Chef’s trio special at Eat at Perdeberg

This past week has been busier than usual as I’ve been in Durban covering the Loeries Awards for work since Wednesday. But lots happened before then…

Friday,  16 August 2019: Bus station walkies

When I got off the bus from work last Friday, all the male members of the household were at the MyCiti station to greet me. Bertie was a very good boy on his walkies while Bassie stayed home with her granny.

He (Bertie, not Hubcap) stopped to sniff at things and rustle in the shrubbery along the walkway, but didn’t bark at anyone or anything – a different doggie to the shouter on car trips!

Saturday, 17 August 2019: Roadtrip to Paarl, to Eat at Perdeberg

We breakfasted at Reload, Flamingo Vlei on Saturday and sampled their ‘breakfast bun’ special. Husband had a flat white with his, I went for the peppermint-choc latte.

We had an open road on our way to Paarl to review the winter ‘chef’s special trio’ at the new ‘Eat at Perdeberg’ restaurant.

It was perfect weather for sitting outside, so sit outside we did. See the main Perdeberg Cellar building, as well as their grape juice bottles, my strawberry shake and the wines Husband sampled.

Some of the deliciousness of Eat at Perdeberg – see the bobotie springrolls, served samoosa-style with the most delicious homemade chilli, tomato, coriander and ginger jam; the braai boxes for two; their strawberry shake, the chef’s trio special of oxtail, venson pie and chicken curry with veg and chips on the side; and Husband’s glass of red. Read all the words in my review on Bizcommunity!

Husband looking pleased with the lay of the land at our Eat @ Perdeberg table.

We passed such pretty scenery on our way home from Eat at Perdeberg – field of sunny yellow canola, cows grazing and more.

Later that afternoon we visited the beach. We called these pics ‘calm before the storm’ – see the waves crashing on the rocks in the background! Husband also had his customary weekend dip in the sea.

By Saturday evening we were a little peckish again so see the Otomi (chilli con carne, coriander, spiced yoghurt) pizza we shared at Col’cacchio, Seaside Village. Also see the sunset over the sea.

Sunday, 18 August 2019: Bica brekkie, Burger King lupper and sleepy dogs

Breakfast is served! This is what we ordered from Cafe Bica in Bayside Mall on Sunday morning. See Hubcap’s chorizo-egg croissant, as well as my banana pancakes and one of our flat whites.

Hubcap and baby dogs napping in various spots around the house.

Mum was a little under-the-weather on Sunday, so we opted for Burger King takeaways for lupper. See our extra-long chilli cheese burgers and cans of ‘coffee Coke’.

Tuesday, 20 August 2019: Tribe coffee break, family dinner at Rocomama’s

I met Husband for a quick coffee at Tribe, across the road from my offices on Tuesday. See our nice strong flat whites.

Gords was in town for the night on Tuesday, so we dined at Rocomama’s. Spec also drove through for the ‘family dins’.

Hubcap and Dad enjoying themselves at Rocomama’s.

That’s all, folks! Watch for my ‘Loeries pics’ update this coming Friday and click here to recap my full Eat at Perdeberg review on Bizcommunity. 🙂

*Disclaimer: Our meals at Eat at Perdeberg were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

Brilliant burgers and slurpworthy shakes at Gibson’s

Last weekend the weather was just gorgeous, as you’ll see from the snaps below, and the food – my goodness, the food…

Saturday, 9 February 2019: Burgers and shakes at Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers, V&A Waterfront

We were up and about early on Saturday so decided on breakfast at The Hart Bakery in Melkbos. See the pretty floral decor, also my single bacon benedict and Husband’s chorizo rosti.

Bassie was very interested in my quick ‘coffee and cake treat’ later that morning – Husband’s parents dropped off the wedge of baked milktart from their roadtrip to Philadelphia. Now you have the Philadelphia song playing in your head, I’m sure… “The streets of Philadelphia, nah nah nah…” Sorry. It sure was good!

Taking the scenic route meant it was all palm trees and sunny skies on the way into town.

Beautiful blue skies and cloudy tops for Table Mountain on our way along the R27 that afternoon, as a table was waiting for us at Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers in the V&A Waterfront.

Once seated with a view across the water, we browsed the immense flip-style menu to find just the concoctions that tickled our fancy. See Husband’s Amarula Colada and my chocolate-toffee-cashew shake. That spoon came in handy for scooping up all the cashews that had drifted to the bottom of the glass!

