Saturday
25 April 2009

Morning

Earl, Gus and Jay went fishing
very early this morning but the weather was so bad that they abandoned the
exhibition and arrived home wet and cold at about 11.

I made 4 quiches for lunch as well as a milk tart.  I used my grandmother’s recipe which I have
not used for 20 years. 

Lisa went to shop for her birthday party and then
took my car to fetch the Kokstad Kids from the airport.  Josh went with her

They all arrived at about 2.  It was lovely to see Lauren, Allan and the
kids again.  We haven’t seen them since
January.   Allan starts a new job when
they get back.  He will be project managing
something that will take him away from home for 3 to 4 days a week.

Shannon can now read a little bit and proudly
showed me her skills. Simon was full of his ride in the big aeroplane.

Earl and Gus had gone to offload fish and didn’t
get back until after 3.  The family
couldn’t wait for them as they had made an early start this morning and were
starving.  Three of the quiches
disappeared very quickly.   Gus and Earl
almost finished the fourth when they came home.

It was Lisa’s birthday last week but she waited
till tonight to celebrate so that Lauren and Allan could be with us.  Dominica came to help prepare the salads and
Margaret also arrived early with her husband and 2 kids.   There were about 16 adults and 8 kids
altogether.  It stopped raining and it
was even quite pleasant outside.   Allan
organised the braaing of the meat and the party was a great success.   

Sunday,
26 April 2006

Family Lunch

We all went to Castle Rock for a lunch time braai.   The whole family and Jeff and Annaline were
there.   The weather had cleared up and
it was lovely.   The kids played in the
garden and Allan took them to the rocks.  Carrol has a mongoose that is quite tame and
appears every now and then for food.  I
saw it clearly but it was gone by the time I had my camera focussed on him.

We asked Vere and Carrol to join us on our Kruger
trip this year but they declined saying they had to sort out the house first
and perhaps next year.  Vere is going to
Sodwana next month.

Saturday,
02 May 2009

It continues to be a household full of full of fun and festivity.  Shannon has brought a touch of femininity to a household of
mini-male activity.  Simon looks like an angel but needs no
encouragement to join in Jay and Joshua’s mischief!  The soccer ball has
been kicked, the army toys litter every room and the noise is
raucous:-)   

Monday – Freedom Day

It was a public holiday on Monday – Freedom Day – Earl took Jay
and Simon fishing on the new ski-boat.   All Simon wanted to do was
catch a big fish with Grandpa.   Well the fishing wasn’t that great
but they tried for chocca and Simon was the only one to catch one – and it was
the biggest squid Grandpa had ever seen in his life!  He was very proud
but wouldn’t touch it.  Jay had to hold it for his photograph.

 Tuesday

On Tuesday, the weather improved considerably and the sun
graced us with a glorious appearance.   Lauren and Allan went to
Franschoek where they spent the night at a luxury lodge, leaving the kids with
us.   Jay and Josh had to go to school and I took  Simon and
Shannon to the beach.  What a ball these sea-starved kids had.  They
played in the sand, built castles and tunnels, pushed tip-up trucks to the
water’s edge and ran into the sea and splashed in the waves.    The
train was a great source of attention and all activity stopped as they stood
and stared as it passed by.   At lunch time I managed to coax them to
the outdoor tables of the restaurant for toasted sandwiches and hot
chocolate.   The pigeons are a bit of a nuisance and one has to be
careful they don’t steal one’s food but the kids thought they were great
fun!    After lunch it was back to the sea and it was all I
could do to persuade them to leave at 3:30 as I had to get back to do homework
with their cousins!

Lauren phoned them to say good night and Simon refused to speak
to her.  He was no trouble at all at bed-time and was asleep within
minutes.  Shannon, however, was tearful so I allowed her to fall asleep in
our bed.  J&J were outraged:-)   Earl tucked her into her
own bed when she was dead asleep but she crept back in the middle of the
night.  I was unaware of this till about 2 when I woke and saw her cuddled
right next to Earl who was almost falling out of bed.  When I woke again
in the morning, Earl was missing and Miss Muffet was snoring.  He’d gone
to finish the night in her bed.  When she woke up, I said, "That
wasn’t very nice to kick Gramps out of bed"  She giggled and said,
"My dad often has to sleep in my bed!"  So this was not a one
off thing.    No wonder daddy was so keen to get a night away
alone with his wife:-)

 Wednesday

On Wednesday, I left Lisa in charge and went off to the
hairdresser.  Sharon, her sister-in-law, Marion and I go together every 6
weeks to the same hairdresser in Town.  We spend the morning while Renee
does all 3 of us then go for lunch.   Its great fun.  I got home
just before Lauren and Allan and they reported that they’d had a brilliant
time.  They’d met friends for lunch so didn’t want much for
supper.   Laurie had also eaten out at lunch time so we just made
macaroni cheese and salad and I did a cheese cake for dessert.

