It's the Weekend

One of the good things about SA is the number of Public Holidays. We have a two day week this week and after Monday off the Weekend starts tomorrow!
Tonight we have our Heavy Chef Session which is about website usability this month, which should be great.
Not a lot else planned for the Weekend but i'm sure it will include some golf & surfing. I will try and remember my camera where ever we go to make the blog prettier.

Weekend at Fancourt

oops just seen I had saved this in draft rather than posting it -

Mike and Fred Thursday/Friday had a "Site Storm" with new client website client Fancourt - see the new company transport: http://www.heavychef.com/heavy-chef-wwc-news/businessmen-in-buggies/
We all headed off on Wednesday, arriving in George about 5pm.
Mike, Bridge, Paul & stayed at Craig & Chareen's house - which was lovely. Craig & Chareen got back from the Otto trail on Thursday and were able to spend the whole time with us as a planned trip to Cape Town was canceled.
Thursday whilst Mike was in meetings, Paul, Bridge and I went to Monkey Land just outside of Plett. Had lunch in Knysna and back to the house. Luckily I had planned to make a chicken salad as I had to cook before the electricity went out at 6. Mike's dinner meeting was cancelled so he was able to join us for a candle lit supper.
Friday Bridge & I went to the Fancourt Spa and relaxed by the pool and sat in the jacuzzi. Then proceeded to the hairdressers as a cut was only R160. Back to the house and Chareen had picked up Erin's new puppy (Roxy). Paul and Bridge went for a drive to lunch and I went with Chareen to view the new house and choose some tiles etc, then a quick visit to the vets for puppy & dog injections.
Friday night we went to the Wilderness Night Market and met up with Uncle Pete & Aunty Mim for a pizza.
Saturday we went to Botlierskop Safari for a game drive, Mike and Paul went on a horse back safari in the afternoon. Then had a lovely evening meal with Craig & Chareen and a few of their friends at home.
Sunday now home (well at the office) and planning a Mr Delivery dinner.
Thanks Craig & Chareen for letting us all stay we had a great time! Hopefully Mike and I will see you in a few weeks!

Long Weekend (Last Weekend).

In order to have a relatively free weekend, Mike and I went to the office to work on Friday. We stopped for lunch with Sandy at the flat then on the way home we went to the driving range before the sun set.

Saturday morning we had a few chores to do, then back to the driving range.

Sunday we went to Patrick's for breakfast and to watch the grand prix. Then off to Muizenberg for a surf. It was very sunny, but also windy at the beach so needed a jumper whilst reading. Back to the flat for lunch then we walked to the Waterfront, which was only a 15 minutes walk.

Monday little bit of work then decided to walk to the sea - silly idea as it was very hot and seemed a long way. Now I though I should keep the blog up todate whilst watching Miss Potter.

Long Weekend (2 weekends ago)

The weekend got to a lovely start on Thursday evening, Uncle Pete, Mim, Sandy, Warren and Lorna headed down to cape Town, as it was Warren and Lornas last night we all went out for supper at Belgas - along with Fred, Jason, Lea and Eric.
Great night was had by all as we only got home at 12:45.

Friday, back to work but I had a quick coffee break at Vida with Pete, Mim, Warren, Lorna, Sandy & Eric.

Warren and Lorna sadly flew home on friday night, so not able to join us all for breakfast on Saturday at Origins (we actually got a seat! but no black pepper!)

Mike and I took a drive out to the Winelands to 2 estates and stocked up on supplies. Back home we picked up some snacks and met Uncle Pete and Aunty Mim and Clifton for sundowners on the beach (was beautiful). Then we all headed back to our place to watch the Wales France rugby match.

Sunday I had a lie in, then off to Muizenberg to sit on the beach while Mike surfed. A quick check of our emails to find that our friends Bridget and Paul have booked tickets to come and see us on the 2 April for 2 weeks. Decided it was time to start my golf lessons, so we went to the golf club to join and hit some balls. 30% of my balls went into the air and straight!!!!

New Flat

Sorry this has taken awhile but as you can see from the posts above we have been enjoying the Cape Town Life.

