As promised I have some pictures of our Halloween party last weekend to share with you all. We had such fun. It was held in the back room at Spiro’s in Hout Bay. We had some very large parties in the past in our homes where lots of things got damaged, broken or barfed on and we decided rather to move it to our fave venue.

We arrived at 7 and some of our friends were there already.

Each year we have a theme. This year’s was ‘Disney or Animation’.  I was Tiger Lily from Peter Pan.

My daughters and I snapped a quick pic on arrival. Caitlin was Belle and Lily was Velma from Scooby Doo.

I ordered 6 of Spiro’s large platters and put them on the tables. There was different contents on the various tables but there was calamari strips and crispy squids, zucchini ribbons, fish cakes, meatballs, spicy chicken livers, Haloumi, Spanokopita (classic spinach, feta and dill pie), Dolmades (hand-made vine leaves stuffed with rice & herbs) and a variety of other bits as well as decadent dips like Taramasalata (creamy cod roe dip), Hummus or Tzatziki (tangy cucumber, garlic and mint dip) and my personal fave the aubergine dip which are all served with Pita bread. It was all divine and it served to line the tummies of the guests before they got stuck into the cash bar.

We then lowered the lights and moved out tables to make room to dance.

I thought Belle and Johnny Bravo (Caitlin and her fella Wesley) looked brilliant. Wes made the perfect Johnny Bravo and Caitlin is a beautiful Belle.

We had friends show up in all manner of crazy outfits. We had such fun.

Lily and Josh as Velma and Shaggy were adorable.

My book club girls mostly all made it this year and we had a laugh dancing.

Even Chris came late after a work party she had to attend.

We booked a DJ via the venue and didn’t have to manage him, when he veered off of the crowd faves and people sat down he caught on to the shift in mood and redirected. We danced all night! My legs were killing me on Sunday. As was my head. The problem is it is hot and you are dancing so you end up drinking far more than is good for you.

The night flew past and we staggered home just after 1. I woke up covered in lipstick as I was not able to remove my makeup the previous night. Oops.

But Monday was back to normal. Our client’s offices are being renovated and the building is covered in scaffolding. Outside our windows are men dangling from ropes – brave fellas 14 stories in the air. The homeless have taken up residency under the cover of the scaffolds so our walk through reeks of urine. Yum.

Monday evening I popped round to Retha to catch up since we haven’t had a chat since she returned from  her trip to Paris and Corsica. She brought back a sweet little mirror for my handbag.

I love it.

The protestors were out again this week – this time protesting the suppression of the State Capture report. The march was coordinated by the Economic Freedom Fighters or EFF. The leader of this party was previously very involved in the ruling party , but they realised that the ANC was purely interested in bettering themselves, not in addressing the plight of the struggling masses.

This week has proven to not be a great one for our President or some of his puppets.

On Monday, Shaun Abrahams the head of the National Prosecuting Authority (aka the NPA) finally dropped the ridiculous charges against Pravin Gordhan, our finance minister. The charges against former SARS officials Oupa Magashula and Ivan Pillay were also dropped. South Africans are now calling for the resignation of Shaun Abrahams who is one of the many puppets under the control of Zuma.

The Report on State Capture which was produced by our recently departed and well loved Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was finally released. President Zuma and his cronies had tried to stop this being published as it clearly shows how much the Gupta family control South Africa. We all knew that the Guptas had a lot of influence but I do not think any of us realised how endemic and pervasive it actually is. So much of our countries finances are being mishandled and misappropriated.

The report clearly shows that Eskom, our parastatal energy supplier, has been favouring contracts with the Guptas and that the board did not put South Africa’s interests first, it made decisions on what was financially favourable for the Guptas. Eskom has also been misleading us on the need for a nuclear reactor. This coupled with the lack of care and attention and basic maintenance of the existing infrastructure by the ANC has led to mismanagement and the inability to provide SA with the energy we need. The Eskom board is so corrupt it should be dissolved.

We have also gone to another stage on water restrictions which is also due to incompetent management of the existing infrastructure as well as lack of control of the corporations and businesses which are dumping waste into our drinking water supplies. The government try to blame it on the drought, which is indeed compounding this issue however it is certainly not solely responsible.

The other area of mismanagement of funds due to incompetent leadership is our state owned airline SAA where billions of rands have been wasted. This money could have been used to assist students, provide housing or fill any of the other areas which could benefit the disadvantaged.

On Tuesday the NPA dropped fraud charges against Robert McBride, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate head. This was all again done for devious means.

It all makes for interesting dinner conversations as it’s like the script of a low budget soap opera.

Tuesday evening Norm did fillet steaks on the gas grill. 

He made fried mushrooms on the eye. I love that grill. It has saved us during the renovation project.

It was a lovely evening.

The public protector’s office confirmed on Wednesday that its chief executive officer, Louisa Zondo, has handed in her resignation. This story in itself smells of corruption. Maybe I am jumping to conclusions but the timing is just too suspect.

On a more personal note, my kitchen renovation project is making fabulous headway. The quartz countertops went in on Wednesday. Kitchen cupboard knobs were also put on that day. They look fabulous.

We just got a Posticino pizza on Wednesday and it was so yummy.

The plumber came today and installed the taps.

The electrician also fitted the extractor hood. 

Norm was working this evening and popped into Primmi to get dinner on his way home.

We had mashed butternut and spinach with grilled Mediterranean chicken.

It was delicious and lower in carbs than my usual chicken and pasta. It’s all about choices, I had a tasty dinner but didn’t choose pasta. I can cope with this if it’s considered a diet! 

We have a busy weekend ahead. I’m busy at work as well as I am now PM on a new project. It’s not long until Mom comes and the next thing you know it’s going to be Christmas. Life rattles past so quickly.

I hope you had a fun Halloween- it’s my favorite holiday. This year was pretty brilliant I must say.