After the rain

Its Friday and the sun has come out and everything looks shiny and clean after the rain.  As I sit here the sun is streaming through the window onto my narcissi, some of which have shot up literally over night and others are taking their time about growing.  Its just the leaves at this stage and I can’t wait for the buds to appear and then of course the flowers which are so sweetly pungent they will make the whole house smell gorgeous.
Tomorrow Sarah has a big Highland dancing competition – it is the qualifier for the provincial team – in Fish Hoek.  Poor Em, if she hadn’t broken her ankle at New Year she would have been dancing too. Good luck Sa!

A good deed

After years of good intentions I have finally registered with the blood bank and I made my first donation this morning – it feels good.  My friend Laura and I went along before work and apart from the ‘cringe’ factor (I am not a great fan of needles and blood), it really wasn’t that bad.  It also gave Lau and I a good excuse for a catch-up and we got free tea and biscuits and a comfortable chair to sit in and chat.
Last night my wonderful, special friends Nats and Mal came for the night and as usual it was a night of laughter and fun.  Another good friend who I just don’t see enough, Fiona, and her daughter Cayleigh came too and we all sat around the dining room table for hours.  Nats and Mal are opening a shop in Hermanus next month – so exciting.  They are two of the most creative people I know and Mal’s drawings of birds and animals are incredible.

Moleskin doodles

Putting a shine on my silverware

You've Got Mail

One of my favourite movies is You’ve Got Mail.  Apart from the fact that I love Meg Ryan in this type of role, I just LOVE her bookshop in the movie – it is one of my dreams to have a shop like this. And as for that quote of Joe’s “Don’t you just love New York in the fall.  It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address”...... I would love to see New York in the fall, not to mention receive a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils!!

Images from We Heart It

Old Mac Donald

I was wrong, it is not 25C today but rather cold and misty with more rain forecast for today and the rest of the week – I have always been more a cold weather girl than a hot weather girl so no complaints from me.  My only grumble is that our electricity went out at around 5pm yesterday and only came back on at 5.30am this morning!  Its something we had to get accustomed to last winter, with rolling blackouts because of power shortages, but then we were forewarned – not last night however.  Because I was sure the power would come on sometime during the night I didn’t shower and so I had to have a really cold one this morning – brrrrr!  Poor Em had to study by candle light – although it was quite apt as she was studying the French Revolution (no electricity in those days!) and French, which was fine as we sat in front of the fire and ran through naming all the rooms in the house and their contents – bonne chance Emma!
I have discovered something to add to my Wish List  - I have the two lists going, the ‘have to do' list and the ‘want to do list'.  There is a fabulous hotel in the centre of town called the Grand Daddy, and in July this year they are opening their Airstream trailer park in a gorgeous part of the world called Elgin.  It looks amazing – what a retro-fantastic way to spend a weekend – we’ve GOT to go!

Rainy Tuesday

Woke up to the sound of glorious rain this morning!  Apart from the fact that it is about time and we need the rain, it also means I CAN WEAR MY HUNTERS!  Shallow, I know, but jeepers we are all entitled to have our moments of fashion slavery.  My lovely husband doesn’t get it – he wanted to know if I was going to be walking to work via the common through mud and sludge and if not, why was I wearing the boots.....
Apart from the boots, I can now officially haul out all the woolly jerseys, jackets and scarves.  Although, in typical Cape fashion, it will probably be 28C tomorrow.

Monday

We were spoiled by yet another glorious weekend although the first rains are due to set in this week apparently (yay, I can wear my Hunters!).  Apart from being a productive weekend (painting Emma’s desk), it was also nice and social without being too crazy.  Yesterday Danie and the girls and I took the dogs out for a long walk, the girls on their bikes – the roads were quiet and it was such a beautiful morning.  We also had a wonderful lunch at the Waterfront with Tom, Susi and Ella – a real treat....
Its going to be a busy week and Emma and Sarah have to knuckle down to some hard work – exams start next week poor things.  My wonderful, wonderful, special friends Nats and Mal are spending the night with us on Wednesday and we have a Big Fat Greek reunion dinner planned at the The Greek restaurant with a bunch of friends – guaranteed to be a blast – I can’t wait.

 

Emmas's desk

I did it!  I painted the Union Jack on Em's desk as I said I would and we are both very chuffed with the result :-)  Now i need to tackle Sarah's wardrobe once she has decided what she wants to do with it.....

Hunters!

I have been wanting a pair of Hunter wellington boots for a couple of years and decided that it was time to take the plunge after finding a company in the UK that shipped to SA free of charge.  Well, they arrived yesterday and I am thrilled with them!  Now, if we can just get some rain.....

