South Africa: Kirstenbosch and Cape Point

I left you when we had returned from Table Mountain.   We had a lovely chilled afternoon until we decided to set off for the magnificent Kirsten Bosch Botanical gardens. These are, in my opinion, one of the best places in Cape Town.  You can just spend the day there reading or explore around.  We went there in the early evening where it was quiet and serene for a walk around.

We adored these pineapple flowers. That's what they are called.

This looks rather like an interesting person.

You can see Table Mountain from here and you can take a route from Kirstenbosch although I think it might take a rather long time.

There were walkways, paths and all sorts of intriguing routes to take.

I wish I had obtained a clearer picture of this. It is a Hardidar bird (which I kept hearing as 'Ladidah!'). Apparently, they are rather a pest!

This cool lake looked so refreshing and a party of people were having a sumptuous picnic here.

We weren't alone!

These guinea fowl were so pretty up close.

J loves taking lots of photos and we did lots of posing!  She cunningly gave CBC a crown. I knew exactly what she was up to!

 She is also the queen of Jump photos! She made us jump at our wedding so everyone got jumping bride and groom photos!

 I had sneaked my G penny whistle in my suitcase so I got it out and attempted to interact with some of the birds and, since we were largely alone, I decided to play tunes as we walked along.  Some 10 minutes later, we met a man, who seeing my whistle told me he heard it in the distance and it sounded incredible because of the echoes!

Alas, my camera died but we enjoyed the evening greatly and bought pizzas on our way home.

The next day, we went on a driving trip with J and her Mum and Stepdad to Cape Point and the Cape of Good hope.

The sea and the views were fabulous.

It was rather busy and it took a while to drive in as there was traffic but the walks from the carpark to the lighthouse and the Cape Point were really beautiful affording incredible views all round.

We were dressed in rather summery clothes and the sun was beating down so I recommend a wide-brimmed hat and plenty of suncream.

Here was our jolly party.  We'd brought a tasty picnic with us which we enjoyed greatly. This was our view.

We kept seeing signs for Baboons but never any actual baboons and wondered if we would ever see any!

On the way back, we headed to another vineyard where CBC bought some wine and we all enjoyed a cup of tea and cake in a very pleasant cafe.

It had been a lovely day and we were looking forward to exploring the Cape Town city the next day!

xx

Bird watching

All in all it was a rather unsatifactory weekend in terms of achievement and fulfilling tasks etc.  Largely spent at home as I was uber-snotty!  However, I did end up going to take several bags to the charity shop and then ended up having a look in a few.

The robin jumper was my only garrment purchase.  At £3, I was rather taken by it- I have a real thing for robins and it seems churlish to spurn it

On Sunday, I decided to wear it in a largely charity-shopped outfit. The skirt and coat were also charityshopped.  I was rather pleased with the coat- it's the Clara Oswald Screen accurate but in an alternative colour from Topshop which she wears in several episodes and is apparently one of the hardest items to locate! Thank you Charity shop!

A whole plethora of birdy additions completed the outfit and I am wearing a badge from church as we had a team service and so everyone who had a role (in my case, worship band), had to wear one! It says Welcome to Christ Church but you can't really see in the picture.

I had the most horrendous journey to work this morning. I was SOO glad to be nice and early and prompt and was there at 7.30am to catch the 7.34 train...

...I finally reached school at 10.30am!  Utterly ludicrous!!!! All because of a signal failure.

Their compensation scheme doesn't take into account the fact that I now have to give up an extra hour of my own time to make up that time to the person whose class I was late for and the school had extra supply in.  Also, standing in the cold for 1.5 hours was not good for my cold which wasn't feeling AS yucky when I woke up!

Right my dears, I am off to Bedfordshire!

xx

10 things to be thankful for...

Life can feel difficult at times but there are always nice things to console one. Counting one's blessings is always a fruitful and great exercise!

1.  For my parents and siblings being alive and well to talk to and love whenever I need them. I know some of you are not so lucky in that respect and I will cherish them whilst I have them.

2.  For CBC making me a really nice dinner and washing up after a day in which I spectacularly messed up in terms of timings and he was grumpy maximo about it.

3.  For the time to do simple pottering activities such as making cards.

4.  For old friends- it was so nice to speak to much beloved friends from my old church.  We may not speak regularly or see each other regularly but that love will still remain.

5.  For my nice 'new to me' Robin jumper and my old cashmere scarf that kept me cosy all day!

6.  For the blessings of others' experiences. I was really challenged by the wonderful speaker at church today who was a Rwandan refugee who works consistently to help refugees and to speak for them and to do what she can in manifold ways despite the fact that she was one too and has managed to get past all the trauma and find her calling in life.

7.  For my flute. I played at church this morning and I thank God that my Mum gave me the opportunity to learn the instrument I wanted to learn when I was young and that I have managed to maintain it throughout my life. I have friends who were fellow musicians but who do not play now.

8.  For my warm house.  Thank God for central heating!!! Having lived in a house for 32 years without, I am eternally grateful for it now I have it!

9.  Despite ongoing house searches and the gloom over it, I am SO grateful for this house we live in. That those kind church friends took the chance to rent it to us and that they are still letting us stay here. Some people who are also saving for a house are not in such a fortunate situation and we should remember that everytime we get gloomy.

10.  For the hope of forthcoming holidays! Teaching may be hard but there's always light at the end of a tunnel (or a holiday at the end of a term!) We are planning to head to the North Yorkshire Moors at Half term to get away and I am very excited.


What are you grateful for today?

xxx

5 brooches #52- cats in disguise and others....

Hi All,

A quick brooch update from January! I'm rather behind but this is no problem..

Kitty black cloud from the Nosuch disco! I did well in their seconds sale!

Here's  Nosuch disco R2 D Poo versus my own handmade R2D2 brooch. Who won???

