Reflection on the past year.

I can hardly believe that it was exactly one year ago today that the offer we put in on our house was accepted and the ball gathered momentum surprisingly fast. The whole of this week I've thought back to this time last year and our trip down here to find a house in five days, we bought the second house we were shown and what a year it has been, our dream come true. In one sense it feels like just yesterday and in the other like we've been here forever. Exactly two months after signing we were here lock, stock and barrel and have not looked back for one second, It has been a year of discovery, adventures, meeting new people and an entirely different way of life. I still get a thrill when I step outside and look up at 'our' mountain, or stand on the deck on a pitch black night where there is not another light to be seen, and all I can hear is the pounding of the waves as they break on the shore. We are so incredibly blessed but that doesn't mean it hasn't been without its challenges, that is life, the ups, the downs and the in-betweens. The most important thing is to ride the waves, get through the valleys and appreciate all the blessings and positives. This past week I had every opportunity to get stuck in a valley, I am not a depressive person but I woke up on Thursday feeling awful in every way, Fibro flare, and so depressed that I had trouble living with myself, thankfully Hubby and Jelly Bean were out most of the day which in itself didn't really help either. There was no tangible reason to feel the way I did so I took it easy, paced myself physically and prayed. Through the years we as a family have had a lot of experience with depression and anxiety but there is no instant or magical cure as we all know, people may ask why you didn't talk to them or tell them ? Most people who are battling with anxiety or depression will seldom tell you outright how they feel. The reason I have mentioned it here today is because depression/anxiety have been hidden from 'view' for too long and it is only now that folks are speaking out. Friends I would really like to urge you to be sensitive to those around you, encourage them, listen to them, don't dismiss what they are feeling as unimportant, to them it is all consuming, pray for and with them and just be there, love them. The next morning I woke up feeling much more my normal self and was able to view things objectively again and carry on with the day.

The one thing that continues to puzzle me is that we are still busier than we ever were back in Johannesburg. This last week has been a blur between Jelly Bean taking driving lessons and working a lot of shifts we have had a sunset picnic on the beach in Gordon's Bay, a morning spent doing various errands and shopping, a trip through to Stellenbosch and sucessfully de-fleaing Jasper who for some reason has been immune to all treatments, until Saturday when we were given a tablet for him to take and then certain drops to put on his neck, the result no fleas and no scratching with a happy kitty and happy mommy (I detest fleas and ticks with a passion). Last night we were blessed to have BabyBear spend the night as she was working in our district today although I am not sure it was such a comfortable evening for her. Whilst we were all chatting last night Jasper had a spurt of energy, running around and playing, which is fine except for the fact that my precious Hubby had pumped up an air mattress and brought it into the house in readiness for her visit. Somewhere in all the playing the 'sweet, innocent' Jasper must have pierced it and when she woke up during the night she was lying directly on the floor, not a puff of air in said mattress, so when I came through this morning there was my poor daughter(in law) curled up on the sofa - so sorry BabyBear.

As June rolls around so does my gorgeous grand-daughter's birthday, she will be turning 14 and again I cannot believe that we are there already, just yesterday she was a tiny little babe in my arms. This will also be the first birthday of hers that I am going to miss which breaks my heart, needless to say that we are going birthday shopping this week as I saw her Birthday 2017 wish list and it is long haha.

Update on the Sourdough starter and its results - woohooo my starter is working perfectly and I will continue to 'feed' it. So far I have made two Artisan Sourdough Breads which were fantastic although, the first was a better texture and the second a better shape. I am looking forward to testing out more recipes and hopefully enjoying the end products.

Friends I wish you a fabulous week, keep your eyes on the positives and please stay alert and safe.

Magnificent sunset from Bikini Beach and a bigger one of the thousands of tiny jellyfish scattered on the beach.


My artisan bread

It's been a whirlwind week.

Hi all, this week seems to have passed like a whirlwind, there is always just so much going on, we are definitely learning to do different things and make the most of our time, last week while staying in town for one of Jelly Bean's shifts we went to Gordons Bay for breakfast. We found a lovely restaurant right across the road from the beach where we could sit outside and take our time eating, one of the things about being in the Cape is that people are far more friendly, we got chatting to two gents who were doing a day trip through to Franschoek by motorbike and were discussing which route to take. After our meal we took our books, camera (of course) and chairs and sat right next to the beach reading, thankfully it was sunny but cool with no wind, we didn't get much reading done just because there was so much to look at and most people who went past greeted us, such a different mind set down here. From there we went up the mountain to the Steenbras Water Plant which is about two thirds of the way up the mountain, there is a look out point there and the view is absolutely spectacular. we could see right across to the Peninsular, hampered only by a bit of smog on the other side.

