Husband’s 36th birthday cocktails and free Table Mountain cable car trip

If your memory is better than that of a goldfish, you’ll recall that last Friday was Husband’s 36th birthday. Here’s how we celebrated, all weekend long…

Friday, 29 January 2016: Husband’s birthday cocktails at Rafiki’s & free Table Mountain cable car trip

We presented Husband with his birthday present as soon as he opened his eyes. Bertie was very excited and wanted to help with the unwrapping process.

Husband fetched me on the bike after what seemed like an endless day of work. We popped into Rafiki’s on Kloofnek to celebrate the start of the weekend – here is Husband with a Long Island ice tea. Rafiki’s is closing in a few weeks so we’re glad we had the chance to try them out.

I tried the most pina colada-sounding drink on the menu, complete with coconut milk, orange juice and pineapple.

Cocktails glugged, we set off up Kloofnek to Table Mountain. On presenting his ID, Husband’s return cable car ticket was printed for free – and as we waiting until after 6 for mine, I got it at half-price – R120 (the Sunset Special runs in Summer – we took advantage of the same deal on my 30th, click here for a reminder).

Husband and Lion’s Head, two of my favourite things in the whole of the Cape, pictured while waiting at the lower cable station.

Funny that the first thing you do once you reach the top of the mountain is look down! This was on the Camp’s Bay/Sea Point side. Lots of railings to ensure no-one slips down.

Finally taller than Lion’s Head, between us…

Lucky thing we saved on the cable car fare as the meals on top are certainly priced for tourists. Husband’s plate of curry came to R110 and his Castle Lite was R44. He loved it though and ate every grain of rice from the biodegradable plate…

My super-large pizza slice was only R38, much more reasonable. One of the best spots to eat in the city, just looks at the pretty cloudy mountains behind me.

Admiring the sunset is a must if you’ve bought a ‘Sunset special’ ticket!

Me, the setting sun and the calmest sea.

As we came down the cable car, the lights were turning on across the city below. T’was a magical sight.

Saturday, 30 January 2016: Sulky doggies & News Cafe Blouberg breakfast

Once Bassie’s had her breakfast each morning she slows sulks her way to supper. I caught her in action here.

With such sunny weather we wanted to eat with a view of the sea so settled on News Cafe in Blouberg. As we’d ordered by 10am I got my muesli jar at the ‘early bird’ price of R25, saving us R30 on the usual R55 value. Worth getting up early for.

For his first meal of the day, Husband decided on the ‘Big Ben’ at News Cafe – it’s your typical eggs benedict, surrounded by cherry tomatoes and atop mushrooms. The rest of the day was spent on weekend admin things that I didn’t capture, so let’s move along to Sunday…

Sunday, 31 January 2016: Doodles buffet breakfast, beach visit & cocktails at Saint’s

As Doodles only offers their buffet, triple-decker sandwiches and pizzas for weekend breakfast, we went for the buffet. I mixed all the cereal options with strawberry yoghurt for my first course…

…And filled a second plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, toast and flapjacks. Yummy. Husband’s plate looked similar and we were full until lupper at Mum’s that eve.

As it was a super steamy day, a beach visit was definitely on the cards. Here is Husband, towelling off after a long swim in the Atlantic – that’s about the warmest I’ve felt the sea, our side, and it was still too cold for me to venture into more than knee-deep.

Following some resting and housework Husband had his second Long Island ice tea of the weekend – this time at Saint’s, Eden on the Bay. I tried the Insomniac milkshake – chocolate, Nachtmusik and Amarula, very yummy but not pictured.

Mum baked her famous carrot cake with pineapple chunks just for Husband. We all sang to him, again.

Mid-week office cake treats

On Monday, Husband started his highly-practical four-week web development course with Shaw Academy. He’s already completed three of the ten lessons and is soaking up the knowledge.

