Here is praying for a stress free week.

Good morning friends and family I hope this finds everyone well and ready for the new week.  I find since we retired, that I rely on the calendar a lot when it comes to Public Holidays, previously we would almost always go away with the caravan so there was normally a countdown.  I knew Easter was coming up more or less now but, only realized this morning that it is this weekend coming ........ Happy Easter to all we know.

Well as Jelly Bean said to me last night  "let's hope this week is less stressful than last week."  It certainly wasn't intended to be a stressful week but things have a way of turning upside upside down in a second.  You may remember I mentioned last week that little Zeepha had gone in to be spayed.  Well ......... That didn't happen.  Just after lunch on Monday I received a call from the Vet who then went on to explain that they had not been able to neuter this little treasure.  Apparently after doing a full health check on her because I had some concerns, she was deemed fine and the procedure began. They had no sooner administered the anaesthetic when she just stopped breathing completely, apparently there was at first absolute shock and horror and then a fair amount of drama and action.  The four ladies then had to administer oxygen and eventually even use the paddles to bring her back which they did, Praise the Lord.  If any cat we expected to have problem under anaesthetic it was CeCe and definitely not Zeepha.  They managed to clear her eye which apparently had a dead flea caught between her two eyelids, hence the closed eye and soreness, the Vet also discovered that just about all her baby teeth have fallen out on the one side which is why she wasn't eating properly and then this.  Aaargghh.  In light of her reaction to the anaesthetic our amazing Vet wasn't even prepared to administer Zepha's vaccination.  They have asked us to take her for an X-ray as they suspect she has a hernia, because she seems to breath with her abdomen and not her diaphragm. and this would be too risky to repair, in which case she will have to remain unsterilesed and a purely indoor cat.  Yikes.  Nevertheless off  I went to collect and bring my little Squeek home.  She was still very dopey and a VERY unhappy kitty but glad to be back home.  It took most of the week for her to get back to her normal self although I have noticed she hasn't been on top of the cat condo yet, which is normally her favourite place.  She was also coughing a lot whenever she drank anything but thankfully all is now fine.

The family are all well, very busy with their lives and in the case of Miss Muffet and Fam they are whiling away the week on the beach in Spain, lucky girl. Hubby has been wrestling with a wall clock that has given him no end of trouble, in typical fashion he doggedly and patiently keeps adjusting and at this point it looks like it is almost done.  He is also busy putting together a genuine Cuckoo clock which fell off the wall and broke in to dozens of pieces as well as working on the deck as and when time and weather allow.  Talking weather .......... Yippeeeeee.  It definitely looks like we are moving right along into winter as the temperatures have dropped significantly and we have had some reasonable rains, we even lit our first fire yesterday.  This is how I remember the Cape winters from when I lived  here in the '80's, usually winter would begin at Easter time but since we moved back the last two winters have been short, fairly dry and not as cold.  So this makes me one very happy camper.

Folks that's about it for this week, for those of you who are going to be traveling, especially on the roads, please be safe and careful out there.  For those who have family coming to visit enjoy and make lots of memories and, for those who are staying home enjoy the down time and recharge your batteries.  Ciao ciao for now with love from my family to yours.

Jasper and Zeepha all snuggled up.

 Zeepha, my sous chef helping and running interference when I made rusks yesterday

An early start to a new week.

It is a bright and breezy start to the new week here in our household, good morning all.  Well, after all the 'hoohaa' to arrange it little Zeepha has just left to be sterilized, thank you my Darling for taking her in.  I weighed her yesterday at a massive 1.68 kg hahaha and will be really pleased when this little ordeal is behind us.

Last week was definitely one of those mixed up weeks with great news in the family, which I can't share just yet - I know that's mean hehe, and no there isn't another grand baby on the way, yet.  It was one of those weeks that seemed to cruise along and then every now and again burst with busyness.  I think we are definitely heading into autumn down here as the weather has been noticeably cooler, we still have some hot days but on the whole it's cooling off, especially at night which is fantastic.  We've also had some rain so it is looking good for a wet winter.

We collected our little Bonsai plant a Natal Fig, which is now in residence and getting all the attention it needs and looks beautiful.  There are about 40 new little leaf buds just about ready to open and I will just maintain it until spring when as per our Bonsai Man's instructions I will take it back to him for its first 'haircut', so that he can show me exactly what and how to do it.  Whoop whoop!

