Life is waiting for you

Hi friends Shoooo it feels like ages since last Monday's Blog and how I have missed you all and your comments. I hope the last week treated you well and that you are refreshed going into this new week. Some times we get so caught up in the routine and busyness of life that we tend to forget that life, our future, is waiting for us to write on the slate so to speak. I believe we all have dreams and things that we would like to do or see happen but those things tend to be put on the back burner because we think they are impossible or circumstances will never permit them. Your life is an unwritten story going forward and its up to you to write the story and trust God to help you make it a reality. Never give up on your dreams no matter how far fetched or impossible they may seem, go out there and make your mark on life.


Wow, it's been a busy time lately there is always something needing attention or popping up on the radar. Last week apart from the fact that we had the South Easter blowing almost non stop we had one of those weeks of completing tasks, starting new ones and even managed some exploring which resulted in finding the elusive shell beach that had eluded us woohooo. Going on lots of little bits of information we had gathered we pinpointed where we thought it would be and at last SUCCESS we found it. Hopefully seeing as we had such a job not many others will be flooding down there, this little (and I mean little) beach is tucked away, almost completely surrounded by rocks, fairly sheltered and I cannot wait to go back and start finding shells. We also had some 'old time' fun and games as somehow Max figured out that if he stood on the gate motor box he could just manage to jump over the wooden post Hubby had put there to block it off. So after him escaping and us eventually actually seeing him jump over, my ever patient Hubby extended said posts on both sides which has stopped that particular exit, then just as we breathed a sigh of relief Hubby had to go to the store and so to stop Max and Sasha running while the gate was open, he tied them together on their leads and wrapped the leads around a small tree. He reversed and when he went to untie them both - they were gone, lol, somehow they had unwound themselves and took off at breakneck speed up the road, still tied together which looked extremely funny but also made it easier to catch them, it's like they plan these things.

On Saturday we tootled off to Somerset West to visit their monthly Country Craft Market fully expecting it to be like most markets we have been to but what a pleasant surprise. Every stand there has to be run by the person who actually makes the articles which means there are so many unique and quirky stalls, the likes of which I have never seen. Apart from the heat, it was 35 C, it was an absolute delight. Some of the things on sale were completely unique and the quality of the goods was on a par with most good 'store bought' products. As usual I was using my eyes to log up ideas for future use, so many, many new projects waiting to be attempted. We spent the afternoon with friends and came home from a temperature of 32 to 23 C in the space of 35 km's, oh I am SO glad we chose Betty's Bay to settle. Having said that though on the drive through to Somerset West it was quite the clearest most perfect day we have seen down here, hardly a breath of wind, no sea mist or clouds. I took a photo from just past Rooi Els looking clear across to Table Mountain and Signal Hill, I could have kicked myself for not having taken one encompassing Cape Point through to Table Mountain. I did take that one on the way home but the mist had come in a bit and it was nowhere as clear and detailed as the earlier photo. The amount of cars that were parked along Clarence Drive were unbelievable, obviously everyone who could was out enjoying the sun and waves, there was even a troop of baboons in Rooi Els which completely stopped the traffic causing quite a build up. Having said all that it was glorious to come home to cooler weather. Yesterday and today have followed much the same pattern of hardly any wind and perfect days with today being just a tad cooler thank goodness. I ended up doing a huge baking session (in the heat) because it just so happened that every biscuit etc all finished at the same time, so now we are stocked up for a little while. We had quite an 'exciting' few minutes late last night as I let the dogs out and on closing the glass door looked up and there was a HUGE spider +- 6cm diameter, on the glass, my first thought was it was inside and my huge gasp brought Jelly Bean and Hubby to see what was going on, needless to say my beloved Husband dealt with the doomed creature speedily which according to him this morning was due to the pressure of the two females in the house

Friends on that note I am going to wish you a wonderful week and end off today's Blog with much love and prayers for a peaceful week for each one of you. Whatever you are doing enjoy and always please be safe.


Pic from Rooi Else looking to Table Mountain



Pic showing Cape Point right through to Table Mountain

A beautiful day to start the week.

Hi folks how are you all on this beautiful Monday? It is a gorgeous day here in Betty's Bay cold, misty, not much wind and we are having a slowish day with a fire roaring in the grate and all four animals have been curled up sleeping. The only thing I would change would be having a huge mug of coffee in my hand lol - shoooo what I would not do for cuppa haha.

