Here is my contribution to this week’s Photo a week challenge
Early Morning Light
Light reflecting off Daniel’s Glasses
The light of day through the window
Boys lit up in the dark enjoying the firelight
Sunlight on the choppy sea
Here is my contribution to this week’s Fun Photo Challenge
Arched Doorway in Salerno, Italy
Arena – Pompeii, Italy
Ancient Oven – Pompeii, Italy
Suze challenged me to do the 321 Quote Me Challenge.
The rules are…
Thank the Selector
Post 2 quotes for the dedicated Topic of the Day.
Select 3 bloggers to take part in ‘3.2.1 Quote Me!’
Thank you Suzi for the challenge AGE
Here are my quotes – hope I’m not repeating any.
The topic for today is Literature – See A Guy called Bloke
I nominate
Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World
A piece of clothing from your younger childhood you still remember?
When I was about eight years old my mother bought my sister and me stiff petticoats to wear under our party dresses. I don’t remember the dresses but I do remember the stiff petticoats! We were very excited to be allowed to wear such lovely underclothes which caused our skirts to spread out beautifully around us.
Irregardless of your physical fitness, coordination or agility: If you could be an athlete what would do do? Remember this is SYW, dreaming is always allowed.
I fancy myself as an ice-skater. There were very few places to skate when I was a kid but I loved rollerskating on the pavements where we lived. When I did get the chance to get out on the ice on hired skates, I loved it.
In a car would you rather drive or be a passenger?
I don’t mind being the driver but it is more relaxing being the passenger. In my younger days I did a lot of driving. With three kids and two dogs it made sense to drive a Toyota Hi-Ace that could transport all of us plus extras on excursions and weekends away. We went through two of those before the kids left home. For a few years after that we were able to drive a ‘normal’ car. Then the grandkids arrived and it was back to a people carrier in the form of a Volkswagen Caravelle – a fantastic car that served us for ten, long adventurous years. Although I loved driving, it was always a relief to get everyone there and back in one piece. Now I am content to leave the responsibility of long distance driving to The Earl. Here in Struisbaai I usually walk!
Me in my younger days – thrilled to be behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Caravelle
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
We caught up with family last weekend and it was great to see everybody settled and happy.
On Friday after enjoying a delicious breakfast at our favourite coffee shop, The Earl said, “I feel like going off somewhere for the weekend.”
“Where do you want to go?” I asked. It was cold and I didn’t relish a caravan excursion.
“To the kids in Plettenberg Bay!” came his reply. Well – why not! It’s a whole six weeks since we saw them last. And the novelty of having them only five hours away hasn’t yet worn off!
So we rushed home, phoned our son-in-law, packed a bag and hit the road at 10:30 am!
The drive from Struisbaai to Plett is an easy one. There is very little traffic and the roads are in good condition. But when we passed through George there was a congestion. What could be wrong? The Earl began to get anxious as the traffic police were not handling the situation very well. The road was blocked and the two officers didn’t seem to know what to do. They were letting a few cars through and only when we got close to them were we told that if we were going further than Victoria Bay we wouldn’t be able to get through. A truck had lost it’s load of beer on the pass. Sooo we had to turn around and take the narrow, windy Seven Passes Road. At one point there was a single lane bridge to cross and this caused a huge congestion. It took us two extra hours to get to our kids. But such is life and it was all part of the adventure. Imagine if we’d been in a hurry! We still made it to Jubilee Farm by just after five pm.
Lauren was teaching when we called our son-in-law so she and Simon only found out we were coming at the end of the school day. Allan cooked us a delicious lamb curry and had a fire going. It was, to say the least, a happy reunion.
A warming curry for supper
Grandpa and Si in front of the fire – Gramps has the extra warmth of Roger round his neck
Saturday was a much warmer day. The sun shone, the sky was blue and there was not a breath of wind. I was delighted to find that yellow-billed ducks now visit the pond in front of the house.
This duck called out his joy with gleeful quacks
Cheddar the cat likes hunting in the long grass and reeds next to the dam
We took the family to town for lunch. The Table is a lovely Italian restaurant with seating outdoors.
The Dolphin Statue in Plettenberg Bay
Lauren and Allan at The Table
Lauren and Allan had delicious pizza, The Earl and I chicken and avo salad and Simon a Blue cheese salad. Desserts were Creme Brulet and Fruit on sticks dipped in dark Belgium Chocolate. Yum!
Our granddaughter, Shannon, who attends Glenwood House in George, was not home for the weekend as she had choir rehearsal all Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. So on Sunday we had a leisurely late breakfast and enjoyed the morning with the family before setting off to George. Shan was with family friends for the day and we visited her there before taking her back to school. It was lovely catching up with her and The Bakers. It was also lovely to see Shan’s school and to meet her roommate. I am so proud of my well-adjusted granddaughter. It wasn’t easy leaving her much loved St John’s in Pietermaritzburg at the end of last term. But after only five weeks she is fitting in so well at Glenwood. You go Shan, Girl!
Shan and her roommate, Onika
After dropping Shan we went to Great Brak to see more family – Diane and Carey who live on a small holding in the mountains called Rondomooi. For my overseas readers Rondomooi means All Around Beautiful.
And all around where they live is truly beautiful!
Carey has a workshop on the property where he builds Motor Homes. They also grow veggies and keep chickens. Diane is going to start an orchid nursery.
Eggs from the Free-Range Hens
Diane collecting eggs
Kitty keeping an eye on things
Lettuce growing like trees!
Carey showing me the garden
We spent a lovely evening and morning with Carey and Diane and at 11 this morning headed back to Struisbaai. We stopped in Swellendam to refuel with diesel and coffee!
It was a lovely sunny day and we even stopped to snap this lovely rock kestrel
What a lovely little get-away that was. When you retire you can do these spur of the moment things! How lucky we are!
Here is my contribution to this week’s stream of consciousness prompt
This week Linda asks us to write about our favourite word.
This is a stunning prompt. My chosen word escapes my lips pretty often. I may be lazy about choosing new words but this one describes things I like very well. You can say stunning is so many different ways. You can say it in a joyful way, an excited way, a surprised way and even in a sarcastic way. You can draw it out – Stun-ning. Although for this type of expression I would choose – Fan-tas-tic. You can shout it, you can whisper it – you can put on a accent with it. There is a lot of playing around you can do with the word, stunning.
I use the word to describe experiences. I had a stunning visit with my grandchildren this weekend. I use it to describe what I eat – The meal at The Black Oyster Catcher was stunning. I use it to describe how someone looks – Megan Markle looked stunning on her wedding day.
It’s a word that really puts across the emotion, feeling or description. It’s to do with how it is said and it just gets the message across so much better than any other word. You can’t help but understand exactly what this word expresses. It’s just stunning!
So yes – Stunning remains my favourite word.
A Stunning View from my daughter’s porch
Here is my contribution to this week’s black and white challenge from Cee
Sand on Fish Hoek Beach
Hangklip Sand Dune
Elim Dirt Road
Herding sheep on a local dirt road
Elephants in the grasslands
Diary of an Adventurous Retiree 