Retiring Adventurously – Getting used to all this free time!

2015-02-22 | puppy1952

Back to the question of “What do you do all day now that you’re retired?” I could answer that fairly easily in the past few weeks as I have been busy tying up things to do with Bird Club, the Caravan and the house. Earl is hyperactive and makes sure he has one project or another on the go and so doing things together has taken a bit of a back seat for now. He did comment that I was spending too much time reading and indulging in other useless occupations so I said “I could get some relief work at one of the schools.” which sent him into a panic and shut him up completely. While I was teaching he was doing all the shopping and cooking but I have reclaimed those duties and even bring him cups of tea and snacks while he industriously labours on the boat he has been commissioned to fit out. Once this is done there is no knowing what he will take on next. I am of course most grateful to him for taking on these jobs as it does add to the ‘not so full anymore’ coffers! And I am a lady used to her little luxuries.

On Thursday we were both up bright and early – Earl to go fishing and I to join a midweek bird club outing! The venue was one of my favourite spots – The False Bay Ecology Park – which Earl and I often visit on our own- but to go with other like-minded friends and an expert guide makes it extra special.

Dave, our leader explained the importance of this birding area

The False Bay Ecology Park’s man-made wetland system is amongst one of the top five bird watching areas in Southern Africa. It is an IBA (Important Birding Area) because of the number of species that it attracts. Many birds from across the seas use it as a stop off spot or destination as they traverse the world’s migratory flight paths. One hundred and sixty eight species of bird have been recorded in the park. Seventy-six of these are freshwater wetland species. Eighteen are are coastal species that visit the area to roost or breed.

Checking out one of the ponds with binoculars

The stilt is a common resident.

We delighted to find a grey-headed gull among the usual Hartlaub’s gulls

There were many swift terns fraternising with the gulls too

In the shallow waters we found a wood sandpiper

And there were plenty of stints in the water and in the air

The barn swallows visit us every year

It is truly a beautiful spot right here on our doorstep

For us here in the Deep South, it is an adventure just to go ‘over the mountain’ for any kind of excursion or outing. Visiting the V&A Waterfront is as good as going to a foreign city. And heading to the theatre in the very cosmopolitan Camps Bay is just as much fun. On Thursday night we went to Theatre on the Bay with Heather and Peter and were wonderfully entertained by Pieter-Dirk Uys. He has been presenting satire since the sixties and is still as amazing as ever. This show was called ‘An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish’ On the stage were rows of numbered boxes – reminiscent of the old Pick a Box radio show of the sixties – Various members of the audience were invited to pick a number and then Pieter Dirk dressed up in the contents and did one of his famous characters. My personal favourite is Nowell Fine – a Kugel from Constantia one of the first he ever created. She is older now but still has Dora her maid who has her own car in which she takes the grandchildren out for dinner. No more cooking for her! We were in fits of laughter watching Uys take on one persona after another and perform them perfectly! If you live here in Cape Town I highly recommend you attend the show.

So nothing too adventurous happened this week. We ended it with a lovely family steak braai and we shall see what next week brings!

Grandpa doing what he does best

Retiring Adventurously – Downtimes and Uptimes

2015-02-16 | puppy1952

I don’t do sick and I don’t do old. Give me a crying baby or a mischievous child or even a whole crowd of them and I will cope with the greatest of ease. I say I don’t do the former but that’s not quite true – of course I will deal with whatever I have to at any particular moment – but it’s way out of my comfort zone. So when the beloved awoke with a shivering fever and a rebellious tummy on Monday morning I was not well pleased. There was no escaping to the classroom with the words take yourself off to the doctor and drink plenty of fluids. Just as well because there was no way he was going to cope with this one on his own. I was all dressed and ready for gym but had to abandon that plan and drive the invalid shaking almost to convulsions to the doctors – why don’t they do house calls anymore? He was hurriedly ushered into a treatment room where he lay in his gown wrapped in a blue blanket which he insisted I tuck firmly under his freezing feet. It was a hot day but he was shivering as if he were at the South Pole. I feel so helpless in these situations. My ministrations limited as they are seem not to help and all I can do is just stand there and wait for the worst. The young doctor – they get younger as I get older- I’m sure this one was still in his teens – came in after what seemed hours but was only 10 minutes. After asking all the right questions and pressing in all the right places he put Earl on a drip and instructed him to lie there for the next hour. It was 9 o’clock. “I’ll just make it to gym then,” I said “I’ll pick you up when I’m done?” “Don’t leave me,” he wailed. So that put paid to that escape plan.
Much to my relief the drip worked and the shivering stopped and my ailing man fell asleep. I sat ‘monitoring’ him while checking Facebook and emails on my iPhone. I’m a woman I can multitask!
The hour dragged by and then he was released with a script for a pharmacy of drugs. I made sure he was comfortable, showered and changed – I had to get out of my gym clothes – then headed to the mall to get the script filled out. Then back to the invalid, dosed him with 4 different drugs, made sure he was comfortable and asleep then escaped to have tea with Carol. He was much better on my return but still slept most of the day and all that night. On Tuesday he got up for part of the day, did some things that needed doing then collapsed into bed exhausted and wondered why! I am pleased to report that by Wednesday all was back to normal!

