The biker and the baker

We're moving...

2022-04-13T13:02:00.000+02:00

Facebook thought our "Thailand - Day 3" blog post was offensive, so they blocked our entire site?! Perhaps it was because we posted links to people's websites who have been helpful to us along the way. Fix your algorithm, Facebook!

And Blogspot isn't the easiest blog site to edit.

Our new blog site is here:

thebikerandthebaker.wordpress.com

It's still a bit rough around the edges, and with little free time, it's probably gonna stay that way. Hope you enjoy it!

Koh Tao, Thailand - Day 3

2022-04-06T01:53:00.002+02:00

31 March 2022

My morning started at 03h30 when I awoke without much excuse to be awoken. The ferry was quiet, everyone sleeping, only the constant lullaby from the drone of the engines, lulling it's passengers into a deep sleep. It would be 07h30 in Sydney now...

I try to take pictures in the dark and a video to remind me of the lullaby. I really need the loo, but I am petrified of what I will find for ablutions. I can wait, I will wait...

Struggling to fall back asleep... Then, arriving at Koh Tao, I am out on the deck and there is no railing. The captain took such a sudden sharp turn that I nearly joined a couple of seaguls in their hunt for breakfast. We are greeted by a myriad of sea creatures swimming alongside the boat. What looks like two little sea serpents swimming ahead of the boat... then hippos everywhere and finally what looks like two little T-rexes wading out of the water, smiling and happy. Everyone is happy, we arrived at the magical island of Koh Tao. I proceed to pack my suitcase, my food processor parts strewn everywhere...

I awake, we are on the ferry. Tony is up, and looking at me. It is 05h30 and we can start making out the lights on the island of Koh Tao.

My bladder demands some serious attention and has no more qualms about cleanliness and hygiene. I dance my way through all the sleeping people, down to the ladies room. Tony had used the men's the previous night and he said that it was basic and cleanish, and that the floor wasn't wet. That last part gave me much comfort as I nervously make my way down the stairs. I open the door, and the floor is wet, and I don't have shoes on (they are still somewhere by the front of the door to our sleeping quarters). But need overcomes all else.

We are happy to find all our belongings, shoes included as we disembark and put foot on Koh Tao.

We start walking up a narrow street. Street vendors already frying up chicken and pancakes for weary travellers, offering a multitude of fruit shakes.

We walk and Tony finds a coffee shop, Zest coffee shop - https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=181217991928953 . We ordered a very familiar breakfast, which came with coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice, Thai style, or is it Zest style, as there is lots of orange zest. ;)

A local captain Jack Sparrow with two stray dogs, tells us where to find a good scooter deal and good accommodation. Tony goes off to get the scooter from Oli's Motorbike Rentals (http://www.bikerentalkohtao.com/), who has a no no-scratch policy, where as other scooter companies will charge for any scratches, or you pay more for scratch insurance. I write. He comes back and tetrisses the backpacks into place. We have no idea where we are going, but we are going...

We drive up a very narrow cement road, big enough for two scooters, if you are lucky. Koh Tao is a bustling little hive of activity. So much accommodation and restaurants. But in this busyness, it exudes a certain kind of charm. It is really cute and pretty and welcoming. Tropical plants everywhere you look. Just like a real tropical island with palm trees and blue waters. I didn't imagine it to be so busy and built up.

We are still dirty and grimy, still in our clothes from the day before. Nowhere to shower or to get changed. We ride up and down looking for nice accommodation. It's our top priority now. A restaurant's setting and outlook distracts us from our quest and we stop to have a quick look, possibly book a room. At SeaShell Resort and Restaurant we are welcomed with a stunning view and rest our weary bottoms. We christen our visit with a traditional cocktail.

https://www.kohtaoseashellresort.com/

There are cute little cottages overlooking the beautiful pool, and when I search for accommodation at Shell Beach on booking.com, the offers look pretty affordable. Then, on closer inspection and in search for the ladies room, I realised that the price advertised on booking.com is for cottages on the other side of the street, far away from the beach, with a less glamorous pool. It almost seems that each hotel has a good side and a bad side. They advertise the good side and keep it pristine and then push people into the not so good side. Like the good lounge vs the family room.

We leave there disappointed and set our sites on another great looking place, with great looking prices! On booking.com, we like the look of a place called Sairee Hut. Absolutely stunning pool right on the beach and the rooms look great, and Faw vely cheap plice.

We ask to see the room and get shown an ugly looking concrete apartment block, with the view of beautiful, bright, green roof. The room itself is nice, but location, location, location. I am a basic girl, and I don't ask for much, but just the fact that they kind of advertised it, as something which it was not, put me off. I can imagine countless of people booking there on the internet and who must be sorely disappointed when they arrive there. This should not be allowed. We noticed that most places do that... They are free with the photos of their nicer accommodations which is usually double, tripple the price of their cheaper accommodation and the photos they show of the cheaper more affordable options is usually just of the inside of the room. And you think it must be in this beautiful resort, which it is, but kind of squashed into the lesser domains.

We appease the nice gentlemen of Sairee Hut by having some refreshment at their restaurant and discuss among ourselves if we would like to stay there or not. We decide on not. And our search continues. Tony was ready to stay. We were both tired and weary and very much wanted a place to call our own. But I am disappointed in the protocol and I'm sure it's not the nice gentleman's fault.

We finally find a place that offers a sea view, and that looks idylic on the pictures. It doesn't look as fancy as Sairee hut, but we would rather have basic with a beautiful view, than fancy with a not-so-beautiful view. We go to have a look and come upon what looks like a pretty deserted resort. Not a soul in sight, the huts look in good condition. After searching for reception for a couple of minutes, we walk through what looks like a kitchen and meet Fon. Our lovely receptionist. She is cheerful and happy and helpful and shows us some different room options. We take the seaview room with palm leaf roof. It's more than Sairee Hut, but we don't mind paying the extra for the sea lapping at our feet. We had a shower, a bed and we had a home... Here is the link http://www.palmleafkohtao.com/

The biggest part of our day, was spent scooting up and down the island looking for nice accommodation. It gave us a good deal of exploring the island and after giving our backpacks a home at Palm Leaf Resort, we just wanted to chill for a bit.

We decide to go for a swim in front of our newly aquired hut. The water is like bathwater. The sand, warm underfoot. How incredibly blessed are we? This is beyond our wildest (or calmest??) dreams.

After having a well deserved and well needed shower, we head of to a neighbouring restaurant. For future reference, this looks like a really nice place to stay - https://www.kohtaocabana.com/home We play Spite the Mallice. I win again :) Hats off to Tony for being such a good sport about it...

For supper, we go back to SeaShell Resort and we savour the taste of Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp and Tom Yum soup.

As we are having our food, we see some commotion going on at a restaurant a couple of metres down the beach. We go to invest and find fire spinners in full swing. We watch a while until a rainstorm sends everyone undercover. We play a game of pool and the firespinners now become my personal cheerleaders, willing me to win an unbeatable Tony. But it doesn't happen... I should stick to Spite the Malice...

We drag our weary selves back to our hut... Is it only 9pm??? We are spent, but we are living! Fully! Abundantly!!

2022-04-03T08:20:00.007+02:00

30 March 2022 - Phuket, Thailand - Day 2

Morning has broken, and we are greeted with a cacophony of sounds of frogs, birds, scooters, planes, and the sight of a negative Covid result email! We are free, we have made it, we can see Thailand.

Appreciating my new sense of freedom, I sat on our tiny balcony and regarded the scene around me. The air has a faint smell of woodfire and in the distance, over countless little double storey houses, and green lushness, I can see smoke rising into the sweet early morning air. The air that is brimming with the promise of heat, humidity and adventure!

In the quietness of all the sounds, I am reminded of how much God loves us, and that He wants us to live life abundantly, even in the tough times, He gives us what we need and that as His children, Jesus is our portion, our inheritance. In that moment, I felt incredibly favoured to have Him love me, and knowing that He loves me, and accepting His love for me. Enjoying it, and knowing that I am His daughter - favoured and cherished.

We go down for breakfast and feast our eyes on beautiful platters of fruit, an array of bright colours, and tuck into the sumptuous deliciousness of papaya, water melon, rock melon and dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit... I wasn't too keen to taste it, as my only experience with it was in the form of room spray, which reminded me of the smell of self tan lotion, not a particularly pleasant smell to me... But hey, I am in Thailand, here to have new adventures, taste new things, experience a new culture... So, dragon fruit WILL be eaten. And what a pleasant surprise, it's as tasty as it is pretty. Reminiscent of kiwi, pawpaw, rock melon... I will be having that again, and I am thankful that I had my first dragon fruit tasting in Thailand - it just seems right.

We opened little banana leaf parcels and enjoyed the authentic sticky rice with toasted sweet coconut. It was seriously tasty... Should have had some more of that!

After a bit of civilised disagreement between myself, my husband and the wisdom of the Thai people, we decided to trust the receptionist who organised a taxi drop-off, at the Police Booth Highway, which we had no idea of what she was talking about. Her wisdom got us to a bus stop where we bought tickets from a little spaza shop/shack from a lovely friendly Thai girl.

We melted away whilst waiting for the number 5 bus to Surat Thani, and chatted to a local, not local American.

On a bus filled with locals, including a monk and a Thai soldier in uniform, we enjoyed practicing our Afrikaans and appreciated words like "branderplank" and "bromponie". "Bromponie" directly translated into English, means buzzing pony... If you still don't know what I'm talking about, Google Translate is your friend... On that note, Tony thought that the word for buzzing pony in Afrikaans is "poegie"... I, as an Afrikaans speaking person, have never heard of the word before. Any other Afrikaans people ever heard of the word?

We are thankful for the air-conditioning in the bus! And not so thankful for what sounds like outback ozzie songs sang in the local dialect... We feel strangely at home, like we are back in South Africa, where hooting means Hello, Watch out! Get out of the Way!! and some other unmentionables...

About an hour into our trip, we stop for a bathroom break, the toilets are in the ground and the men's urinals have a great view! For them and for others

The food that is served, is beautifully displayed and if we weren't strapped for time, would have been good for another authentic experience. A litchi juice with floating jellies and an oolong ice tea for Tony had to do.

Through my curtained bus window, I catch glimpses of pink and turquoise houses, bright colours competing for a place with the jungle. It takes me back to southern Mozambique again... So many palm tree plantations everywhere you look,which reminds me that we are in palm sugar country.

Our bus driver plays delivery boy, loading off loads of blue cannisters, before we finally get dropped at a bus station in the middle of Surat Thani. The bus driver/delivery boy now introduces us to (read: pointed to) a lady who will help us with the next leg of our journey and proceeds to hop back into the bus, and disappears into the distance.

