and make many changes, for the better. My gorgeous Princess has been through a torrid time but I am so proud of the way she has handled everything. God has you in the palm of His hand my precious girl, you have got this, Granny loves you.
Big guy is well, he had a good month business wise in signing off on a very important deal he has been negotiating. Well done Son. It is so good to see you happy and motivated. We miss you and Princess down here .
What's happening on the work / hobby front ? Hmmpppfffff I have struggled with this blessed Penguin for Hooked in Luv. I think I have started 6 or 7 times. they are either too small or one was actually life sized. I was ready to pull my hair out never mind the wool. Eventually I found a nice looking pattern but it was a wee bit small. After sitting for a whole day with different calculations trying to make it bigger I was thoroughly disenchanted with the whole thing. Recalling as recent conversation with BigBear I got onto a reliable Ai site and copy/ pasted the pattern, what I wanted to achieve (all very politely) and asked it to help me make it bigger and incorporate those changes into the shaping. Boom, bang it took a couple of minutes and voila I had an amended pattern, just for me, whoop whoop. When I have the energy that is my next and hopefully last try to get the Penguin crocheted and presented. In the meantime on JB's suggestion I dug out a Quilt project which I started back during CoVid lockdown. I had made a LOT of candlewicked embroidered squares with batting and although I knew what I wanted it to look like, I could never just get my head around it, and so it sat. In a sudden burst of inspiration it came to me - I can crochet and therefore I don't need to sew them together using lace but, I could crochet borders around each square and then join them together. It is certainly going to take awhile because it is very work intensive, but it will, I hope, become something of an heirloom to be passed along. In the light of that there is actually a load of 'work' ahead for me just with my hobbies, I am not even talking about my Diamond Dot Art and Adult Colouring in, reading back on this, I need lots of time hahaha. The other major achievement this past month was getting an old laptop which was passed onto me because it was so slow. I barely touched it because I don't have 35 mins to wait for it to boot up. so out it came, I did a complete factory reset on it, defragged etc and whoo hoo it is working, I am, typing on it right now. I treated it to a nice laptop sleeve, cleaned it up and now this operator has to get back into the swing of using a laptop instead of a phone haha. no Sharon it is not a touch screen, use the mouse pad. 😂 It is really nice though to be able to type properly and quickly.
Gosh, a whole blog and not one word about the weather, what am I doing? 😃 The weather has been minimally cooler interspersed with mind numbing hot days. Obviously living in the Cape the South Easter wind is our absolute friend. Without it we roast. There have been moments (yes moments) like a hundred drops every now and then, which at least have caused the grass to grow and look greener. It is officially Autumn but not that you would believe it. Today for instance there is not a cloud in the sky and not a blade of grass moving. During March the heat peaked to 50 C in some parts of the Western Cape and an average of 38 C plus for the rest. I am a winter girl and always will be.
After all that news I am going to say Ciao Ciao for now. I wish you all a very blessed month, there are no problems that God cannot fix, no hills too high to climb and remember if you have God you are never alone. Deuteronomy 31 v 6 God says "Be strong and very courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, the LORD your God is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you"
Quilt Square - 1 of about 42
Big Olly.
Sunday, 1 March 2026
My Life's Winding Roads: February is history and March has arrived.
My Life's Winding Roads: February is history and March has arrived.: Good Morning world from a blessedly cooler, damp little Village on the Cape coast. We have had some rain on and off for about two weeks a...
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