On Tuesday I was up before the crack of dawn and out of the house before 6:00 am. My destination? – Home Affairs. I was determined to be in the front of the queue as I had to get a new I.D. Document – the old one went Awol somewhere between the Vodocom Shop at our local mall and The Kruger National Park in June last year. My passport although valid gives problems at border posts by refusing to scan. It happened in Australia and then again in Namibia so I thought it best if I was to be crossing African borders to get a new one in order to avoid delays and an excuse to arrest me! Home Affairs is notorious for its long queues and it is not uncommon to spent an entire day waiting to be processed. Their offices open at 7:30 am and I arrived at Maynard Mall parking at 6:20 am delighted that I would be very near the front. But oh no – the parking was closed – and I was fourth in that queue. There was much hooting and tooting until somebody came to explain that the rules had changed. The parking garage and the mall would only be opened at 7. There was nothing to be done so I switched up the radio and sat an waited knowing that there would also be a queue on the pavement and at the other parking garage over the road! By the time I had parked and raced for the escalator I was number 61 in queue to get into the offices! Admittedly the queue did move quite quickly and it was 8:30 when I finally made it in. Then there another number issued, a wait in the pay desk queue – R400 for the passport – ID – Free for over 60s! From there to the photobooth and a grumpy photographer barking unfriendly commands – take off your glasses – don’t smile! From there you had to wait for your number to be called. I found it all quite amusing. The queue consisted of rows of chairs and you had to move up every minute or so as you came closer to your turn. It was like being on a conveyer belt. I didn’t dare take photographs in case I was expelled! Finally, I reached the front row and then my number was called. This time a friendly and efficient assistant. My fingerprints were taken digitally and I had to sign on a digital device too. It was all done and dusted by quarter to ten – only three and a half hours. The good news is that on Friday afternoon I received an SMS to say my ID is ready for collection! Wow! But I shall wait for the Passport to be ready and collect them together. The estimated time is between 2 and 6 weeks. Maybe I will be lucky!

On the bright side, Earl recovered quickly and on Wednesday dropped the Fortuner off at Gus’s house and he and Andrew went to Stellenbosch to fetch the Land Rover Discovery 4! Earl is very pleased with the new vehicle. Before he drove it away, Martin spent two hours teaching him all the amazing features of the car. What wonderful service. Such a difference to the experience we had with the Volkswagen Caravelle. Fifteen years ago there were very few of them in the country. We researched it thoroughly and decided that it was the car we wanted and went off to a showroom in town to have a look. Nobody appeared to help us. I clapped my hands and yelled – Please come and sell me this car! A bored young man appeared and when I asked him to show me all the features he shrugged his shoulders and made a half-hearted effort at showing me a few things. He had no idea how to move the seats and was clearly ignorant of anything about the vehicle. If I hadn’t wanted it so badly I would not have bought it. We walked out and went to another dealership and asked them to contact that one to get the car for us. For all these fifteen years we have never been completely satisfied with Volkswagen’s service. Hopefully we will continue to have a better experience with Land Rover!

The Caravan ready for action

The new vehicle

From behind

Test Drive

My turn to drive

On Friday Earl heard that the yellow-fin tuna were in the bay and biting so he rushed to finish some stuff he was doing on the caravan and he and Yassin dashed off to see what they could catch! They were well pleased with the results and returned just in time for Earl and me to meet our friends for a dinner date at Brasserie in Tokai! We had a stunning evening.

