Mossbank memories July 25th

July 25Th was a special day as it was J's 14Th birthday. It was great to be with the extended family on his special day.

The morning began with shrieks of laughter from the girl cousins as they had been plotting against their Uncle, and had a shaving cream fight with him! Not sure who came of worse but fun was had by all!

J was taken out for his favourite, a lime milkshake, and cake by Pappa P. The rest of us went for an amazing walk up behind my sisters home . Last year this area had been covered in trees that have since been felled. It was a crisp morning and it was wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and see the snow on the distant Drakensberg mountain range.

I so enjoyed the time connecting with my mum whom I miss having close by....

That afternoon we all headed into town for another party. My sister had organised this hat party for family and friends who could not make the party on her birthday. The venue had a fantastic view of the Underberg. This is a popular paragliding spot and we could see them from the garden of the B&B.

The cousins were inseparable and made up for lost time by chatting and getting up to mischief!

The venue was cosy and warm and the tables were laden with scones, jam and cream, koeksisters, mini milktarts, savouries and the best chocolate cake I have had in a while!

It was a pleasure to see my Aunt and Uncle from Hilton and to meet more of my sisters friends. The afternoon was spent enjoying good company and excellent food. We stayed way into the night and the hostess was most hospitable!

Aunty D and Z with their hats.

I just had to capture this colourful stained glass door at the entrance to the venue.

Mossbank Memories....

Well I have been a bit slow on the holidays posts so now they are sweet memories and not current happenings. I hope you will enjoy the memories as much as I do.

The day after my sisters birthday was another exciting day ,as we were expecting our younger sister and her family to arrive at Mossbank. It had been 3 months since we had seen them.

We took a walk on the plantation in the morning to look for iced puddles to jump on but didn't find too many. The wind was icy and the scent of pine amazing.Despite the cold the walk did us good. J went out with Uncle D to do some fire fighting in the area that afternoon.

J and Aunty D

There was a sweet reunion with the cousins and bittersweet for me..... As I hugged my sister, I cried that she should come home soon. She stepped back , took one look at me, and her face told me it would not be soon. She hadn't wanted to tell me on her arrival at Mossbank but it just so happened that way. I cried and cried.....

The cousins had brought' baby Coke bottles' with teats for the kids....they had fun with them!

The boys were inseparable from the moment they set eyes on one another. They played non stop all weekend! The girls had much to catch up with too!

Precious moment.

My sis and I took a walk as the sun was about to set.....talking,crying and praying. I admire her for being able to adapt to changing situations so well. We all spent the evening catching up and enjoying dinner together.

The cousins wanted to see whose fringe is longer!

Mossbank days...

Our first morning at my sister in Mossbank, was an early start. It was her birthday and we all woke up at the crack of dawn to wish her and give her her gifts. In her home, things are done differently...

Her husband grew up celebrating birthdays with cake and candles at dawn! He had bought a chocolate cake and we entered the room singing happy birthday. The kids loved the idea of chocolate cake first thing in the morning! The first birthday he celebrated as a married man was somewhat surprising for him as there was no cake....he asked where it was and my sister was rather confused as to why he was asking for cake so early in the morning. It never crossed his mind that other families didn't do the same thing. Needless to say, he now gets cake at dawn on his birthday!

It was a special time of gift giving as the children and I are seldom there on her birthday and this year we decided to make it extra special by each giving her a gift we had made. Z had made a beaded dragonfly fridge magnet, K a cream scarf, J gave her the wooden bowl he had made at woodwork and I gave her a mosaic mirror. I had made the mirror the week before we left on holiday and it was my first attempt at mosaic. I was so happy with the result. It had be guarded as we travelled as I didn't want it to break on our travels.

After breakfast I decided to make her a wire heart with rosemary and a Camellia. She loved it!

We spent the morning in preparation for the tea party she was to have that afternoon. By about 11 a.m. it was so cold and it began to snow....or so we thought!

My mum was there too by then and the kids were so excited about the snow, they phoned home to tell their dad! Sadly it turned out to be sleet and not the snow we were longing for. It melted shortly after hitting the ground.

The afternoon homemade hat tea party turned out to be a great success. We ate our fill on the most delectable Florentines, chocolate brownies, scones with jam and cream and other delicious tea time treats. My sister has wonderful caring friends and it was so lovely to meet them. Some of them had travelled more than an hour to get there! We are just not used to those sorts of distances in our home town but then country life is different.

I just loved my mums teddy bear hat and it certainly kept her warm!

South Coast and beyond

Welcome to San Lameer. Take a break where nature, wildlife, and the ocean compliment this prestigious golf estate on the glorious South African coast in Kwa-Zulu Natal.....

We had the pleasure of an early morning breakfast with my Godfather from Cape Town, who happened to be at San Lameer for two days. It is just a stones throw from mums house and we set off early on our last day on the South Coast to enjoy the pleasure of his company and copious amounts of hot chocolate and a buffet style breakfast. It was lovely to see him and I would have loved to linger longer to experience the beauty of this place.

