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The Last Time
“You never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss I didn’t know it was the last time Chilli would come for a run with us. I’m…
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Light a Candle
“Be the light that helps others see.” I have always liked candles – a glimmer of light in the darkness. Lately I’ve been thinking more often about candles. I like that they are…
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YOU can Plant a Tree
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. They say: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second…
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What’s Really in the Sweets Your Kid Buys at the School Tuck-Shop!?
Let Food by Thy Medicine and Medicine be Thy Food – Hippocrates It’s difficult enough to get kids to eat healthy foods these days. It’s not very helpful when the school and other…
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Taco Tuesdays – DIY taco shells
Why shouldn’t you trust tacos? They always spill the beans! 😝 Every random Tuesday (or Wednesday), it’s Taco Tuesday at our house! We got this recipe from Robert while standing in the queue…
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Meringskloof Camping 2024
“We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we have lost our connection to ourselves.…
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One Step at a Time – Zuikerkop 2024
“My advice for a race is the same as it is for life: Take it one step at a time.” Every year, Zuikerkop hosts a fantastic running and cycling event, and it’s one…
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Goodbye to You My Trusted Friend – A Tribute to Rex
“A dog lives for the day, the hour, even the moment.” “Someone asked me what the most difficult part of having a dog was. I replied: The Goodbye.” – goodquotes I have so…
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SpongeBob Party
The cake was a Chocolate and Vanilla Cake with Cream cheese icing. The SpongeBob figurines are “fishtank figurines” and are not edible. The Krusty Krab is made from melted chocolate. This is the…
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If You Don’t Rest, You Rust
Resting rebuilds, restores and refreshes! They say if you rest, you rust… I think it should rather be: If You Don’t Rest, You Rust! This morning, while brushing my teeth, I was randomly…
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Spicy Cinnamon Nuts
What sound does a nut make when it sneezes? Cashew! I have made these nuts a few times since Marisa’s demonstration. It’s easy and delicious! Ingredients: 2 egg whites1kg raw nuts (I like…
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The Cold Is Your Teacher: The Power of Cold Plunges
Ask any special forces guy: Doing physically hard things is an enormous life hack. Do hard things and the rest of life gets easier and you appreciate it all the more. -Michael Easter…
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A Traveling Inspiration
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” St. Augustine Some people inspire me to live life to the fullest. Miss Arthur is one of those…
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Happy Minecraft Birthday
Minecraft- A World where anything is possible. We had fun celebrating Leo’s birthday with a small party on Friday and a Spur outing today! It was a busy weekend with the Dino-Expo and …
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Dinos and Legendary Rugby in Bloem
“Beer and rugby are more or less synonyms.” There was a lot happening in Bloemfontein this weekend! We went to the Dino-Expo at the Show Grounds. It was interesting, but there were a…
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Dopamine, ADD and ADHD: Why We All Feel Like Headless Chickens
“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin Lately, I’ve found myself unable to concentrate on anything. Maybe having kids also contributes,…
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Banana Crumpets
Asante sana, squash banana! Have some overripe bananas? Here’s an easy crumpet recipe which the kids love! What you need: 2 very ripe mashed bananas3/4 cup brown sugar3 eggs1 cup milk2 tablespoons butter,…
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July is Self-Care Month. 8 Steps to Incorporate Self-Care
Did you know that keeping tropical fish at home can have a calming effect on the brain... This is due to all the indoor fins… The 24th of June marks the start of…
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Knysna Half Marathon 2024
Did you hear about that ‘oyster’ joke? I laughed so hard I almost pulled a mussel. Many muscles are sore and stiff from yesterday’s race! But, I think most of us agree, that…
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Snow in Ladybrand June 2024
Why was the snowman looking in the bag of carrots? He was picking his nose! This is the most I have seen it snow in Ladybrand! It was such an exciting morning playing…
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Cheese and Bacon Potato Soup
If you’re looking for comfort food on a cold day, this is it! What do you call a husband who is good at making soup? Souper-man! We make this soup once or twice…
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Run For Fun
“Run. Because zombies will eat the untrained ones first.” – From the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide I wasn’t always into running. I wouldn’t have considered running fun, not at all! Alma told me the other…
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Carol’s 60th Birthday Celebration: a Fairytale at Biljoni’s
“Why did the 60-year-old woman bring a ladder to her birthday party? Because it’s all about reaching new heights at this age!” This was the event we were looking forward to for quite…
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Carol’s 60th Mimosa Breakfast at Little Rock
P-A-R-T-why? Because we gotta! We’ve been celebrating Carol’s 60th trip around the sun since last year, but now that it was her official birthday we went big! Because 60 is a big deal!…
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Connection and Healing – Our Boston Terriers Then and Now
Connection is a part of healing. This has always been taken for granted, but recently our medical system has put the body and various separate organs in “boxes.” It’s difficult to totally heal…
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Clarens Craft Beer Festival 2024
Don’t Worry, Beer Happy! 😜🍻 It was the perfect weekend for Clarens Beer Festival! The weather was really hot, but luckily the beer was cold! We stayed at Clarens Retreat Guesthouse which is…
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Glamping at De Krantz
“In glamping, you’ll find the best of both worlds – the beauty of nature and the comforts of home.” De Krantz is only a 35 minute drive from Ladybrand! There’s no need to…
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Reconnecting at Korannaberg Bushcamp
Sometimes you’ve got to disconnect to reconnect. We didn’t have any wifi or cellphone signal for the weekend which forced us to disconnect from technology for a while and reconnect with nature and…
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Unleash the Dragon for Natey’s 5th Birthday
The day after Natey’s ninja party last year he told me for his birthday next year he wants a dragon party. He stuck to this idea and this year we celebrated his birthday…
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Cluedo – Playing Live
The Milner Mansion Murder Mystery Event Linley organized an incredibly fun event at her house for the family. I thought it was such a cool idea! Loadshedding was right on schedule and benefitted…
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What a Winterful Day!
