3rd Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Ernst and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary today. We went to Maestro's on the Beach in Milnerton, for supper and read each other love letters that we had written... It was a lovely evening. You can just see part of Table Mountain against the setting sun, behind us. I am so grateful to God for blessing me with such a wonderful husband.

Picnic at Kirstenbosch

Helen (a school friend from Rustenburg GHS) was back from JHB- were she works as a med student. She invited some friends to join her for a breakfast picnic at Kirstenbosch on Sat morning. Nada (middle) is also pregnant- a month more than me, so we'll both be mom's next year. She and Frank got married on the same day as Ernst and I- 3 years ago! We sat under a big old tree and caught up on the last few months. It's funny how our worlds have grown so far apart in some ways, since school. Some still students and others married parents!

Sunset at Clifton

Ernst and I joined Desiree and Ludwicht at Clifton on Friday- they were showing an open air movie on the beach. Sunset was magnificent.

Lezil and I

B&L Direct team

This is the B&L Direct Marketing, immediate team. Loriane (middle) owns and manages the company and Lezil is the Office Manager. We had a Christmas lunch at Mamma Roma with all our graphics designers and copywriters this week. We each had to make a gift for one other person- the gift had to be totally recyclable and cost us nothing. Being a very creative team of people, it was a lot of fun.

Ernst's Birthday!!

We had some friends and family over on Sunday for a braai, to celebrate Ernst's 26th Birthday.

Clifton Beach for supper

These are some very special friends i met in the UK. We are now all back in SA and it was wonderful to get together for a picnic supper on Friday eve at Clifton beach, to celebrate Heather's birthday. As the sun set, ppl took candles out all over the beach- they looked so beautiful flickering in the sand.

Moyo

Loriane and I were invited to Moyo for lunch on Friday, by Merpak- one of our envelope suppliers- we buy millions of envelopes from them every year. We all had to dress up with something African- so Evelyn (our domestic worker at B&L) tied a scarf on my head in the traditional Xhosa way.

K DAY!!

Ernst and i and some friends went to K-Day- 12 SA bands played from 11am to 7:30pm, while we picniced on the grass at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West. Watershed was definitely my favourite. Johnny Kleg, Parletones, Karen Zoid, Jody Williams, Flat Stanley and Freshly Ground were amongst others who played. We all got way too much sun, but it was alot of fun.

Family

This is my precious family- together at last when Lara visited us from Angola for a few days, before heading to Scotland and Canada. We get the chance to be together a few times a year-and it's always so special. This photo was taken at Java in Stellenbosch, where we went for supper.

Mt Nelson for High Tea

We took some of our clients from DA to the Mt Nelson for High Tea- to celebrate to start of summer. The weather was perfect (we sat outside on the verandah) and the food delicious. This is Cape Town's equivalent of going to the Ritz for high tea- and it defenately measures up.

NICRO

NICRO- the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintergration of Offenders- is one of our clients. We were invited to a publicity event, to celebrate a huge contribution of R30 million, made by the National Lottery Distribution fund. There were so many interesting people at the event including a prisoner turned painter- Deon Venter, the dep major of CT, Judge Erasmus and Allan Heyl. NICRO do an amazing job and really contribute to our country in such a practical, vital way.

Woman's Day Celebration

We had a Woman's Day Conference at church with some amazing guest speakers. I helped with the decoration- which included tables ladened with sweets, for the women to help themselves to afterwards.

Lunch at the Fisherman's Choice

Fish, chips and calamari at The Fisherman's Choice- a restaurant that overlooks the harbour at the V&A. We had to fight off the seagulls to keep our lunch safe!

V&A Waterfront

Ernst and I went to the Waterfront on Sunday, for lunch and to enjoy the sunny weather and each other's company. We had such a special time- the atmosphere at the Waterfront is always so vibrant and typifies the beautiful city we live in.

Pieter's Party @ Sinns Restaurant

We celebrated Pieter's birthday on Monday eve at Sinns restaurant in Cape Town. Was good to see friends, relax and catch up.

Early Spring on the West Coast

We had the most beautiful sunny weather all weekend- and it's supposed to be the middle of winter! We wore shorts and tshirts and even managed to get a tan... Stopped to take pictures of these wild daisy's, on the way back to CT.

View leaving Citrusdal

happiness is...

Seeing the flowers in bloom on the West Coast brings back such happy memories...

Citrusdal Hot Springs for the weekend

Ernst and I enjoyed the most amazing weekend away together at the Citrusdal Hot Springs- known as The Baths. The water comes out of the ground at 43 oC and is said to have healing properties. We read, slept, talked and wallowed in the warm water for 3 days- was wonderful- so relaxing.

Victorian House

We stayed in this beautiful Victorian House- which is divided into 4 self catering units.

The MacGregors

Ernst and I had Sunday lunch at The MacGregors- the small restaurant at The Baths. I had calamari strips with salad and chips and then lemon cheesecake for pudding.

Waterfall

Smokey Braai

Ernst and i decided to braai our lunch at the waterfall... after an hour of trying to burn damp wood, we returned to our accommodation to finish the -then thoroughly smoked pork sosaties- in the oven!