Yassin with one of the yellow-fin tuna

Celebrating Heather’s birthday

Saturday was Valentine’s Day but because we’d been out the evening before we decided to not to go out on a romantic date. In any case we had lovely fresh fish for sashimi. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry as did ours when we were informed after waking from an afternoon nap that the teens were having a Valentine’s Braai that evening. We decided therefore to go off for a sunset picnic with our fish and salad but this plan too was thwarted when I discovered that the 6 teens were alone, had no braai wood and nobody had brought meat! No – I could not leave them alone with their chips and Coke – so we found ourselves entertaining 5 boys and a girl with an impromptu sashimi evening. Now some of those kids are used to our strange tastes and love to eat our weird food. But the girl and one lad looked horrified at the fare before them. “Don’t panic,” I said. ‘Just have one taste and if you really don’t like it, Grandpa will give sear some tuna for you”. The young lady agreed that it did not taste bad at all but she really would prefer it cooked. The lad had tried in our home previously and just said – cooked for me please! The rest of them tucked in and cleaned the platters.

Jay the handsome host

Tucking in

Seared to perfection

A relief not to have to eat raw fish!

Earl worked on the caravan on Sunday and I went off to a bird club outing with my friend Priscilla. We thought we had plenty of time to get to Stellenbosch but found that we could not get to Baden Powell Drive because of a marathon of some sort blocking the route. So we had to detour over the freeway and onto the N2 which made us a few minutes late. The rest of the group were nowhere in sight but a quick phone got Simon returning to find us and soon we were enjoying th walk along with the other. The birding wasn’t great but the walk in Assegaibos is wonderful.

Simon rescued us

The group looking at something in the trees

The majestic mountains

A beautiful setting

Our leader and his wife relaxing at the picnic site Thanks for leading on your birthday, John!

We ended the week with a braai at Heather and Peter’s and forgot all about the early disasters of the week!

Our hostess with host in the background

So what do you do now that you’re retired?

2015-02-08 | puppy1952

I thought that once school began and the house was empty of guests, the daughter back at work and the teens at school I would miss my old routine and go rushing back to help as a ‘room parent’ or classroom assistant. But – no – that hasn’t happened! I am afraid it has been the last thought in my head! I am not bored and I don’t know where the time goes! My colleagues I miss, and I do think of those little lambs I once taught but they have all moved on and so must I!

The thing is that life happens. Now there is time to enjoy it and cruise through the day at a leisurely pace. All my adult life I have had no trouble waking up at the rudest of hours. But now 7 o’clock seems terribly early! The only dutiful thing that I do is make my grandson’s lunch. So that gets me up briefly and then I get back into bed, check my emails/Facebook while my perfect husband makes breakfast. Life couldn’t be better!

This week has flown. On Sunday last week we dropped in at False Bay Ecology Park to see how the feathered friends were doing – this is alway a pleasure.

Yellow-billed ducks

Spotted Eagle Own – he moved his spot!

Every pond was full of flamingos

False Bay in the Background

Even the hadeda is beautiful in the sunlight

More flamingos fraternising with Cape Shovellers and Cape Teal

In my last post I related the drama of organising finance for our vehicle. That all went through finally on Wednesday! We now have the caravan safely in our driveway but the Land Rover will only be ready on Tuesday.

The Imagine Comfort Van in towing mode

We have had so much fun shopping for accessories and now have a kettle that goes on the gas burner, petrol and diesel jerry cans, gas bottles, batteries and various electrical attachments, a blow-up mattress for when we take the kids with us and various other odds and ends. I won’t bore you with the details! But how amazing it has been to be able to shop at a whim and not have to wait for the weekend! Sometimes breakfast or lunch out is included!

Having late nights is not such an issue anymore either. I had a bird club committee meeting that went on forever on Monday night, book club on Tuesday night and went to a friend’s birthday celebration on Thursday night – without a worry in the world about coping the next day at school! My bird club colleagues seemed somewhat surprised when I told them that I would not be living in Cape Town anymore. I had told them this but they thought I’d come home at least once a month. No so I’m afraid. I will continue with my three portfolios but I won’t be at committee meetings, chaps! I reluctantly resigned from Book Club too – but they kindly invited me to come as a guest when I was in town! Yes – life is changing in a big way!

My friend Priscilla and her twin sister Hilary had their birthday celebration at Cape Point Vineyards on Thursday evening. What an idyllic place! We sat out on the lawns looking over the valley and The Atlantic Ocean and ate food we got from their weekly food market and watched the sun setting gloriously into the sea.

The Greek Stall Menu from which Heather and I chose our meal.

Priscilla in the foreground

The guests – It’s not Priscilla at the back but her twin!

Like a flaming ball

People watching the sunset from the deck over the dam

Such a beautiful setting

On Friday Earl had a fishing charter and spent a beautiful day at sea. He came home with some Hottentot which we served deep fried to our guests that evening. My friend, Niru from Durban , was also visiting her parents to celebrate her 40th birthday and they popped in to see me on their way to a sushi dinner.