We moved into this smaller flat and we are loving it. It's perfect for just the two of us.

You'll have to excuse the mess as these pictures were taken the weekend we moved in, before everything had a place.

We have since bought a table, and waiting to buy a couple of chairs.

But you can see Mike is happy as he can watch the BBQ and the Rugby at the same time.

Last night in cape Town

Whilst emptying my camera I found these two pictures of the final BBQ with mom and dad in Cape Town.

Scrapbook

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Back in the UK

The gorgeous sunshine when we arrived home a week ago went some way to softening the blow of a change in temperature from 27 degrees to 5 degrees. (Night time temp was - 5!).
Traer and Nya arrived home from Tasmania on Monday and we couldn't wait to pop over to see them. As you can see from the photo, no one has explained to Nya that she should be suffering from jet lag. (Is Opa having a snooze or looking at Nya?)Then it was back to work with a vengeance. The previous Tuesday I had gone to BNI in Cape Town with Mike at 6 a.m. We drove along Beach Road with a beautiful scarlet sky as the sun rose over the sea and the temperature was about 23 degrees. This Wednesday I left for Ashford BNI at the same time but had to start my car 10 minutes before I left to clear the ice from the windscreens as the temperature was -5° C!!
Saturday, Lynda, Sean and Senna, together with their friends Nic and Dave, came to spend the day and stay the night. It was lovely to see them again (especially Senna). She is talking so much now and is just gorgeous. Senna was a great help with the washing up.Traer, Terry and Nya, as well as Carol who was visiting from New York, came in the evening for supper. Great time.

Flights Home July 08

It's taken me a year and I am still not used to the South Africa service.
Yesterday a lady at BA told me BA do not fly to Dublin???
Today I call again as I am worried flight prices will increase nearer the time. This time I get a man and I explain that we need to fly to Dublin but stop over in London for 2 weeks before the Dublin leg of the trip. As Gatwick is closer I asked to fly out of Gatwick on the way to Dublin - this time I am told BA do not fly out of Gatwick to Dublin??? To annoy me even further he tells me the total price for one person will be R14,166 (£950) so I ask him what is the price for just Cape Town to London, I was quoted R9,307 which is ridiculous seeing as a flight London to Dublin is no where near R5,000.

To solve all my problems I stick to UK service and phone BA in the UK. We now have the required flight for only £682 per person:

Cape Town to London - 24th July arriving 25th July
London to Dublin - 14th August
Dublin to Cape Town - 19th August

The 26th July we have Bridge & Pauls wedding, then until we leave on the 14th Mike will be hopefully going to London to meet new clients. So lots of time to see everyone!!

Killarney 9th & 10th Feb

Friday was a World Wide Creative outing to the race track to watch the practices.
Saturday was qualifying & race 1.
Unfortuately after these very fast times the engine went pop! A big job, so no racing on Sunday for us. We all still headed to the track to pack the car and watch a few races.

Team Heads to Cape Town

Derek, Nicola, Ed, Les, Mike, John, Ken, Trudi

Racing in the Sunshine!!!!

We have realised that the Lenham does not like the rain & prefers the African sunshine and warm weather.
Saturday the car was flying, Ken our Team Manager & Derek (our new team engineer) had re-wired the car (or something like that) and Ed had the most amazing races.


After the second race we did have to chase around the race track picking up bits of the car's body work. As the left hand side of the car decided to fly off and Ed had to finsih the rest of the race holding the door on (amazingly not affecting his lap times). Left with a big whole in the side of the car and too small pieces to fit together, Derek had genius inspiration of using the NO SMOKING sign on the pit wall - the perfect fit!
(The grey being the back of the sign)
After a hectic hour preparing the car for the next race we were all hyped to see the car race again.
To end an amazing race weekend, Ed won Index Driver of performance. In normal terms he was one of the best drivers of the day!
Thanks Dad for an amazing weekend, it was great to meet everyone and lovely to see Uncle Mike & Chad who headed up from Durban.