We are doing just a tad more driving than usual as Jelly Bean is having driving lessons in Kleinmond which is in the opposite direction to Somerset West but well worth it as so much has changed since we last did drivers licenses haha, I am pretty sure if most of us had to take our Drivers Licenses test now we would fail. I do so treasure the days when I don't have to leave the house mmmmm. For a couple of weeks I have been watching the blooming of a Protea bush across the road from us and on Saturday Hubby dearest and I walked across and I managed to get a couple of beautiful photos of this magnificent specimen, on our way over I had been telling him about a tame Guinea Fowl that had gone missing from a house near us when we saw the owner out on their deck calling him. Speedy is his name and he went missing on Friday so everyone has been on the lookout for Speedy, we saw a bird next door but it turned out to be a Cape Francolin, anyway long story short Speedy was found nearby yesterday and happily reunited with his family. (shades of Max aka Houdini). Only in Bettys Bay I can assure you.

I read a very interesting article from the Irish Times which spoke about the benefits of genuine sourdough bread. Bread that needs a starter and then is left for at least 18 - 24 hours to prove before baking. Apparently the longer the dough is left to prove the easier it is for your body to digest, so my starter is now on Day 3, I have to keep adding to it for seven days before it can be used and thereafter it just gets topped up and kept going. I can't wait to see and taste what the real bread tastes like and what effect it has in terms of digestion, watch this space for updates.

This morning Jelly Bean and I went and had coffee with a very special, unique lady whom I met here in BB and we had an absolute blast, so much laughter, really good Italian Coffee and a spectacular view. I'm looking forward to many more fun visits and coffee.
In amongst all the 'fun' stuff there is so often those very unwanted times of stress. Early on Friday morning Princess phoned and the moment I answered the call I knew it wasn't good news. She had been involved in a car accident where three other cars had rammed into the back of her, she was on an adrenalin overload from the shock, her car is still drivable thank the Lord and when we could eventually convince her to go the doctor he sent her for full neck and spine X-rays where, as we suspected, he saw that she had sustained a very severe whiplash. So with various pain and muscle medication and a neck collar later she is still very sore but on the mend, I still thank God for His protection because it could so easily have been much, much worse and that is why friends it is so important for us to pray for our families on a daily basis.

After such a busy start to this week I am going to be doing my utmost best to try and have a good few 'chill and re-charge' days. I laughed at my darling Hubby on Saturday after he very kindly offered to do both trips to work and back because I was just too sore, when I apologized he said "well it's not your fault if all your spoons fell off" hahaha. Spoons is an analogy used for energy for those with Fibro or Chronic Fatigue, the theory is that every spoon represents your energy required for the day, sometimes it takes all my spoons just to get up, dressed, make up on and house sorted. God truly blessed me with a husband in a million, thank you my Darling. Please be safe folks.

Pics from high up the mountain at the Steenbras Water Station.


Beautiful Protea growing wild.

It's going to be a good week

It's a beautiful day, with the sun shining, not too hot and all I can hear is the waves breaking on the shore and the occasional bird. We've done all the housework (thanks Babes) which included switching around two kitchen cupboards, that's the problem when you are really tall and go and put groceries in a 'bottom' cupboard near the floor - you can never find anything unless you sit flat on the floor so now, problem solved and a whole lot of things I didn't know I had are now available.

I can happily say that I've been enjoying a few fairly good days health wise, I'm not sure if it's the meatless diet or just some good days but either way I'm not complaining. Last week was interesting with some really cold days, not much rain sadly but we did get to light a couple of nice cosy fires, I met up with a lady who lives in Bettys Bay who I've been chatting to for awhile via What's App and we had a fabulous morning getting to know each other in a quaint little coffee shop, sitting next to a roaring fire. She is such an interesting, vibrant person who has such an interesting background, thank you Lord for new friends.