Niru and Me

Earl cooking before the Load Shedding

A headlamp helps when the lights go out

Our guests enjoying their fried Hottentot

Josh dishing dessert

On Saturday night the Cape Boat and Ski-boat club had their annual prizegiving. Earl mentors the youth at this club and we were so proud to see them getting prizes. He also participates himself and skippers his boat in competitions although he is not as active as in the past.

Appropriate table decor

Third in the Club Championships

Best Skipper

And those are the highlights of our week! We will continue to get the caravan organised with everything it needs next week and we are in the processing of planning a big trip in March! Watch this space!

Celebrations

2015-01-25 | puppy1952

The holidays are over, the teachers returned to school on Monday and the kids on Wednesday. I must confess to feeling a little twinge of depression. The beginning of a year is always so exciting. On Monday I pictured my colleagues getting their classrooms ready to receive those eager little people, sorting our new stationery – oh how I love new stationery- and planning an innovative new programme for 2015! On Wednesday, I had to take my mind off the thought of missing out on the fun and thrilling first day of Grade 1 – so I indulged in the best therapy ever – Retail and the Waterfront – with my fashion guru friend, Sharon!

A complementary taste of wine while waiting for a table at Willoughbies

A complimentary taste of wine while waiting for a table at Willoughby’s

Yes Sushi beats a take-away snack from Birdie Num Nums (School Tuck Shop)

We had a wonderful feminine bonding time, spent a little bit of money but mostly it was just great to be in The Big City – for us in the deep south it’s like going to London or Paris!

It was my sister’s 60th birthday on Friday and she celebrated with a wonderful breakfast on a beautiful day at La Belle, Alphen Boutique Hotel. Now, had I been teaching, I wouldn’t have been able to be there – so much fun to be retired!

My sister and me

Fabulous venue – Excellent food

It was lovely to see all Tana’s friends – many since school days – at the party.

Aunty Vi

Cousin Maria

Old School friend, Debbie

Old School friend, Gillian

Patricia (sister-in-law) relating a beautiful story about Tana

Guests listening in awe – Lindsay, Catherine, Di, Michele

It was a wonderful celebration for my caring sister who is always there for her friends and family and will drop everything to help them. Happy Birthday, precious sister. Love you lots.

On Saturday morning my breakfast club met at Bistro Sixteen82. We had not seen each other since my and Cheryl’s birthday celebration in November! It was wonderful catching up with those who could make it. Specially nice to see Melody who only comes on the odd ocassion.

On Saturday afternoon we had another celebration. My brother Michael’s son, Kyle married his teenage sweetheart, Giulia. The wedding was held at Cape Point Vineyards – the most stunning venue in Cape Town. And just because it is on our doorstep doesn’t make me biased! Everything was perfect – the setting, the decor and the food. The bride attended by her beautiful bridesmaids looked amazing and the little flower girl, Olivia stole the show.

My great-niece Olivia taking her duty very seriously

My great-niece Olivia (4) taking her duty very seriously

Here comes the bride

The happy couple

It was a simple and beautiful ceremony where the couple were exhorted to carry on doing what they are doing as clearly it was working! How amazing that these two have been together since they were in High School and are still so in love at 29. May they have a long and happy marriage.

The family is scattered around the world so many people came from far and wide to celebrate with these two beautiful young people.

It was lovely to see Mick who said nice things about me so now he is my favourite nephew!

Mick left his yacht in Italy to be groomsman for his brother

My gorgeous niece, Martine and her hadsome husband, Craig came over from Spain

My gorgeous niece, Martine and her handsome husband, Craig came over from Spain

My favourite niece, Belinda – she also said nice things about me. Love you too Martine!

Mother and Father of the groom

With the bride being of Italian extraction and the groom of Greek, you can just imagine what the party was like after the ceremony! The master of ceremonies called everyone to attention with Ladies and Gentlemen, Greeks and Italians …….

And there was a special request not to break any plates until after the meal! The party was awesome and everybody danced till late into the night.

Retiring Adventurously – Homeward Bound

2015-01-16 | puppy1952

12 January 2015 – Outjo to Robertson to Cape Town

The sun gets up a little later here in Namibia than it does in The Western Cape so we are up at 5 in order to get to the airfield by sunrise.

