cape point vineyards

My car has been acting up. It's going fine, as long as I don't get stuck in traffic. Crawling along at slow speed quickly leads to great belches of black smoke and funny noises. Getting it fixed is on the To Do list ...

So when I realised the girls and I were 'stuck' in the Noordhoek area until after evening traffic abated yesterday, we decided to find somewhere to have a little supper.
And by happystance stumbled upon the Cape Point Vineyards Thursday Food Market.

Not a bad little spot to wait out the traffic right?

It's TOTALLY Cape Town. Vegan patisserie, craft beer, lily white patrons and views so profound your eyes and brain have to use every colour in their paint box to try and do it justice.

Vineyards, pretentious food, kids called Tucker and lots of hippies in BMW's. It's Cape Town see?

But the beauty. I can be grinchy about many things, but every day I have pause to gasp at the beauty of this place we live in - and there's an uncomplicated purity in that which appeases my cynical old heart.

The Cape Point Vineyard is a damn fine place to be briefly appeased.

Even that silly old car had a view!

cupcakes and crafts and rainbow sprinkled farts

Okay, okay, I've had my moan ... back to normal programming about how wonderful and idyllic our lives are.

Hanging out with the love of her life - David Attenborough.

Peanut butter and jam muffins. With chocolate chips.

Mongoose encounters at the World of Birds.

Camping on Easter weekend. We love camping.

Making tambourines, as per Friday's instructions.

Screw the end product, hole-punched paper plates and pipe cleaners ftw!

But for the true muzo, it's a serious business.

Pelicans drifting aloft. Reminding us to look up, and remember our blessings.

clay garland + merry chrismis + see ya later

We've tried salt dough ornaments in the past, but this year I wanted that super white porcelain look and was really happy with this recipe, found through Pinterest (duh, of course).

Using just baking soda, corn flour and water this couldn't have been easier. Some advice I'll add to her very clear instructions though would be to just roll and cut small bits at a time, keeping the rest in a bowl covered with a damp cloth. Also keep a cup of water on hand to moisten the dough with your fingertips as you re-roll the scraps to cut again. This stuff dries fast!

I baked the ornaments for about 45 min a side at 80 degrees Celsius. And had to sand off a couple of rough patchs after they'd baked, but that might not be necessary if you use sharper metal shape-cutters.

Of course a fair number of them had to be painted and be-glitter-rated.

And then strung on ribbons and festooned about the house!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, enjoy your hols etc. I'll be back here sometime in the New Year. For the next while (like my 'pic a day' project, ahem), I hope to be completely inconsistent, unreliable and uttery spontaneous.
Isn't that what the summer holidays are all about?

GIVEAWAY!

So I've got daughters right? You've probably picked up on that ... And as everyone will tell you (even those without girls, hell even those without kids - everyone), one of the funnest things about having girls is dressing them.
Fun, but not always easy if you're looking for something beyond the standard pink 'n frilly branded fare. So how much do we love this:

Made by the lovely Little Fire Company, Miranda is offering a reader this cutie-patootie little set for the lively fire fly in your life. My girls are loving a flouncy skirt this summer, and I'm sure yours will too!

Right, rules:
1. This giveaway is open to anyone (as in we will ship anywhere). We're global like that.
2. To enter you need to 'Like' the Little Fire Company and C is for Cape Town on facebook and then email me at cisforcapetown[at]gmail.com confirming you've done that.
(Psst, y'all know when emailing to use the @ sign right? The silly brackets thing above is just to avoid spambots. Don't tell them okay?)
3. Competition closes 30 November and a winner will be drawn that weekend.

The little set is available in size 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7.

All Little Fire Company goodies (there's SO much more than clothing) can be purchased from their website, and Miranda will be at the following pre-Christmas markets in and around Cape Town too ... the Doilie Market at our favourite Little Stream Restaurant this Saturday, 25 November, and Cavendish Square's Made in the Cape market on the first weekend in December. She also has an open morning at her Observatory studio on the 2nd Saturday of every month.

Spread the word, like the stuff, win the things!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED - WE HAVE A WINNER! Thanks everyone who played along.

summer of SAHM

This past week has been the last 5-day school week of the year for Friday. The last week of 3-day nanny (for Sunday) and cleaner (for me).
This past week has been a week of many, many lasts.

From Monday we will be in our new home, and the girls and I will be driving through to Mowbray just twice a week for a short (so short) school morning until the end of this term.
My Mum, who lives across the lake from us now (or will soon - so soon!), will be abroad for a month from Wednesday.

From the end of September there is no formal childcare, no school, just ... me. And them.

