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Lazy Winter Sunday Afternoon

Posted on May 29, 2011 by LesleyEB

Well it seems winter is finally here, and it’s kinda nice to have to stay indoors, get a fire on and make soup, roast veggies, cappuccinos and biscuits. So a semi-lazy day but we also got quite a bit of cooking done and sat next to the fire listening to the wind blowing and rain coming down outside. Just love the crackling of the damp wood on a day like this.

We weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the fire though:

Jess got the prime spot!

Then not one to miss out (and probably feeling a bit put out because the small dog has taken to sneaking into her bed and just sitting there while she cries and performs) in wandered Pippa (the close on 40kg Ridgeback) and spots a good thing that she doesn’t want to miss out on. So hoping that if she is subtle about it no one will notice, she backs up to the settee and tries to edge her way on, then gives up and just stands on it and curls herself up next to Simon who is trying to just relax and read a book by the fire. I have always said no animals in the lounge, but now that the cat is allowed and he has periodically allowed the smaller dog on his lap while watching TV, I guess it wouldn’t be fair to kick her out, especially when she is just looking so cute! So she was allowed to stay, and then even showered with attention when Taryn came and covered her with a duvet and seeing a good thing the cat hopped across from her prime position to join them!

Pippa found her spot

Taryn had to climb in too and then fussed over her, snuggling her up in the duvet.

Duvet removed, so not one for the cold, she shifted over to be closer and then the cat saw her chance!

Now being a bit bored with all this, Taryn decided to go and make a book! First there were a few tears of frustration as the book wasn’t working out as she had planned, but then dad stepped in and assisted with a great technique for creating a little book and we were presented with her finished product a while later. The only thing I was asked to do was write the work ‘illustrated’ on a piece of paper.

The Big Dog, illustrated by Taryn.

The dog seems to wander between the pond and the house

Not sure why d sometimes gets confused with b, she struggled to read it back to us because of it, but I think she rushes.

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Happy Holidays

Posted on April 26, 2011 by LesleyEB

Finally a family holiday. It has been such a long time since we had a relaxing few days out of town being constrained by the school calendar nowadays! So, we decided to bite the bullet and take a holiday along with the rest of the world…..only to be pleasantly surprised that the rest of the world actually did not go to the same place we did – what luck!

On recommendation from a colleague at work, and a bit of curiosity as we have never been there, we booked a place in Elands Bay up the west coast. And as the weather was almost perfect and there were NO WAVES, we were virtually the only people there as evidently the surfers all head up there when the waves are good, but otherwise there is really not much activity at all. I really cannot see why this should be as it is a fantastic spot and we had a simply wonderful, quiet, relaxing 4 days.

Many sea creatures in the tidal pools at low tide in the mornings. This octopus was amazing – some kids caught it and when they let it go it forst squirted the ink and then rapidly changed colour to blend with it’s surroundings. Amazing to watch, didn’t take it long to be almost invisible.

An Octopus

Beautiful beach

We stayed in a lovely little house – we had the upstairs, overlooking the pool!

Upstairs Annex

Elands Bay Guest House, lovely spot! And just around the corner, some bushemen paintings (supposedly)….

Bushman Painting Caves

View from the cave

Lovely early morning wander on a beautiful, desserted beach.

Beautiful Beach

Regularly the train goes by and takes 5 – 10 minutes! It is usually about 3.5km long. The longest being 7.3km and was in the Guiness Book of Records for a while until it was usurped by a train in Australia.Route 27 – although the website seems to have an error in that it says the train was 7 303km ….they actually mean 7 303m I would guess. Read in some of the local books that it was 7,3km so that makes sense.

Long Train!

In the pool!

Stunning wildlife

A really wonderful and relaxing holiday. We all can’t wait until the next one!

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Eikendal Weintaufe 2011

Posted on April 19, 2011 by LesleyEB

Something different – Sunday 27th March 2011. A friend from the good old UCT days mentioned she was helping her mom with an art exhibition at Eikendal, and having been wanting to go with her to visit her mom for some time now it seemed the perfect opportunity to see them and experience something a bit different – the Eikendal 30th birthday harvest festival. And what an amazing day out it was. (Eikendal)

Started the day with a tractor ride which was really bumpy and had some interesting characters along. Simon needed a translator and I had to concentrate to understand, but the one guy had an awful lot to say (all in Afrikaans), one comment I recall was (shouting to the guy driving the tractor) “Jy, gee vir ons die plaasroom, dan kan ons hier botter maak” – or something to that effect, directly translated as ‘give us the farm cream so we can make butter’, because it was such a bumpy ride.

Tractor Ride in the winelands

Most of the afternoon there was a fantastic band playing, and creating a jolly atmosphere.

Great Swiss German Band

And then an amazing and unexpected surprise – a cheetah was brought in and people were allowed to go and stroke her in small groups. Wow, did that cat PURRRRRRRRR!

Beautiful Cat!

Isn't it STUNNING?

Some stunning art – similar can be purchased at fineart33.com, click on the pictures to see them close-up.

Amazing art work and the artist with her beautiful daughters!

Then they brought out the barrels of grapes for anyone who wanted to try the old fashioned method of making grape juice. What fun!

Stomping the grapes

Close-up of the feet

And a clean up in the lake….

A fun ending to the lovely day was finding the farm animals to play with as we were leaving.

