Green, Greener, Greenest!

With all the nursery visits we always talk about you must think we are by now living in a greenhouse. Nevertheless, there are still many many spots in need of that green touch!

So no wonder that when last Sunday we met Glenn’s parents at the nursery for lunch …

… not only Dolores and Steve went home with some new additions to their garden.

Among others we’ve now got a myrtle bush (in training) between the doggie boxes on the deck …

… new hanging baskets with vygies, …

… and a sprinkler for the poor lawn (and the humans great and small).

With Erik’s help everything was planted in no time …

… and our deck is now looking much nicer and more inviting!

Since Sunday we’ve even started having our 7am morning coffee/tea on the deck while Erik chases Mia around the garden. Amazing how one can have the need to GET RID of energy at that time of day!

Playground Fun & Seabreeze

Last Wednesday Meli had an appointment in town and as you all know by now Meli always tries to seize this opportunity to pay a visit to her beloved Mouille Point.

Shortly before we moved they put up a beautiful adventure playground there which Mama and Erik explored a little that day.

As it always is the case Erik found the every day things much more interesting than those actually meant and built for his toddler amusement.

So Mama took him on the slide.

Wow, that was cooooooooool! What’s next?

Mmmm … what’s this thing?

It turns! GIGGLE!

We even walked on the wobbly bridges! But Erik found this little girl – the only other visitor to the playground more fascinating than anything else. Can you see her waving over there?

And over there, behind the blocks of flats is where we used to stay in Greenpoint …

… and this is where we used to go for walks.

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

PS.: only little more than a week to go and Erik and Mama will be in BONN!! They are very excited!

Happy Birthday, Dolores!

Last Monday was Glenn’s Mom’s birthday and on Sunday we all met at her house for a yummy lunch!

At first Meli cursed, because she’d forgotten the camera, then she praised Glenn for packing it and then she cursed again when the battery gave up it’s ghost after only a few pictures.

So instead of pictures of the birthday girl and her happy guests we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce Spot – Dolores’ and Steve’s new dog!

Meet Spot:

Spotty came all the way from Johannesburg where he used to stay with Ashley, Jackie and Marcello.

Erik loves Spot and also loves to boss him around like he does Mia and Joey. “Spotty SIT!” “Spotty COME!” “Spotty OUT!”

Meli made sure Spot got some rest from her little boy …

… by letting Erik play with the most irresistable thing in the whole world – WATER!

Just the right thing on this sizzling hot day!

Welcome to the family, Spotty!

Braai Lesson For Foreigners

Most of you will have heard the word “Braai” mentioned here before. It actually is a VERY important word in South Africa and there are even people here who braai every day! Quite often not even vegetarian sides dishes are required – especially the men seem to find them unnecessary.

After three years of living here Meli has gotten used to braaing fairly often although our braai habits would probably be described by the average South African as “hardly ever”.

She thinks that our indoor braai is a fabulous invention and loves the social life that develops around it. It is just so nice, cozy and casual to invite friends over for a braai!

The other day we had Angie and Clinton as well as Monika and Paul over – for a braai of course. What a nice evening!

Here are the latter (since you’ve met Angie and Clinton before and Meli was a bit lazy with the camera that evening). Glenn had a terribly time as you can see:

Our indoor braai isn’t anything special here. Many people have even got a braai ROOM! And it’s the excuse to meet with friends. At Ant’s place for instance they braai at least once a week. For such very casual occasions normally the Bring & Braai kicks in. To find out what that is and to learn everything else about braais and especially what the difference between a braai and a barbecue is, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braai

As you have witnessed on previous posts, even an outdoor braai doesn’t keep people from braaing in Winter or bad weather. But since indoor braais are so popular braai season is in fact all year round.

Oh, and as anyone who has visited us before will be able to confirm, another MOST important term in braai language is the BOEREWORS! Read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boerewors

Some people get more exquisite and braai SNOEK. Delicious!!

Here you can see snoek caught in Hout Bay:

Yesterday (as we were braaing with Glenn’s parents, Steve said that he would make a snoek braai for Nena and Nobbi when they finally come to visit – and this is just one of many things he’s got planned for them by the way …!)

Anyway, enough of this. Meli will now go to the fridge and get herself some of yesterday’s braai leftovers to snack on