We pack the Landy – no lift in a luxury vehicle this time – and set off for Outjo. The canvas roof is on but the windows do not wind up. It is a tad chilly but not uncomfortable but the wind is now not blowing through my hair but rather through my ear! I am glad that I kept my jersey out and drape it over me for a little extra warmth. All goes well – the usual cowboy style driving at break-neck speed – but I’m used to this now. What I do not expect is a slight change in the weather and rain pelting down in big splats onto the windscreen – and no working wipers. This does not daunt our host and he races on with gay abandon. Indeed, I do find it quite exhilarating. Abrie offers me his jacket which I use as a shield at the open window more as wind than rain protection as here the rain comes straight down and does not enter the car at all. We drive snuggled together for some time and then like magic the skies clear and the rain is gone. Suddenly, Abrie screeches to a halt – there is an apparition in the middle of the road which turns out to be a tall Herero teenager with a bag upon his head. He is hitch-hiking. Abrie tells him to jump into the back. He grins his thanks broadly.

The Landy that took us there

We arrive at the airfield. Phineas, the caretaker, greets us and helps us pack the plane. Earl takes the young man to town where he is to drop off the Landy. The chap who took us to the farm will bring him back and then keep the Landy till Abrie’s return. Before they go the young Herero gives Phineas his cell and he poses for a photo in front of the plane. I decide to get one of him too.

The young man is kitted out in his best town clothes, cell phone plugged into his ears, music blaring like any modern teen.

Sunrise at Outjo

We are soon in the air again. The mini-gymnast troupe are touring with someone else now. I fancy myself a seasoned flyer and take my seat with not a care in the world. What I experienced this weekend has dispelled all my phobias and I will live dangerously and fearlessly from this day on!

The Robertson Valley

Breede River runs through it

We fly over Springfield

Abrie lands the plane and taxis it straight into the hangar – without bumping another plane. The fit is perfect. We drive to Springfield have a cup of tea, pick up some wine and we’re off back to Cape Town. We take a scenic route via Franschoek. We marvel at the contrast between our home province and Namibia – Both have their own unique beauty – the one rugged, flat and dry, full of character the other green, lush and gentle with towering mountains. Wow – I just love that I get to experience it all!

Franschoek Valley

Retiring Adventurously – An Introduction

2015-01-07 | puppy1952

The Kokstad Kids have left but Lolz is still with us for a few more days. Lisa returns to work tomorrow. The weather is stunning and I still feel as if though I am on holiday. Retirement, I think, will only seem real when schools reopen and I don’t have to go!

My weekly “Back in the Classroom” blog is no more. But Blog I must so my new Blog title will be – Retiring Adventurously! We do not intend to sit back on the stoep in our rocking chairs. Exactly how we are going to spend the next few years of our retirement has not been quite planned yet but what is certain is that we will not be staying in one place for long! Our holiday house in Struisbaai will be our base but we will also spend time in Cape Town where will be until mid-March. In the meantime we are going to decide upon what kind of mobile home to purchase – a campervan, caravan or just a tent! We have planned one big luxury trip for June – a safari in Namibia and The Kgalagadi. Watch this space!

Our first adventure this year is also to Namibia! Tomorrow we will be driving to Robertson and overnighting with our friend Abri at his home – Springfield Wine Estate. Abri phoned Earl yesterday and invited us to his game farm in Namibia for the weekend! Yes for the weekend. And how will get there? In his private aircraft of course. To say that I am terrified would be an understatement. I don’t even like flying in a Boeing. A tiny light aircraft is my worst nightmare! Airasia crashes so what chance does a box with wings have? But I have committed to a retirement of adventure and the first one has presented itself out of the blue – so here I go! I’m old enough to be brave now aren’t I. I’ve lived a full life so whatever happens now is a bonus. How grateful am I to still be young and healthy enough to enjoy whatever else Life has to offer.

I don’t think I will have access to the internet so I won’t be blogging daily on this trip. We return on Monday or Tuesday next week. If you don’t hear from me you’ll know I went down with a smile on my face!

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – Fishing, False Bay Yacht Club and Sashimi

2015-01-01 | puppy1952

Finally the galing south easterly wind has dropped in Cape Town. Earl, Lauren and Simon took the opportunity to get out to sea before it changed its mind. After only getting to bed after midnight last night this was quite an effort but when the yellowtail are biting the fishermen must get out there to catch them!

It was a great adventure for Simon to go out on The Big Boat and he was super proud to catch the biggest fish.

Simon on Kiora with his beautiful yellowtail.

They were out there from about 6 am and returned at lunch time. Earl and Lauren each caught one too.

I beat my Grandpa!

