Just as we were off to a good start to the year the world experienced the horrific terror attacks in France. It’s quite hard to believe that all this terror is becoming a part of everyday news, but I guess all we can do is carry on with our lives and try to be as positive as possible! One thing’s for sure, when things like this happen we do start thinking more about what is important in life and that we shouldn’t take things for granted – most importantly our family, friends and loved ones!
This is my first proper blog post for the year and gives me the chance to note all the things that happened towards the end of 2014 and everything to come for 2015! Firstly, we have three weeks to go before our baby arrives! Phew… nine months is seriously long – I cannot wait to have a glass of Champagne and some oysters..
We stayed in Cape Town for the holidays so I could (try) get everything ready like the baby room. Yup, the long baby list of things to get is almost complete, give or take a floating shelf or two. On that note, can I just complain a little about Baby City? Oh.My.Word. Perhaps I shouldn’t as just thinking about it makes me short of breath. We’re meant to be positive for 2015, right?
Christmas lunch was fabulous, as it was raining and things became quite cosy inside. We had decided to do a ham and a shoulder of lamb with roast potatoes – that’s potatoes roasted in duck fat… which I found at Chefs warehouse on Bree. I was going to do a turkey and had practiced doing one the week before (from a Jamie Oliver recipe). Seth loved it but unfortunately the sight of the massive drumsticks and the overly-emphasised scales in the skin put me right off! Honestly, I couldn’t even have one bite after the the whole experience – it seems pregnancy has a tendency to do this! So ham and lamb was the result. We pulled out the board game ’30 seconds’ after lunch, and that was a major hit – as always.
My sister – who works as a chef on a private yacht on the Med – spent Christmas with us and I scored with a quick pavlova lesson – mmmm. We decided not to do the traditional berries on the top, but rather Nutella and canned peaches. I think Anna Pavlova would have been proud!
Eventually the rain stopped and the rest of our days were spent lazing by the pool – drinking (virgin) Bloody Marys, playing opera music and reading / doodling. There were lots of early walks on the beach (to miss the crowds), quick dunks in the ocean – followed by brekkie at Caprice, and a braai almost every second day. Seth is becoming an expert at getting my chops perfect. Our friend Simon taught us a trick to get the fat crispy – you have to line them up, but to avoid them falling over – skewer them with a stick. Try it – it’s genius. Boerrie rolls topped with Sriracha chilli sauce is most certainly my weak spot whilst being preggies – topped with some greens from the greenhouse to keep us glowing. Oh, and I had my first crop of purple cabbage this month – they were almost too beautiful to pick and eat.
I wasn’t going to talk about Christmas pressies but let me just mention the coolest painting (ever) I got of a pointer dog (framed from Brocante Society in Chelsea Wynberg) for Seth. I’ve been meaning to do a blog post about that wonderful shop – will keep you posted.
The statue head you see in the pics was also a gift from Brocante from my mum!
PS. On a very high note, all my kaftans sold out – thank you so much to all of you who bought. I just received a whole bunch from India, so I’ve put a few in the pics here for you to view. We should hopefully have them up on the shop this week or next. How gorgeous is the yellow and pink embroidered one? Luckily I got a few of those, so one is for moi! I am busy making my first range from the most beautiful fabric I sourced from India. Getting them made here has been a bit tricky but all the sweat and tears will be worth it in the end. I hope to have them finished before due date (early Feb – don’t hold your breath). Whatever happens they will definitely be ready for your Winter getaway somewhere warm.
Please do indulge in my new car-spotting hobby – I posted some of the pics I took in December – how divine is that Ford Cortina?
I think that’s enough for now. Hope you like the pics and here’s to a fab 2015!
Catch you later.
Sam