Logistically and financially this makes sense for our family right now. Emotionally and mentally it's started making sense to me too.

Next year Friday will start Grade R (we've found a school!) and Sunday will attend nursery 5 days a week. I will work more formally. There will probably need to be aftercare.
We will enter a spell (just 15 years or so) of early mornings and rushing and traffic and deadlines and proper shoes and extra-murals and packed lunches for all.

We have been spoiled these last years, my girls and I. Spoiled to have so much of each other (admittedly sometimes in chunks), spoiled - as a friend so wisely pointed out - to know each other so well.
A small home loan, some sacrifices, a determination to make it work all helped make this possible, but the times they are a-changing and we are all getting older and developing new needs.

I've had moments since these plans were hatched of real, chilling, terror at the thought of being a FULL TIME STAY AT HOME PARENT. I've shed some tears and worried whether we'll all come through it alive (the lake is right there you know) or at least psychologically intact.
But as the reality of this move has set in (36 hours to go!) and the truth of our new space has been revealed (it's every kind of wonderful). I've started to make peace.

This will be my maternity leave - a few years on from the traditional definition - but a time to put the rest of the world on hold a little and just be with my babies. Nurture them, grow them, play with them, not kill them.

This will be my summer of SAHM and I will, I must appreciate the privilege and wonder of that.

Will you help remind me of that when I come here to whinge?

little stream restaurant, constantia

Husband and I often rue the fact that we're bringing our kids up in an environment so very far removed from the rural childhoods we both enjoyed.
I suffer no illusions that those places haven't changed with the times, I know even if we still lived there our kids wouldn't enjoy the same freedom and unspoilt natural surroundings as we did.

But in stark contrast to our very urban existence in Observatory, the garden of my childhood had ...

... deep shady spaces in which to hide from the summer sun ...

... corners of overgrown abandoned wildness ...

... muddy ditches filled with tadpoles and adventure ...

... and a stand of giant bamboo which creaked and knocked like a wooden schooner on the high seas ...

Little Stream Restaurant and grounds reminded me of home, and for a few hours my kids lived my memory of childhood.

Explore. Paddle. Pick daisies. Learn. Live.

And then go back to the tea garden for a damn fine coffee and cake.

(their website isn't live yet - they promise it will be soon - but visit Becoming You for all the info, directions and great pics of the food)

sunday's summer vocab

'Moar pull' - more pool

'Moar bubbells' - more bubbles

'Moar toss' - more toast

Sounds idyllic huh?

tweede nuwe jaar!

We were really disappointed to miss the Cape Minstrels parading through the city centre yesterday - they were 3 hours (!) late and after a full morning at the South African Museum and other fun in the City we had two tired little girls and so headed home, a little sad.

But then, just as we gearing up for bath time yesterday evening, we heard music close by and quickly raced through Observatory with pram and dog to catch up with a local troupe, parading home just a few streets away.

Can you see unbridled jump for joy excitement bottom left?

Failing light and fast moving children didn't allow for good snaps but we had such a great time, marching alongside and behind the group, rocking to the big band, jiving with the kiddies, waving to the spectators.
It's hard to describe the energy and charisma of a minstrel troupe. You kinda had to be there, and we were!

As fun, if not more so, than the huge (and probably somewhat overwhelming) parade in town would have been. And that much more special for experiencing it just a few streets from home.

With the light fading we turned back before getting washed into the heart of Salt River and ears ringing, we danced home.
The music continued, in the distance, well into the night.

7 Dec

Um, did we know these could be machine-washed?

Pity we can't do the same for the feet.

5 Dec

You know when you visit a place for the first time and within a couple of hours of being there you're already excited about going back?

Like that.

pinspiration: holiday survival tactics activities

Friday finishes school on Wednesday, and then the loooooong summer holidays stretches before us ....

I (like lots of parents I guess) approach the holidays with a fair amount of dread apprehension - we love the little darlings obviously but all those days to fill ... Past experience has however taught me that the longer the holiday the better they often are.
Fairly quickly our rhythms shift and adapt, the girls start sleeping in a bit later. Not starting our days with a mad dash to get out the door sets an easier tone for the rest of the day and most noticeably, the girls slip more easily into home-play; self-generated games and activities which don't require as much input from me as I feared thought.

Here's hoping at least!

That said, it doesn't hurt to have some activities up my sleeve. Here's a few I've got planned.
All from Pinterest of course!

1. Bath Paint
I've totally been known to put my girls in the bath at all times of the day. BEST way to grab half an hour. This would work as well in a paddling pool I guess but what better canvas than a white bath tub?

