A blustery, cold and wet day

Greetings from a cold, wet and blustery Bettys Bay, having said that I can imagine some of you wondering how on earth we are in the middle of the worst drought in decades and yet I always seem to be saying it is raining. For some reason because of how we are situated geographically we get a lot more rain than Cape Town, we ALWAYS have lower temperatures than the other side of the mountain, we also get our water from a dam that only supplies our four little villages. Cape Town on the other hand has just released statistics that unless things change drastically they will run out of water completely by March of 2018. I am not going to go into how this has been allowed to happen as that will undoubtedly take a nasty political turn. At the moment they have and are introducing lower regulated water pressures, water shedding in some places, public swimming baths have been closed and continual pleas for residents to use less than 80 litres of water per person, per day. The hotels and B & B's have taken measures where guests are concerned to remove plugs fron baths and basins, timers on shower taps etc, it all seems so crazy considering that this part of the Province is surrounded by ocean on three sides. Plans to build a de-salination plant have been drawn but it will take at least 18 months to complete and considering that the Cape is one of if not South Africa's biggest tourist attractions, with December and the summer coming up there is much, very warranted concern. Our beautiful Province needs a miracle desperately.

As I write today's Blog my precious Hubby is 1300 kilometres away in Gauteng. We have a caravan which we left there in order to sell which has not happened and so he and a friend of ours left here yesterday morning at 4am driving straight through, he arrived at Poppets house last night just after 7 pm. Two exhausted men given the fact that a couple of hours out of Johannesburg the car seemed to be shaking, by looking out of the windows were able to see that the one tyre had a problem. They stopped and discovered that it had a 'bubble' on the underside of the tyre tread and not on the sidewall as it usually happens, so they stopped and changed to the spare to complete the journey. It was only the Lord who kept it from bursting and the many prayers for their safety and protection. Today Hubby dearest is collecting the caravan, making sure everything is perfect, purchasing a new tyre and they will leave tomorrow morning at 4am again to return home. Princess messaged me last night to say, "I am sure Dad's ears are sore because Princess did not stop talking for one second." Shame, on Saturday whilst we were discussing the December holidays and how long it's been since we saw each other she said "Granny I can't do 'this' another year, I HAVE to see you more often". Bless her heart, I feel exactly the same. Yesterday our eldest Grandson (6) in the UK took a tumble off a skate board, so he is sitting with a nasty graze on his nose, Oh the joys of raising kids.

Last week I managed, can you believe it - to bake bread, rusks and get all my other piled up chores completed. I obviously never learn though, because I was feeling great I ploughed through and did everything in one day, not the best idea I've ever had, as I am still paying the price. Well, at least I got it ALL done.

Friends I truly value and appreciate each and every one of you for your support, and encouragement and prayers, you folks are stars. As you enter into this week may it be with a heart full of peace and expectancy, wisdom for every situation you are faced with and a joy that knows no bounds. Please stay safe wherever you are and keep up the good fight.

A breathtaking sunset last week over the mountain behind us.

Birthdays, braais and laughter

Good morning beautiful people, I suddenly realised this morning when my Hubby mentioned something about November just how close Christmas is. What on earth has happened to this year that it has gone by so fast? I am going to have to get myself into gear and start planning for Christmas, if I am truly honest I can't say that it feels like Christmas is on the horizon. I am not going to say the usual that last week was quiet because it was anything but, between Poppet's birthday last Tuesday and my handsome Hubby on Thursday, multiple Doctors visits for Jelly Bean and I it seems to have been a painful blur.

The birthdays both were celebrated in true family style with Poppet being blessed with gift/flower deliveries and all the spoiling that Princess had planned, I know we weren't there but I think we all managed to make her feel special. Handsome Hubby had a somewhat quieter day, we went for breakfast and coffee at a new little shop that has opened up here (one of four new businesses to open in the last month) and then we went out with BigBear and BabyBear for a delicious dinner on the seafront in Strand. In between all these occasions Jelly Bean and I were both at the Doctor, her for a bad dose of Sinusitis and me with the ongoing infection. Yesterday and today are the first days that I have felt even remotely 'normal' in close on a month, Jelly Bean is much better Praise the Lord and I feel as if I am at last on the mend although we are still waiting for lab results to come back. I actually said to my Hubby yesterday, and this will sounds really strange to some of you, but it feels 'good' to be back to my 'normal' Fibromyalgia symptoms, these I can deal with.

