The little detours on a road trip

From a wet and cold Betty's Bay I wish you a good morning and trust that this is the start of an awesome week. One of the things about retirement is most days feel like a weekend (according to Hubby who forgets what day of the week it is) except for this weekend, yesterday actually felt like a Sunday probably because we didn't do any work on the house and went and did a little exploring of our area. After that we came home and had a delicious lunch of Roast Beef and then watched the Grand Prix so extremely chilled and relaxing, it was also one of those rare perfect Cape days where there was not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind - absolutely gorgeous. We went to Pringle Bay which is about 5km from Betty's Bay and is such a pretty little place. They have a few really nice little Deli shops,a Book Shop (which was closed) and a couple of Coffee Shops. For such a small place their shops stock a wide range of food, surprisingly very modern and trendy as is the general feel of the village. It amazes me how two holiday villages so close can have such a different feeling, but then that is what makes the little detours on a road trip so special. My Darling Hubby patiently stopped whenever I asked so that I could take photos (see below) which made the outing just that much more special. All in all a perfect day which actually felt like Sunday made even better by the fact that my contact lenses eventually arrived and as the song says "I can see clearly now" .... Whoop whoop.

As far as the ongoing saga of our furry family goes, Max is 'on the loose' and has not yet found a new escape point after we added more security to the fence, which is encouraging although to watch both him and Sasha when they see a mongoose or one of the pheasants on the road is actually extremely funny, they completely lose all reason jumping up and down and barking. There is one particular pheasant that stands on the opposite side of the road in the Fynbos and has done a good job of mimicking them and barks back, just too funny. As for the cats they are both getting more acquainted with the garden as we continue their supervised sessions outside although they are never particularly happy to be brought inside. Kiko is currently sitting watching the bread machine with great curiosity as it rotates and mixes our bread, far too curious for her own good this cat is.

Something that has been 'buzzing' around in my heart for a few days that I would like to encourage you with. We as individuals are responsible for our own happiness, as long as your happiness depends on someone else, your circumstances, the weather, how your day started etc then your emotions will always be like a see saw. You and you alone have the ability to change how you react to each and every circumstance. For example : It is Monday morning and for some reason everything goes wrong, the hair dryer 'dies', the kids forgot to do their homework / cannot find their school uniform, the outfit you planned to wear has a stain, in a nutshell it is a lousy start to the week, a real blue Monday. Now you can allow that to roll over and contaminate your entire day or you can choose to deal with it however you can and then shake it off, make an attitude adjustment and change the course of your day. Folks there are always going to be things that will challenge us whether or not they succeed depends on how we handle them. In my opinion the biggest success in overcoming any challenge is when I can turn it around and find some positive aspect and then laugh about it. If I had allowed challenges to 'get to me' over the course of my life time I would have been one of the most depressed, grumpiest, miserable people around. Yes there have been many times where it has taken me a wee while to get my balance back but very early in life I learned to bounce back as quickly as possible. I have also learned over the years that we need to be careful of the words we speak, in Proverbs 18 v 21 (Amplified Bible) we are told that 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who like it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.' You words are powerful and will affect your mood and even your circumstances. We are also told in Neh 8 v 10b. "Do not be worried for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." So friends when things are going wrong or you are feeling like you just cannot handle another crises and want to just curl up into a ball and weep, try and turn it around by not giving into those emotions and speaking a whole lot of negativity over the situation and find your joy and strength in God, He is the One who can change whatever it is you are facing. There is so much to say on this subject that if I don't end off now you will be reading for hours, I just wanted to share with you that the power for happiness and peace lies within YOU and is not dependent on anyone or anything else.

My bread machine is 'singing' which means that the loaf is ready and I need to attend to it. I wish you and yours a wonderful week of peace and joy. Go out there and there and show the world just what you are capable of, and always please stay safe.

Cape Point taken from the other side of the bay in Pringle Bay approximately 32kms.


A distant Devils Peak taken from Pringle Bay.


Beautiful Red Pin Cushion Protea