Struisbaai Marlin Competition 2017

2017-02-21 | puppy1952

Last week The Suidpunt Deep Sea Angling club once again hosted the Marlin Competition. This annual event is a great drawcard for deep sea anglers and a wonderful highlight on the Struisbaai calendar. This year 27 teams from all over the country took part and the competition ran for six days of which only two were not fished due to poor conditions.

The club catered all meals for the teams and there was a wonderful vibe at the evening dinners. Earl and I hosted Andrew, who was the communications officer and we were appointed the official photographers for the week!

What a Spread

Hardworking Girls behind the scenes

The rules of the competition were fairly complicated but this is how I understood them. A marlin had to be landed, photographed, a DNA sample taken then released. A video of the fish swimming away also had to be taken. The angler/boat who caught the last fish would be declared the winner – this was so that their enthusiasm would last to the bitter end!

Three fish were landed. Osprey caught the first, Woes Lekke the second and Salti the third.

Crew from Woes Lekke with DNA Sample – second Marlin landed

On one of the evenings Andrew was the Auctioneer and some generous bids were made for the wines donated by some local estates.

Wines on Auction

Sold to that man over there

Should we or shouldn’t we – they did

A special wine bottled in honour of Shanga

Shanga is Andrew’s dog who goes everywhere with him

And what am I bid for last year’s banner? Quite a lot it turned out and this year’s one went too.

The auction raised R39 000 for the club. Thanks to all the bidders this will be put to good use a Suidpunt Deep Angling Club.

On Friday there was a pirate party at The Club which was great fun. Earl and I were the judges and we found it difficult to choose so in the end gave one individual prize and one group prize. There was no female prize and I was the only girl to dress up and the judge can’t win!

Tattooed and scary?

Captain Morgan ready to pillage

Beware of this lot on a dark night

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The organisation of this event was mammoth. The caterers did an amazing job and kept us all well fed.

Hungry anglers enjoying the catering

Struisbaai, I think, thoroughly enjoyed having the anglers visit for a week and each afternoon the harour was a fun place to be as the boats returned from sea.

The winning boat escorted in by the birds

Feast from the fishermen

No fighting please – there’s enough for everyone

The Stingray will not be left out

Second boat to land a Marlin

Team Salti were the winners

Share your world 6 February 2017

2017-02-06 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to Cee’s Share Your World 6 February 2017

Regarding your fridge, is it organized or a mess inside?

Funny you should ask because if I’d read this question this morning my answer might have been quite different.

Of course I like my fridge to be neat and organized but for the past few days it has been in a bit of a state so today I sorted out the chaos! I threw out left over food from last Monday’s anniversary party, poured mayonnaise from an almost empty jar into an almost full one, checked to see that the milk wasn’t past its use by date and put veggies into containers instead of leaving them in their punnets and plastic wrappings. I didn’t know this was going to be a question today so don’t have a before photograph – but here is what my refrigerator looks like after its clean out this morning!

Well the above is how my fridge looked when I started this post but then my adopted grandson, Sam and his friend, Daniel who are staying with us for a few days, came back from a night time fishing trip with four geelbek and a skipjack so they now have pride of place till tomorrow morning when they can be cleaned. Guess what we will be having for dinner tomorrow!

Sam (left) and Daniel had a great evening out on Sam’s boat Red Head

Lovely fresh fish

Do you prefer your food separated or mixed together?

Depending on what the meal is – I like each vegetable to have its own place on the plate but I eat them together with the meat or fish – a bit of fish and a bit of veggie on one fork is the proper way to eat isn’t it? I do not eat one food group at a time – first the peas, then the carrots and leave the best till last – that’s crazy. I like mixing the flavours.

Sushi of course is fish, vegetable and rice rolled together in a sheet of seaweed and I love that.

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?

