My Life's Winding Roads: Always something happening.

My Life's Winding Roads: Always something happening.: Good morning folks wherever you find yourselves.  Firstly I would like to just say thank you for all the kind messages  sent last week after...

Always something happening.

Good morning folks wherever you find yourselves.  Firstly I would like to just say thank you for all the kind messages  sent last week after hearing that I am cancer free.  It was all your prayers, love and support that carried me through this past year.  I am delighted to also be able to say that Poppet has also just finished her annual tests and has received the same wonderful news of being cancer free.  We give our Father God all the glory.

Well not the quietest week in history but then we all know that those are quite rare haha.  There is a lot going on within the family, all good, which I should be in a position to share with you next week

hopefully.  We've had some lovely cool weather and a fairly good amount of rain; this has resulted in some lovely cosy days and even more cosy fires 😍.  I went in for my first Physio session and at least I now have some answers. It would appear that I have  Rotator Cuff injuries in both shoulders, although much more so in the left, hence all the pain and limited mobility.  So now I'm busy with exercises and further Physio to clear it all up, ho hum 🙄.  After Physio I had a visit with the Plastic Surgeon's Nursing Sister who very kindly removed about 7 internal stitches which had been poking through my skin, THAT was not fun , but I am just glad they are out.  There are still a few more which are too deep as yet to pull out.   

There was a very funny evening (in retrospect) which turned out to be educational as well.  We were watching television when I heard Charlie barking outside.  When we hear them barking we usually call them back inside which I duly did.  Within seconds JB sounded the alarm to the most hideous smell, I'm not talking just a bad smell, I mean truly hideous, like being in the back of a garbage truck.  Charlie was also desperately rubbing his face on the mat.  Groaning and somewhat annoyed I sniffed around and on finding it was mostly his face and head, pulled out the shampoo and towel while I tried to clean as much as I could, all the while chastising him for rolling in pooh.  The wierd thing is there was nothing stuck on or in his fur 🤔, strange.  Later that evening Hubby let them both out for their last trip of the evening and Charlie barely moved from his side.  While they were out there I was in bed and thought to myself that, if I didn't know better I would have said he got sprayed by a skunk.   Whilst in town the following day I mentioned it to the vet whilst  collecting something,  she immediately said "oh but you have skunks in Betty's Bay and badgers too".  Well blow me over with a feather.  I know we have mongoose behind the garage, otters near the rivers but I did not know we have skunks and badgers.  Apparently mongoose, badgers and skunks spray their anal fluid when threatened.  I was speechless, the best we can figure from the smell, the fact that it was just his face /head and him furiously rubbing his eyes/nose on the mat is -  he must have cornered a skunk and whilst barking at it, Monsieur Skunk just turned around and let rip with his vile fluids. Who knew we had skunks ? Not us that's for sure haha.  He was quite cautious outside for a day or two and now back to his normal, irrepressible self. 🤦🏻‍♀️. Truly there is never a dull moment.

On Saturday the Bandy Clan came through and we spent a lovely day in front of the fire, eating comfort food and catching up.  JB spent the afternoon helping Princess with a big English task she had.  She is still on her crutches and in the leg brace, beyond frustrated with both would be an accurate assessment.

Hubby  managed to get some Grandfather Clocks sorted out as well as one particular watch that he has waited for 6 months for the part to arrive.

Miss Muffet and her family will be visiting SA in a couple of weeks for the first time in a long time.  It has been so long since we saw them and the boys have grown from toddlers to Pre teens.  We are looking forward to having them spend some time with us and 

catching up there as well.

I wish you all a blessed week, stay safe and healthy folks, oh ... and stay away from skunks, badgers and mongoose.  May God give you wisdom and strength to turn each day into a victory.  Ciao Ciao.

 A very unhappy Charlie after his adventure.

My Life's Winding Roads: Time for ... Some good news

My Life's Winding Roads: Time for ... Some good news:   Greeting folks from the bottom of the continent.  Every now and then the absolute wonder of where we live kind of knows me sideways.  Here...

Time for ... Some good news

 Greeting folks from the bottom of the continent.  Every now and then the absolute wonder of where we live kind of knows me sideways.  Here we are almost at the tip of an entire continent, Africa behind me and the South Pole in front.  Being able to watch the sea every day is of itself awe inspiring, it's moods and ever changing colours.  Underneath what we can see is an entire world carrying on with its existence and, here we are  nestled between the mountains and the deep blue sea.  I'm tired of saying winter is here, it's well past what should be the middle of winter and closer to spring and yet we really have not had a noticeable winter.  This week was mild with weak sunshine and by afternoon a mist creeping over the mountains and down to the sea. It was beautiful even though not cold. 

