Home from home...

I'm back.  Actually, I've been back since Monday, but things have been a little crazy around here and I just haven't had time for blogging.  My surgery last Monday went off without a hitch, despite my being worried at the thought of an anaesthetic and having to say my emotional goodbyes.  I did warn the anesthetist not to put me to sleep like the dog.  Truthfully, I love the sleep that an anaesthetic brings, but I'm glad to say that my op was really so minor that it was nothing to worry about at all.  My doctor was very happy with the test results and has had confirmation that all suspect cells have been removed.  I had minimal discomfort, so felt a bit of a fraud accepting meals so generously prepared for me by friends and family. 

After my 2 days "sick" leave, I had another 3 days off to enjoy some holiday time with Jake.  We didn't do too much, slobbed at home, watched a movie, baked and worked on cubs badges (another post all together).  It was lovely just relaxing a bit and sleeping in late on cold winter mornings.  Jake still has more than a week off school and I am relishing not having to rush in the early icy mornings.  Getting back into routine after the winter break is not going to be fun.

Besides that, Danie also took us away for the weekend. He managed to get a few hours out of the factory (shock and horror) on Friday afternoon, so that we could get through to Robertson early enough to enjoy the evening.  We need a week longer next time.  There's not tons to do in Robertson, which is always good, but it still felt like quite a busy weekend.  Unfortunately, as per these pictures, the river was completely flooded, so Jake was unable to do any river fishing. Usually, the river starts somewhere near those trees in the background... 

The farm we stay on is called Nerina Guest Farm.  It's a smallish family run concern, where they grow fruit and make a small amount of wine for fun.  The owner's daughter's also involved with horses and last time there were tons, but this time just one.  Jake had a good giggle over this one getting his tummy tickled by the grass while he ate his supper...

 This was the view from our braai.  Last time we were there, it was summer time and everything was bright and cheery.  It's still gorgeous in winter, just not as colourful...

 On Saturday morning, we dropped Danie off at the golf course to play a round on his own and Jake and I went for a little tour of the winelands.  We ended up at Excelsior, which was fantastic.  For R50.00 (about $12), you can blend your own bottle of wine.  Needless to say, Jake was in his element and made 3 bottles to take home as presents... 

 You start off with the test tube, where you measure off enough for a sample...

 Ta-dah...

 Which you then pour off for your dear mother to sample...

 With a nod of approval, the bottle is filled...

Corked (the other guests thought Jake was so cute doing this on his own, they were even taking pictures of him)... 

 The plastic capsule is heated up to shrink over the top of the bottle...

 The front label is pasted onto the bottle...

 And the percentages and wine blender's name is written on the back label...

 Proud as punch...

 And so it went on...

 By the time he was finished, Jake was convinced he could've been employed on the farm as master blender/corker...

 You need to be really strong to be a corker...

 The tasting room (on the right) has the most beautiful setting.  This dam is full of carp apparently and Jake was super chuffed when the woman there told him that she catches them with brown bread... 

 Which, to Jake, meant enough wine making for one day, time to hit the water...

This beautiful girl was there too.  I have no idea what her name is, but she looks just like our Amber did when she was a young girl.  Couldn't help but wonder if we were maybe related...

 After our wine making/tasting/fishing experiences, we headed back to the golf course to fetch Danie.  Jake was thrilled to find him still on the course, with a golf cart.  I dropped Jake with Danie and headed to the club house... 

 The golf course has the most beautiful setting...

 From there, it was off to Birds of Paradise for a very late lunch.  I ordered the most scrummy chicken filled pancake and took Jake for a quick walk through to see all the birds...

 These cute fellows (squirrel monkeys) were too cute as they begged for illegal tidbits from Jake... 

On Saturday, Rosanne and Gareth came up for the night too.  It was awesome to spend some proper time with them.  Life just seems to rush by us at the moment and we end up with so little time for the people around us.  We took them through to Avalon Springs in Montague for a swim.  Only the guys were nuts enough to strip off and hop into the 45 deg C water; Rose and I chickened out and stayed warm and dry under towels and other people's shredded clothing.  This was a definite weekend highlight for Jake... 

 We woke up to thick fog at 7:15 on Sunday morning...

And headed off down the dirt track to go and find some cows to milk...

