The day after Christmas and all is quite, at home.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas for yesterday and hoping that you are all the enjoying Boxing Day.   Wow, I said it to my Hubby last night that after months and weeks of planning and running around, now it is all over so to speak.  My goodness me it has been busy and probably will continue to be for awhile, but at least for me the running around etc is over.

We had a very quiet Christmas Day spent with our girls and some friends who are new to South Africa, Poppet 'ejected' me from the kitchen yesterday and produced the most delicious Christmas lunch together with a mouth watering pudding.  We sat around chatting and just enjoying each other's company, especially having Jelly Bean around was a treat as she has been working unbelievably long hours and we've hardly had much time with her.  We had a video call with Big Guy in the morning, lovely messages from BigBear and BabyBear in Zanzibar, other calls with various family members so we managed to touch base with our nearest and dearest.

Jelly Bean worked again this morning  and the shops and beaches are absolutely crazy busy. There are literally thousands of people who flock to the beaches on Boxing Day and New Year's Day, and even though not too many of them are in the water they are on the beach.  As for us, we are staying home based until the crowds clear.  When I see the volumes of traffic and the hoards of people I just give God all the thanks for blessing us with our house in beautiful Betty's Bay, it is so quiet and tranquil........ It literally feeds my soul.

Friends, because it is holiday time and our last week consisted almost entirely of  preparations and things to do for Christmas I am going to keep today's Blog short and sweet.  Hubby dearest went for his final check up with the specialist last Wednesday and has been given the all clear and a good thumbs up to remove the sling (took it off yesterday) and has started his rehab exercises, we are so blessed that all is well and the operation was a success.

I am posting two pictures of Jasper who lived with the Christmas tree in total harmony until Christmas Eve when he decided that he belonged IN the tree and it took a united effort to actually get him out without destroying tree or presents.

From my family to yours we wish you a wonderful week and a very Happy New Year.  Please be safe wherever you go and if you are going to be celebrating the New Year please do so safely even if you appoint a designated driver to take you home.  Thank you for another year of your support and encouragement on this Blog, my prayer for each and every one of you is that 2018 will supercede this year in every possible way with good health, happiness, peace, love and prosperity.

Jasper trying to blend in.

Twas the week before Christmas

Hi folks, can you believe it is exactly one week to Christmas, how are you all doing in terms of preparations?  I can very happily say that I am finished with everything.  I actually managed to get everything on my list finished as well as all presents, just in time before Princess and Poppet arrived.  Shoooo, I will admit though that on Friday I definitely overdid things and am still paying the price.  Hubby darling and I dropped Jelly Bean at work at 8 am, had a quick breakfast and then got started.  We made eleven stops in total, as I had offered to help Princess and Jelly Bean with their shopping, at one point I was SO confused with trying to sort out who had what, and if I had purchased all the right gifts for the right people,  aaargghh, I truly felt like my brain had totally deserted me haha.  We did the grocery shopping, gift shopping, you name it we did it and eventually finished at 1.50pm, collected Jelly Bean and staggered home after 3 pm.

Our beautiful  girls arrived on Saturday together with BigBear and BabyBear who fetched them from the airport and after a special Express Christmas dinner we had a small gift opening, their gifts from us and to us.  Yesterday dawned with lovely cool weather and quite a strong wind, so we spent a slow, lazy day around the house. It is so good to have them here and watch them relaxing, I cannot believe it was eleven months since we were last together. Even with a big crowd like that though we really missed Big Guy, it felt very odd without him.

Needless to say it has taken Jasper until now to relax enough that he is sleeping next to me on the sofa, Mr Scaredy Cat spent most of the weekend prowling around and jumping at the slightest unusual sound.  Braveheart he is not!! 

BigBear and BabyBear leave on Friday for their holiday to Zanzibar and Big 

Guy is working right through the holidays as is Jelly Bean.  I am pretty sure that if both of them never see another customer they would be very happy, as we call it they are 'peopled out'.   The two girls are going with friends to do three Wine Farm tours this coming weekend and will be home again on Christmas Eve.  We have invited some precious friends over on Christmas Day and will be having a 'quiet' slow day here with a nice meal and everyone just relaxing.  

I would love to hear back from you guys  to hear what your plans are for Christmas Day?  I will not be posting a Blog on Monday but will catch up with you again next Tuesday.   My prayer for you all, wherever you are, is that you 

have a wonderful, blessed Christmas, enjoy the time with your family and friends, and be safe wherever you are.  2017 has been a very tough year and this is a beautiful time to focus on the good things that have happened,  to give thanks for all the answers to prayer and for the people you have in your lives.  

Merry Christmas  folks from us all in Betty's Bay.