Susi's beautiful house in Stanford

Despite my best intentions to write something on this blog everyday, it isn’t always as easy as it seems!  Yesterday went in blur but it did end with tea and my lovely friend Susi in her GORGEOUS home.  In fact, she has two gorgeous homes, one here in Cape Town and their weekend getaway in Stanford.  It was so lovely having a catch-up with her – she has been through so much the last couple of months and her positivity and bubbly personality are an inspiration.
Its Friday and this weekend is going to be quite a busy one but I am determined to tackle one of the DIY projects on my ‘list’.  I think I might paint Emma’s desk – she wants a Union Jack on the top of it – and think of something to do with Sarah’s wardrobe.

To do list updated

I’m having a bit of a frustrating day today.  Apart from the fact that for some reason I have stopped receiving my emails on my Blackberry (the one and only reason I got a Blackberry!), I am stuck in a dark edit suite finishing a commercial and I just feel so cooped up!  Fortunately I am with great people, which is not always the case in my line of work. Focus on the positive!

Yesterday I moved Sarah’s room around and its much better than it was before – better flow and so much more spacious since we ditched some of the clutter!

I have also just updated my to do list – no sooner have I crossed some things off than I think of a whole lot more to add to it.  One of the things I need to do is find some frames and a framer.  I have a few pictures desperately in need of framing including some etchings I bought at a local exhibition and this gorgeous painting of a rooster done by my very talented mother!  Now I just need some time and money……

Another weekend been and gone, but tomorrow is a bank holiday so I am only back at work for a day (or half a day if I can wing it!) and another lazy day tomorrow followed by a 3-day week – yippee!  The weather over the weekend was pure perfection – 25C, not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky.  I spent a lot of my time crossing things off my ‘list’ - i.e. Clearing out and making donations to charity, I got back onto my bicycle after way too many months, Danie pruned the mulberry tree (no mean feet as it was out of control!) and we ordered wood for winter.  It feels SO good to have done all those things and my ‘list’ looks much better with all those ticks next to it!
I had a bit of a baking flop yesterday.  Sarah asked me to please make Lamington Squares again but alas I had to adjust the recipe because I didn’t have enough of all the ingredients.  BIG mistake – it came out like a stodgy biscuit.  Fortunately the lamb wraps we made for lunch were delicious!
Danie has finished fixing up his 1962 Honda Cub and says he is ready to sell it.  He has really done the most remarkable job on it – when he bought it it was grubby and wouldn’t start.  Now it is shining like it is brand new and starts up first time, every time – I am really proud of him.  It seems a shame to sell it, but I know he is already looking for another vintage bike in bad shape that he can fix up.

Friday - already!

Sometimes Friday seems to come so fast it makes your head spin!  That’s how I feel today.  It feels like yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that it was Monday, with a busy week stretched out before me like an abyss, and here I am Friday morning and I don’t know how I got here!  Its been quite a week on the work front and I’m not sorry its over, I just hope I have done all I had to do.  Next week is yet another ‘short’ week with Tuesday being a public holiday – April is literally riddled with them.
Another weekend with no hard and fast plans as the house in in turmoil with the girls rooms being painted.  Emma’s room is done and it looks amazing – its true what they say about a coat of paint!  Now she and I have to get stuck into things and do a clear-out and donation drive – I’m looking forward to it.

Last night I has a meet the teachers evening at Emma’s school.  Although I have met a few of them already, most I had not.  Emma is very happy at school and now I know why – apart from the predominantly lovely girls and the beautiful surroundings, she has such fantastic teachers.  Perhaps it was just my perception but I don’t remember having such great teachers in high school.  Of course there were the few that stood out and I have never forgotten, but judging from the teachers I met last night I would have to say I was impressed by each and everyone of them.  I could see by Emma’s reaction to them and her body language that she likes them too – she was literally beaming when she introduced me.  They all had lovely things to sat about her too which may or may not have made my liking them a little easier :-)

We’ve started to paint the interior of the house. Its way overdue, something she should have done about a year ago and probably a project we should have done during summer, but it’s the only time Danie is available to oversee the job and he likes to project manage these things himself. Emma is the lucky one to get her bedroom done first and despite the upheaval – everything from her room is strewn around the house and we no longer have a lounge – there is something so exciting about the smell of fresh paint.  The girls were quite keen to paint a colour in their rooms, but we have opted for clean white and if they really want some colour they can select one wall to paint.  White might be boring but it is so easy to live with and its so much easier to introduce colour into the room through furnishings, fabrics and artwork. Our house is really in need of quite a lot of attention, being an old house it needs constant upkeep.  I desperately want to re-sand and varnish our wooden floors.  We bought the house close to 12 years ago and the years of children, dogs and general home traffic have taken their toll on the floors, which are looking dull and scratched. I can only suggest these things to Danie one at a time or he sort of spins out with all the demands!

