February comes to an end.

Good morning friends I can hardly believe that we are at the end of February already. Happily that takes us closer to winter and hopefully more rain than we can deal with. The dams in the Western Cape have dropped to below 34% and it is critical that we have rain. The last few days have been somewhat cooler here in Betty's Bay which is cause for great rejoicing on my part, this morning as I was hanging up the washing I could hear the waves breaking and the smell of the sea, I just took a moment to count my blessings and thank God for His goodness to us.

The Houdini saga continues as my ever patient Hubby continues to work on the fence. This time he has folded the top portion and stabilized it so that when Max jumps he cannot get past the piece that juts out, we have stood and watched him try almost every couple of feet so far with no success. Here is holding thumbs. Jasper seems to suddenly grown up a little, he looks stockier and is sporting a magnificent silky, glossy coat. He continues to remain as lovable and cute as ever and is mad about cheese and yoghurt.

I am on a quest at the moment to try baking various artisanal breads. We have found a fantastic brand of stoneground flour which so far hasn't disappointed, I find myself making a large Ciabatta bread every two days - yep it goes that quickly. Both Jelly Benan and I are sensitive to wheat/gluten and yet somehow this bread doesn't affect us at all, so I shall continue to explore new recipes and methods. Watch this space hehe. Due to me having a bit of a rough week health wise we had a pretty quiet week hence no exploring other than having to make a trip through to Paarl which lasted the whole day. I started my Patchwork Square Afgan so am happily knitting squares which I will then join together to make a hopefully, beautiful Afgan blanket.

It's only been two months and I am missing all the family so much. The girls are well and relishing the rain and cool weather that they are having. Big Guy had an exceptionally busy weekend which included having to move home yesterday, we spoke last night and in true family tradition and in spite of doing it by himself with only two people to help move the furniture, he was in curtains hung and bed made, in total his step counter confirmed that he had walked 14km. Well done son. Our Cape Town family are in the last week of what has been a difficult start to the year because BabyBear has been on course up in Johannesburg since January, only coming home for weekends, hang in there guys only four more sleeps then life goes back to normal. We are looking forward to having dinner with BigBear later on this week hitch is always a treat wooohooo. On the whole all I can say is I am supremely proud of all my family, all of them seem to have managed to find careers in highly stressful jobs and each one handles it with grace and integrity.

Friends please continue to pray for South Africa, for peace and stability in our country and for early, long lasting rains in the Western Cape. Have an awesome week as you go out there and take it by the horns, and above all be safe.


Jasper showing how tough life is.

Escapes, scratches, friends and fires

Hi folks I hope today's Blog finds you all well. It seems to be my new normal to say "whew it's been busy" haha, but it certainly feels like it. For the next installment of 'The Houdini Saga' a.k.a. Max the escape artist/yorkie. For those of you who have been following his escapades you will know what lengths we have gone too in order to keep him from escaping out of the yard, these methods have been many as well as costly with the last update being where we ran wire down between the pallisade poles. That lasted all of three days and we came home to find him OUT on the street. He is currently running around with a small plastic flower pot (empty) attached to a cord, attached to his harness and gues what? He is still getting out between the wire and the upright, a space of 4cm, it is absolutely ridiculous, in all our years living in Johannesburg we had the same fencing with only about 40cm high of mesh across it and he NEVER climbed over or under or even through for that matter. He did escape out of the front door at any opportunity but NEVER through the fencing, now in a yard that is three times bigger and we can't keep him in. Our nest step is going to be to attach a pvc gutter pipe along the top so that when he jumps it will roll around and not give him any sort of foothold, we won't go down the road of "what will it look like" or the cost as that is of no concern to this dog.

