Hotels by the sea, mini mussel pots and summery sunflowers

What a week it’s been! With it being week 8 of my 10-week GetSmarter SEO course I’ve not attended many events after hours in the past few weeks, but this week there was one I just couldn’t refuse, in walking distance to work. And of course we packed in as many fun activities as possible around my weekend assignments…

Friday,  16 October 2015: Local Spur dins

It all started with a continuation of the ‘milkshake love‘ from earlier in the day. I was still so full from my Bootleggers burger that all I had room for was this Bar-One shake. It was just as good as it looks.

You can just see a bit of Husband’s bacon-chicken-avo salad. I helped him finish.

Saturday, 17 October 2015: Blueberries breakfast and RWC victory

As Saturday was the quarter-final leg of RWC2015 we simply had to wear South Africa/Springbok gear. This is me pouring my espresso into my frothed milk at Blueberries in Table View Shopping Centre – we’ve lived in the area for almost 3 years now and this was our first visit!

You’re probably wondering what on earth Husband is eating. That’s how his eggs Florentine was served, with toast on the side. Despite being a bit runny, it was good, he said.

And for me? Of course I went for something decadent – this here banana-and-caramel stuffed pancake is just what the doctor ordered!

Skip over some shopping, gardening and assignment stress – here we are watching the Springboks slide into the RWC2015 semi-finals!

Sunday, 18 October 2015: Pricy breakfasts, exploring Lagoon Beach hotel and enjoying the  afternoon sunshine

If you’re charging me R25 for a short cappuccino, it had better come with a shortbread biscuit, like this one at Bread & Butter.

My rather amazing flapjack stack included grilled banana, crispy streaky bacon and lots of extra syrup on the side. Just perfect.

And for Husband? Eggs benedict, of course. He wishes they’d serve on plates instead of breadboards.

Then we went on a little explore, as the weather was just so sunny. We headed to Lagoon Beach Hotel to have a looksie.

This is Husband at the (cold) outdoor pool overlooking the beach. There are supposedly warm pools on the premises too but we didn’t spot them… and we’re pretty good at being hotel spies!

Gorgeous display of assorted flowers indoors. Yes, they’re real.

Not yet ready to sit indoors, we headed to our weekend afternoon favourite – the Driftwood. I kicked off my shoes, obvs.

Husband enjoyed his mussel pot starter.

So many assorted birdies were around that day.

A curious feathered friend nibbled gently at Husband’s fingers

Wednesday, 21 October: Oats-so-easy in a pot and interesting local art

Wednesday was set to be a busy day as I was attending an art expo near work once the clock struck 6pm. To get me through, I tried the new Jungle Oats so easy ‘apple cashew’ easy heat pot. Very tasty but not something for every day, at R10.

I’ve been to the Bright Space on Albert Street a few times now but always find something new to marvel at. This painting is what caught my attention on Wednesday evening on my way to see the ‘Poem painting project’ – click here for my overview..

Of all the art on display, this was my favourite, titled ‘Rage’.

Thursday, 22 October 2015: Beautiful flowers at Design Indaba offices

Thursday was another busy day with an afternoon planning meeting at Design Indaba’s offices in town. Have you ever seen a more summery sight than this? They’re almost ‘minion yellow’, one of this year’s two Pantone colours.

That’s all, folks! Hope you’ve had a wonderful week 🙂

Long weekend pastel milkshakes, continental breakfasts and Bo-Kaap houses galore

The last weekend was the last long weekend we’ll see it a while, and we celebrated it in style. Yes, I rhymed for a reason – to make you smile 🙂 Here’s what you missed…

Friday, 1 May 2015: Worker’s Day, Bassie has her stitches out, Cattle Baron lunch buffet

Little Miss Bassie, home after having her stitches removed at the vet first thing that morning. We gave her a green chewy treat as a reward. She didn’t look so pleased with it, at first…

But was soon munching away, at the opposite end of the couch to her brother.

My parents discovered our local Cattle Baron has a wonderful weekday buffet lunch special. This is my coffee shake. The rest of the photos were badly lit, so you’ll have to take my word about what good value it was. All the ribs, fish, rice, curry, veggies and salad you can eat for R69. R59 for pensioners. Most folk had four plates full.

Saturday, 2 May 2015: Bo-Kaap street explore, Panama Jacks lunch

In my two+ years as a Capetonian I’d not once been up the Bo-Kaap streets with their colourful houses. That changed on Saturday morning. Bunting banners were up, too.

So bright and cheery, and no colour duplicates. No wonder it’s such a popular photo destination for tourists.

I spotted this dog watching me over his wall, so I took a photo. He was still as a statue, as though he was well-versed in posing for photos.

Such an interesting archway on Wale Street.

Panama Jacks for lunch? Don’t mind if I do! Dad is having calamari and I’m busy with what the waiter called a “pink shake”. Tasted exactly as it looked.