We feel like little lost children but hope that the nice lady will wave her wand and that all will be alright again. Our plan is to get a ferry to Koh Tao, her plan is different...

We are told the next ferry only leaves the next day and we should go to the Night Boat Port to book our tickets. The friendly Thai boys there is kind enough to type in the destination for us into Google maps, and we are once again, out and about, prowling the sweltering Surat Thani streets, looking like seasoned travellers, searching for a place that we are not really sure of...

We stumble upon a booth that says Koh Tao on the sign, and with some help from a local, heard that there is a ferry leaving at 10pm,and it arrives in Koh Tao the next morning at 6am. She said that there are mattresses to sleep on and even chargers for our phones... We had no accommodation booked for the night and it kind of made sense to kill two birds with one stone, to have accommodation and get to Koh Tao :) I had no ideas of grandeur when we booked the tickets, as the boat was right next to us. Let's just say, it has a lot of character.

So, with tickets in hand and 8 hrs to kill, we have a quick toilet stop. I'm happy to find the rest rooms in clean and tidy condition, but was rudely awakened to the fact that they don't have toilet paper, that they don't believe in toilet

paper, that they have a little shower head, that is supposed to clean the areas that should be cleaned!! Thank goodness I only needed a wee, and put tissues on a high priority shopping list!

After the terrifying experience, we proceeded to get familiar with our surroundings. We gape at temples and frown at signs meaning nothing to us, as we wonder what kind of food they are selling, cause it doesn't resemble anything we know. Google Lens tries to be our friend, and we try to be Google Lens's friend - it's an akward kind of friendship...

The vendors are getting ready for the night market, and we are aimlessly wandering around in the pressing heat with 10kg backpacks... Our attempts at Sawadee Krap/Kha and Khap Kun Krap/Kha gets smiles and nods and prayer hands from the locals.

Then!!! In the distance, we saw a beckoning oasis... Was it real? Or just a cruel mirage conjured by the shimmering heatwaves? A coffee shop, Need Espresso!! We could read it, and we knew what it meant, what it was!! We found coffee, or coffee found us. We walk into cool, blissful, air-conditioning! Our spirits soar as we scrutinise the interesting coffee selection. I have a coconut milk ice coffee and Tony goes for the orange ice coffee. I don't think I've ever had such a good coffee! Maybe it just tasted extra nice, because I was tired and hot, and could put my backpack down for a while in a cool area. Tony's Orange coffee was sorely lacking, and we decided that orange and coffee is not a combination that we liked! We order some more exotic coffees and sipped away with not a care in the world, whilst playing our favourite card game, and listening to the local chatter.

We walk back through the now congested market, people everywhere, selling and buying, shouting and laughing. Enjoying the freedom, that doesn't come with covid. We see what looks like meal worms and crickets, proudly displayed next to fried chicken and pork. We decide to try what looks like a corn dog, some fried crumbed chicken on a stick. The chicken is tasty, very tasty, and very crunchy! We decide to try cute little pastries, that resembles a little custard tart, but I think they call it an egg tart. It's goooood! A sign with a very interesting dessert on it, caught my eye and we go into a shop, and I eat mango sorbet with green, sticky pandan rice on a bed of snow ice and frozen bits of wafer. Vey interesting, and very refreshing.

It is now around 7pm and completey dark. We decided to make our way to the night ferry, through the dark, bustling streets, feeling a bit nervous, but being comforted by the sound of happiness and contentness around us. The Thai people are friendly and happy with their portion in life. They mean no harm to others, and have friendly smiling faces.

At the ferry, the Thai boy stripped us from our big packpacks and proceeded to stow them away. I'm not too sure about this, as my brain is trained to think that it will not be there when I come looking for it. Hoping for the best, we take our important things like electronics and passports with us, and then have to leave our shoes at the bottom of the steps leading to the sleep area. I don't mind, I have cheap plastic slip slops (or thongs for my Australian friends). Tony has really nice, leather sandals... He gets a bit worried about them... but the Thai boy refuses to let him take them to his mattress. We are still hoping for the best, and just go with the flow... Not wanting to offend these quiet, friendly people.

We proceed to get comfortable for the night. My pillow could be a stone. No blankets, as you don't need one. It's hot and humid. I'm hot and clammy. We play some more cards to while away the time. I lay down for sleep, as more passengers board and chat and laugh. The ferry starts moving, I start sleeping... Tony tries to survey the dark scene but I don't even try. I'm tired, I'm uncomfortable, in a strange country, doing strange things... I'll look when I can see something. I know that I will appreciate this experience...

2022-04-03T03:29:00.004+02:00

29 March 2022 - Tuesday - Day 1

The backpacking trip that should have happened 20 years ago...

....when we were young and wild and free - now we are just young, trying to be a bit wilder and free-er

When we booked our dream holiday in 2019, we never thought that it was going to take us nearly three years to take it... Covid and getting our Permanent Residency visas granted for Australia, put a spanner in the works for any holiday plans, let alone any overseas holiday plans!

The last two years (or actually five!!!) took a huge emotional toll, as life threw never-ending curve balls our way. Thankfully God carried us through our tough times, and lifted us up, as He promised He would when we decided to undertake the big journey of immigration. But that's a story, for another day...

So, this morning with about 3 hours sleep under our wings, we entered the dark, rainy, dreary Sydney streets, looking for a lonely bus to catch at 04h20am, to begin our journey to Thailand. The time had come, the time is here, and we are ready to eagerly embrace an adventure that had been looked forward to for ages.

It took us about an hour and a half and one bus and one train ride to get to Sydney International. The 8 hr flight to Singapore was uneventful, but I do have to mention how pretty the air hostesses looked in their traditional Singaporean uniforms. I'll fly with them again, just because they look so lovely :)

At Singapore airport, we had to rush from one side of the airport to the other side. It included us taking two skytrains to get to the other side. We managed to get a quick drink and snack from a vendor, and had to gulp it down to be able to get to check-in in time. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't have more time to explore the airport, as the photos I've seen of it, is magnificent. Hopefully we will have a bit more time on our flight back.

The flight from Singapore to Phuket was a short one, less than two hours, and I appreciated the view of the islands from atop. Couldn't believe that we were finally in Thailand!!

At the airport we were ushered through, temperatures taken, covid tests done, and then transferred to our SHA+ hotel, where we had to stay until we received a negative result.

As we were not allowed out of our rooms, until we had a negative result, we had to make use of room service and had quite a lot of fun using Google lens to translate some of the menu items! We ended up having crispy pork belly with peppercorns and garlic! Now just stop right there, erase any idea that you have of a dish containing garlic and peppercorns. Because that would be completely wrong. I had to search for the crispy pork belly between all the peppercorns and garlic cloves - skin and all!!! And... there was plenty of crispy pork belly. It was very unusual, but, it was seriously delicious!! The peppercorns were green, and almost fresh, not as dry as our peppercorns, like it was just picked off the bush, plant, or wherever peppercorns come from. I will have that again! We also had Korean fried chicken, which was another tick for me, even though technically it wasn't a Thai dish. And then some dish that had pork that looked like it was cooked in a very pink, red sauce, with noodles and a broth. The meals were cheap and not huge, and Tony managed to force down a brownie with ice cream, before we tucked up in bed and awaited sleep, and awaited, hopefully, a negative covid test result...

Malawi Mission Trip - Day 5

2017-07-26T15:55:00.002+02:00

I finally have lake Malawi sand on my feet and Lake Malawi water in my hair. And another tick on my bucket list.

We were told that we were going to leave very early this morning to go see the lake. We left at 10h30... African time in action.

Now that I am here and experiencing life as most African's do, I can understand African time... There is no convenience of just jumping into your car, no washing machine, you have to warm your water over the fire, kill and slaughter your supper... The list is never ending. I take my hat off to Joyce, who is supplying our every need. Warm water to bath, cooked breakfast, lunch and supper. So, no more rolling my eyes at African time.

After a breakfast of fried eggs and bread, we hit the road to Lake Malawi - about a 2 hour drive from Lilongwe. We share out songs with the Malawians and end up having a nice little choir in the back of the bus. We enter an area named Salima, the rice province. Unfortunately we didn't get to see some rice plantations in action, but I'm definitely going to take a bag of Malawian rice back home with me. It's seriously tasty.

When we arrive at Sunbird resort in Livingstonia, a beautiful oases in the dry bush awaits us. A complete contrast to what I've seen of Malawi so far. Lush, green grass against snow white walls. Thatched sunshades dotted along the beach and the awe-inspiring lake spread out before us... Inviting us to come frolic in it's waters.

No second invitation needed, we wasted no time to get to the water. The waves almost big enough to allow for a body board. It is kind of strange to be swimming in something that looks like the ocean, yet it's not salty. The water is refreshing but not cold, balmy enough to spend your day there.

It was a fine day and I felt very privileged to see the lake, as it wasn't on our agenda but Lemson made a plan to show it to us when he heard that we wanted to go explore the lake sometime... We've been wanting to do an island hopping safari on Lake Malawi for years and we will still do it sometime, just not this time. It was enough to see the lake this time and we will definitely be back for another adventure on this natural wonder.

Malawian Mission Trip - Day 4

2017-07-24T14:31:00.000+02:00

We are on our way to Lemson's church, our hosting church, Winning Ways Worship Center. When we arrive, the worship is in full swing. Tony and myself don't hang around too long, as we had prepared a lesson for the Sunday school kids. We leave the church during worship with a string of kids following us out to a volleyball court outside.

We play duck, duck goose with the children as an icebreaker - there are probably around thirty kids or so. After the games we proceed to explain the gospel to these little ones using a hard-boiled egg and Varista and George translates for us into Chichewa.

We talk about sin and the children give examples of sin. I write all their examples onto the shell of the egg with a crayon (the egg represents us) and ask the children if the sin makes the egg clean or dirty. They replied, dirty. I explained that when Jesus died for us, and He died for every person on this planet, and we say, yes, we believe that You died for us, Jesus, and that You are the Son of God, and that your blood washes me clean of sin, then we will be saved and we will have eternal life. I showed them how Jesus washes us clean by peeling the dirty eggshell off the egg, and we were left with the beautiful pure white egg. I tried then to write some sin on the egg with the crayon but it didn't want to stick on the egg. I explained that we are always saved and that no sin can stick to us anymore. Jesus has died for every sin we committed and every sin we are going to commit! But we must not purposely choose to sin and we must do our best to follow Jesus' example.

