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Birthday Drive-In
2020…what a weird year! I love celebrating birthdays and this year we had to really think out of the box because social gatherings are not permitted (unless it’s a church function.) So… we…
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Emoji Cake 😘 (moist chocolate cake with cream cheese icing in the shape of an emoji)
This moist chocolate cake with cream cheese icing is sooo delicious! It was Leo’s idea to bake a “kissy face” cake for his great-grandmother’s birthday… It’s nice and easy and there are many…
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Coronas on the Shelf
When Lockdown was announced, I thought of doing something everyday to entertain the kids (and myself)… That’s why I came up with”Coronas on the Shelf”. It works similar to “Elf on the Shelf”…
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Myers Briggs Birthday Party
Last year I also had a very enjoyable and interesting birthday party… A Myers Briggs Birthday Party! I’ve been wanting to post it on here but haven’t gotten around to it. (Typical INTP…
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Bob Ross Paint Party
We don’t make mistakes, just happy, little accidents. Bob Ross Marc’s “Bob Ross” party exceeded my expectations! It was really lots of fun and I was so impressed with how everyone’s painting looked.…
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Our Getaway to the Drakensberg
We packed our bags, the kids, the kids’ bags, the kids’ pram, the kids’ toys, the kids’ snacks, the kids’ day bag and …. off we went passed Clarens, passed Sterkfontein dam to…
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1,2,3 Let’s Blaze Birthday Party
1,2,3 Leeet’s Blaze! That was the theme of Leo’s 3rd Birthday Party we held this year. I made a Blaze chocolate mud cake which you saw on the previous post. When he saw…
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Chocolate Blaze Sponge Cake
We had a blazing good time celebrating Leo’s birthday this year. I used Daleen’s chocolate cake recipe to make a “Blaze and the Monster Machines Mud cake.” It is really a yummy, fluffy…
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Best Play Dough Recipe
Leo enjoys playing with play dough. And when it’s not on his head (see pic) or in the carpet it makes for a fun activity.😊 This Play Dough is easy to make, feels…
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Lekker Butter Cookies
Peek-A-Boo here are some cookies for you! Here’s an easy cookie recipe. Similar to the one my mom used to make with us when we were kids. Ingredients: 250g butter 1 cup sugar…
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Pork Belly with Gooseberry Glaze
We made pork belly for our annual “Christmas in July” this year. The meat was soft and succulent and the crackling was very crispy. It was delicious! (And it wasn’t just me who…
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Hannes’s Tomato Soup
I haven’t put anything on this blog for a while… I was a little scared off by weird “outlook” followers. But this tomato soup is yummy! And easy to make. Ingredients: Thick (1cm)…
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Koranna Camping
“Second Star to the right and straight on ’til morning. -Peter Pan” The abundance of stars was one of my favourite things about our Koranna trip! I haven’t seen so many twinkling stars…
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Our Templehof Lion Encounter
Leo and I enjoyed an outing with the Dixies to Tempelhof Guest and Game Farm today. The farm is near Ficksburg so it wasn’t too far to drive and Chantal bought lekker snacks…
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Jane’s 50th Parkrun
There are no shortcuts. Work hard. Be patient. Be consistent. Be persistent. And never give up! Well done to my mom for completing her 50th Parkrun this weekend! She even ran in the…
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Corporate Iron Man in Port Elizabeth 2017
Jy’s my batman, superman, IRONMAN…. I did it! I got the medal! Marc, Pete and I took part in the Port Elizabeth Corporate Ironman 2017. It’s a tenth of the big Ironman… It…
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Nobis’s Chicken & Sweetcorn Soup
The day before her baby was born Nobis came to show me how to make her yummy chicken and sweetcorn soup. It’s a recipe I don’t want to forget… Here’s what goes in…
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Clarens Craft Beer Festival 2017
“If you’re hoppy and you know it drink craft beer!” It was the 7th annual Clarens Craft Beer festival this weekend, the 5th one we’ve been to. And the beer just seems to…
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Kiara Lodge Getaway
When I was younger I pictured heaven as a place high up in the mountains with soft, fluffy clouds, pretty pastel colours and bunny rabbits everywhere… After this weekend I realized I was…
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Family Festivities
I’ve been wanting to post something about our Christmas and New Year Festivities… and I actually uploaded the photos on the 2nd of January. Next thing I know January is almost over! …
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Wedding in Kaapschehoop
