Weekly Winners : 21 - 27 June

" Hello ... all you big people out there ...

... my name is Schnappe ... I am a miniture daschund ....

.. and I went with my new mommy and daddy to watch rugby between the British/Irish Lions and Springboks to their friend's parent's house.

My-new-mommy's friend's mom took photos of me .. 'cos I'm really very cute and am only 6 weeks old so I showed her my adorable little paws ...

... and my perky black tail to compliment my new winter outfit ....

.. and look at my cheeks wrinkle when I eat my yummy food ...

.. grrrr ... I can growl and pull on the camera strap ....


... what's that you say ? ...

... oh yes ... most definitely ... I am soooo cute, aren't I?

Luv and wuffs from ...............

Schnappe "

"PS .. my-new-mommy's friend's Mom said that she has had a very bad dose of flu and these are the only photos she has taken this week."

Have a look at more Weekly Winners here at Lotus' blog

Wordless Wednesday :

For more Wordless Wednesday contributions go HERE

Time to heal ...

If you've all been waiting with baited breath to see my Weekly Winners or anything else I may post ... I am sorry :(

Have had a dreadful weekend with bad dose of flu .... you know the kind ... the one that makes your skin feel like it doesn't belong to you ... a head that feels like it's going to explode .... .... and a body that feels like it's living in a fridge ....

Yes .. that kind! Now I'm left with a throat and sinus infection ...

Soooo ... I have the day off today!!!! And I am still in my 'jarmies at 11.00 am!!

No Sina (my maid phoned early .. really early .. this morning to say there were no taxis in Roodepoort so couldn't get here - which, although there are household chores to be done, they can wait until Wed. In the meantime I've done all the washing and will pile it up for her to iron - it's not a vast amount - there are only three of us .. it's not like it was when we were a family of five !!

Beauty is going to look after Bradley and Connor this afternoon too .. for which I am grateful. There's nothing worse than feeling dreadful AND having to look after children.

When I was at the doctor's yesterday there was a very sick little boy, probably about Connor's age, who was wriggling and moaning in his mother's arms and who was constantly saying "mommy .. mommy ....... " She was battling to cuddle him PLUS an enormous teddy bear which is obviously his favourite cuddling toy. What we do to keep our sick little ones happy!!!!

Ok ..... I give in - just one photo! It's white Camelia in a pot near our front door ...

Skywatch Friday : "I'm leaving .. on a jet plane ...."

From the runway at Cape Town airport - looking across to Stellenbosch and Helderberg Mountains, where we visited wine estates. The lower hills in the middle of picture is where the Zevenvacht Wine Estate is located. My Mum and I went there for a lovely lunch on one my previous visits ...







Lift off ... with the side of Table Mountain with it's 'table cloth', in the distance ...

Above the clouds with False Bay in the distance ...

... and below - mountains ...

.... and valleys ...

... before we fly towards rain clouds ...

... no more sky to watch .. just clouds and raindrops on the window ..

but there are more skies from around the world on the Skywatch link here

Is it ... or isn't it ?

Is this a Redchested Cuckoo - commonly called a 'Piet-my-vrou' ?




There was a pair of them near the top of my poor dying-off confer the other day. Couldn't really get a clear photo - no time to get the tripod. They have been around before calling each other from branch to branch and tree to tree but I have never been able to get a photo.

According to my bird book, they (if it is the Redchested Cuckoo) shouldn't be around at this time of the year but I have this morning, heard the Birchell's Cuckoo cuckooing in the thicket of the large shrubs ... so if this is the Redchested Cuckoo, it wouldn't surprise me. I have always heard of this species of bird which apparently is quite common here but I have never seen one.

Our weather is very strange at the moment with unseasonal clouds and rain .. so maybe all the birdies are confused too!!!

Wordless Wednesday :

Kanonkop Wine Estate

For more Wordless Wednesday's go HERE

Weekly Winners : 7 - 13 June

Keep the light on, Henri ...

Somerset West

.. 'cos we'll be back ...

to watch intricately beaded baubles ...

being strung together with Swaroski crystals and the tiniest seed beads ..

... that look like jewelled raindrops on the window pane ..

Cape Town from Southern Sun The Cullinan

And to sample the wines squeezed from plump grapes picked by the basketful ....

Kanonkop Wine Estate

.. and matured in barrels ...

Kanonkop Wine Estate

.... bottled and stored in cellars until ready to drink ...

... or shipped in crates to destinations ...

Meerlust Wine Estate

... far and wide .. like the branches of the old oak trees ....

.... that were planted when traditional Cape Dutch gabled buildings were erected and form part of the Cape landscape ...

Rust en Vrede Wine Estate

Where sleeping lions ...

