My head is spinning

Good morning friends I hope you are all well rested and ready to tackle this brand new week?  All I can say is I  really hope this week is easier haha, last week was just a blur of busyness.  Everybody is back at work now and the holidays are officially over, Pincess has her first full week of  High School done and dusted, the two little 'Master Muffets' in the UK are back into the swing of things a school and  our lives got crazy busy here in BB.

As I told you last week we have adopted a nine week old kitten who is totally blind, CeCe arrived on Wednesday and then the fun began.  She is absolutely adorable but quite a little individual and I am learning in leaps and bounds.  When she arrived she had a very upset tummy, which we assumed was all the stress of two relocations, new food etc, well said 'unhappy tummy' just got worse and worse.  It felt like all I did all week was clean, disinfect, clean disinfect, feed, repeat. 😂  Originally we had her in the lounge in the 'playpen' but it turned out easier to keep her in the bathroom in order for her to try and settle down.  Eventually on Saturday I spoke to one of the ladies from the Organisation we got her from and she suggested that I get a probiotic and poach chicken breasts and feed that only, what amazing advice it was with  almost instantaneous results and  her tummy is now 100%.  This little madam very quickly got tired of the bathroom and the playpen.  Yesterday we let her loose in the main part of the house and good grief she is like a little rocket, more like a bouncing lamb.  CeCe walks around by sort of sweeping her front paws sideways and far forward, when she has the layout of the area then it's all systems go and she does these funny little jumps all around the room, not slowly may I add.  It is quite intriguing to watch as well as worrying about all the bumps when she runs into something.  This morning she was restless so I let her 'loose' and she was running around so fast and bumping into everything that she got extremely frustrated and started growling at the air.  I have quickly discovered that to calm her down I wrap her in a blanket and soothe her that way, a lesson I learnt from #kittenlady who is a kitten rescuer in the USA.  We have to talk to her and warm her before picking her up or putting her down because otherwise it startles and scares her.  Thank the Lord that Jasper is completely intrigued and either sits in front of the playpen,  jumps in to see if she's left any food, or follows her around everywhere, the fun begins if she moves suddenly or sneezes because he gets a fright, jumps and runs away.  This morning he went into her sandbox and was giving the softest little calls to her as if to say "here I am this is how you do it".  As for Gemma she just avoids it all, the dogs, particularly Sasha are curious and at this point haven't actually been introduced because they would be too much for her to handle.    This morning Hubby actually saw Max CLIMB over the top of the shoulder high mesh fence into the next yard, even after looking everywhere we could not find him until someone spotted him and called us.  A friend asked me this morning how it is going in the zoo and that is exactly what it feels like at the moment.

As a result of the unending busyness and stress I ended up in a full blown Fibro Flare which stupidly and out of necessity I pushed through only to pay the price severely, so yesterday I begged off traveling and quite literally spent most of the day laying down and dealing with the pain, my precious Hubby even brought take always home for supper (the fact that our gas ran out probably helped on that one hehe). Today I pick myself up, dust myself off, straighten my crown, fluff my tutu and start the week.  Tomorrow I have another appointment with the Eye Specialist to discuss the way forward on my troublesome left eye so here is praying for wisdom and good news.

Folks I wish you, each and everyone a fantastic week of new opportunities and blessings, let's see how each one of us can make a difference and spread joy to those around us going forward into 2018.  Please  stay safe and always be aware of your surroundings.