Wednesday saw us up bright and early for a trip through to Stellenbosch to see my Fibromyalgia Doctor for my annual check up.  I had all the blood tests done the week before and happily all but two of the tests were either exactly what they are supposed to be or much improved towards normal levels.  The two tests that were unsatisfactory were one (I can't remember the name right now) which showed him that I have sleep apnea, nothing new as my precious Hubby has been telling me that for years and the second test showed that my inflammation levels are five times higher than they have ever been.  I had been interested to see the results of that one just because of how I have been feeling, I haven't really been able to bounce back from having the fungal infection and my pain levels have been far greater than normal.  In a sense it was a relief to see the result/reason for the pain, the complete lack of energy and all the other symptoms as now I know what it is and we have a plan.  He has prescribed an extra medication which should help lower the inflammation levels and thereby help me get back on the treadmill so to speak, that medication should arrive today so yippeeee.

The family are all well and busy with Poppet jetting off to Australia again in two weeks for business, the Bear's are planning an overseas trip to Europe and Big Guy also has plans to go to Thailand for a well deserved break. Hubby has a constant steady stream of clocks coming in which are keeping him busy - on Saturday someone hooted at the gate and when Hubby came back inside he was carrying a box, when I asked what it was he just grinned and said "broken Cuckoo clock", I would like to add that this one is broken as in broken so I'm looking forward to seeing it fixed and working. We are planning on staying exactly where we are and enjoying the gorgeous winter, our beautiful mountains and the ocean.  Talking about the mountains, it is such a delight every time we go out to see all the new growth and plants coming up after the fires, everywhere you look there are signs of new life and beautiful green is now interspersed in amongst all the barrenness left in the fire's wake.  Their recovery is much quicker than we expected and with good winter rains it should be looking beautiful in no time.

Folks that's about it for this week, I wish you all a happy, healthy week.  Be kind to others and take some time to be kind to yourselves, stay safe out there Ciao Ciao

Our Bonsai

Just a good day to start off a new month

Greetings to all on this the first day of April, once again happily we are having a lovely cool, overcast day.  We have had a couple of really hot days with zero wind but thankfully a little rain with yesterday and today being nice and cool.

Last week was fairly peaceful for myself and quite busy for Hubby as he has a steady stream of clocks coming in and managed to do a lot of work on the deck construction as well.  The family are all well including Big Guy who somehow managed to put his back out ouch.  Princess got some good down time after her hockey tour and things started moving forward for Poppet and J (her boyfriend of three years) as he has had his transfer to South Africa approved AND closed the sale on his house in the UK, now it is all systems go for them amid huge excitement all round.  Bigbear and BabyBear are busy planning a vacation for later in the year as well as juggling their busy work schedules.  Miss Muffet and family are doing well with our youngest Grandson B playing his first football match which they won and his older brother J being signed up for seven golf lessons, to see if he enjoys the game.  All in all everyone doing their 'thing'.

I had to get somewhat 'stern' with the people /organisation Zeepha came from.  I have been asking for a month for the information needed in order to have her sterilized and keep getting the answer "I have asked" or "it's been done" only for said email to never arrive.  On Friday I'd had enough and messaged the person involved and  said I would contact the Organisation directly if I didn't have the letter by close of business as well as saying that I will never recommend them because despite the fact that they are a Feral Cat rescue group focusing on sterilizing feral cats, and then returning them back to their area where they are fed and monitored, they appeared to have zero interest in having Zeepha sterilized.  Well, after a month of being nice getting angry worked like a charm Friday evening at about 18.00 I received my letter and made an appointment for the procedure next Monday the 8th.  Ridiculous to have to make such an issue about such a simple thing GRRR.

Hopefully I can collect our new Bonsai baby this week, it was scheduled for last week but the grower was unwell and we delayed collection, another exciting 'hobby' to embark on so, wish me luck given that I have already managed to kill one.

We have a relatively busy week ahead with trips to Stellenbosch, Hermanus and Kleinmond in the planning, Praise the Lord I have an understanding Hubby who 'gets it' when I just don't have the energy to always go with, thank you my Angel.

Well folks, lots of domestic news this week but no new adventures to speak of.  I want to encourage you when you are out and about, take a thought for those people you come across and spread some kindness and love, just because you can.  Stay safe out there and don't forget to tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them. Ciao ciao

Zeepha discovered a basket this week.

My favourite kind of day

Good morning one and all from a gorgeous Bettys Bay, today is the type of weather that ticks almost all my boxes of a perfect day.  It rained through the night, a soft, steady, soaking rain, the mountain is shrouded in mist and it is a wonderful 17c, winter is on its way Woohooo.