 Thursday

On Thursday, Heather and I took Shannon to the Strandfontein to
see the birds.  She loved every minute of it.  She knows all the
birds she sees in her area and whenever we visit I have to show her bird
pictures on my computers.  I gave her a chart of the birds she was likely
to see and she perused it in the car.  When we started seeing birds she
named the ones she knew and immediately found the ones she didn’t on the chart.  
Heather insisted she sit in front and of course gave her little bits of
information on the birds we saw.  When we got home she showed Earl the
bird she’s seen on the chart, not forgetting the names of a single
one.   She also rattled off all the info that Heather had taught
her! 

Allan had requested Moussaka for supper and I started cooking
it at 3 and was halfway through when he came into the kitchen and informed me
that they were actually going out with friends.  Lauren was supposed to
have told me but she and Lisa had gone horse-riding and so the info was not
relayed.   I decided, therefore to save it for the next night and
Earl and I went out for Sushi.  The rest of the family had left over macaroni cheese for their supper.

Friday

On Friday Lisa organised a game of golf for Allan and
went to walk the course with them.  Lauren and I took all the kids on
a train ride from Muizenberg to Simonstown.  Earl dropped us at MZBG and
collected us at SMSTN. 

It was a huge thrill for the four of them – J&J had done it
when they were 4 and 5 and still remembered the experience. The trip cost R25
for the 6 of us.   It was great fun.  There were 6 security
guards in our coach.  The seats are not like they used to be in the old
trains – leather and comfortable – now they are bucket seats backing onto the
windows with a wide aisle for standing room.   The kids knelt on
their seats and looked out of the window and enjoyed every second.  
It was a grey overcast day but great fun nevertheless. It was raining in
Simonstown and Earl parked the Caravelle at the taxi rank.   He was
mobbed by passengers who were most disappointed when he said the bus was
pre-booked:-)

We then went for breakfast at the yacht club and then visited
Carrol and Vere at Castle Rock.

In the afternoon I went to my friend Sharon’s birthday
tea.   When I got back all I had to do was cook the moussaka, make a
salad and then I made Granny’s Milk Tart for pudding:-)  It was delicious.

Saturday

Lisa and Lauren took
the children for a photo shoot this morning. 
Earl had work to do and Allan and I went to the mall and had breakfast
at Tony’s.   Allan needed to buy a travel
bag and managed to get one at the little luggage shop for just over R700.

I did a quick
round of shopping and then we came home. 
The kids arrived shortly after and played around at home.

The girls had
thought about rolls for lunch but not sausages. Fortunately I had thought of
everything. 

In the evening Wendy
and Bryn and their kids and Shirley, Wendy’s mom, came for drinks before the
kids went off to their school reunion.    Wendy’s two
little boys had a ball playing with Jay, Josh, Simon and Shannon.   They are not allowed guns at home so guess
what was the first toy to be grabbed? 
Hee hee.

Earl and Gus had
gone off to sort out the boat and Jacky was here with Karla.   Laurie got all the kids bathed and into
pyjamas and we made wraps for supper.  

Sunday, 03 May 2009

Kokstad Kids leave

Earl and I took the
Bangays to the airport this morning. 
There were extensive queues at all the airlines but 1Time was the
worst.  Fortunately, they were travelling
Kulula and they got through within 5 minutes.  
We went to Earl‘s office afterwards and then to Fish Hoek beach for
breakfast.  It was a clear, autumn day
but still freezing sitting outdoors.  The
breakfast of Eggs Florentine was excellent.

Friday,
03 April 2009

Struisbaai

Earl wanted
to get away somewhere as he has not been feeling great with his high blood
pressure and hyper-tension.   I phoned
around but really at such short notice its not easy to find accommodation – and
it is the beginning of the school holidays. 
So we decided to come to Struisbaai and that’s where we are as I write.