Just go with the snow! It is freezing cold in Ladybrand today due to all the snow in Lesotho. It even snowed in Ladybrand for a little while on Sunday morning! Marcus woke…
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Delicious in Mauritius
“The best thing about happy memories is making them!” We had an amazing time during our week-long getaway in Mauritius. We stayed at the enchanting Mauricia Beachcomber Resort in Grand Baie. The actual…
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Meow You Have a Happy Birthday
A little birdie told me it’s your birthday… So I ate it! – A Cat somewhere Since he was born, Leo has liked cats! We’ve never had a cat. We’re not particularly fond…
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What’s My Glucose
Last year I wore a continous glucose monitor for the first time… Just for interests sake. It was so eye opening for me! Here’s the post I wrote last year about it. Since…
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Clarens Beer Festival 2023
You better not pout, just have a stout, You better not cry, try a beer dry, You better not frown… Because…Craft Breweries are coming to town! It was the Clarens Craft Beer Festival…
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Our Trip to Pilanesberg National Park
How do you stop a rhino from charging? You unplug him. 🤣But seriously though,😯 you drive away really, really quickly. We were driving right next to two rhinos who walked into the road.…
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River Destiny Camping
Ain’t no weekend like a lekker camping weekend! This time we chose to go to River Destiny Lodge in !Gariep. We wanted to go somewhere we can get to without the caravan having…
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Nathan and the Ninja Chicken
“Cockadoodledoo! Good morning to you!” That is the sound a normal rooster might make. “Cocka-doo-kung-fu! You mess with me, I kick you!” That is the cry of Cuckoo. I’ve been having lots of…
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Natey’s Ninja Party
Ichi, ni, san, yon! One, two, three, four! It was Natey’s Ninja party this weekend. He has been so excited counting down the days for this event! And the day finally arrived! The…
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Lionel’s Birthday Robot
Why did the robot cross the road? Because he was programmed by a chicken. A few months ago Leo told me he would like a robot party. I asked him, if he could…
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How to make Kombucha
“The road to health is paved with good intestines.” SA Rodgers Kombucha is a fermented, slightly fizzy drink made when SCOBY is left in a mixture made from tea, sugar and water. SCOBY…
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Our Oumie’s 80th Birthday
“A life well lived is the most exquisite work of art.” – Erwin McManus “One must have compassion for one’s fellow man. (‘n Mens moet deernis hê vir jou medemens.)” – Oumie’s life…
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Clouds in Lizzy’s Head (My First Book)
I’ve written and published my first children’s book. It’s something I have always wanted to do so it’s very exciting for me! It’s a short children’s book about a little girl who struggles…
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Clarens Craft Beer Festival 2022
“Wish you were beer with us!” It was the long awaited Clarens Craft Beer Festival this weekend! The last festival was just before lockdown in February 2020… What a lot has happened since…
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What I learnt from wearing a continous glucose monitor
Marcus and I wore a continous glucose monitor for 2 weeks… A few people I have spoken to were curious as to why we did this and were interested in the results, so…
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Celebrating Dakkie’s Birthday with Good Food and Great People
It’s quite lucky when your birthday is on a weekend, but especially lucky when your birthday is on an extra long long weekend! This weekend we celebrated Carol’s birthday with a dinner party,…
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Face your Fear… Jump out of the Plane
“Go skydiving!” they said. “It will be fun!” they said. And every time my answer was: “Hell no!” Marcus agreed to skydive and the kids and I went with to watch him… That…
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Week 8 – Gratitude Mandala and the last week of this Creatively Grateful Challenge
“Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”—Charles Dickens This week’s challenge was to doodle a gratitude mandala. I like the…
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How to Treat Your Child’s Fever
This is my preferred way of treating a fever and by no means replaces taking your child to your own doctor. I’m not a fan of using medications with multiple ingredients in them…
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Week 7 – Thankful for Play
“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” This week we appreciated the opportunities we had and still have to play. Play comes naturally to children and is actually…
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Week 6 – Thankful for Clouds
“We mostly see what we have learned to expect to see.“ “Clouds in the sky very much resemble the thoughts in our minds! Both changes perpetually from one second to another!” – Mehmet…
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Ouma Jane’s Birthday Weekend in Nieu Bethesda
“It’s very refreshing to go away and take a break, to clear your head, and just get into something else.” I know Peter and Imke are really looking forward to this post! Without…
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Week 5 – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
“if Pooh Bear can wear a crop top, so can I!” “I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself.” Oprah Winfrey We have all…