T’was a busy week birthday-wise at work. On Thursday I was treated to this lovely chocolate cake, custard danish and assorted crisps

Today I had this tiny but absolutely delicious red velvet cupcake from Woolies.

A delicious, heart-happy week all in all – here’s to another weekend that’s filled with good things!

#Poolfail2015, cloudy Signal Hill and raspberry fingertip tops

Tired. Worn out. In need of a break. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who works full-time and doesn’t feel that way at this time of year. Not to say we haven’t enjoyed ourselves. It’s been a good year, but a really long one. We’re so looking forward to our ‘staycation’, coming up after just a few more days of work.

It’s that thought, and the following highlights and ‘exciting moments’, that are keeping us going…

Friday, 4 December 2015: Pool fill

Friday last week was hot – so hot that Husband decided we were ready to set up the pool for the first time since moving in a year ago. Right now, with water restrictions looming. Ah well. You can just see Bertie leaping out of the pool in the top right, and Bassie watching worriedly in bottom left.

Bertie took cautious high-raised steps all around then started galloping excitedly in the water.

My little one in the not-very-full pool. Love that tiny face!

Saturday, 5 December 2015: Adirondack collection, lazy Driftwood lunch

First thing Saturday morning we went in to Husband’s work to set up a print that had to be sorted out that weekend. I love his little desk fan.

Next stop: Breakfast! We quite enjoy KFC’s ‘AM riser’ – it’s like a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin, but nicer. We opt for the version with a hashbrown patty. That’s my cappuccino and Husband’s breakfast Cola, obvs.

Next, we collected a slightly damaged Adirondack going to a good home – that’s Husband’s holiday DIY project, so watch this space!

Bertie had a good sniff once we got it home, as it had all sorts of ‘other doggie odours’.

Later we went to the Driftwood Cafe for lunch. Here is Husband with his ginger ale, enjoying the mist spray.

For me, the starter nachos. So filling I took half home with me for dins.

Later, Husband had a custard milkshake like me. Wonderful thirst-quencher.

First swim in home pool! Despite caps and sunblock we got a little burnt. Ouch.

But disaster struck! When we got home from doing other weekend things, we found the pool had upended itself – tiny tears in the upper air rim and not 100% flat surface were to blame. Love how the doggies seem to be discussing the situation here.

Sunday, 6 December 2015: Cloudy Signal Hill, PBJ French Toast

We were heading towards Gardens Centre for breakfast on Sunday when Husband noticed very interesting cloud formations near Signal Hill, so we took a little detour…

Before we knew it we were in a thick mist.

But soon popped out into sunshine again – that’s Cape Town weather for you!

Just look at it. Lion’s Head is actually my favourite.

Taking in the view involves quite a bit of walking around, so we worked up quite an appetite.

Curiosity sated, we returned to our original mission of breakfast. Here is Husband with a ginger beer at Pulp Kitchen

This flat white was delicious.

Oh. Em. Gee. You guys. If you like French toast, croissants and peanut butter, and you’ve not yet had the PBJ croissant French toast at Pulp Kitchen in Gardens Centre, you. are. missing. out. And at R43 it won’t exactly break the bank…

Husband opted for the traditional brekkie, with a side of chilli mince (not pictured).

Later that afternoon mum surprised us with raspberries – I’ve always wanted to stick one on the tip of each finger like she did, teehee.

Tuesday, 8 December 2015: Almond croissant

I forgot my healthy oat breakfast at home on Tuesday so just had to satisfy my hunger with this almond croissant from the coffee shop downstairs. Well worth it for R12!

Wednesday, 9 December 2015: Best shortcake cookie

On Wednesday, my lovely colleague Angie (you can just see her peering at her screen) brought in a batch of homemade shortcake cookies. They were so more-ish I asked for the recipe!

Thursday, 10 December 2015: Barclays Rise Innovation hub launch at Woodstock Exchange

As my final business event for the year was held on Thursday evening at the Woodstock Exchange, I simply skedaddled across from the office. I had not been to the Exchange before so had to photograph this enormous silver-and-black sleepy Boston Terrier sculpture.