I will admit, with the Public Holiday making a long weekend I still feel like it is weekend and am not really geared up for the new week.  We had a relatively quiet week with my Dearest Hubby doing all the prep work and painting of wooden beams for the deck.  I tried to rest as much as possible in the hope of knocking this 'fibro flare' out of the park and haven't quite succeeded #meh.  Jelly Bean and I took a drive into Hermanus to stock up on some essentials and non essentials hehe.  It was a busy but nice day except for the fact that there was Protest Action in Kleinmond, which meant the main road through was closed off.  We managed to get through without any problem going and then when we were on our way home Hubby called me to say the road had been closed completely and we might not get through.  The alternative meant going over Sir Lowry's Pass all the way into Gordons Bay and then along the coast road, something I was in no mood to do, so taking a chance and using the back road we managed to get through, coming out on the Main Road exactly where the barriers were, thank goodness. We also went through to visit our friends, who moved during the fire, on Thursday and spent a lovely afternoon sitting out on their veranda and catching up on all the news.
Basically for the rest of the week I rested, apart from normal household chores and duties and yesterday we both did nothing except read and watch a little TV. All in all a very lazy Sunday.

The family are all well with BabyBear flying down for the weekend, and Princess went to Bloemfontein for a Hockey Tour, she arrived back safe and sound yesterday, much to Poppets delight.  The one common factor here in South Africa is the current state of our electricity supply.  We have had quite severe  rolling 'load shedding', what that means here is depending on what Stage they declare - 1,2,3,4,5 they switch off areas for between two to four hours at a time, multiple times a day.  We are issued with a schedule which helps a little but to say it takes some organisation and a LOT of irritation would be putting it mildly.  It wreaks havoc with small businesses as you can imagine, causes back ups with the traffic just to name a couple of things, and that is not looking at the domestic kick back, no power in the mornings when people are going to work equals no hot water, no coffee (unless you have gas), no hairdryers etc.  Yesterday was the first full day of electricity in more than a week.  When I looked at some of the footage from Mozambique after the Cyclone that came through it was certainly time to count our blessings and the hours of electricity we do have.  It is so easy to complain, but there is always someone, somewhere is going through 100 times worse, it is far more edifying to count and be grateful for every blessing.

On the animal front all are well and happy, Zeepha's ears are looking a little 'moth eaten' due to some energetic encounters with Jasper under the guise of play. Hmmm he doesn't know his own strength and can be a bit of a bully  but, in general she holds her own Hahaha.

Folks that's it for this week, I wish you and yours a wonderful week, may you have electricity and above all be safe.  Ciao Ciao

Our beautiful, bare mountain

What was that noise ?

From heavy rain to a different kind of 'heat'

Good morning everyone, is it just me or did last week fly past ?  One blink and it was history haha.  So much for my 'quiet' week I planned, I did manage a couple of days but seriously not enough.  The week started with that amazing rain, we measured 85mm in 24 hours which is the most we've measured at one time down here and then with  #zeepha having an issue with her right eye.  Since she was a tiny baby she has had twitchy eyes, but she kept it almost closed and on Wednesday woke up with it being all gummy.  I phoned the Vet and they said to continue swabbing it and bring her in on Thursday, so off we toddled bright and early, dropped Hubby off to visit a friend and Jelly Bean and I did the vet 'thing'.  After an official weigh-in at a whopping 1.25 kg #facepalm, and a thorough check up the Vet gave her an injection, some cream for the eye and an anti-biotic, she was not totally sure what the cause was, but as it has progressively healed every day I am very happy.  Zeepha handled her outing with all the class and grace I expected her to, not a squeek in the car and once we left the Vet we added a quick stop at the supermarket for which I put her in her travel box and she was absolutely fine in the trolley albeit causing quite a stir and lots of 'aaaah's and oooo's'.

As it was Jelly Bean's birthday yesterday I ordered her a pair of sheep skin slippers from a leather company in Cape Town, the only problem was when I called them they had none in stock of her size.  My heart dropped as the lady told me they take a week and a half to make...... she then said that she would ask at the Production Meeting on Wednesday and call me back which she did, and said they had agreed to make a pair especially for us and with luck it would be ready by Friday, no stress !!!!
On Thursday just before 10 am I received another call to say that the slippers were ready and could be collected whenever it suited us.  I have seldom experienced such an efficient level of service and communication in dealing with any company before. Kudos to #WoodheadsLeather for not only providing the most amazing  leather products but for your incredible staff, efficiency and friendliness, I will only use this company in future for any leather related items.

