My Life's Winding Roads: Treat women with respect !!!!!

My Life's Winding Roads: Treat women with respect !!!!!: Hi all from a very confused, weather wise, Betty's Bay,  in the last week we have been through three of the four seasons and quite frank...

Treat women with respect !!!!!

Hi all from a very confused, weather wise, Betty's Bay,  in the last week we have been through three of the four seasons and quite frankly I'm ready for winter permanently.  Last week it was so cold we made a fire, then we had one mild day and THEN wham over the weekend the Cape was frying in a 35 c heatwave.  I simply cannot function in heat like that Ughh. Weather rant over hehe!!!

This week passed fairly quietly with me catching up on a number of things in the house and taking some time to 'be kind to my body'.    My Hubby was very busy as usual, I really envy his energy,  he is busy with a complicated repair to an antique pocket watch, as well as completing a large order he got for 'box frames' to display art.  This last has proved to take a lot longer than he anticipated as it comprises 24 boxes in all, hopefully that one will be completed this week as there are a number of other things in and around the house which are starting to mount up.  The family are all very well with great excitement mounting for Big Guy, BigBear and BabyBear who are all planning or about to embark on overseas holidays. Big Guy is up first and leaves in 16 days, but first a flying visit down to see us yippee - some organizing to do this side for his visit.  The girls are good after an extremely stressful three weeks which led  Poppet to decide last week, to postpone the wedding due to the unexpected medical diagnosis on Sonshine's side.  The wedding will still take place but when everything is settled and it can be enjoyed In its entirety as a wedding should be.  Yesterday was our youngest Grandsons birthday, in the UK, where he turned a whole 7 years old and celebrated by having a 'football' party.  When we spoke to him after the party he was almost fully kitted out to join Chelsea Football Club hehe, Happy Birthday little man.

On Saturday, being ignorant of the heat that lay ahead of us, we went into Cape Town city for watch parts and then across to Milnerton to collect yet more parts and spares. Our trip 
started off beautifully until we were suddenly confronted by a terrible accident on the coast 
road, Clarence Drive.  A motor cyclist had overtaken us earlier and was  going around a blind corner had hit a smallish car head on as it turned into one of the pull-off areas.  I found this extremely difficult to deal with and having arrived on the scene only minutes after it happened, and having to sit waiting until any cars could get through just made it worse. All I could do was pray fo him. We haven't been able to find out the condition of the biker and can only pray that somehow he survived.  All feeling completely shocked we continued with our trip and when we eventually got to Milnerton it was 35c, Jelly Bean and I went into a huge Checkers there and OMW what an exceptional shop.  I want to know why we can't have one this side of town.  Just as well we were on a time constraint and Hubby had to be back home by 3 pm to help someone with a car engine he is redoing, because we might have gotten lost in there.  I will admit to being to grateful to be home where is was a hot 24c although that became worse overnight and yesterday we nearly cooked.  Today, thank the Lord it is overcast and if not cold it is certainly cooler.

Folks all I can say to you all, in the light of what occurred in South Africa last week - a little 6 year old girl was abducted from her mother's car at school drop off, and returned 18 hours later unharmed thank You Lord.  The murder of a university student who merely went to the Post Office and was raped and murdered, the huge upswing of crimes against women and children which in turn led to a flood on social media as well as hundreds of protests is that we are living in a very sick society and the ONLY surety we have, is in having a relationship with God, were it not for that we would be totally without hope.  It is time that human beings learnt the value of life and begin treating each other accordingly, that men begin treating women and children with respect, gentleness and honor.  How often nowadays do we see men opening doors for a lady to pass through, or opening the car door, pulling her chair out at the table ??? Just the tip of the iceberg here or I will not stop.  Ladies (say what you will)  it's time you allowed men to honor you and respect you, it is not a weakness to be feminine.  Yes, woman have become stronger and more and independent, mostly through their 
circumstances, that should not stop us from embracing our womanhood and femininity.  HOWEVER that does not mean that we don't want  and shouldn't be treated with respect and dignity.  Men want and expect respect but guys that too needs to be earned.  I find it heartbreaking that our women, young girls, grand-daughters have to fear for their safety and lives to the degree that they cannot walk from point A to B, that schools have to warn girls to not go out, particularly alone, that ENTIRE Girls High Schools would wear black in honor of the many young women who are being raped and murdered in our country particularly in the last few weeks.  Please pray for girls, women, our country, the world in general.  