Edit “Two lives, two hearts, two souls become one.” South Africa really has a lot of interesting places! Like this little village, Kaapschehoop, near Nelspruit in Mpumalanga…which I found out afterwards is where…
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The Fork & Pot -A New and Unique Local Restaurant
“I’m so very fondue of you.”😝 Yay! A new restaurant in the area…35km from Ladybrand…We had to go check it out… This brand new restaurant has a very interesting decor with a Western/Klein…
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Healthier Rusks
I’m excited because my parents are driving up to visit this weekend. So in preparation I’ve been baking a bit to have some snacks and treats in the house. I like these rusks…
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Jane’s Pancake Recipe
“If I tell you I love you, will you make me pancakes?” I always remember my mom’s pancakes on a rainy day….yummy!😊And they are delicious when the sun is shining too! Here’s the…
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Homemade Fudge
So we finally got Jeff to make his famous fudge for us. I think the last time he made this was at least 15 years ago! But he still looks like he’s in…
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Meringue with Caramel Yoghurt Topping
This is sort of a combination of meringue and a basic pavlova. It’s best to make these the day before you intend on serving them. You need: (To make 6 big meringues) 4…
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Jane’s Chocolate Cake Recipe
I eat cake because it’s somebody’s birthday somewhere.” This is one of the sweet things I remember my mom baking for almost every birthday or event. I think she originally got the recipe…
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Clarens Beer Festival 2016 & Home-Brew Tasting
Beer, beer and more beer! There’s always something happening around beer! And there always seems to be beer around us! 😜 The 2016 Clarens Beer Festival was very festive and most enjoyable. Here’s…
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Easy and Delicious Oxtail Recipe
One day it was still summer and the next day….bam…the cold was upon us and it’s winter. Well, that’s what it felt like to me! Although I’m more a summer type of person,…
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Harry Potter & the Little Treasure -Baby Shower
We were supposedly going to braai at Nobis and Danie’s place on Saturday evening… Meanwhile, our family and friends sneakily organized a surprise baby shower for us! I read all the Harry Potter…
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Ironman 2016 in Port Elizabeth
Ironman is next level tough! I was exhausted after just being a supporter at this year’s Ironman in Nelson Mandela Bay. Well done to my lil’ bro, Pete, who completed the extremely challenging…
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Camping at Korannaberg
“There is a treasure hidden in every moment. The joy of life is finding it.” -Katrina Meyer 🌻 It’s so nice when one discovers a beautiful place close to home. We will definitely…
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Katse Dam, Lesotho
We made a quick international getaway to Lesotho this weekend, and, in Carol’s words: “We had a dam good time.”😝 The Lesotho Kingdom’s Katse Dam has been on my “must-see” list for a…
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MSC Sinfonia Family Cruise
Cruise, Eat, Sleep, Repeat…. We’ve been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time… I can’t believe it’s already over! While the Sinfonia cruised from Durban’s harbour to Mozambique’s Portuguese Island, we…
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Biltong Paté
“Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la…” I can’t believe it’s December and Christmas time again! It’s really hot and dry here in the Free…
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Homemade Dulce de Leche
Dulce de leche which translates to “sweet of milk” is a heavenly treat. (Or an evil temptation depending on which way you look at it.) We ate a lot of this delight when…
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Make Stampmielies for Your Next Braai
Now that we’re back in sunny South Africa we’ve had a few lekker braais already, including a leg of lamb spit-braai with the family on Heritage Day.(Braai Day) This samp tart or stampmielie-tert/gereg…
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In Memory of Granny
“There are special people in our lives who never leave us… Even after they are gone…” Today we mourn the passing and also celebrate the life of our Granny Iris. I’ll remember Granny…
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New York, New York
New York, New York! The Big Apple did not disappoint! My most favourite part about New York was staying with the Wolf pack and going to see the Broadway show I told you…
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Long Island with the Wolf Pack
“To love another person is to see the face of God.”– From Les Misérables Adam and Lisa took us to the most amazing broadway show; Les Misérables! (Even though they’ve seen the play…
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From Philly With Love