After lunch I popped off to the shops, believing Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay would be open till at least 4 p.m. I finished at Pick ‘n Pay by 2 and as I left bumped into a friend and we arranged to meet at FLM for coffee after I’d been to Woollies. However, Woollies was closed and so was FLM! Our next option was Wimpy but they were just about to close too, so we just chatted for a few minutes then went home! Well it was a beautiful day so really who wanted to be in a mall!

Earl had a snooze and when he woke up we went to the boat to fetch a rod that he’d left there. On the way we saw this funny sight.

No roof to this car and the driver and passenger hanging on to the canoe so it doesn’t fall off! Only in South Africa!

Earl’s boat is moored on the marina at False Bay Yacht Club

This is Kiora II

After fetching the rod we went to the clubhouse for a drink and enjoyed the view and watching the people. It is really a stunning venue and the perfect place to enjoy the sun on New Year’s Day.

We met up with a couple of people, had a chat and then went back home to prepare sashimi for supper.

Allan likes sushi but wasn’t so sure that he would cope with just sashimi so I heated up some leftover curry for him and Lisa who is definitely not a fan of raw fish like the rest of the family. Anyway we have a new convert. Allan took to sashimi like a fish to water.

The family tucking in

Si-Si loves it

Josh has been eating sashimi since he was 3

Jay and Laurie wanting more

Smile for the camera

Tomorrow we will be cooking Simon’s Yellowtail for a family lunch – there will be fourteen of us!

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – New Year’s Eve

2015-01-01 | puppy1952

The day started with everyone going in different directions. Lauren and Allan had friends to catch up with, Jay went to Mixed Martial Arts, I went to gym and Lolz had a lunch date. When everyone returned it was fun in the pool again. Even Lisa, feeling hot after tanning, bravely took to the waters. Shannon alerted us all to this momentous event.

It’s freezing

Lovely once you’re in

Simon dives in

On Jay’s shoulders

An excellent diving board

In the evening Jay and Josh went to Quintin’s New Year’s Eve party and slept over. Lolz went to a party too and the rest of us went to Carol and Vere at Castle Rock.

On the way we had to take a picture of Simon near his town!

The house is set in fynbos near Miller’s Point

It is called Shah’s Folly after the builder who made a bit of mess up which the family had to rectify many years ago.

View toward Castle Rock

View toward Cape Boat and Skiboat Club

View toward the Hottentot Holland Mountains

Carol and Vere, because they have a beautiful fynbos garden, get many birds visiting. They also put out feeders and many of the sugarbirds and sunbirds have become quite trusting of them.

Malachite Sunbird

Cape Sugarbirds at the feeder

The orange-breasted sunbird takes a drink

Other visitors come each evening too. I waited on the stoep to get greet this little slender Mongoose whom Carol names “Kattie”

Nervously looking around

Getting braver

Then hides behind a bush and peeps at me

Later when it got dark a genet made an appearance. Lisa alerted me to it but it was so quick I just got a glimpse. It returned several times and I finally managed a few good photographs. It was the final highlight of my 2014 🙂

Carol served a delicious roast lamb done in a black pot over the fire. Simon fell asleep in front of TV. The rest of us sat on the stoep admiring the view and seeing the New Year in! At midnight we could see fireworks across the bay – from Muizenberg to Pringle Bay! It was an amazing evening. Thanks for hosting us all, Carol and Vere!

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – Dinner at The Red Herring

2014-12-30 | puppy1952

The wind is still blowing great guns on the Cape Peninsular! The beach is therefore not a pleasant destination. The pool has been a wonderful substitute and the kids have had great fun swimming and playing whatever pool games amuse young minds!

This morning the parents went off to Access Park very early to shop for sunglasses for Allan. As I am without domestic help at the moment I decided to do some necessary chores. The season and full house has caused the refrigerator some extra hard work and it has become over full and in need of sorting – so after putting on a load of washing with many more to follow – I got stuck into cleaning out and rearranging said ice-box. Amazing what a little bit of organisation can do. Earl thought it very funny to see me do (wo)manual labour and valiantly helped by removing shelves and washing them off for me. (He was quite exhausted after this.) The kitchen got a thorough cleaning and then, I tackled the ironing, something I seldom do. (Aussie Cousins, I can hear you laughing!)

Fridge all nice and tidy

Laundry to sort

Barefoot in the Kitchen etc.

When the parents returned the moms rounded up the kids and took them back over the mountain to Blue Route, deposited them at the movies to see Night at The Museum 3 and then treated themselves to lunch and shopping – what better way for sisters to bond.