On our way in and out of Somerset West we were SO blessed to see two dolphins swimming side by side across the Bay fairly close to the rocks, it's one of my biggest dreams to actually swim with a dolphin, but seeing them in their natural environment was incredible. Then this weekend Jelly Bean and I saw a whale in False Bay, the first time we saw 'him' he was up near Gordons Bay and on the journey home had moved down closer to Rooi Els, the next day he was more or less the same place and just appeared to be floating around. How exciting is it to be so fortunate to live in this beautiful part of the country? Every day I thank God for His grace and goodness to us.

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there for yesterday, I hope you all had a good day. I would just like to share something that Jelly Bean shared with me yesterday, she is reading a book (nothing new in that lol) and read out a statement which basically said we have to learn not to live in our minds. A simple enough statement and something that we all know but it is not always that easy to actually do. Where am I going with this ? I had been dreading Mothers Day because it was only the second one that I would not be spending with all or most of my kids, I was feeling totally shut out and unimportant, not true I know but the more you listen/live in your mind the easier it is to believe what is not reality. I actually had a lovely day, it was quiet because Jelly Bean had to work a double shift, so we did a Continental Brunch with Croissants, cheese, toppings and then made a huge healthy smoothie which we all thoroughly enjoyed, she gave me a bottle of my favourite perfume and I had messages and calls from all the others, we even squeezed in a Skype chat with the girls in Pretoria. All in all a special day although it was different and I was fairly tearful but only because I love and really miss my family, I do miss the big, crazy, noisy Sunday lunches, so have decided I will just treasure them even more when they do happen. I know I am not the only Mom who feels like this, or felt sad yesterday, but girls we cannot live in our minds, that is where the enemy will come and sow seeds of negativity on every level. If you find yourself in this position all I can encourage you to do is make a conscious decision to look at your blessings, ask God to help you fight the enemy's lies and rest in His goodness. Your family loves you, your friends love you and most of all God loves you.

On that note I want to wish you a blessed week, may you feel loved, may you spread love to those around you and always, always be safe and aware of your surroundings.

Jasper playing in the washing basket.

Do we see the beauty around us ?

Hi all I hope this finds you rested and ready for the new week, I must be honest and say that for some reason I have had the days all muddled up over the weekend, you know when Sunday doesn't feel like Sunday? It has been a lovely cool weekend with a few very light showers but mostly I am just loving the cooler weather. Hubby dearest has gone to play nine holes of golf with a friend (his first game in a few years) and I've just completed the weeks baking, this time I divided it up over two days with a 'rest' day in between. I have just made Gluten Free rusks and cannot wait for them to finish drying out to see how they taste, the first baked product tasted awesome. This gluten free baking is a challenge and for me the biggest challenge is in baking, so here is holding thumbs. About two weeks ago Big Guy asked whether I could try making normal (flour) Coconut Rusks which is what I did on Saturday by just adding the coconut to my existing recipe and they got the thumbs up from my expert taste tester - Hubby, so I will have to organize a 'mom' parcel up to Johannesburg for the three of them.

Speaking of Big Guy he has been off work for about five days because he put his back out so rest has been his mission, and tomorrow he goes back to work somewhat gingerly I imagine. The girls have been well although beyond busy and here I must just give our little Princess huge kudos for being such a help to her mom and such a blessing. Poppets week started 'slowly' today with her being stuck in the lift at work for 45 minutes which must have been so scarey, especially considering that she is extremely claustrophobic. Last week we met up with BigBear and BabyBear for a delicious curry dinner in Somerset West, it was fantastic just catching up with them and sharing a meal. It is these moments with my family that are so precious to me, I really miss my Johannesburg family and miss our get togethers. Jelly Bean is working hard and absolutely loving where she 'is' at the moment, it is such a joy to watch her blossom and grow.

The other day Hubby and I were waiting for Jelly Bean, we were sitting in the car at the beach reading, it was drizzly and the beach was pretty much deserted except for the odd person or family. While watching I was just reminded again how much we tend to take for granted in our lives, there was a couple with a little girl of about 2 or 3 and a Grandpa, from the moment this little girl's feet hit the sand she took off running , no inhibitions just pure joy. She saw a seagull and he then became the target but being the wise old bird he was he flew off and landed about 30m away whereupon she just chased after him again. She ran the length of the beach just enjoying the air, the sand and lack of boundaries. Then there were two men standing ankle deep in the water and you could see by the way they were acting that it was the first time they had ever been to the ocean. They took pictures of each other, the buildings behind them, the sea, the sand, everything. There was such an sense of awe and delight between them which just blessed me, when we left we drove past their employers who were waiting for them in their bakkie which had a Northern Cape registration, it was so touching that they were prepared to sit and wait for the guys for such a long time. Friends let's not allow ourselves to get jaded or cynical because of what we see going on in the world around us, my prayer is that each one of us can retain that sense of awe and innocence in the beauty around us.

On that note I am going to bid you a fantastic week, may you be blessed in many different ways. Please stay safe and make the most of every minute spent with your family and friends.



A beautiful sunset last week from Strand beach.


A very quite beach on a cold day


Jasper having mommy cuddles in the cold weather.

A bit of this and a bit of that

Good morning to one and all, I trust everyone is well and enjoying the long weekend (in South Africa). The Cape certainly knows how to show off to tourists in terms of its beauty, the people and even the weather. Driving along Clarence Drive this weekend all we saw at every pull off area all that could be seen was groups of people either looking out into the bay or standing taking pictures. On Saturday we sweltered in scorching temperatures well into the 30s and I am really praying that was the last of summer. Yesterday was cooler with a little rain but we need SO much more in order to make any difference to the water tables, today is sunny and thankfully not hot. Seeing as my precious Hubby has taken Jelly Bean to work and is going to practice at the driving range and then collect her, I have got a Ciabatta Bread rising and am then going to make either muffins or scones before I hang up my hammock chair on the deck and get to sit out there hopefull with my book.

We had a super busy week which kicked off with taking Jasper to the Vet on Tuesday morning. All my suspicions were correct, he had rhinitis and quite a severe infection, hence the really smelly breath. She gave him an anti-inflammatory shot and a ten day course of antibiotics which are working like a charm, by the third dose his breath was back to normal and although he was poorly for a couple of days, he is now back to normal if you can call hiding behind the books normal, it was vacuum cleaner day lol.

With all the driving last week I managed to get some fabulous photos of False Bay in a number of its different moods, I will post them at the end of this Blog. Yesterday we found a fabulous little Coffee shop in the Strand called Timeless Cafe, it is just one of those perfectly situated little places on the beachfront where they have tables out on the pavement, it is the perfect place for a light meal, we had breakfast and they serve without a doubt THE best coffee I have ever had. We had a lovely breakfast, way too much coffee and just sat watching the world go by and reading our books, after which we went and sat in the car right on the beach and continued our reading before we collected Jelly Bean. There was an occasional drizzle and not many people on the beach so it was super peaceful.

Somehow I am going to have to re-evaluate my 'pacing' strategy because at the moment it is non existent, hopefully I will be able to get on top of some of the health issues with a bit more planning and actually listening to my body. I am one of those people who tends to go full out until everything is 'done'. I can't do that anymore but keep forgetting in my quest to complete all that needs doing. For example a day out in town doing the shopping and other household chores will leave me running on about 10% strength the following day/s and here's where I am getting it wrong, because of re charging, I battle to sit until that day's work is done and so it goes. Apologies for the rant, sometimes it helps getting perspective when you get to see it in writing. In Fibromyalgia circles they call it using up all your spoons which is an interesting theory. They work on the assumption that we all have for example ten spoons of energy per day and everything we do uses up spoons of energy, what will take a 'normal' person one spoon i.e. Getting out of bed and getting dressed, can take us five or even more spoons. We still only have ten per day so that means less spoons required in order just to complete normal for asks that require many spoons. It is beyond frustrating because it goes contrary to my nature and usually leaves me feeling guilty when I sit down, so this is the balance/pacing part I have to work out. Some things just have to be done, others can be put off and it's trying to get the balance right, clearly I'm not very good at that at the moment. I'm a work in progress haha.

Friends thank you for your support on this Blog page, I pray you have a wonderful week and get to accomplish all your goals. Please be safe out there, until next week ciao ciao.

I wish these photos could capture the colours and images perfectly but these were pretty close.

A magnificent sunset over False Bay where the water was smooth like a mirror.


Yesterday morning sunrise, the most incredible pinks and oranges.


A quiet beach yesterday


Jasper playing hide and seek in a packet