A bit of this and that

Hi folks from a sunny Betty's Bay, what a gorgeous day we are having, no wind, hardly any clouds and the sun isn't too hot. This morning for the first time we sat out on the deck and had our morning coffee and breakfast listening to the birds and watching the ocean - absolute paradise. So much for the 'wild weather' that was predicted, apart from some heavy rain on Friday it was a very mild weekend and we enjoyed it accordingly, in other words a chilled quiet weekend. On Saturday morning we went into Somerset West and bought a 'much talked about, long dreamed of' anthracite heater and Hubby dearest spent most of the weekend busy converting the fireplace and is now finishing off the installation, so the cold weather can come back whenever it wants we are ready. A little bit of feedback as promised, I am delighted to tell you that the rusks turned out perfectly and the family has given it the thumbs up to being 'our' rusk recipe as long as I don't change it. If anyone would like the recipe please let me know and I will happily pass it on or print it here on the Blog, one rusk and a cup of tea is breakfast nom nom.

One of the things we've discovered with all the handyman work taking place is that Kiko's new favourite toy is Hubby's retractable metal tape measure. She has had us in stitches with the way she jumps around trying to catch it but where it comes in most handy is when she is outside and we can't see her, which is often because she loves being outdoors and exploring, so this morning I took the tape measure and pulled it out a bit and shook it around, well the result was almost instantaneous. She was in the next door yard and literally flew up the tree and jumped over the fence to get to the 'toy' so now when I need to get her inside we shake the tape measure, and she comes running from wherever she has been. Happily Gemma does not seem too interested in exploring and stays close to the house, maybe she is getting old hehe, we will not go down the 'houdini' path as he is still finding ways of climbing the fence.

Friends there is something on my heart that I would like to share with you. As a result of my 'Fibro Pain Relief Remedy' that I put up on Friday I had a phone call from one of my oldest friends who knows of someone who has Fribromyalgia, and she was asking me some questions about the condition and how it affects those who have it. I do not profess in ANY way to be an expert on it or the treatment of Fibro, I can only share how it affects me and what I do to relieve the symptoms. Fibromyalgia is a very misunderstood condition and if often called a 'hidden disease', I was very blessed in that my local GP who first diagnosed me was a very good diagnostician and clued up on the condition and the symptoms. When he passed away last December I was able to find a Specialist Doctor who is just as well informed and understanding in treating it, I know that for many people this is not the case and they get bounced from one medical practioner to another. Fibro has many different symptoms the most debilitating being pain, sleeplessness, fatigue and fibro fog. That is the shortest list to give you and the reason I am posting this today is for those of you who may have Fibromyalgia or know someone who does, it would help you immensely if you could have some understanding of what they go through on a daily basis, and the guilt they feel when unable to do even mundane things. I am not going to go into all the explanations but if you are interested to learn more about how to support someone who has Fibro please go and have a look at the 'The Fibromyalgia Letter', it can be found on Google, Facebook and Pinterest. This is not a medical breakdown of the condition and I know some of you may be saying why don't I pray, let me assure you I trust God daily for healing in my body and as I said in Friday's Blog I refuse to allow this or any other condition to take over and rule my life. Yes there are days when just getting out of bed takes all the energy I have, but for me, if I give in there then I have lost the battle. I am learning to pace myself and when I need it, to take a day of rest. I have the things that work for me ie. Heating pad, hot bath, big soft fluffy heated blanket, strong painkillers etc. It is very much a case of finding what works for what symptoms and then doing it.

Our excitement levels are rising as the clock ticks down to Princess arriving for her week of holiday with us, it is now just under two weeks so much planning and preparing going on, maybe we will make rusks together. I am sure that in the two months we haven't seen her she has grown up so much, it will also be a week of two more family birthdays and on that note folks I wish you a wonderful week in every way and until next time keep safe and well.

Buttermilk Muesli Rusks.

Is it Friday already ?

I can't believe it's Friday already and yet on the other hand this week feels like it was a month long. So much happening at the moment I'm losing track of the days. We had a super flight home on Tuesday to be greeted by four highly excited animals. If I was worried that the week being alone would change Kiko, I could have saved myself the time. She is just an naughty and BUSY as ever. I looked over her last night trying to find an off switch, alas nothing. Little does she know right now but next Thursday she is going to the Vet to be sterilised, that might slow her down just a tad. As an example - when I wash my hair over the bath, her new trick is to jump onto my back and sit there to watch the entire process - not uncomfortable al all. Hmmppfffff.