On Saturday we had some friends over for a Braai and happily the rain held off long enough and everyone seemed to enjoy their evening, for our international friends this was their first South African Braai, if I had known that I would have done more of the traditional dishes as well, next time guys. Yesterday apart from the drive into work we had a totally lazy day in the most wonderful, cool, rainy weather. Today is still cold and every now and then there is a short downfall so may it continue, every drop of rain we get is desperately needed.

To our great delight we have now seen whales three times, mostly just floating around and the one actually came up out of the water but did not breach completely, when we drive into town everyone's eyes are glued to the water looking for signs of the whales and dolphins. There are a lot of Baboons here in the Cape and they can cause a lot of damage and havoc, mostly we see them on the coastal road along the mountainside. They sit on the side or even in the road and play, usually bringing traffic almost to a stand still, in some cases and to our great annoyance a car will just stop dead in the middle of the road, no hazard lights, just STOP so they can look at the animals, aaaarrgghhhh it drives me crazy. Yesterday coming home Jelly Bean was driving and just happened to see one of the teenage baboons coming down the cliff face just in front of us, it lost its hold and took a bit of a tumble but managed to grab hold onto something to avoid a complete fall. No one can ever say it is boring living in this beautiful part of our country.

Hopefully this week I can get back into my stride with making some Rusks and bread, it's been awhile since I have baked anything and I'm hoping the results will be edible, trust me sometimes even though I do exactly the same thing, it turns out very strangely hahaha.

On a very funny note we came home one day last week and when Max ran down the driveway to greet Hubby, he was running so fast (bearing in mind he is a small Yorkie) he somehow tripped and literally rolled head over tail twice before stopping and then quickly looking around to see who had noticed, we nearly collapsed laughing and he just looked at embarrassed. Jasper still continues to entertain us with his antics and precious personality, he still hides from the big red monster of a vacuum cleaner, he still runs full speed down the room even though he knows he cannot stop in time. Last week I just happened to witness exactly how he stops, he was running and realised he was about to run into an oak box I have so as he started braking he put his front paws up like a high five against the box and then his rear end slid around to join the rest of him. It is like living in a circus here at times.

Friends I sincerely wish each of you a wonderful week, may it be peaceful, productive and just generally a good week. We have a saying in our family when a day goes pear shaped or takes a nasty turn, we say "Fluff that tutu out and go dancing". Please stay safe on the roads and always be aware of your surroundings.


Gemma and Jasper lounging around in the cooler weather

Are you making a difference ?

Good afternoon folks can you believe that it is already October, where has this year gone ? We are now in the final quarter of the year and as many people here call it the silly season, and with it comes reckless driving, office parties, Christmas parties, school leavers graduating etc, and along with all that comes, for many people loneliness and further stress. Because this has been a really hard year for so many people I would like to ask each of my readers to be sensitive to those around you whether it is at work, school, family, church, anywhere, there will be and are people who are struggling on various levels. Please can we step alongside of someone who is hurting or struggling and encourage them, try and help them, include them and just generally let them know that they are valuable and precious as individuals, a little recognition and appreciation goes far further than you can imagine. From experience I can say with assurance that many people who are struggling or facing challenges will hardly ever tell you or ask for help, which in turn makes them feel even more isolated. My heart goes out to the elderly and especially the single parents in particular single moms, they are faced with school prize givings, plays and parties, office get togethers, many of which just they either avoid going to or they do attend but feel invisible. The list could and does go on and on of those people who just need someone to reach out to them and show some kindness, it could be taking someone for coffee, or taking them shopping, perhaps offering to babysit so the parent can go shopping or attend the office event, just dropping off a cake or chocolate with a hug can totally turn a persons day around. Friends I'm not suggesting that you go out and be extravagant, it's the small things that show you care. It is one way we as individuals can make a difference in this crazy world we live in.

