Twilight Markets and Ninja Cats

Good morning all, I trust this Blog finds everyone well. Currently we are having a hot day fanned by the famous Cape Doctor, south easter wind, definitely not my favourite temperatures, I am definitely a cold weather girl. Well, this last week has been fairly tame in comparison to the previous week's high jinx. Jasper has more or less behaved himself, he will always be a source of entertainment just by who he is but there were no major incidents other than him cuddling up with me last week and then going from purr machine to 'ninja cat' in minus zero seconds. The outcome of that little episode was the usual blood loss from my arm and Jelly Bean informing me that to look at my arm people would think I am a drug addict #facepalm. I have absolutely NO clue what brings on these 'ninja sessions' but trust me I try everything to avoid them haha. The dogs have just finished off a marathon s session of barking and frantic digging/biting at the fence, the cause - a tortoise next door.

Hubby dearest is busy having a sonar scan of his shoulder which he hurt almost a year ago. He's been for Physio, had injections etc and is now booked to see a Specialist on Wednesday. Jelly Bean is having a tough time at the moment as they are very short staffed at work and are having a sale as well, so she has worked ten days straight with no time off in sight until next week. The rest of the family are well with Princess getting ready to start year end exams, Poppet is having her six month check up, BabyBear is on week four of nine with a training course up in Johannesburg, Praise the Lord her company fly her home every weekend. BIg Guy is in the beginning stages of 'silly season' at work and BigBear is about to launch a new business venture on Wednesday, hmmmm seems Wednesday is quite a day for the family. Miss Muffet and family are also well although facing a challenge of the automobile variety. They were going away for the weekend and not too far from home their car's engine seized, they were able to have it towed back to a local garage and continued their trip with a hired car.

On Friday for the first time in ages I had enough energy and went shopping with my darling Hubby, we took Jelly Bean into work and then caught up on a whole lot of errands and shopping, lastly we went to visit a Twilight Market held on one of the Wine farms in the area. What a delightful evening we had. The entire Market is under a roof so the weather does not affect trading, and it is obviously a very well known and loved event. They had an enormous variety of food stalls covering just about every cuisine, in addition to some specialty stalls selling clothes, jewellary, gifts etc. I could not believe the amount of people there, it was full with a constant flow of visitors, they had a live band playing as well as a small Vintage Car Museum, masses of tables and a really nice atmosphere. We looked at all the stalls and the cars, then being spoiled for choice could not decide which food to eat LOL. Eventually Hubby dearest had a Bratwurst dog with Sauerkraut and I opted for a 'build your own salad' at an Egyptian stall, totally delicious it all was. I do believe I need to try and learn how to make Falafel Yummm.

At last peace reigns, the tortoise must have moved away, dogs are quite, Jasper is sleeping and I can hear the birds all twittering against the backdrop of the waves, for me sheer bliss. just a quick request, if ANYONE has a good recipe for Gluten Free bread that tastes better than cardboard or not like cake, please, please would you forward it to me, I would be truly grateful. On that note I am going to say Ciao for now, I wish you a beautiful week and please stay safe out there.

Pics of the Twilight Market.



Lastly a lady selling all varieties of Proteas at amazing prices. These red one are Pincushion Proteas

My life is certainly NOT dull.

Hi folks I don't know about you but our lives seem to be galloping along at the moment. Wow what a busy week we've had with one thing and another. Happily my darling Hubby returned safely last Tusday evening after a very long trip, towing the caravan for 17 hours straight. Apart from me being really ill whilst he was away, Jasper decided that our lives are not interesting enough and oh my word was he on a roll. From tipping over the small rubbish bin in our room looking for sweet papers, he found a new game. On Monday morning I noticed an egg shell lying on the floor and thought he'd pulled it out of the trash can, later that night when Jelly Bean and I got home from work we walked in to find he had discovered that by pushing on the side of the basket where I keep eggs in he could tap and roll them around which he proceeded to do one by one right off the fridge on three sides. We found and had to clean up the remains and mess of 5 smashed eggs, anyone who knows me will know that I cannot stand the smell of eggs, all the while being supervised by the guilty cat, needless to say the eggs are no longer on top of the fridge. Then on Monday (what a day) a poor, unsuspecting Rock Pidgeon fell off the top of the chimney and straight down into the fireplace, the problem was that last year we installed a cast iron stove into said fireplace and sealed up the bottom end of the chimney. The resulting drama was one totally freaked out/terrified cat who promptly ran into the bedroom where he jumped at the window and managed to tear the voile curtain - strike three. After trying everything there was no way to release the Pidgeon until eventually Hubby had to completely dismantle the coal stove and pipes, then we had to coax Mr Rock Pidgeon out, he was perfectly healthy in no hurry to come out, but eventually we managed to reach him and he flew off with speed.