After all the running around of the last month I finally saw my Oncologist and was given the best news I could receive "there is no cancer present".  Thank You Father God for my health and all the provision and ways He has shown Himself real just in the last year alone.   There are 'minor' things to be addressed but I am cancer free.  Having said that the last month's busyness caught up with me with a vengeance and I have been in an increased Fibro flare which means I accomplished nothing on my list of 'to do's' .  I tackled one task a day to keep up to date and will pace myself through the balance.

On Friday Hubby stocked up on firewood hehe, in anticipation of some cold weather and also successfully resurrected our lawnmower.  It had rusted to the point of being unusable and he hAd been to a store to try and find the chassis of a similar one, our motor still works perfectly.  They had nothing and,  on the way home I had the bright idea of asking on our local What's App group if anyone had a lawnmower that they weren't using or the motor was not working.  Within minutes a chap replied that he had one and we could have it for R100, so off went Hubby to collect it.  Apparently he had bought it for R100 but the motor would not start.  We got a fabulous chassis which is cast aluminium (won't rust) and my clever Husband did some cutting and what have you to put our motor on the good chassis - it sits a little bit crooked but runs like a Boeing 😂.  Voila one new lawn mower to tackle our current jungle.

It was a quiet week from my side but, not a wasted one.  I have been looking after myself and maybe, just possibly I am learning that when I am not physically doing something, I am doing something for my body ... I am re-charging.  I have done a huge amount of reading and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. There is a little voice in my head constantly reminding me of what needs to be done,  I am only now slowly coming to accept that the world won't come to a standstill if I don't have everything done today.

Having said that I am going to end off for this week.  Thank you for your continued readership and support.  I wish you all a wonderful week. Stay safe and healthy folks.  Ciao Ciao.

Some Misty mountains.

One retired  and one revived lawnmower.

My Life's Winding Roads: Brrr from a wonderful chilly, wet Betty's Bay.

My Life's Winding Roads: Brrr from a wonderful chilly, wet Betty's Bay.:   Good morning folks from our little Village by the sea.  Perhaps it is just me but life seems to be moving so fast that nothing stays the s...

Brrr from a wonderful chilly, wet Betty's Bay.

 Good morning folks from our little Village by the sea.  Perhaps it is just me but life seems to be moving so fast that nothing stays the same from one day to the next.  Last week the plot next to us was empty, it has been cleared and messy for more than a year.  Today as I type, a wooden house is on it way to growing up, the first level framing is in and these guys are fast.  Two very excited new owners who come to look every evening.  My guess is, in a couple of weeks they will be moving in.  Betty's Bay has seen a huge building boom in the last eighteen months which is not always a good thing.  Being a bio -sphere has a lot of pros and cons. Many people are drawn to the quietness and the nature aspect but then when they move here they try to make it the same as the city.  We see this happening in Villages and towns all along the coast here, even in bigger places such as Hermanus. Hmmmmm 🤔

It is still a very strange winter but on the whole much cooler and we have had some lovely rain, much more needed but we are grateful for every drop.  I took advantage of the one clear sunny day this week to get the couch covers washed and was delighted at how they came out.  Before we bought these I was washing huge throws every week, what a pleasure to just do it every few months.  I was also shocked at how strange the room looked with the white couches, which we've had since moving down.  How quickly our brains re-adjust and move forward.

Last week was again back and forth with different tests, Sheesh talk about drawing things out.  Today is the last test and then tomorrow I see the Oncologist for all the results.  Poppet has also just done all her annual tests and waiting for the last results.  She is an 'old hand' at this and organised everything over a couple of days.  I will definitely be taking a leaf out of her book in the future,  I still have much to learn.

We joined them yesterday for a very quick lunch before Princess's boyfriend flew back to Pretoria.  It was so good just to have a little time to catch up, exchange news and hugs.  My heart goes out to Princess as she still has another three weeks to go before she can stop using the crutches, her frustration levels are high and the temptation to take the odd step alone is almost overwhelming.  Hang in there my angel, it will be worth it in the end.