With a productive yet chilled weekend behind us we are busy planning our next project which will be the tea/coffee station in the kitchen woohoo. At last I am feeling like my projects are on target and have more energy to deal with them. Yesterday we had some friends over for a braai (our first in this house) and because the South Easter was really pumping we had to braai on the other side of the house, which means our braai on the deck still has to be christened. Nevertheless my dear Hubby cooked the meat to perfection and as is usual we all ate too much so an extremely lazy afternoon followed, although some of us did continue with our search for the elusive shell beach which has thus far eluded every attempt. We did not exactly find it but I now know pretty much where to look so as a soon as the weather clears that's where I am headed hopefully to collect some special shells. There are so many things I want to experiment with, one of which would be making shell jewellary.

This coming weekend we are planning to start visiting Craft Markets in and around the area, there seem to be so many going on that is going to be a case of pick and choose, super excited to see what they are like down here. Thankfully my special Hubby is just as fond of markets as Jelly Bean and I so between the three of us we get really involved and usually cover almost every stall, my favourite being the antique / secondhand, jewellary and book stalls. Roll on Saturday which will also means we will be a week closer to the family arriving.

Friends with the holiday period upon us and knowing that we are not the only ones having visitors and how busy we are all going to be, and the increased stress levels all around, I will be Blogging once a week during this time. I would still love to hear from you all and will be sharing all our 'happenings' as usual every Monday. If there is one thing I would like to encourage you all with it is that no matter how busy and chaotic life gets it is important for each one of us to still try and make time for ourselves. Whether it's that quiet cup of coffee (I wish), reading a magazine, taking a long bath, a walk on the beach, whatever it is that recharges your batteries. We cannot give to others if we ourselves are empty, I know looks who's talking, but I am really trying to do the things that charge my batteries and help me be a blessing to others.

For all the folks who read this Blog from the U.S. I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and pray that you and your loved ones are safe while travelling and that your time spent together with friends and family is blessed. For the rest of my friends I pray that you have an awesome week, take that time to breathe and please be safe.


Kiko finds the strangest places to sleep. Curled up in my basket on top of all sorts of hard things.

Out and about

Friday greetings to you all, it seems like the weeks are simply racing past. Gosh in less than a month we will have Poppet and Princess with us and things will be buzzing and then Big Guy arrives woohooo. I hope you have all had a good week and are ready for the weekend and hopefully time to recharge those batteries.

It's sometimes a challenge to even remember what day of the week it is at the moment, we've had an 'odd' week because on the one hand it's been really busy and feels like it went on forever and on the other hand due to the fact that I'm really battling to get through this 'flare up' I have had to take quite a bit of down time, frustrating does not even being to explain that. We went through to the Franschhoek Motor Museum with a friend and spent a super day out. Typical Cape weather when we left home it was 13C raining and misty and by the time we got to Franschhoek the sun was shining and it was HOT 26C, then back home late afternoon cold, dark and misty. Haha. The Motor Museum was lovely it is set in beautiful grounds nestled into the mountains and they have four sheds which house all the cars ranging back to 1903. In front of each car is the name, year, model and history and they are all in magnificent condition, a real must for most anyone especially car lovers. Our only complaint as such is that they were rotating cars, apparently there is another storage shed which holds approximately 200 vehicles and they rotate what is on show, which is all well and good BUT whilst we were there due to the moving of cars the one shed had about six empty bays and some of the cars had no history/bio up. Being who we are (friend included) we suggested to them that they rotate vehicles before the public is allowed in. 'A' who went with us was very disappointed as he specifically wanted to see a particular car which is shown on their website and said vehicle was not on display anywhere. Other than that it was a very pleasant day and definitely a different form of entertainment. One of the things that fascinated me was the mountain behind the buildings - it is enormous and comes to a sort of peak but near the top the entire rock is concave as if something hugs slammed into it.

We also spent half of yesterday doing what I call 'the changing of medical doctors thing'. All three of us had to see a Doctor, give a history etc, in order to have prescriptions repeated, what a mission and one I am delighted is now behind us. Nice doctors but hopefully we won't be seeing a lot of them haha.