Later that day we headed off to Margate and ended up getting the keys locked in the car...it was unfortunate but gave us the opportunity to explore a well stocked craft shop while waiting for a locksmith to arrive. This shop was very interesting with anything you might need or want when doing crafts, as well as various other bits and pieces. To my delight, I found a little brass bell that was very reasonably priced. I have always wanted a little bell in my home. As children, the bell was always rung at meal times to call the family to the table. Far more pleasing to the ear than yelling for everyone to come to the table! My dear older sister says she is STILL waiting for the bell to ring so that she can just arrive at the table for a meal! She will have that pleasure next time she visits my home!

We visited the beach market at Margate and found more items we had been looking out for and finally we rounded off our outing with a visit to Sabenza Villiage. Sebenza Village is situated in Margate surrounded by an 80 year old tropical garden. Stately rows of palm trees and large shade trees predominate the landscape. Central to the development is Paradise Plants Nursery with a flowing river and Koi dams.Surrounding the nursery are wooden shops housing a variety of crafts and artists. Ambiance and tranquility sets the tone in this bustling environment.

We enjoyed milkshakes and a bite to eat at the Tree Top Cafe which is built around the Indian Toon Tree, tree house style. The Indian Toon Tree is old in years but full of vibrance and full of leaves. It comes to full life in Summer and provides a wonderful shade. The Indian Toon Tree is rare and we enjoyed our experience.

We had a final beach walk late that afternoon and the younger children had a last frolic in the warm Indian ocean while mum and I spent some time chatting on the beach.

The lush tropical vegetation is so different to our vegetation down south. The children enjoyed hiding among the enormous foliage.

We spotted this interesting tree with strange looking fruit. The monkeys seem to enjoy it and mum thought it was the Jack Fruit. I couldn't identify it in my field guide so if you know what it is, please let me know!

The following day we all set off together in a north westerly direction to my older sister and her husbands home. It was a pleasant drive even though the journey was long. I couldn't help noticing the change in vegetation as we headed away from the coast. The tropical vegetation faded away and sugar cane fields and aloes took their place. Mum had prepared a delicious lunch of fresh rolls with all sorts of tasty fillings and we stopped alongside the road to stretch our legs and enjoy our lunch.
As we journeyed on after lunch, the land became more and more hilly. So typical of that part of our beautiful land. I noticed the Zulu huts scattered on the hills, goats and cows surrounding the huts, children walking home from school, spaza shops and some women doing their washing in a river. The land was dry and brown, yet beautiful. We passed a number of fires and saw the black scars of previous fires. This is fire season in KZN.

We finally arrived at our destination, Mossbank. It was as if we had stepped from the sauna into the freezer! It was wonderful to be there again and to see my sister. She had warned us it was cold and she was right!

South Coast days continued

The days down on the South Coast went by so fast and were so enjoyable. On one of our walks down to the beach, we spotted the monkeys having a feast on some gorgeous granadillas! I wanted to join them and enjoy them too! The fruit was so big and it was a shame to watch them taking a few bites out of the fruit and just tossing the rest to the ground.

We spent some time at St Micheal's, a great beach. We strolled along the sea shore, enjoying the warm surf and Z ventured in for a refreshing swim. We came across the most amazing sand sculptures I have ever seen. The artist was working away and had a pit dug out with the words "money please" carved into the sand. An innovative way to make some money. One cheeky little boy had got his mom to bury him in the sand and wanted her to write the same on the sand that covered his body! He protested loudly when she declined!

All though not very beautiful, this sculpture was very well done!


Another day, we spent time exploring the farm stalls and craft shops along the South Coast road. We visited Mac Bananas which is one of the biggest farm stalls I have been too. One could go crazy in a place like that as the variety of pickles, jams, cheeses etc is vast. I managed to pick up a few gifts there.

We went on to "Ilvas Country Crafts" and enjoyed the stalls there too. Of course we couldn't resist buying the odd item or two. We also saw Ilva, an old friend of my grandparents. I have fond memories of a holiday down the South Coast with them in Ilvas home.
We found a coffee shop called the "Cowshed". We all know K is just crazy about cows! The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee was too much to resist so we had cuppa chinos and the children enjoyed sodas. The tables were painted like cows and the decor was charming.

K outside the Cowshed. Isn't that door just lovely!

The children enjoyed the jungle gym at the Cowshed. The view was great too.

South Coast Days

We left for our holiday to KZN on Friday 17th July. The alarm was set to get up at 4a.m. as we had the early flight out of Cape Town. Now we are not used to such early rising but all ran smoothly and there was great excitement as we drove to the airport in the dark!
We were bumped up to a British Airways flight instead of Kulula.The added bonus was that the flight was really empty and the older kids each took a row of 3 seats to themselves while Z and I shared our 3 seats and had a good snooze as we winged our way towards our precious family.

We arrived at around 8 a.m. and were met by Pappa P who treated us to breakfast at the airport Spur. I chose to break all the rules and had a chocolate double thick for breakfast! It was good!
We headed down the South Coast and reached mums home by about lunch time. The children always make "welcome " signs when granny comes to stay and we were greeted with the same. A special touch! My mum has always been so good at adding those special touches like a little vase of flowers on the bedside table or a little gift to welcome a visitor. This was no different and there was something comforting about being with my mum again.

After lunch and a little rest, we could not resist heading down to the beach. It is just a walk down the hill and you are there. I made a point of going to beach every day while we were on the South Coast and the children made a point of enjoying the warm Indian Ocean every day. The temperature of the water is so pleasant even though it is officially winter! A welcome change from our own cold and wet winters.