Jasper on babysitting duty and Cece in quieter moments

My year just got really exciting

Good morning friends my year suddenly picked up pace exponentially on Thursday and I am still questioning whether I am quite crazy 😏.  Let me start at the very beginning, our week settled down quite quickly after having the family here for the holidays and routine returned to normal (does normal exist??). On Thursday Jelly Bean had the day off and so we all relaxed and we're just chilling at home, during the afternoon I was looking at Facebook when I saw an 'ad' for a tiny little blind kitten (yep you know where this is going), anyway I looked at the pictures and actually thought it was a rescue organisation in Durban so scrolled on past.  I just could not get her out of my mind so after looking a few times I saw that they were based in Cape Town hmmmmm, I showed the photo to Hubby dearest who just looked at me and smiled, I contacted the organisation to find out whether she has any other health issues, which she does not and they in turn sent me an application form to complete as there was another person also interested in adopting her.  A couple of hours later they phoned to say she is ours and how excited they are to have found a good home so quickly.  This dear little soul was up on the West Coast and arrived in CT on Saturday morning, she is at the Vet today for all the necessary tests and vaccinations and will come through to us on Wednesday .......... Along with the excitement is a great big dose of nervousness.  We are going to call her CeCe which means 'little blind one' and at the moment are busy getting everything she will need ready, my amazing Hubby is going to make her a 'cat playpen'  so that when the other animals are around or visitors with children come she can have a safe place to call her own.  Am I crazy ??? Quite possibly but we both have peace that this is right so please keep us in your prayers especially for a harmonious union with Gemma and Jasper, it is my prayer that they will both become protective and guiding for her.  I will post some pictures of her next week once she has settled down.

Our Princess started High School last week with an extremely busy week of Camp, collecting all her books, a school gala on Friday - she came fourth in her race and then Athletics day on Saturday.  She took part in four events the 200 m, 100 m, hurdles and high jump and got a gold medal for each event, what a start to her High School career.  Well done my Angel you are a Superstar.  This week they actually begin with schoolwork and a normal routine.  Everyone else is back at work and so the year will continue.

Weather wise it has been unbearable with extreme heat and humidity except for Friday and Saturday which were pure heaven, cool, overcast and drizzle.  I was in my element, today not so much as we are back to the heat and humidity.  As I write this I have taken haven in our bedroom, closed the doors and windows and have the portable aircon going, Jasper like me does not do well in the heat so he is curled up next to me fast asleep.  Please keep Cape Town in your prayers as the drought is the worst in over a century and the day that the city runs out of water totally in now scheduled to be in April.  As from February the 1st level 6B restrictions come into play which means that everyone is only allowed to use 50l of water per day per person, for everything, cleaning, laundry, toilets, cooking, drinking etc.

Folks, that is the 'highlights' in terms of our news for this last week, but I am quite sure the rest of the week is going to be interesting to put it mildly.  I pray that you have a blessed week and would like to
encourage you to reach out to others with encouragement and kindness, you may never ever know
how much of a difference it will make in their lives, but the law of sowing also includes reaping so as you sow kindness and encouragement so you will reap the harvest back.  Please be safe wherever you go and if anyone has tips for raising blind kittens I am all ears 😄.

Driving into Somerset West on Friday morning

An extremely busy week .......

Good afternoon all, I hope today's Blog finds you all well and happy?  All I can say is what a week, whew so much has happened that it feels like much longer.  Last week we had Princess and Big Guy here as you all know, we had a heatwave that left us all feeling like limp spaghetti UGH, I can hear all 'my' Northern Hemisphere readers saying "you are so lucky",  thank you but NO I would trade the heat for cold and snow in a heartbeat.  For some reason the heat causes far more pain and discomfort from a Fibromyalgia standpoint than the cold, for me, needless to say it wasn't a great week in that department, but a fantastic week in terms of having my family here.

On Thursday I had the appointment with the Opthalmologist and we then planned to go through to Cape Point which is on the other side of False Bay.  For starters the eye appointment didn't go quite as I  expected - just an examination, but the Specialist decided there and then to do a Laser procedure on my right eye, he lasered the opaque capsule at the back of my eye.  It did not take too long and the improvement in terms of clarity was immediate yaaaay, the left eye he has left for the time being as he is consulting with my original Specialist in Johannesburg to get all my records and then work out a way forward.  After the two surgeries on my left eye in 2016 my vision has been compromised in that eye and, Dr K feels that he can corrcet it almost completely hence not doing the laser treatment to clear the capsule.  Once the Laser has been done he would be unable to do anything further to improve my vision, so at the moment I have one blurry eye and one clear eye....... Great fun.