With the trip behind him and the caravan now safely in place next to the house, Hubby and I were able to sit down and catch up only to disvocer that we had been charged three times more than quoted by the dealership for the replacement of a shock absorber on the caravan. The shock absorber would appear to be the exact same one that was already on the caravan. Our specially purchased and fitted thick mattress has also been replaced by a very cheap, very thin mattress, this is apparently because the yard dogs got into the caravan one night (how if it is in storage and closed ?) and chewed and ripped our mattress. When we asked why they had never contacted us to discuss this matter and the shock absorber we were met with silence and no further communication or apologies. We have since posted this entire episode on social media, their web sites, the National Caravan Magazine and a retail complaints site. I truly believe we are living in a time where integrity and customer service is in very short supply.

It is so very, very good to have my precious Hubby back home and being back into the normal routine of life. We now have to pull things down from storage and turn the caravan back into a third bedroom, it's one of those tasks that is going to take awhile and as Hubby dearest has had an ongoing sore shoulder I have not had the heart to get him pulling heavy things down, it will happen soon and long before our girls arrive for the Christmas holidays. This year Christmas is going to be very different for all of us as BigBear and BabyBear are going out of country for the holidays and Big Guy has to work so it will be the first Christmas that we won't all be together, sniff, sniff. Even so I really need to get the ball rolling and start getting myself organised and ready for the holidays.

Folks this was just a quick summary of the highlights of our past week, I am truly praying for a much more relaxed, peaceful week ahead. My prayers for you are the same, have a fabulous week, make memories and stay safe please.



Jasper trying to figure out what is in the chimney.


And now butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

A blustery, cold and wet day

Greetings from a cold, wet and blustery Bettys Bay, having said that I can imagine some of you wondering how on earth we are in the middle of the worst drought in decades and yet I always seem to be saying it is raining. For some reason because of how we are situated geographically we get a lot more rain than Cape Town, we ALWAYS have lower temperatures than the other side of the mountain, we also get our water from a dam that only supplies our four little villages. Cape Town on the other hand has just released statistics that unless things change drastically they will run out of water completely by March of 2018. I am not going to go into how this has been allowed to happen as that will undoubtedly take a nasty political turn. At the moment they have and are introducing lower regulated water pressures, water shedding in some places, public swimming baths have been closed and continual pleas for residents to use less than 80 litres of water per person, per day. The hotels and B & B's have taken measures where guests are concerned to remove plugs fron baths and basins, timers on shower taps etc, it all seems so crazy considering that this part of the Province is surrounded by ocean on three sides. Plans to build a de-salination plant have been drawn but it will take at least 18 months to complete and considering that the Cape is one of if not South Africa's biggest tourist attractions, with December and the summer coming up there is much, very warranted concern. Our beautiful Province needs a miracle desperately.

As I write today's Blog my precious Hubby is 1300 kilometres away in Gauteng. We have a caravan which we left there in order to sell which has not happened and so he and a friend of ours left here yesterday morning at 4am driving straight through, he arrived at Poppets house last night just after 7 pm. Two exhausted men given the fact that a couple of hours out of Johannesburg the car seemed to be shaking, by looking out of the windows were able to see that the one tyre had a problem. They stopped and discovered that it had a 'bubble' on the underside of the tyre tread and not on the sidewall as it usually happens, so they stopped and changed to the spare to complete the journey. It was only the Lord who kept it from bursting and the many prayers for their safety and protection. Today Hubby dearest is collecting the caravan, making sure everything is perfect, purchasing a new tyre and they will leave tomorrow morning at 4am again to return home. Princess messaged me last night to say, "I am sure Dad's ears are sore because Princess did not stop talking for one second." Shame, on Saturday whilst we were discussing the December holidays and how long it's been since we saw each other she said "Granny I can't do 'this' another year, I HAVE to see you more often". Bless her heart, I feel exactly the same. Yesterday our eldest Grandson (6) in the UK took a tumble off a skate board, so he is sitting with a nasty graze on his nose, Oh the joys of raising kids.

