Spring 2018: Seaside milkshakes, beers and braais

Last weekend was chilly yet sunny – some would say Spring is here, but the weather at the moment is anything but. Grey, misty and drizzly, with bursts of sunshine now and then, it feels like we’re back at the start of winter. Let’s look back at the sunshine instead…

Friday, 31 August 2018: Bizcommunity and Cinemark’s Cannes Lions feedback session

Some of the scenes from the Cape Town version of the Bizcommunity and Cinemark feedback from Cannes Lions morning – see Proteas and French flags alike at the food table to depict a taste of France (Cannes) in SA; as well as some of my favourite moments from the presentations of the morning. Click here for a more comprehensive overview.

Proof I was there! Networking with a lovely attendee from Doctors Without Borders – her boss bought her a ticket to attend the event as a birthday present.

Saturday, 1 September 2018: Spring Day braai at the in-laws

Beautiful palm tree-lined street in Melkbosstrand, and just look at the cute little bench.

We got to Damhuis in Melkbosstrand just as they were opening on Saturday morning, so that’s where we breakfasted. See our cappuccinos with tiny rusks to dunk; as well as my scone topped with jam, whipped cream and grated cheese; and Husband’s banting bacon eggs benedict served on a mushroom.

Bertie was in the Spring spirit later that morning, merrily sniffing flowers in the garden. Such a sweet boy.

Beautiful crashing waves and view of Table Mountain at one of Husband’s favourite swimming spots that afternoon.

Lol! Pictures on the right are there to see if you’re paying attention – it’s my caramel treat milkshake and husband’s beer, obviously. This is outside at Doodles on the beachfront in the early afternoon. Just lovely.

Later that day, we headed to my parents-in-law’s house for an evening braai.

Pretty flowers blossoming at my in-laws’ house.

Little Miss Bassie did a heckin’ explore of the long grass in the garden. What a cutie!

Bertie boy sitting patiently on the couch while we braai.

Sweet little Bassie wanted to see all the foodies on the table. Teehee at her facial expression.

Some of the foodies Bassie was interested in – assorted braai meats, salads and chocolate mousse for dessert. Yum!

Aww. Bassie having a moment with her father-dad.

Such pretty clouds above!

Sunday, 2 September 2018: Brotherly breakfast at the Pink Olive

Spec slept over at ours that night, so we breakfasted at the Pink Olive the next morning. Big smiles once our coffees were downed.

The Pink Olive should be called the Blue Olive with this decor, really. See our coffees, the boys’ ‘bacon banting basket’ breakfasts (yes, Husband’s second banting brekkie of the weekend) and my toasted chicken mayo with red onions and gherkins. Yum!

Monday, 3 September 2018: Sunrise from the bus window

Sunrise on Monday morning, as seen from the bus window on my commute to work.

Wednesday, 6 September 2018: I always feel like somebody’s watching me

This is how the doggies stare at me when I’m trying to work. That’s when they’re not jostling for spots on my lap, of course.

That’s all, folks. Keep warm and dry this weekend!

All the Christmas 2017 feasting on turkey, gammon, pudding and more…

We’re finally on leave, woohoo! 🙂 It’s been a week of feasting, family and fun…

Friday, 22 December 2017: Annual Love Actually viewing

We kicked off the holidays once we were both officially on leave last Friday evening with this year’s viewing of the ultimate Christmas movie, Love Actually. complete with poinsettia, hot chocolate and popcorn.

Saturday, 23 December 2017: Rocomamas burgers and shakes

We sat outdoors at the Pink Olive for Saturday morning breakfast. It’s open before the Stark Ayres nursery officially opens its doors (if you know which door to enter through). See Husband’s bacon basket and my fresh scones with jam and cream.

Clouds were scattered prettily across the sky that afternoon.

We stopped in at the Rocomama’s at Willowbridge for treats after a day of Christmas shopping. See Husband’s chilli cheesebomb burger and creme brulee shake, as well as my Candyliscious freak shake, complete with bits of fizzer, white chocolate sauce and berry swirls.

Sunday, 24 December 2017: Christmas Eve dins at ours

We had our Christmas Eve breakfast at Bread and Butter.

