Hibernating!

And you?

Tuesday catch-up - Winter is coming

It has been a few busy weeks for this family!

- It's finally winter here in South Africa. We also had three days of no power last week with the cold! You can imagine...

- The no power also had an influence on our Internet connection! We had none! 

- Little Miss had bronchitis, and we had to keep her at home.

- Hubby and I also decided that we could definitely not have had more children. Little Miss is more than a handful. Especially when sick. There was the nightly musical beds which was aggravated by an earache on Thursday. We finally had to fetch the antibiotics as well! (Although I hate it so much!)

- I finished my 9 weeks online course, UCT Social Media Course, and it feels very strange not to have a studying sword over my head! Blogging has helped me tremendously in staying up to date with what is happening in social media, and I have more value for what we are doing and learning on our blogging journey! Especially as Mom Bloggers. We know lots!

- The Student also heard that she got a distinction in the final accounting subject for her Management Diploma. I am so proud of her. Her hard work paid off!

- We celebrated two birthdays and a Father's Day the previous week at Cradle Moon Lakeside Lodge (formerly known as Heia Safari). That's where the photo of Little Miss was taken. The cold started on that Sunday!

- This Father's Day I was reminded again of how lucky we are to have this Hubby/Dad in our lives! He stayed home for most of the week last week when Little Miss was sick, and is 100% involved in our lives! It's a blessing to share our lives with him!

- We attended the premiere of The BFG Movie on Sunday. It will start in the cinemas on 1 July. I love all of Roald Dahl's works, and we had so much fun on Sunday to listen to the creative language! This is a lovely movie for the holidays for the kids (and adults!)

- We are in the final stretch before the winter holidays, and I am looking forward to sitting in less traffic each day for three weeks. Rose and I are bonding, and I beginning to appreciate her more! She's spunky, and she moves when she has to! The traffic is not so bad now with her!

- We are not going anywhere for the holidays, but that's okay. We will get our turn...


What are your plans for the holidays?

A weekend in the Northern Free State #thingsyoudoforyourchildren

The things you do for your children...

We went "camping" with the Voortrekkers (something similar than girl scouts/boy scouts) at Doornkloof in the Northern Free State.

It was cold and dusty, without cellphone reception!

Little Miss loved it!
And that's all that counts!

Little Miss had a seat in the upper deck of the bus,
which was a real treat going there!

Our "Chalet" for the weekend
(It was much better than a tent, thank our lucky stars!)

Doornkloof is a place of history!
Grave of Sarel Cilliers, whose farm this was

One of the sessions with the Grade 1 Voortrekkers

First Aid lessons - not a real wound

The Grade 1 girls ready  for a night of discovery on the farm

A ride on a tractor

Exploring the indigenous people's housing

Such a beautiful place, even with the dry winter landscape.

Winter is a drag!

I know we can't complain about winter, and that it is only three months of cold here on the southern point of Africa. But we don't like it, and we complain about it!

All the time!

We leave the house while it is still dark and cold. We get back when the sun dives back to the other side of the world.

The house is cold.
The sky is grey.
The garden is dead.

I can compile lists about things that makes winter worth the while, but I don't want to!
Because it won't change anything! It is cold!

All we want to do is cuddle up under blankets, and not move...


We are hibernating right now!
If you don't see that much of me, it is because you will find me under a blanket and near the heater!


Who likes this time of the year?
Please tell my why?


Photo: Little Miss could dress in normal clothes today and this is her outfit! (I could only convince her to put on the jacket, but the rest is her ensemble! Armed with an warm electric bag!)

Santana - an unexpected weekend

FNB Stadium

We got the Santana tickets on Friday from a colleague who could not go any more! 

As I was eyeing the concert since it was announced (but did not have the budget), and trying to win some tickets, we were more than excited!

Luckily The Student was home for the weekend and she could baby-sit Little Missy. They were both not impressed. The Student and Little Missy wanted to go as well! But I don't think Little Missy would have lasted for the whole evening...

It was rainy and it was cold! 

But it was more than worth it in the end!

Johnny Clegg took up the stage before Santana, and it was my first time that I saw him life and in action! We have been listening to him since we were at school, and he is still rocking it! He also got two acts with Carlos Santana in his show. Amazing!

Carlos Santana performed most of his well-known songs with two male singers on stage, accompanied by great musicians! Stunning! Stunning!

Our view from the stadium

Yes, we have evidence!

That was an unexpected treat for a rainy weekend! 

How was your weekend?

Rainy weekend

We had a very wet weekend, and at one stage we thought the rain would never stop!
Our rain meter recorded over 100 millimetres, and then of course it overflowed!

All we wanted to do,  was this...

But we were extremely busy, and we had to rush from one appointment to another.
Luckily it was all fun, especially the wine tasting on Saturday afternoon, and the Rock Cod fish braai on Saturday. In the cold!

The Little Missy had a great weekend playing with friends, and with her cousins. We don't see her when the friends are around - she is off playing with them!

I realised this morning that her 3-4 year old clothes are not doing the job any more (I had hoped it would still see me through the winter)...
She complains that her stomach stays cold. So we are off to the shops this afternoon.

And the weekend is gone!


Hope your weekend was good?

The sky is falling on our heads! Please!

We've got a bit of a cold spell going on in South Africa.

There's reports of some sort of rain ice-rain sleet snow falling in some part, and we are all making updates about the weather!

It is big excitement here!

Snow is not something that we see here on a daily basis. 

