My Life's Winding Roads: A quiet week.

My Life's Winding Roads: A quiet week.: Top of the morning everyon, can you believe tomorrow is June, where has this year gone ? It feels like these last months have just sped by,...

A quiet week.

Top of the morning everyon, can you believe tomorrow is June, where has this year gone ? It feels like these last months have just sped by, blending into one another or perhaps it is because I don't often look at a calendar 🤔. Weather wise we had a wonderful week with lovely cool, even cold weather and lots of rain which is so awesome. We currrntly have builders two stands over from us who have been trying to clear the plot of water in order to build, oh my word it is like a soap opera. First of all this is the plot on which the ducks and water birds have been swimming for years 😢, as fast as these guys dug and pumped out the water by the next morning it was all back and more, I was really hoping that by some miracle they would give up and give it back to nature sadly no, on Saturday and yesterday they just went ahead with building the foundations in and around the water,🤷🏻‍♀️ I am not sure I would ever want to live in that house and even if the house stays dry the entire Erf is under water. Such are the goings on in a small village which for some reason all of a sudden everyone wants to live in. Hubby actually had a client here with his watch and this chap told him that years ago our plot was a similar situation until eventually the builder asked all the local builders to dump and pile their rocks onto it and in so doing lifted it out of the water. We have often wondered why we are that much higher than the neighbouring plots and it also explains why it is so hard to plant anything, because of all the rocks. Last week was somewhat different to how I had planned it but I am at the beginning of a new one so holding thumbs for a good week. On Tuesday we went into Gordon's Bay and while my ever patient Hubby did all the extra stops Jelly Bean and I did the monthly grocery shop, this is the third month in a row we've shopped like this but for some reason Tuesday knocked me for a loop and into a really nasty flare grrrrr, yesterday was the first time I felt even halfway normal and did not have a sore throat. Of course this threw me off schedule and now all the rusk/doggie biscuit tins are empty and the dogs for some reason don't believe me when I say there are no more biscuits 😢, so two guesses what I will be doing this week ? On Friday the three of us plus Charlie went into Kleinmond to finish off the odds and ends before coming home, lighting a nice fire and curling up with a book. Hubby has been busy closing up the right hand side of the deck, he has put in one window along the top and made the window frames for the smaller areas, now to get the glass cut and installed on that side 👏🏻👏🏻. He has also been kept quite busy with watches coming in and going out on a regular basis, God is so good. I made a bit of progress on my Pouf and also started knitting Charlie a winter jersey as well because it is lighter to knit hehe, in terms of productivity that was about it for the week from me. The family are all doing well, Princess is in the middle of mid year exams so studying hard and doing well, the others are all busy working harder and harder it seems than ever before. Miss Muffet and her family in the U.K. were able to go away camping for the weekend which is super. Thank you to all who prayed for our family member who was in hospital with CoVid, she was discharged last Monday and is now at home regaining her strength and energy. I know that I have said this before but particularly here in South Africa where the CoVid vaccine rollout is notably behind most other countries, we really need to be super cautious and diligent with our safety protocols, we truly cannot allow slip ups or to become complacent. As a country we were told we have moved back to Level 2 as the third wave is here, although it is more virulent in some provinces. Currently we as a family know FAR too many friends and colleagues who have been diagnosed positive and or are in hospital with it. Please stay safe and keep those around you safe. 

On that note I am going to end off for now, wishing you all a wonderful week, make special memories with your loved ones and let them know just how much you love and appreciate them. Ciao ciao. 