Jasper and Gemma in holiday mode

From heatwave to gale force winds and rain

Good morning friends and family, well our countdown in now in the single digits and we have only five sleeps until the girls arrive for their holiday, I am so excited and very happy to say that I actually managed to get EVERYTHING on my list done. Maybe I am finally learning the art of pacing, it's been a few weeks of tackling one task at a time in preparation but I did it and am super chuffed. I'm paying somewhat of a price for all the busyness but praying that the pain and exhaustion will start to subside as things quieted down a little. It's been busy (but then when isn't it?), my darling Hubby is becoming more mobile, and frustrated with his lack of dexterity and the sling, but he is improving. Jelly Bean and the rest of the family are all exhausted with the end of year last minute deadlines, work issues, extra working hours and just a tough year coming to an end.

Last week we found ourselves in the grip of a fierce heatwave, which was most unusual for this part of the country, but oh my goodness it was HOTTT, Bettys Bay reached temperatures of 38c and we are one of the coolest places here, there was not a breath of wind, just baking heat which after five days turned itself around and on Saturday we awoke to rain, cold and gale force winds. Our two dogs were looking absolutely ragged and we managed to find a wonderful lady, right here in BB who groomed them, giving them both beautiful summer cuts. They came bouncing back into the house looking like they had been on holiday and then Sasha promptly collapsed on the concrete floor with both front legs stretched out and he back legs stretched out making sur not get every available square inch of skin on the cool floor. I have a very dear friend who moved to BB two years ago from Europoe and as she put it "Africa is definitely not for sissies." Haha isn't that just the truth.

This weekend we were so blessed to have BigBear and BabyBear over and they were able to really kick back and relax a bit. BabyBear has just finished a nine week stint of training up in Johannesburg, flying back every weekend and I think it was a good opportunity for her to begin relaxing and a bit of catch up. Because of the howling wind we didn't do an awful lot, we tried going to the beach yesterday and got about ten feet onto the sand before deciding that 'sandblasting' was not what we were into and scurried back to the car and relative peace of the house. It was so good to have them here and see them de-stressing. Our girls arrive on Saturday and then it is their turn to unwind, Poppet has been working until who knows what time every evening and through the weekends now for months, due to various situations at work, Princess finished her last year of Primary School, so holiday time is nigh. Big Guy is sadly not able to take time off for a visit as he is working right through the holidays, it will be the first Christmas in his 40 years that he will not celebrate with us, sniff, sniff. We will miss you Son, big time. BigBear and BabyBear will also not be with us on Christmas as they are going to exotic Zanzibar, enjoy guys we will celebrate 'Express Christmas' with you this coming weekend. The one common thread that I see with almost every person I know or come across is that this year has been really tough, and everyone's stress levels are at the very end of stretching point. Folks please take time to be kind to yourself, whether that means a quiet cup of coffee somewhere, a bubble bath, an hour to read a book, going for a walk, whatever it is try and take a few minutes every day to distress and focus on YOU. We cannot avoid the stress of daily life, but, we can try everything in our power to help ourselves cope just that little bit better and in so doing avoid total burnout. Let's also take time be sensitive to those around us who may be on the brink of burnout/depressed/not coping, etc. A hug, a kind word, an ear to just listen and allow them to vent, a prepared meal, offer to babysit kids for a couple of hours, all these things can and do make a person's whole day turn around. At this time of the year when families are mostly trying to be together, let's not ignore those who are not near family, are single parents, recently widowed or just plain lonely. I've been in that position and most of the time no one is even aware of what you are feeling or going through, my plea to you is to draw those folks in and share some love, isn't that what this season is all about?

Folks that is all for this week, I hope that the next two weeks will not be insanely crazy for you and that you can enjoy the Holiday period restfully. Please stay safe and aware of your surroundings wherever you go.

Some random pics from our week.
The Christmas decorations are up.


The blessed rain on Saturday


Jasper helping decorate the tree.

Three weeks to Christmas, are you ready?

Hi folks, December is here and we are on the final countdown to Christmas and the end of 2017, and for us that leaves twelve sleeps until our girls arrive for the holidays. Still lots to get done as I am sure all of you have as well, but somehow now that we are actually in December it feels a whole lot closer and perhaps just a little bit 'eeeeeek' how am I going to get it all done. I am pretty much on track as far as preparations for the girls visit but not quite so organized for Christmas presents, which is odd for me as I am usually finished all the shopping by now. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that Hubby dearest is not totally mobile and we have just not been able to set aside one day to get everything finished. This week for sure I will cross that task off my to do list.

Tomorrow also marks the one year anniversary of my precious little Kiko crossing over the rainbow bridge. Last year she took such great delight in helping me put up the Christmas tree but unfortunately never got to play with all the baubles, I have absolutely NO doubt that Jasper is going to have great fun with them this year, unless for some reason the tree scares him (which is totally possible haha), I have never before had a cat that gets such big frights for the smallest things, hmmmm perhaps I should put a moving reindeer or something under the tree, that way he will leave it alone? Kiko will alays hold a very special place in my heart as she was truly one of a kind, totally unique in every way.