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Week 4 – Someone I am Thankful For
When I count my blessings I count you twice! This week’s challenge was about taking time to think about and appreciate the people in our lives. It was a meaningful week for me…
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Week 3 – Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” Week 3’s Challenge was to keep our eyes open for things we see around us. (And to stop and smell the roses and…
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Week 2 – My Favourite Things
“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things.“ -Words of My Favourite…
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Joy Jar – Week 1 Creatively Grateful
Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude. AA Milne We are one week into our creativity challenge. Well done to…
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Creatively Grateful – A 8 week Creativity Challenge
Creatively Grateful, our 8 week Creativity Challenge starts today. It's just for fun to encourage us all to be more creative. Week 1's task is Joy Jar... read more details in blog post.
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Treating Children’s Coughs and Colds- Home Remedies and Basic Medicines
The cold and flu season has arrived late this year…We’re at the start of our summer but so many kids (and adults) are sick! This has apparently got something to do with less…
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It’s elf time again! Elf on the Shelf Ideas (for young kids)
Our Elf’s name is Chris. Chris the Christmas Elf. He has come to our house on 1st of December to count down the days until Christmas since 2018. I found some photos of…
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Cherry Festival 2021 and Sandstone Estate Train Ride
Eat a cherry and be merry! It was the Cherry Festival this weekend at Ionia Cherry Farm near Ficksburg. We camped at Ionia on Friday and Saturday night. They had a theme park…
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Little Rock Birthday Camping
“Life’s better when you add fresh air, trees, good friends and a braai.” Why travel far when there is a perfect camping venue right on your doorstep!? Little Rock Resort in Ladybrand pleasantly…
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Broccoli, Cauliflower and Condensed Milk Salad
I have put this salad on my blog before, but I have adjusted it slightly. This salad is so delicious! It’s actually a pudding in disguise. Ingredients: Raw Broccoli – broken into smaller…
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Our Dead Chick Came Back to Life
“You’re not dead until you are warm and dead.” I was excited. Our hen had been sitting on eggs for about 3 weeks so I started checking up on her twice a day…
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Yummy Crustless Pumpkin Pie
What do you call a fat pumpkin? A plumpkin. This is my sister’s pumpkin pie recipe. It’s delicious! Crustless Pumpkin Pieyummy side dish for a braai 125g butter 🧈 (room temperature)150g (200ml) sugar3…
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Tommy’s Dinosaur Party
“Hold him a little longer, play with him a little more, tell him another story, let him make the dinos roar. Let him sleep on your shoulder, appreciate every smile, he will only…
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Camping at Moolmanshoek
We do these things not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. – quote seen on poster in the camp’s ablution block. We went camping at Moolmanshoek. It ‘s about…
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Hulk Smash Party
We had a Hulk Smash Party for Natey’s 3rd birthday this year. It was a fun theme and we all enjoyed it. On the 1st of September a little Hulk toy came to…
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Animal Love – Week 8 (and last week) of Encouraging Creativity Challenge
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi This week we focused on our love for animals. I noticed there…
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Thoughts and Feelings – Week 7 Encouraging Creativity
“The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.”Deepak Chopra This week we took time to think about some of our thoughts and listen to some of our…
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Movie Covers, Music and Books – Week 6 Creativity Challenge
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou This week was quite a challenge! I am really impressed with what people came up with! And some…
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Spring and New Beginnings – Week 5 Creativity Challenge
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” It’s Spring! Here in the Free State it was definitely warmer these last few days. New blossoms, flowers and green grass have started appearing. I’m sure the…
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Blank Face – Creativity Challenge Week 4
Wow! I was really impressed with what everyone came up with using this “blank face” as a topic! Well done! A blank face is a bit different than a blank page… Both have…
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Moon – Week 3 Creativity Challenge
Have you seen the beautiful full moon!? They say full moon is the time to slow down and reflect. It’s the time to let go of things that need letting go. The moon…
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Best Pudding when Camping
A soft, roasted marshmallow dipped in grated chocolate squashed between 2 Marie Biscuits… S’mores! This pudding is yum for the kids and adults…And it’s part of the camping experience. If you are not…
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Play with Your Food – Creativity Challenge Week 2
Back in the day children were taught not to play with their food. Now research suggests that playing with food is actually good for children because it makes them less fussy eaters. Our…