And the food! There’s almost any combination of toppings available, which is why I ended up with the ‘onion blossom’ on mine – that’s a full fried onion, instead of a side of onion rings, accompanied by sweet potato fries, while Husband had the Philly Cheese Steak and accompanying baked potato – one of the best taters he’s ever eaten.

Bellies full, we decided on a quick quayside stroll before heading back to the car. This was just before 7pm, the sun was nowhere near ready for setting…

I almost blended in with the rhinos outside the Waterfront’s main quay, so bright and festive and rounded were we.

Sunday, 10 February 2019: Early morning doggy beach walks

The doglets were thrilled at the idea of beach walkies first thing on Sunday, before the humans had even had breakfast.

See a very happy Bertie post-beach walkies, reflected in the rear-view mirror.

Beach walkies done and doglets back at home, it was a Woolworths W Cafe breakfast on Sunday as we had mall admin to sort out. See my vanilla-cinnamon cappuccino, Husband’s regular flat white and Coke Zero, my croissant French Toast and his exotic tomato breakfast, all featuring lots of flaked almonds.

A quick coffee pick-me-up break later in the day at Xpresso in Table View Mall meant a dirty chai latte for me and a double espresso con panna for Husband.

One of Mum’s former work colleagues was in town last Sunday so we met up for a ‘team lunch’ with other friends at Panama Jack’s. See the Thai Fish Curry, which was ordered by most, and my starter portion of crispy sesame duck with peanut dressing.

We were so full from lunch that it was just sweet treats for lupper at Mum’s later that afternoon – crumpets with syrup, jam and honey; juicy cherries, frozen yoghurt cups and coffee with biscuits. Yum!

Precious doglets snapped in sleepy mode over the weekend.

That’s all, folks! Watch for my full review of Gibson’s on Bizcommunity soon…

*Disclaimer: Our meals at Gibson’s were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

August 2018 celebrations at All in the Kitchen, El Barrio and Rocomamas

Apologies for the slightly delayed post, loyal readers. As you probably know, I’m in Durban this week covering the Loeries so making do when I have a spot of free time.

And you’ll see the past week and a bit has also been busier than usual as we had the the Women’s Day public holiday, as well as both my parents’ birthdays.

See how we celebrated this and more below…

Monday, 6 August 2018: Media networking at Expresso Studios

It was an odd feeling to see all the settings that are synonymous with the Expresso morning show. We also met the six new SABC3 presenters, so click here if you missed my interviews with them.

Husband and I enjoying a flute of bubbly in front of the tropical wall at Expresso Studios.

Tuesday, 7 August 2018: Future Females’ women in leadership breakfast

I attended my first Future Females women in leadership breakfast session on Spin Street, all about better communication in the workplace. Click here for my coverage on Biz, if you missed it.

Thursday, 9 August 2018: Women’s Day breakfast at All in the Kitchen, Mexican dins at El Barrio

We started our Women’s Day on a delicious note, with breakfast at All in the Kitchen. See my bacon-egg croissant, the salmon-poached eggs-avo ‘omega breakfast; the others went for, and our flat whites. Also pretty roses, cakes and shots of Amaretto.

We tried El Barrio in Eden on the Bay for dinner that night. See the lovely decor and Husband’s ‘Mexican Flag’ tequila shooter.

The menu design is just gorgeous, and everything we ate and drank was delicious. See my Mexican chilli hot chocolate (you melt the chocolate into the hot, spiced milk); also our taco bowls – mine was pork, Husband had beef) – and also sunset.

Friday, 10 August 2018: Dad’s 68th birthday treats

Last Friday was my dad’s 68th birthday, so we popped in to wish him in person once we were done with work for the day. See some of the sweet treats Mum created, and the doggies loving all the attention.

Such a bright, pretty sunset in the suburbs.

Saturday, 11 August 2018: Daily Cafe breakfast, Panama Jacks lunch

We breakfasted at the Daily Cafe in Seaside Village on Saturday. See Husband’s coffee tasting tray and breakfast wrap, as well as my condensed-milky tin cup and ‘waffle pop’, topped with caramel and bananas.

The doggies had a heckin explore later that morning when we took them for a wander close to home. See Bertie in the water, curious Bassie and the mountain behind us.

We stopped in at Panama Jacks near the harbour for lunch after Husband popped in at work for a quick half-hour. See some of the sights we saw.

Lunch! Husband had the Thai fish curry with a glass of red, I had the duck starter and a ‘cookie’ shake. Yum.

Sleepy sweeties on the couch.