Last week I managed, can you believe it - to bake bread, rusks and get all my other piled up chores completed. I obviously never learn though, because I was feeling great I ploughed through and did everything in one day, not the best idea I've ever had, as I am still paying the price. Well, at least I got it ALL done.

Friends I truly value and appreciate each and every one of you for your support, and encouragement and prayers, you folks are stars. As you enter into this week may it be with a heart full of peace and expectancy, wisdom for every situation you are faced with and a joy that knows no bounds. Please stay safe wherever you are and keep up the good fight.

A breathtaking sunset last week over the mountain behind us.

Birthdays, braais and laughter

Good morning beautiful people, I suddenly realised this morning when my Hubby mentioned something about November just how close Christmas is. What on earth has happened to this year that it has gone by so fast? I am going to have to get myself into gear and start planning for Christmas, if I am truly honest I can't say that it feels like Christmas is on the horizon. I am not going to say the usual that last week was quiet because it was anything but, between Poppet's birthday last Tuesday and my handsome Hubby on Thursday, multiple Doctors visits for Jelly Bean and I it seems to have been a painful blur.

The birthdays both were celebrated in true family style with Poppet being blessed with gift/flower deliveries and all the spoiling that Princess had planned, I know we weren't there but I think we all managed to make her feel special. Handsome Hubby had a somewhat quieter day, we went for breakfast and coffee at a new little shop that has opened up here (one of four new businesses to open in the last month) and then we went out with BigBear and BabyBear for a delicious dinner on the seafront in Strand. In between all these occasions Jelly Bean and I were both at the Doctor, her for a bad dose of Sinusitis and me with the ongoing infection. Yesterday and today are the first days that I have felt even remotely 'normal' in close on a month, Jelly Bean is much better Praise the Lord and I feel as if I am at last on the mend although we are still waiting for lab results to come back. I actually said to my Hubby yesterday, and this will sounds really strange to some of you, but it feels 'good' to be back to my 'normal' Fibromyalgia symptoms, these I can deal with.

On Saturday we had some friends over for a Braai and happily the rain held off long enough and everyone seemed to enjoy their evening, for our international friends this was their first South African Braai, if I had known that I would have done more of the traditional dishes as well, next time guys. Yesterday apart from the drive into work we had a totally lazy day in the most wonderful, cool, rainy weather. Today is still cold and every now and then there is a short downfall so may it continue, every drop of rain we get is desperately needed.

To our great delight we have now seen whales three times, mostly just floating around and the one actually came up out of the water but did not breach completely, when we drive into town everyone's eyes are glued to the water looking for signs of the whales and dolphins. There are a lot of Baboons here in the Cape and they can cause a lot of damage and havoc, mostly we see them on the coastal road along the mountainside. They sit on the side or even in the road and play, usually bringing traffic almost to a stand still, in some cases and to our great annoyance a car will just stop dead in the middle of the road, no hazard lights, just STOP so they can look at the animals, aaaarrgghhhh it drives me crazy. Yesterday coming home Jelly Bean was driving and just happened to see one of the teenage baboons coming down the cliff face just in front of us, it lost its hold and took a bit of a tumble but managed to grab hold onto something to avoid a complete fall. No one can ever say it is boring living in this beautiful part of our country.

Hopefully this week I can get back into my stride with making some Rusks and bread, it's been awhile since I have baked anything and I'm hoping the results will be edible, trust me sometimes even though I do exactly the same thing, it turns out very strangely hahaha.

