Can you believe that it has been two years ?

Good morning friends, I thought I would get an early start today on all things :) .  It is hard to believe that July is almost finished, this year just seems to be flying past, perhaps because it has been so busy.   We are all well as well as  all those in the menagerie.

Hubby dearest is busy honing a long held interest in watch repairs and watch making, luckily we have enough watches around to give him lots to work with, whilst I am continuing to churn out Afgan squares so it is quite an industrious house at the moment.  Poppet and Princess were both booked off work/school last week with Chronic Sinusitis and a tummy bug respectively, Jelly Bean also had a tummy bug, thankfully everyone is now better and back to normal.  Big Guy had to move home which is a huge thing especially as he did 90% of it all by himself, the 'fun' part was that his old apartment was two flight of stairs up and the new one six flights up so he did a monumental amount of walking. BigBear and BabyBear also had a busy week as she was in Johannesburg for work.  Our family in the UK are having a fairly active time now that the boys are on their summer holidays and even managed a day trip to the beach..

On Saturday in celebration of our eleventh wedding anniversary we decided to go through to Hermanus with the intention of seeing the whales hmmmm, after a 'brief' stop at the Mall which took two hours - Jelly Bean found a book shop and got so 'lost' in it that we decided to eat lunch at the Mall haha.  When we eventually did get down to the Old Harbour despite the whales having been there earlier, there was not even a hint of whales.  There was a Whale watching boat out at sea which also seemed to be roaming around with no success, on a positive note we did see some very cute little Dassies (Rock Rabbits) sunning themselves on the rocks above the waves.  So just for once Mother Nature disappointed me #sadface.  Yesterday we awoke to a message on our BB community group that there was a dead whale in one of our local bays, he had not washed ashore and the last I heard he had floated about 4 kilometers out to sea and the N.S.R.I. had boats out.  There was also a sighting in Betty's Bay during the week of one of the young  Cape Leopards as well as all the Porcupines that are around at the moment, all this goes to make our Village such a special place to live, it is hard to believe that we have been here two years on Wednesday, it feels much longer, there is not a day that goes by where I don't thank God for the placing us here.

As for this week ........ I wait with expectation to see what it holds for us as there are no two weeks the same.  I pray you all have a fantastic week folks, stay safe out there and don't miss the little opportunities that life throws your way to enjoy, so often we get caught up in the busyness of life that we miss the small, exquisite moments that feed our souls and spirits.

Dassies on the rocks and the beauty of the ocean.

Using binoculars to try and find the cooler weather haha

Good morning folk I hope this finds everyone well and ready for the new week.  For the last four or five days we have been back in summer mode and are eagerly watching the horizon for signs of the next cold front, even the wind has disappeared which is strange for Betty's Bay.  Retirement is proving to be very relaxing with an occasional trip into our nearest little town for essentials and of course the antics of our menagerie keep us in stitches.

Last week Jasper, not known for his bravery or for being very elegant has made a few forays into the garden, but at the first sound or movement he high tails it back into the house.  The other day as I was walking past he came blasting through the window but being the large fluffy fellow he is he cannot make it through the security bars with ease, so he jumped through and kicked his back leg against the open window to give himself the push he needed.  He then becomes a Munchkin and drops to the ground streaking to the closest safe space hahaha.    Cece has good and bad days and I just try to ride the waves and minimise the impact on the family, generally within minutes of me holding her she relaxes completely and goes to sleep.  We did notice something this week, we changed the cats food and the 'new' one was very small and flat.  She has a habit when she drinks of throwing her head back to get the water down, this always just seemed to be one of her quirks but, as I discovered this week she needs to do that in order to actually get the water and food down, she also could not eat the new food as she uses her teeth to pick up food and not her tongue, as a result she actually could not pick up the small food.  My precious little girl reslly has some major issues.  As for our old lady Gemma, she just growls  to the others and purrs to us as she makes her way through the crowd.  When it comes to the dogs, well now that is where the fun starts.  The other day we heard a bit of a commotion on the deck and on inspection found Pupster trying to pull Max and Sasha's bed out of their igloo kennel ......... with them still in bed, he was fairly successful in overriding their protests and was busy pulling the stuffing out of said bed with great glee.   He is such an exuberant, irrepressible fellow who bounds through life with gusto.