Be safe out there folks, look out for each other and be very aware of your surroundings wherever you go.  Have a beautiful week with love from BB,  Ciao Ciao for now.

Spring? Nope not yet

A bright happy morning to you all, I can't in all honesty say that we are having spring weather yet, in fact it has been quite the opposite.  We were talking yesterday and saying that this is the first 'normal'  Cape winter we've had since we moved down three years ago,last week was positively Arctic. #

Today for some reason I am really struggling to get my body into gear, more than likely all the busyness and gallivanting hehe.  It feels as if every move I make I am doing so through treacle, it is definitely not going to be a 'get a lot accomplished' kind of day. Life has been fairly hectic, but all in all everyone is doing well and as expected very busy.  Last week was interesting, I had the most marvelous birthday treat by a precious friend - her, Jelly Bean and I spent a wonderful morning at the Arabella  Estate Hotel, sitting in front of the fire having coffee and the most delicious cheesecake I think I've ever eaten, we caught up on all our news and just generally a wonderful, relaxed morning in Five Star surroundings.  Thank you my friend for the special treat.  We also had a visit from friends of friends who have just moved down to BB from Cradock it was wonderful getting to know them and I am looking forward to future visits.  Hubby has been really busy with clocks, watches, a big order to make box frames to display art and, helping someone who is working on his car engine, as always a very busy chap is my very dear Hubby.  As I mentioned last week it is birthday season in our family and with BabyBear being home for a week or so we took advantage of it and all met up yesterday for brunch to celebrate both of their birthdays, again a wonderful catch up time and great food.  

I don't know whether it is the same in the rest of the country but the Western Cape really is promoting healthy eating and this can been seen in so many of the restaurants we go to.  Where the options are definitely more artisanal and natural as opposed to the regular meat / chips / rice type of menus.  This is something of great interest to me because just over two years ago I cut red meat out of my diet along with most fried foods, margarine and sugars, I use olive oil where I can, butter, lots of legumes and pulses, artisanal sourdough bread etc. Don't misunderstand me, I still enjoy a good plate of chips or potato wedges every now and then as a treat, but I am talking of my general day to day eating.  The effect this has had on my body has been amazing, when I go for my annual blood tests all my cholesterol, glucose, insulin and similar levels are exactly where they should be. It has been an interesting challenge learning to cook differently but dishes can be equally delicious, if not more so.  Perhaps I should put up a couple of main meal recipes that I use hmmmmm.

Folks, as you may have noticed, I've been updating my pages above and from what I can see those of you who subscribe to this Blog through email will get an email every time I add something.  I updated the Fibromyalgia page which is something I've wanted to address for the longest time but,  knowing that it does apply or is not of interest to the majority I decided to have all Fibro related posts on their own page.  

I pray you all have a wonderful week, may your stress be less, your strength renewed and may you be blessed as you go about your days, be safe out there.  Ciao ciao for now 

One of the pics I took from the deck of Arabella Estate Hotel looking out over the lagoon towards the lagoon mouth with Fisherhaven on the opposite shore.

My Life's Winding Roads: FIBROMYALGIA

My Life's Winding Roads: FIBROMYALGIA: WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA? I have put off writing about this condition for the longest time because I don't want it to seem that I am looki...

It is Birthday season ...

It is not often, thank goodness, when we have nine birthdays within the space of about seven weeks, good grief even as I counted them up it seemed hard to believe but, yep our family is in birthday season hahaha. Happy Birthday today to BabyBear, wishing you only the very best of God's infinite blessings precious for today and the year to come.  BigBear it's your turn on Friday son.    Good morning all, from a delightfully cool and calm BB after last week's spring like weather we are very happily back to mild winter.  

