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.

Time for some redesign .....

Good morning all, I hope everyone had a good weekend and you are all rearing to go for this new week.  My mind is in refresh mode at the moment in a few areas of my life, there are updates and minor changes I want to make in the house albeit mostly decor wise but I am itching to do them. I am also in the process of re-designing this Blog which will involve a new look and hopefully more points of interest, so to say my mind is like a six lane highway is putting it mildly hehe.

Saying that last week was busy and somewhat challenging is putting things mildly.  BigGuy finished off with his previous job and is busy adjusting to what a normal life feels like, he has an interview tomorrow morning which we pray for Gods Wisdom and Leading for him. Jelly Bean had been very unwell for two weeks which we at first put down to her sore tooth, but even after that was fixed she just continued to feel worse.  The difficult thing is with her being a Type 1 Diabetic a tiny little ailment tends to develop into something more with no reason.  Eventually I got her to the Doctor (strong resistance at every turn haha) as she had to have her three month Blood Glucose test, HB1AC.  Praise the Lord for a wonderful, if highly unique Dr who after examination and doing the test AND having a long chat she diagnosed her with Tonsillitis, Pharyngitis, Sinusitis and promptly put her onto meds which have now started working and we have a much happier daughter.  BabyBear flew home on Wednesday to be here for BigBears surgery on Thursday.  Given his history with Anaesthetic (at 13 he came around demanding beer #facepalm, and when he was about 17 he punched a nurse) we definitely felt a warning was necessary to the hospital staff.  Babybear is a star and has stored up stories to tell us, thank the Lord the surgery went well, with no complications and there are no assault charges pending. BigBear is healing well and enjoying having his wife at home.  On Friday after rushing Princess to the Doctor with a sore arm - a soft tissue injury which requires her to wear a sling for two weeks, Poppet had to pack and then flew off to Sydney, Australia for the week on business.  She has been so stressed and busy that it was just perfect when the airline upgraded her to Prmium Class and she was spoilt and enjoyed a great flight.
As for us, well  the house is strangely quiet as all the cuckoo clocks have gone home, Hubby still has two big clocks he is working on.  The shattered and repaired Cow Clock went back to her owners
who were delighted with it and not in the least upset about the 'accident' thank goodness.

On a totally different and unusual note a little cooking gem I learnt this week.  When making white sauce for macaroni, cauliflower etc, instead of doing the traditional butter, cornflour and milk sauce you take equal quantities of Plain Greek Yoghurt and grated cheddar cheese (I used more cheese), mix then together and pour that over the pasta or vegetables, I seasoned with a little Paprika sprinkled on top, and then bake as normal, it is absolutely delicious.

Folks that is it for this week, I need to get things moving in the house.  I pray you all stay wam, healthy and safe.  From my family to yours our love.  Ciao ciao
Apologies as I am having issues loading any photos, hence re-design.

The comedy that is my life.

Hi all on the beginning of a week which heralds the end of July, where has this year gone?    WOW it's been busy with one thing and another.  Today alone has been like  a series of trivial domestic calamities - after waking up to a weak sun and not a breath of wind I  jumped up all ready to get a huge load of washing in and on the line.  This included linen from two beds, towels, clothing etc, in the space of less than one hour we went from calm to a blessed gale.  I bravely hung up the linen on the line with extreme difficulty and no less than five minutes later the line had broken and was dragging a duvet cover (white) round and round against the fynbos.  I 'fixed' the problem or so I thought but ended up going out to rescue my linen about four times, the only good thing is it dried quickly so I could bring it in. The rest is now draped over the clothes horse and in the Dry Buddy #facepalm, while the  speed of the wind continues to increase bringing in another cold front.  While all this was going on my precious Hubby started the vacuuming only for the machine to die half way through,  after investigation he discovered the fridge was also off, it turns out the extension cord was having an emotional day so  off he went to finish and then not five minutes later heard it swallow something odd, after stopping again to look he saw that a tiny little wheel thing with its pin had fallen off and been swallowed up, once rescued the vacuuming was completed.  This follows on the heels of last week's disaster - our resident Horologist was working inside on a ceramic clock which came in for repair, when Zeepha got the zoomies and ran past the table catching her claw in the towel on which said clock was sitting, the result ......... A shattered clock and a Zeepha looking with interest at all the new things on the floor to play with, my poor Hubby just sat looking in total shock.  We picked it all up and immediately went onto the Internet to see if there was a replacement - nothing even close except for one from the USA which would have cost about R1000 to bring in.  Ever optimistic we decided to put the sad little clock back together again, this took days of painstaking work from my Hubby with glueing and sanding and filling in.  On Friday I was looking again on the Internet and found a place in Jhb who has the mold for this clock and if we need to we can replace it.  In the meantime I repainted it and it now looks almost better than before,  no stress in our lives at all HAHAHA.