A special blend of ice cream concocted by the Ice Cream Ninjas, just for me, at the event. It included coffee, peanut butter, fudge and a brownie. Just perfect.

Friday, 11 December 2015: Desk-side daquiris

As much of the working world was going on leave from today, we had celebratory cocktails blended right in the office to sip at our desks. This was my yummy strawberry-mint daquiri

That’s all, folks! 🙂 Depending on the weather, this weekend will likely be another relaxed one.

Bad bronchitis, belated braai day braais and messy kokedamas

“What’s a kokedama?” I hear you asking (unless you work with me, of course). All will be revealed, dear reader. Scroll on down through the past week’s highlights and ignore the coughing noise in the background – that’s me on my third day of antibiotics for this bad case of bronchitis…

Saturday, 26 September 2015: Oats for breakfast

Waking up on Saturday with my cough in full force and muscles aching from the strain, I wanted something creamy and comforting – oats was it. But not just any oats. The bowl from Greens in Plattekloof Village is enormous, packed with cinnamon, flaked almonds and banana. Did the trick.

And for Husband? Beneath all the pepper you’ll find the best mushrooms he’s had thus far as well as baked beans, fried eggs on toast, bacon, sausage and chips. Breakfast success. The rest of the day was taken up with some heavy-duty gardening for Husband and assignment completion for me…

Sunday, 27 September 2015: Belated braai day braai

For breakfast on Sunday I had health on my mind so went for the fruit cup at our local Foodlover’s – chopped fruit and grains topped with yoghurt and honey, with a side of tea.

Funny shot but the best we got, I’m afraid. Husband braaied his ginger chilli pork ribs, Mum made her famous potato salad, dad provided delicious cheese griller tasters to start…

What a happy boy! We finally had our belated Braai Day braai that afternoon – Bertie was in his elephant over all the attention from his Granny. He loves her lots.

And me? Oh, I just rustled up an orange-cashew ring cake, my favourite from the Marian Keyes ‘Saved By Cake’ cookbook, to celebrate the parents’ 37th anniversary. Alas the cake broke on exiting the bund pan, but still tasted delicious.

Sad sulky dogs once their grandparents had left.

Friday, 2 October 2015: Kokedama moss balls and pretty sunsets

The plant I chose to ‘kokedama’ at work – “Go with something small,” I cleverly thought.

Hard, messy work but we loved it.

The end product, maybe two hours after starting. First you mould the soil into a (big enough) round shape, then you add more wet soil to bulk it up, keeping it tightly packed as you go. Next you add bits of moss around the outside, which you thread all around the ball so that it’s secure and holds together. Then you add hanging string to the top and voila, you’re ready to hang your handmade hanging plant ball.

Like so – see how pretty they are?

The view on my way from the office to the bus this eve – beautiful sky, little flock of birds to the left, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill directly ahead of the Woodstock stop.

Bertie greeting his dad after work.

Bassie not too impressed that The Other Dog got to Daddy first.

That’s all, folks. No promises for this weekend’s coverage, but it’ll definitely involve some rugby supporting, breakfasting and assignment-ing 🙂 Thank goodness it’s ‘Oktobermaand’, just a little longer to go till year-end…

Lounging on jumping castles, doggies explore gardens and impromptu day trips to Atlantis

Ah, weekend. “You are so beautifullllll, to meeee.” I know I’m not alone in saying that no matter how much you enjoy your workdays, there’s no denying the important rejuvenating effect of the weekend. Maybe my stint a few years ago of working weekends – so that I ended up with roughly three months, close on 100 days of working every single day – helped colour the picture a little more brightly. That’s why I now relish the thought of coming home on a Friday and changing into my comfortables, not having to be up at a set (early) hour the next day. Unplanned weekends are the best – where you can simply do as you wish, without having to do a specific thing at a specific time with specific people. My weekend rambling’s been aided by the fact that I was on leave today, so I’m already ahead of you on the “I love weekend’ stakes… but don’t turn green with jealousy as we have a 4-day weekend coming up next! So I recommend you use this regular weekend we’re on the threshold of to stretch your weekend ideas. Come up with something wonderfully relaxing to do over the double-length one just peeping over the horizon at you. For now, here’s what we’ve been up to recently…