Now that the kitchen unit is installed my darling Husband has turned his attention to converting our bathroom door from a normal opening to a sliding barn door which gives us much needed space in our bathroom. I have not been any help on this project except for yesterday afternoon when there was an ALMIGHTY crash and the sound of glass breaking - I shot in there so fast not knowing what to expect, Jelly Bean came rushing through and there sat my dear Hubby (on the closed toilet) looking somewhat surprised. He had hung the door and sat down to sort out a rivet or something and a sudden 'small' gust of wind had blown through and blew the door right off the tracks and smack into our bathroom mirror .......... He was absolutely fine but there was mirror glass EVERYWHERE, the tiniest little shards went far and wide. Thank the Lord he wasn't hurt or the damage was not bigger, said door is now securely hanging and Hubs is still busy working on it. Shooo. In the meantime our neighbour has been adding onto his house for the past two months and even though the builders have been extremely quick and quiet we are really looking forward to it all being finished. This morning at 8am there was a horrendous noise and on inspection I saw nothing less than a Frontend Digger ripping out rocks and plant life in order to put up the garage #headinhands. If there is one thing that I find extremely distressing is when trees and or bushes/fynbos are pulled out or cut down leaving a huge empty gaping space. This is taking place thankfully right next to our boundary fence and by the gate so not something we see all the time but still, from beautiful high overgrown Fynbos which also gave privacy, at this moment there is just sand and nothing. Aaarrrggghhhhh. I am already trying to figure out what and how to plant things on our side to soften and reintroduce plant life to that side of the yard, trouble is, it is all rocky so I foresee a trip to the Nursery for advice.

We also had a Skype call last night with our two munchkin grandsons in the UK, they wanted to ask Grandpa to tell them about fishing and whether he will take them fishing when they come for a visit. As they are still so young it doesn't take much to 'wind them up' and get them excited so there was a competition of sorts with each showing us which book he is reading, and which light up sword is whose hehe. We even got to them standing side by side to see how much they have grown with the older one being somewhat 'put out' that his brother is almost as tall as him. I can safely say that they keep Miss Muffett on the go full time.

This morning after doing our shopping we discovered what I call a hidden gem in Kleinmond, we have seen a tiny little shop on the corner with Bakery written on the sign but just never thought to go in because it is so small and obscure. Well today we ventured forth and oh my word, it is tiny with three tables for customers but the baked goodies that they produce there are amazing, even stretching to Gluten Free breads, tarts and quiche. Their prices are brilliant and service the same, my new favourite shop to go to.

Friends as I can hear the sound of Hubby darlings drill I think it is time he was offered some coffee, so I wish you a wonderful weekend, hopefully not a very busy one and as always stay safe.

The beautiful mountain in Franschhoek.


A few of the vehicles we saw

Things to do, places to go, people to see

Hi friends how are you all on this windy Monday? Windy down here at least, we are having gusts of 53kph at the moment in fact as I typed that I just witnessed Hubby dearest get literally blown off his feet as he went out of the door hahaha. Shame that reminds me that when we lived down here previously Poppet was about 10 years old and skinny to boot, our kitchen door opened outward and she opened it the one day and it flew back taking her with it almost blowing her out at about a 30 degree angle, thankfully she wasn't hurt but we were both more than a little shaken. It is quite entertaining to watch our animals coping with the wind. Gemma just stays curled up inside on a chair as much as she can, Kiko goes out and then turns around and comes right back in. Sasha adopts a wide legged stance and Max, he is the funniest, he has developed a crab type walk in order to not get blown over the fence haha. The other incident which caused much mirth earlier today (I just missed seeing it) Kiko was on the outside of the window debating whether to come in or not and apparently Gemma jumped up onto the sil, saw Kiko and proceeded to stand on and kick off Kiko's head in order to get through the window, using her as a launching pad I could not believe it. As for us humanoids we just try and stay out of it as much as possible. This morning I stupidly decided to wash linen which was fine until I had to get it onto the washing line, it was like wrestling a giant octopus on steroids and Red Bull haha.

We had a quiet but fairly productive weekend with my super clever husband finishing the kitchen unit (he's busy installing it as I type). I painted the back and sides, very successfully if I may say so, and then managed to get one of my projects done as well as try out a new biscuit (cookie) recipe. I was reading an article last week which spoke about a connection to Fibromyalgia and Gluten Intolerance as a result of which I stopped eating gluten immediately. I've done it before but not for Fibro reasons, so far the result is I've lost 2.5kg weight, but have not yet seen a difference in pain symptoms which I'm guessing may take awhile. The biscuits turned out delicious it is quite the easiest and most economical biscuit recipe I have ever used, so naturally being me I've already worked out how I can vary them without changing the basic formula. It was also very cold here of the weekend, the high seas are continuing together with the wind. Yesterday morning we made a lovely fire and kept it going all day, it's amazing what a difference it made which we only really noticed when we went outside.

Well, I don't know about you but we have a super busy week coming up. On Wednesday we are going through to Franschoek with a friend to visit a Vintage Car Musuem which I think is on a Wine Farm so we are quite excited about that. There are also a couple of other personal things we have to see to ie. Choosing new doctors etc UGH, and oh yes get going on all those projects hehe.

Folks I hope you have an awesome week, make lemonade out of any lemons and as always be safe please.