The weather is stunning – temperatures have been in
the 40s in some places in the Western Cape.  
It took us four hours to get here as there are road works on the N2 and
we had long waits at the stop/goes.  

We stopped to shop for meat at Grabouw and groceries
at Bredasdorp. 

I was supposed to take Jay to the scout hall for
his camp departure but fortunately managed to get him a lift with Sydonne’s
mom, René.   Before we left I went to
Woolworths and bought him some tuck.

I arranged for Grace to stay late and she will come
early on Monday morning too.

Saturday,
4 April 2009

Struisbaai

The trip to Struis yesterday was hot and it was still hot when we
arrived.  We had an early braai and Earl
went to bed at half past seven.  I joined
him at 8.  I woke up very early and got
up and took photos of the sunrise.  Earl
slept on till quarter to 10!  Then got up
and made us a stunning breakfast of scrambled eggs and kidneys.  I spent most of the morning fiddling with
photographs on the computer.   We also
went to the shops and popped in to see Lynne and Glyn at the shell shop.   Clive and Margaret also arrived and told us
that their offer on a house in Struisbaai had been rejected.

In the afternoon we took a drive in the Agulhas
National Park area but the bird life was disappointing.  We went as far as Brandfontien and went for a
lovely walk along the beach. We saw a porpoise washed up on the beach – most
unusual.  There were a few oyster catchers
and some sand plovers.

Earl braaied in the evening and once again was in bed
by 8 o’clock.

Sunday,
05 April 2009

Drive to Die Mond

Earl did not sleep quite as late this morning and by half past nine had
made us another of his delicious breakfasts.  
We decided to take another drive and this time had a very rewarding trip
to Die Mond.   There were lots of Denham
bustards, hadedas, sacred ibis, sparrows, bokmakieries, blue crane and
wheat-ears as we travelled the dirt roads. 
We also saw a steppe buzzard on the ground, a few jackal buzzards, black
shouldered kites and an immature lanner falcon.   We were almost a Die Mond when a black
harrier flew in front of us and we had an excellent view of him. 

Fortunately I had my wild card as we had to pay to
go into the reserve at Die Mond.   We
walked across the suspension bridge and to the beach.  There were lots of bul-buls, yellow-eyed
canaries and sparrows en route.  On the
lagoon islands we saw little egret, gulls and oyster catchers.   It was a stunning day. At the beach a bomber
flew over and I got a good photograph of it.  
One could walk from Die Mond to Struisbaai if you were prepared to go
the 17km.

We got back to Struis at about 2 and went to the
restaurant on the beach for lunch. We both had grilled calamari.   We watched a biathlon taking
place on the open field next to the restaurant. 
The competitors had to run around the field, then to the beach, swim
some distance around some buoys then race back to the field and run around it
twice again.

When we got home I fiddled with photos and finished
my cross word puzzle.  Earl went for a
snooze and is sleeping still. Its 10 to 6

Monday,
6 April 2009

Van Riebeeck Day

We braaied late last night and went to bed after
watching some good programmes on T.V. 
This morning we packed up and left at around quarter to 10 and took the
Elim Road for a slow drive home.  We had
some good birding – Denham’s Bustard, Blue Crane etc but the most exciting was
seeing a buzzard chase a Fish Eagle off what looked like a dead lamb in a farmer’s
field. 

Earl missed the turn to Stanford but decided not to
turn around but rather see where the road took us.  It was fascinating finding tiny hidden farms
and villages that we didn’t even know existed.    Eventually we came out at Kleinbaai.  

It was lunch time when we reached The Orchard
farmstall so we stopped there for lunch. Earl had a tuna salad and I indulged
in a bacon, tomato, lettuce and avo croissant.

On this day 357 years ago Jan van Riebeeck and his fleet of three
sailing ships, brought a group of Dutch settlers to The Cape of Good Hope.
Their mission – to start a refreshment station to replenish the supplies of
ships plying their way to the East.   He
didn’t want to stay – it was a commission from the Dutch East India Company for
him and he couldn’t wait for his term of office here to end.  Well – what would he think now if he were to
return – in just 3 ½ centuries, how Cape
Town has changed.  What would he think of
a flood-lit table mountain and streets lined with sky-scrapers and a
water-front that is commercial hub?   Oh
my dear Jan – your little refreshment station is the most beautiful city in the
world and we are grateful that you started it all!  Unfortunately, we are in crisis once again
and perhaps your pessimism then would be justified today too.   Today we heard that all charges against Jacob
Zuma, president of the ANC had been dropped. 
Of course there has been a huge reaction to this but it looks like the
next president of South Africa is going to be a fraudster and a crook.   He sings and dances in Zulu warrior garb and
the song on his lips is, “Bring me my machine gun!’  Is this a joke or what?

