Captured moments

Today I captured some moments for you....

The little man is making good progress with writing which has been a struggle for him. He loves to practice cursive. I don't believe in reams of untidy handwriting but rather one or two perfect letters.

Two more little people have captured my heart. On the left is "Princess" and on the right is "Pudding"(Obviously not their real names but the nicknames I have given them). They are the daughters of a friend who recently returned from Johannesburg. They visit regularly as they live just up the road and I love their enthusiasm for life. "Pudding "so reminds me of myself as a little one in looks, and she even has a cute lisp as I did at that age. K is practising her skills as a babysitter and she is very patient and kind with these little people. She helps to bath, dress and entertain them.

The Queen of our castle is Katje....the ginger ninja! She can be so loving but also strike out when she is upset for no apparent reason to us humans! Here she is enjoying a snooze in the sunshine. She has the habit of waiting outside for us when we go out, and will appear as if from nowhere on our return. Dare we go away for a weekend and she disappears, causing much concern to the pet sitter! Within hours of our return she will magically reappear.

Fun family pics!

We had some fun in the photo booth at the bridal show too!

One can hire this for parties or events.

Even hubby joined in the fun!

Bridal show photos

These gorgeous pictures came through from Robyn this week. They were taken by her photographer at the show. Don't the girls look sweet!

Forest fun

Today we took advantage of the sunshine and went off to a nearby forest for a braai with friends. A great day was had by all....

Their cute little puppy joined in the fun. She will chew anything, even hair!

Girls climbed the cork trees right next to our braai spot......

The littlest member of their family had fun in her tent......

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We took turns challenging one another to blockus duo.....

Puppy snuggled up for a snooze.......

Marshmallows were toasted on the fire......

Bikes were ridden....

The views were majestic.....and memories were made.......

Greens galore

My little veg garden continues to bring me great pleasure....I love stepping out there to collect fresh healthy greens to add to my meals.

My first green pepper went into a stir fry with some celery, beans, parsley, chilli, spinach and basil all from the garden! It is great to have fresh celery on hand.... it has gone into soup, stir fry and salad in the last week.



Today I tried my hand at Basil pesto. I didn't have pine nuts so used sunflower seeds instead. I blended 4 cups of freshly picked basil with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and the sunflower seeds.

It made enough to keep a jar, give one away and freeze a little for later use.

Yesterday I found out that one of the stores, near where K does drama, has a great garden section. I couldn't resist the grannadilla vine, some more lettuce seedlings, broad beans and onions, all for a steal!

My Brite Lites are looking good too. I just love their colourful stems and in between, I see carrot or two finally growing! Think I should plant some more!

Goodbye Autumn

Autumn Leaves

"Come little leaves", said the wind one day.

"Come over the meadow with me and play;

Put on your dresses of red and gold

Summer is gone and the days grow cold."

- Selected by A. Mc Govern

Autumn is without a doubt my favourite season. I love the richness of the leaves in their "red and gold dresses". The tree above is one near to hubby"s parents home.I look out for it every year as it always has the most magnificent display of rich red leaves. This picture was taken a few weeks ago, but as we drove past it the other day, I noticed that the wind has stripped it of most of its leaves already. The branches are almost naked. Winter is certainly on its way. In the past week and a half, the sun has barley warmed us. Wind is lashing the Cape and the days are grey and wet.

I don't mind winter and I love the gentle sounds of rain. It seems appropriate to stay indoors, cuddle on the couch with a good book or movie and bring out the handcrafts and games. Pots of soup nourish us along with our favourite hot buttered corn bread.

The pace in our home has slowed down and it feels good. The children have been creating all sorts this week. They finished up their nature journal entries for our Autumn leaves and have made cards ( after Opa's birthday they have churned out many more cards), painted, sketched and had lots of fun.

Our first postcard!

There was great excitement today when we received our first postcard from the International Postcard Swap! The children could not wait to open the envelope and see what was inside! From the outside, we knew it was from Australia as it was covered in stickers that told us so! It had been posted on the 7th of May so only took 6 days to get here....fast I think!

Inside , we found a postcard depicting Australian Wild life as well as a number of Australian Stamps. Guess who wants to start collecting stamps now....my youngest little collector of anything I will allow him to collect! There was also a book recommendation for the Harry Potter books.