The view on the way into town on Tuesday

Wonderful weather

Good morning folks, I trust today's Blog finds you all well. Currently we are between cold fronts with a hot Berg wind which hopefully means I can get a huge load of washing done and just as importantly dry, with winter finally having show her face the sun is weaker and when there's is no wind it means the washing doesn't dry haha. Last week we had the beautiful cold and soooo much rain, oh my word it just kept coming down much to my absolute delight and ..... bonus we only had one elusive leak bothering us, so the search continues for its source. We have had to laugh though at what is going on next door to us, there are three empty plots and the middle one is being prepped for building. Now ............ this is the plot where our little wetland is and where the ducks and geese swim hehe, on Thursday with all the rain coming down and the temperatures also plummeting there were four guys obviously trying to mark out something. These poor men were wading through freezing, almost knee high water with very little progress, then on Saturday they brought along a pump which ran throughout the entire day pumping the water into a pipe that the municipality have been laying in the next road, all very complicated. So, on Saturday evening the plot was empty of water and just a big mud patch the. on Sunday morning I looked out of the window and bam 90% of the water is back without a drop of rain being shed, I'm thinking this is going to cause problems and will prove interesting to watch. It was not the busiest of weeks but certainly an interesting one as I continued in my quest to find a glue that would stick bridal satin to a plastic form, good grief after trying eight different adhesives including clear glue, glue gun, contact, wood glue, craft glue and every other one I could lay my hands on eventually on Saturday Hubby brought through a tub of Flexible Tile Glue ....... TA DAA it worked, hallelujah the relief was real, I could tick that off my list. Then, I have been going through a period of not being able to find things which magically seem to disappear into never never land, this has resulted in cupboards being unpacked and tidied with no results, even going to far as looking (with my eyes only) in Hubby's man cave a.k.a. the garage with little to no results. Yesterday I found two of the four 'missing' items with the help of Poppet who saw the one item hanging in broad daylight on a hook by the door, and Hubby suggesting I look under the sofa cushion for the other 🤦🏻‍♀️. Please God the other two items come to light as I have no idea where to look further 🙏🏻. I may have mentioned that in order to get the root of the problem with my tummy I have totally gone off all and any wheat products - so far things are working very well, so well in fact that on Thursday I decided to make a ciabatta bread to go with mushroom soup for supper. I have made and eaten this bread for years and been fine well, not any longer I was in agony so I guess it is confirmed my body has drawn the line at any and all wheat products. Whilst this is awkward and not easy because wheat is in just about everything, I don't eat red meat either for the same reason, these two combined is making mealtimes for me a real challenge with a couple of failures along the way. It certainly makes for a lot of research and experimentation I can tell you, my first roaring success was a fruit cake made with only Gluten Free flour, I had expected it to be crumbly and dry but it came out perfectly whoop, whoop one down, many to go. I managed to do some embroidery on my quilting square and even began knitting a T-yarn pouffe/ottoman. After looking high and low for a pattern and coming up empty I decided to just knit without one and actually got it to about 55cm when yesterday I decided to undo it and re-knit on bigger needles, such fun 😂. Yesterday Poppet and Princess popped over for a quick bite and also to complete the art project which involved glueing the corset onto the form and canvas that Princess had painted, it was a very sticky business and her talent is undeniable I just pray the teacher appreciates all the different methods and techniques she used 🙏🏻. She also starts writing mid year exams in Wednesday and I just know she is going to do well, Princess you have worked so hard and I pray for even more of God's peace over you with every exam you write. The family are all well with most of them being really overworked at the moment with business being what it is these days it seems that less people are doing more and the more they are doing is much harder than it used to be. Our family member who was in hospital with CoVid was discharged yesterday amidst much rejoicing and relief, God is unquestionably still on His throne. Thank you so much to all who prayed and stood in faith with us. The deck is continuing to roll along as Hubby tries to do some work on it every day that the weather permits yippeee, now that we've got to this stage I wish I could just blink and see it finished. Folks, that was the stand out events of my week, some have been omitted to avoid embarrassment to the author 😂, I am hoping for a similar week creativity wise and looking forward to more rain and nice fires burning in the fireplace. I wish you and yours a wonderful week please stay safe and healthy. Ciao Ciao 

 The Art Project.

My Life's Winding Roads: Interesting to say the least!

My Life's Winding Roads: Interesting to say the least!: Brrrr good morning from a gorgeous cool and wet Bettys Bay 😁such beautiful weather, we have had rain since Friday and oh what a difference ...