50th Birthday celebrations!

We had a very special weekend with Ernst's parents, celebrating Ma's 50th Birthday! Celebrations started with dinner on Friday evening at the Pomegrante restaurant on the Vergenoegd wine estate and then on Saturday Ma's friends came over for tea and cake and each person brought a goldfish, gave it a name and released it into the new fish pond in the garden! It was alot of fun. Ernst and my goldfishes are called Flinder and Flooder.

Gordon's Bay for Fish&Chips

Ernst and i drove home from Meerenbosch via Kleinmond and Gordon's Bay- was a beautiful drive round the coast. We stopped for fish&chips in Gordon's Bay.

Meerenbosch for the weekend

Ernst and i had a wonderful long weekend at Meerenbosch. Joined Pa and Ma on Sat morning and stayed till Monday afternoon. We slept lots, walked, read, braaied, played games and talked- just what we both needed. Had a special Father's Day breakfast for Pa on Sunday morning.

rose red

Carly's 25th Birthday!! 1 June

Carly came to CT for the weekend, was awesome to see her & catch up! She works at SAB in Jo'burg. We met at Granny for lunch in Stell on Sat and then went for a 10km walk in the Jonkershoek reserve (with Granny!). Went to church together on Sun and then to her sister's digs in Kennilworth for a birthday lunch.

Marion's baby shower

I drove through to Stellenbosch on Saturday morning for Marion's baby shower at the Botanical Garden. We had tea and cake and played games and Marion opened her presents. Baby's name is going to be Charis.

Greg & Suzanne's Wedding

G&S's wedding was so beautiful, there wasn't a dry eye in the service (which was held at the Cathedral Peak Hotel in the Drakensburg mountains). The reception was at a Game lodge near Ladysmith, in Natal. You can see the view behind us- was breathtaking. Zaan looked lovely- i went with her to choose her dress in the UK! Was good to see Heather again too! (she's back in SA, living in Durban). We stayed at a farmhouse on Sat eve, which Heather arranged and then left at 4am for the long haul home. Stopped in Bloem for breakfast to see Oupa Izak& Ouma Andri.

Amanzimtoti- 2nd night

Our second stop Amanzimtoti, where my dad's older brother and his family live. Only James was there for the weekend, but we had fun catching up- went for a walk on the beach & had Scooters pizza for supper.

Transkei

Took this photo as we drove through the Transkei, into the Natal hills. It's amazing how rural parts of our country are... and so extremely beautiful.

Beach house- inside

This is just how i would furnish our holiday house, if we ever had one :o)

Port Alfred- 1st night

Nick, one of the guys in Ernst's team at work, offered that we stay in his parent's holiday house in Port Alfred, to break our journey. We arrived just after lunch and spent the afternoon lying on the beach. What a stunning place!

Drew

This is Andrew, a friend of ours, who travelled up to Natal with us for the wedding. He helped make the trip alot of fun... we had hours of story telling and laughing.

Roadtrip- Eastern Cape Sky

Roadtrip- Natal for the weekend!

We travelled up to Ladysmith in Natal for Greg and Suzanne's wedding. This photo was taken as we entered Knysna early on Friday morning (left home at 3am on thurs)

Route 62

I visited my mom and Pieter for the weekend- was lovely to see them and be at Kleinplasie again. Only remembered to take a pic for my blog on the way back, as i passed this famous pub on Route 62.

Sailing

Loriane, my boss, invited me to go sailing with her and some friends on their yacht. Lara came along. We sailed from Granger Bay to Milnerton. Had a braai on the yacht, under the starlight and then sailed back. It was wonderful- so relaxing... put life in perspective.

Where I work

B&L Direct Marketing- where I work as an Account Manager, is situated in Century City. There is a canal/ wetland area which runs along the office block- is a great place to walk over lunch time.

Ma, Lara, Me and Sarah

Lara visited from Angola and we all had supper together at my house for the first time :o) We getting older...

Clifton with Sarah and Nina

Sarah came to stay with us for a week during her school holiday. We went to Clifton with her friend Nina- last tanning for the year! Had 'Sinful ice cream' in Camps Bay.

My little sister and I

Lunch at the Strandlooper- Langebaan

Ernst, Sarah and I drove through to Langebaan on Sunday to have lunch with Martin at the 'Strandlooper'- an outdoor, buffet style, traditional SA food restaurant on the beach. Was fantastic...

Cocktails

Drinks with friends

We went out for cocktails with some friends, to celebrate my and Pieter's new jobs.

Chicago

Ernst and i went to watch the musical 'Chicago' at the Artscape theatre in Cape Town- was great.

Our cell group- Pizza evening

We have joined an awesome cell group. This photo was taken at our social, where we made pizzas, including a sweet pizza- topped with chocolate, marshmallows and caramel!

Izak's birthday celebration

Izak came from Pretoria (where he lives and works) to visit for the long weekend. Was great to see him and Mariet.

Izak came to Cape Town for the weekend, from Pretoria where he lives and works.