Knysna – part two

My mother, much to the annoyance of my father (most of the time) has decided it is her duty to keep the entire bird population of the area they live in, in a life they probably weren’t accustomed to – that is till she got there. Mango, kiwi fruit, strawberries, pineapple – to name but a few of the fruits they get given on a daily basis. There is however one blight on her horizon – her nemesis – a pigeon that just will not take the hint that he is not welcome. He eats up the bird seed of the smaller birds and tends to scare away the rest. Well all but the Louries that is.

Tamsyn spent much of her time chasing him away, not that it made any difference – within two minutes he was back again.

The area is a bird sanctuary and therefore cats are strictly forbidden – being a cat family I suspect my mother is adopting the birds as a substitute. Pretty poor substitute in my book.

We took a walk on the beach on Leisure Isle the one afternoon, the tide was out so it put pay to any ideas Tamsyn had of swimming. She walked for ages to try and find deeper water, to no avail. Jessica did the teenage thing, walked on the beach in her ‘leather’ jacket and music blaring from her ipod.

Trying very hard not to smile :)

And finally not often I’m not behind the camera, but with Tamsyn now deciding she rather enjoys photography, there are more pictures of me – well the few I haven’t deleted due to reactions like – oh gawd do I really have that many wrinkes? Or – frek, this camera adds 20 pounds, it must be defective.

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Synopsis of our trip to Knysna…

The kids and I decided to spend a few days with my folks in Knysna and rather than drive we opted to take the bus. Which surprisingly turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Due to the days and times I chose we ended up going up on City to City and coming back on the Citiliner. The City to City buses are very basic, ours had no aircon but despite this the trip really wasn’t that bad, we were allowed two ‘pit’ stops with strict instructions to ‘be back in 20 minutes’. We were also bang on time, probably had something to do with a driver who drove like a bat out of hell most of the way, not that we ever felt unsafe.

The trip back was billed an hour and a half longer, I’m still not sure why and it was made longer by the 45 minute delay waiting for it to arrive. I must say though the Citiliner buses are much more comfortable, have aircon and movies! Oddly enough though – no toilet on board. Not that one would use it, but I still thought it strange.

The time spent in Knysna was lovely and relaxing – we ate out, went shopping, ate out some more and would have gone on Dad’s boat had the weather not turned icky. (To be honest, I’m rather glad it did – I’m not a boat person but had agreed to go along, reluctantly)

Tamsyn and I played photoshoot a couple of times and if I do say so myself, I think the photos came out rather well.


My folks’ garden is the ideal place for taking pictures, truly stunning.

Not to be outdone, Tamsyn decided she’d like to try her hand at photography too…

Not bad for a nine year old… she’s rather taken to it now and has decided her ‘point and shoot’ digital camera just isn’t good enough any more, she wants one like mine.

(to be continued)

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Wounded in the course of battle…

I blame my in-laws.

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Meet Sophie

Isn’t she cute? We went and collected her this morning, having been to the vet to collect food for her and just to check that the hernia she has is as easily corrected as the woman who sold her to us said. Apparently it’s a minor procedure which they can do at the same time as they spay her. She’s a sweet little thing, haven’t really been able to gauge her personality yet, as she’s been intent on getting rid of the fleas she brought with her. She has pledged her allegiance already though…. to her mommy :)

We haven’t introduced her to Gymmie yet, although I think he knows something is up – because he’s acting up more than usual. Fool of a cat.

More photos……

It’s very tiring being a kitten…

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On the house front…

We did a few things on the house front – put up the outside light in the back,

put up the lounge curtains (yay!)

when we get the folks’ lounge suite – the lounge is really going to look good.

Poor Wouter hurt his arm quite badly when we re-potted the yuka tree

which rendered him unable to do anything, which in turn meant he was bored out of his mind, that is until he got a call from Pieter – apparently it’s a typical De Waal thing to do – break ones car and then get rescued.

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That fool of a cat…

I love my cat…and it’s wonderful having him home again…. you’re waiting for the but, aren’t you? BUT! the fool is going to be the death of me. He is an amazingly sweet cat and we’ve had no problems with him moving from Bellville to Fish Hoek. He’s been going outside since his second day here and apart from picking up a slight cold he’s settled in really well.  So why the but? Because the damn fool sleeps all day and then wakes up at 3am, which would be fine if he didn’t feel that everyone else has to be awake as well. He wakes up and then meows… not a little ‘hi, you awake?’ meow… more a ‘WAKE UP EVERYONE – LETS GO PLAY’ meow. (As an aside, Wouter put a catflap in our bathroom door for him – suffice to say…. he hasn’t quite cottoned on yet) So this morning at 3:22 I showed him the catflap…. nope, not interested. I put him outside the front door.   Two minutes later, he’s back inside (through the lounge window) insisting I get up. I “gently” shove him out my bathroom door (catflap be damned)…. ah bliss, back to sleep again.  Ten minutes later he’s back inside only this time he’s wise… he quietly jumps back on the bed. Five minutes later ‘WAKE UP EVERYONE, LETS GO PLAY’ Now the game is on.. I get out the bed to grab him, he’s off running into the lounge. I mutter under my breath about a certain cat losing several of his nine lives and climb back into bed. He figures perhaps he’s pushing his luck and jumps back onto the bed again.  Damn cat had the indecency to look at me when the alarm went off as if to say ‘what the *beep*?’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My xmas present from my in-laws.

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Xmas…

Despite it being rather hectic (both Wouter and I worked Xmas eve) we had a good Xmas dinner. It was lacking a few things – brussel sprouts, bread sauce, yorkshire puds – still we had a good time. We opened presents, drank bubbly and watched Dinner for One.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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‘Tis the season to be jolly…

I love Xmas, yes a lot of that has to do with the presents under the tree, but it isn’t just that. For me Xmas is when everyone gets together and you have a jolly good time. This year it’s a bit lean though – the kids are off to their Dad on Xmas morning leaving my folks,  Wouter and I to spend our first Xmas in the new house.  This is why we’ve decided to have our Xmas dinner and present opening on Xmas eve. I know a lot of people already do this, but for me (and my side of the family) it’s quite a foreign concept. It does mean we get to open our presents a day early… whoohoo!  It also means we’re putting quite a bit of pressure on ourselves because Wouter and I are still working tomorrow and I’ve decided that Gymmie (our terribly sweet but rather delinquent cat) needs to move in at the same time. I’m also a traditionalist…. xmas isn’t xmas without the turkey, brussel sprouts, gravy, roast potatoes, assorted veggies, xmas pud, xmas cake, trifle, mince pies etc. etc. Without all that – well it just isn’t xmas.  If you’re feeling sympathetic towards Wouter – it’s entirely justified. :-)

 

For the last umpteen years or so the kids and I have put up a rather diminutive tree – never had the space for anything more, this year I was able to borrow Mom’s.  I’m also battling to take a really decent picture of it.

Progress on the house front plods along….. two major milestones (well one and a half really) – I had the first shower in our shower… and it was fantastic.

And we finally have handles on the kitchen cupboards (well some of the cupboards – we haven’t finished putting all of them on yet).

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The sign of a *good* party…

I’m sure these pictures speak for themselves…..

 

It’s no wonder we felt a bit jaded driving down to Knysna the next morning.

Wouter mentioned we drove through to pick up a dining room table from my folks – they upgraded theirs and we seized the opportunity to finally be able to eat without having to sit on the floor first.

Eventually I’d like to change the chairs for something that goes with the table but for now they’re fine.

Spotted this flower in the garden in Bellville.

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