Apart from half the family having had the flu the rest of us are doing well.  Our grandsons are on their summer holiday, with the oldest having his birthday today.  Happy Birthday little man, Princess is back at school, Big Guy is moving home this weekend which is something he is not looking forward to, and BigBear completed his second half marathon in two weeks yesterday. I have managed to make enormous progress on my Afgan squares and am thoroughly enjoying crocheting again and then just for variety yesterday I started with a huge Paint by Numbers that Hubby bought me years ago.  It has always been a daunting endeavour in my mind because of the MANY tiny little areas but now that my eyes work properly I have decided to dive in and see what happens.   Speaking of my darling Hubby he has been asked by one of the local chaps to service his bakkie and also to do some work on the engine of a car restoration, which I expect will keep him busy for a little while.  One of the amazing things about living in a Village such as ours is that there is a Community who are constantly asking for help or offering services, and the range of skills is endless.  Friday shortly after my precious Hubby had left to go into town Jelly Bean and I were l ready to go into Kleinmond when somehow we found ourselves locked out of the house.  Jelly Bean closed the security gate thinking the keys were in the door........ They were not, instead they were on the tea station inside.  Hmmmm. Eventually managing to get into the garage I took a long piece of bamboo we have and one of Hubby's golf clubs (he knows hehe) I shoved the club handle down into the bamboo and used that to reach the keys which by then Jelly Bean had managed to knock off the shelf with the mop handle and by standing on the windowsill.  There we were the two of us on our knees working through the security gate and successfully might I add, retrieved the keys and were able to lock up and be on our way.  Great fun.

Folks, as I said a very normal week for us and looking forward to this coming week and seeing what it holds.  As I am feeling pretty awful today it's going to be an extremely quiet day for me.  I wish you one and all a fantastic week ahead, look out for the little blessings in life and try not to zoom in on the setbacks.  Please stay safe out there and spread love and kindness.

A view that we never tire of

My huge fluffy braveheart

Snug and warm as the cold wind blows

Hi there folks, as you can see by the hour, I've had a busy morning hence this being a little later than usual.  So much for the touch of summer we had last week, since then it has just been full on winter haha, we have made a fire every single day and as you can imagine I am just relishing this weather.
I even decided to dust off my dusty crochet skills, I started an afgan throw about 18 months ago which has been one of those projects that I just could not get into, odd as my favourite hobby is knitting.  Anyway I undid the 'huge' total of four squares that I had completed and have already finished three new ones using a different crochet stitch on each square - a total of four colours and four different stitches, we will see how this works out LOL.

We had a very quiet week, truly enjoying our retirement at the moment, we managed to complete a number of small projects, one of which was my darling Hubby made me a long promised easel.  We have had a super time watching the Tour de France as well as all the other sport going on at the moment.  As I am sitting typing, I have Cece on my lap (making typing just a tad awkward),  she had a really good week on the whole with Friday, Saturday and yesterday being very grumpy and unhappy, today she seems very needy.  I suppose the fact that generally she is having more good days than bad is something positive to hold onto.  As for the rest of the 'zoo' everyone is well and hunkered down in warm places as it is bitterly cold here.  For some reason the dogs have worked really hard at learning how to run right out of their jackets, last week Sasha was running around with hers around her hips like a long skirt and  this morning Max was running around with both front legs in one armhole while the other armhole was pointed towards the sky like a big eye #facepalm.

I have had time to cook some good meals but have to ask,  how many of you ladies run out of ideas for meals, even though you have a huge repertoire and/or just get fed up with cooking ?  Someone needs to create a robot whose main purpose is to clean and cook.  You just have the ingredients on hand and it will produce a quality meal every day #ohonecandream.

Friends as I said it has been quiet although not necessarily peaceful, hmmm I wonder who is responsible for that ???    My gorgeous Hubby has put the kettle on and the fire is crackling away, while the wind is whistling and that means I am going to leave you with this thought - there is so much drama, sadness and violence wherever one looks, BUT, that means that we have a million opportunities to step up and help others.  Whatever form that  help takes it is a way of spreading peace, kindness and caring to the world around us, good can and will overcome evil. Stay safe out there friends ciao ciao

We have had enormous sea swells and waves.

A touch of summer !