We asked if anyone wanted to give their heart to Jesus and a couple of little hands went up. We prayed a salvation prayer with these little ones. To celebrate with the angels in heaven, we handed out sweeties and painted their faces. The boys are lions for Jesus and the girls are princesses for Jesus.

We also did a balloon experiment with them. To show how you can blow up a balloon with vinegar and bicarbonate. We explained that we are the balloon and Jesus is the bicarb and when we add Jesus to the sourness in our life (the vinegar), He will fill us up with His love, nice and big, for everyone to see.

It was a fun filled day. Even when we got back to the house, we carried on playing games with the kids. We played some more duck-duck-goose, and vrot eier (which translates to rotten egg, similar to "I wrote a letter to my love" ). Tony also taught the boys how to play French cricket.

For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:13

Malawian Mission Trip - Day 3

2017-07-22T09:17:00.003+02:00

Today found me in better spirits and I decided to put a smile on my face and enjoy this experience, this opportunity that has been laid before me.

After breakfast, we all head to the center of Malawi. We need to exchange our Rands for Kwatchas, and get Malawian sim cards. Jethro and Micah begs me to stay at the house with Joyce and Patience. I am a bit hesitant but both Joyce and Patience assure me that they will be fine. I oblige, but still feel a bit uneasy. "It will only be for a little while," I tell myself and we leave.

The dusty streets of Lilongwe are filled with people wherever you look. Lots of people walking, riding bicycles, moving goods on bicycles - one guy had a stack of wood piled on his bicycle probably about 3 meters high! We even saw a carcass of a cow being transported on a bicycle. The shops' sign boards are interesting, clever and humorous. Bustling, little markets all over the place, selling anything you can think of. We get approached by some Malawian artists at the parking lot where we stopped. They show us their paintings and postcards. Everyone has a huge smile on their face.

After we've exchanged our money and got sim cards, we head back to the bus. Jonah is fascinated by the little tuk-tuks all around, which serve as a type of taxi. We approach a driver and manage to ask him for a ride around the parking lot. He agrees and Tony, Jonah and myself pile into the backseat. Jonah laughs and giggles all along - he loved it so much. The taxi driver doesn't want to charge us but Tony gives him 500 Kwatchas (R10).

I am under the impression that we are on our way home, but Lemson has other plans. We get taken to a tower of sorts, and a monument of the first president of Malawi, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda. An interesting, accomplished man. He was the leader of Malawi from 1961 to 1994 (for the first three years of his rule, until it achieved independence in 1964, Malawi was the British protectorate of Nyasaland) - thank you Wikipedia.

We climb to the top of the tower, well, almost the top. I am very anxious, as it is high, with huge gaps in the railings and Jonah is with me and he doesn't realise the danger. Tony goes on to the highest level but I decide to stop, much to the objection of Jonah. I had to sit down, and get Jonah to sit down with me. It is windy up there and it feels like the ground below is pulling me down. I am much relieved when everyone is finished with their sightseeing and we could go down.

Okay, so now we can go home (anxious mommy thinking of her two boys in a strange country)... But no, seems like Lemson is on a mission himself, to aquaint us with Malawi's history. Our next stop is the final resting place of Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda. An impressive mausoleum. I have a look around but I am tired and really just want to go home.

We finally get home and I am overjoyed to see my boys. They are alive and well with dirt and dust covering them from head to toe. But alive and well. They look a little bit happy and relieved to see us too, but when asked if they missed us... No, not a bit. Micah had quite a story to tell: Apparently he went to the market with George (aaaahhh, I did not say he was allowed to do that but I'll let it go) and bought some chickens. When they got home, Micah held one of the chickens whilst George proceeded to slaughter it. Horror of horrors!!! Micah is an animal lover of note and I thought he would be quite affected by the killing of the chicken, but he took it in his stride, as if he knew that this was not cruelty to animals but where the people get their meat from and a different way of life. We also get our chickens the same way (actually I think the poor chickens we eat has a much harder life than the Malawian chickens). And tonight, guess what we're having for supper?

The chicken is tough, tough, tough but hey it's free-range organic chicken, right? I really struggle with the food and I am happy that there is lots of rice. The Malawian rice is delicious. It tastes like basmati rice, but it is their own locally grown rice. I definitely need to bring some home.

After supper, our mission team meets to chat about the next day's proceedings and we close with some scripture and prayer. We are here, in Malawi, on a mission, it is happening! Thank you Jesus!

PS Something I forgot to mention yesterday... The kids have to take their malaria medication once every week and it happened to be the Friday when we arrived at Lemson's house. Our first night, in a strange house, with new people... Jethro and Micah had no problems with swallowing the ghastly, bitter pill but Jonah on the other hand... it sounds like we are killing the poor child! The next morning, a few people were concerned and asked after Jonah's banshee outburst. They were happy to see that he was still alive and breathing and all smiles. Malaria tablets... what malaria tablets?

Malawian Mission Trip - Day 2

2017-07-20T17:42:00.000+02:00

Friday, 7th July 2017

Last night we spent the night at a mission station between Inchope and Chimoio. We couldn't see much of the place, as we arrived in the night and left before dawn.

We had the privilege of meeting our hosts Roy and Trish who has been running the station there for more than 30 years. They welcomed us with plates of warm food and everyone was very keen to make the acquaintance with their beds!

John made sure everybody was awake and ready, and after coffee and some rusks we were on our way.... At 4 am!

Most of us, had a little catnap and we awoke to find ourselves in a landscape dotted with little koppies, which contrasts with the flat Southern Mozambique.

Northern Mozambique also seems a lot dryer. In some places it looks like the bush is growing in desert sand. Most of the rivers are completely dry. And lots of beautiful baobabs again.

We had our breakfast stop next to one of these giants. Carl showed us the Baobab fruit and we all had a taste. Not great tasting, but not foul tasting either, rather sour actually. John told us that Creme of tartar is made from the Boabab seed. Why on earth do they call it Creme of Tartar? Apparently it's named after the Afrikaans name for the tree, Kremetart. You learn something new
everyday.

Jonah was being difficult today. Being demanding and crying for everything. Fortunately, I had some Rescue tablets in my bag and after two tablets, he seemed to calm down.

We just drove past another big, dry, riverbed. It still had a little stream of water flowing down the one side and the rest of the riverbed was cultivated. With what I don't know... I would be very interested to find out.

As we are traveling north to Malawi, there is a mountain range on our left. It's been there for a few hundred kilometers. After some searching on the internet I find out that it is the Bvumba Mountains which seperates Mozambique from Zimbabwe.

We have another member who joined our team. Last night, Adriano, joined our team. He is a pastor in Beira and will be helping on the mission.

Today, we were stopped twice by officials. First time by migracio (the immigration police), and we all had to show our passports. Second time they asked for the cars registration papers.

In Tete, as we stopped to fill up with petrol, I came across my first non English speaking person. Non comprendo, I was told. First time I've ever met someone who had no comprehension of the english language.

Tony and John went to the Bureau de Change to exchange our money into Malawian currency. We stopped next to a government building and I proceeded to take some photos of the interesting unique building. Next moment some government soldiers, motioned something like a T with their hands and Adriano (who speaks portuguese) explained that they wanted me to stop taking photos and that I must delete the pictures I took.

Tim went to go look for some pao, and came back with the famous portuguese bread rolls. They tasted really fresh but are apparently like rocks the next day. Tick, I had some pao. Which literally translates to bread.

Tete has quite an impressive bridge crossing over the mighty Zambezi. I have been to lake Kariba, and have been on the Kariba dam wall between Zambia and Zimbabwe, but it was the first time that I've seen this famous river, in all it's glory! Absolutely massive, looks like ships can sail on it. I will have to get a closer look another time, for now it's onwards to Malawi!

We arrived at the Malawian border and sorted out all the necessities. Tony paid 300 kwatchas to use the bathroom - it sounds like a lot, but is R6. But still, it probably would have been better if he just used a bush, it was such shocking condition!

Pastor Lemson and a member of his church, Moses, met us at the border and accompanied us to Lilongwe where we will be staying at pastor Lemson's house. We arrive in the dark and a beautiful girl with a kind smile opens the gate. Her name is Patience, Pastor Lemson's oldest daughter. We also get welcomed by Joyce, Lemson's wife, and their other kids, Precious, Praise and Peace, as well as Lemson's nephew George.

I am going to be completely honest here and not sugar coat my impressions when arriving in Lilongwe. Please do not be offended.

We are shown the house and at first I am in a state of what I would think of as culture shock. It is so different to what we are used to. I am literally in despair to think that we would have to spend almost 9 days in our little room, sharing a little bathroom and toilet with nineteen other people - it takes a lot of effort to keep a straight face. I literally feel like bursting into tears but I remind myself that this is what I signed up for. It's one thing to think about doing something and this is what I expected... but it's another thing altogether actually experiencing it.

We are called to supper, and Joyce took a pitcher of warm water which she poured over each persons hands in turn, in order to wash it. Quite a lovely custom, which I wouldn't mind adapting in my house. We are served rice and a delicious stew, which looks quite appetising. I was just about to dig in, when Wendy whispered to me that it was goat! I have never eaten goat before and have always thought they are there for milking purposes only. I am a bit hesitant to try it and I dish two little cubes of goat, wanting to set a good example to my boys. After all, I gave them a lecture about the different food we may experience and that we should try everything and be thankful. Well, easier said and done. The thought of eating goat overwhelms me and I can't get myself to eat it. I give it to Tony... He happily accepts. He didn't know what it was, but just assumed it was goat. This also made me have more compassion for the boys and I wasn't too hard on them when they struggled to adapt to a strange diet.

Then it's off to bed and I started counting the days that were left before we go home. And praying that God will help me get through it... with a smile on my face... keeping my eyes on the goals...

Malawian Mission trip - Day 1

2017-07-20T14:37:00.000+02:00

Thursday, 6 July 2017

Another adventure has found us... On the 5th of July 2017, our family embarked on a mission trip with our church, Barberton Christian Church. This adventure has a bit of a different flavour... an adventure with a greater purpose in mind - to proclaim the name of Jesus. ... I have a feeling, that this will be the best adventure yet!

Leading the team are pastors Tim and John. And the rest of the crew consists out of Carl (head of catering), Wendy (head of sewing and crafts) , Maria, Gladys and ourselves.

The pastors will concentrate on training pastors in Lilongwe, and we will all be going door to door to tell people the good news! The ladies in our group will also teach the Malawian ladies how to crochet and do some sewing, in order to give them a way to earn income to help their husbands who are in full-time ministry

On our way we go, at 8pm! More than enough time to reach the Lebombo border post to cross into Mozambique! Fortunately, everything went smoothly, apart from a few chancers who tried to get us to part with our precious passports! Oh, and also the official who looked our passports over, just one too many times!