Sunday, 12 August 2018: Rocomama’s burgers, dogs and shakes

I went for three cinnamon-sugar pancakes for R20 and a butterscotch latte for breakfast at Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay last Sunday, while Husband had a flat white, Coke Zero and the salmon eggs benedict.

We headed out to Rocomama’s Durbanville for a between-parents-birthdays treat. Their burgers and dogs are always a treat!

See the beer- and cider-drinkers at one end of the table, the milkshakers on the other, and the ‘ plain half waffle’ we shared for dessert.

Speaking of milkshake… I made my way through this fantastic freak shake – the ‘Surprise Me’ on the day was an Oreo cookies/peanut buttery-caramel concoction, dripping with dark and white chocolate. Delicious!

My precious doglets. Probably wanting some of my coffee that evening. Or rather, the biscuit.

That’s all, folks! Watch for my Durban Loeries highlights in next week’s blog post. Wish me luck…

Hiking Table Mountain’s Skeleton Gorge, touristy fun at the Waterfront and Christmas 2016

As we’ve been on leave for exactly a week, you can expect a double dose of the usual amount of pics below…

Friday, 23 December 2016: Brother airport collection, Spur breakfast and my first Dunkin Donut

First thing on Friday, our first day of leave,  we headed off to the airport. Next step, the brothers reunited! This scene was all the more touching as we’d just watched the ultimate ‘Christmas airport reunion’ movie the night before, Love Actually. I also liked the pretty tree of light on the right.

First stop, breakfast! We went for the Unreal breakfast at Canal Walk’s Spur.

We ran a few errands at Canal Walk that morning, and I finally got to try a Dunkin Donuts’ pastry. All cost R14, so you pay for quantity then select the one you want. They didn’t have yellow smiley faces so tried a ‘snowman’ – and was pleasantly surprised when I bit into a rich chocolatey centre.

It was a rainy afternoon but we were happy to spend it at home, catching up by playing Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, blogging and braai-ing.

Saturday, 24 December 2016: Big Bay morning, Woodbridge afternoon

Saturday was sunny and we had lots and lots to do, so we started our day with breakfast at The Daily Cafe in Seaside Village – that’s my cappuccino and Nutella flapjacks on the left, with Husband’s bruschetta and brother-in-law’s breakfast wrap on the right.

I couldn’t say ‘no’ to trying a Slo-Jo ‘Coffee in a cone’ when we passed Village Place Cafe in West Coast Village while running a few errands on Saturday. You down the coffee before it can melt through the chocolate and cone, then munch through the shell. I’ll be back! 🙂

View of Table Mountain from Big Bay, where brother-in-law dunked his feet in the sea for the first time during this visit as it had been raining the day before.

Husband and his brother in the yellow Nat Geo picture frame of Table Mountain from Big Bay.

That afternoon we did a very mild hike from Woodbridge Island, across Lagoon Beach and back. We rewarded ourselves with chilli poppers at Woodbridge Island’s Ilha.

We gave the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit another bash later that afternoon. I came last, even with Bassie’s help.

Sunday, 25 December 2016: Christmas lunch at our house

Cheers, Merry Christmas! Pose of all attendees at this year’s lunch, doggies are at our feet so sadly not in this shot.

But the doggies had lots of fun moments. Bertie tugged his new stuffed toy and his Mickey Mouse Christmas stocking, while Bassie sat on my lap and admired the view from her granny’s shoulder. Most of all they looked at the Christmas lunch spread.

Christmas lunch! Look at all the lovely baked potatoes, turducken, corned beef, gammon, ‘salad wreath’, trifle and mojitos.

Hills also treated Bassie and Bertie to these personalised Christmas stockings, each filled with a can of tasty age-appropriate stew for their Christmas dins.

After all that attention and all that food, the doggies nodded off happily.

Monday, 26 December 2016: Road trip to Langebaan

We had a busy day ahead so decided to fill up on the buffet breakfast at Doodles on the Blouberg beachfront as it was a public holiday. There are my three courses, and note the couple photobombing me and brother-in-law in the bottom left.

Duckies and geese all on patrol at the Vyge Valley farm stall on our road trip to Langebaan.

Finally there, we popped into Husky’s to wet our whistles and for a bite to eat. See my very pink strawberry shake and the samo basket once we’d eaten all the ‘samos’, chipolata sausages and tiny chicken wings (see how small in Husband’s wrist).

Brothers examining the sea at Shark Bay just outside Langebaan.

Some of our Langebaan seaside activities. See if you can spot Husband and brother-in-law, the tiny dots in the sea on the top and bottom left!