Good morning all, I trust everyone is well.  I had quite a giggle when I opened up and saw the title of last week's Blog, because today completely opposite, it is hot, with a hot berg wind and we have all the doors open and sleeveless shirts on, oh the delights of living here :).

We had a very nice week where we did as little driving as possible hehe, and managed to get quite a few catch up chores done around the house.  I am delighted to say that #cece_the_blind_kitten seems to be doing well on the 'cocktail' that I am using.  I give her the prescribed calming meds twice a day and then just before bedtime she has one of the Valerian Drops, she has been such a happy little girl.  She will still get frustrated and about once a day have a mini meltdown but nothing near the scale we were seeing.  For the last three days the weather has been idyllic and I actually let her and Jasper out of the house, she just roamed around on the deck rotating her head every time she heard a bird chirp and just generally loved being out there, although not too fond of the sun.  Jasper on the other hand is not quite sure, he goes out but at the first sign of a noise or movement becomes a long Munchkin cat as he goes low and runs inside hehehehe, my big, fluffy braveheart.  We been taking advantage of the mild sun and lack of wind to sit out on the deck, which is rare down here in Betty's Bay.

On Saturday we found ourselves back on the beautiful coast road as I had a Doctors appointment in Stellenbosch and Jelly Bean met up for coffee with a friend from work.  This is interesting - about 16 months ago I stopped eating meat, mainly because I never felt well after eating it and always had a sore stomach.  Well, when I see this doctor once a year he runs a total bevy of blood tests (as in about 24) and for the first time in over ten years nearly every test came back either as normal or with great improvement.  I try and handle the Fibromyalgia as naturally as possible by using Vitamin and Mineral supplements (as determined by the blood tests) and only use two actual medications one being pain killers.  As a rule, despite how huge the doses are my Vitamin B, Vitamin D and Magnesium are always extremely low.  At the moment only Magnesium level is too low out of those. My inflammation levels have dropped, acidity is better and so the rest follow suit.  His exact words when I told him about eating mainly vegetarian (I occasionally have chicken and love fish) were "Well whatever you are doing, don't stop because it is working.  I mentioned that the only meat I sometimes 'crave' is lamb/mutton and he told me it is because that is very high in Magnesium.  Who knew?  I wish I could say that all this means zero Fibro, it doesn't but, it does mean that overall I am healthier than at any time in more than a decade and at some level I am managing the symptoms better.  God is so amazing, He gives us wisdom and if we take the time to actually listen to our bodies we can correct a number of issues.

As some of you may remember it is my favourite time of year in terms of sporting events as the Tour de France has started and this year I get to watch with my precious Hubby.  I am hoping that I can catch up on some knitting  as my hands have been too sore to do any for a long time.

Folks, the rest of the family are all well and flourishing, all the grand children are on holiday so less stress for Moms, and generally things are peaceful and happy.  I am going to end off now as Hubby dearest has just made us tea, he makes THE best tea, and we are going to sit and enjoy it together whilst listening to the waves and all the birds and insects.  Have a wonderful week, please stay aware and always be safe, Ciao Ciao.

My gorgeous Fur babies.
Gemma,

Jasper

Cece_the_blind_kitten

It is cccold here, fire in burning

Good morning friends and family from a bitterly cold Betty's Bay, I hope today's Blog finds you all well.  Gosh we are truly having winter here,  BigBear and BabyBear arrived in Saturday for the weekend and once again were absolutely astonished at the strength of the winds we have here.  Needless to say we stayed indoors, no beach visits right now haha, had copious cups of tea and coffee in front of the fire.  We were treated royally as BigBear had decided to make supper and oh my word it was delicious. He made thick steaks with roasted vegetables which we all devoured, I had not eaten red meat for more than a year and very seldom will have a little bit of chicken - not out of choice but I found that meat definitely makes me feel worse,  dare I say I paid the price (happily) yesterday because it was truly delicious.  Shame, they slept in the caravan even though I had suggested they sleep in the lounge, but 4 am found them battening down the hatches, locking the van and trailing inside.  I woke up to find them curled up on the sofas with an assortment of blankets, I felt so bad for them.  The wind and rain were just to strong, this morning we measured 32 mm in our rain gauge and it is still raining and there is snow on the mountains everywhere.  Thankfully weather wise, this means that the dams are filling up nicely, although water restrictions are still firmly in place until they reach at least 80% capacity.