Swartkops 1st & 2nd Feb

Awaiting Drivers Briefing with a few toasted sandwiches & coffee.

Start of the Races

As you can see from the lack of posting we all have been extremely busy traveling the country.
Mom and dad left for Johannesburg on Friday 25th January. Mike & I left on the following Wednesday morning. I will let mom keep you up todate with their trip and I will just post some of the racing photos - as people have been asking to see them.

Saturday 5th January - Wine Route

Left at 9.30 to visit the Woodstock Saturday market and the section Neighbourgoods Market selling fresh local produce, clothing and foods. It was very crowded and not Ed's sort of thing although the samosas stall was right up his street. We bought a picnic of ciabatta, amazing rocket & walnut pesto, ginger, halva and forest raw honeys (what is 'raw' honey?), cheese and a pot of basil.

We then drove up the N1 turning off at the R304 towards Stellenbosch. The views of the vineyards and mountains were stunning. Our first stop was Simonsig as we needed to replenish our supply of bubbly. Although we knew what we wanted, we decided to have a wine tasting, Mike was the designated driver, so Ed, Nic and I paid for the tasting. We were each allowed to taste 5 wines so we each chose a different 5 meaning we got to try 15! Bought our case of Kaapse Vonkel.

As we were walking back to the car, my sandal broke so I had to do the rest of the tour barefoot. This being SA, though, I did not get any funny looks walking into the posh tasting rooms with no shoes.

Mike decided our picnic could be eaten for supper as he wanted us to try the best burgers ever. We drove to Beyerskloof vineyard on the R304 and sat on the verandah of their Red Leaf restaurant. It was a baking hot day but they had cold mist sprays which kept the air cool. The views, as you can see from the photo, were stunning. We all had the pinotage soaked burgers. Mike was right, they are the best.

Two more vineyards were visited en route - Alto where we bought delicious red wines and Avontuur for an amazing 10 year old brandy.

The day ended perfectly with our picnic on the balcony - accompanied by wine, of course.

Days 10 & 11 - Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd January 2008

Our last day in Wilderness.

Last walks on the beach, last playing in the sea for the 'boys'. It is such a beautiful area and heart breaking to leave. In the afternoon, Ed, Mike, Nic and I went over to Chareen and Craig's for a birthday tea in Craig's honour. When we arrived, Erin was playing in the road with her friends and informed us, in no uncertain words, that we were LATE.

The tea party was downstairs overlooking one of the greens. Chareen was, as ever, a great hostess. The cakes on offer definitely did not come from the Weight Watchers' cook book! Delicious and great company.

Goodbyes to the Bartrums in the evening were not sad, as they usually are, since we knew we would be meeting up again at Chad's and then Eddy's races.

We set off around 10.30 on Wednesday. The day was overcast and there was quite a bit of rain from time to time along the road. We pooled the cash left and had enough for fuel and also, of course, the pie shop. Arrived home around 4 pm. Decided it was still our holidays so went out to eat in the evening.

Day 9 - Monday 31st January

It’s Monday and Ed’s gone to check out some car buddies so I’ve got the laptop for a while so I’m going to get on with my blog ‘catch up’ while listening to the A Century of Jazz album. Now where were we – oh yes New Year’s Eve.

I was up early as I was going to be Mim’s helper at the craft market at Sedgefield. She picked me up at 6.30 in her little white van laden with her goodies. When we arrived, there were only two other stall holders there. This was an additional market laid on as it was New Year’s Eve and Mim was not sure if there would be enough stalls to attract the punters so she said we’d get a cup of coffee and toast while we waited to see if it was worth setting up the stall. The market was opening at 10 and stall holders dribbled in. We only decided to stay at 20 to ten when we set about putting up the stall and displaying the jewellery. Our spot was one of the few shady ones between two trees.

The market was not very busy but Mim was happy with her sales. It was great just to have the time together for the two of us to catch up on what was going on with our friends and family and to reminisce and laugh about the old days.

The market finished at one and we packed up and headed back to Wilderness where Mim dropped me at our flat and headed home.

