A good book

 

I am re-reading the Mitford series and loving it! And yes, a good cuppa doubles up my pleasure!

 

A good weekday meal

Cottage Pie and Banana Bread with choc chunks!

An ever-fixed mark

'Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.'

~ William Shakespeare

Cape Town on Sunday

After an amazing leisurely breakfast, we took in Cape Town from the scenic point of Signal Hill and a little shopping at the V&A Waterfront.

A contently yellow corner in the garden

Southern Food, please.

If I ever visit the southern states of the USA, I will probably return double the size!  I was looking at southern sites this morning - oh my!

I drool whenever I look at pictures of American southern food - like Louisiana Cajun shrimp, Shrimp and cheesy grits, cornbread, sweet tea and below... Fried Catfish with Mac+Cheese, Po'boy sandwich, Hot Wings and Mile-High Chocolate Pie. This all sounds crazy good, right?

 

 

 

 

 

Black and white morning

I took a piece of Manuela's wedding cake to go... did you know that the sister of the bride could do that?  A large piece!

So... while this is a cute purse - I took it literally this morning.

 

My morning coffee and cake, see the black & white - the cake was amazing and my new mug

(their wedding favours - chalkboard mug... love it)

 

Ryela!

Ryan & Manuela

The happy day...

before

after

awesome foursome... that's Ryan's amazing sister, Candace on the left.

the ceremony was so beautiful

what a lovely reception

 

Across my path

I love walking... but this time of year is sheer pleasure.  The world is bright and nature heavy with fragrance!

 

One of my favourite spots by the pine trees - a heavenly pine scent and

the sound of crunching pine needles beneath my feet.

 

A family of Guinea fowl... the babies are hard to spot (the little grey

patches between the parents)

I saw the branches of the trees
Bend down thy touch to meet,
The clover-blossoms in the grass
Rise up to kiss thy feet

~ Henry W Longfellow

Thankful Thursday

I was listening to a great song this morning by Micheal W Smith and I can't remember all the words but I found it to be true and it goes something like this...

I have been unkind
I have been unthoughtful
I have been unfair
I have been unjust

I have been unwise
I have been unteachable
I have been unfaithful
I have been undecided

but I have never been unloved.

Excitement on the first day of school

 

 

My baby at her first assembly of the year!

 

 

She laid all this out on the lawn with iced drinks, magazines and books for

us to enjoy the setting sun on the last day of her holiday!

 

 

Lazy summer days

Slow pajama mornings and dreamy hours of swimming, playing etc are

drawing to a close as school begins again on Wednesday.

 

 

Seeds of love

Today I had to start the morning eating humble pie.  I made an unnecessary fuss about Rebecca's clothing and had to go back to her room and apologise.

"Loving our children with our whole heart is a choice, a daily choice. “If we faithfully plant seeds of LOVE and CARE in their hearts, in due time we will indeed reap a harvest in kind”
~ Sally Clarkson

Being faithful to plant seeds of love is not about perfect parenting, but it does include the willingness to learn when to get down and ask forgiveness.

 

1 Corinthians 13.4-7...  ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

He makes it easy for me

This week has been kinda busy, with most domestic matters taking a back seat.  Wayne, however has not complained once and just makes it so easy for me... e.g he pulled out a un-ironed shirt from the pile and said it looked fine, sorted the recycling and organised several suppers, amongst other things.

Walk where the flowers grow

Twelve days to go to wed

Excited!!

In from the garden

 

Picked enough roses for a colourful vase... very good, and two

knobbly marrows... not so good, from my garden. 

 

Tomatoes from my father's garden... very good.

Country men

I recently gave away all my chickens.  I thought about it for over a month and realised it would be the best thing for us at the moment but part of me really didn't want to do it.  It wasn't without a drama, I must say.  It sounds so silly but even though I knew it was for the best (for many reasons), a part of me felt like a failure and went to bed in tears after I gave them away.  Another important fact, is that they were a gift from my father (my husband says that only my side of the family arrives with livestock as gifts- funny man) and that was the worst of it.

Looking after things comes so easily to him and my mother... people (someone would pop in at our home during mealtime and the house is a mess, no problem, pull up a chair and tuck in), animals (driving an hour to feed my chickens when I was away, easy), plants (he makes everything grow and grow).  They are proper hospitable country folk.  My chickens were one of our common denominators and I felt like I had unknotted a thread between my generation and theirs.

When I read this passage in 'A peaceful retirement' it summed it up beautifully...

Bob Willet appeared one evening that week, bearing some fine eating apples.  'They're good keepers,' he assures me. 'Lovely flavour.' I complimented him on such fine specimens, but he halted me in mid-flow of thanks and admiration.
'They're my neighbour's.  New chap just moved in.  Nice enough, but don't know a thing about gardening.' 
'He'll learn I expect.'
'I doubt it. Do you know he's bin and dug up a great patch by the back door for what he calls "a car-port".  It was the only bit of ground there as grew a decent onion.  Enough to break your heart.  I told him so when the cement-mixer arrived.  D'you know what he said?
'What?'
'He said that there was plenty of onions in the shops! The shops!' added Bob in disgust.
'He may learn.'
'Never! He just don't have no interest in living things... he's so strange, you know.  Like a foreigner.'

My parents were very gracious about me giving up the chickens even though they probably did think my reasons a bit foreign.  The things of the earth... living things give them vigour and bring sanity in a ever-changing world.

My staple 'no-cook' morning oats

2 cups oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
water or milk

 

Place all ingredients in a container and cover with water, (sometimes I replace water with milk or half of it with milk for a richer taste).  Mix.  Cover and place in the fridge overnight.



In the morning, you simply dish up! Enjoy with some milk, yoghurt, extra berries and / or nuts.
Sometimes I don't sweeten it or add toppings but today I had a drizzle of honey, blueberries and pecan nuts.  So good.



Super easy and makes a generous amount... we eat it over two days.  Most importantly, it's healthy and delicious!!

On holiday... part 2

 

A walk through the reserve... there were a few hair-raising moments on a steep section.

 

Had to stop the car often for goats, cows and donkeys to cross the road!

 

Nanaga farmstall on the way out of town had the yummiest things.

 

Wrapped up the holiday in Onrus. New year celebrations were very festive and hot!