Saturday, 21 March 2015: Foodlover’s breakfast, Wembley Roadhouse lunch, Driftwood Cafe jumping castle

Lately Husband’s breakfast Colas just say the nicest things

I loved my breakfast cappuccino at Foodlover’s Market right back.

Husband lunched at the Wembley Roadhouse – their Whopper with egg is always a winner, no matter how long the wait

See? Nom nom nom! The foil wrapper adds a tasty touch (not that you should eat it, kids)

And then, much later, we dropped in at the Driftwood Cafe to quench our thirst. Here is Husband with his Black Label…

And me with my peanut butter-custard shake. The most amazing.

Then Husband decided to show me he still has what it takes to bounce around a jumping castle

Teehee. Best.

Sunday, 22 March 2015: Driftwood Cafe breakfast, doggies explore new front garden

In fact, we enjoyed our Driftwood snack so much that we stopped in to try their revamped breakfast menu the next morning. Success, with Husband opting for the salmon eggs benedict (and very large portion of chips)

For me, a Cafe Latte and toasted chicken mayo – not pictured but went down a treat!

Morning selfies with mom.

The wall, she is up! Just needs to be painted in home owner association-approved colours this weekend, and for the gates to be installed.

As I said, the new gates are only being installed this weekend, but Husband cleverly barricaded the gap so the doglets could get a sense of their new garden. They must have spent 45 minutes with their noses down smelling every little inch!

Love this dog. Exploring deep in the bushes.

Excitedly peering through the non-gate.

Bertie in bed, exhausted after his afternoon of exploring.

Thursday, 26 March 2015: Early morning view, office hot cross buns, Liquorice walls

Beautiful morning view out the office window.

You know I ate this hot cross bun in the office as you can see my owlie mug jealously eye-ing it. Teehee.

Such a cleverly painted office wall at Liquorice, where I attended an event in the afternoon.

Friday, 27 March 2015: Pre-sunrise trip to train station, road trip to Atlantis

One of the reasons I took today off – we were transporting Mum and Dad to the train station. They sent us this pic at 6.50am from the Blue Train lounge at the station, where they had coffee before departing.

We got from the station to Husband’s work in record time so stopped off for a quick bite first – yes, that’s a cappuccino each!

View of Lion’s Head from the new Vida just opposite the harbour, just after sunrise.

Ha. Husband took this photo of a colleague’s breakfast when he got to the office.

Later in the day I met up with Husband again as he was travelling to Atlantis to drop off some large prints. The clouds looked like they’d been tossed in a line low on the horizon.

Of course I packed road trip snacks.

In case you’re wondering, this is the formal dins on the Blue Train, courtesy of mum and dad. We had a more low-key braai at home – just the two of us with ribs, potato salad and sweet corn, mmm. Pics next week, p’raps.

See how much you can do in a weekend, even if you spend the bulk of it relaxing? Hope I’ve inspired you 🙂

Dog shows and dinner on top of The Ritz

Oh packing, how I’ve not missed thee. It’s just two years since last we met. There’s nothing quite like moving house to give your whole life a shake-up. Weekends and evenings are no longer yours to laze around in. Instead there are endless glass things to wrap in newspaper, boxes to seal, box tape to mangle by getting it stuck on itself and endless towels to dirty by dragging the heavy, sealed and probably over-filled boxes from room to room until you decide which room is the designated ‘storage room’, until the panicky final days when the whole HOUSE is a storage area, and you’ve forgotten what it’s like to traipse down the passage without tripping over something cardboardy and pointy cornered. Or maybe that’s just how I do it.