We continued to take advantage of every precious visit with our friends from Cradock and felt quite odd when they left on Friday, as Jelly Bean said it feels as if they have moved away.  The family are all well Poppet is gearing up for a business trip to Australia for two weeks, she leaves on Friday, it couldn't come a worse time with her wedding less than two months away and J (Sunshine) arriving two days after she gets home, Princess will spend the time with close friends of theirs duno ing her trip.  Big Guy today finishes with the company he has been with for twelve years as it has been sold.  Right now he is taking the next two months to establish a normal routine of actually sleeping every night whilst considering his various options before he goes overseas on a long planned and much needed holiday, welcome to normal life son.  BigBear and BabyBear have been super busy, with her recovering from flu and him gearing up for a small surgery on Thursday which she will fly home for and to see him through the recovery period.  Jelly Bean has been given some work to do from home and is delighted with it, also recovering from a problem with her tooth which we thought might be an abscess but thankfully was not, a trip to the dentist on Friday sorted it all out.  In amongst all this our wedding anniversary crept up on us, a whole twelve years with this wonderful man, oh all the adventures, dramas, fun and games we have had, here's to the next couple of decades my Darling.  We went out yesterday for a wonderful three course lunch at the Kleinmond Golf Course which was a real treat,  before coming home to snuggle down in front of the fire.

Well folks that is this week's instalment of my perfectly ordinary, uneventful life, here is looking forward to see what the week ahead has to offer.  I wish you all a wonderful week filled with kindness, beauty and love.  Please stay safe and aware wherever you are.  Ciao ciao for now.

Zeepha being cute.

What a happy week

Good morning world from a blustery cold BB.  In response to all the weather forecasts and warnings, today we will be once again be securing everything that moves and bringing in extra wood for the fireplace, in anticipation of a massive cold front due to make landfall tonight.  We've had bitterly cold weather since last  wednesday, in fact the coldest since we have lived here and, this incoming front is said to be bigger and colder.  Time to fill up the rusk tin methinks.

Last week was great fun, we had a surprise visit from very dear friends of ours from Cradock on Monday afternoon.  Big Guy and Jelly Bean had both been in on the surprise and it was wonderful, just what what I needed.  On of the biggest blessings to me is when you haven't seen friends /family for years and yet the moment you reunite it is as if you were together the day before.  What wonderful fellowship we all had, so many stories, so much catch up.  Even better is that they are dog/house sitting just around the corner from us and on Wednesday we had lunch together - venison from the Karoo cooked to absolute perfection, and then the next time we looked at watches it was after 5pm hahaha.  Due to circumstances changing they will be here in BB until the end of this week woohoo.

The family are all well thank the Lord, some of us in various stages of shaking off the flu but, essentially all well and happy.  The house is currently devoid of clocks as those that we have are still in the workshop and not yet ready to come in for testing.  After me telling everyone last week that our pair of breeding Dikkop birds were back for a second year, when I went out to check on them I could only find one. He stayed around until Wednesday on his own and then by chance we happened to see a pair across the road, I am not sure if this is 'our' birds but am sincerely hoping so as Dikkop pair for life, just the thought that something had happened to one of them, I found extremely distressing.  There was a lot of activity in the road over the previous weekend with people walking dogs and children running up and down and, if there is one thing I would beg visitors to do, that is to respect our wildlife.  The locals know and respect their presence amongst us, it brings so much joy to see a buck across the road, or a porcupine waddling along and yet visitors seem to have little to no respect and let their dogs (off leash) chase the animals and  allow their kids to do the same, it really makes my blood boil.
Zeepha is still quite the cutest little thing with such a unique personality, although she really battles with the cold (probably because she is so small and only weighs about 2.3 kg) and despite wearing her jersey will always be looking for the brightest ray of sun, a warm blanketed lap or failing both of those she will park herself behind the fire stove.  It is unbelievably hot there but she will lie down right behind it whether it's on logs or cones, as long as it's warm hehe. Jasper will just find Hubby's lap, usually, and park himself there for as long as possible lol.
On Saturday with all th sport on TV it was difficult to decide what to watch, so we did a lot of toggling back and forth, later in the afternoon our neighbour, who weekends here and was on his own, came over and he and my dearest Hubby spent the next 80 minutes talking and coaching the Springboks to their win over Australiea in the Rugby LOL.

Well folks that's it for this week, I trust and pray you will have a stress free week, a healthy week and most of all, this week take the time to let the people in your life know just how much you love and appreciate them.  Stay warm and safe as always Ciao ciao .

Zeepha sleeping behind the fire which was roaring, using a pine cone as a pillow.