My Life's Winding Roads: Happy New Year and Hello 2024

My Life's Winding Roads: Happy New Year and Hello 2024: Good morning all and  Happy New Year to each of you.  Can you believe it ? We are living in a time that 50 years ago was only in the Jetson&...

Happy New Year and Hello 2024

Good morning all and  Happy New Year to each of you.  Can you believe it ? We are living in a time that 50 years ago was only in the Jetson's TV Show.  Gosh how much we have seen and lived through and how privileged we are to still be here to tell our stories and pass down history.

It was a quiet, very weird, Christmas and a lovely quiet week since then.  We had our Express Christmas with the Bears and Poppet and did a live video link with Big Guy and Princess.  What a special day and so many memories were made, these family gatherings leave my heart full and comforted.

December of course had all it own types of fun as usual.  Big Bear took me out for the most incredible dinner of fine dining and an evening of sharing dreams and hopes and general catching up.  In line with my intention to make the most of every day and do new things, I tasted and /or ate everything on the menu.  Baby Bear was away for a work function and it was actually the first time ever that he and I got to go out for a meal, being just the two of us.  What an incredible evening 😍.  JB and I slept over at Poppet's house so as not to have to drive over the Pass, all in all a very special time. 

Talking about the 'long way around ' as it became known we must give a hand to City of Cape Town for their incredible work on repairing the three roads which had cut us off in September.  They finished the Hermanus Road, then the bridge to Kleinmond. Their aim was to have everything open or at least driveable by mid December.  They outdid themselves and our beloved Clarence Drive was re-opened to traffic a week before the middle of the month.  There are 6 Stop and Go areas which are being managed extremely well. We have never waited for more than a minute or so.  Between the Stop and Go's it is down to one lane only, one direction at a time.  To see the utter devastation of the road and the mountain is hard to put into words.  In one area the entire road collapsed and cars now drive through the actual rest stop area.  The scars are going to be on our mountains for a very long time, but oh what a joy to drive that road again.

Work wise it was a very busy month with me working right up to the 22nd.  My most interesting project was ... to shorten length and height, a tennis court net to fit a Pickle Ball court. Pickle Ball and Paddle have taken the Cape by storm.  I had to cut off 3 metres of the original net restitch the side band back on.  Then my my brief was to shorten the height of the net to  " the length of the inner leg of this pair of trousers plus one inch" 🤣🤣🤣.  Out came Google for the proper dimensions and can you believe that the length of the leg and one inch was exactly as stated in the rules?  Well, it took me a couple of days and some very raw fingers but I did it successfully and was able to pat my humble little sewing machine on doing so well. 😂  the client was absolutely delighted and the net is now in daily use in Kleinmond.  The trousers received a new zip and two holes repaired haha.  

We have had the most wonderful weather, cool and wet or windy for the last week which is not necessarily what the holiday makers want but has certainly kept many children from drowning. For the first time since we've been here, our main beach was closed twice this week due to two sharks 🦈  swimming around.  Last week as I was walking around the yard trying to find Tilly (the tortoise) I came across a snake 🥴 at first i didn't realise what it was and came back past it to see it had moved. Hmmmm. Call Hubby and grab a broom stick.  Tell Hubby to bring a container AND lid.  I tried picking up said snake with the broom stick which did not work.  By this time it had wriggled closer to the house. Eeeeek. I did not think of closing the door, I was too busy watching it. 😂 Hubby eventually grabbed a pair of braai tongs and gently picked it up and put it in the container with lid firmly in place.  My instructions were to please go and release it across the road far into the fynbos.  Sheesh.  It wasn't big, about 30cm long and we aren't sure what type of snake just that it was flipping fast.  Always an adventure here without fail.

On that note folks, family and friends my prayer for each one of you this year is for a good year, a year of answered prayers, dreams achieved, goals attained, new adventures, love, good health, God's peace and provision.  Please stay safe on the roads wherever you may be.  Ciao Ciao 

Our fine dining dessert ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clarence Drive.

Once a tennis net now a pickle ball net.