Into Mozambique we go! It's a maiden for our family. We are finally going into a country which we've been dreaming about for years! But the sightseeing will have to wait, as everything is swallowed by the dark night.

We have to sleep sitting in our very erect chairs and the kids seem to be more adaptable and comfortable than the adults... Yet we worried about them, but I do think they are actually better traveling companions than most.

We all seem to wake from our interrupted slumber at the same time, when dawn awaited us and we are treated to a little glimpse of the sunrise, which promises to be so much more than we could appreciate at that moment.

My first impression of Mozambican splendour, is thousands upon thousands of big, tall, bendy palm trees... everywhere! Never in my life have I seen so many palm trees together. Literally forests of palm trees, as far as the eye can see! It is one of those things which you have to see with your own eyes, no picture can conjure up the absolute feast spread before your eyes! This is what I dreamt for Mozambique and more.

In the blink of an eye the scenery changes and we are in the thick of bushveld with majestic baobab trees shouting out their reign and rule over its humble neighbors. This is another sight to behold. Clumps of baobabs forested together to create a crescendo of nature, so magnificent, I want to stand and applaud!

Before I can continue marveling at all the Mozambican marvels, we stop for breakfast. Chef Carl lays out a spread of rolls, ham, cheese, tomato, eggs, fruit and coffee! Coffee... I thought something was missing in my morning!

Breakfasted and coffeed, we're on our way again. This time we find ourselves in a grassland, savanna type of area. You almost expect Simba and Nala to come strolling out from behind the dotted trees.

The roads do not disappoint. Whatever you have in your mind about the roads here, times it by three.. The potholes here, have potholes, and even those potholes have babies. I think dirt roads would be heavenly to travel on compared to the tar roads in Moz!

We get stopped numerous times along the road by curious, official looking people. A cheerful, polite conversation with them, gets us on our way soon enough.

The villages look poor but cheerful. Little shack shops everywhere, with brand-spanking-new Coca-Cola name boards. The citizens, look happy and at peace. It's hard to believe they have such a little. Which makes me once again believe that less is more.. I see the moms gathering together with their little ones, kids coming home from school - all the little ants of the human world going about their business. Trying to make a living... Trying to make life a little bit easier, a little bit more pleasant. Just like we all do. Some are just the unfortunate, unvolunteered victims of a cruel, corrupt world.

Sigh... Enough heaviness.

The kids are good and behaving well! We've kept them busy with magazines, movies, cards, eating, reading and eating... Jonah asked for a Nichee, which is what he thought a Naartjie was called... The words he makes up are so funny and adorable. And Micah asked for a soulcracker, which we realised is a salticrack.

It is now 1pm, been on the road for 17 hours straight. Tonight we will be overnighting at a mission station between Inchope and Chimoio. They are nice enough to provide us with lodging and a meal! Looking forward to a nice evening of rest in horizontal position :)

Anniversary ride - The Overberg and Old Houw Hoek Pass

2013-11-26T21:37:00.000+02:00

I've been working my backside off the past couple of weeks - so much so that Charlene and I decided to postpone celebrating our wedding anniversary for a week or two.
A baby sitter was arranged, and we decided to go for a ride! What an awesome wife I have! (I'm pretty sure that a 9 year wedding anniversary gift is an offroad ride :-) )
We left the trailer at the Peregrine Farm Stall in Grabouw, offloaded the bikes, and headed South to make use of Highlands road. Highlands road is a nice, easy gravel road that winds through the Elgin farmlands. We took it easy, and just enjoyed the freedom of being out on the bikes - away from the hustle and bustle of the city and a house full of kids.

Peregrine Farm Stall

Highlands road

My wonderful wife and I

Yours truly

Highlands ended at the R44, where we turned left and then left again onto the R43, which led us North into the peaceful little town of Botrivier. We stopped outside the Botrivier Hotel and ordered some drinks. It was nearly lunch time, so we scanned the menu and had something to eat as well. Charlene loves old colonial style hotels, so we went to investigate what Botrivier Hotel looked like. Nobody was around, except for an old Great Dane passed out behind the reception desk - obviously sleeping on the job. 😃

Our stop in Botrivier

Botrivier Hotel's receptionist

The next leg of our ride was the section that I had been looking forward to since I started planning this little trip. It was the Old Houw Hoek Pass. It's a short little stint of about 6km from Botrivier heading back towards Grabouw. I originally wanted to ride Houw Hoek from Botrivier towards Grabouw, then turn around and do it again in the other direction to get back to Botrivier. Reason being that there are two passes North of Botrivier and Grabouw that I wanted to include in our outing. Van Der Stel Pass is located on a dirt road between Botrivier and Theewaterskloof dam, and Viljoen's Pass is on the R321 as you head back to Grabouw - closing a nice little loop of about 100km. Unfortunately, we forgot to leave milk for 6 month old Jonah (who is still being breast-fed) with our baby-sitter. She called us to ask where it is, and after a few minutes, we realised that it was probably still waiting in the cooler bag on the kitchen counter... *sigh*
Fortunately, Melissa (fantastic baby-sitter, and one of Charlene's best friends) went to get some milk fomula from the shop, so we could continue with our ride. We decided to skip the two passes to the North, since we were already running a little late, and just use the N2 to get back to the car and trailer once we were done with Old Houw Hoek.

On our way to join up with Old Houw Hoek Pass

So, we leave Botrivier, and find the start of the old Houw Hoek Pass. It's a superb tweespoor (jeep track) winding through the picturesque Elgin valley. The first little section ended where I can only assume a farmer had decided to dig a trench to keep bikers and 4x4s out. Fortunately the tough biker chick that was with me was quite happy to make her own way through the bush just right of the trench. And we were back on track in no time, enjoying the obstacles the route had to offer.

Annoying trench

Not even a kilometer later, I realise that we had gone slightly offtrack, and were heading down into the valley. We decided to press on, and explore a bit. The road got pretty rocky, and Charlene stopped to let me go ahead, coz she was a little nervous. I went down the first descent, and waited for her to catch up. She passed me, and then paused again shortly after. The next part was really steep (the video doesn't do it justice), and after about 100m, I decided that we were heading completely off-track, and the terrain was getting worse. This was only Charlene's second real trip on the bike, and I didn't want her to loose interest in biking due to me choosing a road that was beyond her abilities. I turned around, helped her to turn the bike, and we headed back to join up with the correct Old Houw Hoek Pass.
Charlene stalled the bike a few times getting back up the hill and I gave her some time to get the bike going, but then I decided to walk back to help her. Started the bike, gave her a helping push, and she was on her way. This process happened a few times, so by the time we got back to the railway line, I was huffing and puffing like a steam train. She commented that her gym sessions were working, coz she was fitter than me... I let her have that one, coz I was trying to hide my heavy breathing. 😜

The downhill bit where I decided to turn around

Over the railway line we went, and then followed the tweespoor towards Grabouw. We were moving a bit faster now, and the wind on my body was very welcome. We stopped for an obligatory "Old Houw Hoek Pass photo" and to catch our breath. Being a Monday, I was surprised to see a blue KLR heading in the opposite direction. I nodded, and waved the "we're both adventure bikers enjoying this beautiful ride" wave, but he glanced at me, and continued along the path. Maybe he was just concentrating too hard to wave back.

The lady of the day, and of my life :)

Nine years together, and forever more!

We mounted our noble steeds, and continued along the stunning road until we hit the N2. I had plotted a few nice little paths on Google Earth, and would love to explore this area more next time (Charlene agrees), but at this stage, we were thinking of our poor little baby most probably screaming blue murder for his mommy's milk, so we slabbed it back to the farm stall and onwards to collect the kids from Melissa and Ashley. When we got there, Jonah was pleased as a pig in poo - not even a peep out of him, what a good baby, and what great baby-sitters - thanks guys! 👏

That was a superb ride, thanks Shaz!

Wet and muddy Parklands tracks

2013-08-18T23:29:00.000+02:00

After my tumble in the Atlantis dunes at the end of May, I took a break from offroad riding. I still commuted on the bike, but it's not the same. I was getting withdrawal symptoms, and after the monsoon amount of rain we had recently, I decided that I should take the gap, and go for a ride.

Today's "fearless warriors" included:
John Husqvarna 610
Andrew Honda XLR250R
Dean KTM 990
Dave Suzuki RM 250
Rudi KTM 950SE
Justin Honda CRF 450
and myself Honda XR650R

She really is something of beauty ;-)

We met next to the new bridge that is being built (between Sanddown road & Potsdam road)

There were plenty of puddles... some of them deep enough that
the water was between my ankle and my knee while riding

The perfect way to end a perfect ride

I'm a better, happier man than I was this morning ;-)

2013-05-01T18:43:00.000+02:00

Low Carb, High Fat Diet

We are trying to follow a Low Carb, High Fat diet after hearing about all the healthy benefits for your body. We've been doing this for a while now and I can assure you, body and mind feels good. No more lethargic, fatigued me! I no longer get my energy from carb loaded foods but rather from full fat foods. My body loves this. If you don't know anything about this diet, please research it immediately! You will love me for it <3 Our whole family, including 2 little boys, aged 6 and 3 is following it. Oh, and it shouldn't be called a diet. Diet sounds so depriving... It's a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!!

It's amazing what you can eat. I just got rid of all carb food in my cupboards. No more sugary cereals, no more "healthy cereals" (oats, muesli). No more pastas, no more breads - the breads were a biggie for me, as I loveD bread. But it was easier to give it up, than what I thought it would be. We are still struggling with sugar cravings, as my husband is a self confessed chocolate addict and I'm driven by my pregnancy cravings (well, that's my excuse for the moment)... My gynecologist told me to add a calcium supplement to my daily vitamins. I do find the cravings for chocolate is less pressing but my usual I-prefer-salty-to-sweet, is gravitating more towards the sugar rush at the moment.

Back to LCHF... I go big on fruit in the morning, as it is a bit of a no-no for the LCHF. Reason being, fruits are very high in sugar. So, mornings are our fruit time. It is still much better than those sugary cereals my kids used to live on (because so and so gets to eat it :\).

Also, eat FULL FAT!! No more low fat, no fat, fat free foods for you. That's right. Have that spoon full of butter. Have that full cream milk. We have been brain-washed to think fat free foods are better for us. Truth is they strip the food of all it's goodness when they take the fat out. I'm thinking those skinny cows, that Joseph dreamed about. Do you see healthy?? No, I'd rather have those fat healthy cows. These fats are what your body will use for energy, as you cut out those unhealthy carbs, this will be your body's source of energy. Which means it won't have to contend with carbs. If you eat carbs, your body will use the carbs for quick energy bursts, and all the fatty foods will be stored away in your body (weight gain!!) and also collect in your blood veins to cause cholesterol.