That having been organized we took a trip into Somerset West again, on Saturday morning as Jelly Bean had a coffee date with one of her friends. Being  the efficient souls we are LOL, we combined it with a full on grocery, fruits, vegetables,  pet shop for cat food and chicken shop for dog food as well as a nice coffee date of our own.  Let me add here that on Friday I began waging war on the continued flea problem we have to which end I  gave the cats Capstar, which kills fleas instantly and for 24 hrs, then Friday evening when we went to bed we 'fogged' the lounge/kitchen area and on Saturday morning whilst we were out we 'fogged' the bedrooms.  The reason I mention this is because when we arrived home on Saturday after a full morning of running around and no electricity due to Load Shedding, we then had to put the house to rights as well as vacuum from one end to the other and every nook and cranny. Wheew quiet week not !!!!!   A little while later BigBear arrived and we had a wondeful evening of chatting and catching up (again no electricity) and a yummy Braai (barbecue).  Yesterday the guys got up early to watch the Grand Prix and once all the birthday celebrations were over and the power off AGAIN, we drove to Pringle Bay to one of my favourite little coffee shops where we spent a wonderful morning.  Came home and I quickly put Jelly Bean's meal request on to cook............. OH DEAR! is all I can say.  Last year when I bought all my Indian spices I obviously bought chilli powder as well, hmmmmm, I make this dish regularly but I have NO clue what happened yesterday.  I dished up and one by one as we started eating I was met with shocked faces until my very dear Hubby said he could not eat it.  None of us could, it was so flipping hot it was inedible.  Jelly Bean was the only one who managed to get any down until eventually we just gave up and had tea and chocolate muffins for lunch  #double face palm, never in all the years I have cooked has this happened.  I am going to buy some DANGER stickers and paste them onto the bottles. I made BigGuy and BigBear chilli chutney for Christmas and they are constantly joking about how hot it is (same batch of powders) now I have some inkling of just how hot, HOT is.  Oh dear some serious adjustments needed now LOl.

Folks on that note I am going to say Ciao Ciao for this week, we again have no power and I will post this as soon as it comes back on.  Have a wonderful week wherever you are, be careful around chilli powder lol and please stay safe.

Two videos of Zeepha having her bed time drink, one at the start and the second as it comes to an end. As you can see this isn't going to end anytime soon HAHA

Rain, glorious rain ...

Good morning family and friends, here I sit listening to the glorious rain that has been falling since yesterday, in long sleeves, with a cup of tea and thoroughly happy.  So far this morning we have measured 60mm which is the most we've had down here and doubly unusual as it is coming from the South East.  The only problem with the different direction is that our house a sprung a few new leaks               # facepalm, this means a trip up onto the roof for my Dearest Hubby when things are dry to do some waterproofing.  Otherwise a perfect Monday.

After a crazy busy week which left me utterly wiped out and in loads of pain I have declared this as a 'home week.'  Last week we took our very sad looking little Bonsai tree up to a gentleman here in BB who grows Bonsai's.  Hubby was given this one as a birthday present in 2016 and it has never grown but still had leaves, then a couple of weeks ago dear, sweet, innocent ? Zeepha discovered she could get up on the bookshelf and started pulling the leaves off, I moved it and gave it some TLC but it just looked worse.  Sadly the professional diagnosis was .......it died!!  I felt so bad as I am the one who has looked after it, but our Bonsai 'guy' said he will see what he can do with it and in the meantime has exchanged it for a different type of tree, Natal Fig which he has been working with.  So, he is busy repotting the new tree into our pot and will do the shaping etc and get it settled then give us a call to collect it, I am praying I can keep this one alive and healthy.

With all the running around and hoo haa of last week my precious Hubby wasn't able to make much progress on the deck, he has done some work on it, but has also been busy with a number of wall clocks that have come in, one which just continues to chime non stop (it is in the workshop thank goodness).  Zeepha continues to just get cuter and cuter and weighs in at 1.3kg which means I am starting to organise her spaying / neutering procedure.  She still has this impression that whatever I eat HAS to be shared with her irrespective of what it is and if I ignore her she will walk all over me or stand in front of me squeeking.  Jasper is still a bully and we regularly have to intervene when the squeaks become louder, where she does get the upper hand is when she chases him or visa versa and because she is so small and he is so clumsy, she will dive into a small space and then he 'loses' her and will call her looking very confused haha.  A constant source of entertainment these two.