From there we proceeded with our planned trip (in temperatures of 39c) and traffic that was unbelievably insane, it seemed that every person in the Western Cape had chosen the same day to be out and about at the seaside.  Eventually we made it to Cape Point only to discover that they have increased the entry price astronomically never mind having to pay to get on the Funicular, just the entrance alone would have cost close to R1000 which is a LOT.  We turned around and went back to Simonstown where we explored briefly, took some photos and had a good lunch right on the Harbour don't  forget the heat.  All this time I had a streaming eye, could not wear my glasses as the glare was too harsh for my eye and had sunglasses on so nothing was very clear #facepalm.  We took some pics of Just Nuisance who was a Great Dane dog that the Royal Navy adopted and actually enlisted and he became know as Able Seaman Just Nuisance assigned to the H.M.S. Afrikander.  (If you Google him you can see the entire story).  From Simonstown we went to the Scratch Patch just a couple of kilometers down the road, Scratch Patch is a place where one can go and scratch through big areas of semi precious gem stones, you pay per size of the bag you take, they have a beautiful shop as well as a Jewellary shop.  This was great fun and we filled our bags (all the while melting in the heat), browsed through the store and afterwards Big Guy gave me a beautiful Dragonfly broach/pendant from the Jewellary store, I am truly blessed.  We eventually managed to get home very late afternoon and just collapsed, truly the actual driving part of the trip took more than twice the normal time due to the crowds and traffic.

Saturday was Big Guys birthday and as per family tradition he got to choose his birthday meal - no surprises there as he chose Chicken Breyani hehe.  BigBear and BabyBear came through for lunch
and then afterwards my darling Hubbby and I dropped Jelly Bean at work and took Big Guy to the airport for his trip home.  The 'Bears' stayed to spend some time with our Princess.

Yesterday was another early start as Princess flew home after being with us for a whole month and the house feels SOO quiet and empty,  gosh it is a weird feeling although Poppet is very happy to have her daughter back.  Even Hubby said this morning how much he is missing her.  This year is a big one for her as she starts High School - you've got this Princess, just take it all in your stride.

Friends that's a 'brief' overview of our past week with this one looking FAR quieter in every respect.  I sincerely hope and pray that your 2018 is off to a good start and is going to be a good year in every way, don't forget to take the challenges as opportunities for growth, make lemonade out of those difficult times and never give up.  Sending love from a still hot Betty's Bay until next week, please stay safe.

Simonstown Harbour and Statue of Just Nuisance

Princess at the beach, really strong surf.

Scratch Patch huge Amethyst rock and the actual scratch patch

Family, Twilight Market, Birds and Good Food.

Good morning lovely people I hope January is treating you well so far.  We started off knowing it was going to be a busy month and so it has.  Last week after Poppet  flew back we had Princess here and with the weather being good Grandpa was quite happy to take her to the beach, although how this child can spend almost up to an hour in this cold water confounds me.  Our average summer water temperature is around 14c and she goes in without a wet suit and will stay until we call her out.   Big Guy arrived early on Thursday morning and is now unwinding and fighting off a cold/hay fever.  I must  say that both he and Poppet have been such a blessing to me in that they have both cooked some fantastic meals, literally kicking me out of the kitchen, it is not easy to sit and watch my family cooking while not helping but I have very 'bossy' offspring haha.  They have both helped with driving as well so giving Hubby and I some down time, despite which I have been pretty much 'lady down' with high pain levels, hopefully this week will be better.  I had to see the Optician last week as my eyesight seems to have deteriorated in the last two months, I was quite upset when he discovered that although my prescription has barely changed since I had the three surgeries, the Lens Capsule in both eyes,  which is left behind during surgery has become opaque and I now have an appointment to see the Opthalmologist who will have to do Laser 'Surgery' on both eyes grrrrr.