Allan, Earl and I enjoyed a quiet and peaceful afternoon chatting, reading, Facebooking and watching TV!!

Shannon and Simon, being Farm Kids, seldom get to go to movies, hit the malls or eat Mcdonalds! Today was their day to experience it all, culminating with MacDonalds for supper when their cousins left them to go to their friend’s teenage party. I would have preferred them to eat the left overs in the fridge but Lisa said they needed to have this very important experience 🙂

A rare treat for our Rural Grandchildren

Lauren, Allan, Earl and I went to The Red Herring in Noordhoek for dinner tonight – their treat to us! We started by sitting on the deck upstairs for cocktails and canapes. Here it was sheltered from the wind and we had lovely views across to Noordhoek Beach.

View before sunset

Mountain on the other side

Excellent cocktails

The Lower Deck

This couple had us in stitches as the took a selfie - the joined us in our mirth and allowed us to take a piccie of them taking a selfie!

We laughed when we saw this couple posing for a selfie. Hearing us put them off and had them laughing out loud too. They tried again and allowed us to take this piccie!

It was magical sipping drinks and watching the sun go down

Once the sun set it became chilly so we went down to our indoor table and ordered dinner. We shared Deep Fried Camembert starters and then Allan and Lauren had prawns and Earl and I had Grilled Calamari tubes. It was a most enjoyable evening – Thanks Lauren and Allan!

A delightful dinner

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – Laurie’s Birthday Breakfast

2014-12-29 | puppy1952

Today Lolz turned 35! And I still call her Baby. Yesterday she decided that she would like to have a small gathering of family to celebrate with a Champagne Breakfast. Sooo it was up bright and early to get the show on the road! I made three batches of no carb quiches from a recipe somebody shared on Facebook. Most of them turned out well but some did not want to pop out perfectly!

Laurie and Josh were at the shops just after opening time, Shannon and I prepared the table and all we had to do then was make the fruit salad and arrange the platters- a wonderfully easy way to entertain.

The Birthday Girl with her pressies

Aunt Glynis, Me, Lolz

Uncle Ian, Sisters – Lisa and Lauren

Table set and ready

Croissants, Ham and Cheeses, Fruit Salad, Muesli, Yogurt and Muffins and the quiches were on the menu

Granny Bates, Lisa, Josh (hidden) Dad (Earl), Shannon, Simon, Uncle Ian, Dad (Duncan)

Dad (Duncan), Aunt Glynis, Lolz

Drinking pink champagne

I did not manage to get a good photograph of Laurie with her grandmother so I am posting one taken in October. Enid still lives in the house that she’s called home since she was first married. And she maintains it and the garden immaculately without help.

Granny Bates (93) and Laurie (35)

The wind was howling again in our neck of the woods but our pool area is sheltered so the kids spent most of the time in and out of the water this afternoon. Some of the adults in the household snoozed off the effects of breakfast while others did some necessary chores.

I did the preparations for supper and then Lauren, Allan, Earl and I went off to Dixie’s for sundowners. The wind was so strong we could barely open the car doors and the sea was turbulent. We ordered our drinks and then shared two starters – chicken livers and bitter bolletjies – which are what I always knew as Dutch Croquettes. In the past the latter were served at Dixie’s in a sausage shape. Bitter bolletjies are little meat balls and equally delicious. They can be made with fresh veal or leftover chicken or turkey.

The Parents

Lauren and Allan enjoying the Cape Town Lifestyle

After a pleasant hour or so we returned to cook the Bobotie and feed the rest of the starving family. Simon declared that he only wanted a little – “I’m not that hungry, Gran.” He wolfed that down and then decided it was quite nice and had twice as much for his second helping!

Everyone was pretty tired so it was early to bed!

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – Visit to Castle Rock and Climbing Elsie’s Peak

2014-12-28 | puppy1952

Yesterday the kids went to visit Aunt Carol and Uncle Vere at Castle Rock. Earl and I decided to have a quiet day at home. We went to the mall to do some necessary shopping and to have breakfast. It was busy everywhere but we bumped into my cousin, Susan at Mugg and Bean chatted to her and Andy for a while and then took over their table.

Here are the pictures of the kids’ day at Castle Rock.

At the braai

Sugarbird at the feeder

The fire

Sunbird at the feeder

Today they visited Anneline and Jeffrey. Earl went to sort out a problem with the repeater in Somerset West and I got the urge to tidy kitchen cupboards!