I am attaching pics of how our temporary kitchen has looked since we moved in and how it looks now with our state of the art unit. My Hubby is super clever and talented. Thank you my darling.


Our new kitchen unit ta daa


From this

The end of a tumultuous week.

Hi all I hope this finds everyone well and looking forward to the weekend. Wow, what a tumultuous week this has been in so many different areas, it seemed that wherever I looked or whatever I read was just filled with more drama, devastation and conflict.

First of all was the build up on the news and social media of the elections in the U.S. and then obviously the increase of news and the fall out over the results. Then in South Africa where we are in the middle of a severe drought and are under heavy water restrictions, the weather turned a 180 and the heavens opened leaving in their wake devastation, sorrow and stories of peoples heroism and bravery and a beautiful knowledge that when we want to South Africans know how to 'pull together' in a united endeavour to help others. The news of the flash floods and the pictures we have seen are terrifying to say the least and definitely make one very aware of how precious life is and how we need to appreciate who we share it with and what we have. We haven't had rain to speak of but oh my gosh has the South Easter pumped here for the last two days, the sea has all week been stormy and moody - weather which some people detest but happily in our family we revel in it. I suddenly realised just now that the reason for the sea conditions that we have seen this week is the Super Moon which appears on Monday, I can hear some of you going duh! LOL. I knew it all but only put it together whilst watching the waves from our lounge which is a scene that I never tire of and is never the same from hour to hour. So, on many fronts it has been a week of extremes, dramas, heartbreak, joy and heroism and what I have had going around in my heart is this - through it all God never changes. Irrespective of what is happening in the world, in our country and in our lives God remains the same, He doesn't move, He doesn't change or waiver, He is the one solid rock we can hold onto who will still be there at the end. There are two scriptures that explain it beautifully - Hebrews 13 v 8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 6 v 17. In the same way God, desiring even more to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath.

I know that for some of you this has been an extremely difficult year and want to just encourage you with this, you have survived, you are still here, you have undoubtedly grown and learnt many things AND it's almost finished. Hang onto your dreams, promises and hope and keep paddling, please don't give up or yield to the pressure. You are precious and have a destiny to fulfill so...... head up, shoulders squared, tomorrow is a new day and you can do this.


It's been a quiet week here partly due to the weather and partly due to 'moi' being in a flare, so I've been trying to recharge them batteries and ride the waves so to speak. Meanwhile Hubby dearest has done miracles in the workshop and the kitchen unit is two days away from coming inside. I have to paint the back tomorrow and it is waiting for one more coat of varnish then in Monday we will bring it in and set everything up with photos to follow. I have a ton of projects sitting waiting to be tackled with Christmas roaring up on us and today went shopping to that end, unfortunately that is all I can say at this time hehehe.

Friends I pray that you will each have a wonderful weekend, spend time with those you love and enjoy, and do what makes you happy. Wherever you are please stay alert and always be safe.

A slow Monday for once

Greetings all on this beautiful Monday I hope your week will be peace filled and trouble free. So many people that I am speaking to are really feeling the 'crunch' as this year heads to a close and the pressures and deadlines keep coming. It is always such a busy time of the year with extra commitments and things that need doing so I would like to just take a minute to encourage you to try and not allow yourself to get so caught up in what's going on that you end up a frazzled mess by Christmas. I know it isn't easy but first off when things get hectic try and teach yourself to breathe, in and out slowly and just concentrate on YOURSELF for a few seconds, make lists for everything even if you wake up in the night thinking of things to do, write them down, that way you can tick them off when they are done and give your brain and nerves a rest from trying to remember everything. Take 5 or 10 minutes every day to sit quietly with a cup of tea or coffee, in the bath, in the garden, anywhere and just reflect on all the good in your life and all the times you got through tough times. I saw a meme this week on the Fibro page that read - So far my record for surviving bad days is 100%, I can do this!!!! I truly believe that it applies to each and every one of us.

We had the absolute joy of being able to watch BigBear and BabyBear compete in a Crossfit Battle on Saturday and I can honestly say I have NO clue how they do it. Not even as a child could I do those things. It's not just the lifting of weights but the stamina needed, I humbly salute you both (and all the other competitors) on your dedication and perseverance. We were so proud to be able to be there and share some of it with them and were delighted yesterday to hear that they came 2nd out of twenty five 'Boxes', all in all their Box did extremely well. Congratulations to you all.