It's been a quiet and somewhat frustrating week for me health wise, after the fall I had two weeks ago I just steadily felt worse and worse. My Blood Pressure was all over the show, every time I stood up I wanted to faint along with continuous nausea aargh. Eventually on Friday I surrendered and went to see the Doctor who very quickly determined that I had a rampant bladder infection (with none of the usual symptoms), she prescribed a once off antibiotic which I took and only today can I say that I feel as if I am on the mend. For the first time I can stand without wanting to pass out and without the constant nausea, my kidneys are sore but I am drinking water by the litre and doing everything else I know to do, I am on the mend yaaaay. On Thursday last week my ever patient and loving Hubby and I had to go into Caledon for some business and whilst we were there we took the time to go and look at the Hotel which has Hot Spring Pools, oh my word, they have five or six pools of varying sizes and temperatures ranging from about 25c to 46c, because they are mineral springs these waters are packed full of goodness, it's on my 'to do list' for as soon as possible, I am going to go and soak in all the goodness of those minerals. We then stopped for lunch on the Pass at a beautiful restaurant where we had a delicious lunch before going down into Somerset West to fetch Jelly Bean. Every day that I live here I thank God for the blessing of living here with the beautiful ocean and the huge mountains, whoever I look I can see one or the other or both at the same time. As I sit typing this I am listening to the sound of the waves and a myriad of birds that are all singing, today has turned out to be one of those 'perfect' days in the Cape, a gentle breeze and blue skies above us. Tomorrow is predicted to be gale force winds and rain, there are no two days here the same which is just another reason we love it so much.

Tomorrow is Poppets birthday which is bittersweet for us as we would so love to be there with her and Princess to celebrate, but at this point we are storing up celebrations for December when we are all together. Thursday is My darling Hubby's birthdsy so I am predicting a slightly busier week than the last few hehe. Hopefully this week I can actually accomplish some tasks and get some things done that need attending to in the house.

Friends on that note I am going to say Ciao for now, thank you for your continued support and encouragement on this Blog. I wish you a week of accomplished tasks, caring family and friends, peace in your workplace and home and God's provision, wherever you go please stay safe.

My view from the deck as I sit here.

Loving the sound of the rain.

Good afternoon folks, I sit typing this Blog to the sound of rain pouring down on the roof which is just about one of the best sounds in the world, apart from the fact that we are in a severe drought and every drop is precious. It is also the last day of a long weekend which means that there are very heavy traffic flows on all roads, it took Jelly Bean and I one hour twenty minutes to get her into work, a trip which usually takes an hour max, why you may ask ? Because there are protests on the main highway in and out of the Somerset West which means that ALL traffic is being re-routed through the suburbs. Oh for peace in this country.

I am really pleased that we are starting a new week as last week was somewhat challenging for me. Last Monday evening we noticed that there were a couple of puddles of water in the kitchen, not perturbed my precious Hubby took some kitchen towels and put them down to start mop up, I saw him do this and still commented to Jelly Bean that the paper towel became the same colour as the floor when it's wet, then promptly turned around and walked across the room and ....... fell flat on the ground on my hip and hand. Thankfully nothing broken for which I am eternally grateful, just bruises and I must have sprained my wrist. This resulted in me not being very mobile and quite restricted in what I could do one handed. Happily I am now much more functional and healing although adding the Fibro into the mix hasn't been much fun, the joys of growing older. Oh and the cause of the pools of water ? Our dear, sweet, intelligent dogs not asking to go out and thinking they would melt in the rain.

Our little Princess again 'cleaned up' at the last athletic event for the season which was an Inter School involving twenty four schools. She won Gold for High Jump, Sprints, Relay and Hurdles and Silver for Shotput. Well done Angel you are indeed a true star and our pride and joy is without measure. You are going to need a very big rack to hang all these medals on, perhaps we should have a chat with Grandpa and see how we can fix that?