On Saturday afternoon we went to a wonderful event that my friend E organised for all the people whose  homes and or gardens were affected by the fire.  She had organised hundreds of plants mainly through local ladies who worked for weeks with cuttings and getting the little trees and bushes ready to be handed out, beautiful pottery bowls had been especially made and there were drinks, eats, little gifts.  It was a lovely festive atmosphere with  everyone being able to help themselves to plants, bowls etc in order to re-start their gardens.  Well done my friend you worked so hard and it was truly a wonderful way of helping people find some closure.  As one drives through BB at the moment there is re-building taking place everywhere which is wonderful to see as well as how quickly the ground and certain types of Fynbos are recovering, thank you Lord..

Folks no major news thank goodness, for me this is a week of resting and healing.  The rain is still falling and the waterfalls on the mountain are all streaming down which is gorgeous, I am going to try and get some nice photos during the week to show you.  I pray you all have a fabulous week and please, please wherever you are, stay safe and always alert in your surroundings.  Until next week Ciso Ciao.

Zeepha pulling the cute card.😍

 Jasper 'stuck ' on the fence or maybe he's practising Karate 😆

Please a peaceful week

Good morning everyone from a beautiful, cool, cloudy and slightly wet BB.  I am sincerely praying that this week is going to be vastly different from this past week.   As you know last week began with us having to say goodbye to our precious Gemma.  On Tuesday I was busy in the kitchen where I could hear what sounded like bees or flies buzzing, when my dear Hubby came into the house I asked if he could hear it, he listened and said that I had forgotten to switch off the fan in the bedroom, I hadn't turned it on, following the noise he could now hear he went into the bathroom only to encounter what could best be described as a mini geyser.  The hot water pipe on the hand basin had burst and was spewing high and happily into the corner - we have a small bathroom and by that time bathroom the bedroom was under water, carpets, wardrobe, you name it.  He shot out of the house saying we had a leak, I had my hands in dough.  Long story short after turning off the water main, on the roof, using our dry/wet vacuum cleaner and a LOT of effort we dried up most of it.  Fans on in both rooms helped dry out the furniture ....... Great fun, NOT !!!!!!!

On Thursday we took the dogs to the parlour which has been in the planning for a few weeks.  Since we moved down to BB both dogs have done nothing but scratch, we have tried everything and every food but nothing helped, until about a month ago I read about Raw Dog Food. After doing some research we decided to take them off dry pellets completely and put them onto a complete Raw Food diet.  The reason we waited for the parlour visit was because Sasha (Maltese) has had a dark orange rump and chin since living in BB, we initially put it down to the Fynbos.  Well, they came home from the parlour and she is snow white, from top to tail and they now hardly scratch or lick.  For our doggies Raw Dog Food is the only way to go, thankfully it is easily obtainable here and bonus, it works out cheaper, happiness all round. Jasper and Zeepha are becoming good friends, he had a few disoriented days after Gemma's passing, but now seems fine if not a bit more lovable.  Little Squeek topped 1.2kg and is still as cute and gorgeous as ever.

My very talented Hubby started the reno of the deck which began by taking down the awning frame, hmmpff that thing weighed WAY more than we ever expected - about 500kg.  Engineer to the garage, and he came up with a block and tackle system in order to lower it bit by bit, single handed.  When it was down he put some conduit piping underneath and managed to roll it to the edge of the deck.  From there leant it on the railing which is where the big fun started, getting it from there to the garage wall - another block and tackle set up and both of us hanging on.  Once on the grass we put the poles underneath and manoeuvred it inch by inch up against the wall, where it now stands, sheeww.

Over the weekend we met up with BigBear for a wonderful, long, lazy lunch at the Harbour in Gordon's Bay.  It was a fantastic afternoon,  beautiful scenery, great company, wonderful food (my new favourite restaurant - Antonios.  It was so good to see and spend time together, but we are really missing seeing BabyBear, it feels like ages.  The rest of the family are all doing very well and, as
usual super busy but all healthy. On our way into Gordon's Bay my precious Hubby and I were discussing a problem that Miss Muffet had noticed - the floor of his car, behind the drivers seat was completely soaked when she was here.  We assumed at the time that he had left the window open when he washed the car, while talking he reached back and lo and behold the carpet was again completely saturated = Hubby mentally entered his 'what is the cause'  closet.  After doing some research when we got home he came across the possible cause and yesterday morning first thing he was out there.  Bingo it was a blockage of the air conditioner pipe that caused the water to overflow into the car, within a little while he had it all fixed and carpets drying out.

Folks that was our very crazy week, here is praying for a calm, peace filled week ahead for us all.  Please take care out there and as always be safe. Ciao Ciao

A beautiful pic that Miss Muffet took here on Silversands beach.

Deck renovation