Another Nosuch Starwars cat- this one is BB8!

Charity-shopped stars upon my Florentine sweater!

Last but not least, glittery dinosaurs upon my Nan's gingham shirt. Considering she gave me this when I was about 15, I think it's doing well 20 years on!

Any favourites here?

xx

Friday letters

Dear Immune System,
You've been really well behaved so far this year so I am frankly disgusted that you gave in to the petty cold that has been going around. I've given you Echinacea and vitamin C- the rest is up to you!

Dear Turquoise gilet,
YOU were the absolute saviour today and are frankly the best garment I own for keeping out the cold. Sorry that I've neglected you this past year thus far.

Dear Music Makers club,
Why do I do a Friday after-school club?  I just always want to go home!

Dear Year 4's
I loved your Mayan folk tale inspired stories! There was frankly brilliant descriptive passages! Most impressed!

Dear Nice colleague,
Thank you for the lift which made me avoid walking, one train and rail replacement train so I only had to get one train. You made it a much less arduous journey home and very pleasant company.

Dear House,
Well, despite a bit of mess,we've managed to keep you relatively tidy for a week! Here's to continuing.

Dear Estate Agents,
STOP just putting up the prices because we've hit a new year. It's NOT fair and there is no need!

Dear Thai Restaurant,
It's sooooo long since we visited you. Many apologies, we are on our way!!!

11 top charity shopped items of the year.

I failed with the Buyer's archive for the latter part of the year so I thought I'd share my top 10 charity-shopped items from 2017 as we all love a good nosy.  Most of these you must have seen, some you may remember, some you may have forgotten. Some you will have never seen,,,

1.  Sheepskin jacket.

This featured in yesterday's post.  I have wanted a sheepskin jacket for such a long time but they are very expensive and hard to fit to narrow shoulders. This beauty was £25 in the Dogs Trust charity shop.  I should point out that it is completely lined in sheepkin, not just the collar- utterly sublime to wear!

2.  Cath Kidston- Stop Thief bag

This was £7.99 from Sue Ryder. Brand new with tags though and I already have the dress to match so I was glad to give the money to the shop in exchange for it. That said, that Charity shop has always been expensive but they must have realised that they didn't do too well since they seem to have priced things more reasonably recently..Anyway, it has been my school bag since September and is an improvement on my older, non-waterproof attempts!

3.  Topshop Contrast lined mac

Image from Topshop.com

I have used the Topshop photo for this as it is really hard to photograph in the awful light at home! This was £7.99 in my local charity shop. I really like it as it is a light cotton jacket but with a hood.  Also, it is the screen accurate design for a Clara Oswald outfit from Doctor Who although in black rather than green and that item is rather rare and difficult to find so I was rather chuffed to find one in the charity shop. If I get bored of it, I could probably sell it!

4. Emily and Fin floral dress

Wearing my floral dress at Rainham marshes

It IS lethal having charity shops within walking distance of the house. Soooo easy to nip into the charity shop onto the way to the supermarket, station, library, swimming pool, post office...  However, I was really chuffed to find this Emily and Fin cotton dress for £6.99.  100% cotton, lined, pockets...

5.  1970's black and pink dress

1970's dress in September sunshine

The elusive cotton 1970's maxi!  I longed for such a garment for so long, having seen Vix picking them up like I pick up bags of crisps. Not in Essex. Until one day.  This beauty was mine for £5.99 I think plus it has a belt! Long enough for me!

6.  Blue cowled dress

Blue cowl dress for a summer concert

This was an absolute gem at £1.99 from my local Barnados. I have a few problems with light summer maxi-dresses generally: firstly, they are inevitably too short on long-limbed moi and so they look ridiculous. The other problem is that a lot of them are obscenely low cut, often like a bra with long material hanging down which I absolutely abhor. This darling is lacking in neither department as well as ebing really pretty and elegant with lace and a cowl back. In addition, it is a crinkly material which requires no ironing so I can legitimately be creased rather than lazily creased.  A good holiday smart dress...

7. And other stories navy beaded dress

Navy blue dress in Brighton

This dress was £1.99 from my wonderful Barnados and still had its £65.00 price-tags on.  It really is the perfect summer dress for a hot day as it has really low arm holes (so no horrible armpit issues) and it has a really pretty low back.   This was my lazy slouching dress in South Africa as well as most of last Summer!

8. H by Henry Holland navy collared dress

Collared dress.

I am an absolute glutton for a decorative collar and this one was one I had admired first time round.  £2.49 in Marie Curie Cancer Care. It was a size 12 I think so plenty of room.

9.  Henry Holland Sailor collar top

Collared top

I confessed this in the Buyer's Archive but I already have this top in a Size 6 and I love it but permanently worry about it shrinking so I  bought this size 12 one and for only £1.49, didn't break the bank...

10.  Topshop sailor jumper

Aye aye captain in the Spring.

The Topshop sailor sweater was a no brainer. It did cost £7.99 from Sue Ryder I think but if a sailor item turns up in a charity shop, I am powerless to resist..

10. Emily and Fin fireworks dress

A dress I saw on a blog and liked...

This Emily and Fin dress was located in Barnados back in April for £9.99. But it did have its £65 pricetag on it so I didn't mind particularly as it was one I'd seen and wanted. 100% cotton, lined and pockets ladies!

I guess. whilst the downside of living where I do is that house prices are ridiculously expensive, the type of goods people donate their books to charity shops is great so I am glad there are SOME upsides for living in the South East,


Oh and here's my favourite pile of charity-shopped books of the year.  All this lot for £6 and some real brilliant ones here

10 books for £6

What were your top 10 (or 11 if you can't narrow it down like me) charity-shopped or indeed, non-charity-shopped items this year?

xxx