Its a typical Cape Town winters day today – overcast and wet – the first of the season.  It was a delight to wake to the sound of the rain this morning, although I always have a conscience about being happy when it is cold and wet knowing there are so many people in this city who live in make-shift houses with no protection from the elements.
That said, it was a thrill to pull on my Ugg boots and a winter jacket and I am already thinking along the lines of soups and stews for dinner this week.  The other thing I love about Cape Town is the fact that the weather is so unpredictable and that yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day and tomorrow might be the same again.  The girls got their bikes out of the garage for the first time this year – since Emma broke her ankle they haven’t been cycling.  They spent the best part of the afternoon cycling around the neighbourhood and I baked for the first time in months, if not years.  I made lamington squares and they turned out fabulously – such a relief! Su, Tom and Ella came over for tea and cake and it was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Its Sunday morning and the sun is shining, the neighbours are out walking their dogs and children, my husband is already tinkering on his 1962 Honda Cub that he is in the process of restoring, and I have already read a Country Living magazine from cover to cover. Sarah slept out at a friend and should be home soon, and Emma has just been collected to go an work on a group project for a couple of hours. We have made loose arrangements to see some friends this afternoon but there is no pressure if we all feel like being lazy! Emma started French at school this year and she has been labeling everything in the house to help her learn - its a good opportunity for me to try and learn the language too :-)

Weekend

Its Friday. I don’t think that statement needs much more added to it – everyone knows what a great feeling it is when you reach Friday! I am especially excited about this weekend as we have made NO plans as yet and we can just let it unfold as we go. As much as I look forward to the planned weekends – especially ones that involve getting together with good friends – there is something so indulgent about not having any commitments. I am not even going to set goals for myself this weekend but rather see what I feel like doing as I feel like doing it. I do have one or two things I have to do, like taking the girls to dancing tomorrow morning and doing some grocery shopping while they are there, but even that’s okay. I am not even sure what the weather forecast is this weekend and I have no intention of looking either – what will be, will be.

Presents!

What started off as a misty morning has turned into another gorgeous sunny day. I fetched my sister from the airport this morning – she’s just done a job in London and finished off her trip with some shopping! She is a real pro when it comes to shopping – I don’t know anyone else who can do as much credit card damage in such a short space of time and actually make really good purchases for herself and her friends and family too. I am such a procrastinator when it comes to shopping and if I have to do it in a rush I invariably regret what I have bought. Anyway, she returned with bulging suitcases and I know she will have some goodies in there for me and my girls – sooo exciting! She also brought a pile of magazines and my favourite crisps – happiness :-)

Autumn mornings

I have to say that autumn is my favourite season. I am definitely better suited to cold weather than hot but autumn gives you just enough of winter and summer to be perfect. There is something particularly special about a crisp autumn morning. Everything looks and tastes better in autumn – there is nothing better than the smell and taste of a hot cup of coffee on a cold morning and the sight of the steam rising from the cup. This morning I met my lovely friend Laura for a coffee and croissant before work – what a great way to start a beautiful day.

Back at last

I am back at my blog with renewed inspiration and determination to maintain it for longer than a few weeks! Although my musings and pics will have little appeal to the masses, its a good way to record what I am thinking and doing and at the very least I am sure I will look back at it in the future.

It has been a wonderful autumn weekend in Cape Town with temperatures more reminiscent of summer than autumn or winter. We had the privilege of attending the wedding service of my daughters dancing teacher – some of the girls acted as ‘Guard of Honour’, holding up their swords for the wedding couple to pass under - its a beautiful tradition. My girls and I watched the movie ‘Bright Star’ 3 times – it is so beautiful – both the story and the visuals, it has to be my current favourite movie!

Yesterday we went off to the local ‘car boot sale’ market to rifle through lots of junk in search of a missed treasure. I had to laugh as Emma came home with a 1970’s SA government issue telephone and Sarah came home with an early 80’s mechanical typewriter! These are two girls who have an Apple Macbook computer and up to date cellphones! Its great to know they have an appreciation for retro and vintage. I was thrilled to find a serving platter and gravy boat with saucer from the same collection of some plates I have – and at a fraction of the price I would have paid in a shop – what a score.

We ended the weekend on Clifton 4th beach at sunset last night. We met up with good friends who have been here for a holiday from Seattle. It was a perfect evening, not a breath of wind and remarkably warm for this time of year. We eventually had to drag ourselves home after 8pm as the girls are back to school today, but it was tough to leave because it was so great to be there and it will be a few years till we see our friends again.