Don’t worry, South Africa, America also gets power cuts! (Or maybe Eskom followed us to the USA!?) The train we are on now to New York City is stuck at a random station…
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History Lesson in Washington DC
Freedom is not free… During the last three days we’ve learnt so much about American history and past American presidents. There’s so much info but I’ll just briefly mention the famous…
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Our Stay in Seattle
Imagine a city which has mountains, oceans and fresh water lakes. A city with thriving businesses, fun activities and nightlife as well as forest areas and many hiking trails. Imagine a city where…
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Beers of the USA’s West Coast
That’s a lota beers! This post was written by Marc… (He has really undergone a Lupulin threshold shift!) Lupulin threshold shift \lu·pu·lin thresh·old shift\ n 1. When a once extraor-dinarily hoppy beer now…
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Roadtrip to Seattle
USA Roadtrip! Yeah! 😄 A roadtrip, like life, is about enjoying the journey and making memories along the way. We took a 4 day leisurely roadtrip from San Francisco up north…
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Walking Amongst Giants
The trees we encountered were so gigantic we drove our car through one of them! It was so exciting that we drove through that tree twice! I could hardly believe…
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If You’re Going to San Francisco
My favourite cardiologist told me that drinking one glass of red wine every day is good for your cardiovascular health. According to studies it’s even better than not drinking any alcohol…
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Taking Chances in Mammoth Lake and Yosemite
We almost couldn’t get into Yosemite National Park because the gate closest to Mammoth Lakes, where we stayed that night, was closed for the last 2 days due to fires in…
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A Curious Ghost Town, Aliens and Death Valley
We were heading towards Death Valley from the Grand Canyon when we noticed the sky had an unusual display of lights, clouds and colours as we drove towards the sunset. We…
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A Grand Canyon Moment
It was bigger and grander than what I expected it to be! It was quite a privilege that we got to see and experience the great Grand Canyon. I tried…
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Roadtrip from Vegas to Grand Canyon
It was sooo hot today! Luckily our rental car has an aircon. Our car said the outside temperature varied between 90 and 112 degrees Farenheit! (112 degrees is 44,4 degrees…
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What Happens in Vegas…
How do I even begin to tell you about Vegas!? It’s all the glitz and glamour you’ve heard of: big screens, tall buildings, colours, sparkles, dancing, music and lights everywhere…. It’s…
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Exploring Los Angeles some more
I said I’d post more about what we’ve been doing in Los Angeles… there’s too much to see and do here. 🙂 On Sunday we hired bicycles and went cycling from Marina Del…
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Exploring Los Angeles
The City of Angels has so much diversity and so much to do!! It would have been overwhelming to explore the city by ourselves. Luckily Los Angeles has been an awesome experience for…
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Our American Adventure Begins
We are in Los Angeles! Whoohoo! We’re now lying down (really exhausted) on a nice comfy bed in Donné’s apartment. We’ve been in America for only a few hours and we’ve already…
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On Our Way to the USA
“We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.” It’s the final countdown to our US of A trip! It still feels unreal to me. 🙂 I’m excited but…
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Homebrewing Beer Tasting
Ever thought of brewing your own beer?? Home and micro-brewing is becoming more and more popular these days. Not only do you control what goes into your beer but it’s also interesting…
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Skiing in Africa
“The important thing is to take that first step. Bravely overcoming one small fear gives you the courage to take on the next.”– Ikeda It was our 3rd time together at Afriski…
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Watermelon Salad 2015
Happy 2015 to you all! 😄 Hopefully all the chocolates, sweets and festive season leftovers are now finished and you have formulated your healthy eating and exercise plans to start the new year…
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Vietnamese Rice Wraps
A few if us went to an asian cooking class presented by Chef Lauren. She taught us how to make sweet-chilli sauce, bread dough, dim sums and these Vietnamese wraps. We also…
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NAMPO 2015
“In winter’s chill or summer’s heat farmers work so that we can all eat.” Do you ever think about where your food comes from (before you buy it from a shop) or how…
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Sweet Potato Bake