  We had a bit of a wait in the cold for this guy to come and show us the ropes... 

 Daisy all tied up and ready to go.  Apparently she kicks...

 We all had a go (besides Danie, who's done it before and stayed snuggled up in bed).  It isn't anywhere near as easy as it looks and I wasn't very successful.  Jake was pretty good and managed to get the milk flowing.  This was another highlight of the weekend for him.  Don't you love the bed head...

 Rose and I quickly headed back to our beds to warm up too.  Jake and Gareth stayed behind to give the horse a bit of TLC and helped to feed him too...

 The one thing mist is good for, is making spiderwebs visible.  While there were plenty of webs, I must be honest, I didn't see one spider.  Jake saw a snake though...

 Because the river was so flooded, we couldn't go out on the little boat for breakfast and they brought it to our little house instead.  A typical farm breakfast - muesli, yogurt, peaches, vetkoek (type of savoury doughnut thing), meatballs (not very breakfasty), eggs in tomato, cheese, home made jam and butter, farm fresh milk, juice and filter coffee.  We were stuffed, but it was all too delicious.  Oh, that Ben on the left.  His grandparents own the farm.  He's 15 and what a nice kid...

 After breakfast, we took a drive to see the river.  The water from Friday night had soaked up quite a bit, but the mist was still thick...

 That's the boat we were supposed to go for breakfast on.  Behind it is a big tent.  Ben tells us that when the river's in full flood, the water reaches the top of the tent roof... 

 We decided that, since the river was flowing too fast for fishing, we'd try our luck at their dam instead.  Ben tells us that there are fish in this dam, I'm not so sure...

 Between the mist and the calmness, it did lend itself for some very pretty photos though...

 Someone once took care of hives on the farm.  Ben decided to show us what they look like inside, but we quickly discovered that the bees had moved back in and sent us all running the moment he tried to get the lid off the hive...

Reflections were stunning...

 The mist eventually lifted, revealing the most gorgeous sunshine... 

Since the weather was so great, the boys wanted to visit the remote plane's airstrip...

Jake was in his element when the other boys arrive and announced that they were going to hunt for scorpions.  He was also in his element that Ben was giving him extra special attention...

They found a few centipedes, which were told are highly venomous by the other boys, which I don't think is true, but it made the adventure more exciting...

The rest of us enjoyed the sunshine - a really perfect winter's day.  Hi Gareth...

Rosie wasn't really awake yet and didn't want her picture taken for fear of it being put up on my blog...

This was a remote jet plane, said to be worth nearly as much as my car...

It was very fast and incredibly tough to photograph.  This photo was a total fluke...

Jake didn't want me to take photos of him either.  But he's so handsome, I can't resist.  There's me too...

After enjoying the planes, we headed back to Nerina, where Rose and Gareth packed up and went home.  I took a few more photos of our beautiful surroundings...

The mountains are just incredible.  Amazing that it can be so green on one side and so dry on the other.  The field above is alongside the one below...

And we headed off to do some last minute fishing with Ben...

Jake is getting really good at managing his rod and reel completely on his own and his casting is pretty impressive for a little guy.  I hope he keeps it up, it's a great outdoor hobby for any boy...

Since they weren't actually managing to catch anything, Jake and Ben decided that they'd throw rocks into the water to chase the fish towards the rod.  That didn't work either...

But it was worth a try and they had fun anyway...

I know this photo is wrong in so many technical ways, but I love it anyway...

It was hard to get Jake to leave, I think he would fish all day long if he could and I really need to make more of an effort for him with this.  He's happy even when he's not catching a thing...

Other than that, not much news to report.  Jake's more than half way through his school holidays and we've had a fairly rushed week this week.  Next week will be all about getting into a proper eating and sleeping routine ahead of going back to school for the third term.  He's not looking forward to getting back to the grind stone and I dread the thought of it almost as much.  It's going to be a tough term.

As for the weekend ahead, I have a birthday party tomorrow night - my dearest friend's (Jacki) boyfriend is turning 50!!!  We're going to Pigalle in Greenpoint for an evening of dinner and dancing.  I haven't had the chance to spend as much time as I'd like to with Jax, so looking forward to having a good catch up with her.  My old book club girls will be there too, so looking forward to seeing them as well.

Hope every one's doing OK, sending much love,

Sue XXX