Since we got home a lot has been accomplished although not much to see for it. Mostly planning, paperwork and getting all our little ducks in a row. I did manage to pack one kitchen box (I hate packing the kitchen), but other than that I am just trying to let my body catch up. My head is so busy 24/7 working out where to put things in the new house, what needs to be packed for use and what can be stored temporarily. My darling Hubby is going to have to keep his Carpentry tools on hand as we will need book shelves, kitchen units and generally lots of the other gorgeous things he makes. Woohoo it's all very exciting.


Next week is fast following the current trend of 'busy' as my second eye operation is scheduled for Tuesday, I will be glad when this is behind me. The only 'problem' is that this time I know what I am in for, last time I was totally unaware. We also have a BIG family event in a week as our little Princess will be turning 13. Where, oh where have the years gone? I was there when she was born and was the first to hold her, when I look at her now I see a beautiful, confident, strong minded young lady who is catching up to me on the height front quickly. You've got a couple of years to go Princess and I will always be your Granny.

We are planning (I am planning) a quiet recovery weekend hopefully. One of the big things about having Fibromyalgia is to try and avoid going beyond your limit which has been impossible, the consequence is that it leaves one with chronic fatigue and also a 'Fibro flare' which is extreme pain amongst other things. To that end I am hoping to take it easy and 'fill up my tank' quickly so that I can get back to all that needs doing.

The sun is shining although it is quite cool but I really wish it was pouring with rain, we humans are such strange creatures aren't we ? Just on the off chance that I've never mentioned it, I am undoubtedly a winter/cold weather person through and through hehehe. Here's wishing each one of you a super weekend, with the best weather for you haha. Whatever you do enjoy and always stay safe.

The countdown has started......

Never a dull moment. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in (The calm before the storm) we have been talking about retiring for years. I also said that there was a lot happening in the background, well my friends this is some of what has been happening. Just under a month ago an Estate Agent phoned us to ask if we wanted to sell our house as she had someone who was interested. We explained that we did in fact want to sell but hadn't listed it yet. Anyway, long story short, we met her and she listed our home. We were quite sceptical as we have had another property on the market for almost a year and it is still not sold. The third couple she brought around fell in love with the house and returned with their family to look again. They signed an offer which was subject to the sale of their house, but also less than what we were asking. We accepted with a counter offer. In the meantime their house sale fell through and they held an 'emergency' Show House which yielded results and the house was sold to a cash buyer. They came back to us having increased their offer a bit, the Estate Agent dropped her commission and we accepted. Remember the harbour lights in Italy? Well .......... this finally happened yesterday and we signed the papers last night. Our house is sold and we are actually RETIRING to the Western Cape, in particular we are looking at Betty's Bay. My mind is like a Formula 1 race track at the moment with all that needs to be organized and completed. We will be going down to the Cape in three weeks to view the houses we've been looking at on the Internet over the last couple of months, we have sifted through, more or less, the ones we like. Then it is going to be full steam ahead to get this house packed and the actual move. All this is a little daunting for me at the moment as I have Fibromyalgia and am going to have to find a way to pace myself (not my natural style) in order to stay on top of things and get it all done. If anyone has a main line to the 'moving elves' please tell them to come and visit me. Haha I wish.

Retire has already become a flexible word as Hubby is busy making plans on how he will be able to work long distance, make furniture and a number of other ideas. It was also very 'considerate' of Poppet to tell us last night that "it makes complete sense for Dad to make my dining room table before he makes your bookcases, because then you have less bookcases to move with." Love you girl. This is already a bittersweet event for me as I will be leaving Big Guy, Poppet and my little Princess behind and moving closer to Big Bear and Baby Bear and other family. I think there are many moms out there that will agree with me when I say a perfect life is if all your family live in one city. This is going to change so many dynamics of our family, for the good, in that instead of family caravaning holidays in December we will now be doing family holidays and get togethers by the sea. This for me is a lifelong dream coming true.

Kiko has now learnt how to 'high five' me when she gets her food, as she is usually quite frantic she is only too to happy to oblige She is growing so quickly, has her own very distinctive personality and loves to chat with me in her little squeaks and meows. this little bundle of fluff is extremely determined and is still the first one to approach Gemma for friendship, except for the other day when she leapt off the chair onto Gemmas back and then leapt straight off just as quickly. There was a huge ka-fuffle I can tell you.

Have an awesome weekend folks, enjoy your families, relax and recharge for the week ahead. Stay safe.