Professor Tim Noakes is a big advocate for this diet. Read about an experiment carried out on twin sisters, one following the normal high carb, low fat diet and one following the Low Carb, High Fat diet: http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Nutrition-basics/Tim-Noakes-diet-comes-out-tops-20130210

Some more information from Professor Tim Noakes:

http://www.runnersworld.co.za/nutrition/novel-dietary-ideas/

http://www.jaquelineduncan.co.za/

I am no expert on this. This is just my view of a LCHF diet. How I understand it, how I perceive it. A normal lay person, stay at home mom. I am not into fashion dieting or into dieting at all. I just made this change, because it all made sense and as a mom I want my family to eat healthy meals, be healthy and energetic.

Changes we've made:

No more juices (not even 100% fruit juices watered down) - we only have full cream milk and water in our fridge now. I do treat them every now and again with juice or milkshake when we go out, so, they are not completely deprived and they are allowed to have things at parties - it makes them more agreeable to eating healthy at home :)

Coffee and tea: I used to have 2 spoons of sugar in my coffee and Tony had 1. I've cut down to 1 now and he has none!

Lunches: My children used to get a sandwich for lunch time. I am a bit more lenient for lunches, but changed to provitas, nuts, sausages, biltong, droe wors, etc. My husband gets a lot of salad sent to lunch. He was never a salad guy until the one day, when he saw my chicken salad, and wanted some instead of his hamburger. So, Tuna salads, Mixed salads, chicken salads. He also gets boiled eggs, biltong, droe wors, etc.

For evening meals, I basically make our normal old fashioned meal, but with no pre-prepared sauces and I cut out the carbs. So, we have two veg and one protein. The LCHF also does not recommend high carb veggies, like potatoes, sweet potato, carrots etc. An easy way to remember this: avoid all veggies which grow in the soil or anything starting with a "C". I find this a bit difficult and we still have a high carb veggie every now and again (just not potatoes or sweet potatoes). I just figure that it's better than all the processed carbs like pasta. If I make this too hard on myself, I won't be doing it.

This morning for breakfast, we had smoothies. Here is an easy recipe. Make sure you have a blender, the best ever invention!!

Cinnamon flavoured Banana and Almond Smoothie Recipe

Makes 4 x 250ml glasses

4 Large Bananas (1 per person)

1 Granadilla (or 2 if you are that way inclined)

Big handfull of Raw Almonds

Good sprinkle of Cinnamon or 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

500ml Full Fat, Non sweetened Yogurt (the good stuff Bulgarian or Greek)

250ml Full Cream Milk

Add everything together in a nice big jug (for easy pouring) or mixing bowl. Use your amazing blender to sjoosh all your ingredients together. My family does not like the nuts to be too big and they don't like granadilla pips at all, so, I go at it for a while, to create a very smooth smoothie. But up to you...

Enjoy :)

PS A friend of mine told me that the cinnamon helps with sugar cravings. That's why it's in there :D

Autumn in the Mother City

2013-04-14T18:25:00.000+02:00

A beautiful day dawned in beautiful Cape Town and we had a breakfast date with Grandie and Gran :-)

We all piled into Grandie's Mazda and headed into the beautiful city, also fondly known as the Mother City. We had no problem with parking, as we made use of a parking garage. That's a big YAY in this part of town!

So off we went to Bowl restaurant - part of the Adderley Hotel. They served a nice buffet breakfast. The boys had such a great time helping themselves to all the yummy breakfast snacks. I had a fresh croissant with ham and cheese, as well as an omelette with mushrooms and cheese. With the coffee and the juice, it was more than enough for me. The staff was friendly, the manager helpful and the food satisfactory - your ordinary run of the mill buffet breakfast. Served in style :-) I love hotel buffet breakfasts. It's also a lovely old building, apparently built in 1903.

In deep conversation with Gran

After all our hunger pains were stilled, we decided to go for a walk in the Company Gardens. These gardens are so breathtakingly beautiful and I will never tire of being there. It has some type of magic and this day was particularly alluring with a lovely touristy feel. Vendors selling peanuts and all types of wares. Little boys playing on bongo drums. Live statues sitting still for their livelihood. White, pink, green and brown ice cream cones... This is what real memories are made of :)

The pigeons were particularly fond of the peanuts being fed to them by the kids, and the squirrels were a bit shy this time. Everywhere people from all walks of life were enjoying the last bit of sun rays before winter sets in.

Creating a special bond with his bird friends

Climbing a Yellow Wood tree with Grandie

Admiring the size, age and beauty of this amazing tree.

My hubbie, myself and my 37 week pregnant bump

The best place to be

Directing the pigeons

Everytime I walk passed this cathedral, I marvel at it's beauty. I have to make a point of going in some time.

Magnificent St George's Cathedral

Here is some information about the church from their website:

"Known as 'the people's Cathedral' for its role in the resistance against apartheid, St. George's Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Southern Africa and the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town. We invite you to visit our historical and beautiful building and to be part of an active and dedicated congregation, contributing to the life of the Cathedral and the broader Cape Town community."

They even seem to have some guided tours every Wednesday at 11h00:

* Every Wednesday at 11h00:

30-minute Guided Tour of St. George's Cathedral

* Every Second Saturday at 14h00:
Siyahamba Labyrinth: Introduction and Group Walk

For more information visit their website at: http://www.stgeorgescathedral.com/

Micah and Gran on some interesting creation

Me Day on April fools, and No, it's not a joke :)

2013-04-12T22:27:00.000+02:00

I had a day to myself which does not happen often enough!

Daddy and the boys went on a long awaited fishing trip and mommy was not expected to go with :-) They slept over at Grandie's house. Soooo had the whole house to myself when I arrived back at 8 that evening.

A nice chick flick was in order, along with some delectable chocs - who can blame me, it was Easter weekend and Micah's 3rd birthday...

The movie chosen for the momentous occasion was What to Expect When You're Expecting. It is an endearing, funny story of couples getting ready for life with a baby. It was nice being eight months preggies and having some empathy with all the other pregnant girls. This is a cute and funny movie, with some real feeling behind it. By the way, if you are in the Blouberg area, there is a movie rental shop at the big Parklands Spar, with quite a good contract deal - R180 for 20 movies.

After a relatively peaceful sleep (I usually don't sleep well at all when Tony is not around), I decided to go hunting for a nappy bag. I started with a trip to Eden on the Bay. The little shop I had in mind, did not have any nappy bags however. I carried on walking and ended up buying all my make-up from Clicks. The assistant there was so helpful and friendly. Something to tick off the to-do list. It seems that I always go a bit make-up crazy just before I have a baby. I think I'm scared of being in lock-down without make-up... hehehe :D

Next stop was Seaside Village in Big Bay. I had noticed an interesting little shop there next to Spur and wanted to investigate to see if they sold any unusual bags that could work as a nappy bag. They had lots of interesting things but no nappy bag :( On my way out I noticed this amazing special: R180 for a haircut, colour, treatment and blowdry. So, my trip was worthwhile after all. Got to make a point of going before baby comes! Zara Hair & Beauty - 021 554 0364

Onwards! I decided to go have another look at some bags I saw in Table View Shopping Centre. I've seen these type of bags in quite a lot of little gift type shops. They look pretty cool and what makes them even cooler, is that they are kind of plasticky in a non kitchy way. This is soooo practical for a mommy with three little boys. After spending quite some time in choosing a design, I was happy and made my purchase. Phew, one more thing to cross off the to-do-list before the new little person arrives :)

Now it was time for some real relaxing! I walked over to Books Galore and was in luck to find a second hand Maeve Binchy book. One of my favourite authors! The book is called This Year It Will Be Different - a collection of short stories. Sad to say that I just heard that Maeve passed away last year :(

Then off to the coffee shoppe a couple of doors down. I am not a fan of coffee shoppe's in malls and shopping centres, but I've had my eye on this one since it opened it's doors a couple of months ago. It screams character and so it was decided. It even has a beautiful name.

Here follows a little review about the place. Something I wrote whilst I sat there.

Cafe Cocoa Vanilla

Coffee Shoppe

Table View Shopping Centre

Table View

"Warm cozy atmosphere on a cold rainy day. Nice big coffee in a mug and I mean big. Had the scones. This was massive too but lacked taste and had a fake sweaty microwave heat to it. I do not recommend. Service was happy and friendly but a bit scatter brained . Asked for some more butter and a minute later got some more jam. Oh and scone was served with sunshine d margarine and peach jam! No cheese and too little cream! Butter and strawberry jam please! Is that not a cardinal rule of scones . They have a nice play area for kids 3 and under."

I was sitting there, enjoying my book when my darling hubbie called to say they were home. My Me day had ended and it was a lovely one indeed :-) Nice to be back with my beautiful family. Blessed xxxx

Atlantis Dunes

2012-10-21T17:46:00.000+02:00

The dunes at Atlantis provide an expansive and varied playground for sand riders. Of particular value, the area provides sections that are sufficiently mild for those relatively new to sand riding and sections that are adequately challenging for the experienced sand rider.

Doug organised a ride with the hope that there would be enough interest in an outing to the Atlantis dunes to bring together both skilled and not-so-skilled sand riders, with the former providing example, insight and support and the latter being given the opportunity to enjoy a new experience.

Permits are required to access the dunes and if you make use of the area, I would encourage you to only enter with valid permits as this access is a real privaledge - and risking it is shortsighted. I have heard via the grapevine that for a long time now, there may be pressure from nature conservation to close off this facility for motorised use. I hope that if we all continue to supprt the current permit system, hopefully the income derived by the city will help to keep the facility open

Single-entry permits for motorcycles cost R70.00. Those who trailer their bikes to the venue can leave their vehicle and trailer in the parking area provided at the entrance. Single-entry permits for 4x4 vehicles that are taken into the dunes cost R120.00. Annual permits cost R750.00, if for a full year. The permits expire on 30 June of each year, so pro rata rates are applicable. Annual permits will only be issued on presentation of an Identity Document and are bike and person specific - the person's full name, ID number and bike registration are printed on the disc.

Notes to remember:

The most direct route into the dunes is via Gate 1. It is nevertheless somewhat testing for those less-skilled in sand riding
Wear proper riding gear (off-road boots are essential; a neck brace is strongly recommended)
Bring adequate water (hydration pack or alternative source - at least 2 litres)
For those sensitive to the sun, bring a hat to use during breaks
Drop-off's are nasty things that creep up on you unexpected, so if you are unsure of the terrain, rather familiarise yourself first by doing a few loops before exploring too wildly

We all met at Total garage off the R27 (West Coast Road) near Melkbosstrand.