In the afternoon Lauren, the kids and I climbed Elsie’s Peak. I have climbed this mountain more times than I can remember – as a child, with my Sun Valley Grade Four class many years ago, with the boys when they were Cubs. I remember it as an easy stroll along a contour path. When the boys were little I rode bikes with them, hiked with them and always enjoyed the challenge of keeping up with their antics. Now that they are in their teens …… the pace seems to have increased somewhat. Those kids ran up Ravine Stairs! ( I should have stuck to the original plan of parking outside my sister’s house on Berg Road!) They then leapt up the mountain like Klipspringers! Lauren and I found ourselves separated from them and took a slightly different route. Jay called on the cell to tell us we’d taken the wrong route. We told them to just wait and went up Elsies thinking they were already there. But they were waiting on a different path and we only met up on our way down. The kids then ran up Elsies and we waited for them before making the descent. Anyway it was tremendous fun. But I did freak out when they leapt and ran instead of taking care. “Gran, you can do it – just plan which rock you’re going to jump on next and go for it,” suggested Jay” Yes right!

I wanted to climb up onto a rock I remembered doing as a child and Josh led the way through the bush – but on the way back I slipped and fell, grazing my knee! I’ve reached the stage that I just need to stick to the path!

The start from Berg Road – We’d already climbed hundreds of steps from The Outspan

A bench in memory of my friend Celia’s, late husband, Allan Wolfe

Cape Rock Thrush

View from the Contour Path

Lauren spotted this Cape Rock Thrush

He flew to this location

View towards Kalk Bay and Muizenberg

Josh showing Simon the sights

Towards Glencairn

Fish Hoek Beach

On the mountain

The crazy, super fit grandson

Another beach view from my rock

The kids ran down up and down this path!

Ravine Steps

Josh taking the easy way down

And here comes Jay

The whole excursion took us about three hours and it was well worth the effort. We all had an amazing time and returned home for a Pizza supper!

Kokstad Kids in Cape Town – Beach, Birding and Cape Point Vinyards

2014-12-27 | puppy1952

I thought I was an early riser but my crazy Kokstad daughter in spite of being on holiday is still keeping rural hours! We were greeted with excellent coffee in bed this morning and a cheery, “It’s a beautiful day, how about a walk on the beach!” The rest of the household politely declined so Earl, Allan, Lauren and I set off on our own.

Simon opted to stay home and build his alien Lego. Shan said she’d help.

It was Spring High Tide and Fish Hoek beach was full of seaweed. We opted to do Jaeger’s Walk instead. By the time we got there it was beginning to recede but we still had to dodge a splashing wave or two.

The train trundling by

The Subway became a swimming pool!

View toward Skellies.

Skeleton Pool, commonly known as Skellies to the locals is a natural pool in the rocks where I spent many hours as a child. The rock formation gives it its name.

It looks a bit like a dinosaur!

A closer view in the early morning light.

This reminded me of the days my dad and uncles used to fish off these same rocks

The end of the catwalk

Don’t they look happy!

The highlight of the morning – spotting an African Black Oyster-catcher

It looks like fun – but what about the sharks???

View toward the beach from Skellies

The train again – It’s fun to do a scenic ride from Muizenberg to Simonstown in it.

After our walk Allan treated us to breakfast. We wanted to go to a quiet coffee shop but we could only find the Spur open. However, it has a great beach view and the special was only R25 – that’s about $2,00 Aussie Cousins! Two eggs, two pieces of bacon, grilled tomato, toast and chips (French Fries)!

Back home the kids were up and dressed and Simon had completed his Space Lego!

Well done Simon, You did it!

Earl and I then decided that it would be nice to go to False Bay Ecology Park. The boys opted to stay behind and swim in the pool and Lolz took Shannon with her to visit Duncan at Cape Point.

It was very windy and some species we normally see were conspicuous by their absence. However, every pond was full of those that hadn’t gone on holiday.

Flamingos were very active and on every pond

Taking off on a watery runway

And away we go

I think we’ll try it the duck way

Some preferred a calmer location in the company of gulls

A pelican socialising with flamingoes

Black-winged stilt

Female Bishops

After a pleasant couple of hours we returned to the gang I guess like almost everyone else on Boxing Day; we had leftovers for lunch!

Later in the afternoon Lolz had a date with some friends at Cape Point Vineyards so we joined her there for a drink and some chill time. Even though it is right on our doorstep we’d never been before. What an stunning place! There was a food market where you could buy whatever you wanted to eat and take it to tables or your picnic blanket and just enjoy. There were lots of people but it was not unpleasantly busy because of all the space.