My breakfast smoothie bowl was amazing. Filled with nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream and bananas, it was healthy AND delicious!

The beach was calling my name so we stopped in at Dolphin Beach for a few minutes, to dip our toes in the sand and sea, respectively.

Proof that we enjoyed our time at the beach.

We usually have Christmas lunch at our house (see here for a reminder of last year) but as Husband’s family is finally firmly located in the Cape too, we had a few extra festivities to factor in. So, everyone came to us on Christmas Eve…

A few happy moments from the night.

Bassie and Bertie got all dressed up for the occasion and had fun ripping open the wrapping on their presents, with help from their dad.

Aww. The doggies loved all the gifts and Christmas affection.

See the lovely tablecloth mum made for me, complete with my fluffy reindeer centrepiece. Also Christmas lights and various clever presents – adult colouring books, gingerbread and Christmas pudding-flavoured coffee, and slabs of caramel chocolate and biltong fudge.

Husband Webered the turkey (much like he did in 2013), father-in-law brought cold gammon and mum made a selection of desserts, savoury and sweet. Was tricky not going back for more and more!

Monday, 25 December 2017: Christmas Day lunch at Mum’s

We had Christmas Day breakfast at W Cafe in the Woolworths at Table Bay Mall. See my vanilla-cinnamon latte and slice of banana bread topped with espresso cream-cheese and nuts on the left, with Husband’s poached egg on mushroom on the right.

Happy faces at Mum’s house for lunch on Christmas Day.

Chilled pink bubbly from Steenberg was lovely to kick things off.

Our Christmas Day feasting included warm gammon, roast potatoes, colourful salad and roast veggies, with homemade Snickers-ginger biscuit ice cream.

Tuesday, 26 December 2017: Boxing Day leftovers at Mum-in-law’s

It had been a while since we last ate at Wimpy, so I had a regular Wimpy coffee and a sweet-treat waffle while Husband had the streaky bacon breakfast with an extra cheese griller.

All at Mum-in-law’s house with Janet and Phil for leftovers on Boxing Day.

Despite it being a ‘leftovers’ lunch there were many fresh new items, too.

Wednesday, 27 December 2017: Being touristy at the V&A Waterfront

We had intended to walk around the new Zeits Mocaa (Museum of Contemporary African Art) as it’s free entry on a Wednesday morning, but clearly the whole of Cape Town heard this, too. See the queues! We’ll come back another day…

Being tourists. Sun, sea and happy faces.

Various delicious eats and treats from the Waterfront – my Amarula Colada from Gibson’s far left and right, along with Husband’s very minty mojito, also his two extra-large oysters and my Woody’s burger from the food court. Yum!

Teehee, we couldn’t resist posing in the fat suit outside Ripley’s Believe it or not – that’s how we feel after all the Christmas feasting!

We couldn’t resist lunch with a view upstairs at MareSol – see various shots of the harbour, my pink shake with Husband’s carafe of white wine, and his fresh fishy platter.

Thursday, 28 December 2017: Star Wars movie at GrandWest Casino

On Thursday, we breakfasted at the Village Cafe in West Coast Village. See my latte and Husband’s large cappuccino, also my banting flapjacks topped with yoghurt and berries, Husband’s toastless brekkie and the sweet Christmassy reindeer at the door.

T’was time for our second viewing of The Last Jedi, and the parents’ first (they’d caught up on all the previous movies in the past few weeks). Enjoyed it even more second time around!

We took the customary ‘strike a pose’ snap at The District section of the casino.

Thankfully we still have a full week of rest ahead of us before we start the 2018 work year. Hope your Christmas was all you hoped for! 🙂

Spring haircuts, gardening reveal and the Wally’s cave hike

Apart from having my bag stolen out of our car last Sunday, and all the admin headaches that go along with that, it’s been a wonderful week, as you’ll see below…

Thursday, 22 September 2016: Spring haircuts and midweek lunch with parents

Look at that chopped off ponytail! I decided on a big change for Spring so had my hair trimmed to shoulder-length, with highlights (as you can see from all the foils in the pic top-right). The doggies weren’t too impressed with the idea of adding my hair to their lovely brown fur, though.