1. Me (Honda XR650R)

2. Doug (Kawasaki KLR650)

3. Steve (Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin)

4. Donovan (Triumph 800XC)

5. Bob (KTM 990 Adventure)

6. Brett (Yamaha WR450)

7. JP (KTM 990 Adventure)

8. Andrew (KTM 950 Adventure - modified)

Brett was a bit wild in his 4x4 coming into the dunes, and his bike decided that the sand next to the trailer was a safer spot, and bounced off! The WR crashes well, and there was not much damage other than a few scratches on the headlight cowl.

Donovan has only had his bike for about 3 months, and handled the sand very well for a novice!

Andrew (on the bike) giving Donovan some sand riding tips

The world is my playground

My noble steed

Doug's point of view is: "If you're not falling in the sand, you're not pushing yourself hard enough"

Donovan had a disagreement with the sand - his first one of a few.

Getting tired

Brett

JP styling on his 990

Andrew making short work of one of the many challenging dunes

Doug loving the time in the saddle

Bob

Steve

Brett's 4x4 is kitted out with a gas fridge and gas braai, so he provided some boerewors rolls, and beer.

Steve about to attack his boerrie roll

This was my first time at Atlantis, and I thoroughly enjoyed the dunes. The contours are not easy to read - especially at speed, and in bright sunlight. I had a number of close calls. Two of them got the better of me, and I went down. Well, up first, and then down. :-) Went over the bars and landed on my left shoulder (both times). It's very eina - not bruised though. I think I'll save the 800 or 1000 bucks for x-rays, and just rest it.

Somebody had a birthday...

2012-05-07T00:16:00.000+02:00

More than a month had passed since our baby turned 2. I've been meaning to write and share the experience since then but time just ran away with me, like always...

We started the day with our traditional cupcakes in bed for breakfast routine. And don't forget the sparkler. Micah was whisked off to our bedroom and Happy birthday was sang whilst cupcakes with sparklers were ushered in. He really enjoyed the moment and it is so much fun to see that he knew that it was something special for him. After a whole lot of crumbies on our bed, Micah proceeded to open his pressies. He did not look to keen on the Lego from Dad and Mom (duplo) but Jethro's gift took first prize - Micah was really impressed with his electric drill.

Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache decorated in brights and pretties :)

Happy birthday to you, dear Micah

Yum Yum Yum

It's my party!

Pressies!

Thank you Jedo :)

Getting it out the box!?!?!

How does this drill work....???

The Drill

Daddy participating in the celebrations

Big pressie from Dad and Mom

Unda da sea... That's all I hear when I see this pic

Tony took the day off and after Micah's nap we caught the bus into town and had a picnic in Company Gardens. It was a stunning day, and we had squirrels and geese eating out of our hands. The boys were very well behaved and we even got to ring the big bell at the square in the gardens.

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

We have arrived, Hello Company Gardens

Getting the monkey nuts ready for the squirrels

A lonely statue in the pond

Yes, you are gorgeous!

Saved by the bell

Spot the dove

Hello birdies

My one and only

The squirrels liked the monkey nuts a bit too much

Shoo Squirrels!!

The geese came to get their share

Hello Little!

Bubbles!

Tiny Bubbles

Our wonderful German neighbours, Peter and Anita, came to wish Micah

The day was very special and I'm sure Micah felt like he was being treated like a VIP.

For his 2nd birthday party I wanted to bake him a train cake with a Noddy figurine (he loves Noddy). I found the perfect cake on the internet and downloaded a couple of extra cake pictures. I showed Micah all the cakes, starting with the train cake but every time I got to the sheep cake, he bellowed and cried for me to stay with the sheep. He even bleated ;) So, that was decided! We are going to have a lamb cake (sounds strange, but to clarify, it's a normal, flour cake, that looks like a sheep), and while we are at it, a Lamb party. It was so perfect, as Easter was just around the corner, so, the Lamb turned out to be quite symbolic.

Invitations were sent and the cake was created between kiddies birthday parties, avicii concerts and church (which I bunked in order to get everything ready for the party, which was on a Sunday afternoon). I tried to have all things white and fluffy, and in the end our party menu consisted out of white coconut ice, white candy floss, popcorn, oreos, caramel apples, peanuts and raisins, grapes, marshmellows, etc.

By the way, I had no idea what to do with a Lamb party and started frantically searching the net. There is almost nothing available but I came accross this really sweet site where I got some ideas for the Lamb party: http://blog.hwtm.com/2011/12/darling-little-lamb-first-birthday-party/

Ready, set, go!

Yummy healthy popcorn

Some caramel apples, I will post a link to the recipe below

Our Little's Little Lamb cake courtesy of Shaz Garner

We all had great fun celebrating our Little's birthday and I hope that he had fun too. Even though he probably won't remember his 2nd birthday, we will.

Lamb cake:

This is the link to the lamb cake: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/sheep-cake-686403/

I used 2 boxes of Ina Paarman's Vanilla Cake mix (gotta love tannie Ina :) ) and used probably about 3 quarters of the batter in the standard springform cake tin and the rest in a stainless steel mixing bowl (for the face of the lamb). Bake the cakes as per the directions on the box.

In South Africa we don't have things like plain white mini marshmellows and that is why there is a word called "improvise". So, our white butter icinged lamb got decorated with normal white marshmellows cut in half. By the way, if you want white icing and not yellow butter icing, you can try using Wooden Spoon's white margarine. I know it's not nearly as nice as icing made with real butter, but it comes out white and our sheep had to be white.

The chocolate part of the icing, called for decadence (to make up for the white margarine icing :) ). That's why I used Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge Cake Icing recipe, made with real dark chocolate and lots of butter. This icing is too die for and this is the icing that shouts Death by Chocolate Icing because you just can't stop eating this stuff, it's that good!! Thank you Nigella!!

And tada, our cake was decorated, marshmellows for wooley fleece, black sparkles for eyes, a piece of candy cane as a mouth.

The Coconut Ice recipe was also a first for me and I loved this recipe, because it was so easy and so delicious. That is my kind of recipe. You get a more complicated recipe, which involves boiling but the uncomplicated one was so delicious, I am not going to complicate my life, I've got two little boys :)

Easy Peasy Coconut Ice Recipe

Courtesy of www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.com

Ingredients

340g icing sugar
340g cup dessicated coconut
400g tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon food coloring

Method:
This is a near flop proof recipe-it is very simple.

Combine the icing sugar and condensed milk until the sugar is dissolved.
Add food coloring to the sugar mixture. Mix well.
Add the dessicated coconut.
Mix until combined then pour the mixture into a deep dish (for best results) allow to set overnight then cut into squares or desired shapes.

How to make coloured Coconut Ice

If you want to make 2 coloured coconut ice then combine the condensed milk and sugar then add the coconut.
Separate this mixture into two portions then add your desired colour to the mixture.
Press the first colour into the pan then add the second colour then refrigerate as per the instructions above.

I kept our Coconut Ice plain white to go with the white woolley lamb theme :)

Below is a link to this gorgeous recipe:

http://www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.com/2011/10/coconut-ice-recipe.html

Caramel Apples Recipe

I used a recipe for Caramel Apples from Betty Crocker, so, if you are South African like me, you will have to do a bit of converting :(

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-apples/ff6e4690-90c6-4f37-a4d8-7806d78216f2

Just a warning, this is tedious and messy and not something I will try again. Too little reward for all that effort.

In South Africa, we usually have toffee apples, but I am not a huge fan. The "toffee" is too hard (like glass) and I am not sure if we even should call it toffee?? It does not resemble toffee at all. I am, however, a huge fan of caramel and decided to give the American Caramel apple a shot. But alas, toffee apple or caramel apple, no go for me.

Riding the quarry

2012-04-20T22:38:00.000+02:00

A few of us joined John last Sunday afternoon for another fantastic day at the quarry.

We all met at Zone7 where we got to check out the lekker cockpits of some of the bikes that will be doing the Amageza rally at the end of April.

The day started out a little iffy with us leaving Zone7 and riding directly into the sights of a waiting traffic cop. In all fairness, he was right to stop us - we were riding on the verge of the road towards oncoming traffic. Fortunately John's good looks did the trick, and we all got away with only a few stern words.

I haven't been riding in weeks, and it felt awesome to be back on the dirt. My Priscilla was enjoying herself too - throwing her tail out round the corners. ;-)

After a few hours of fun, I followed Roost, Pleco & Rubicon back along the railway line into Table View. Another fantastic day - thanks Crossed-up!! (John)

Here's some of my pics...

School days

2012-04-09T21:50:00.000+02:00

So, if you know me and have spoken to me since January, you would probably know that we went through quite a bumpy patch at the beginning of the year. Jethro started school at a preschool called Lilliput. He was really looking forward to it and we all had butterflies in our tummies as the day dawned.

Our sleepy head on his first day of school

Our excited sleepy head wakes up and is ready to go!!

Much to our frustration and dismay, our little fighter pilot started complaining and crying and clinging every time he had to go to school. Now, if he was three and doing it, I would say, okay, he'll get over it, but he is not. He is five years old! I heard that little voice in my head saying that maybe there is something to it. Maybe he is not just full of nonsense.

Our big boy goes to school, gotta have some photies!

Such a handsome cricketer!

Showing off his new school bag

So excited!

First day! Standing in line!

I tried to assess the situation, tried to find out if there was anything bothering him at school. He told me that he didn't have any friends at school and that nobody was nice to him. It broke my heart to see my bubbly child driven to such a sad state. He also told me that one of the teachers shouted at him for playing in the toddler area. That made me really mad! I find it unacceptable that a teacher should shout at any child in the first place, but I especially find it unacceptable when that child just started school and does not know the rules of that school! I watched Jethro doing his best to make a friend, sharing his water, telling a possible candidate friend something funny but these 5 year olds did their utmost best to ignore and exclude him. Makes a mother's blood boil!!! These kids aren't bullies in your face but something that I call, passive aggressive. They don't do the normal things that you could get in trouble for but boy, they don't go out of their way to make someone feel welcome!

I even tried to set up a play date with candidate friends but by the time the parents responded, it was too late. One of the stories is quite funny. I asked Jethro if he would like to have a play date with one of the friends from his school. He replied saying: "Yes, Jamie* On-and-off." I was very curios about this peculiar surname but that's all I could get out of Jethro. When I located Jamie* On-and-off at school, I realised that his surname was not On-and-off but in fact, Adendorff. So, at least we had a laugh.