As far as the weather is concerned we are having the strangest weather. As we are a winter rainfall area it is very strange to still be having rain at this time of the year, not unwelcome by any means, as far as I am concerned it could rain year round and I would be quite content. Late Saturday and on into most of yesterday morning we had glorious, soft rain and much cooler temperatures which were truly appreciated by my family at least. May it continue to rain as the drought here is severe and the water restrictions and limits are going to be sorely tested.

Last week was extremely busy with driving into town and back as Jelly Bean had shifts every day, this week she has two solid, back to back days off for which we are all extremely grateful. Although having said that for, the first time this morning we nearly got it wrong. I thought her shift was this afternoon and she said that is was this morning, so the alarms were set, we all got up and Hubby was going to go in with her and then visit a friend until she finished, which would have given me the day off as well. About ten minutes before departure time she double checked her roster and guess what ? She is on this afternoon hahahaha.

I must also share an extremely proud moment we had as a family last week when Princess's was named Victrix Ludurom at her school for 2017 and her name has been added to the Honours Board in the school Hall. Well done my angel, you worked so hard to achieve that Honour, even competing when you were ill, against all our advice. Well done to Poppet for doing such an amazing job as a Mom and for your support and encouragement in helping her to accomplish this goal. Next year as she moves on into High School it is the start of an entirely new chapter in her life with opportunities aplenty for her to continue making a name for herself on the sports field.

My darling Hubby had an appointment with the Surgeon last week, who is very happy with his progress and we have to return just before Christmas before he is able to remove the sling and begin some rehab exercises, three weeks down and three to go Sweetheart, you can do this. I am trying to capture every spare moment to rest because all the busyness has led to a Fibromyalgia flare of note, which is probably going to take some time to get under control.

Folks, I pray you all have an excellent week, manage to get all the things that need doing, done and even have some spare moments to 'smell the roses', admire your surroundings, take some time to refill your own batteries and get some breathing space before the final busyness overtakes you. Please stay safe out there and alays aware of your surroundings please.


Two pics in Memory of my beloved Kiko. The second taken today a year ago.

Be kind, it is infectious.

Good morning friends, I hope this finds you all well and coping with the run up to Christmas and the years end?  I am sure that this past week has been fairly hectic for everybody with all the preparations and planning that seem to take place as we head towards the end of 2017.   Our week was busy, but good busy, if that makes sense. Jelly Bean had every alternate day off which was greatly needed and appreciated by both of us and I actually managed to catch up on my baking and household chores that have been sadly neglected,Nineveh managed to make Dragon Drizzle.  This week in contrast is going to be very busy with her working every day, Hubby dearest needing to see the Specialist for a check up, and so the list goes on.

Little Princess has finished writing her exams and is almost officially finished with Primary School and moving on to  High School in January which is going to be a very big change for her, but one I have no doubt she will tackle head on and excel in.   My precious Hubby is recovering well and every day sees less pain and discomfort in his shoulder, he has found that wearing the sling strapped to his body is far more comfortable than just wearing the sling.  Two weeks down and four to go.  I have been quite challenged, pain wise so find myself taking every opportunity I can find to rest, even if it is just 10 minutes.  As for the rest of the family, they are all very busy with year end deadlines and what Big Guy calls the 'silly season', - he definitely sees much more of that with all the Christmas parties and company year end parties than the rest of us, thankfully :) 

As far as my timetable of 'to do' things, I am about 80% finished and am actively watching our count down clock to when the girls arrive - two weeks and four days woohooo, I cannot wait to see them.  Last week BigBear came through for the evening and we had a lovely family favourite for dinner (Moms Mac and Russians) and some good catch up time together, I truly cherish every second I have with the family and will snatch those moments whenever and wherever I can as I am sure most of you do with your families.  What happened to the time when families all lived in the same city and Sunday lunches were the norm????

Max and Sasha are currently staggering along the garden as there is a very strong South Easter blowing, inbetween standing firm they spend half of their time with their noses glued to the fence trying to spot the tortoise which has taken up residence next door.  When they do see him then they go berserk, actually biting the fence to try and reach him, as our neighbour said yesterday, at least they know where the tortoise is because our dogs make such a mission of keeping him in sight.  Jasper has been a very lazy cat, except for when he loses his favourite toy, still that ragged piece of paper.  When that happens he prowls around looking under the sofas and then looking at me, as much to say, please find it mom, when I do find it there is usually a very energetic time of play, stalk and catch until he scoots it under the chairs again, and so that cycle continues.  As for Gemma, she just does her own thing and can be found either on Jelly Bean's bed or snuggled down in the Fynbos somewhere becoming one with nature.  I came perilously close last week to 'fostering' two little kittens that our local Animal Shelter advertised, they are siblings and were both born with deformed front legs.  It nearly drove me crazy worrying about them until I went in to ask and found out they had been adopted out together to the same home and were leaving the following day.  I'm not sure what I would have done but I could not leave them there to be ignored or worse. So happy ending for them both.