This sweet potato bake is really delicious and difficult to get wrong. It’s a tasty side dish to make when having people over for a braai. It’s made in the oven so…
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Sweet Potato Bake
<a href=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6332.jpg”><img src=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6332.jpg” alt=””></a> <a href=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6330.jpg”><img src=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6330.jpg” alt=””></a> <a href=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6321.jpg”><img src=”https://jam4joy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_6321.jpg” alt=””></a> This sweet potato bake is really delicious and difficult to get wrong. It’s a tasty side dish to make when having…
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Chocolate Biscuit Squares
“You’re so sweet you’re going to give me tooth cavities!”-unknown These are the chocolate squares you usually find in school tuck-shops and at cake sales. Our cafeteria at varsity also sold them. If…
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Our Travels to the Transkei
South Africa’s rural Transkei is one of our favourite holiday destinations!! There’s one shady character we met in the Transkei a few years ago who we’ll never forget… He’s a short, small man…
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Whiskey Breakfast Oats
This is an easy breakfast to make, especially if you have to make a quick breakfast for a lot of people…and the whiskey just gives it that extra smoothness and flavour. Our friend,…
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Clarens Craft Beer Festival 2015
“Beer is not the answer. Beer is the question. ‘Yes’ is the answer!!😄” It was the long-awaited Clarens Craft Beer Festival last weekend… Craft Beer Breweries from all over South Africa were there…
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Traveling to the Edge of Africa – Cape Point
Imagine how adventurous and ambitious (or desperate) Bartolomeu Dias and the other first european explorers must have been! To sail off into the big unknown without really knowing where they might end up…and…
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Homemade Ginger Beer
“Listen to your elder’s advice. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.” This recipe is marc’s great gran, Ouma Carol’s, ginger beer recipe. It might…
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Reasons to Fall in Love with Cape Town
Many people are totally in love with Cape Town and it’s easy to see why. Cape Town is simply on a completely different level to other places and it’s quite difficult to compare…
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Chocolate Stout Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
“A party without cake is just a meeting.” It’s difficult to be sad when you are eating a delicious piece of chocolate cake- especially if it’s a piece of chocolate mustache cake with…
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Our Quick Getaway to Shumba Guest Farm
You don’t always have to travel very far for a bit of adventure. Sometimes a break from your routine is the very thing you need…and maybe you’ll discover, like I did, that there…
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Easy Bran Rusk recipe
Rusks are essentially double-baked bread dough. The afrikaans word for rusk is beskuit which, according to the book,”Geskiedenis van Boerekos”, comes from the french word meaning “twice baked.” South African boere tannies have…
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Homemade Pina Colada Cocktails
If you like Pina coladas and getting caught in the rain… Marc called it “songception.” Someone must have intentionally played that Pina colada song to make us think it was our own idea…
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Xanthe’s Wedding in Port Elizabeth
“Take care of your mind it will help your body look good. Take care of your body it will make your mind feel good.”- JMF Some call it the friendly city, most call…
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Pineapple Beer
We’ve been wanting to make pineapple beer for a while now so when Thandi, our cleaning manager, said she regularly makes home-brews for her husband we took the opportunity and got her to…
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Christmas and New Years 2014
“How we spend our time is how we spend our lives.” ~ Benjamin Franklin Do you also feel as if 2014 went by really quickly!? I almost can’t believe it’s 2015 already! We…
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Christmas 2014
“How we spend our time is how we spend our lives.” ~ Benjamin Franklin Do you also feel as if 2014 went by really quickly!? I almost can’t believe it’s 2015 already! We…
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Watermelon Salad
Happy 2015 to you all! 😄 Hopefully all the chocolates, sweets and festive season leftovers are now finished and you have formulated your healthy eating and exercise plans to start the new year…
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That’s a wrap! – A Healthy Egg Wrap