If it is printed I read it. But if the first few pages don’t grab me I have no qualms about setting it aside. I like well written fiction. My favourite authors are Anne Tyler, Chaim Potok, Bryce Courtenay, Barbara Trapido, Mavis Cheek,Maeve Binchy, Anita Shreve. I also love books by South African authors about South African life. Michael Heyns, Rayda Jacobs, Pamela Jooste and Maire Fischer have written some amazing fiction. I am reading a book by Deon Meyer’s Icarus at the moment.

I have/had a huge collection of coffee table/reference books. I had to give most of them away when we sold our big house in Cape Town – it broke my heart but there’s no room for them in Struisbaai. I still have too many.

Close your eyes. Listen to your body. What part of your body is seeking attention? What is it telling you?

I’m thirsty – time to have a lovely cold glass of water. If I don’t drink enough water my blood pressure drops and then I wonder why I’m so exhausted.

Share your world #47

2016-11-21 | puppy1952

This week’s questions to Share your world #47 correlate to Thanksgiving Day in the USA. We don’t celebrate this holiday in South Africa but I’m answering anyway.

What are you grateful for in regard to

Your home life?

My home life has changed a lot in the past two years. From being the matriarch of an extended family to being just the two of us in our retirement home in Struisbaai. I love that I’m no longer responsible for seeing that everyone has a hot meal at the end of each day, homework is done and pets are cared for and that all I have to worry about is the two of us. We have never before lived alone just the two of us and now we are enjoying just that – the two of us and doing exactly as we please.

your family?

Well there’s nothing to beat family. I’ve learned how important that is over the years but specially this year when I was far from home and had to deal with problems in a foreign language. Whatsapp, Facebook and Email kept me in touch with my nearest and dearest. I couldn’t have coped without their virtual support

Your blogging community

What can I say? Meeting people from all over the world and finding so many things I have in common with them. Finding people who read my blogs and comment on my life is humbling to say the least. And I just love learning about others in far flung lands and hope to meet some of them in the flesh one day.

Your city or immediate area in which you live?

My friends and family can’t believe that I’m actually deliciously happy in my new environment. I’ve moved from the most beautiful city in the world – Cape Town – to the most beautiful village in the world – Struisbaai. I grew up in Cape Town, had an amazing career and life there and now I’ve left it for a tiny place at the Southern Tip of Africa. And I love it. I love the freedom it gives me – no worries about the what the rest of the family are doing – it’s up to them now. After 34 years of being an exended, blended family it’s now just my husband and me. We can do what we want when we want. We can take off in our caravan and explore our country at the drop of a hat. And our holiday home is slowly becoming the perfect place that we want it to be

The regional area in which you live?

The regional area where I live is called The Overberg. It is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province’s south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the east. The Overberg has rugged mountain ranges, fynbos, rolling wheat and canola fields, and splendid coastal vistas. What’s not to love?

The country where you live?

There are problems in the country where I live. But hey – where in the world aren’t there problems. I’m just grateful that I live in a land where I can still explore the wilds. There is also hope here. We are the Rainbow Nation and although we have a long way to go, people in this country are trying to make it better. We just have to hang in there. Too many take the ‘chicken run’ and leave to seek greener pastures – then they find that it’s not so great away from their homeland and some come back to make a difference – and they do.

You?

I have to confess that at my age – it’s my 64th birthday tomorrow – I am selfish. I love my life and do everything I can to make sure I live each day that’s left to the fullest. Yes, I try to help others but my priority is to enjoy myself, to see as much of the world as I can, and to live each day as if it’s my last because just maybe it is.

To quote the Beatles – Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty four?

I think I can count on my husband to give a resounding yes to that!

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am so grateful for Willie who is landscaping my garden and helping revamp certain rooms in my house. I am also grateful that my hubby is convalescing amazingly well and is almost back to his old self

Next week I am looking forward to seeing the fixing up of our daughter’s new house complete. Life is good.

Share your World #Week 46

2016-11-15 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to Share Your World #Week 46

Are you a traveler or a homebody?