We had a fairly normal week which started off with us watching the International Space Station pass overhead on Tuesday evening.  Because there in no light pollution here the night skies and amount of stars and planets we can see is phenomenal.  Along with the normal day to day activities we had a long overdue visit with our dear friends E & D, it was so good to catch up guys thank you.  Jelly Bean saw a snake (harmless) slithering across the garden which clearly did not disturb the dogs as they completely ignored it, one of the 'joys' of living in a Protected Biosphere.  We treated ourselves and went through to Rooi Els for a light lunch at a fabulous little Pub there that is very rustic and a favorite with bikers in the Cape.  On the way home we stopped in Pringle Bay, the village between us and Rooi Els.  It has a wonderful little shopping area with fabulous Deli that sells all kinds of artisan baked goods, imported products and homeware, while there I discovered I can, in future, buy my Extra Virgin Olive Oil on tap for any less than anywhere else, woohooo.  Meanwhile Hubby is busy with a very difficult clock which has come in as well as an influx of watches all of a sudden.  The family are all well with Poppet and Jelly Bean deserving a special shout out - Poppet who only started with her company last year has now been made Country Manager, congratulations Poppet you have come such a long way and a lot of sacrifices for both you and Princess, we couldn't be prouder.  Jelly Bean started working for  BigBear on a freelance basis and  did her first assignment for them.  They heard last week the Client is delighted with what she did and so 
is the Company, congratulations to you precious, you are finding your niche and as usual doing an outstanding job.  Needless to say I am an incredibly proud mother / step-mother and Granny when I look at our family and what amazing people they all are.  Not long now and we are going to celebrate big time guys.
Saturday was my birthday and after being thoroughly spoilt at home we went into town and met BigBear for lunch at my favorite Wine Farm - Vergeleegen, what an awesome afternoon we had, great good, super vibe and beautiful gifts, apart from the rest of the family being there what more could I ask for.  Thank you family and ALL my friends from near and far who made me feel well and truly loved and special, I feel humbled by all the beautiful messages and love.

From my side things have been a bit quiet as far as 'creating' anything goes as somehow I injured my thumb just over a month ago, despite a cortisone injection into the thumb pad and X-rays, which showed nothing untoward I am still very sore and wearing a thumb brace which frustratingly is ruling out crocheting or any similar handcrafts, even baking.  As a result I have done a LOT of reading hehe which for me is never a bad thing.

Folks, thank you for all the positive feedback on the 'new' look, I hope to be adding to the pages at the top this week with any luck, so keep an eye on them.  I pray you all have a 
peaceful week and stay safe and aware of your surroundings, Ciao Ciao for now.

A favorite view of mine going from Betty's Bay as the road drops down into Rooi Els.

A new look

Greetings everyone to my refreshed, new look Blog.  I decided that after three and a half years it was time for a make-over and after a quick chat to my extremely talented and gifted, youngest son BigBear,  then without even realizing he was already busy with it Voila....... here we are !!!!  Thank you son you are amazing and I am so grateful for the professional touch.  I have also decided to add extra pages, as you will see under the header where I plan to add Recipes, day to day Hints and Tips.  There will be other pages added as we go which will deal with specific themes, thereby keeping them out of the regular Blog and making them easier to access.  I also received an email from Feedspot, which is a content reader where people can read all their favorite Blogs in one place.  I had submitted this Blog to them out of curiosity.  In the email I was congratulated for having My Life's Winding Roads being selected by their panelist as one of the Top South African Lifestyle Blogs, this absolutely blew me away, woohoo thank you ALL for your support and thank you #Feedspot.

Apart from the above which was a major highlight in my life last week was definitely not one of the best we've ever had.  It just seems that some weeks are way busier than others in absolutely every way imaginable.  We ended up having to go out almost every day for one reason or another and after spending most of Thursday  in Hermanus catching up with a number of different small things as well as our weekly shopping which inevitably left me feeling like I've been run over by the Orient Express and in a flare, therefore, this week I am planning a more sedate week where I can hopefully recoup and regain my energy.