Guardian Peak Restaurant

... are embroidered onto the placemats ....

... and scenery is so breathtaking that it looks like a painting ...

Ernie Els Wine Estate

.. and where one can gaze over the autumn hues of the vineyards to the mountains beyond shrouded in clouds ...

... and 'after-a-few' ...... one can get quite dizzy ...

Art gallery, Kanonkop Wine Estate (beautiful large glass bowl)

.... so wave the white flag and surrender!!!

Rest a while ...

... at the Southern Sun The Cullinan in Cape Town

.... ooops ... ssshhh ... keep sleeping ...

... until the flight is called which will take off with the view of the side of Table Mountain covered with it's 'table cloth' ...

... and wing it's way over Khyaletsha and Mitchell's Plain with False Bay and the mountains surrounding Cape Town in the distance ...

..... yes .. we'll be back.

For more Weekly Winners go to Lotus' blog

Yay ... the sun is shining!

We woke up this morning to lovely sunshine ....

... after a couple of days of unseasonal rain ... brr ... chilly and wet!!! When it's not expected there were many of us collecting littlies from school without umbrellas or rain jackets. Gentle but soaking rain and I spotted lots of littlies standing in the cold and rain waiting to be picked up. Lots more sick kiddies and mommies/grannies/grandpas/care-givers in a few days time, I'm sure!!

We all got wise by the second day and were prepared with suitable cover-ups from this dripping moisture from the sky!! Lovely for the gardens but not for us who live up on the Highveld who are used to dry, sunshiny but chilly days and crisp and cold/freezing nights!

I've had a busy week and not taken many photos so my Weekly Winners tomorrow will be mainly from our wonderful weekend in the Cape.

But ... we did have Mr T for dinner who hinted that he would love a roast lamb with roast potatoes and veggies and I managed to sneek a photo of him woofing down his favourite pud/dessert .... which of course he hinted at/asked for/begged to have ....

..... chocolate eclairs which are now becoming a must-for-me-to-make for any South American who comes to dinner!!!

Left-overs .. and yes there were, but only a few ... were equally woofed-down-with-gusto by the other youngest males in the family ... Bradley was so quick with his, so no photo, but managed to capture Connor in his male version of Red Riding Hood, with chocolate smudged face ..

Surprise !! I was presented with this lovely jewellery box the other day by Browns Jewellers in Cresta. We have introduced their jewellery to our South American friends who have all bought a few beautiful pieces to take back home and this was a 'thank you' for bringing them business. Now, isn't that fantastic! Good marketing ... as Elaine pipped up ... now that she is in the marketing world and thinks in marketing terms (!) ... AND has been told she will be offered a permanent post ! Yay !!!! What a relief!! She still has to go for the meeting to find out all the details.

Also in my week, I have had two sessions at a physio for my neck. Have been to a physio only once ... and that was many years ago for migraines and headaches, which I used to suffer from. It didn't really work and eventually I started yoga to see if that would help. Yes, it did .. and have been to yoga ever since!

My neck story is not serious as I have never had any kind of injury or broken bone but besides the normal degeneration of the joints - which I am told is normal at my age (horrors to be always told that when I don't feel as old as I am!!!) .... so besides all that, my neck clicks. It's not the normal 'crunching' that only you can hear in your head, it's a loud click! Have had it for over a year now and decided to go to the doc to see if my head was going to fall off!!

Anyway, the first step is physio who, after only two sessions, is very pleased with my progress already. I may just need two more sessions as I have been a good girl/granny doing my exercises and following her instructions as well -although she said sitting at the laptop is NOT GOOD! The angle is wrong - the screen is too low and needs to be raised. She suggested popping a telephone book under the laptop ... mmm ... that doesn't work 'cos then you sit with your arms up in the air like a squirrel!!!

I just have to not spend too much time doing blogs etc .... but what is good is that I do yoga which has strengthened my neck to such an extent that this problem that I have doesn't give me pain .. just clicks ... with no pain. That's a good thing!

Soooo ... I need to continue yoga .. forever .. and I want to start going to pilates again, which is equally as good.

I had to teach a yoga class yesterday! And it went well ... and they enjoyed it!! The instructor for the usual aerobic gym I attend every Friday, is away on a months holiday and she asked me to do two yoga classes with the other classes being taken by other fellow 'gymers'. Really nervous about taking the class, so I had my notes next to me ... still got a little flustered and 'lost' in the middle of the class but they didn't even notice!!!!