I am a traveler and use my home in Struisbaai as a base although I love it there too! Most of my travelling is done within South Africa and mainly to places where the game roam free.

What kind of TV commercial would you like to make? Describe it.

I would like to make a TV commercial encouraging parents to make reading to their children a bedtime ritual – there are so many benefits to this – special bonding time, improving vocabulary, creating a love for reading. Too any parents thing having children read to them for homework is what creates a good reader. They are wrong – it’s the other way round.

Describe yourself in a word that starts with the first letter of your name.

Here are a few – Happy, hopeful, hilarious, hip, honest, hungry for adventure.

List some fun things for a rainy day.

Definitely not playing board games. Snuggling up with a good book, blogging, reading blogs or watching a good movie.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

We have sold our family home in Cape Town and were there to pack up last week. I am grateful that most of the junk has been sorted and moved off to places where it will be put to good use. Our much loved and very old piano has gone to a little girl who is beginning lessons next year and this really makes me happy.

I am also grateful that we have found somebody to landscape our garden in Struisbaai – The rockery is done and I just love it!

The Cape Francolin also likes the new rockery

Next week will require another trip to Cape Town – I am sure I’ll be grateful for what is achieved there but I am not looking forward to going back so soon!

Share Your World #29

2016-07-21 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to this week’s share your world

What is the perfect pizza?

My favourite pizza is never on the menu of most pizza places but I’ve seldom had a problem having them make it up for me. I call it a Greek Pizza – the toppings are fetta, olives, spinach and avo – delicious.

What is your favorite time of day?

I am a morning person but now that I’m retired I don’t get up early in winter! Summer is a different story – I love an early morning walk and swim on the beach.

When in the bush mornings are the best time to get those stunning sunrises and to catch the early activity of the birds and game.

Show us two of your favorites photographs? The photos can be from anytime in your life span. Explain why they are your favorite.

The first photograph is precious because it shows all four grandkids really enjoying each other’s company. It was taken in 2014 when we were all together in Struisbaai.

The next one is special for a similar reason but here they are under the milkwood tree with their precious grandfather – and they’re all smiling at the same time!

Complete this sentence: I’m looking forward to….

our trip to Italy!

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

It was wonderful having my grandson, Jay and his friends stay with us for a few days and I’m grateful that he doesn’t think he is too old to show affection to his gran in front of his mates.

The boys dwarfing Granny!

I have come down with diverticulitis this week and look forward to getting over it quickly!

Share your World #28

2016-07-12 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to this week’s Share your World questions.

What is your earliest memory?

I am always intrigued by what sticks in my mind and what doesn’t. I forget what I did yesterday but my memories from before I was four are still there! In my earliest memory I am three years old. Big Brother is already at school. He is six. I am holding Mommy’s hand and she is pushing Little Sister in her push chair. She is one. We are meeting Big Brother who is walking home from school. I have no idea why this memory sticks – nothing significant happens but I remember my brother looking very pleased with himself while I feel a tad jealous that I am not big enough to be at this important place called school. Other memories from this time in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg are vivid. Sitting on the pavement with our nanny Siena – she chatted to other nannies while we played with their young charges. The gold mine dump near our house, the
“bumpy” road we took as a shortcut to the main road that took us to wherever we were going, our enormous garden with its very long driveway and extremely tall trees – my first bird call memory is of the turtle doves calling at sunset. We left this house to live in Cape Town when I was five. I returned with my brother when we were in our thirties. He had not been there since he was 8 but he found the house without a hiccup. I couldn’t believe how the garden, trees and driveway had shrunk over the years!

I do remember one significant thing – I am standing in the dark street with my father (and mom and siblings) He is pointing to a moving star in the Sky- “That’s Sputnik,” – he said, “One day they’ll put a man into space!” That would have been in October 1957 and I was not yet five years old.

What was the last photo you took with your phone?