Interesting to say the least!

Brrrr good morning from a gorgeous cool and wet Bettys Bay 😁such beautiful weather, we have had rain since Friday and oh what a difference it makes to the world - I could seriously have this kind of weather all year.

Well folks not exactly a crazy week but most definitely an interesting one, so many emotions, highs and lows.  Our week started off quietly with the exception of knowing that Jill (Jilly Bean as I called her) was facing some harsh decisions by her humans.  She took ill a couple of weeks ago and when Poppet took her to the Vet she told them about a lump on Jill's leg, further investigation showed that it was malignant and the fear was that it had spread to her chest as she started coughing, which sadly it had.  On Wednesday after further consultations and tests the girls had to say goodbye to their beloved Jill, she had been Princess' absolute shadow and quite one of the quirkiest little dogs I have ever met, there are so many happy memories of all the crazy, unco-ordinated things she did and needless to say it has been a devastating blow, especially coming so soon after their cat passing away.  As a Mom and Granny I almost felt like I was losing a pet fur grandchild and felt so useless in not being able to offer them any comfort that would take the hurt and sadness away, needless to say I spent the entire day baking just to keep myself busy.  R.I.P Jill you were very special.

On Thursday I awoke to a message from the lady who runs The Butterfly Effect, which is where I am 'registered' to be a foster mom for kittens.  A little kitten approximately 6 weeks old had been found on Wednesday evening and was on the way to the Vet for a quick health check and then would be on his way to me.  Sjoe no time to think, but thank goodness I had everything I needed and then ......... little B'loo arrived. Oh my what an absolute little treasure, it took him one day to find his way around and from then he just proceeded to make himself at home much to Jasper and Zeepha's disgust, they really are lousy hosts 😂.  This little guy bonded with me immediately and was an absolute delight, he  was so easy, loves to chat, had no accidents, slept on top of me every night (which amazingly Charlie allowed) and by Saturday he discovered Zeepha's hammock on the cat condo and inserted himself unapologetically in it.  Yesterday 'N' called to say that the owner had come forward and naturally he had to go back but, because neither of us were 100% happy that he will be vaccinated and sterilized she is going to make sure of that and in so doing will keep an eye on him 🙏🏻.  I know that most of the family if not all were convinced he would be a foster fail, but I constantly reminded myself that I was just caring for him temporarily. 

That folks was pretty much the highs and lows of my week, we are continuing to pray as our family member is still in hospital fighting the Corona Virus, also praying for peace for the rest of her family and wisdom for the doctors.  On the whole the family are well, lots of emotions and the usual day to day positives and negatives of doing business and school during these times, as I am sure all your families are doing.  Hubby managed to get the order for Embroidery Stands out successfully  as well a couple of clocks /watches delivered back to their owners.  With all the rain he has made regular trips up onto the roof looking for and re-sealing areas that defy all measures we take and continue to drip periodically, the upside of these ladder trips for him is the view from up there is unbelievable and he get a good look around the neighbourhood.

Folks I am going to end off today's Blog with the following - so many times when we are busy and rushing from one thing to another our pets tend to get underfoot and perhaps even ignored, please remember that YOU are their world and find time every day to spend some time with them. Compared to us their time on earth is so short.  As I grow older I see more and more pets succumbing to 'human diseases' which when we were younger was almost unheard of.  Even saying goodbye to little B'loo I was reminded of something my late husband said when we were living in East London, he had gone to the beach and a random dog came up to him with a stick, as many times as it was thrown, the dog continued to bring it back.  He realized that 1. You don't have to own something to enjoy it and 2. Those few minutes playing with an animal do as much for you as they do for the pet.

I pray that you have a good week and are able to enjoy the smallest of moments and make them special.  Please stay well and healthy.  Ciao ciao 

Little B'loo

R.I.P. Jill 😽

My Life's Winding Roads: Art, Rain, Picnics and Family

My Life's Winding Roads: Art, Rain, Picnics and Family: And the Mondays keep coming around😄, good morning folks from a delightfully quiet, cool Bettys Bay. Currently our world is divided in two...