The rest of the family are all well, although I am convinced that I raised a tribe of workaholics, December is coming guys and with it so are the holidays and hopefully lots of rest and relaxing for all. I look around me and see I see just how tough this year has been for so many people, tough in so many ways and it seems like this is the trend just about all over the world. All I can do is to encourage those of you who are stressed, scared, unwell, having troubles at work or within your families, please don't give up. One of the scriptures that has enabled me to keep going through times of extreme stress and problems is JEREMIAH 29 v 11 God's promise to each one of us "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." There were days, weeks, months, years where I had that scripture written out and I would keep quoting it out aloud rather be than meditating on the actual problems which never helped anyway. Does speaking it out aloud make it 'magical' and everything goes away? No, BUT, it does take your concentration off the problem/challenge and helps one to focus on hope and solutions. It doesn't happen overnight no matter how much we want it to, BUT the tough times don't last forever either and if we put our trust in God, and despite everything that I have survived, He never fails or disappoints. In our family especially amongst the girls, we have two sayings - 'Go out there and fluff that tutu girl' and/or 'Put your big girl panties on and face the day.' They may sound silly but they help us to refocus away from the problem as well as make us laugh. Perhaps you are challenge free at the moment, but I can guarantee you know of someone who is going through a hard time, please reach out to those people with love. Whether it's a cup of coffee, a visit or phone call, pick a flower, a small gift or even groceries or fuel for their vehicle, that is what we are here on this planet for, to minister to others and show them love and acceptance.

Folks that is all for this week, please wherever you are stay safe and always be alert to your surroundings, especially avoid the puddles of water haha. If there is something you would like me to pray for please just send me a message or comment (these are not published unless I make them visible) and I will gladly hold you up in prayer.

JER 29 v 11

A tumultuous week for sure

Good afternoon folks I trust today finds you well and ready to tackle the new week. I for one am looking forward to a hopefully calm and peaceful week, after all the chaos and ugliness from last week I am sure every resident is feeling the same way. The protest Action that I mentioned in my last Blog continued in Kleinmond escalating into full blown riots, literally shutting down the little town completely. All businesses, doctors and schools etc were closed, as were the roads leading into and out of town. Residents were asked to stay in their homes in order to maintain some semblance of order where possible. It looked like scenes from a war movie as piles of vehicle tyres and rubbish were set alight and burned all along the streets, at one point a fire was started on the mountain (in a very strong wind), happily it was brought under control fairly quickly. What really saddens me is how situations like this bring out either the best in people or, usually the very worst and I think it would be safe to say that a lot of ugliness reared up which did absolutely nothing to help the situation or ease any of the stress. The roads were closed at Gordons Bay and on the Hermanus intersection which caused no end of problems for residents of the neighboring villages, we decided to take a chance and took Jelly Bean through to work which meant we were stopped at the road block and allowed through, coming home we had to clarify where we live and were cautioned to go slowly. Yaaaay the joys of life.