Tuesday, 27 December 2016: Skeleton Gorge hike up Table Mountain

Tuesday was hiking day. We’d dithered over tackling Lion’s Head or Table Mountain, eventually opting for Table Mountain through Skeleton Gorge – we parked the car at Cecelia Forest, then hiked into the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and started the trail. It looks very sunny in these pics but quickly became overcast.

Once in Kirstenbosch we ambled across the slightly swaying Boomslang canopy walkway before the heavy hike began. Quite the view.

We were completely exhausted by the time we reached the top of Skeleton Gorge. Some of us literally lay down to nap among the flowers, some gazed at the view.

Success! We reached the rock cairn of Maclear’s Beacon, the highest point of the Table Mountain park, after a good six hours of hiking.

After trekking across the top of the mountain we finally reached the upper cable station – there’s no way we were hiking back down! See some of the cloud and sights from the top, and how unimpressed Husband looked after 9km of hiking.

Wednesday, 28 December 2016: Touristy things at V&A Waterfront, dog walkies in the suburbs

We had an Entertainer voucher to use on Yacoob Yachts’ Ameera before the end of the year, but got to use it on the slightly larger Tigresse as Ameera wasn’t running that day. No seasickness in sight, but we got a little sunburnt. Spotted a few dolphins and other sea life and felt a little more like we were on holiday after.

We decided to use another of our 2016 Entertainer vouchers while at the Waterfront, for a two-for-one trip around the Cape Wheel. Another touristy thing to tick off the to-do list.

We stuck with our nautical theme for the day by lunching at Panama Jacks in the harbour. I felt like a plate of chips while the boys went for the fettuccine marinara. We had to hold onto our hats as it was really windy.

It was too windy for beach walkies that afternoon but the doggies were keen to stretch their legs so we went a few blocks around the house. They loved it.

Thursday, 29 December 2016: Mussel morning, Cape Point afternoon

Thursday morning was for mussel collecting as it was the best tide for it. I read under a beach umbrella while Husband bravely ventured into the sea to collect a bag-full.

By then we all had rumbling (and rambling) tums, so stopped off at Village Place Cafe in West Coast Village. I had a delicious cappuccino with a shot of toffee syrup, so yum.

There’s Husband with my cappuccino, my banana-peanut waffle, brother-in-law’s big breakfast on top and Husband’s pesto breakfast below.

Next stop, Cape Point! We saw the most beautiful ocean views and smelled delicious sea air the whole way there.

We didn’t follow all the cars on their way to Cape Point, instead turning off before then to reach the not well-known tidal pool.

Venus Pool is only accessible by short hike, so short hike we took. The pool was pretty empty and just right for my first swim of the summer.

Husband had a wonderful time splashing about and gazing out at the sea from the sea wall.

That’s all for now, folks! Brother Spec is with us for a few more days and we have another week of leave to look forward to, so expect another image-heavy post next week (make that ‘next year’… ) 🙂

Jumbo hotdogs, Intaka Island walks and teatime treats at The Vineyard

I said we’d have lots of pics of the in-laws in my last update, and lots of pics we have! They’ll be in town for a few more weeks so expect them to feature in the next few updates. 🙂 We had lots of food balanced out by lots of walks, as you’ll see below…

Saturday, 12, November 2016: Big Bay brekkie, Intaka Island and doggy walks

We started our Saturday with breakfast at the Eden Cafe at Eden on the Bay in Big Bay. That’s my latte on the left and banana-marscapone flapjacks on the right.

There’s Husband and his mum, both tucking into their Surfer’s breakfasts (salmon-and-scrambled-egg panini), with his dad’s English breakfast on the right.

Here are Husband and his parents, mountain-gazing from a chilly Big Bay after breakfast at the Eden Cafe.

We popped into Canal Walk briefly after that as we were in the area for our afternoon at Intaka Island while Dad-in-law met up with a friend. Just look at this enormous hotdog we shared! Tis a jumbo cheese griller.

Intaka Island is a real hidden gem in the heart of all those fancy buildings. Here is Mother, making her way through the walkway.

Lots of little weaver nests are dotted in the rushes at the water’s edge.

These are the floating heronries at Intaka Island. We joked they should be renamed ‘ibiseries’ as we saw just one grey heron on the day.

We stopped at the viewing hut mid-way to gaze across at the pretty view…

Such a photogenic spot in Century City, but those construction cranes framing the mountain mar the beauty.

Husband and his mum taking a break from all the walking.

We stopped at Sunset Beach on our way home. This is the view of Table Mountain from the walkway between parking lot and beach.