I don’t often take photos with my phone but if I see something interesting on my walk I like to show my hubby a proof shot. The last one was of a pair of rock kestrels but they’re too blurred to show here. Instead I will post one of harbour. I can never resist photographing it.

Struisbaai on a still, winter’s day.

Have you ever danced in the rain?

I can’t believe I haven’t because I have danced in the oddest places at inappropriate times but I don’t remember any dancing in the rain incidents.

What is the longest you have gone without sleep?

More than 24 hours. It was the last day of college. I was in a residence called Lincoln at Grahamstown Training College. We came from all over the country and had been together for three years. Now we were dispersing to different parts of the country and didn’t know when or if we would ever see each other again. We stayed up all night to get the very last of each other. The next day there was a final chapel service and we sang, “God be with you till we meet again” Well, the refrain, “till we meet at Jesus Feet” set me off and I couldn’t stop crying. A fellow student gave me a lift from Grahamstown to Port Elizabeth where I boarded a plane to Cape Town and I cried all the way in the car and on the plane. Of course, it was the lack of sleep the amplified all this emotion. I had just calmed down before deplaning and was ready to meet my father with a smile – but as soon as I saw him – I burst into tears again! However, it didn’t take long for me to get over it and enjoy the next phase of my life!

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that the cupboards are complete, the workshop is painted, the bunk room is tidy, the burglar alarm is installed and all that is left is for the burglar bars to be fitted.

I am looking forward to my grandson and three of his friends arriving tomorrow for a five-day visit. We used to bring the boys and their friends for holidays to Struisbaai when they were kids – now they’re old enough to drive themselves here!

Spending Quality Time With Friends

2016-06-27 | puppy1952

We recently had our very good friends, Heather and Peter, spend time with us. It was an enormously happy time and the Weather Man obliged us with some stunning sunny days.

It was great to show them the improvements we’ve made to our home although they’re not quite finished yet. We enjoyed meals together, immersed ourselves in catching up on each other’s lives and it was a treat to take them to our favourite birding spots. We have so many shared interests so it was great to have an extended time together to enjoy each other.

The sunny days made it all the more exciting and although winter birding is not as productive as spring and summer we managed to do pretty well each day. Tuesday found us on the Arniston Road.

Jackal Buzzard

Rock Kestrel

Denham’s bustard

Denham’s in the foreground – steenbok in the background

There were hundreds of our national bird, the blue crane in the farmlands

A malachite sunbird enjoying the aloes

A bee, his only competition

Cloud Cisticola? Not sure about this LBJ’s identity

The Arniston Hotel where we enjoyed a great lunch

Arniston

Arniston fishermen coming in from a day at sea

On Wednesday we chilled at home till later in the afternoon when we set off to Agulhas Light house. On the way we enjoyed some birds and then went to see the light house museum.

There were literally dozens of African Black Oystercatchers on the rocks

A little egret soaking up the sun

Enjoying the lighthouse museum

After the museum we took a drive to Suiderstrand picking up a couple of birds and enjoying the views.

The famous “Pietie se huis” which is now part of the Agulhas National Park Rest Camp.

A Black Shouldered Kite with a hapless mouse for dinner

Bokmakierie

In the evening we introduced our old best friends to our new best friends over a stunning braai of ribs, chops and sausage

The next day we took off down the Elim Road and were thrilled with all the birds we found before having lunch at The Black Oystercatcher Wine Estate

A gaggle of Spur-winged geese

Cape Robin singing happily

A delight to find a fish eagle

Scores of Denham’s Bustards about

Flamingos on the Salt Pans

The Black Oystercatcher

Lunch was excellent – we all had the sticky chicken salad

The sun was setting when we returned and so we popped in at the harbour to see how the boats had done. A few fish were caught but not as much as the fishermen had hoped!

Sunset

One of the ski-boats returning from a day at sea

Friday’s weather matched our mood as we bade farewell to our friends as they made their way back to Cape Town on a cold and wet day.

What a delight to have been able to share those few days with our dearest friends!