Art, Rain, Picnics and Family

And the Mondays keep coming around😄, good morning folks from a delightfully quiet, cool Bettys Bay. Currently our world is divided in two - if I look out of the windows on one side it's quite sunny with a few clouds, if I look out towards the sea it is dark, grey and moody. Winter truly arrived last week and was received with great joy, the rain came down for three days straight and we got to light our first fire of the year, absolute heaven. We had appproximately 100mm in our garden, more was measured closer to the mountain and two of the 'local' lagoons have breached. 👏🏻 Again another busy week behind me albeit a different kind of busy. I mentioned last week that we had been helping Princess with an art project .......... hmmmm I woke up at 2.30 am on Tuesday in a panic as I realized that Princess was planning to start painting the canvas and she could not. Eventually I got up and sat in the lounge trying to figure it all out in my head and at about 4am knowing that they switch the volume off on their phones at night I messaged both her and Poppet trying to explain that the plastic 'bust form' was going to need to be attached before any painting took place. Surprise, surprise, Poppet answered quickly as she was also awake and at 4.30 Princess replied (she was up early to study). Once I'd explained and we had made plans I was still wide awake, Jelly Bean came through when she heard me making tea - we then sat together on her bed having a very early cup of tea before eventually going back to bed and trying to get a few minutes extra sleep, all this made for an exhausting day hahaha. On Wednesday I sat the whole day and created the front of a corset, hopefully the teacher isn't expecting whalebone in it 🤞🏻, that done I could relax somewhat. On Thursday the girls came over as the teacher wanted extra canvas boards attached - Grandpa's contribution to the project, and Princess and I began the process of attaching a semi rigid plastic mould to canvas blocks YIKES. Eventually we went with three long screws to keep it down and Princess tissue podged art paper all around it to create a 'seamless' look, as she glued I went behind her with the hairdryer due to the fact that we needed three layers and each one has to dry. I will admit to releasing a huge sigh of relief when it was all done as I had stressed so much about how to attach it and create a seemless look, the rest is now up to the artist herself and when everything is done we will attach the corset to the form, I haven't figured out which glue is going to work best to attach heavy bridal satin to a plastic mould 🤷🏻‍♀️. I will admit to completely taking Friday and Saturday to relax hehe. I have also had to make some significant dietary changes, as last Monday I had to go for an abdominal and pelvic sonar scan because I have still being having a lot of discomfort, Praise the Lord the scans were all clear which has led me to think that as I had relaxed my no meat, no wheat eating programme that could possibly be the 'culprit'. So ...... as of last Monday no meat and no wheat, it's quite an adjustment but I am coping well and actually starting to have less discomfort and pain. Yesterday being Mothers's Day Poppet had organized a picnic at Jordan Wine Farm and the Bears joined us as well as friends of Poppet who spent the weekend with her, they have a four year old little boy and twin boys who are trying valiantly to crawl. As you can imagine we were a large crowd and what a wonderful day we had, the weather was perfect, we were on the banks of a dam which was filled with various geese, the food was delicious - all provided and packed by the Wine Farm, and ......... before the others arrived I saw my very first Fish Eagle 🦅, initially we were not sure until Hubby heard its cry, we were so blessed to watch him land in the water and then circle the dam for quite a few minutes looking for food. What an amazing spoil of a day, thank you my family for all the love and blessings, I only wish Big Guy had been able to join us. Well folks quite a lot of news today, Happy Mothers Day to all the moms for yesterday, I really hope you were spoiled and treated like the precious souls that you are. In closing I would just like to caution us all not to relax our stringent CoVid santising protocols, it's easy to get lax-a-daisykle now that we see numbers coming down and lockdown levels are being lifted, please keep up with you sanitizing and wearing masks etc. Currently we have one extended family member who was rushed to hospital last night, thank the Lord she is showing improvement and we continue praying for complete healing, the other extended family member was unknowingly exposed through sports and is awaiting the results of the test, he is currently showing no symptoms. We need to stay vigilant and be as careful as we were this time last year. I wish each and every one of you a wonderful week, may your time be multiplied, may you feel the peace of God and get through this week victoriously. Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, it always warms my heart to receive feedback on these Blogs. Ciao ciao for now and please stay safe and well. 