As you can probably guess there was no exploring or getting out and about, pretty much a home based week for us. Hubby managed to find a gap and deliver the last of the bookshelves to delighted clients, a friend and I braved the weather and the wind on Thursday and took a lovely walk along Silversands Beach which was like a good dose of medicine. On Friday night we had some friends over for an evening of lighthearted fun and a good meal. It was freezing cold which means we needed no excuse to make a roaring fire, I made a big pot of Punjabi Dal Makhani (lentil curry) with Roti's together with a specially paired red wine and we were set. About ten minutes into our meal the power went off and stayed off, oh joy, candles and led torches were found and our dinner went without further incident, after which we hauled out the playing cards and taught our guests how to play Nurch. This card game has the tendency to get quite loud and uncontrollable haha Friday night was no exception, we played until about 12.30 am which is when the torches started fading hahaha. All in all a fantastic evening and definitely one to be repeated. On Sunday morning parts of Bettys Bay were awoken at about 4.30 am to a fire right on their doorstep, at this point there is no news as to what started the fire and again huge kudos go out to the authorities who act so quickly and efficiently in our area, it took a couple of hours but this fire too was extinguished with no damage to homes or residents, it did however leave the entire area without electricity as the power lines were compromised. We had been discussing selling our generator because. the power supply here in the Western Cape is so steady and reliable, I think we will be keeping our generator BUT in future it will be filled and ready to use haha, this weekend it was empty and the petrol station was closed due to the power outage #facepalm. The moral of the story for us is, make sure the candles, torches and generator are all easily available and charged ready to go. It intrigues me how people are so unappreciative of good service delivery and complain loudly and aggressively about everything. We moved here from a different province where if there was a fire it would be at least a half an hour to an hour before the Fire Dept would be on the scene, if there was a power outage it could take a week and more to fix, during protest action refuse removal and services would come to a complete halt etc. Down here in the Western Cape within 10 - 20 minutes the Fire Dept is on the scene, the power outage which was due to a transformer going down took 6 hours, a specialist team were brought into Kleinmond in order to complete refuse and sewage removal. What a pleasure it is to live in a Province which is being correctly governed and communities are still serviced, well done Cape Town.

In amongst the turmoil our Princess had a big athletics meeting on Friday and, after having been at home for most of the week with flu she insisted on taking part. WELL ......... This little star had quite a day. She won gold for Sprint, Hurdles, Shot Put and broke the TUKS record for High Jump in her age group by jumping 1.47m, she also won silver for Relay. CONGRATULATIONS Princess there are no words to describe how proud your Mommy and the rest of us are, you are incredible.

Folks that was what this particular stretch of my winding road travelled through this past week, I thank God that there was no loss of life, peace and calm have been restored and hopefully we can now all move on with our lives here in Paradise. I wish you and yours all a beautiful week and please, wherever you go stay aware and safe.

A Pincushion Protea bush looking exquisite.

Are you making a difference in your world?

Good morning friends amidst all the turmoil and goings on around the world I trust this Blog finds you and your loved ones safe. There seems to be so much turmoil wherever you look and read but the one thing that stays constant in our lives is knowing that God has us under His wings and will perfect that which concerns us. The thing that really blesses me is when I see or read stories of those exceptional human beings who in spite of their pain/discomfort are out there helping others, it's moments like that which show the world what we should all be doing.

Here in the beautiful paradise of Bettys Bay we are stuck between winter and summer, it's too warm for winter and not warm enough for summer. For someone who is super sensitive to the heat (except for my heating pad) this is not necessarily my natural happy season hahaha, I go from long sleeves to sleeveless, to layers and so it goes. My true gauge is my precious Hubbby, when he says it's hot then I know it's not just my thermostat that is broken. There has been "protest action" in our neighboring village for the last ten days or so which apart from the damage to property and stress for all the inhabitants and businesses, causes so much disruption because the road in and out of Kleinmond is closed. If you need to get East through Kleinmond to Hermanus or anywhere in that direction you either have to delay or go all the way into Gordons Bay and then up and over Sir Lowry's Pass bypassing Kleinmond altogether. We had a fairly busy week with Hubby having an order to build four big bookshelves for someone in Hermanus, they look stunning and eventually after days of not being able to get through on Friday we were able to deliver, hmmmmm does anything ever go according to plan? We hired a trailer and were loading the shelves onto it in a very strong wind, we (just him and I) got the first one on and were tying it down when there was an almighty crash behind us............ The one shelf which was directly INSIDE the garage, behind the glass door was blown over by a strong gust and fell forward over the small step ladder which went right through the backboard. AAARRGGHHHHHH seriously!!!! So, we delivered three, repaired the fourth over the weekend with the intention of taking it through today which is now on hold due to the Protest Action and road closures. Yaaaay.

Jelly Bean's shifts have changed so we are getting used to the different times and longer hours. Hubby and I are SO proud of her, for those who know her you will appreciate how huge this is. Last week she helped out a client very quickly and was able to find and organise collection of their order, which is exactly what she was supposed to do. Almost immediately after contacting the client and telling them, her bosses received an email from the client commending her on such good, efficient and friendly service. Way to go girl you are rocking this, look at the successes and appreciative clients not the difficult ones.