So, you’ve probably heard of the Tim Noakes Diet and “banting.” It seems like the latest dieting craze but apparently this way of eating was prescribed for weight loss by medical professionals for…
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Ginger Honey Mint and Lemon Health Tea
Legend has it that the first person to make tea was the Chinese Emperor Shen Nong in 2737 BC. Apparently, while he was boiling water in the shade of a tree, a gentle…
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Rhinos at Emoya’s Voetspoor Fees
There were white paw-prints painted on Bloemfontein’s roads yesterday… We followed them and they lead us to Emoya Estate’s 2014 Voetspoor Fees! The paw-prints were really there but actually we heard about the…
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Chocolate brownie Caramel Peppermint-crisp Mousse Delight
This Chocolate brownie Caramel Peppermint-crisp Mousse Delight is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! I’m wondering if we should rather call it the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious tart!?? It has a chocolate brownie base, with a middle caramel layer and a…
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Mathys Reminds Us to be Strong and Thankful
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford It is always inspiring to meet someone with a fighting…
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Inspiration from Dr.Seus
Remember Dr.Seus? I really enjoyed his books! Here’s some mid-week inspiration: I was carefully thinking While slowly sinking, That this site is jam 4 joy, And not joy 4 jam It’s about what…
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The Successful Yeard (year long beard)
A yeard, a year long beard, is something which many men only dream of. It requires patience, dedication and perseverance. Congratulations to Marc on his successful yeard! The last time Marc shaved was…
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10 of my favourite things in the Midlands Meander
So about 4 weekends ago, the only weekend in 6 years which it snowed in Ladybrand, Marc and I went on a road-trip to the Midlands Meander. Although we were a bit bummed…
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Doggy Treats
So after the previous good response to the first post of our boston puppies, I decided to put a few more pics of them up. (At bottom of this post) They are now…
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A taste of India – Taj Mahal & India Travel Tips
The Taj Mahal is one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World… And quite a remarkable sight! It was definitely not a disappointment! Our bus stopped quite far from the Taj because…
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A taste of India – Jaipur to Bharatpur to Agra
Jaipur is known as the pink city. “Pink it’s the color of passion, Cause today it just goes with the fashion.” But in India it represents hospitality and it was painted pink almost…
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A Taste of India – Delhi
If India was a food it would be a sweet &sour pumpkin-marshmallow-chocolate pie covered with ‘hundreds and thousands’ served with nutty caramel ice-cream and silver balls. When I think of India I think…
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Jane’s Crunchies (Oats Cookies)
So I know Spring is around the corner (for the Southern Hemisphere) and we all want to start losing some winter bulge. I’ve been leading you and mostly myself into temptation with the…
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BarOne Peanut butter Cookies
If you watch “How I met your Mother”, these are a variation of the “sumbitch cookies” that “the mother” offers Lilly on the train when they meet for the first time. Anyway, these…
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Knoffel Bekerbrood (garlic bread in a mug)
This is just a fun and different way to serve bread. We had this bekerbrood as well as broccoli-condensed milk salad with steaks which we braaied. What you need: Bread dough (buy from…
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Scuba in Sodwana Bay
It’s an incredibly exhilarating yet daunting feeling- to be 20m deep in the ocean while sucking oxygen from a face mask. I was not a natural scuba diver…not at all…It was actually really…
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Malealea in Lesotho
“Muther, futher, good morning!” We will never forget the friendly, little face of the Basotho boy who greeted us with such enthusiasm when we returned to the campsite late in the afternoon after…
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Hakuna Matata in Zanzibar
Are your feet constantly frozen? Does your nose resemble Rudolf the reindeers? (Shiny, red and wet). Is your body constantly shivering with imaginary ice knives piercing it? Are you counting down the days…
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Exploring Ladybrand
After a few years of wanting to see Ladybrand’s natural rock “stalle” (stables), I finally did! It was such a quick climb! It would have been even quicker if I could keep up…
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Our Boston Puppies
“A dog is a part of your life, but to the dog you are their whole life.” A bit more than a month ago we got 2 little Boston puppies… They are too…