Not even on a yearly basis...

We ran out from our office when somebody told us that she is seeing something here in Johannesburg, but except for a few wet drops on the paving, there was nothing to see and to report...

I am thinking of my children who is at university and at pre-primary school, presumably freezing... Hope not!

While I am warm and snug in my office cubicle! (*Guilty!*)

Have you seen the snow?
Where?

UPDATE:
Yes, we've got snow! (12:00 pm)

Taking a break & first ballet for the Toddler

A chilled weekend!

We had some friends over on Friday.
We should make more time to see our friends! That’s what we decide every time... We should not let the rat race and tiredness prevent us from meeting our friends and family o a regular basis. Even if it means scheduling it into our dairies weeks ahead!

The gymnastics started again after the holidays, and the Toddler enjoyed every minute! It seems everything they were taught the previous semester soaked in during the holidays!

We took the Toddler to her first ballet on Saturday. She sat mesmerized looking at Cinderella at the UJ Arts Center. There were a lot of keen girls with their parents, and a bit of a buzz on the balcony where we were sitting. The Toddler had her finger in front of her mouth, trying to shush them... She was immensely impressed and told us that she wants to dance like that!

Today was spent at home. We just chilled in the winter sun (which was really great today), and Hubby barbequed great chicken and vegetables!  (Master Chef was in the house again!) It was nice to do NOTHING, and some more of NOTHING!

The Toddler is struggling with a cold and a cough! Hubby took the day Friday to keep her at home. It was a first, because I usually stay at home. He said he enjoyed the bonding with her, and I came home to a tidied home, ready for the guests!  (He’s a Keeper!)

But Toddler is not yet better! I just hope that she is going to be well by tomorrow when we want to go to work again. What are the odds? (Don’t tell me!)

And she’s not sleeping yet... It’s half past nine on a Sunday night!

A weekend away: Season's Eco Golf Estate

Season's Eco Golf Estate

It was bitterly cold here, but we had a lovely weekend not too far from home!
The walks in the winter sun, lots and lots of food, red wine and the fireplace helped to keep us warm!

The only "wild" animals we encountered...

But we had some "wild" visitors at the chalet!

The toddler: "Check!" (In English). 
We had to "check" the whole weekend long. A word she most probably picked up at day care.

Also "Jis!", which we think comes from the "Yes's!" that her dad and grandfather screamed during the rugby of the weekend! We are trying to replace it with a proper "Yes"!

Lots of stuff for the toddler to do!

Even a "ride" on Spiderman, although it was not working...(Luckily she is still at the age where she does not mind that the toys are not moving. She gets her thrills from sitting on it!)

The scary staircase, which did not phase the toddler at all!

Of course, the weekend has gone by in a swoosh!
What did you do to keep warm?

What to do on a Thursday night?

In surburbia? When Hubby is not here, and The Teen is on her forever tour… (It feels like that! Two weeks are very long!)


It is only me and the Toddler tonight! The case of when the cat is away… What to do?

No, Hubby, before you get concerned… I can’t wait for a quite night all on our own, just The Toddler and me. Being lazy and going to bed early… What is better than that?

Autumn has arrived with its cold spread of clouds, grey, wet and orange. I think we have had three days of this already, and the main topic of conversation is the weather on this side of the world. We are very one track minded, we South Africans! We are complaining already! I do hope it is not a very long winter this year! Three months are way too much…

Vegging out on the couch tonight does not sound like too bad of a deal with the weather!

What would you do on a night like tonight?

Looking at the stars

The blocked nose of the past few days made it very difficult for the toddler to go to sleep. More than the usual! Even breastfeeding did not do the trick; because she had to come up for air more than she was able to drink! The flu is a bummer!

She was crying and putting up a fight to go to sleep last night. Out of sure desperation I drew the curtains and blinds and told her we were going to look at the stars!

In suburbia there is not much to see through the haze of lights and smog. We could distinguish a faint glimmer of some stars above the silhouettes of the nearby houses in the complex. We did see two planes going by as well...

It was five minutes at the most, and I heard the faint snore of a blocked little nose... Mieka was gone for the night! I called Dries to come and look at the sweet figure lying on the bed. Very precious!

Dries said tonight he missed her in our bed last night! (We don’t know what we want, do we?)

I have found another tactic to get her to sleep: Looking at stars! Definitely worth trying again!

Winter groans

Finally, the winter has arrived in all its cold splendour. (Ha-ha. The sarcasm can’t even warm my cold hands!)

We are a sorry bunch here! We complain and groan! Our standard greeting includes something about the cold!

“It is cold!” “It is freezing!”

Very lame and boring! As if it is the only thing happening here in South Africa...

No, wait! There is the minute detail of a World Cup happening on our soil! We are lamenting our sorry loss in the World Cup soccer as well.

“We lost!”

“Our Boys were pathetic!”

“It’s the referee!”

“It’s the coach!”

“It’s our Boys!”

We are a bit deflated and a bit cold here...

BUT, we still have a lot to be proud of. We actually pulled off the World Cup where everybody said it couldn’t be done. That is a lot being done on this side of the World!

I am proud of us! I really am! (I am tuning out all the negative comments, on purpose!)

And it is nearing the 21st of June. The middle of winter. Very soon it is turning, and summer is around the corner!

It is holiday time here as well! We are starting to pack for a seaside holiday. What is better than that?

A lot to be thankful for!

(Photo: Mieka with her nephew, Gideon, who is five months younger)