Norm and I had such a lazy day on Saturday. We are both feeling exhausted. Norm has been helping Caitlin paint all week in her flat and he is physically tired, I am mentally tired from stressing about selling our home and finding a new one and all the other stress around moving. I do not cope well with uncertainty.

I have such a mix of emotions. I love my home and I love Hout Bay. However the ongoing issues with protesting and roadblocks and traffic congestion are causing me distress. Add all of this to the fact that I am not coping with the stairs in our home due to my increasing issues with arthritis has resulted in our decision to leave Hout Bay.

We have all been aware of the chaos from the fires a few months back and the need to relocate the fire victims. We knew of the plans to build more accommodation and were accepting of this. These plans are to better the lives of South African poor, however now it seems like the plans are changing on a regular basis. Some will not improve anyone’s lives, they will just make them different not better.

There are now signs posted up in the area where the City of Cape Town (CoCT) has proposed to put a TRA (Temporary Relocation Area) near the cemetery, just off of the road which is the only access point into our suburb.

This proposed “TRA” will most likely increase crime and congestion. It may potentially result in other health issues. The shacks will have no sanitation, no running water and no electricity. The government is proposing cutting down all of the trees in the area to accommodate the shacks. The issue is that the trees currently protect the area from erosion and also soak up some of the ground water there. If they cut out the trees and move hundreds of humans in with no proper toilets then inevitably the cemetery below will be awash with human feces and other unhealthy off flows resulting from habitation.

The SA government has set up these TRAs many times, and very seldom do they end up being temporary. This will mean the ever expanding township expands even closer to our home.

We could decide to wait and see what happens in Hout Bay, but there is a load of new flats, 2 or 3 blocks, as well as 3 new housing estates. Traffic is already heavy from 6am til late at night. Summers will be like it used to be when we would go on holiday in Florida and drive up and down the main drive, bumper to bumper. Except here someone will maybe chuck a rock through your window.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

Either way. It is time to leave the Bay.

My heart hurts.

But life goes on.

One has to accept they are powerless. You can do the footwork to drive life in the direction you think it should go, but destiny is really the one in control.

Back to Saturday morning, Norm and I finally got up as we were getting pretty hungry and while I was off foraging for an easy yogurt, he offered to make us a healthy low carb, high fat breakfast. He made crisp bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs and cut up some avo for us.

He even made a plate for Caitlin and served her breakfast in bed. He does spoil the women in his life. She will miss these luxuries once she moves out.

We had an easy day and then we decided to go out for a last minute date night and I booked us into Quentin at Oakhurst for dinner. We love their venue – it is so beautiful.

We were starving by this time and we quickly settled in with a bit of his gorgeous home made bread still warm from the oven.

The Winter Special is R195 per person for 3 courses. We had 4 choices to choose from his available starters.

I opted for the Vintage Avocado Ritz

It was nice enough but could have done with a few more prawns and a squirt of lemon.

Norm opted for the mushroom soup.

There were 4 mains to choose from.

I chose the roast loin of Kingklip (this is fish for those who have never heard of it.)

It was a lovely large moist piece of fish and I enjoyed the tasty simplicity of the spinach and tomatoes. I will try out this dish myself I think! They overdid it a tiny bit with the crust – there were dried herbs in the topping which made you think you had a fish bone and once you managed to extract it you found it to be a wee green stick of some sort. But everyone who knows me is aware of my aversion to dried herbs.

Norm ordered the lamb and it looked gorgeous and perfectly cooked. I had a wee taste and it was really juicy and tender.

We also had a choice of one of the 4 desserts on offer.

Of course I chose the soft centered dark chocolate pudding with raspberries.

I was expecting a chocolate fondant type of dessert but was not disappointed in what I did get. It was like a partially baked brownie sort of thing. Very liquid underneath a thin cake type topping. But it was really gorgeous – I could have eaten about 4 portions of this!

Norm had the apple & blackberry crumble with gorgonzola and he raved about this! The combination of the cheese with the fruit was spectacular.

Norm said he felt like he reverted to childhood in his choices. His family would always have soup as a starter, often had lamb and crumble was always produced from his mom’s garden. He was a happy chappy.

All in all I give Quentin’s winter special 4.5 Kitten Stars.