 Our picnic spot yesterday

My Life's Winding Roads: Hello May

My Life's Winding Roads: Hello May: Good morning folks on this beautiful 3rd day of May from a gorgeous, mild Bettys Bay. I for one am thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather ...

Hello May

Good morning folks on this beautiful 3rd day of May from a gorgeous, mild Bettys Bay. I for one am thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather as the days grow shorter and the nights in particular are colder, even the dogs are enjoying wearing their jackets in the evenings. Well, what can I say ...... another busy week behind us and because it was a short work week it seemed that more was crammed in. Tuesday found Hubby and I in Hermanus attending to some business and also being able to view and buy two windows which will go above the wall and sliding windows on both sides of the deck, it is soooo exciting to see the windows going in whoop whoop. The rest of the week consisted of the bi-monthly rusk bake, me doing a new / different system on my nails as I put on French Tips for the first time, things went extremely well up to a point and then not so good.🙃 The tips went well but then I used a pink acrylic for one layer (I have no idea where my head was) which necessitated me doing a LOT of buffing and as a result I cannot say I am that happy with them, at least I learnt what not to do and some new how to methods 🙃 As I had forgotten to take my Meds that day, for the first time ever, I was in a world of pain and discomfort which most probably was the cause of my lack of attention haha. We also had Charlie and Sasha groomed, thank goodness we have a mobile groomer it makes such a difference not having to drive them into town and she does them so well that Charlie looks like a cotton wool ball when he comes out 🐩 Hubby also very obligingly helped me unpack a third of the storage space in the garage as I am looking for a particular blouse which I wore as a teenager and is now back in fashion, I want to give it to Princess - hmmmmm we did not find it although many other things were discovered, I also emptied my kist, and the bedroom cupboards top and bottom but have not found the blouse yet 🤔, It all made me realize that I need to go back into the garage and repack the entire storage area whewww not fun. Yesterday we had the girls over for lunch as Princess has asked me to help her with an art project, shame I feel so sorry for these kids with the pressure that they are under at school not to mention the other areas of their lives. I know that we (the older generation) are quick to say "we all had to do it" but NO we did not. Life as a teenager then compared to how it is now has absolutely no comparison except for the usual teenage angst. Everything else is as different as east and west and one hundred times more complicated. I remember as a child hearing some grown ups talking and they were speaking about the ridiculousness of the thought that one day people would have to pay for a glass or bottle of water, we are so far beyond that now and our grand children are having to figure out a way through and forward. THE only thing we can do is listen, love and pray for them and their parents. The rest of the family are well and all very busy, we are missing Big Guy and wishing he was here. BigBear and BabyBear got home after a short but lovely break to their kitties who were none the worse after our kitty-sitting adventure thank goodness. Poppet had to rush their dog to the vet as she had a bad nose bleed, after some treatment and an examination, blood tests were taken and they are hoping to hear the results today 🙏🏻. Today is another busy day and then I hold thumbs that's the end of it until Sunday which is Mother's Day. We are off to Somerset West to do a small bit of shopping and then I need to go to the fabric shop to purchase fabric to make a 'fake corset' which will then cover a plastic mould /bust, which in turn will be mounted on canvas and the neck and arms then painted on the canvas = one art project. Yikes wish me luck 🤞🏻 on fashioning a fake corset. Well folks, that's me for this week I wish you and yours a good week, may it be peaceful, productive and prosperous. Please stay safe and well Ciao Ciao 

 Last night's sunset from our deck, taken with my phone, no filters