Let’s just hope that the people of South Africa
catch a wake-up call and rush to the polls to at least strengthen the
opposition.  I can’t, however, help the
feeling of dread that South Africa is going to end up like Zimbabwe.  How people allow these things to happen to
themselves is a mystery to me.

Friday,
10 April 2009

Good Friday

Jay returned from his Scout Camp after half past six on Monday
evening.  I had to go to a committee
meeting so I didn’t see him till the next morning.  But I did notice that he was coughing in his
sleep and sure enough he picked up a bug at camp.   In spite of this he had a fantastic time.
One of the highlights was paddling a canoe  12 km down the Breede River.   “Mine was a heavy rubber duck thing – I should
have had a lighter canoe more suited to my size!”   But he managed and loved it.   I asked him whether his wrists were sore as
I got ‘paddler’s wrist’ when I did the same trip 15 years ago.  “No – but my forearms are sore.”  They also did things like foofy sliding and
jumping into the freezing river.  “It was
scary but fun,” was Jay’s comment.   He
didn’t have much else to report but clearly had a brilliant time.

On Tuesday the boys had a gang over to play and
there was much activity and noise indoors and out.   I made two banana loaves and after two ‘tea
breaks’ there was not a crumb left.  They
played in the playroom, on the computer, on the bikes and scooters, with the
water pistols and in the pool.  My only
rule was “NO RUNNING OR SHOUTING INSIDE THE HOUSE”  I had to remind them once or twice because it
is so tempting to take a short cut from the back door to the front door when
you’re being chased by villains – but on the whole they were very
well-behaved.  If this continues through
the holidays I will be eaten out of house and home because boy do those kids
have healthy appetites – fortunately I keep loaves of bread in the freezer and
plenty of cheese in the fridge as toasted sandwiches are the easiest to whip up
in a short time.

On Wednesday Lisa took the boys to an early dental
appointment in Claremont and I went to collect them at 9 o’clock.  Josh said that his tummy was sore because he’d
swallowed some of the solution the dentist gave him to rinse with.   I suggested that breakfast at a restaurant
might make him feel better.   He was
doubtful but agreed that he would have a little to eat.  He ended up devouring a huge plate of eggs,
bacon and mushrooms and Jay had no trouble with two eggs, bacon and grilled
tomato and both thought coke would be a wonderful breakfast drink.  Afterwards they begged for cake but I said if
they wanted that they would have to use their pocket money.   There was much discussion about how much
they were prepared to “waste” on such a treat and Jay ended up settling for a
chocolate biscuit thing for R4.50 and Josh a butter finger biscuit with
chocolate at each end for the same price.  
This treat was eaten with relish as we drove home to Fish Hoek.

We got home at about half past 11 and I started
making sushi.   I got everything prepared
and made fashion sandwiches and vegetarian rolls then waited for Earl to bring
the fish. By half past three I rolled the last tuna nori and then left Grace to
clean up while I went to Steve for a back treatment.  My lower back was beginning to play up and I’m
glad I went for an early treatment as it is now perfect.

On Thursday Sharon and I walked from the Kalk Bay
side of Boye’s Drive right over to the turn-off to Lakeside, down to the main
road and back to Kalk Bay.  It was
fabulous.  It was a cool, clear day so
the views were great. We started at 7:30 and were back at the car by 9 o’clock.  

I went to teach Kath Lee a computer lesson at
10.  She is getting on really well but we
won’t have a lesson for the next three weeks as she is having her two daughters
and their husbands from England and Canada to stay.  It is really rewarding to see how Kath has
lost her fear of the computer and is keen to get ADSL Skype and a digital
camera!  She even wanted to know about
Facebook.🙂

The boys had Brian and his little brother Daniel
over to play and they begged for a sleepover so we gave in.

I made meat loaf, mash and butternut and salad for
supper.  Daniel only ate the vegetables.
Brian didn’t eat anything – his mother had given them soup before they
arrived. 

They left soon after getting up this morning so at
the moment we have peace and as it is a public holiday perhaps we will have no
callers today.