On a very funny note we came home one day last week and when Max ran down the driveway to greet Hubby, he was running so fast (bearing in mind he is a small Yorkie) he somehow tripped and literally rolled head over tail twice before stopping and then quickly looking around to see who had noticed, we nearly collapsed laughing and he just looked at embarrassed. Jasper still continues to entertain us with his antics and precious personality, he still hides from the big red monster of a vacuum cleaner, he still runs full speed down the room even though he knows he cannot stop in time. Last week I just happened to witness exactly how he stops, he was running and realised he was about to run into an oak box I have so as he started braking he put his front paws up like a high five against the box and then his rear end slid around to join the rest of him. It is like living in a circus here at times.

Friends I sincerely wish each of you a wonderful week, may it be peaceful, productive and just generally a good week. We have a saying in our family when a day goes pear shaped or takes a nasty turn, we say "Fluff that tutu out and go dancing". Please stay safe on the roads and always be aware of your surroundings.


Gemma and Jasper lounging around in the cooler weather

Are you making a difference ?

Good afternoon folks can you believe that it is already October, where has this year gone ? We are now in the final quarter of the year and as many people here call it the silly season, and with it comes reckless driving, office parties, Christmas parties, school leavers graduating etc, and along with all that comes, for many people loneliness and further stress. Because this has been a really hard year for so many people I would like to ask each of my readers to be sensitive to those around you whether it is at work, school, family, church, anywhere, there will be and are people who are struggling on various levels. Please can we step alongside of someone who is hurting or struggling and encourage them, try and help them, include them and just generally let them know that they are valuable and precious as individuals, a little recognition and appreciation goes far further than you can imagine. From experience I can say with assurance that many people who are struggling or facing challenges will hardly ever tell you or ask for help, which in turn makes them feel even more isolated. My heart goes out to the elderly and especially the single parents in particular single moms, they are faced with school prize givings, plays and parties, office get togethers, many of which just they either avoid going to or they do attend but feel invisible. The list could and does go on and on of those people who just need someone to reach out to them and show some kindness, it could be taking someone for coffee, or taking them shopping, perhaps offering to babysit so the parent can go shopping or attend the office event, just dropping off a cake or chocolate with a hug can totally turn a persons day around. Friends I'm not suggesting that you go out and be extravagant, it's the small things that show you care. It is one way we as individuals can make a difference in this crazy world we live in.

It's been a quiet and somewhat frustrating week for me health wise, after the fall I had two weeks ago I just steadily felt worse and worse. My Blood Pressure was all over the show, every time I stood up I wanted to faint along with continuous nausea aargh. Eventually on Friday I surrendered and went to see the Doctor who very quickly determined that I had a rampant bladder infection (with none of the usual symptoms), she prescribed a once off antibiotic which I took and only today can I say that I feel as if I am on the mend. For the first time I can stand without wanting to pass out and without the constant nausea, my kidneys are sore but I am drinking water by the litre and doing everything else I know to do, I am on the mend yaaaay. On Thursday last week my ever patient and loving Hubby and I had to go into Caledon for some business and whilst we were there we took the time to go and look at the Hotel which has Hot Spring Pools, oh my word, they have five or six pools of varying sizes and temperatures ranging from about 25c to 46c, because they are mineral springs these waters are packed full of goodness, it's on my 'to do list' for as soon as possible, I am going to go and soak in all the goodness of those minerals. We then stopped for lunch on the Pass at a beautiful restaurant where we had a delicious lunch before going down into Somerset West to fetch Jelly Bean. Every day that I live here I thank God for the blessing of living here with the beautiful ocean and the huge mountains, whoever I look I can see one or the other or both at the same time. As I sit typing this I am listening to the sound of the waves and a myriad of birds that are all singing, today has turned out to be one of those 'perfect' days in the Cape, a gentle breeze and blue skies above us. Tomorrow is predicted to be gale force winds and rain, there are no two days here the same which is just another reason we love it so much.

Tomorrow is Poppets birthday which is bittersweet for us as we would so love to be there with her and Princess to celebrate, but at this point we are storing up celebrations for December when we are all together. Thursday is My darling Hubby's birthdsy so I am predicting a slightly busier week than the last few hehe. Hopefully this week I can actually accomplish some tasks and get some things done that need attending to in the house.

Friends on that note I am going to say Ciao for now, thank you for your continued support and encouragement on this Blog. I wish you a week of accomplished tasks, caring family and friends, peace in your workplace and home and God's provision, wherever you go please stay safe.

My view from the deck as I sit here.