For lunch we stopped in at Carlucci’s on the beach. Mum and I shared this delicious chicken schnitzel on pumpkin-seed bread.

Bassie wanted to pretend she’s the tallest doggie so insisted on being lifted above her dad’s shoulders that evening.

Friday, 23 September 2016: Breakfast and movie on parents’ anniversary

T’was my parents’ 38th wedding anniversary on Friday, so I joined them for breakfast and a movie (The Magnificent Seven) at Bayside. Here we are, sitting at Spur (dad was the photographer)…

We all went for the breakfast special with bottomless coffee. Yay for free refills.

The doggies didn’t know what to do with themselves, having me at home with them, so they acted like cats by sitting along the back of the couch.

Saturday, 24 September 2016: Free cookies and see what we’ve been doing in the garden

The Black Forest Cafe is finally open on Saturdays, so that’s where we headed first thing on Saturday. They posted a ‘secret sentence’ on their Facebook page last week that would result in a free cookie if uttered to the till operator.

Our sentence-uttering was a success, so I trotted off to choose my free cookie. I went for the Oreo – it has a choc-filled Oreo baked into a regular cookie! So good. Then it was time for some hard physical work…

Bassie has been very interested in the ‘paving corner’ of the garden since we started working on it a few weeks ago – first we had to weed it, then Husband set down plastic sheets, mixed concrete (not recommended that you do so by hand!) and smoothed out the area before we could place these pretty pavers. We added the bird bath as a final touch.

Bertie loves the little birdies that adorn the top of the bird bath.

What a sweetheart! Love that little face.

Hungry again after all that work, Husband opted for a wors roll – it was Heritage Day after all, so boerewors was going to be eaten, either way!

Lol at these funny little emoji toys I found when we did our weekly grocery shop at the local Pick n Pay that evening.

Sunday, 25 September 2016: Bread & Butter breakfast, hike to Wally’s Cave in Lion’s Head

We’ve not been to Bread & Butter in our local Sandown Retail Centre for a while so stopped in first thing on Sunday. There were lots of lovely baked goods to choose from…

But we both needed a caffeine fix before we could think of food. My cappuccino had a lovely heart swirled on top.

To eat, I went for the ham and cheese croissant – mini tin cup with side of kettle-fried crisps was an interesting touch.

Husband wanted to be healthy as we’d be hiking later, so he went for the banting option – here are his poached eggs on banting bread, with lots of crispy bacon and fresh avo.

Then we headed off for Lion’s Head and did a slow hike up to Wally’s Cave, which we’d heard about but not yet seen. Here’s some of the pretty flowers along the mountain side.

You follow the usual trail up but veer to the left of the short ladder up Lion’s Head to reach the cave – close to where we took this picture. Note how short Signal Hill looks in the distance!

Success! That’s the cave above me.

Yes, that little speck is Husband balancing perilously close to the edge of the mountain.

View of the outside from the inside.

Clever Husband had brought his ‘cave-exploring’ cap along with him so he could turn on the light. See.

Proof we were both in the cave together at the same time.

Once we’d hiked back down to the car we realised my bag was missing. No damage to the car, but bag completely AWOL, despite having unpacked items like my phone from it into Husband’s hiking bag when we parked. What followed was about two hours of driving from police station to station to make a statement, calling banks to cancel cards, etc etc. Having done as much as we could we stopped in at Jamaica Me Crazy for a soothing cocktail. I had the Blue Hawaii, Husband had the Dark & Stormy.

We had a belated Heritage Day braai at Mum’s for lupper that evening.

Monday, 26 September 2016: Breakfast at the Waterfront

As it was my last day of leave on Monday, I went to the Waterfront with my parents. We stopped at the Everyway deli counter to choose our morning eats… it was formerly known as the Royal Bavarian Bakery.

Here are our various coffees and pastries. A very good start to the week! Click here to see how they’re the same black cups as when we had a similar staycation coffee in March.

That’s all for now, folks! Keep an eye out for my next update, next Friday…