Wordless Wednesday :

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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!)

Easter Sunday with family and friends ...

Elaine's 'bunny park' !!

... started off with an Easter egg hunt. As soon as Jeanette and family arrived, Bradley was on a mission to hunt for eggs in the garden. The Easter Bunny can't hide any of his eggs before they come because the Robbie and Jackie (doggies!) would love to nibble on some brightly covered choccie found in their garden!

So the Easter Bunny had to hide his eggs earmarked for Bradley and Connor in the back and side garden as quickly as his legs could hoppity-hop with ears flopping .....

Phew ! Just in time for the rush of two little boys .. led by the 'older-and-wiser-one' who has experience in Easter egg hunting ..... but the littlest-less-experienced-one didn't do too badly ...

... and all the eggs were popped into a basket for sharing ....

.... "Sharing is Caring" ... wise words from Barney ....

"Look .... 'Lainey .... eeter ... egg"

Then .... it was time for relaxing with family and friends. A beautiful autumn day ... sitting under the tree with autumn leaves gently wafting down - some on the table and on plates of food ....and in the wine .. :) Nothing nicer than sitting in the garden, with a braaied (bbq) lunch served with salads and a very good wine ... with family (not all of them unfortunately - my son and family were in the Drakensberg having their own lovely Easter weekend) and friends - our 'old' friends R and C and our Colombian friends, CS and CA.

CS made a very tasty Peruvian chicken dish (she is originally from Peru) which is made with chillies - yummy! Thank you, CS, for a little taste of Peru!

... and the wine we had was one of my favourites, Meerendal Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot - just to get the taste buds going ... followed by this one ...

... from Boekenhoutskloof, in the beautiful town of Franschoek in the Cape. Will do a whole post on this magnificent wine estate - we've been there and done the wine tasting where we were accompanied by a wine guru and critic ..... and ... where we tasted the most magnificent bottle of wine - The Journeyman 2005 - of which there were only 5 Barrels produced!!!! It deserves it own post!!

Jeanette and Lance squinting in the sinking sun ...

... and then we had dessert which had to include chocolate eclairs!!! Just HAD to make them for CS!! Oooh and when they appeared on the table she beamed from ear to ear!!!

.. and I had to take a photo to show Mr T! ...mmm ....yummy! Are you drooling yet, Mr T?

Later, in the early evening the two girls stayed for coffee and that's when.....

I learnt to drink black coffee !! Never been partial to black coffee .. always added a little milk and a touch of brown sugar ... tip-of-the-teaspoon amount! 'Why bother' my family always says!

Now .. in South America .. in particular Colombia and Peru - only because we had first-hand knowledge of this from CS and CA ... and have no idea if other places around the world do the same ....

Method : A chocolate must be in one hand! Take a bite ... a tiny bite - especially if you have a tiny Easter egg like I did - it has to be a tiny bite ...

... enjoy the flavour of the choccie first .... then take a sip of hot black coffee ... and let the left-over chocolate taste and coffee kind-of mix ... oooh !! aah !!! Next .. another tiny bite .. more hot coffee ... mmm mmm!!! yum!! Definitely need a few more tiny Easter eggs before coffee is finished! No milk or sugar necessary!!

Now that I have experienced that ..... I have been told to try an 'after eight' mint chocolate - even better ... so I'm told. I was also told to try this next week when hubby is away on business .... and then I won't miss him so much !!!

For those who like Espresso ....

Method : take a chocolate-coated coffee bean and plop it in your Espresso ... sip coffee 'til last drop and remaining coffee bean .... plop coffee bean in mouth and ... crunch!

Not sure whether I've been living under a stone forever but this was all new to me!!!!