Sunday, 3 May 2015: Continental breakfasts and windy beach walks

Coffee first thing in the morning after getting up (or as soon as possible thereafter) makes me so happy you can see the smile in one eye alone. Helps if the cappuccino is only R10 as it’s part of your breakfast at Euro Haus on Loop.

Yes, Husband is very photogenic, but the point of this photo was all the interesting wooden keyboards on the wall above his head at Euro Haus on Sunday morning. We were lucky to get a table, you can see it’s a popular spot.

The ultimate continental breakfast. If you’re ordering breakfast at Euro Haus on Loop Street, you coffee/cappuccino/tea is just R10, and you get this bread basket filled with fresh, flaky croissants and rolls, as well as assorted little jam tubs – brought to your table for free.

My scumdiddlyumptious French toast croissant with bacon and syrup.

Husband’s eggs ben with salmon at Euro Haus. “Was nice”, he confirms.

How do you boost my mood if I’ve already had my fill of coffee for the day? With a peanut butter-chocolate milkshake at Driftwood Cafe, of course…

Husband and Bassie during our very wintery beach walk.

Monday, 4 May 2015: Half-price Spur burgers and roaring fires during loadshedding

Lighting’s not great but this is to show you just how long the queue was at our local Spur in Bayside on Monday evening, when we were on our way out – one of the few functional food places during loadshedding. We always enjoy their two-for-one Monday burger special.

There was still an hour or so of loadshedding to sit through when we got home, so Husband lit a fire. The doggy children enjoyed the warmth.

Tuesday, 5 May 2015: Gartner Architecting Digital Business conference at CTICC

My standard “what do the flowers at the CTICC reception desk look like today” photo. Bright tulips are always a win.

Delightful breakfast offering at the CTICC – custard pastries, muesli-yoghurt-berry shots and strong filter coffee, perfect for spilling in the saucer, as I do. Great way to introduce yourself at an event.

Wednesday, 6 May 2015: Owlie office mug jealous of cakes set in plain sight

What better was to get through a Wednesday in your first full five-day work day in a while (thanks, public holidays) than with a colleague’s birthday treats?

Thursday, 7 May 2015: #FirstThursdays on Wale Street

Fair Trade coffee is often more expensive, but tastes delicious and you buy with a better conscience. This was Bean There, the setting for Thursday evening’s #FirstThursdays event – the last one of the season before winter strikes, and my first ever. Pleasantly surprised how well-attended it was.

For R19.50, my Fair Trade cappuccino sure did look – and taste – like it was made with love.

And this, you ask? Well, in conjunction with #FirstThursdays, it was the launch of Skip washing powder’s new #FabulousDressProject, to showcase Skip’s stain-removal power. Attendees got to artfully decorate pure white material however they pleased in the hope of winning a bespoke ivory dress. Fun after a busy day of work.

Could not resist a photo of the bathroom at Bean There. Do you SEE the amazing wallpaper? It’s even on the ceiling. And the lampshade? Priceless.

That’s all, folks. We’re back to regular two-day weekends (sob) so expect the posts to be slightly less photo-heavy for a while. Enjoy and stay warm – I sense we’re on the verge of the 2015 ‘bangers-and-mash-capades‘! 🙂

Easter weekend 2015: Banana split sundaes and Durbanville emus

It’s funny how a shortened work week never really feels shorter. That’s because we tend to still fit in a full five days’ worth of work, so the day off is lovely and relaxing but by the time you reach the end of the week again, you’re exhausted. Multiply that by two weeks and it’s little wonder Husband and I are both a bit poorly today. Nonetheless, we have indeed made it to the edge of the weekend again. And so, without further ado (or ‘further adieu’, as I’m seeing it lately – why is this?) I present to you how we spent our long Easter weekend 2015…

Thursday, 2 April 2015: Easter weekend eve celebrations

Dad and Husband with their ‘long weekend at last’ drinks at the Driftwood. Lighting made everything very pink in this shot. We were there for the Moroccan buffet, tis a good deal.

Friday, 3 April 2015: Good Friday gardening

You need a big breakfast if you have a busy day of gardening ahead. So once we’d slept in a little later than normal, we trotted off to our nearest Spur for their R25 breakfast special. This is clearly before I’d started my cafe latte…

And here is Husband with his breakfast – he always gets an extra cheese griller, and the huge Tabasco sauce bottle

As part of the gardening, we finally put the swing bench up in our new front garden. Both doggies tested it with me, as they do.

Saturday, 4 April 2015: treating ourselves to a new lounge recliner set

Inexpensive yet filling breakfast from McDonald’s – the hot cakes (I always want to ask if they sell like hot cakes, har har) with the coffee that came as part of Husband’s McMuffin meal.

