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!

Chocolate French toast, straddling the sea and two Big Bay markets

Yip, you read that right – chocolate French toast, and two separate market visits in Big Bay. I’ll let the images below speak for themselves…

Saturday, 24 October 2015: Chocolate French toast breakfast at Rococoa

When you agree 100% with a sign like this there’s nothing you can do but take a photo in front of it.

Ah, Rococoa. They may be known for their chocolate, but their coffee is just as good. Click here for a reminder of their wonderful hot chocolate I had last year…

For me, the French toast with bacon, grilled banana and lots of chocolate drizzled on top. Ate every last bite, just like last time. Nom nom nom.

For Husband, the eggs benedict on cocoa-English muffins.

“Listen here, Mommy says we mustn’t lie on the brand new bedding. Let’s pretend we didn’t hear her.”

“Oh hello Mommy, ignore us – nothing to see here, we’re just statues, move along…”

“Oh hello Mommy – it’s OK I’m under the new bedding, not on top.”

And so to distract them we took them to the seaside. Look at this dear little head.

The biggest smile from my little boy when he realised we were almost at the beach.

Little Miss Bassie looking deceptively calm as we reached Kreeftebaai, one of the few doggie-frendly beaches in our area

This is how they veer whenever we go to the beach: Bertie for the birdies and the water, Bassie for the safety of the dunes. ❤

Post-beach walk. There’s Bertie in the back seat barking at all the birdies and telling all the other doggies he’s been to the beach, while Bassie offers her nose to the camera.

Sunday, 25 October 2015: Exploring Big Bay morning market, straddling the sea at Silwerstroomstrand

Little did we know that there was a market of sorts at Seaside Village in Big Bay – complete with petting zoo, R6 cake slices (lemon meringue for me, #thankyouverymuch) and all sorts of pretty bunting and decorations. How gorgeous does this tree look?

I got Husband to pose under these ‘birdies’ in the CTFM. He then wanted to be at a real beach…

So off to the sea we went! Here is Husband roughly knee-deep in the sea at Silwerstroomstrand, between Melkbos and Langebaan

We walked about halfway down the perimeter wall before sensing danger and turning back.

“Oh, you’re busy on your computer thingie? It’s OK Granny, I’ll wait here behind you”.

Wednesday, 28 October 2015: Ferrero Rocher in the office, cloudy Table Mountain and the I ❤ Big Bay Market

A sweet treat that arrived at the office for me this week to celebrate my new title.

On my way to the bus that afternoon I snapped the ‘table cloth’ over Table Mountain.

One of the first things I did at the I ❤ Big Bay Market that evening, held at the Lifesaving Club: sampled the cookies n cream icecream. T'was lovely.

Oh my goodness. Best thing at the market? Well I didn’t try everything on offer (there were some amazing-looking brownies, fudge and wraps)… but we opted to share the ‘chilli cheese’ NOB (No Ordinary Burger). Only an 8-minute wait for us luckily, as friends who went later waited an hour for their pork bun!

They delightfully sliced the burger in half for us, for easy sharing. Husband grinned his approval…

Here’s my half – almost as big as my face!

That’s all, folks! Hope you have a relaxing weekend ahead…

DIY patio-ing, rooftop sunset panoramas and almost snorkelling with seagulls

The nicest thing about owning a house is you can do whatever you like with it, and hopefully increase its value in doing so. That’s why one of the first things we did after moving in to our Very First Housie two-and-a-half months ago was to knock some nails in the walls. But of course we have far grander plans than that. And as Husband is quite the MacGyver-type handyman, he’s happy to do it himself instead of paying someone else to do it for him. That’s why I now have the most beautiful light fittings, ceiling fans, bedroom cupboard area, and thanks to last weekend’s efforts, a very strong support structure for a lovely sheltered patio area. But of course, that’s not all we did…

Friday, 6 February 2015: Loadshed roof exploring

Last Friday we were loadshed the moment we got home from work. Luckily the sun was still shining brightly, so Husband used the time to finally get up on the roof to do some exploring. This is what he saw, directly behind us…

Our neighbours to the left and back – these are not townhouses or flats but freestanding homes

Traffic heading toward the setting sun in front of us

To the front and right of us. Note an empty can in top right corner of our garage roof, almost in line with the ‘Parklands – no dumping’ sign. Oh, the irony!