As far as the week was concerned it passed in a blur of exhaustion and anxiety.  The Vet put #cece_the_blind_kitten onto an Anti Seizure medication which for some reason had the exact opposite affect on her.  As the level of the drug accumulated in her system she began seizing almost constantly, trembling etc.  It was awful and added to that not one night did I manage to get her to sleep until after 2am, which resulted in both of us being beyond exhausted, my pain levels were through the roof with the Fibromyalgia, and energy levels were non existent.  Eventually on Thursday evening I decided to stop all the medication and let it wear off.  Needless to say all this was really disturbing and stressful, after only getting to sleep after 3 am yesterday I decided that rescue remedy was a last desperate resort and ........ peace, sort of, definitely more than we have had for weeks. After speaking to the Vet this morning she has suggested I use the Valerian drops and see how that goes, my precious little bundle is now all wrapped up in her blanket and sleeping on my chest as I type.

Jelly Bean  finished work on Friday and we will be sorting out her training course this week, which I am praying is going to be a good one on every level.  On that note I am going to end off for today, finish my hot cup of tea and try and get warm hehe.  Have a great week folks, stay warm and stay safe out there please, if you are on the roads take extra care with all the snow and ice.

 A peaceful Cece.

Loving winter, hot fires and rain on the roof.

Greetings everyone from a beautiful, cool and cloudy Bettys Bay.  Winter has definitely arrived in the Cape and with it much rejoicing from pretty much everyone.  Winter is our rainfall season and we are having beautiful rain, the dams are filling up nicely although there is still a long way to go before water restrictions can be lifted.  Currently we are making a fire every day which I love as well as the cats, Gemma in particular has taken to lying next to the wood burner and when it gets too hot she then shifts behind it hehe but our 'old' lady knows where her warmth comes from.

Well Jelly Bean has three shifts left and on Friday will be finished and can then move onto her next exciting phase.  I think it is sort of bitter sweet for her as she has made really good friends and will be sad at not seeing them on a daily basis but, the reduction of stress for her will be amazing.  Princess has finished her second term of High School and is now on her winter break, a well deserved rest I am sure.  It is Miss Muffet's birthday today, next year is the big one gorgeous :) happy, happy birthday from us all, we are looking forward to chatting later on.  The rest of the family are all well and flourishing.

This past week has been a bit of up and down really, we lowered#cece-the-blind-kitten's medication in an effort to reduce her circling and meltdowns, which has not worked at all, if anything I would say she is more agitated.  I follow a lady on Facebook who also has a blind, brain damaged kitten and this morning messaged her asking for advice.  She is amazing and has offered so much advice which I am going to take back to our Vet this afternoon and am praying we can move forward from there.  Pupster  has learnt to open the glass door that goes out onto the deck and gets quite excited when it comes to breakfast and dinner time, he will rush in and then when Hubby goes out he finds himself on the wrong side of the door and has to then wait to go out and eat hahaha.  I can say this, our house is a regular circus, between Cece, Pupster, Jasper who has to terrorize everyone all the time, Sasha whose winter jacket seems to come off and then slides down around her hips while she merrily runs around or dances for food, to Max and Gemma the 'oldies' who think the rest are crazy and far too irritating, there is never a dull moment.

Even though I am still fighting a Fibromyalgia flare I managed to dust off my baking skills and made Ciabatta Bread, buttermilk rusks and yesterday some gluten free biscotti, so the tins are full but that doesn't last long here  #facepalm.  When I can manage to do something like that I feel I have a accomplished something and in turn don't feel quite so 'guilty' for having to rest.  My dearest Hubby spent a lot of time last week working on Jelly Bean's car, the brake shoes and wheel bearings at the back suddenly decided enough was enough and they were not going to do duty for the last two weeks of work.

Folks, just a brief update on our week, I wish you all a happy, productive week and please stay safe out there.  Remember, tomorrow is not guaranteed it is a blessing, so never miss an opportunity to encourage someone or tell them you love and appreciate them.  Ciao ciao for now.

One of my favourite views on the way into town.