Cheers to Husband, who won our Scrabble game that eve. Again. I’m yet to beat him 😦

Sunday, 5 April 2015: Easter Sunday slow-cooked beef and beer stew

We usually end up with a photo of the McPherson’s garden centre cat at the same table as Husband. This time he curled up inside while we braved the windy outdoors.

Husband enjoyed his eggy breakfast.

You’d think it was Valentine’s Day, not Easter. Loved all the brightly coloured flowers…

And look! Mum and Dad said the Easter bunny dropped this off for me, so they brought it along for our Easter slow-cooked lunch. Beautiful purplish flowers with a few marshmallow eggs planted throughout.

The Easter flowers look just right in my garden ‘wall of weird’.

Of course the second before I took this photo you would have seen Bassie perched on top of the couch along with Bertie. She has super-fast reflexes when I get the camera out, that one.

Bassie baby loved all the attention from Granny.

Bertie looked VERY sad about something!

What do you get, when your Easter dessert ingredients look like this?

You get this! Tall banana split sundaes, with tin roof ice cream, maraschino cherries, nuts, and blobs of Nutella-stuff. Mmm.

Mmm. More of the Nutella-like stuff. Delicious.

Bassie was Very Interested in mine and kept veering towards it.

Monday, 6 April 2015: End of long weekend sunset

When it’s the last day of a long weekend, we treat ourselves to a fancier breakfast. This is me greeting the porcelain bunnies at the welcome desk of Crown, a restaurant on the Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville, just down the street from home. Sort of.

My cappuccino was THE most amazing. Very nearly ordered another.

And then! My breakfast! Delicious cake-like French toast and lots of slivers of banana – and just look at the amount of crispy, streaky bacon that adorned my plate! Husband had to help me finish!

Just look at Husband’s salmon eggs ben! With a drizzle of some form of dark sauce, we think it was balsamic vinegar.

Some of the lovely bright Durbanville sights…

We even met an emu or two.

Caught in the act: Husband’s Sunday afternoon large banana milkshake at our local Wimpy.

My absolutely wonderful Wimpy shake. I went for the ‘salted caramel brownie’ option – little chunks of brownie were swirled throughout, so I put that spoon to use.

If you live in Table View, you’ll have heard an owl has taken up residence at one of our local shopping centres. I happened to look up after our milkshake visit and there he was!

Mum-in-law identified him as an eagle owl. He seems very sleepy.

This is how poor Husband had to drive to the parents’ house for lupper – with his aviation headset blocking out Bertie’s enthusiastic shouting/singing/greeting all the way there.

Sunset was very pretty that evening, with clouds that turned pink…

And pinker yet…

And pinkest still.

Thursday, 9 April 2015: Woodstock graffiti

A much-needed pick-up in the office, provided by a colleague.

I couldn’t resist stopping to snap this baboon painted onto a random wall in Woodstock on my way to an afternoon event. Must have looked like such a tourist.

Seemingly out of place afternoon coffee in a wine cellar.

That’s all, folks! Here’s to a weekend that’s so relaxing, it feels like an extra day snuck in for fun 🙂

Two braais in a week, tongue-disrupted doggy walk and the ‘no photos of Bassie’ fail

And so, 2014 came to an end and 2015 began. How did we celebrate? As all South Africans do of course, with a braai. And another braai. And a doggie walk that was just so long Bertie decided to sit and smile and loll his tongue halfway through. See this unprecedented behaviour from the world’s most energetic doggie below…

Wednesday, 31 January 2014: Braai-ing out the old year

Look how lovely and relaxed Husband is here – the coals are lit and ready to go. The vest he’s wearing has since been lost in the sea, alas… long story.

Really looks like Bassie’s trying to tell me something here…

Figured it out. This is beautiful Bassie pleading with me to stop taking photos of her. I tried but failed, as you’ll see.

Dinner is served! Look at the dear sweet doggies hoping they’d get some. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #1…

Thursday, 1 January 2015: New Year’s Day brunch and a long doggie walk

Love how Husband captured our New Year’s Day brunch at my parents in this photo

Bassie begged her Granny for some treats. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #2…

Look at my sweet family, all watching magician shows on the TV reflected in the mirror… Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #3…

After a nap, we took the doggies for a wander around McPherson’s – here you can see Bassie trotting along at her dad’s side, and Bertie quite a way behind them. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #4…

They really love trotting through long grass! Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #5…

Then, after about 20 minutes of walking, Bertie saw a shady spot under a tree and made a flying leap for it. And sat and sat and sat, with his tongue lolling happily. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #6…

Look at that tongue!

Later that day I had some of the lemon curd Mom had made, spread on her citrus-cupcake creations. So delicious!