Then he stitched the pics together as a panoramic shot, and this what a variation of what’s all around our housie. Beautiful.

Saturday, 7 February 2015: Breakfast at Melissa’s, lunch at Panama Jacks and first stage of patio beam installation

Leafy shape in my flat white from Melissa-s in Blouberg – our first ever visit to Melissa’s.

Husband ensuring his eggs ben breakfast was well and truly sauced

And for me? A slice of pecan praline cheesecake, thank you very much 😉

Tummies purring, we set off to do our ‘wood’ research, and found the place with the best price. Here I’m sitting in the backseat while the lengths of wood stick out the back of Bluebell – we did tie them down with rope, too. Of course MacGyver-y Husband thought of that

Wood purchased, we left it under the doggies’ care at home while dashing off to meet the parents at Panama Jacks for the last of Husband’s birthday celebrations. Here are dad and me

With Husband and mom facing us

Dad had this for his lunch – 4 crayfishy pieces, with rice and spicy sauce

After lunch we stopped at the beach for a quick dip. I noticed the seagulls were very close to the coming tide

Then his feet got wet. Mr Gull flew off before he could take Husband up on his offer to accompany him snorkelling, though…

The water was absolutely amazing, in colour and temperature. #nofilter

Here is Husband, about to set off on his snorkelling trip, with flippers on his feet. He said he saw little green fish yellow eyes

Then we got home and Husband got to work, putting up the first beam. Looks like he’s standing on air but it’s a trick of the light, he really is on the ladder. Take no notice of the scrubby garden, that’s a project for another weekend.

Sunday, 8 February 2015: Breakfast at Cafe Lacomia, drinks at Captain’s Kitchen

We needed to buy a few more DIY-type things on Sunday morning, so breakfasted at Cafe Lacomia, right inside our nearest Builder’s Warehouse. Here is Husband perusing the menu…

Look at the mini croissant we each got to sample before our breakfast, and the two (yes, two!) little cookies that accompanied my cappuccino. Nice touch.

Odds and ends purchased, we went back home, where Husband finished off the patio roof frame rather fast

Here he is nonchalantly sitting on it, to prove it’s sturdy and can take the weight of my hammock chair

Satisfied with a job well done, we headed to Captain’s Kitchen in Big Bay to wet our whistles.

I went for a coffee milkshake, of course

Mum made wonderful dom pedro things after lupper

Wednesday, 11 February 2015: Nutella hot chocolate at Melissa’s

As luck would have it, I had my second Melissa’s experience this week, when attending a breakfast business meeting at Melissa’s on Kloof Street. This is the Nutella hot chocolate.

Later that day, on my trip home, I snapped this shot – it’s a sight you only get to see from the MyCiti bus lane in Paarden Eiland. Gorgeous cloud-covered mountain

Thursday, 12 February 2015: Refreshing (alcoholic) work lollies

Thursday was the #BizTrends20-15 event, held at the Inner City Ideas Cartel in the CBD. It was a really humid day, so these tequila-lemonade lollies went down a treat!

Friday, 13 February 2015: Office Valentine’s Day celebrations

Our entertainment committee put together the most amazing candlelit brunch, which suited the suddenly-rainy weather. Here’s my selection of eats and flute of Appletizer (though there was sparkling wine on offer, too), on our fake-grass carpet.

Who said red and pink are clashing colours? Divine

Of course we played Bad Cupid – so pleased with what I ended up with – an owlie travel mug, just perfect for someone who loves coffee and owls

That’s all for now, folks – but this is my birthday weekend, so I’m sure there’ll be a cake or two involved – have some for me 😉

Cape Town shows off at sunset and see assorted doggie tongues

When I looked at the photos I’d taken last weekend (there were over 100 in total, but I cut it down to my favourite 20 or so so as not to bore you, dear reader) I noticed a few common themes in them – lots of sunshine, and lots of doggy tongues. See below…

Saturday, 18 October 2014: milkshakes, pretty sights and Cape Town at sunset

Such a beautiful way of grouping flowers by colour, at the new FNB Portside building where I attended the Cape Town World Design Capital 2014 convocation ceremony on my lonesome after popping in at a friend’s bachelorette at the Waterfront on Saturday afternoon

Magical sounds came from this beautiful ‘muso in a bubble’ concept while guests snacked and mingled before the event

