Christmas shopping, without a mall

For the first time we are Christmas shopping and getting cheerful and comforting things ready for our new nest, in the cold!! This is very different from our southern hemisphere sun-blistered Christmas.

Shopping outdoors in the freezing cold didn't sound appealing to me but when we got to the nearby town is was so lovely and festive.  Carol singers and the brightly decorated stalls of pastries, brutwurst rolls, roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate and on and on, line the squares and streets.

And our favourite - 'Churrrrrros', I exclaimed through chattering teeth.

It might be blustery but its also merry and carnivalesque.

Mothers Day

Happiness is... waking up to this poster made by my sweet girl. 

Then breakfast with my mother. And a long lazy afternoon where I actually

napped (the greatest of gifts) while Rebecca finished studying.

Love her!

Run

My favourite route to run is off the road behind our house... so blessed to have this 

patch of earth to roam in.

Weddings and doughnuts

the last few weekends have been all about weddings... this fun, unconventional one, 

with Zool and Elzabe

and this weekend's beautiful and warm celebration with Graham and the lovely Paula,

and another weekend staple lately - naughty, fluffy, sweet, doughnuts!

Tea drinking

I have flu this week and I have gone off coffee (hopefully it won't last) so its lots of ginger and lemon tea and chamomile tea...

A beautiful Baby

My cousin Jose and his lovely wife Lucille have a baby!!  She is too beautiful!

Yesterday afternoon

Netball and stawberries

Yesterday afternoon at the school's inter-house netball tournament... she had a blast!

Afternoon treats, chocolate strawberries and smoothie... hmmm, one is Becca's and one is mine.

My favourite guy

It's his Bday...Happy Birthday!! He is still the most amazing person I have ever met.

Have known him since he was 19... what an adventure.  Love you madly. 

Herbal tea

I am an avid coffee drinker but over the last two months I have been drinking more and more herbal tea... I am now addicted.

My favourites...

Here's to a happy Easter

Hello... I took a little break from blogging for the Easter break.  A short but wonderful pause.

Rebecca went to here first concert and I handled it like a pro - not! She had a great time!

I trust you all had a wonderful blessed Easter 2015.

I made a big lunch for everyone for the first time in a while... including hot-cross bun pudding.

My best girl is back in town... WooHoo.... its been fun!

And we naturally ate out, slept in, watched movies and went for long walks.

My girl and her longboard

She is obsessed at the moment.

In our kitchen

 

my kitchen door got festive

 

my fav place in the morning - coffee & my cheery mug



At Natasha's table

 

This is her festive table!!

 

She is my oldest friend and is as faithful, creative and generous as can be!!

 

Have a blessed weekend!

"Rest and be thankful"  ~ William Wordsworth

Arrival in Port

What a treat!  Watched my brother arrive from a fishing trip!

 

There he is!

 

Chatting to my dad.

Things you can't tell from a blog

I was thinking about this earlier, about what people behind the screen are really like and about being true to all that you are... this could be interesting - here are some things about me...

I love high heels but would never post about them because I have poor balance (bit of vertigo) - I never wear them anymore- it would be just plain dangerous

I can be loud

I have real big hair, it takes a lot of work to calm it down - how I wish the 'eighties big hair thing' would just make a comeback

I  get excited about fashion (and love dressing up) but hang out at home in tracksuits all the time

I often forget to greet people... I start talking like I saw them 5 minutes ago instead of ages ago

I taped the re-runs of Cagney + Lacey

I love artists who are storytellers, like Bruce Springsteen

I love gardening (you already knew that) and the smell of dark, rich soil makes me happy. I loved playing in the mud with Becca when she was younger (maybe you didn't know that part)

I play classical music most days as I hate loud noise around me but if I'm at a party, there should be some rock, right? Yes!

I adore salads and vegetarian food but life without pasta and burgers is just no fun.

I can lose hours of sleep tormenting myself about the slightest of things... an expression that I thought was insincere, a word hastily spoken to someone - this is my most loathsome quality. 

I always forget birthdays of friends and family - this too is loathsome.  My sister usually reminds me

Growing up, my best friends were my great grandmother and my cousin, Marisela

I get nervous in crowds

I love comedies and live shows

I like both loud and mute nail polish colours

(This is the blue nail polish I was wearing on my birthday - no one else liked it)

 

I often take verrrrry long in deciding what I want

 

I don't like planning ahead... this sometimes drives my husband crazy (I try to do it, its just doesn't come naturally)

 

I believe kindness is underrated

 

I love to be around (I think most people do) people who always leave a deposit no matter who they are with

I am really intrigued

What I love about this book is that you can relate... its not a traditional farming family.  It is the story of a city family who have a passion to grown their own food on a very small scale in the city (like a lot of us) and then make this transition to rural life... who give up the industrial vending machine and fast food for a year of home grown.  And its not all dreamy... like when they stay up well into the night to finish planting.  The story is warm and inspiring and I especially liked the children's perspective in that year.  Even though moving to a farm is not possible for the most part there are so many other ways to eat more seasonally.

"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."   ~ Barbara Kingsolver

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.

Funny girl

Wayne is away this week... miss him like crazy! There is a annual Christmas market near our home, which we love (Wayne really dislikes this kind of thing therefore we decided to go this week while he is away).  We spent the evening browsing leisurely.

 

Funny thing though... these bath salts were in the food hall, which had lots of food for sampling and so when Rebecca saw them, she had a spoonful thinking it was sherbet!  Clearly the child did not read the very large print on the poster!!  Manuela and I laughed so much!  Funny girl - she said that her mouth tasted of soap for a while!