Share your world #25

2016-06-26 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to Cee’s Share you world Week 25

How many languages do you you speak?

English is my Home Language. Most English speakers are lazy about learning other languages as no matter where you go in the world you can almost always find somebody who knows English. But I like languages. I speak my second language, Afrikaans, fairly proficiently. Now that I live in a community that is 90% Afrikaans speaking I am becoming even better. I will soon be spending two months in Italy so have begun a Duolingo online course in that language and I’m loving it.

My father was Greek but all I ever learned in that language was a few greetings, to count and to swear!

What are some words that just make you smile?

Stunning, super and fabulous are words I use a lot and I guess they make me smile. A sentence that would make me smile – We’re going to Kruger!

If you were the original architect of one existing building, which building would you select?

When I was in Australia I couldn’t get enough of the Sydney Opera House – so I guess it would be that one!

Would you rather have telepathy or telekinesis? (Telepathy is the communication using your brain waves, telekinesis is channeling the energy onto physical objects to cause substantial, observable physical changes.)

Telepathy – My husband thinks I already have it and can’t understand why I don’t know what he wants before he asks.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for an amazing week with friends visiting us and the fun we had birdwatching and exploring the area of the Southern Tip of Africa.

Next week I am looking forward to a quick visit to Cape Town to collect my British Visa and to collect my repaired car. Also I am anticipating that all alterations here is Struisbaai will be complete!

Share Your World #22

2016-06-02 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to Cee’s Share Your World Questions

Every country in the world has lost men and women in some kind of Armed Forces. When does your country celebrate their deaths?

We remember Poppy Day – 11 November – but it is not a public holiday.

Here in South Africa people lost their lives in their fight for freedom and so perhaps Human Rights Day celebrated on 21 March is when we remember those who lost their lives in that kind of war. Specifically the events of Sharpeville are remembered. On that day in 1960, 69 people died and 180 wounded when police fired on a peaceful crowd who protested the Pass Laws.

Similarly 16 June – Youth Day is an important day of remembrance. On this day we reflect upon the young protesters who were ambushed by the apartheid regime police in Soweto on 16 June 1976. Over 500 youths were killed. They were students from a number of Sowetan schools who took to the streets to protest against having Afrikaans at the medium of instruction in their schools. About 20 000 students took part in the protests which took place over a few days. This was in 1976.

What is your favorite holiday or holidays?

Of course this has to be Christmas although I find it stressful to have to think of how best to celebrate. With as large an extended family as we have, it is difficult to please everybody. So over the years, the way we do it has changed several times and is changing still. But in the end whatever we do turns out to be fun.

Easter is also great – who can resist all that chocolate?

How do you celebrate that holiday?

With overindulgence of course! Last year we celebrated in Cape Town – very unusual! We had a tree and opened gifts before breakfast. Then at midday we had a roast turkey and roast lamb with all the trimmings. We did not have the traditional pudding but usually we do. This time we had my sister in law’s amazing trifle.

Even though our grandkids are quite big now, we still have an Easter Egg hunt. Great fun.

I know that some people take holidays very seriously and while we appreciate the significance of each one, we treat the day as we would any other – grateful for what they signify but we don’t attend events that make a big thing of them.

What are you grateful for in the week that’s past?

A great deal! So much change has taken place in our home. The highlight was receiving our recovered recliner. I just love the colour and it makes a huge difference to our lounge. The workshop extension to the garage is almost complete, the desk unit in the lounge is in use and the bedroom cupboards and bookshelf in the braai room will hopefully be completed by the weekend.

This chair had become quite shabby but I had a sentimental attachment to it so I couldn’t part with it – love the result of the reupholstering.

Our new double work station

What are you looking forward to in the week to come?

Our Schengen Visas are ready for collection and I need to apply for the UK Visa. Am I looking forward to that? Well it will be a chore and another trip to Cape Town but at least it’s a step closer to what’s needed to go on an overseas trip – and who can complain about that! It is also great to see the kids and friends back in our old home town!