It was an extremely  difficult week for Poppet and Princess in particular as after all the excitement of Sunshine's anticipated arrival, everything was put on hold when he received  bad news related to a health issue.  On top of this  a young girl in Princess's school tried to commit suicide by jumping off the balcony, thank God she did not die and is receiving 

treatment, but this comes on top of an earlier suicide two weeks ago in the same Grade.  As you can imagine it has been more than what anyone can deal with much less a young girl.  The school has been amazing in providing counseling and therapy dogs but the fact remains that our youngsters are under an immense amount of pressure from so many different areas.  I want to urge you all to PLEASE be aware of those people you come in contact with, especially your family.  Don't dismiss depression as a 'phase' - it is frighteningly  real and far more common that you can imagine.  We have had experience with it in our own family and it is something that can never be ignored, for those involved it is like living life on a tightrope, never knowing what is going to be a tipping point.  Please pray for the families of these girls, Princess and for our youngsters in general.  

Friends and family I wish you a wonderful week, as you go about your days please encourage those you come in contact with, something I have become very aware of is we need to learn to 'listen to people to hear and not listen to answer', be an ear for those you know.  Be safe out there, ciao ciao for now.

Websites I can recommend

www.feedspot.com

www.suicide.org

Facebook - The South African Depression and Anxiety Group

Peace in Bettys Bay 

Moving into 'maturity' sedately :)

Good morning all I truly do not know where the time goes it is hard to believe that we are already into August, the days just seem to fly past.  Well last week certainly did, although now that I look back it was super busy.

I eventually took the leap in hairdressing terms, despite the fact that I am in my 60's ( shhh if you say it softly it doesn't sound too old lol ) I am nowhere near ready to embrace my grey hair which in defense of my age, started showing when I was nearly 13.  Perhaps it's the Italian in me but I have always had dark auburn hair and actually love it.  I may have played with styles over the years but apart from variations of my natural color it has never really changed.  I have now got to the stage that keeping 'the zebra stripe' concealed has just become too much and therefore after much, and I mean MUCH debate and overthinking I tootled off to the Hairdresser and tentatively dipped my locks in the  highlight pool.   First of all, being me, I chose the wettest, coldest day of the year to do this  #pacepalm, but I was committed.   Of course again because it's me, due to the incredibly thick hair I am blessed with, this was no simple, quick or cheap event.  It took four and a half freezing cold hours of sitting with product on my hair, the result ............ is wonderful, I am delighted with the results and so are the rest of the family.  It is still brown with the inescapable red but considerably lighter and will be a work in progress over the next few months.  Some people absolutely rock their grey hair but I cannot in any way imagine myself totally grey, I guess it will happen with time but for now I am part of the highlight brigade hahaha.

We popped in on Thursday, taking advantage of BigBears recovery and BabyBear being at home for a super visit and a couple of hours together which included a delicious Tapas Style lunch with them.  It was definitely balm to my soul and good to see him making a good recovery.  We also made a couple of stops to stock up on certain supplies, one of which was to one of my favorite places, Woodheads the Leather store ......... Ohhh I could just stay there for hours smelling and feeling all the beautiful leathers, mmmmm.  I was looking for a specific piece of leather / suede with which to make a belt for my outfit for the wedding, on finding nothing suitable I was about to walk out when on instinct I went back and asked again and lo and behold there it was - exactly what I had in mind, the perfect color and a workable piece, now, I just have to figure out how to do it heheh.

The family are all well, Poppet landed back in South Africa late on Saturday night much to Princess' delight. Big Guy is busy following business leads and thoroughly enjoying 'normal' life.  Hubby has been busy with a beautiful wall clock that was made twenty years ago for a Mom by her son as a school project.  Mechanically it has always given problems but the woodwork and casing are exquisite.  It took just a couple of days and this talented man of mine has got it running smoothly and literally keeping time to within one second.  Well done my love.

Folks as I said last week I am busy working on this Blog site to improve the look etc and also to add more content and readers along the way so, keep watching this space.  I would like to thank all of you for your faithfulness in reading my Blog and for all the encouragement that I receive, it is what makes it worthwhile.  Have a wonderful week and stay safe out there please.  Ciao ciao

The 'restored and repainted' infamous Cow Clock

Zeepha being cute in her basket.