Folks, as I said a very busy week ahead and I have to leave shortly to fetch Jelly Bean from work and sort out a few things in town.  I pray you ALL have a blessed week, hopefully you can avoid the craziness that seems to be everywhere.  I would like to 'challenge' each of my readers to make a sincere effort this week to spread some kindness and love to those you come in contact with.  One gentle /kind / friendly word can totally transform someone's day, so let's see how many people we can impart peace and kindness to.  Please take care out there and stay safe.

Jasper stopping to say hi hehe

Happy Thanksgiving.

Wishing all of my readers and friends in the

U S A  a wonderful, happy, peace filled

and safe Thanksgiving.

Thank you for your

support.

Crazy week, crazy weather

Greetings all from a VERY windy Betty's Bay, currently the wind is blowing a gale which means I keep having to check on my washing to make sure it hasn't blown away, quite literally.  I trust you all had a good week and are ready for this one ahead.  At this stage my week is looking a LOT better than last week and I am going to do my best that it stays that way.  Hubby's op went very well, the Surgeon repaired two tears and he was able to come home the following day.  His pain levels have been pretty manageable so far except for Friday when he went into town with us, personally I think it was just a bit much.  I am doing a LOT of driving with Jelly Bean to work and back, although she drives on way each time which helps immensely, her first time driving at night was in the pouring rain with the two of us both straining forward to see where we were going haha, talk about the blind leading the blind.  I will confess that not too much creativity has been taking place in the house as I have just been too tired and busy, so a lot of salads for dinner.  On Friday Jelly Bean had the first part of Root Canal in her problem tooth hich has happily stopped the pain, and we then went into town using my car.  Oh dear ........ I've had this car for about four years and not once have we had to do any repairs on it, until Friday, just as we got into town it sounded like I had driven over some wire, so I pulled over and we checked under the car - nothing, my darling. Hubby then opened the bonnet and there, flapping around, was a third of my fan belt which had stripped loose.  We managed to cut the loose piece off and very cautiously continued with all our chores.  We are so used to Hubby doing all the vehicle repairs and maintenance that the thought of having it replaced in town never even crossed our minds.  We did organise with friends that should it come off completely they would come and tow us home.  Only on the way home after Hubby decided to buy a new belt did we even think of having someone replace it, we found a company around the corner and within half an hour were back on the road.  Woohooo.  Yesterday we went into town but happily not for work and while Jelly Bean was at the movies we had a lovely coffee and scones and then went to visit friends for an hour before coming home and collapsing.  Today she is off and we all decided that not one of us is leaving the
property hahaha.

Jasper is still carting his little piece of paper around and hiding it, which means he keeps coming to me to help him find it because it has gone under the chairs or some other impossibly small space.  I even had enough energy this morning to make som savoury which was an achievement all on its own.  I do not know why but it seems that the closer we get to Christmas the  faster the weeks seem to fly past.  In three and a half weeks our girls will be here for a MUCH needed holiday break and family time, Hubby will be in a sling for the next five weeks, so right up to Christmas of not being allowed to move/use his arm, but then he will be as good as new.

Apart from the travelling and 'nursing' not much else of interest this past week in my life, BUT, I would like to end off by encouraging those of you who are going through tough times and turmoil to please hang in there.  2017 has been a particularly rough year for many people and now that the pace
has picked up and barrelling  to an end, pressures are mounting up, deadlines have to be kept, work needsto be completed, exams are being written, finances are tight and just in general a lot of people are taking strain.  Please don't give up or allow the pressures to overcome you, YOU are bigger than any problem that comes your way.  God is bigger and more powerful than ANY challenge thrown your way,  the Holy Spirit is your constant companion and guide.  The best advice I can give is to push on through prayer, positive words and thoughts, try not to overthink every situation and allow God to work in your life and circumstances.  As long as you are worrying and trying to fix things His hands are tied.  Please take a moment to go and read Matthew Chapter 6 v 25 - 27 and Matthew 21 v 21,22 and Matthew 7v 7.  God will not let you down, He says in His word that in Him we have protection and provision. John 10 v 10.  I know how hard it is let go and have faith but I have been 'there' so many times that I can with assurance that God will ALWAYS come through for you if you believe in and trust Him.

Have a fantastic week folks, be good to yourself and always stay safe please.  Thank you for your continued support on this Blog and in my life.

Some photos taken last week on my travels.