After taking us two hours to complete a one hour trip due to the ridiculous traffic and then all the busyness at the Mall and the event we were quite happy to get home to the peace of Betty's Bay haha, it can't be that we are getting old because even Jelly Bean felt the same. We were expecting a noisy night with fireworks on Satursday as there was a group of youngsters visiting just down the road from us and on Friday evening they had been setting off extremely loud crackers (they sounded more like bombs). All fireworks are strictly forbidden at any time in this village because of the various bird and wild life and the dry Fynbos so it was very disturbing to hear it, but someone must have either spoken to them of contacted the home owners because apart from one cracker in the early evening all was quiet and all animals were safe.

Other than that our weekend was quiet and we actually didn't do much work or anything which was very nice for a change, the kitchen table is coming close to being ready to varnish and paint so that will be my next project - the painting part ....... Woohooo. Weather wise it has been 'perfect' not too hot and not too cold, in fact today I thought was going to be hot and dressed accordingly only to change at lunch time because it's cold, I feel so sorry for family and friends who are roasting in the heat up country. With only just under six weeks before Poppet and Princess arrive and seven weeks until Big Guy arrives and we have our Express Christmas, I need to get on with my lists and projects and start ticking things off as I aim to be finished well before the beginning of December.

On that note friends I am going to wish you a wonderful week, don't forget to breathe :) and always stay alert and be safe out there.

A satisfying week

Hi guys how are you all doing on this beautiful Friday? It is such a wonderful feeling to get to Friday and say that this has been a very satisfying week. All my tasks and projects were successfully completed and I'm gearing up for the next bout hehe. We have had the most glorious weather this week with one hot day of 27 C and the rest has been a comfortable 20 - 23 C with the last two days blowing quite a gale, we even had light rain last night which just keeps everything clean and dust free.

As you know my main project this week was to complete my XXX chunky cotton throw and I am happy to report that it is finished and (I think) quite perfect, being pure cotton it isn't too hot although it's fairly heavy. I didn't do it all in one day but took two days (with a rest day in between) and time spent knitting was literally less than a day. There is a photo at the bottom of the Blog. It is very awkward trying to knit with 25 mm needles but I developed a method to deal with them and the weight of the throw and once I got going it was a delight to do. It would appear that the girls in the family all.....want one please Mom hehe. Hubby darling is absolutely gliding through the kitchen table/unit which is quite a piece of furniture, it has a real presence about it and we are not quite sure how we are going to carry it into the house, we might need help, just wait until you see the pics, oh my word it is GORGEOUS!!! This man of mine is super talented and I am so blessed.

I embarked on my 'dog grooming' career this week with some hilarious results. So much for buying the clippers, the blade is too short and the combs get stuck in Sasha's fur, so short of shaving the poor dog completely I resorted to hairdresser style. HAHA. Jelly Bean and I sat on the floor with her and she held Sasha while I snipped away, the result was a huge pile of fur, itchy noses, sore hand (from the scissors) and a Maltese poodle who is sporting the latest style in Doggy-Dom, a somewhat shaggy, fluffy look. She has been quite happy to go outside so can't be too embarrassed to be seen and all in all seems quite happy, my next attempt will either be a better job in the same style or buy the right sized blade for the clippers which costs twice what the clippers cost ???? I'm sure second time around will be easier and look better. Max has been very careful to keep his distance from me as I want to cut his fringe, thankfully his coat doesn't get matted so he is off the hook for now so to speak.

Oh yes and I managed to bake cheese muffins (all gone), rusks (they are not finished) ciabatta bread twice (gone) and yesterday I baked some Biscotti thinking it should keep us going for while, I opened the tin just now and there are only about ten left, good grief - I simply cannot keep up and have decided that today I am on a cooking strike :D. In amongst all this busyness I managed to find an hour on Wednesday afternoon when precious Hubby put my Hammock chair up on the deck and I took a book, a cup of coffee and my throw and lazed out there looking at the sea more than I was reading, how to relax in a heartbeat.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Tygervalley to watch BigBear and BabyBear take part in a Cross Fit competition which I am very excited about, it's been awhile since I've sat on the sidelines to watch one of my kids in action, I have promised that I will not embarrass them so that means hands behind my back and lips firmly sealed hmmmmmmmm I wonder ? This morning on Poppets behalf I priced some dress fabric with a view to making her a couple of dresses while she's here in December, I could not have been more shocked. The pattern she wants is a simple little dress from one of South Africa's biggest clothing stores which cost R300, the similar material I priced this morning was R22. per metre - there is just NO justification for that kind of mark up, so guess what we will be doing soon. ...... Yep lots of sewing.

Friends I have rambled on long enough here and am going to wish you a fantastic weekend, I hope you get to put your feet up and relax at some point and enjoy whatever it is you have planned. As always and until next time please be safe.

My gorgeous throw folded for show
C

Kiko posing on the deck