It would seem that we have unusual pets or at least pets that keep us very busy and entertained. Jasper is growing so beautifully and has now grown into his ears and become a sturdy little fellow, he has a silky soft, super glossy coat, but when it comes to his 'bathroom' routine this little kitten just missed that class altogether. We have two sand boxes, one an enclosed box with a hatch door and an normal open sandbox, whichever he uses he goes through the same routine, once he is finished he covers up the necessary by scratching not only the sand but the wall, the side of the box, the roof (of the enclosed) box, any surface that is near the actual box. As you can imagine due to all the extra surfaces that need scratching it takes a little longer for him to be satisfied that the smell is covered, usually leaving us all laughing at the entire routine. Up until Saturday night he has slept in his carry box next to my bed. I thought that he is old enough to now sleep wherever he wants, so bless his little white paws he went to sleep in a shelf right next to my side of the bed on top of all my scarves. So far so good until 4.30 am Sunday morning when he heard Gemma moving around and decided the day had started, he came out of the shelf and straight up to mr where he then kneaded my arm with loving licks and kisses for more than a half an hour, all the while purring up a storm, he kept coming back for more loves until I woke up properly. This morning he woke up at about 6am and same procedure except I kept my arm mostly under the pillow and stayed very still. Next thing he lay on my arm, purring loudly and just stayed still so I peeped with one eye and there he was, 4 cm from my face just staring at me and purring, the minute I moved I got kneaded and licked. So I guess I'm on early good morning duty for awhile hehe.

Yesterday we took a drive to Pringle Bay, the next village and took some time to drive around and explore a bit. It is very similar to Betty's Bay but much smaller with the houses being closer together. We often go there to do 'top up' shopping as they have a super little Deli and a couple of nice coffee shops etc. We followed a dirt road which appears to lead back to Betty's Bay for about 4km where it abruptly stops at the Nature Reserve that ends here in BB. There are only a few houses along this road which goes under Hangklip Mountain, there is one in particular which is absolutely enormous and must have an incredible view. Then today we have had friends come to visit who used to be our neighbors in Boksburg. It was so good to see them and catch up on all the news. This lady is our pets 'god mother' so she got to meet her new kitty 'relative' and has fallen in love with Jasper, the other three were super excited to see her and smothered her with licks and kisses. It's always so good at to see old friends.

As I type this we have an out of control fire at the far west side of Betty's Bay to Pringle Bay where one house burnt out which is devastating, according to one report that side of Pringle Bay is being evacuated. All traffic is being re-routed back through Kleinmond and then on the highway over Sir Lowry's Pass to Cape Town. We are currently listening to the helicopters, and the small planes as they water bomb the fire, the wind is very strong so our prayers go out to the firefighters and those involved.

Friends on that note and amid the noise of the planes I am going to bid you farewell while wishing you a good week. Wherever you are please stay safe out there.

Jasper posing in all his cuteness.

Life's a journey, what a ride

A hearty good day to all on this beautiful, overcast Monday. After an unbelievably hot week the last two days have been cool and overcast with some rain, which is so badly needed. The dams in the Western Cape are now sitting at 37.5% which is already critical and despite huge efforts and 'save water' drives the levels are still dropping. We are praying for rain and lots of it which is just perfect with me, I live for the cooler, rainy months.

Slowly over the last week Max's chances of escaping have been closing steadily as my precious Hubby has been threading wire through the palisade fencing. This little dog has absolutely no shame in getting out. While Hubby is sitting working on the fence, Max will try and jump through right next to him, he has even found ways of escaping out of his harness. The other day I looked out of the kitchen window and saw Sasha sitting next to the fence, a sure sign that Max was out, so out I went and there he was SITTING in the fynbos facing the fence and completely stuck in the branches. It took some wiggling and pulling to get him out and back into the yard but back he came, for a little while. I am convinced he sits at night plotting different methods of escape.

Jasper on the other hand seems to have grown overnight. All of a sudden he has lost the gangly look and has become more solid and stocky. He still has the gentlest soul and is still a total cuddle bunny, quite happy to be carried around and kissed, any excuse to start up his purr motor. Gemma has not yet learnt how to deal with him and her escape valve is to sit at Jelly Bean's door and meow until she is let in. In general a happy, peaceful menagerie.

