Call me a fool...

After work yesterday, I took Jake with me to do a little grocery shopping for dinner. His choice, standing in front of the meat in Woolworths was roast chicken. No problem-o. I bought a now fairly expensive chicken, bought some fresh veggies and headed home to first clean my house and then cook up a storm.

I like cooking. I never used to, but I've learnt how to prepare simple meals that generally taste good. I find cooking relaxing and while I definitely don't profess to be the world's best chef, I do my best and I think I'm OK. That said, cooking for a family/group of friends is very different to cooking for myself and Jake. If I had my way, we'd have toasties every night. With a kid in the house though, I need to be a bit more creative and one really needs to work hard at keeping it exciting and colourful. Jake's all time favourite is spaghetti bolognaise, which I can do with my eyes closed. The thing is that he's suddenly become a fussy eater. He used to eat anything - olives, anchovies, mushrooms, broccoli, feta cheese, blue cheese without the preserves; the only thing he's never really liked are peas and potatoes. Easy peasy. Not. Since he's started pre-primary, he's got a list as long as my arm of things he won't eat any more. I've basically ignored him and carried on preparing meals as per usual. If he doesn't like the mushrooms in my spaghetti, he can pick them out himself. Still, there's nothing worse than preparing a meal and having your child literally gag over the plate...

Anyway, I spent most of yesterday afternoon preparing food. Jake had helped pick out the veggies in Woolies and promised that he'd eat a bit of everything, so I was looking forward to sharing a good meal with him. The full menu included the chicken with gravy, chipolata sausages, potatoes with garlic and herbs, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli with cheese sauce and gem squash filled with sweet corn and topped with cheese. There was enough food for 6. I carved the chicken, served the meal and we sat down together to eat at 6pm (early, I know, but bedtime's at 7). After just after just 2 chipolatas, 3 teeny weeny carrots and a squash, Jake was "stuffed" and headed off to brush his teeth. Seriously? Tomorrow night he's getting a toastie...

Not all right...

We tried to introduce the dogs to each other on Saturday morning. I'd hoped that everything would be as perfect as the man I've met, but it was all wishful thinking and I'm left wondering what to do from here (suggestions welcome)...

I don't that think we went about the introduction in the right way - we let the dogs loose in my front garden and we should've done it on more neutral ground and probably with leads. Thankfully, I kept Amber inside, while we let Duracell out to meet Laila first and he quite literally tried to kill her. Fortunately, Danie managed to pick Laila up quickly to get her away from Duracell and neither were hurt, but I think we all got a big fright. And, as much as we wanted them to be, our dogs just aren't going to be friends.

We do probably need to try introducing them again, off our property and with leads, before we start looking at alternatives. I'm just not sure what difference the location is going to make at this stage, when Duracell already wants to eat Laila. I've been quite upset about this all weekend, but I guess things have a way of working out...

Other than the bad dog experience, we had a really lovely weekend. We spent quite a bit of time at Danie's house on Saturday and a lot of time with our families. It was Rosanne's birthday on Friday - she turned 1/4 of a century!! We went to Pancho's in Observatory for Mexican (yum) to celebrate. We also had dinner with my family on Saturday night, which left me with a headache all day yesterday. Danie's mom's a cook supreme and always prepares a feast for lunch on Sundays, so we joined them yesterday. I'm still full... Danie's brother and his family are always there too. He's got a gorgeous little girl, Kira, who's 5 and a son, James (or Jamie), who's 9 and gets on really well with Jake. Today's Danie's dad's birthday, so we're popping in there again later for cake (the diet starts tomorrow!)

And that's that. Another week has started and I have a really busy one ahead. Work is nuts and the guys are driving me mad already. I hope you all have a good week ahead!

Sue XXX

There and back again...

Last week, Danie and I went up to East London. He had some work to do there and I managed to get a day's leave on Friday, so we did the great trek up the gorgeous east coast. East London is not the kind of town I'd really like to go to on a holiday, but there are plenty of gorgeous little towns along the way. We did almost 3 days of solid driving, but it gave us lots of time to talk uninterrupted and, while the road was long, I really enjoyed every moment of our time together.

We left on Thursday afternoon at about 3:00 and stayed over in Port Elizabeth for the night. We only got to PE after midnight and, despite all the red bulls along the way, were both exhausted. We were up early on Friday morning (6:00!) and drove on to East London. By about 3:30ish we were finished in East London and back on the road towards home. I had hoped to get down to a mall while Danie was working (me time), but ended up sitting in the office chatting to a really funny girl till lunch time. We drove all the way back to Knysna after Danie finished working and arrived at about 10 that night. We stayed in a gorgeous little B&B on the main road for the night and then headed home the next morning. We took the drive home quite slowly, stopping to enjoy the views along the way.

Sunrise from promenade in PE...

Some scenic shots in Knysna harbour...

Views along the way home...

Victoria Bay...

The Canola fields were in full bloom too, so pretty...

The only other news I have, aside from life going really well, is that Jake's lost his first two teeth. He's been dying for them to fall out and has been wriggling them since last year. He's really chuffed and each time he's lost one he adds a year to his age. At the moment, he thinks he looks like an 8-year old.

I took this a few days before number 1 fell out (bottom left). 'Scuze the supper stuck in his teeth and smeared across his face...