Blouberg looks tiny and so far away from Sunset Beach, but it’s the next stop on the bus route along the coast. Look at those tiny kites in the distance!

There were quite a few ships on the horizon and the water was freezing.

Despite having had quite extensive walkies ourselves already, we treated the doggies to an amble around the neighbourhood that evening. See how happy we all are here.

But the doggies soon changed expressions. These doggy faces are just the funniest!

That evening we dined at the Driftwood Cafe. That’s Mother-in-law and Husband with their food on the left, with Dad-in-law and me on the right. Don’t worry, close-ups of the food to follow…

Our four full plates from the Driftwood Cafe. I had the blooming onion, top left, Husband had the eisbein and mash, bottom left, Mother-in-law had the mussel pot and Dad-in-law had hake and chips.

Sunday, 13 November 2016: Primi beachfront breakfast and full family braai

We wanted a view of the sea for Sunday breakfast – and delicious food, of course, so Primi is where we ended up. I had the super-sized cappuccino (just look at that mug bottom left!) I also ate the freshest croissant with a side of bacon (top left), with Husband going for the salmon eggs benedict you can see bottom right, and the parents sharing a portion of eggs Florentine between them, top right.

When last did we have a full family braai, with both sets of parents in attendance? Probably a good four years ago, before we moved to Cape Town. Top left is all the meat on the braai, bottom left is Husband and his dad getting the fire going, me with a Strongbow berry cider and all the menfolk watching/playing/laughing at cricket on the right.

Much later that evening it was just Bassie and me on the couch with my book. She refused to look at the camera though.

Monday, 14 and Tuesday, 15 November 2016: INMA Conference at The Vineyard Hotel

I spend Monday and Tuesday this week networking and note-taking at The Vineyard Hotel at the Interntational News Media Association (INMA) global summit. The tea time treats were amazing – here are my four mini-plates over the two days. Read up on my conference coverage here and here and here and here.

Just so you know, this was the distracting view from my seat in the Vineyard Hotel ballroom at the INMA conference. It’s a wonder I got anything done.

That’s all, folks! Happy weekend 🙂

New job seafood, mid-week beach walks and cheesecake in a jar

It’s been another busy week but an exciting one as Husband started a new job (yay!) and I ticked off quite a bit of admin that had been piling up. Here are some of the more photo-worthy moments…

Saturday, 15 October 2016: Shared breakfasts at Cubana, new job celebrations at Panama Jacks

We wanted to start the weekend with a shared breakfast as we wanted a special lunch to celebrate Husband’s new job, so we headed to our local Cubana just off the beachfront. That’s me going up/coming down the stairs.

My cappuccino and all the sugar I could possibly want. Funny as I only used one sachet.

The eggs benedict. We each devoured a mound. It has a creamy-spicy twist on the original and comes atop a bed of baked polenta. Yum.

Next stop: Waterfront. I decided to pause and hang out with this guy for a while.

Quite the eye-catching restaurant display.

And then, on to Panama Jacks in the harbour for Husband’s celebratory meal. Here he is just outside the doorway…

Husband went for the ‘avo seafood’ starter.

For mains he had even more seafood in the fettuccini marinara.

I had the lamb-and-bean soup as starter/main…

I finished off with the hazelnut-chocolate mousse dessert. It’s served on a brownie-type base and delightfully fudgey.

Sunday, 16  October 2016: Greens’ breakfasts and Driftwood’s milkshakes

One of my favourite chilly Sunday breakfast places is Greens in Plattekloof. See my hot chocolate top left, waffle with sliced banana and caramel sauce, and Husband’s full plate of cooked brekkie.

We made our way to the Driftwood Cafe for an early afternoon treat. I had the custard milkshake, Husband went with a vanilla (swirled with Bell’s).

I think that expression means Husband enjoyed his, too.

People got lucky snapping amazing pics of Cape Town’s sunsets this week. My two attempts weren’t great – see a pink-tinged cloud on the left and our prettily lit up back yard at night.

Monday, 17 October 2016: Adams & Adams advertising law event

On Monday afternoon I bussed from work to the Inner City Ideas Cartel for a work event. The clouds started rolling in over the mountains as I made my way.

I got there with a few minutes to spare, only to find out that four of the five speakers for the session were stuck in a lift. Wasn’t a problem as there was coffee flowing freely and easily accessible Wi-Fi to keep up with email.

Frantic note-taking over (watch for my coverage on Bizcommunity next week), attendees all trooped upstairs to the rooftop for snacks and drinks. I watched folks amble over the pedestrian bridge and gulped down this Cola with lemon before dashing home to find out about Husband’s first day at the office. All went well.