I had quite a few of the ladies come to me after the class to say how much they enjoyed it!! They loved the incense and the soft 'pretty' music. They battled more than I thought they would, especially with the one set of 'asanas' called 'sun salutation'. I thought that would be the easy one but I realised how flexible I was compared to them. I get lost in the normal aerobic class ... eye-hand-feet-body co-ordination at speed is totally different to the slow movements and holding of positions in yoga which is far more controlled with regular breathing, intense and calming.

I also realised I need to keep it even more simpler and slower. Wish I could explain each asana with the science behind each one as it would mean more to them, as it does to me when I am in a yoga class. My memory is such that I can never remember, in detail, what it all does for each specific part of the body. But I am not a teacher and I haven't had the training ...

Sooo ... in two weeks time I shall be doing another class .. with about 18 to 20 pairs of eyes watching my every move!!! (it's a big class!)

Skywatch Friday :

Hello, you beauty .... up in the blue sky ...

.... with all your friends ...

.... and family!

Looking the other way - to the Jonkershoek Mountains around Somerset West, Western Cape.

These beautiful skies are at the Lourensford Wine Estate, Somerset West, Western Cape

For more beautiful skies around the world go to Skywatch

Wordless Wednesday : Visiting Mum

Thanks Kathy for taking these special photos

Click on HERE to see more Wordless Wednesday's ...

I'm back ...

... from a fantastic weekend in the Cape.

While hubby and Mr T went about their business, I stayed with Ian and Kathy (my brother and sister in law) in Somerset West and visited my Mum. It's always so heartbreaking to walk into the Home seeing all the little old folk sitting in the comfy chairs in and around the lounges, some nodding off to sleep, others chatting (saying the odd word to each other is more like it), and others staring into the other world we cannot see ...

My Mum now doesn't go downstairs anymore but sits in the frail care lounge .. she was there .. asleep .. but woke when I approached her. It took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts .. she was pleased to see me but time means nothing as it was as if I had been there the day before. Very difficult to 'chat' now - I have to shout in her ear with only a few words at a time ... it was wonderful spending time with her again ... she's frailer and thinner than she was 8 weeks ago, but she's still our beautiful Mum



I then spent a couple of hours with Kathy at her beading class - what an experience! Kathy makes incredibly beautiful jewellery with beads, threaded intricately into twists and patterns, creating necklaces, rings, bangles etc. I watched the group of ladies being guided by an amazingly talented 'beader' who has written several books on beading, Heather Laithwaite - fascinating stuff!!!

You buy the 'kit' which has all the beads you need for the particular piece and follow the instructions. Sounds and looks terribly complicated but I believe once you get the hang of it, like a crochet/knitting pattern, it becomes easier ..


... this beautiful piece of jewellery is what the above work-in-progress will eventually look like ...


I will do a post on the beading as it's requires more than just a few words and two photos!!

And .... then it was onto the wines, wine estates and wine tasting ... as many as we could fit into a day and half ... !!!!!

The countryside was beautiful with autumn shades in the vineyards ...

I will do a post on each wine estate but in the meantime here's a 'taste' ...

The first one we popped into was Kanonkop ...

... then we drove to Meerlust .. which seemed to be quite run down and we wondered if we were in the right place ...


.. we certainly were in the right place ... the wines were yummy!! ... all six of them ... !!!


We had arranged to meet family members for a lunch at Guardian Peak but we managed to squeeze in more tastings at Rust en Vrede ... oooh ... thank goodness we did ... very very nice!!


This is our 'wine-tasting-chappie' (I am sure they have a title but I am too tired to find out!) who did our tastings. We took our 21 year old niece, Daniella, with us, who is in the 'foodie' industry - she seemed to like the Rust en Vrede wines a lot .. !!! ;)


Lunch at Guardian Peak which is on the wine estate owned by the internationally known golfer, Ernie Els ... what a magnificent view while munching away at the very tasty food which came with wines-to-match! This is our family enjoying the wine, food and view ..


Beautiful, isn't it ... just like a painting ... that's Ernie Els wine estate ..

We couldn't handle anymore wine or food after that and went back to the hotel in Cape Town for a 'rest' !

The foyer in the Southern Sun Hotel at the Waterfront ...


.. with a huge bowl of proteas in the centre ...


... and for breakfast, among other scrumptious food .. there was yummy honey dripping from a honeycomb

We needed the dripping-honey-energy for yet another wine estate before heading off to the airport and we decided to go to Lourensford, in Somerset West. Very modern building where they do the wine tasting...

.. which can be done either pairing with nougat or just plain! I made the mistake of doing just plain wine, but Ian, Kathy and Daniella did the nougat one ... oh yummy!!! That's a MUST for my next visit, as is the coffee roastery and the cheesery which are also at Lourensford

Then it was homeward bound ... over False Bay with the Strand and Gordon's Bay in the distance ...