For early dins that night we went to Earth Cafe, near our old house. The sweet n sour chicken was delightful

Husband thoroughly enjoyed his seafood noodles, too, despite the blinding sunlight

Saturday, 3 January 2015: Blustery beach visit

We’re so lucky to live here

Despite the sunshine it was really chilly out

Husband’s always up for a dip in the sea, no matter how blustery the day

Here is Husband, having his dip

Cooling himself down in the rock pools

Sunday, 4 January 2015: Braai-ing in the new year

Bassie gave her Grampa lots of love when he came to our housie for a Sunday braai. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #7… She’s probably whispering to him that he should watch out, I’m taking yet another photo

Husband deftly braaied using his new grid for our second ever braai at this house, in the space of a week. Not bad when you consider we only braaied once at the old house, the whole of last year

Bassie jumped onto her Granny’s lap and rested her head on the table. Oops, ‘No Bassie photos’ fail #8…

Mum and me, enjoying our meal

Monday, 5 January 2015: Spur’s two-for-one burger special

Spur’s ‘two for one’ Monday burger special comes in handy when you’ve just had your first day back in the office. That’s why I look so tired, yes

That’s all for now, folks – You’ll note with the first two un-numbered photos of Bassie, she appeared 10 times in this blog post… oops.

Waiting for burgers all weekend & introducing deep-fried Oreos

Time really does seem to go faster the closer we get to the end of the year. It feels like just yesterday that we put in an offer on the house we liked – when in reality that was a whopping four months ago, and moving day is next weekend already!

Speaking of weekends, here’s what we’ve been up to since my last update… The burgers at Wembley Roadhouse are definitely all they’re hyped up to be – despite not being a proper ‘order from your car’ roadhouse and the impossible queue at weekend lunchtime. Food also took an age to arrive at Hudson’s Burger Joint in Claremont but that could just be Sunday syndrome. My advice? Definitely try them, but go during the week if you can.

Right, without further ado…

Thursday, 13 November 2014: AfricaCom at the CTICC

Couldn’t resist taking a photo of the pretty welcome desk on my first visit to the CTICC

Showing me how they looked out the window waiting for me to get home. There may have been slight exaggeration on some parts.

Sometimes the simplest meal is best for dins. Husband made me a fried egg in the star shape he cut from this slice of bread

Saturday, 15 November 2014: Breakfast at Beach House Tavern, Woodbridge Island; lunch at the Wembley Roadhouse; sundowners at News Cafe Blouberg

Husband rearranged the chips on his Beach House Tavern ‘Full English’ breakfast plate into a smiley face. Not bad for R49 as it included mushrooms

Husband tucking into his Masala burger from the Wembley Roadhouse. Actually worth the 45-minute wait.

My frikkadel cheese burger was just as good. It was raining so we ate in the car, as you can see – despite having to go inside to order.

After some packing we headed to our nearest News Cafe for a reward. That’s my strawberry daquiri rimmed in blue sugar and Husband’s Long Island Ice Tea. Bonus – we arrived in time to watch the rugby, AND my cocktail was marked down to R29 as it was happy hour

Sunday: Breakfast at News Cafe Blouberg; lunch at Hudsons Diner, Claremont

We noticed there’s an early bird breakfast special at the News Cafe if you order before 10am, so were back the next day for this amazing muesli jar, R30, and a just-as-good eggy breakfast for Husband – down the gullet too fast for a photo, alas

Husband ‘cheers’-ed my homemade lemonade at Hudson’s Burger Joint in Claremont for lunch – accompanied by a wonderful jalapeno ostrich burger.

Tart, slushy and minty. Just the way lemonade should be. Didn’t stop me from having drinks envy over all the enormous milkshakes we watched floating past though – will have to sample next time!

You guys. Deep-fried Oreo. It turns the chocolate biscuit into almost cupcake consistency, with the sweet icing layer between and icing sugar dusted on top absorbing any greasy doughnut feeling. Amazing. And R25 for four seemed reasonable.

Bassie looked like a puppy while lapping some toffee-caramel milk at Granny’s house

Monday, 17 November: Extending the weekend feeling by dining on the Spur ‘two-for-one’ burger special

As if the tell-tale desert scene and cow-print booth behind my head doesn’t give the location away, this is me happy to have an Amarula hot chocolate to accompany our ‘two-for-one’ burger specials at Spur on Monday.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014: Gazing out Ogilvy’s window at the launch of Wallop!

The amazing view from Ogilvy’s offices in Woodstock, when I attended a special book launch on Tuesday evening

Wednesday, 19 November 2014: mid-week curries at Indian Chapter 2, Blouberg

One of the nicest strawberry milkshakes – real fruit bits at the bottom, This was at Indian Chapter 2 in Blouberg – we’ve been to the original Indian Chapter and even chatted to owner Prim Reddy before. The ‘second chapter’ is in walking distance from the first and has the better decor, in my opinion

That’s all, folks… on with the next weekend we go! 🙂