Share your world Week 21

2016-05-26 | puppy1952

I have been neglecting my blogging for the past fortnight but I have an excuse! There is a lot happening in my life right now. Now that I’m retired I tend to go with the flow and don’t stick to a routine but just let things happen as they crop up. This is fine some of the time but it does mean that I forget things that I am supposed to be doing – like I forgot a dinner date with a very dear friend – that is inexcusable – So sorry, Chantal!

We have a wonderful life here at the southern tip of Africa but because we are planning a trip to Italy we had to go to Cape Town to sort out our Schengen Visas. I went ahead of Hubby and excavated the junk from our family home in Sun Valley. Thanks to Romilla for taking a lot of it for the charity for which she works! Hubby joined me on Monday and on Wednesday we went to Capago to do the Visa thing. Because we are are doing renovations to our Struisbaai home he was itching to get back so after packing the Land Rover to the hilt we hit the road for home at 11 am this morning. I had caught up with friends while there and last night we met up with folk we will be travelling to Kruger with in October – such a stunning evening.

And now I must get back to the Blog – I will start with answering Cee’s lovely questions on Share your World.

What is your favorite go to beverage? Water, coffee, tea, coke, soda (non-alcoholic)

Yes – I am a coffee addict – but I don’t overdo the coffee thing otherwise I would never sleep! I love my coffee – it has to be hot, strong and black – strong – but not too bitter because I don’t take sugar 0r milk to disguise the taste – so you see a good barrister is important here. I judge a restaurant by the quality of its coffee – not its food!

Having said all this I also enjoy a good cup of rooibos tea. Recently I have tried a Rooibos Chai – delicious. My Indian friend, Romilla says I mush have it with milk – but I don’t do milk so I take it black = but I am thinking of trying it with milk.

I avoid fizzy drinks but Coke I use medicinally if I or my family have upset stomachs- but it must be the original recipe made with sugar – not corn syrup. Believe me this is not psychological – it really works.

– Can you change a car tire?

Absolutely not! – That’s why I married a man with a plan. A very handy man he is and he is able to get me out of a thousand different scrapes. I like to think that I am a Feminist but I’m not -I like a hero to come around and rescue me from my plight – if my man with a plan is not about I’ll call someone else!

Are you a listener or talker?

I like to think that I am both! I love to listen to people with something to say! I can listen to Romilla for hours – she has such wonderful stories of a culture different to my own and i find this fascinating. I do listen to people’s problems but then I like to fix them. Not a good idea -a sounding board is all they need – a sympathetic ear and somebody who cares – not somebody who thinks she has all the answers to the world’s problems.

I talk a lot and hope that the listener is interested!

Would you rather have no internet or no cell phone?

I wouldn’t choose to be without either but if I have to choose the cell phone would go – I often don’t even know where mine is! My generation I believe are digital aliens while the younger generation are digital citizens.

I am enormously grateful for the internet and couldn’t imagine life without it. What on earth did we do before it became an essential in our lives. I love modern technology – the aps and the readily available information most of which is free! Right now I am grateful for Duolingo which is teaching me Italian.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

There is just so much that I am grateful for – Meeting up with old friends last week made me so happy and delighted that I still have them in my life. I am also so grateful that I have my health and the energy to excavate the junk from my family home. I am grateful for stunning kids and grandkids. I am grateful for the funds to travel to distant lands and for still having a sound enough mind to enjoy learning a new language.

I am looking forward to rearranging things in my home in Struisbaai! Our renovations are nearly complete – I have brought things from Cape Town to help redecorate in Struisbaai and it’s going to be fun sorting everything out.

Winter Weather in Struisbaai

2016-05-07 | puppy1952

There is bitterly cold south-easterly wind blowing here at the tip of Africa. I don’t want to say that Winter has arrived with a vengeance because it could change again just as suddenly. But if this is an indication of what is to come then I’d better start taking out the thicker jerseys! We have had a few cold snaps but this morning was the first time that I snuggled down deeper under the duvet and resisted leaving the warmth of my bed. When I did emerge, I put on jeans and polo neck and settled down for some couch potato pursuits before finally taking a drive to see what the sea looked like.

I saw some impressive photographs of stormy seas on the Cape Peninsular on Face Book and although we have rough seas here, it did not seem as dramatic as there.

The harbour boats bobbing on the choppy sea

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The cormorant and oyster catchers didn’t seem to mind the weather

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What a treat to see a common whimbrel on a stony beach near Agulhas

Agulhas Lighthouse

I ventured out of the car to walk a little way and it was a fight against the strong wind but it sure blew the cobwebs away. It also worked up a huge craving for a cup of good strong coffee! Our favourite coffee shop, Potpourri, is closed for renovations so we tried a little place in Struisbaai that we’d been meaning to go to for some time. It’s called The Shipwreck Cafe. Wow – what a find! We threw caution to the howling wind and ordered chocolate cake. It was the best I’ve ever had in my life – rich, moist and chocolatey.

The Best Chocolate Cake ever and wonderful cappuccino and black coffees

Earl gobbled his down in two minutes but it was a really large slice and so rich that I could only manage a quarter of mine. I took the rest home in a doggy bag!

I am extremely fussy about coffee – it has to be hot, strong and black but not too bitter- If it’s not just right there’s no milk and sugar to disguise the taste! Hats off to The Shipwreck Cafe – the coffee was beyond my expectations and absolutely perfect. If ever you’re in our neck of the woods – don’t miss this secret treasure – find the Shipwreck – it will be well worth it. We will certainly being going there again – I have to try their breakfast.

It doesn’t have a sea view but the decor is interesting

Tomorrow, Sunday 8 May, is Mother’s Day in South Africa – So Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. May your little ones thrill you with their home-made cards and thoughtful deeds. Those are the things we treasure more than expensive gifts.

Beach

2016-05-05 | puppy1952

I don’t usually participate in WordPress’s daily prompt challenge but today’s word BEACH made me want to try it.

Is there anybody who doesn’t love a beach. Have you ever heard anybody say – I don’t like the sea? I once met a young man in Zambia who’d never seen the ocean. He asked me to describe it to him. I told him about the tides, the beach and the waves and the sport of surfing.
“What is surfing ?” he asked. He was my bird guide and we were in a canoe on the Zambezi River. I was not sure how I could explain it. “You’d love it,” I said. “You know the thrill you get from riding the rapids? It’s that kind of feeling, I think but different as you stand on the board and ride the waves.” He laughed because he just couldn’t picture it.

I grew up on a beach and the sun, the sand and the sea is part of who I am. In my very early years I lived right opposite Fish Hoek Beach. As children we could just walk across a road and a level crossing and the beach was our playground. In those days children had so much more freedom than the kids of today. No adults accompanied us and once we were there we were sure to meet up with other unsupervised youngsters. We lived a car-ride away from the beach when I was raising my own kids but it was close enough to go after school and we did so regularly – the beach had everything a child desired – a play park, sand and water and dozens of other kids to play with. And for Mom – wow – you’d always meet other moms down there and we’d all chat and watch the kids enjoy themselves. I wonder how moms without beaches cope – a beach is a calming place – a grouchy kids becomes all smile the minute her toes touch the sand.

Fish Hoek Beach

The beach was also part of my teenage days. It was the place to play beach games and meet your friends and what courtship would be the same without a romantic walk along a moonlit beach.

And now I still love the beach – I’m near to another one now – Struisbaai at the tip of Africa – and it’s the longest one in South Africa. It would take a day to walk the entire length of it. And the sea is warm and there’s the prettiest fishing harbour that buzzes with activity. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t take a walk along the beach winter or summer. Summer of course is the best when the sea is warm and swimming is pleasant.