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Our weekend at Amanzi Private Game Reserve
Looking for an African bushveld adventure for the family? Amanzi Game Reserve in Brandford! It’s about a 40 minute drive from Bloemfontein. We enjoyed a much needed weekend away. I think the outdoors…
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Noticing Nature (up close) – Creativity Challenge Week 1
Week 1 of of our creativity challenge was about noticing nature up close and it was so nice to see everyone’s perspective. I particularly loved this picture of a beautiful rose with aphids…
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Most Delicious Cowboy Salad
This is one of my favourite salads! It comes out a bit differently every time, depending on what’s available….and depending which ingredients I remember or forget to put in. So I decided to…
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8 Week Creativity Challenge
Are you ready to get creative? 1 theme/topic every week for 8 weeks. Interpret and depict the topic by drawing, painting, writing, taking a photo or creating something. Share your creation/thoughts on our…
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Superhero Popcorn
Warning: This popcorn is addictive! Kids as well as adults enjoy eating this snack! For Leo’s party on Saturday I only made superhero popcorn for the kids. Next time I will have to…
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A Super Superhero Party
Cake, balloons, a few fun friends and a superhero family… Those are the ingredients for a super awesome party! We couldn’t invite many people and we were fortunate that the sun was shining…
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Remembering Lockdown
“Corona Virus has changed life as we know it. The sooner we accept that, the better.” Jenice Armstrong Natey turns 3 in September. For more than half of his life it’s been Covid…
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Best Rice Krispie Treat Recipe
You are what you eat… So eat something sweet! I was craving these treats! So I made them “for the kids.” Leo and Natey helped me count the Marshmallows to put in the…
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Covid Isolation with Kids
Take a moment to take a deep breath in and slowly breathe out… That’s my current advice to myself and my fellow South Africans. We’re all dealing with Covid, effects of post Covid,…
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Covid Home Treatment Check List
Covid has exploded in the last 2 weeks in South Africa! I hear of so many newly diagnosed people daily. It’s scary! We have finished our 10 day isolation today. I thought I…
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Our First 5 Days of Covid Isolation
Can everyone even remember life before Covid? Before every teller at Spar had a screen up in front of her? When the birthday girl or boy could blow out their candles without everyone…
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Encouraging Creativity
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe Creativity is something so uniquely human. Creativity sparks new ideas, new inventions, artwork, literature and feeds the soul… …
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Gqeberha.. . For Me, Always PE
Gqeberha is the new name of Port Elizabeth… I haven’t met anyone yet who is enthusiastic about this. It is apparently originally a khoisan word, now written in Xhosa… But they say it…
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The Fat Mulberry in Fouriesburg
It was a last minute decision to get away for the weekend before the Easter weekend. We booked a place near Fouriesburg, just over an hours drive from our house, called the Fat…
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Geetha’s Meatballs in Tomato Chutney
Geetha came to show us how to make her famous meatballs in tomato chutney dish. She also showed us how to make our own rotis… With the rotis I still need a lot…
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Our CoVid19 Story
“Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you realise what you had.” By now most people have their own story about how Corona affected their lives or the lives of their…
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Geetha’s Broad Bean Curry
Marc has been holding the fort at home while my siblings and I have been in the middle of South Africa’s Covid hotspot trying to help my dad fight the virus. Granny Geets…
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Natey’s 2nd Birthday Party
“You are 2! 2 cute and 2 adorable!(with a few 2 terrible screams in between)” Natey wanted a blue party and I wanted a train party… So we had a blue train party!…
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Will you Marry Me Next Week?
Here’s the story about Peter, my brother, and his wife, Imke’s engagement and how they planned their wedding in less than one week! The whole family was excited to go down to Port…
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Let’s Eat Local
Where does your food come from? (Before you buy it from Shoprite or Spar) What are the ingredients of the sauce you’re eating? Do you know what E270 and E260 are!? I thought…
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Camping at Uithoek near Fouriesburg
Bright stars, fresh mountain air, wildlife, yummy food, friendly people and a caravan… Those are the ingredients for an awesome weekend! We haven’t been away from our house in a long time! So…
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Teddy Bear Picnic Party
If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise… Almost a year ago, before we knew about things like Corona and lockdown, we celebrated Natey’s first birthday by…
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Solar System Birthday
“My world revolves around you!” Leo chose to have a solar system birthday this year… He decided this like 2 weeks after he turned 3! And he didn’t change his mind. He also…