Wednesday, 19 October 2016: Team lunch at The Taproom, Devil’s Peak Brewery

My colleague Jess who now lives in Joburg was in town for a few days this week so of course we took the opportunity to hold our next team lunch at an old favourite of ours, The Taproom at Devil’s Peak Brewery. Here’s our ever-growing content/support team.

This time I sampled the raspberry smoothie. Thick and yoghurty, it’s a win.

To eat, you can’t go wrong with their cheeseburger and chips served with tomato sauce and a garlicky mayonnaise. Also see one of the Devil’s Wings, with a sesame-seed crust.

For dessert, I went for the ‘orange-chocolate cheesecake’ – that’s what you see in this jar. It has a biscuity base and the cheesecakey filling is piped in and sprinkled with choc chips. Certainly different.

Thursday, 20 October 2016: Post-work curries and beach walks

We dined at Punjab Express in Parklands as an ‘almost done with the work week’ treat on Thursday eve. Love their door sign top left (Keep naan and curry on), and see Husband and me ready to tuck in. We ate every mouthful.

That’s one portion of chicken tikka masala and one portion of Bombay potatoes. They go very well together!

Then it was time for an evening beach walk with the doggies. We scampered across the rough shell-type sand at Kreeftebaai.

Husband and Bertie made a beeline for the waves, as they do.

Bassie and me stayed on dry ground, as we do.

Husband and the doggies trotted far ahead. All had a fun time.

Bassie’s standard ‘happy sandy face ignoring the camera’ post-walkies.

That’s all, folks! Stay tuned for my next update…

Conferencing in Camps Bay & breakfast with birdies at Melkbos Farmstall

Last weekend the weather turned all gloomy and grey on us so we went into hibernation mode for much of it, as you’ll see below…

Saturday, 8 October 2016: Breakfast at The Daily, gnocchi at The Italian Club

It was The Daily’s turn to host us for breakfast, so Husband went for their breakfast wrap, while I tried their Nutella-banana pancakes. Perfect with the Terbodore cappuccino and homemade shortbread star biscuit.

It was good ‘stay indoors’ weather, so stay indoors we did. We alternated between reading, napping and watching series.

The Italian Club in Milnerton is pumping all weekend long, so we were lucky to get a table last Saturday evening when we pitched up without first making a booking. The cold, rainy weather had me craving my favourite comfort food – gnocchi. See it topped with meaty bolognese sauce and lots of parmesan cheese top left, all the party balloons (from different parties) behind Husband, and my choc-dusted cappuccino.

Sunday, 9 October 2016: Breakfast at the Melkbos Farmstall

We felt like a brief road trip first thing on Sunday so ventured all the way to Melkbos 🙂 Here is the Farmstall from outside.

The windmill is somewhat dilapidated.

Farmstall from the front, complete with large pumpkins on the roof.

Husband happily making his way through the ‘healthy starter’ served with most breakfasts at the Farmstall – a tiny juice and a piping hot bran muffin. Yummy.

Husband opted for ‘The Rooster’ breakfast.

I had the French toast breakfast.

This little birdie got lucky when the family at this table got up to go meet the bunnies mid-meal.

Of course we walked around looking at all the bunnies and birdies, too. I think this is the first time I realised ducklings are yellow from tip to toe. So cute!

Cloudy with a few blue patches – weather conditions on the way home. We spent the day much like Saturday, only venturing out again for lupper at Mum’s that evening.

The doggies trotted all around their granny’s garden after they’d digested their Sunday lupper.

Bassie had a ‘Spring sniff’ all around her granny’s garden, stopping to admire all the blooms.

Monday, 10 October 2016: Solo doggy beach walk

Husband took the doggies for a beach walk on Monday. Love how their personalities are captured in this shot, with Bertie eagerly standing up to look out the window in the back seat, while Bassie sits and stares more calmly out of the front passenger side. 🙂

The beach was deserted and there was minimal wind – Bassie’s best conditions, see how happy she is here.

This is Bertie mid-shake post dip in the sea.

Both merrily scrambling and exploring the rocks and tiring themselves out.

Thursday, 13 October 2016: Beyond Retail conference at The Rotunda at The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay

I’ve seen this ‘heart’ lit up at night all over Instagram when people dine across the road from it at Cafe Caprice and the like, but it’s just as pretty in the daytime. It’s the first thing I snapped before the Beyond Retail conference began at The Rotunda in The Bay Hotel across the road.