Last week when we went into Gordons Bay to do some shopping I found myself standing behind an old friend whom I haven't seen in over 12 years, what a blessing and happy catch up we had, she hasn't changed one little bit and it was like turning the clock back. I have had a quote going around in my head for days now - the cirlce of life. Even though we are all growing older, I am so aware of the fact that irrespective of what happens in our lives both good and bad, and how we deal with it puts us on the path of the next part of our journey. There have been so many times when I have been convinced that there was nothing further for me, or that it was the end, or that I had reached what I had attained to but, there was and alays will be something more for us to do. If anyone had told me this time last year that we would be here in Betty's Bay, living in our dream home and location, I would have been very skeptical probably to the point of disbelief. But just one right step at the right time and God does bring our hopes and dreams into reality. I look at my children and see confident, successful, beautiful people who fill me with pride. My husband is amazing and so talented, my best friend. In the last six months God has brought more people and old friends into our lives than possibly in the last six years. I don't know about you but I may be biologically on the farther side of life but in my heart I still feel 29, just with way more knowledge and experience. The journey on my life's winding road is nowhere near finished and in fact becoming more and more exciting with every passing day.

Friends on that note I am going to wish you a wonderful week, enjoy every day and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. As always please stay safe.

A normal week, most unusual

Good afternoon folks I can hardly believe we are already into February. This morning I realised that even though February is still one of our 'hot' months before Autumn it is definitely getting cooler in the early morning and through the night, yaaaay. I personally am counting the days to winter and then I will slow the clock down, most definitely a winter girl. To that end I have started on my latest project - an Afgan throw knitted in squares using four different colours, this is going to be an easy knit for me because the squares are light in weight. Having said that I am already planning the next project where I want to crochet an Afgan throw but from a pattern which is quite intricate, hey ho, hey ho it is with wool I go.

Most of last week was spent with my hard working Hubby finishing the Solar Panel, which works beautifully and gives us as much hot water as we need, and me recovering from the virus. Between having a couple of rainy days and all the roof work we did not do any exploring or major outings, we did however get news that our UK family, Miss Muffet and co are coming to South Africa later in the year which is going to be awesome. We will get to meet our two little Grandsons in the flesh as well as seeing Miss Muffet and her hubby for the first time in about 3 years, WAY too long guys. We are so excited and already making plans on both sides of the ocean...... So much to do and plan.

Jasper just seems to grow cuter by the day, this little guy just melts your heart. He is so gentle and hardly ever makes a sound, hmmm gentle as far as his humans are concerned but when it comes to Gemma, now that is a different matter. He is relentless in his quest of being her friend, except he thinks it will be achieved by jumping on her back at every opportunity and trying to chew her ears. Hats off to Gemma who is known for being an ice queen with a very short fuse, she growls, walks away and tries to ignore him but doesn't hurt him. I watched other day when Jasper tried to nibble her ears and was rejected, eventually he moved about a foot away and curled up to sleep near her, quite an achievement I can assure you. Hubby bought them a laser pointer the other day and if I am careful where I point it I can actually get them playing together with it. Max on the other hand is giving us no end of trouble with his climbing up and over the fence, we have now figured out what we hope will be the final successful way to keep him in the yard. This is going to entail tying a thick wire VERTICALLY from the top of the palisade to where the wire fencing ends, thereby closing the space he gets through and taking away his footholds. Watch this space - hopefully it will remain empty haha.

Friends as I said a quiet week spent doing domestic things and just enjoying being retired. I am attaching something that I read this morning which is powerful and so very true especially to the men out there, I hope you enjoy. Have a fabulous week with lots of adventures, good memories and good coffee. Please be aware of your surroundings and safe in all that you do.



"When a man can listen to a woman's feelings without getting angry and frustrated, he gives her a wonderful gift.
He makes it safe for her to express herself.
The more she is able to express herself, the more she feels heard and understood, and the more she is able to give a man the loving trust, acceptance, appreciation, admiration, approval, and encouragement that he needs."




Jasper being cute.