My phone does not take great photos at night, so I apologise for the poor quality but couldn’t resist snapping Lion’s Head lit up at sunset from the 28th floor of the FNB Portside building

And this was the view over Signal Hill as the sun went down

Husband sent me this interesting photo while he was out bachelor’s party-ing. If you can’t place it, that’s his beer on the ledge on top of a club, looking down on Long Street below

Sunday, 19 October 2014: Bluest blue beaches and stunning sunsets

Yes, that’s a Samsung’s blue filter at work on a Sunday morning…

That tiny speck under Table Mountain is Husband gallivanting on the rocks, as he does

Muscadel-drenched strawberries with scoops of tin roof ice cream at Mum’s

Sunset at Woodbridge Island – gorgeous, even with bits of the car dashboard in the shot

Monday, 20 October 2014: Post-work doggie beach walk and Spur half-price burgers

Bertie unfurls his tongue in the car on the way to the beach – look how long it is!

Doggies running on the beach with their dad – loved the clouds splattered across the sky

Bright white sunset

Bassie baby licking sand off her nose – her brother had run off to bark at birds so she turned back to keep me company while we waited for her dad to return with Barky McBarkerson

Doesn’t it look like she’s gazing off contentedly in this shot?

Happy smiley Bassie with a sandy nose, you can just see Bertie’s neck, back and tail in back left

Licking her lips in contentment

Blue filter in action again at our local Spur – love how it enhanced the jersey of girl in booth behind me! Yes, that’s an Amarula hot chocolate – cheaper than a Spur milkshake, can you believe?!

I cartoonified Husband. He looks lovely. As does his bright orange Fanta.

That’s all, folks 😉

The blog post that almost wasn’t: Anniversary baking and new hair for the new season

Eep. Count yourself lucky to be reading/viewing this: Almost didn’t get this week’s blog update done for a number of reasons – end-of-last-month-at-old-job-exhaustion, end-of-first-week-at-new-job-excitement, couldn’t find connecty cable to get photos off phones, lost whole wad of photos that had been taken on old work phone (Sob!)

But as Brandy sang, “almost doesn’t count”. So I persevered! And in the end, I got it done! Yay, loyal blog readers, aren’t you lucky? Here’s what we’ve been up to lately – had my hair did (shorter for summer, still purple), and I even baked, for the first time in Cape Town!…

Wednesday, 24 September 2014: Heritage Day baking and braai-ing

Baking! I whipped up some cookies and diabetic-friendly cake for parents’ 36th wedding anniversary last week. Used Marian Keyes’ ‘Luxury Blueberry, Pine Nut and Chocolate Cookies’ recipe from her book, ‘Saved by Cake’. This picture is to demonstrate her instruction to ‘scoop up rounds of the dough and use your hands to flatten ball shape – your hands will get good and sticky but what harm’. What harm indeed. LOOK at how sticky and chocolatey they were!

Husband braaied for the first time this year so we could end Heritage Day on an authentic note

Saturday, 27 September 2014: Froyo at Tygervalley, thickest milkshake at Driftwood Cafe

Smooch in Tygervalley has my favourite froyo flavours, plus in their current special you can fill a little tub with as many flavours as you want (no matter the weight) for R20! Happy days. Also, apologies to random man behind me whose jeans are in the shot. You were in the way of the pretty wall

Real live duckies going for a waddle at Driftwood Cafe

Look at those frown lines! From age, yes, but also from effort of slurping super thick Mikki’s Special milkshake – mix of peanut butter, custard, honey etc. Yum!

Sunday, 28 September 2014: The big hair chop

Haircut from the front…

Haircut from the back

Tuesday, 30 September 2014: Farewell flowers and photos with wonderful colleagues, celebratory drinks and pizza with Husband at Portalia

Beautiful farewell flowers from my lovely team.

An actual keepsake Polaroidy photo we had to shake to develop! Excuse funny lighting/colouring, that’s back of Table Mountain behind me

Husband having a beer at Portalia to celebrate end of my old, rather stressful job

This was a Kahlua coffee, just right

What I’ve realised this week? There’s a reason Green Day wanted us to ‘wake them up when September ends’ (click here for a listen), and also why we call Oktobermaand “die mooiste, mooiste maand”. That’s all, folks… looks like Summer is FINALLY here! 🙂