Friends if I may, just some encouragement. Tomorrow is not promised for any of us so make sure to tell your family what they mean to you and how much you love them, don't take it for granted that they know. Likewise with thos people you come in contact with on a daily basis a kind, encouraging word can totally change a persons day. For all those who are hurting and/or going through tough times, hang in there it WILL end and you will emerge stronger and wiser, just don't give up or throw in the towel there is always a light at the the end of the tunnel. Until next week folks I wish you all things good and wherever you are please take care and stay safe.

Jasper



One of the set of four bookshelves made to clients specs.

The North wind doth blow

Good afternoon friends, gee this last week has flown past and we currently have a very hot Berg wind blowing which is making life just a tad unpleasant, the only way to exist is to close every window and door and keep the house cool. September has blown in with a vengeance and is trying hard to make winter a distant memory, thankfully the weather department says that tomorrow the mercury will drop and we will have some blessed rain, wooohooo.

This past week was one of recovery for me after all the busyness of August, I am busy getting through a 'delightful' Fibro Flare and therefore have kept as quiet and low key as possible. Having said that we still managed to fit in some fun, thats what retirement is about isn't it? After I dropped Big Guy at the airport last Tuesday I found myself a cosy corner at the Airport as I had to collect friends of ours returning from Europe A couple of hours later, it is awesome to have them back in town and catch up on all the news, always so much to talk about.

Hubby dearest has been very busy in his garage with building the book shelves for his latest order and they are looking stunning, on Friday I took a close look at the dogs who were desperately in need of a clipping and decided to do it myself, poor dogs!!!! First discovery was that our hair clippers do not work on dogs, drat, so that left me with a wriggly dog, a comb and a pair of scissors. Much later Max emerged looking passable and I emerged covered in dog hair, buoyed up by my 'relative success' the day before I got hold of Sasha on Saturday morning and repeated the process. A word to those who've never clipped dogs, Yorkies are much easier than Maltese Poodles. It took twice as long and she emerged also looking fairly decent while I survived with blisters on my fingers from the scissors and looking like a shaggy Yeti doubly covered in white dog fur.

I have to take a moment here to brag a little and also congratulate our gorgeous Grand daughter, Princess on winning three gold medals last week at an inter school meet, she came first in shot out, long jump and high jump for which she broke the hosting school record. Well done Princess we are all so unbelievably proud of you, soon we will have to install a new long rail to hang all your gold medals on.

Yesterday we went visiting some friends and were super blessed to taste Sacher Torte, the genuine cake all the way from the Hotel where it was created in Austria, three words nom, nom, NOM. They also blessed us each with beautiful gifts brought back from Europe making us feel so very spoilt and special, thank you guys, you are such a blessing.

Oh, I nearly forgot, after 13 months of living in our paradise, on Saturday we got to see whales, or parts thereof LOL. Hubby saw a message on our Community group that whales were seen off Main Beach, that was all we needed we were up and out of here so fast and decided to start at the bay in front of our house and then move down if need be. Well all we had to do was just stand and watch, there were three of them playing in the water and we watched for about fifteen minutes before they moved on. What a treat it was, something I've wanted to see since I was a child, now my next goal is to see the 'whole' whale hehe.

Friends, it was a quiet, recuperative week and having caught up a bit today by making some savory crackers for snacks and having dinner almost ready because as soon as I finish here I am on duty to fetch Jelly Bean from work, a drive I always enjoy because of the ever changing beauty and the constant watch for dolphins, sharks and wales, all the while avoiding the number of baboons both babies and adults who sit on the road and very often bring traffic to a complete standstill. I wish you each a wonderful week, we are into the last stretch of the year when things start getting hectically busy, please accept an encouragement to take good care of your health, stay safe and make time to 'smell the roses' or anything that brings you peace and calm.

Max and Sasha looking spiffy and clean enjoying the sun the other day.