Top left is the awe-inspiring light fitting and tent-like ceiling of The Rotunda, below was my breakfast table set-up and to the right was our tea table. You can read the first of my articles from Beyond Retail by clicking here.

An inviting corner just outside The Tides restaurant in The Bay Hotel, where we lunched and networked.

View of Camps Bay far below as I took the long bus trip home later that afternoon.

That’s all, folks! Here’s to another relaxing weekend all round…

Cape Town’s rainbows, wintery beaches and the Hout Bay cannon

You know that sad, sad situation? No, not the one Elton John has been singing about for decades now. The one where your body seems to handle a stressful situation well… Then the stressful situation passes and you fall prey to every passing bug and sniffle? Yes, THAT sad, sad situation. Husband and I have both been there the past few days – luckily his horrible head cold is finally passing, but my recovery is still a few days behind.

That’s not to say we’ve been missing out on fun times of late. Oh no, quite to the contrary…

Friday, 22 July 2016: Rainbow after heavy rain in Cape Town

Taking snaps of rainbows is no easy task, and they usually don’t turn out well at all. This rainbow last Friday morning was so impressive we all took a turn at photographing it out of the office window.

Saturday, 23 July 2016: UK treats and Spanish dinners

No trip to Cape Town is complete if you’ve not visited the UK Emporium. The shop, tucked away in a business park walking distance from Paddocks Shopping Centre, offers all sorts of international goodies – often marked down if they’re nearing expiry date. I tried the ‘Raspberry & Passionfruit’ Fanta and ‘Rocky Mallow Road’ choccies. All bright, fruity flavours.

The weather turned a little overcast again so Husband decided to take Mother for a coffee to warm up. Just look at the two of them at Reload in Flamingo Vlei! I’ve decided to call this picture ‘Concentration’. 🙂

One does not mess around with one’s coffee order. That’s why I went for the chocolate-peppermint latte – It was just what I needed to ward off the chill for a little while.

Suitably perked up, we set off by vehicle and ended up at the Melkbos side of the Cape coastline. Husband was brave enough to dip his feet in the icy sea. We weren’t.

T’was so cold I was positively shivering in my jersey, you wouldn’t think so from Captain Summer’s breezy tee-shirt, though!

After a bit more sightseeing it was time to meet my parents at Espana in Burgundy Estate for paella. Here is Husband with Mum and Dad, who went for a pizza instead of the paella, as you can see…

You can just make out the pans of paella in this shot. We ate it all, scraping our pans clean and bringing home leftovers for lunch where we failed to do so.

Sunday, 24 July 2016: News Cafe breakfast, exploring Hout Bay

You wouldn’t think we’d be hungry again the next morning, but hungry we were! So we all met at the nearest News Cafe as we love their early bird English Breakfast special.

Next, we set off for Signal Hill. Mother refused to take a photo in the National Geographic frame that’s hiding behind a tree to the right of this shot, but she was fine with posing like this. Clearly we have no such qualms.

Next stop? The Hout Bay market! We’d worked up a fair appetite by then, so the other two found some delightful sushi type meals – I couldn’t walk away from the ‘deep-fried Bar-One’ stand without trying them. Quite delightful as the carmel sauce oozes out when you bite into the piping hot pastry. Three like this for R20. Click here for reminder of the deep-fried Oreos you can get at Hudson’s.

We also wandered around the grassy bits at the back of the market, where you can gaze at the shore opposite and stand almost directly in the cannons’ firing line, as we did.

Passing boats also found themselves ‘in the firing line’, teehee. Such a pretty shot.

Lo and behold, Husband’s former colleague Chris was having exactly the same sort of sight-seeing Sunday! I convinced the two of them to stand together for a pic (imagine them making pirate type noises while doing so). Click here for a reminder of Chris’ steampunk-themed wedding, almost two years ago.

Beautiful greens, blues and greys as we travelled back home a little later.

Following a brief nap we set out again, this time with the doggies, for a beach walk. Note that even though I used the ‘cartoonify’ filter, you can still clearly see Bassie looks concerned while Bertie stands up to peek over his dad’s shoulder, such excitement! 🙂

After much dashing about like a blur and looking in the wrong direction, we got Bertie to look almost at the camera during his walkies.

Haha. By the time we got to Bassie’s photo, everyone but me had given up and already turned back for the long walk back to vehicle.