With less than three weeks to go to our big move, that’s what life’s been like lately. But of course this past week we did a little more than that, especially as I had an ‘Awesome Award’ to celebrate, from my first month at the amazing place I now work – no box-packing pics below, I promise…

Monday, 10 November 2014: Friendly hot drinks at Mugg & Bean, Paddocks

You know I love going out on Monday evenings to extend the ‘weekend feeling’ , so go out on Monday I did! I met a new friend (see her blog here, she’s inspiringly creative!) at the Mugg & Bean in Paddocks Shopping Centre – just LOOK at the delicious red velvet hot chocolate they made for me! Those are real cake crumbles accompanied by a dollop of cream cheese. It’s like drinking a slice of cake, but better.

Friday, 7 November 2014: Delicious tastes and sights at #Mobile360, at the V&A Clocktower

Morning coffee looking out at the V&A Harbour when I got to the event a bit early on Friday. With soothing music in the background, it was bliss

Chilled, fruit-flavoured waters were delicious during ‘tea’ on the unseasonally hot day

Saturday, 8 November 2014: Milnerton dog show, dinner on top of the Ritz, Sea Point

Couldn’t resist sitting on the pretty bronzey couch set-up at Cubana when we breakfasted

Husband enjoying the sunshine at the doggie show, with a wors roll and warm beer. Happiness is.

I love how the big doggie is completely unaware he’s almost photobombing me. PS: That’s not one but TWO pancakes I’m about to wolf down – one filled with Nutella, one with caramel topping. Divine.

Bassie approved of our pawprint-shaped dog show entry stamps

The Sea Point Ritz, in all its glory. Revolving restaurant is the very top bit jutting out like a top hat. Follow me…

So excited were we that we couldn’t resist a photo at the lovely staircase

Husband admiring the view. This is about 10 minutes after we were seated, as our table was originally behind the side building you can see behind Husband outside the window

View from the top, before sunset. That’s Lion’s Head peeping out in the background

Husband looking mightily pleased with himself – we were on the 24th floor, which made the cars and people below look like toys

Don’t they look like little toys, scattered on the floor?

Husband’s dimple only shows on very rare occasions! This was his satay starter – prawn and chicken with a sweet chilli dipping sauce

My ‘starter’ main – the Top of the Ritz salad, which had warm chicken, lots of cashew nuts and orange segments. I drenched it in dressing. It was wonderful, for just R56. I tried the creme brulee for dessert – topping cracked most delightfully with a single thwack from the spoon provided. I tried the creme brulee for dessert – topping cracked most delightfully with a single thwack from the spoon provided.

Husband’s linefish with mixed veg and finished accompaniment of gratinated potato. With obligatory bottle o’ Tabasco sauce, of course. See how full the restaurant is behind him – people only get seated around the outer revolving ring

Sunset begins! Alas it was too cloudy for an evening of orangey pink skies but the greys were just as striking as lights came on below

Gazing on – almost the same spot as my original photo of Lion’s Head. It takes about 75 minutes for the restaurant to fully revolve, staff say.

Pretty! Note there’s a window between me and the outside, so those funny light smudges that appear over Signal Hill are actually reflections of the lights below

Sunday, 9 November 2014: Tough packing decisions and packing celebration drinks

While packing on Sunday, I had to decide whether or not to throw away balloon owlie, who has deflated quite considerably since we got him on Father’s Day. I kept him

To celebrate the lots and lots of boxes we packed, Husband and I decided to trace down some cocktails on the beach. We shared this strawberry, lime and litchi Bacardi jam jar at the Boardhouse in Blouberg for R60.

See, I had my share too…

Deep. Word to live by at the exit to the Boardhouse

And with that we’re already at a quarter to Friday again, that much closer to the next big box-packing session. Joy 😉 (See? I may have mentioned packing and posted photos related to packing, but not a single photo of boxes did you see! Yay, me).