Tada..... Ciabatta bread. :)

How to get through tough times

Good morning friends, I trust everyone had a good weekend.  Last week is history and this week is just waiting to be written.  As for us last week was fairly quiet being just the normal routine, particularly for me as I find myself in a flare of note and have just been trying to minimise the pain levels and recover.  Added to this for some reason, Cece's medication does not seem to be working as well as it did at the beginning, which means she is having more 'meltdowns ' and her circling has definitely become worse, to the point that when she stops her little head is still going.  I am currently waiting for our Vet to call back so that we can discuss the way forward.   As for the rest of the menagerie all our four footed family are well and enjoying life.

Jelly Bean has only two weeks left at work (and travelling), Big Guy is doing well, Poppet and Princess had a tough week between exams and cars breaking down, thankfully said car is now repaired, at great cost, and after today Princess has only one exam left.  Her exams have stretched out over five weeks so she is definitely ready for her mid year break.  The BigBear family are well, always busy and as far as I recall are getting ready for a trip to Knysna to do a Forest Run which should be very exciting.  Our Muffet family in the UK were actually in Natal for the last week to celebrate a family member's landmark birthday and are now safely back home.

My precious Hubby spent quite some time fixing our generator last week as all of a sudden the entire country found itself back in the throws of Loadshedding with electricity.  Oh Joy .... Not !!!!  Somehow at the exact same time our entire area had power outages due to some breakdown on the system, normally this is not a problem as we have the solar system on the roof and the generator.  Last week however, was very stormy, windy and lots of rain so not much sun to heat the water and then the generator being out of action, it wasn't too serious and we coped well.  The one thing about living here is that I have learnt to be WAY more  flexible with my routine and now do chores / washing etc as and when the weather and my energy levels are amenable.  At the moment with Cece
being extra 'needy' I do sometimes find myself stuck with her on my lap as that is about the only
place she relaxes and is peaceful.  I have even considered making a sling to carry her around in thereby get more done hahaha.

Friends, as I said, it was a quiet week which I am certainly not complaining about, it has given me time to breathe and I think I am going to try my hand at rock painting ...... an odd thing I agree, but due to the abundance of amazing rocks that are made smooth by the sea I think it's worth seeing how it goes.  Watch out Poppet, rocks for birthdays HAHAHA.  I am also slowly getting back into baking our own bread so, there is still a lot happening.

It seems as if almost everyone I speak to is going through extremely difficult times whether it be health, financial, relationship, work etc, and so many people say that they don't know how I cope with Fibromyalgia ........ There is only one reason that I can stay positive  and that is first of all accepting Jesus Christ as my Saviour and having a relationship with Him.  After 25 + years in the Ministry and 11 years of  widowhood and raising four children I learnt that there is only ONE person I can rely on 100% of the time and that is God.  He is my provider, enabler, healer, protector...... everything.  When I did not know where the next meal was coming from He never let us down.  When faced with having to move home in five days, He provided us with a home.  I did learn that God's timeline and mine are nowhere close but somehow He kept us going and looked after.  The more you have to depend on God and not on your own strength the more you will see His miracle working power, the more you spend time learning what His Word says the more your faith will grow because it grows a confidence in His ability to sort out the situation, irrespective of what it is.  God is not some magic potion to try, He is wanting a relationship with each of us individually and that becomes a lifestyle. So, friends if you are facing tough times and feel like you are at the end of your rope, there is One who will always be there for you and will never let you down,  I am going to list a few scriptures below for those of you who may need somewhere to start.

On that note I am going to say Ciao Ciao for now and wish you, one and all a fabulous week. Go out

make memories and have fun.  Thank you for your continued support of this Blog and please stay safe out there.

Taken on the drive into work last week.  The sun only rises at 7.50 am here at the moment.

• Some Scripture references :
• JOHN 3 v 16 .. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that    whosoever  Believeth in Him, will not perish but will have eternal life.
• ROMANS 10 v 9, 10 .. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
• JOSHUA 1 v 9 ..Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and very courageous. Do not be dismayed,  for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
• PSALM 37 v 25.. I once was young and now am old , yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken  or their children begging for bread.
• 1 PETER 2 v 24 . "Who His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree, that we being dead to  sin dhould live unto righteousness, by Whose stripes you were healed.

There are many more but go and read these as a start .