Jethro's second week (and last week) at Lilliput consisted of:

Tuesday: Clinging to mom and crying.
Wednesday: Some more clinging to mom and crying non-stop. Would not let mom go. Mom ended up back at home with said child.
Thursday: Will not get out of car. Principal tries to get him out. A good friend tries to get him out! To no avail. Mom physically removes child from car. Child clinging to car door. Child making himself stiff in order for Mom to struggle to carry him. Child clinging to schools outer door posts, child clinging to schools inner door posts. Principal takes child from exhausted, frazzled mother!!
Friday: Mom forces Dad to take child to school. Dad handles it better but child is still sad by the time Mom comes to fetch him.
Monday: Child refuses to go to school. Child locks himself in the bathroom. Child refuses to come out!!

And that was it for me! We gave it a good shot but it just did not work out. Jethro was begging me to stay at home and be home-schooled and it sounded like a great option to me.

Alas, we decided to give the little farm school a try. They've always been on the top of my list but because of logistics, we decided on a school closer to home. The farm school allowed us to try them out for three days. And after three days, our little man was settled and hoping for six day school weeks and making friends and loving life! Wow, what an incredible difference! We just received his first school rapport and he is a shining star with lovely friends. Thank you Melkbosstrand Private School! We are so blessed to be part of this amazing school!

So, other mommies out there, that little voice is there for a reason and your child's happiness is so much more important than convenience. When my child is not happy, I am not happy. And when he is happy, I am the proudest mommy on this big blue earth!!

Here are some pics of his happy first term journey!

Jethro wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. He had to get dressed up for Career day and they even had a real-life Fire Engine with real Firemen come to visit their school that day!

Logistics was a bit of a toughie as I still had little Micah whose nap times fell smack bang in the middle of Jethro's pick up time. This meant a lot of Micah's midday naps were spent in his car seat in front of the school or I had to wake him up after an hours worth of sleeping, which was not enough! We decided to check out the bus transport to school and he travels either to or from school once a day. He loves this too and begs me to go with the BIG bus in the morning!

The theme for one of the weeks was all about Queen Esther and the boys and girls got to dress up as Kings, Queens, Princesses, Knights, etc, etc! They all had a ball and even Micah wanted his cheeks painted! I guess he could have passed as the jester.

Hope you all have a blessed week and that back to school week won't be too much of a craziness :)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming! Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!

2012-04-02T13:57:00.000+02:00

One of the gifts that Jethro added to his wishlist for his 5th birthday was some fish in a tank. I thought that was quite cute and envisioned a tiny little aquarium standing on the table next to his bed, with maybe 3 or 4 little pretty fishies swimming around.

Next thing I know, we have a 2 meter aquarium standing in our lounge (as it is way too big for Jethro's room), with thirteen not-so-little Malawian Cichlids eyeing us out.

How did our little aquarium change to a big aquarium???? What happened???

One of Tony's friends was giving his fish away, as he was getting ready to go on honeymoon and was not going to have time to look after the fish. Only problem was that he was only giving the fish away, and nothing else. Not the tank, not the air filter, not any of the other McGadgets which any proud Aquarium owner would need. Anyhoo, the friend said that we could use his fish tank and all the other things until we acquire our own. So, there we go, we have a tank with thirteen beautiful, freshwater, tropical fish, all the way from Malawi (not really but their forefathers are!).

Jethro had fun setting everything up with Dad and was telling Grandie and Gran all about it over the phone. They had special food and it was always a treat to feed them and watch how they gobbled up all the food. Every now and then we would catch a fly and feed it to Bully (the biggest fish in the tank and so, aptly named by Jethro) and he would stalk and grab it with delight! We also had cheeky Skye (beautiful sky blue colour), there was Big Blue, Yellow, Zebra, the Twins and the rest of the names forget me.

I was amazed at the different character of each fish, after all, I thought fish were just that, FISH! With three second memories but each one had it's own personality and it's a scary experience when you are staring at all the pretties and they are staring right back at you! They loved Tony but always hid when I came trotting along. I had to pretend that I was minding my own business to be able to interact with them, because as soon as I made eye contact with them, they would scatter!

After three months of trying to interact with them and Tony having to squeeze some more time out from some non-existent time warp-hole to clean and take care of all the inhabitants of the tank, we decided to say goodbye to our fishy friends. It was a sad day in the Garner household when our little buddies were whisked off, again, into the sunset by some stranger, who said that he would love them unconditionally (not really but it just sounds right)! Jethro and I hugged and shared a tear or two, and that was the end of the visit of our fish family. We hope that they find peace and love and rest in their new home.

Skye, Bully, Zebra and Big Blue

Peekaboo, I see you Yellow!

This blog is dedicated to our little Tiger, who died when a rock fell on him. But his memory will live on in little Nemo who was our only little fry to survive the wrath of the bigger fish's mouths.

Another alternative route to Moorreesburg

2012-02-27T13:27:00.000+02:00

About three weeks ago, I suggested to Grego that we do a day trip to Moorreesburg. He was keen, so we started discussing and planning routes. Soon, there was a thread going on the Wilddogs forum. Most of the guys plan rides for Sunday mornings. I prefer to make church a priority, and luckily we live in Cape Town where (in summer) it only starts getting dark after about 7pm!

Grego and I decided to meet at 11h30 at the usual spot – the Richwood Total garage. We let everyone else (on the Wilddogs forum) know that we’ll be leaving later if anyone would like to join us. A couple of guys put their names down under the “late sleeperzzzzzzz” section.

After church on Sunday morning, I was rearing to go, so I hop on the bike and shoot over to Richwood garage to wait for the rest. I was busy checking and adjusting the pressure in my tyres when Grego pulls in. It’s not long before we were both ready, and waiting for the rest. Nobody comes... A quick phone call to some people who I had telephone numbers for, and we then realise that it’s just gonna be the two of us. No worries, I just wanna hit the gravel – let’s go already!

My XR650R (Priscilla) - waiting patiently

Grego arriving

We both flex our right legs, and two XR’s roar to life! :D At first, we take it easy on the tar – we all know what affect an XR and a stretch of tar road has on rear tyres. We took Malanshoogte road past all the dairy farms and then Occultdale road through the plots. Slent road led us past the huge Eskom wind turbines and closer towards Malmesbury.

One of the wind turbines at Eskom's Klipheuwel Wind Energy Facility

A few minutes after entering the Malmesbury farm district, I suddenly noticed that I don’t have any front breaks!! I changed the break-fluid in the front and back breaks only days before. Anyway, I slowed down, and upon inspection, I find that the bottom bolt holding the callipers in place has come loose, and the whole calliper has moved up allowing the disc to turn freely. I fastened the calliper temporarily in place with a cable-tie. Whoever invented cable-ties should be knighted! By the way, I just Googled it, and Maurus C. Logan was the man behind the handy little things. He came up with the idea, and patented it in the late 50’s. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventfull as far as mechanical problems go.

The early-risers - already finished Koringberg and their beers, now heading home

Just before 4pm, we arrived in Moorreesburg, and met up with the group that left earlier in the morning. They had gone up to the top of the Koringberg, and had stopped for a cold one (same as Grego and I) before heading back to Cape Town. The rest of the guys were gonna slab it back to Cape Town on the N7, but there are few things that I hate more than a monotonous straight road! We decided to rather do the alternative route backwards (from Moorreesburg to Cape Town).

We stopped at the old abandoned Kanonkop railway station on the way back to take some pics, and probably picked up most of the 3- or 4 hundred duwweltjies! :o

I noticed that my tank was leaking petrol quite badly (about a drip per second!), so we were really gunning it along the old jeep track to get to a petrol station before I ran out. Grego hit a melon with his front wheel, and fortunately managed to stay on the bike.

Nothing much else happened on the trip, and we pulled into Cape Town around 6pm. All-in-all a fantastic ride! :)

Any 5 year olds in the house? Please stand up!

2011-12-19T00:04:00.000+02:00

And finally the big day arrived. The day our first baby turns 5!

Cupcakes were baked and presents were wrapped. Now we just have to wait for Mister to wake up... last year when we woke him up with cupcakes and singing we were told in a cross voice: "Mom and Dad, I'm still sleeping!" So, this time we wait :)

And so the man of the hour arises, with a big smile on his face, informing me that he is five now! And so he is!

Happy birthday Jethro!! Our incredible, amazing, courageous, sporty boy! We love you so much, as much as to the moon and back! We love you more than ice cream with sprinkles, with a fireball! You are our super duper super hero! And we are so proud to be your mommy and daddy!

So, cupcakes were eaten, presents unwrapped. Jethro stumbled upon his gift in my cupboard a couple of days prior, so the surprise was lacking but he still enjoyed playing with his new Lego and built a magnificent little car! He even received a badge that said: "I am 5!"

Jethro unwrapping his pressie from Dad, Mom and Micah

Yes, you are 5!

Getting a bit of help from cousin Logan

Micah did not care about the presents

Micah still did not care about the presents

Jethro with all the cool bath products from Ouma and Oupa

Jethro enjoying his musical card from Ouma and Oupa

Give me High 5!

Yay, Mommy's got Lego to play with!

Later we went to Spur. The boys had a great time playing on the climbing equipment and video games, eating food, eating ice cream, etc. Jethro even had all the Spur waiters sing Happy birthday to him! He was chuffed :)

We all had fun

Logan playing Spider man

Jethro NOT playing Spider Man

Micah showing off his skills

Zain showing off his skills

We have a monkey in the house

Ice cream time!

Happy Birthday from Spur!

A cuddle for aunty Marjoh

Back at home, uncle Peter and aunty Anita came over for a quick birthday wish and of course a pressie. A Batman suite! He was very chuffed :)

The next day the boys asked to go to the toy shop. Jethro received some money for his birthday and bought a remote control speed boat with money from aunty Marjoh and a bow and arrows with money from aunty Hettie.

The boys were so excited to try the boat, so, off we went to Rietvlei Nature Reserve, but the waves were too big and the wind too windy. So, we gave up trying and skipped some stones instead. We even saw a very curious crab, checking us out.

Amazing little guys

What can I say??

The action starts

Enough time to smile for the camera

The good life

with Little

Looking for another spot

We'll join this birdie

Micah the explorer

Skip them stones

Sisterly love

The next day and it's the BIG Superhero Camping Party. A theme chosen by Mister himself. This was after all the preparation by parents and aunt. (Thank you Marjoh, for all your help! This year was a breeze compared to others and the only difference was that you were here! So, thank you very much! You are amazing!)