On Friday night we took Big Guy and Princess to the Lourensford Twilight Market sadly miscalculating its popularity.  We arrived less than one hour after they opened and the crowd was unbelievable, it was almost impossible to walk and actually see the various vendors so eventually w decided to get something to eat, which involved queues of 15 - 20 people at every food stand.  All the tables were full and eventually the guys found a spot on the grass outside, we estimated that there were easily upwards of 2000 people there, kids, dogs, prams ...... Crazy.  After eating we did not even bother trying to find something to drink, we left and had drinks at the Mall before fetching Jelly Bean.

On Saturday my clever Hubby made and installed a Nectar Feeder for the sunbirds in the area, we
have a lot of birds here but seldom see Sunbirds.  That has now changed and as I type this there are 13 different birds sitting on the fence waiting (not patiently) for their turn to drink.  Yesterday the bottle was empty and one little bird flew at the window to let me know they were waiting, such a small thing and it brings us so much joy.  We have set my camera up on the tripod and are getting some really beautiful pictures, see below.  The next thing on Hubby's to do list is to build an Owl box to attract and hopefully have them breeding from.

Folks as I have to take Princess into town so that she can spend some of her Christmas vouchers, I will now end off for this week.  For those of you who are back at work, turn the challenges into victories and don't forget spread some kindness, for  those still on holiday please enjoy your week and to all stay safe.


Some of the Sunbirds we have feeding, mostly Cape Sunbirds, Cape Sugarbirds and some exquisite Double Collared Southern Sunbird

Happy New Year friends and family.

Good morning folks and a Happy New Year to each and every one.  Can you believe we are in 2018?  This is going to 'date' me but I remember as a child hearing the adults talking about the 21st Century and everyone thinking it would never arrive, would be a totally robot controlled environment and just so far away as to be unattainable, and yet here we all are, we are still doing our own chores (no robotic housekeepers #sadface), we still have motor cars even though drones are becoming more popular and life is carrying on as normal.  

There was no late night partying for us, just a quiet evening relaxing with the girls.  We were up at 5.30 am because my Darling Hubby took Poppet to the Airport for her early flight back home.  Gosh the two weeks she had here seems to have passed by in the blink of an eye, it feels like they just arrived.  Princess is still with us for another two weeks and on Saturday evening I received the most wonderful surprise when Big Guy sent a picture of his airline ticket TO US for his TEN days annual leave, it was absolutely the last thing I expected and we are so excited.  He arrives on Thursday morning for a good dose of home, sea, sleep, eat, sleep and rest - woohooo.  The Big and BabyBears fly home tomorrow after their two weeks in Zanzibar which from the pictures we've seen looks to have been a fantastic holiday.

Last week was without a doubt a busy but very pleasant week.  Apart from the normal day to day things we took one day and went to a wine farm called Benguela Cove near Hermanus.  It was such a lovely day and very interesting to learn how the sea breeze affects the outcome of the various wines (which I never knew) and Poppet did a wine tasting which we all tasted as well.  That evening we went to some friends who live up against the mountains here in BB for sundowners and although it
was not the most spectacular sunset it was a wonderful evening, lots of laughter, good music, beautiful view and just one of those evening that was spontaneous and full of fun.

Today has dawned cooler with a prediction for rain (yes please) later and we are planning to do .......nothing.  Just rest (mostly for me) and down time.  For the most part I managed to pace myself fairly well and did not bale out of too many things.  I will admit to being extremely frustrated at times with the fact that I have to plan even silly little things that I used to do without even thinking and not being as active as I used to be, but I thank the Lord daily for my beautiful family who are so understanding and supportive, I love and appreciate you guys.

Folks I hope your day is spent  happily, doing what you love.  This year is a clean slate for us all to put into practise the lessons learned last year,  to be bold enough to take those steps of faith into the unknown and in so doing broaden our horizons, stretch ourselves into new growth and to make 2018 a good year.  It will have its challenges but those are ultimately just stepping stones in our journey through life, how we deal with each challenge and blessing is what will define this year as good or
bad on our calendars.  Have a beautiful day and please be safe wherever you are, I am looking forward to another year of adventures shared with you.

Photos from the Wine Farm (and the gorgeous ducks) and our evening watching the sunset.