Baby Chicks

Lambs and Geese

All round a stunning day.

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We like public holidays

Posted on March 25, 2011 by LesleyEB

Especially when the weather is about as close to perfect as it is possible to be! Human Rights Day I think it was – March 21st. We started off thinking we would go to Muizenberg so the kids could Rollerblade on the promenade and we could swim in the sea, but it was totally packed and would probably have been most unpleasant. So when there were no parking places available either we decided to rather just go to boring old Fish Hoek beach (familiarity breeds contempt, me thinks!)……picked up some cappuccinos along the way at Tribeca (best coffees around in my not so humble opinion) and ended up at Fish Hoek where the tide was WAY out so lots of beach, and there was no wind, sun shining and a relaxing and enjoyable few hours was spent lounging about in the sun chatting while the girls (and dads) played in the sea. The most amazing thing was the sky, it was beautiful.

Big Sky Si

Amazingly the beach wasn’t even all that busy! Usually Fish Hoek beach is heaving to capacity on such a nice day, but there was a bit of mist hanging about in places and it has also been a while since I have seen the tide so far out as lately it has mostly been really high at the times we have been down there.

Not too crowded either!

And while we were sitting there enjoying the sun, this weird mist rolled in along the mountain and across the bay with a sailing boat meandering across about the same time. Made an amazing effect because almost as fast as the mist came in, it vanished in the time it took the sailing boat to get half way across the bay!

Mist.....No Mist

A lovely way to spend a public holiday!

Fun in the sun

So much beach to play on

Back to basics

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Another Beginning – Horse Riding

Posted on March 11, 2011 by LesleyEB

After the amazing party Taryn went to on Saturday where she got to ride ponies most of the afternoon, she was adamant that she really, really wants to horse-ride. Mother being rather easily persuaded (especially when it comes to horses), only put up minor objection before giving in and agreeing to possibly every second Friday. Of course when we got there are started discussing it we ended up committing to every Friday but an earlier slot, so at least there will still be SOME afternoon left.

Getting ready to go - first a hug for the horse!

The first lesson was in rather a big group and they basically just went for a walk away from the stables to somewhere they could all ride around and then they came back. Also, the teacher realised Taryn might be better suited to a smaller class where she can get more confidence first as most of the other kids in this class were alot more experienced, even though some were the same age.

Ready to go - first ride bareback (at Taryn's request) .....and they are off!

Back after about an hour out.

And it's all over for today.

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Inspiration

Posted on March 2, 2011 by LesleyEB

We seem to have a burst of inspiration for both Irish Dancing and the Violin in our house at the moment. Friday evening we went to watch Riverdance, most enjoyable except for having pretty much the worst seats in the house! Big Concerts have agreed to refund some of our money because they knew the seats were terrible but said they didn’t know that when they sold the tickets. Anyway, Saturday morning we went to get Taryn a pair of Irish Dancing shoes:

New Shoes!

Taryn loves shoes so that was a good start to getting her going, but then they had a lesson with some of the cast from Riverdance and that inspired her further – even to the point of asking to practise everyday and trying out the warm up routines they suggested.

Some of the Riverdance cast members

Autographs

Naimh O'Conner

Taryn’s group were given a lesson by Niamh O’Conner , the cast member who has been with Riverdance the longest. The violinist in Riverdance was also spectacular and we have seen major inspiration in both Irish Dancing practise and Violin practise…..wonder how long it will last?

Violin practise after Irish Dancing

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Birthday Presents

Posted on February 20, 2011 by LesleyEB

Such an exciting week for a little girl who just LOVES clothes! A beautiful dress with pretty jumper arrived in the mail exactly on her birthday from Nana in the UK.

Posing

Close up

Taryn says ‘THANK YOU NANA SO MUCH’ and that she can’t wait until Nana comes to visit again.

Then Taryn also got a few gift vouchers for Woolworths and some money from Simon’s Aunt and Uncle in Oxford….so we went SHOPPING! And when it comes to clothes then all of a sudden Taryn loves the shops – all other times it is a huge performance and she would rather not go shopping. First the voucher from her friend Caitlin and she bought a lovely winter shirt.

New winter top

Then she decided to spend every cent of the rest of her money on new winter clothes from woolworths and mom chipped in a little extra because we would have bought her a new dressing gown this year anyway but not quite such a fancy one, so we went halves on the gown but the rest was purchased with her ill gotten gains from her kind relatives.

New multi-coloured jumper

(The orange trousers she is wearing in the above photos she bought with the gift voucher from us so she really managed to spend every cent)

Three winter tops

And a lovely warm dressing gown

So Taryn also sends a huge THANK YOU to Auntie Lorraine and Uncle Alan for the Christmas and Birthday money to buy such lovely things, she enjoyed every minute of the shopping experience and is very pleased with her lovely haul.

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Fun at the beach

Posted on February 19, 2011 by LesleyEB

Got an sms from a friend this afternoon saying they were at the beach, and as we were just about to go down to walk the dogs we decided to change plans and go and meet them instead. Turned out to be lovely and the fishermen had just hauled in a net.

Going to look at the fish in the net

After watching the fishermen, Taryn and Simon went into the water and had a bit of a swim and then the girls were drawing pictures in the sand. Unfortunately it was a bit windy so we didn’t stay too long, but a lovely end to a fairly lazy day.