We polished off a bottle of wine between us and did not stay out terribly late. It was great to see the venue busy and full. I do love the vibe there, you feel very spoiled by the staff. It is walking distance from our house and if we lived in Europe we would stroll there. But if we tried that here we would at a minimum be mugged. I don’t want to consider the worst! South Africa can freak one out should one allow those thoughts to take hold.

Norm and I had a long lie in again on Sunday morning. Norm brought a coffee back to bed after feeding the dogs. He watched the news on telly and I played covet fashion and cuddled up with Lola.

Eventually hunger drove us out of bed and we showered and headed down to the village for brunch and a round of shopping. We had heard a new owner had taken over Deli Delish and so we decided to pop in there as it was a gorgeous sunny day. We used to visit there often, it was our usual weekend sunny day brunch spot. However since the glorious lady who started it moved away the last few owners have neglected the food and it had become very disappointing every time we visited so we stopped going. However I was happy with our food and the service on Sunday so I am glad it is back on our list. Hout Bay doesn’t have that many places with nice breakfast since Julie sold Riverway Cafe, we tend to go only to La Cuccina or Gabriella’s. 

But Deli Delish is a lovely bright and charming venue. 

We ordered coffee and food and sat chatting about our plans for the day.

I ordered my usual eggs benedict, they came with crispy pancetta and fried onions. The sweetness of the onions was a lovely balance for the salty pancetta.

Norm had the deli breakfast. When he said he did not want toast they substituted avocado instead. Very nice! Usually no one offers any substitutions for those who choose low carb. I didn’t get asked what toast I preferred, I assumed it came on a muffin but apparently not. I just didn’t eat the toast.

We did a run through the shops, I went round Woolies for meat and veg and Norm popped over to Pic and Pay for a few things and we met up at the end. We dropped the food off at home and then headed off to Noordhoek for a show house.

The house there was stunning and is in a lovely security estate. But it would not work for our dogs and it is too far to drive for me every day. But it was so gorgeous. The style and finishes are stunning. 

We then headed to Constantia to a house which was perfect on paper, however the agent contacted us to say that it had sold and the show house was cancelled. Bugger! That is two weekends in a row that has happened.

*Repeats* Not meant to be, not meant to be.

We then went to another show house in Constantia and I heard a voice calling ‘Lisa?’ from the bedroom and then I realised it was my friends’ Mandi and Cathi’s baby sister Marcella and her husband Simon! What a small world! I have not seen either of them since Mandi moved to Canada so would not have recognised them if they had not spotted me. That house was in a perfect location, but was in need of a lot of renovation which we are not keen on.

We looked at a total of 10 houses on show. Most were just an outright NO. But there was one which Norm was keen on, simply because of the lovely garden and that it was on a very quiet cul de sac. But it did not have a great flow and was a bit poky.

There was one which we both loved but we want to check out the stats on crime in the area.

It is an ongoing search.

By the time we got home it was almost 6pm and we were starving, so Norm took the dogs out for their walk and I started dinner. I made chicken sausages, home made cole slaw, a simple green salad with avo and feta cheese and steamed gem squash.

I also thought I would be prepared and make a lasagna sauce for Monday night, however we both zoned out and forgot about it and it burnt to a crisp. What a waste of time and food 😦

Norm just comforted me and said it is because we are trying to do too much rather than just taking things as they come. He is right, that is my style. I am trying to keep myself in the present but it is a constant battle to keep focused and positive. I keep day dreaming and imagining my furniture in the homes we view on show days. 

Tonight he followed my instructions and replaced the burnt sauce.

He chopped zucchini and layered those and raw baby spinach with the sauce, then topped it all with mozzarella.

 

It was so yummy when baked.

I am the luckiest woman ever. ❤️

I need to just relax and enjoy it.

My Mom is in Atlanta Georgia and the after effects of Hurricane Irma will be felt there today. I have been keeping an eye on the progress as much as I can. The report today at lunch time looks like it will miss most of Atlanta but it is hard to know, Mother Nature can be unpredictable.

I am praying to the Great Spirit for the protection of my Mom and the rest of the people who may be impacted by the many threads of wrath that Mother Nature seems to be expending. We have been dealing with so many disasters, Hurricane Harvey, an earthquake in Mexico,  an earthquake in Japan, floods in Asia, floods in Italy, Hurricane Irma, as well as the many fires burning out of control. There are many more.

Yet the imbeciles of the world keep denying climate change.

The best meme I have seen regarding this cacophony of chaos is this one.

I hope all of your loved ones are safe, dry and warm.

Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxox