Life is full of obstacles

Good morning friends I hope this Blog finds you all well and overcoming obstacles. Why overcoming obstacles ? Because no matter who you are, or how good or bad life is there will always be some obstacles in your path in order to get you to quit, slow down or even become overwhelmed by it all. We always have a choice and as hard as it sometimes is to keep going and not give in, that really is the only way to handle the issues that keep dropping into our lives. I am and always have been a glass half full person, yes there have been many times in my life where I have questioned things, why me? what did I do wrong? Isn't it enough now? And from first hand experience those questions never give you answers or change the situation. Speaking positively over a situation, keeping my thoughts on God's Word and His promises, refusing to give up for any reason, taking time to nourish my Spirit and just plain hanging on are what carries me through every situation. Discouragement will always try and take hold but if our feet are firmly planted in the Word of God and His promises it is virtually impossible to stay discouraged and sad. Friends, start looking at all the obstacles as potential testimony and speak God's words over the situation, your family, your health, your finances, those you work with, your safety etc. I look forward to hearing some of those testimonies as you overcome one after another challenge or obstacle.

We are having glorious weather at the moment, sunny and cold (big grin), we have a fire going just about every day and have had some good rains, still much more needed but every drop is precious and counts. Hubby dearest is busy working on the cat tree and what we have so far is looking awesome, I'm not sure Jasper quite gets the whole concept but hopefully when the platform and the hammock are on he will be able to climb and play. He has been a little terror over the last while and at the same time an absolute cutey, one moment he will be playing and purring and the next he attacks your hand/arm with a vengeance. I've tried a few things generally to my own harm/blood loss and eventually turned to good old Google, in about 20 articles that I read on the subject there was only ONE that actually gave any kind of a solution - break eye contact and look away, ignore him (hard to do when your flesh is in a vice grip) and move away from him, do not smack, blow in his face or shout (all those things just make my cat sink his teeth in deeper).
I have been using these techniques for the last three days and am happy to say that so far they are working and I have a real cuddle bunny on my lap also hopefully my hands and arms will stop looking as though I lost a fight with thorn tree.

Folks, I wish you a week of happiness, favour with others, protection and good memories. Please stay safe wherever you are and make the most of every minute you have.


Sourdough salty crackers nom nom

Here and there

Once again we find ourselves facing a new week and the rapid closing of June, I can hardly believe that we are just about half way through this year, where oh where has the time gone? Last week was a relatively quiet 'normal' week for us with no major happenings, we have had some rain and a few windless days but winter has definitely arrived, very late but here non the less. As I sit and type this the wind is blowing a literal gale, earlier trying to hang up the washing felt like trying to tame a hyperactive octopus and driving Jelly Bean to work was also an interesting exercise with the wind battering the little car from side to side. We've had a fire going for days now which was one of our biggest dreams during the build up to the move, it is such a joy to sit warm and cozy with a hot mug of tea/coffee in hand, all the animals curls up sleeping and a beautiful fire, sheer bliss.

A friend of mine who lives in BB and is a very keen gardener, she calls it fynbos therapy, has been on the lookout for a couple of weeks for a suitable piece of wood which we, Hubby dearest, can turn into a cat condo and has been sending photos of possible contestants. Last week after the storm she discovered that her beautiful tree had been blown down, she has an eye that can see beyond a horizontal felled tree and quickly got to work stripping the leaves and lots of the branches. I got a very excited call about the newest 'contestant' and so Hubby and I made a quick trip and left there with our car looking like we had a moose's antlers tied to the roof, what a beautiful tree this precious friend blessed us with. Now it's up to my very clever Hubby to incorporate it into a new cat condo where we can put in a couple of shelves and maybe a hammock, with all the climbing, playing space the cats could need, watch this space....

I am still busy experimenting with sourdough recipes and have so far had really good success with salted crackers and pull apart dinner rolls, I definitely foresee many more experiments coming out of this oven. For someone who many, many years ago tried her hand at bread making / baking and failed miserably every time I am thoroughly enjoying making almost all of our baked goods - breads, crackers, rolls, pizza, biscuits and rusks. We have become fairly self sufficient as far as that kind of thing is concerned and we are still enjoying and trying out new and different vegetarian dishes. Jasper takes a very keen interest in the baking side of things as he is quite unashamedly addicted to yoghurt and butter and the minute I start he is front and centre checking into all the bowls etc.

Folks I want to end off this week's Blog with an encouragement, so many people I know are right at this moment really battling with circumstances and situations that they have no 'physical' control over, with discouragement and exhaustion. I want to say to all of us is that it is perfectly normal to want to throw our toys out of the cot, to just loose the plot as it were. I saw something last week which I shared with a family member who was struggling with something, it read : "It's ok to loose 'the plot' and be upset but, it's not ok to build a tent and camp there." In other words be kind to yourself, recognise that this is just a season and no amount of worry and stress is going to change a thing, take some time out for yourself and do something that feeds your spirit. There are so many times when the fight just seems too much, too exhausting, no light at the end of the tunnel, try to just take a step back and look at all the times you've fought a battle and at the end of every battle there was and always will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep looking for that light and know that so far your survival rate is 100%, hang in there friend you've got this, God will never let you down He has brought you this far in life and is not about to abandon you now.

Wishing each of you dear friends a fantastic week ahead, stay safe please.

Gemma enjoying the fire



Sourdough salted crackers



Our potential cat condo (you have to imagine the end product) lol

The biggest storm in 30 years.

Good morning all from a cold and really windy Betty's Bay, I trust you have all had a good week? Ours has been pretty much centred around the weather in every way, on Tuesday night the wind came up as the cold front moved into the Western Cape and boy oh boy has it been blowing. Wednesday there were winds in excess of 90 kmph here in BB and a fair bit of rain, Cape Town and all along the Atlantic Seaboard seemed to get the worst of the storm in the sense that they had massive storm surges with the waves breaking over and completely flooding adjacent roads. There have been some amazing pictures and videos taken and I have to really give credit to the Western Cape government for the way they handled the entire situation, we were kept up to date on traffic, closed areas and the situation in general, schools and many businesses were closed and people were advised to stay off the roads. Where we are there were no major wave surges just the incredibly high winds and blessed rain. Strand beach, where I have taken and posted many photos, was also flooded right across the road. I fully expected that the coast road we use would be closed due to rock falls etc and thankfully it was kept open (not that we used it on Wednesday), we were kept advised of where rocks had fallen and by Thursday morning at 7 am when we took Jelly Bean to work the clean up crews were already working on the road and in all the other areas.
Our house was absolutely fine thanks to my very talented Hubby, we had no leaks or any damage whatsoever and spent the day in front of the fire listening to the wind, it was hectic. On Thursday while waiting for Jelly Bean to finish a driving lesson we took a drive to the beach road in Kleinmond and I spent ages getting some fabulous shots of very high waves as well as getting wet from all the spray, it was great fun. Since then winter has definitely, at last arrived and it is cold, colder than is usual for the Cape, there is visible snow on the mountains behind Somerset West / Strand and the wind is still howling, we are currently having gusts up to about 65 kmph with intermittent rain - I decided that washing was a no go today it might have ended up in Pringle Bay haha so, a roasted butternut and sweet potato soup for supper with some fresh warm artisan bread. At the same time as all this has been taking place, further up the East Coast along the Garden Route there have been the biggest fires in 150 years, the loss of homes and properties is absolutely enormous, sadly 7 people lost their lives in the fires, but the true spirit of South Africans has come to the fore. Help and aid have come in for the fire victims from every corner of this country in absolutely mind blowing amounts. South Aficans came together in every possible way and have worked tirelessly around the clock fighting the fires, helping with clothes, food, pet supplies, medical supplies, transporting goods, sending in teams etc. It shows that this country does have a heart and is not as divided as the politicians try and make it. People care and do help, thank You Lord that we haven't lost that ability and for the countless miracles that have and are taking place in all these areas.

After ALL that news today is a very special day in our family, Princess turns 14, I can hardly believe that the years have gone so fast. She is such a blessing to anyone she comes in contact with, she has such a soft heart especially for animals, and has grown into an elegant young lady, seemingly overnight. I must give praise where praise is due, her Mom, Poppet has done an incredible job in raising Princess through some of the most difficult times a person can go through and She has done an amazing job, well done to both of you for the beautiful ladies you are. I so wish we could have been there with them to celebrate today but as Princess said to me this morning "just wait til Christmas Granny, then we are going to have so much fun", we are also going to Skype later so really looking forward to that. Happy Birthday sweetheart.

Folks as my precious Hubby has just brought me a cup of tea, he makes THE best tea, I am going to end off for today. Sending you prayers for your safety and wishing you a fabulous week. Stay safe friends and make the most of every day you have with your loved ones.

Some pics from the day after the storm taken in Kleinmond.

The 100th Blog I can hardly believe it

Gosh this is my 100th Blog I can hardly believe it, thank you all so much for your continued support and interest over this past year and I am looking forward to sharing many more adventures and stories to come. If I think how much in our lives has changed since I started and all the new friends I've made it feels like a lifetime of events, ups and downs and let's not forget all the photographs.

At the moment the topic on everyone's lips at the moment is the massive storm/cold front that is moving in on the Western Cape and expected to hit land on Wednesday, bringing winds of up 100kmph (in our area) with predictions of up to 80mm of rain as well as snow on the high mountains. We did have some rain on Saturday which was a forerunner and the weather has at last turned cold, what has amazed me is that after only one day of rain and when I stand outside all I can hear is the myriads of small frogs in the fynbos - they've obviously been there for awhile but no sound which must mean they are clearly delighted, my explanation. My darling Hubby has been up on the roof to check that all is secure, he has wedged the dog's kennel firmly so that it won't be blown away - you may laugh but the wind last year totally smashed our plastic garden table and some of you may remember that we would find the dog bowls around the corner of the house, that means they were blown off the deck and over the 2.5m wall. When he told me about securing the kennel I burst out laughing because I had this image of the kennel blowing over the deck with Max peering out in surprise. The folks in Cape Town and the areas where severe water restrictions are in place have buckets at the ready and in general there is an air of excitement and readiness. The media are also asking people to stay off the roads where possible, no problem for us, Jelly Bean is off and I have no intention of moving. I feel desperately sorry for a friend of mine who lives nearby, they bought their property eighteen months ago and only found out after moving in that house is actually very unsafe, certificates were not genuine and there is currently much legal negotiating going on, the problem for them is that they actually move out of their home during big storms or high winds in case it actually does collapse or the roof comes off. I'm really praying for them to get resolution quickly so that they can enjoy their home.

This last week has been fairly normal we actually got to see a couple of whales whilst driving which caused great excitement and then on Saturday when I took Jelly Bean into work I saw a pod of dolphins, just merrily swimming along the coast, destination unknown. I managed to pull over and took a video but it's definitely not 'public' quality hehe. One of my greatest delights is the trips into town and what we can spot.

On the Sourdough Bread front progress is definitely being made, my starter is thriving, loaves are being baked and eaten and I have found that I can use the discarded starter for baking other delicious morsels. Every time you feed the starter you have to discard some before adding the 'new feed' which seemed such a waste until I got onto Pinterest and wow there was a whole new area to branch into. Yesterday I was so blessed to be able to Skype with all the girls and grand children, Poppet, Princess who is in the midst of exams, Miss Muffet, her Hubby and both the boys who are very busy learning cricket so I got to see their cricket bats and ball. Skype is a wonderful thing to help us all keep in contact and bridge the distance gap a little. Last week we also took a trip into Cape Town central where we did some shopping and then met with BigBear for a wonderful lunch, such a treat, which leaves Big Guy as the only one I haven't seen with my eyes this last week.

Well friends we have a very dirty dog who is in dire need of a bath so I will end off this 100th Blog by again saying thanks for being there, have a fantastic week and please, please, wherever you are be safe.

Jasper striking a pose.