Monday, 25 July 2016: Doggies deliberate over #HillsDreamMaker delivery

Hill’s Pet Food is very kind to our doggies, often dropping off treats and samples of new products that might tempt them to switch their tastes. Here’s a reminder of their blog on the Hill’s Ideal Balance Food and Lazy Bed pouch if you’ve forgotten. On Monday, they got their latest delivery…

See? Doggies pretending to be sleeping on the couch when we got home from work on Monday evening ,so they clearly knew something was afoot.

Ever-so-beautifully packaged, the image on the left is how the delivery arrived at Husband’s work. The pic on the right shows Bertie’s excitement. He even dropped his ever-present dinosaur toy to pay full attention to the occasion.

But, after much sniffling around it and Minion-type conversation, Bassie decided it’s her new favourite thing. Here is she in the pillow, beneath a blankie, in front of the fire Husband lit that eve. She didn’t budge. If you’d like one for your own pet, have a look at your nearest vet this August. Tell them Bassie sent you 🙂

That’s all, folks! Hope you’ve steered clear of all the cold-season germs out there so you can enjoy your weekend…

Toffee hot chocolates and late-night weekend beach walks

Yay! If you’re reading this, it means we have survived most of Cannes Lions 2016! There are still a few award ceremonies to go, with lots of post-Festival of Creativity coverage to come but the bulk of the admin-intensive work is done and dusted, thanks to my most wonderful team at work. And now it’s time to relax a bit, but first, highlights of the past week…

Friday, 17 June 2016: Consumer Goods Forum at the CTICC

I spent a full-day at the Consumer Goods Forum, and wish I’d gone through for all three. T’was a wonderful event at my favourite CT conference venue, the CTICC. Morning tea break was time for networking, quick interviews and sampling some of the biscuits that were simply everywhere. Verdict? Amazing. If you see these various Leibniz biccies in store, buy them!

Concentration flagging during the afternoon tea break, a quick stroll around the expo set-up revealed a stand serving the most amazing coffee in glass cups. It perked me right back up for the final session of the day. Note the complete lack of traffic in the CBD below as many many clever people took the day off work as Thursday was a public holiday. I wrote this and this and this and this and this about the Forum, if you’re interested.

Saturday, 18 June 2016: Toffee hot chocolates and late doggie beach walks

This is just the sweetest dog. Bertie’s “Hello mom, I’m not fully awake yet” face always makes me smile.

Breakfast coffee! We ventured out to Green’s first thing on Saturday. Look at me all casual-like. Lol. That’s actually a very necessary neck up-prop as I was so very tired and the coffee hadn’t yet worked its magic.

Husband went for the mushroom eggs benedict, he loves this version.

Mmm. I went for the waffle with banana and caramel. A very good choice.

Later that day, we stopped in at Reload in Parklands for a coffee break. Husband had a double cappuccino, I had a toffee hot chocolate. Lovely little toffee nibs graced the bottom of my cup 🙂

The doggies were delighted to find their favourite beach deserted that evening. They hopped through the foam and swam and scrambled over rocks. Such fun.

You can just see Bertie demonstrating his doggy paddle here. He’s very good at it.

See how far little miss Bass ran when we freed her from her leash? She’s that little brown dot on the horizon. ❤

Trotting closer to her dad and brother so she could gnash her teeth menacingly at her arch-enemy, the sea foam.

Bassie let me take a photo to show just how late it was when we finally went home. The sun had set! The streetlights were on! It was about 18:40…

The doggies warmed themselves in front of the fire once we got home.

Teehee. Bassie sure does love being warm and dry. Typical mini dacschund

Eventually both settled on the couch under blankies.

Late night coffee and cupcake to keep me going – think this was just before midnight, when the Cannes Lions winner tables were finally looking pretty 🙂

Sunday, 19 June 2016: Father’s Day breakfast and lupper

Father’s Day, Father’s Day! Despite a late night and more work to do on the day, we were “up and at ’em” early enough for the early bird English breakfast at News Cafe in Table View with mom and dad for Father’s Day.

Work done for the day we went in search of another ‘cold day treat’… and we had enjoyed our coffee break at Reload the day before so much that we ended up there again. Here is Husband with his second double cappuccino of the weekend…

I had another toffee hot chocolate – this time with a swirl of toffee syrup on top! Delicious!

T’was cold enough for the doggies to wear their winter jerseys/pajamas that day. Bertie took his off before we went to the parents for lupper, Bassie was still wearing hers. And somehow ended up with cream on her forehead, teehee.

We almost forgot to take a pic of just me and dad together, as t’was Father’s Day. Here you go…

That’s all, folks! We’re in for another chilly weekend so keep warm…