Hubby has made good progress this past week on the deck and the last side is almost completely clad and finished off on the outside.  He has also had a flood of clocks coming in and many that require him to go and collect the movement and bring it home to work on.   I have started getting back into my tasks ie: the covers.  This week I would like to steam clean our floors which are sealed concrete.  Poppet lent me her steam cleaner and I am itching to get busy with it.  As is 'usual' I will take it bit by bit until they are all clean to my satisfaction.  I also managed to get a fair amount of knitting done and Jelly Bean's shrug  is growing steadily at long last, hopefully before winter ends she will be wearing it.

With all that has been going on I failed to mention a very special encounter we had two weeks ago.  One night whilst getting ready for bed we heard the very distinct sound of an owl, really close by.  The next morning when I walked through he must have been sitting on our chimney and said a few good morning wooo's.  This is only the second time we have heard one, despite knowing they are in the area.  This chap has caused quite a stir as a couple of other people have had sightings of him and one managed to get a lovely photo of him in a tree.  I so hope they will breed and become more active, it was an amazing sound to hear.

Folks that's all for today.  Please have a good week. Take time to breathe in peace, smell the fynbos / roses, and shake off the negative issues.  Stay safe and healthy folks.  Ciao Ciao 

One of the many streams flowing freely.

My Life's Winding Roads: Can we apply the brakes please?

My Life's Winding Roads: Can we apply the brakes please?:   Hi everyone, I hope today's post finds you well and ready to face the new month and new week.   Wow, how did things get so darn busy? ...

Can we apply the brakes please?

 Hi everyone, I hope today's post finds you well and ready to face the new month and new week.   Wow, how did things get so darn busy?  I would really like to get off the merry-go-round.  

As I expected last week started with a bang.  We left home on Monday at 6.30 to be in Stellenbosch by 8 for my fasting blood tests, things went well until I was finished with the Pathology Sister.  I duly reported to Radiology for my CAT Scan and subsequent MRI only to have them look blank  and tell me my appointments were the following day, Tuesday and not Monday 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. Oh my goodness did I feel like a fool.  We decided to break the fast with breakfast at the hospital before trundling back home.  The next morning was like Ground Hog Day with the only exception being we did not leave as early.  Truly a waste of time, energy and diesel, not my finest moment to be sure. Needless to say the double trip and examinations left me feeling like a wet rag for a few days.  On Thursday I received a call asking me to go back today as the MRI Lumbar was inconclusive but, everything else was 'fine'.  Therefore as soon as I post this we will once again toddle off to Stellenbosch for round three.  Thank goodness for a patient Hubby.

The balance of the week just seemed to maintain the same pace with me ten steps behind on the energy scale and twenty steps ahead on the pain scale.  On Friday the Bandy Clan were off for a four day weekend to St Helena Bay up the West Coast. The original plan was for Jelly Bean and I to house sit the cats for them on Saturday and Sunday. At the last minute Jelly Bean was invited to go with which I was delighted about as she had been fighting a sore throat all week and hasn't had a break since December 2015.  That left me to go through and play with the cats which was wonderful. Charlie went with me and was so well behaved I that I was truly surprised,  he never left my side.  As far as the cats were concerned they were  like "oh hi human, you've come to wait on our every demand".  😃😃. Beau got really annoyed with me as I refused to allow him outside, he has a tendency to take extra long walks.  With the weather having turned wet and very cold I was not chancing being unable to get him back inside.  Human 1 vs Cat 10 on the annoyed scale.  

As Poppet has an amazing, deep, long bath and that was the one thing I was looking forward to ... A long, hot soak.  HAHA funny woman.  As I lowered myself into the water I realised my mistake, but by then it was too late.  I never took into account the depth, the fact there are no handles on the bath and, the limited range of motion in my shoulders.  Dropping into the water was breath holding painful and then instead of enjoying the water I spent half an hour trying to figure out how I was getting out. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. At one point phoning Hubby was even an option until I remembered all the doors were locked 😃. I will spare you the graphics and just say this.  It  took a half an hour and immense pain, but I got myself out. 😂😂. So, never mind having a shining day on Monday let's just say it was not a week of brightness.

Yesterday Charlie and I duly toddled off back home inin time to say goodbye to good friends of ours who have left BB and fly back to Austria on Wednesday.  Safe travels E and D, praying your next adventure is even better, you are already missed.

Well folks, hopefully I've managed to get a chuckle out of you with all my antics.  I wish you all a spectacular week, stay safe and healthy. With love from BB Ciao Ciao.

A cold and moody sea yesterday.