And this one after the second one fell out. He's working on the top two now...

We spent a bit of time at Danie's house on Sunday afternoon too. Jake really loves it there and it's super pretty. Like I said before, you feel like you're on holiday when you arrive...

Jake did a bit of fishing with a net...

And actually caught a few teeny fish. This one was the first and biggest...

Laila was by his side most of the time, I think she likes having someone her own size around...

I ask you though; have you ever seen a dog with such a long tongue? It just doesn't go in. Ever. It's physically impossible...

YAY - a photo of us. It's the first reasonable one I have...

Sunset...

Jake would've sat there all night, but had school the next morning, so we had to go early...

Also, I have a couple of new blog readers, including my BOYFRIEND. Hi Honey!! And hello to everyone else. Feel free to let me know if I'm boring you too much. Shew... I hope I don't get into too much trouble for posting all these photos ;o)

Lastly, they say people always choose pets that look like them - whacha think??

Love,

Sue XXX

Oh my...

Shew... he's nice. He's very, very nice. And we had a really lovely weekend. I know it's still very early days, but I can only say that I haven't felt this way about anyone since Jacques, which is a pretty scary thing...

We spent yesterday afternoon at Danie's house and had an absolutely lovely time. He's got all the toys a boy could ever dream of owning and Jake was in his element. We went out fishing in Danie's little boat and went on a tour of the marina - it's like a whole other world and it's really pretty. The houses are all built on the water's edge and the weather was super yesterday, so everyone was outside, braai'ing, fishing and sunning on their decks. I felt like I was on holiday. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but will take pictures next time.

Danie's house is really beautiful. A typical bachelor's pad though, complete with fridge full of drinks. It's a little under-furnished and he still has a bit of work to do to finish it off, but it's gorgeous and every thing's practically like new (I don't think he's even used his stove yet). It's double storeyed (storied?), with 3 huge bedrooms (they're each about half the size of my house) upstairs, all with balconies and stunning views over the marina. The main bedroom's got a dressing room and en suite bathroom and there's another full bathroom upstairs and a study. On the lower level, the entire front of the house opens up onto the lawn, which runs down to the water's edge. The kitchen is open plan and there's a scullery just running between the kitchen and the garage, which I love. There's a huge area that's totally unfurnished between the kitchen and doors leading outside, which I'm guessing is meant to be either a second lounge or a dining room and there's obviously the typical boys lounge with flat screen TV, big couches and lots of sound on the other side of the lower level.

Besides that, he's kind and caring and he makes me feel so special. He phones me all the time and I love how gentle he is with Jake. I think I'm falling for this guy and I'm not the least bit scared.

Jake's come out with a few priceless quotes in front of Danie this weekend. The best probably being that I'm now Danie's girlfriend and that he's going to kiss me all over and give me an egg in my tummy. An egg? Seriously? I think the time has come for us to have a little chat about a few things. HAHAHA - nothing like a kid to break the ice.

Anyway, I hope that every one's well and happy like me. I have a busy week ahead. Tonight's a wine tasting at Buitenverwachting, Wednesday is a long overdue dinner with some special friends, Thursday's book club and hopefully I'll see Danie somewhere in between.

Take care of you and lots of love,
Susie XXX

Today...

I'm smiling X

A new link...

Also, just to let you know that I've added another Blog to my list of links on the right. It belongs to a fairly new friend, Amber Druian, who belongs to my book club. Amber suffers from the debilitating illness, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and her blog is a diary of her progress as she deals with life as a CFS sufferer.

Sue X

Fuss Pot...

I am SO not used to being fussed over any more. I'm used to doing the mothering and fussing...

Jacques used to run in circles around me and I loved it. There was nothing to big for me to ask of him and he was forever buying flowers and chocolates just because. We went on regular dates (Jake wasn't really in the picture for long, so I guess pre-kids) and spent a lot of quiet time just enjoying each other's company. None of the men I've "dated" since Jacques have treated me in this way.

But then arrived the "boere seuntjie" and I have to say, he's pulling out all the stops, which has caught me totally offside. And I'm not left guessing about what's going on, or about how he feels. He enjoys spending time with me. He thinks I'm beautiful and lets me know it. He thinks Jake's great and knows how to get onto his level. It's really, really nice (and a lot flattering) to know where I stand.

Yesterday, we decided to take Jake through to Hout Bay for a walk on the beach and out for lunch. I offered to meet him there, but he wouldn't hear of it and insisted on coming through to pick us up. For those of you who know Cape Town, he lives in Marina da Gama, which is basically Muizenberg and a good 45 minutes drive away. Hout Bay is half way back the way he'd come from and he still had to bring us home again afterwards! On our way home, we stopped at the wheel in the Waterfront, which was AWESOME! It's expensive, but the view is gorgeous and we really enjoyed it. I had my camera with me, so I can indulge you with a few unedited pictures...

These were funny photos. He doesn't like having his picture taken so managed to get Jake to pull funny faces with him for me...

I do still have concerns about getting Jake involved in my relationships - I just think it's dangerous. At the same time though, I come as a package and if a man can't deal with my child, I need to know. I need to stop analyzing so much, don't I?

Anyway, I'll love and leave you here. Hope every one's doing well! Catch up soon XXX