Pat had left in the morning to go back to Cape Town and Ed, Mike, Nic and I were joining the rest of the family at Pete & Mim’s. We drove instead of walking as we had loads of bubbly as well as red and white wine to take to the party.

Masses of food, booze and chat. We all set up our laptops and swapped photos. So busy doing this that Nic and I did not take any photos that evening but, with a bit of luck, Heather or Sandy did, so there may be a photo or two uploaded later.

After Auld Lang Syne and the Happy New Years, we stayed about another half an hour. My brothers and theirs are obviously made of sterner stuff as I heard they made it to 3.30!

Day 8 - Sunday 30th December

Mim was 'marketing' again as there was a Sunday Craft Market on the community ground opposite our flat in Wilderness. It was a baking hot day so all visitors were out and about. Went to church and then joined Ed and Pat looking around the market. The guys bought pancakes and cokes for breakfast - can't remember what I had with my coffee.
At 11.30 Pete, Sandy and Warren picked us up for a visit to the local 'Big Tree'. We took two cars and drove up the mountains to the Wilderness National Park.
What a delight to be in the shade of the forest of indigenous trees and out of the sun. The 800 year old giant yellow wood tree was awesome - makes one realise just how small we are in this universe and how short a time human beings have when compared to trees and other flora.
There is a wonderful woodland walk marked and we followed the circular footpath which returned us to the big tree. A few metres away were picnic benches where we sat whilst Sandy and Warren went back to the car to fetch the picnic Pete had put together. (One of the pleasures of not being one of the 'young ones' any more, is that we can relax while they do the work!). There was enough food for the 5000. Delicious!
Afterwards we drove the back roads through the forests to the beach at Swartvlei Lake. Ed and Pat went for a beach walk whilst the rest of us had a swim in the sea then laid on the beach before heading back.
That evening we got together with Mike & Heather and their lot at the Kwelanga Country Retreat for a braai.
It was a bit cool and I did not stay long in the pool. The weather did not seem to effect Chad, Trent & Mike who played in the pool (an excuse for wrestling which I have noticed that boys never grow out of no matter their age).
M & H had organised for the restaurant to supply the salads and a huge fruit salad for afters. We had barbecued prawns and meat and, of course, wine. The evening finished with Irish whiskeys around a fire on the patio.

Day 7 - Saturday 29th December

Mim was working at the market in Sedgefield and we had all intended going for breakfast there. The guys, however, were all sound asleep as they had returned late last night or, rather, early in the morning. Nic and I went on our own and after strolling through the food market, Wild Oats, decided on fresh strawberries and coffee for breakfast. Strolled around the stalls and said hi to Mim then went home. The men were just getting up.
It was a gorgeous sunny day; a day for walking on the beach, swimming, boys (Warren, Mike & Trent) surfing and sunbathing.
In the evening the whole family met up at backpackers to watch the sunset and eat pizza baked on the out door oven.


Watch your pizza Trent!

On the way there we spotted a large number of dassies in the bush.

Day 6 - Friday 28th December

On Saturday, Ed, Patrick, Nicola and I took a 45 minute walk along the beach from Wilderness to the Wilderness Beach Hotel where we climbed the many steps up the cliff to the hotel and watched the paragliders for a while before popping into the pub to quench our thirst then back along the beach again. On the way back, Nic and I collected some lovely shells which could be made into pendants. In fact, one actually had a tiny hole in it and Nic hung it on her chain. It looks beautiful.
In the evening, Mike, Trent, Ed and Patrick went to play night golf at Fancourt Golf club with Craig. They started with cocktails and then Mike, Trent and Craig went to play and ed & Pat were in one golf buggy and Chareen and her friend went in another. Apparently the ball they hit flashes so they can track it and there is a light on the flag at the hole and two lights on the ground. They can see nothing between the tee and the hole. Great fun. They got in around 1 a.m.
Nic and I had a more sedate but equally enjoyable evening. We joined Pete and Mim at the night market in Milkwood Village, Wilderness. Sandy and some of her friends were there too. There was live music in the delightful square and we sat at a table and drank wine and shared a platter of starters.