Our expert Pass the Parcel wrapper flown in all the way from Louis Trichardt

Our impressive local sellotape cutter

We almost needed a hammer and a chisel to get this cake out!

Everyone was in high spirits! The mommy's prepared the food and added the finishing touches, whilst the boys cleaned the garden furniture, set up the tent and made a fire.

Yummy snacks

Marjoh even made these cute tablecloths out of serviettes!

The boys collected stones for the tablecloths.

Micah supervised and checked that all was in order

Washing the garden furniture with Daddy

During all this excitement, Jethro spotted a little chameleon up in a tree! Oh my word! I think the whole neighbourhood knew that he had found a chameleon. We made better acqaintance with the little fellow and once we were all introduced and the photo session was over, he was released back into the wild! And guess what? Yes, Jetho was super chuffed :)

Hello Mr Chameleon

Go roar like a... Chameleon?!

Jethro and Mr Chameleon

Logan and Mr Chameleon

Time to get those superhero outfits on! We do not want to loose our secret identity.

Superman and Batman

And so the guests arrive. First superhero to arrive was Miss Ladybug (aka Cupid). There were a couple of Spidermans, Batmans, Supermans, a ninja, a pirate, a santa, a villain, we even had our very own blanket man (aka Mexicano). Well done superheroes, you are all a pretty cool bunch.

Introducing Blanket Man

Miss Ladybug

Spiderman Zain

Another Batman

Even Father Christmas made an appearance

Spidergirl Malise

Spiderman Julian

Watch out! The Villain is coming!

The two superman's comparing capes

Arr me Matey!

It's a Ninja

So, Tony grilled some viennas on the open fire and everyone tucked into some flame-grilled hot dogs! Yum!

Munch time

Zain loving his hot dog

Micah thinking about it

After main course, it was time for dessert, but it's not that easy. The kids had to work for it! Hence the Nature Hunt! Each kid received a paper with different items on. They had to collect all of these nature items in a bag and once they presented these to me, they were able to claim their party pack. Huge motivation = Huge success! The kids had fun looking around and collecting the items. They even had more fun collecting those party packs.

The prize

The front of the prize

Instructions - concentrate!

On your marks, get set...

GO!

Finding all the treasures!

Working together!

A little bit of help from Mom

Tony handing out the prizes

And with chewing mouths stilled, we moved on to our next party game. Pass the parcel. (I have to thank Marjoh once again, as she wrapped 14 gifts! Imagine that! Thank you Marjoh! You are the best!) Each layer contained a small gift, so no one left empty handed. The main prize was taken by little Zain!

Say cheese!

The fun continues... Everyone got a nice long skewer and marshmellows were braaied and sizzled and smored! Yum, Yum, Yum!

Onto the main event, the cake and singing to our birthday boy! Jethro had a whole lot of help blowing out that bonfire.

Cake eaten, moving on! Jethro asked if he could open his pressies and as there was still some time left, I granted his request. He loved all the pressies!
So, hotdogs eaten, marshmellows braaied, games played, cake eaten, the guests started taking their leave. Thank you all for being part of Jethro's important day! We love you all!

And that was it! Or was it?

No, another treat is on the cards. Jethro gets to sleep in the tent with Daddy. Apparently when Tony woke up in the morning, Jethro was staring at him with a big smile on his face and asked if they could tell stories out of their heads. And so they did.

And that is the end to our birthday boy's 5th birthday adventures. Oh and he is now, 1.16 metres tall :)

One of my three superheroes

Another one of my superheroes

Go fly a kite!

2011-11-13T21:29:00.000+02:00

On the 23rd of October this year Cape Town held it's annual International Kite Festival - the 17th of it's kind!

We decided to make the best of our beautiful Mother City's windy weather and join in on the festivities. But first things first, Jethro needs a kite!

We used the following website to make an easy, pretty straightforward kinda kite: http://www.stormthecastle.com/how-to-make-a/kite/make-a-traditional-kite.htm

Here is Jethro patching it together:

Now for the flight test:

Houston, we have lift off:

The best part, the joy on his little face:

And the moment of truth arrives! Joining the high flyers, quite literally!

The Garner boys looking to get their groove on:

The Garner boys getting their groove on:

Well, at least two of the Garner boys; Micah preferred getting back into his pram and watching the action from there:

Some R and R:

Back to the fun and games! Jethro trying out a spiderman kite, and he did pretty well too!

Flying together with Daddy :)

The handsome guy in my life, giving it wings (like he always does):

Micah was quite entertained the whole time and enjoyed the show, but he still preferred the comfort of his pram:

Mommy having a go:

A sucker got Micah out of his pram :)

But not for long - lol!

My two high flyers:

Ton looking modest after quite the performance:

And the cherry on the cake, for Jethro, and we were priviledged enough to witness his facial expression:

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Tada:

And that is all folks! Time for a cuppa and then bed :) Hope you enjoyed the news from our little corner!

To arms!

2011-10-18T21:45:00.000+02:00

Okay, so we have a little 4 year old, almost 5 year old boy running around the house. He loves to be a pirate or a super hero, anything really that involves a sword, or a gun, etc. To indulge him in his passion, we planned a trip to Chavonnes Battery Museum.

Colonist vs Pirate

Until recently I never even knew about this museum. Two reasons for my ignorance would be that it is like the little brother of The Castle of Good Hope, living in it's shadow and another is that it was only excavated in 1999!! Okay, I know, that is more than 10 years ago, but most of the museums I have been to are at least 100 years old.

I was very much surprised at Jethro's endless enthusiasm. He loved every bit of it and kept on wanting to go back to the cannons. He loved seeing the cannon balls and the lighting sticks and walking over the old ruins. Micah was not fazed about the cannons but loved running up and town with Daddy chasing after him.

This museum is located at the V&A Waterfront and you would never say it's a museum when you enter the building. It's located in the basement of the BOE building and from the outside looks like any other modern building but what a surprise when you enter through those doors.

Cooling off - what a hot day!!

This visit led to us going to see the famous Noon Gun – Cape Town's famous cannon that booms out every day at exactly 12h00 (accurate to the nearest millisecond).

Super excited!!

We arrived at about 11h30 at the top of Signal Hill, only to find that the cannon was not situated at the top of Signal Hill. We decided to settle for a view from the top. It was quite cloudy and misty but at the last moment the mist cleared and we could make out the cannon. At 12h00 we saw a puff of smoke rise in the air and about 2 seconds later we heard the boom. It was quite a soft boom, as we were behind the cannon. After that we went down to go see the cannon for ourselves and the boys had a blast looking at all the long forgotten memorabilia.

And there were puppies!!!

Two labrador puppies!!

We are definitely going back and hopefully we will see the cannon in action from much closer.

For more information on Chavonne's Battery Museum go to: http://www.chavonnesmuseum.co.za/index.html

For more information on the Noon Gun go to: http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/noon-day-gun.htm

Routine, routine, routine, routine!!!!

2011-10-18T16:32:00.001+02:00

At this stage of our lives, everything pretty much revolves around a routine and oh boy, do we feel it when this routine is interrupted!

The last couple of weeks or I think months, we've been fighting the routine battle. Micah, who still had two naps everyday, started refusing to sleep in the afternoon, which deemed a problem, as Jethro was still having his afternoon naps and would only sleep if Micah was not awake. This threw our nice and snug routine off the map.

Babies giving Dad a cuddle, ready for bed

First try in restructuring the order in our house:

Logical solution, two sleeps became one and I moved Micah's early morning sleep from 09h30 to 11h00. Problem: too early for Jethro to have a sleep and like I said, when Micah wakes up at 13h30, there is no way that Jethro will sleep. So, for a while we tried this, and Jethro had no sleep and I ended up with a very cranky 4 year old. So, first try = failure!

Then one bright, sunny afternoon, a friend suggested that I carry on putting Micah down for two naps. She suggested that I wake him up after 30 or 45 minutes and then put him down at 14h00 again. This way Jethro would also be able to get his sleep. It sounded like a wonderful idea, and I had a song in my heart as I was mulling over this genius, yet so simple idea.

So, second try in restructuring the order in our house:

Great idea on paper, not so great idea in real life! Why? Micah ended up having two horrible little naps. First one interrupted by mommy who would wake him up and then he would be in a terrible mood. Jethro, who had now grown used to having no naps during the day, was having trouble sleeping everyday! Second try = failure!

Once again, back to the drawing board.

Third try in restructuring the order in our house (currently in progress):

Micah is back to one decent sleep per day. He now goes down at 11h00 and will sleep anything from about 2.5 to 3 hours. Jethro does not have a nap every day, but when he is tired, he will just get into bed by himself. Yes, I am still amazed every time he does it!!

All seems well now and finally I have something I can work and live with.

This does mean that, where as before I had maybe 1.5 hours a day to myself, that this is no longer part of the equation! No time for myself during the day! Nada! I am now a fuller full-time mom than before and all the stuff I got to do in those precious 1.5 hours, now have to wait until night when my babies are both sleeping! Or when it's bath time and my wonderful husband
gives me some time off!

We bake

2011-09-16T19:11:00.000+02:00

On Friday, after doing our weekly Friday lesson on God made the world and me, we decided to make some rainy day biscuits as it was... a rainy day.

We whip out Mrs Lawson and flip through to her rainy day biscuits recipe and start checking our ingredients. We have to go to the shops for ground almonds and icing sugar. So, off we go to Spar but hobsmock and gollybonkers, they are out of Icing sugar. That's a first for me!! Are we back in the dark ages. Okay, well off we go to Pick 'n Pay (the BIG one) and guess what?? Yes, no icing sugar! What is happening? Anywho, we decided to give the icing sugar hunt a break as a merchandiser told us that it's a supplier problem!

So, back home with ground almonds and no icing sugar. Jethro and myself make cookie dough and we have a jolly good time doing it! The first time ever that I enjoy, actually have a smile on my face, making some type of dough. Usually it's such a horrible task, I avoid it at all cost. But today was an emergency!

Out comes the play dough cutters and rollers, etc. And my one cookie cutter and roller. Micah positioned in his clip on chair on the other side of the kitchen counter. Jethro on a little bench next to me. Cookie cutters in hand, surface floured and cookie dough, we are ready for the action.

The next day we enroll Tony in the action, as all the equipment surface again. With the last bit of dough Jethro decides to make a Gingerbread man, or in this case, a Rainy day biscuit man!

We managed to get some of these biscuits, as the rest were divided into packages for some specially nominated people. Jethro wants them to have some biscuits too! Such a sweetheart he is, much to Tony's stomach's detriment.