2. Rainbow Rice
Find the How-To here and then browse around - she's got lots of other fun ideas too.

3. Frozen Sensory Tub
Dudes, what a totally FAB idea for a hot afternoon? Go here to learn how, then check out ALL the other a-m-a-z-i-n-g sensory tub ideas she got going on and then dangnabit just go follow her on Pinterest yourself. [Bows to true genius.]

 4. And for snack time ... watermelon stars.
How pretty?

Just writing this post has gotten me excited about hot afternoons and summer fun, I'll post some more ideas as I find them and by all means, please share your holiday survival plans!

elgin open gardens: beaumont wines

This Saturday we had (a long) lunch at Beaumont Wines in Botriver as part of the 2011 Elgin Open Gardens.

I really wish I'd caught on to the event sooner, there were 23 participating gardens this year over two weekends, and I can imagine drifting slowly from estate to estate - lunch here, a walk there, tea here, drinks there. Needing nothing more but lots of baby-sitting, an unlimited budget, a designated driver, 4 or 5 different stomachs and an unlimited capacity for wine.
Is that too much to ask?

I've got such a nostalgic soft spot for the Beaumont's beautiful Compagnes Drift farm, having spent many, many childhood afternoons running around there (mostly bare-bummed according to our parents), and so I may be totally biased but it really is the most exquisite place.

With none of the pretension and grandeur of some (many) wine farms around Cape Town, Beaumont Wines is a family-run winery and the whole farm exudes warmth and relaxed charm.

It's home to one of the only working water mills in the Overberg area, we were given a tour by the dedicated and engaging Andy Selfe, an engineer who has restored the mill back to its current glorious working state.
Friday was intrigued by all the cogs and wheels and totally taken with watching the grain being milled. We bought a bag of flour and followed the simple recipe on the back to bake a delicious loaf for the next morning's breakfast.
A fun way to show a little girl from the city the whole process from grain to her tummy.

Lunch was on the lawns in front of the historic farm house overlooking the farm dam, home to an enormous 23 year old barbel aptly named Hoover.

Friday got to feed him 'cat food' off the jetty and marvel at his enormousness - just when she'd thought the mill was the highlight of the day.

Oh and on the subject of food ...

Zest Catering. More Beaumonts, more magnificence.

And then there was nothing really left to do except roll around on the lawn all afternoon, drinking wine and hanging out with old dear friends.
I mean ...

Life is really hard sometimes you know.

And just when you'd think I couldn't have any more gushing to do, I have to add that this was also one of those rare and magic family outings where everything just ... worked.
Sunday had her morning nap perfectly on schedule for us to leave on time. Friday was an angelic delight. No one fell in the dam. No one pee'd on the front seat of the car (although this only thanks to my superior nappy-changing skillz). There was no spitting, no fighting, no threats.
There was only fun, and laughter, and good times.
And wine.

Do you all hate me now?

rhodes memorial tea garden

It was school holidays last week, never a better time to seek out new places to take the kids. Places which serve coffee and/or beer that much more sought after.
I love this fantastic list of Top 10 Cape Town restaurants with kid's play places, and I'm pleased to add another, this one very well located for Southern Suburbs parents.

Rhodes Memorial Tea Garden.
Not known for it's kiddie-friendliness over the years, Rhodes Mem Tea Room has been more geared towards ladies who lunch and visiting tourists. But recently, under new management, they've built a fab children's play area, complete with jungle-gym, swings, slide and great sand-pit. Shady and protected for the summer, with darling mini-tables and toadstool seats, this was the perfect place to meet some school mates for play and a milkshake on a hot afternoon.

 

My photos don't do justice to the gorgeous views from up here, I was too busy parenting gabbing with the other mums to get proper shots.
But trust me on this, a run around the memorial followed by some shady play, tanked up on milkshakes and chips, made this one of the funnest afternoons we spent during this short holiday.

We'll be back!

ten signs of summer

1. Painting my toenails.

2. Running the cold tap for a while, waiting for the water to cool (and thinking about coming water restrictions).

3. The wheelie-bin starting to pong 3 days before rubbish collection.

4. Taking the dog for a walk on the beach and coming home with all of us wet and sandy, even those who'd not intended to swim.

5. Salty hair.

6. Flies.

7. Mosquitoes.

8. 2 bare girls running round the house.

9. Salad for supper. (Actually this is more of a fantasy. Obviously I'm the only member of the family who thinks this a viable option ... )

10. Random moments - catching the scent of summer, the feel of changed air on bare skin, gazing at the haze on the mountain as dusk falls - and feeling a deep peace and happiness.

Summer is my happy place. It's going to be a good one.