On Thursday night Norm and I pretended we were hipsters and attended a gallery event for a newly discovered artist, Ana Kuni. Her work is absolutely stunning.

She has a character that is very prevalent in her work and which I strongly identify with. Ana’s website says: “There is a strong character, constantly featured in her work- The Warrior Woman, who Ana describes as “Conscious, Compassionate, Creative being living in harmony with the inner and outside world”.“

I hope that I have a piece of her work for my very own coming from Santa. 🙂

There was a guy there from Woodstock Gin Company who was showcasing a local craft gin.

I am not a huge gin fan but I did try a glass of the High Tea one which is distilled with rooibos and honeybush.

We had a wander around and enjoyed the art and vibe. Even the courtyard had some fun whimsical art pieces.

After the exhibition we went to The River Club for a bite to eat at The Slug & Lettuce pub. There was a bit of an odd vibe as there was a private function going on, many of the tables and chairs were removed which made the noise rather deafening. But the service was good and the food was delicious. We both had a fillet steak and of course I had some onion rings.

The steak was very tender, it melted in your mouth.

It was nice going out somewhere different for a change, it seems we go to the same venues and see the same people so it was lovely.

However eating out meant I had no leftovers for work the next day so on Friday I ordered Japanese food from OrderIn. My usual place, Sakura, was closed so I tried Hong Restaurant in Claremont. My food looked a bit of a mess so I did not take a pic of it. Their salmon roses were twice the price of Sakura so I will not change my loyalty to Sakura when they are available. I ordered prawn tepanyaki as well as the sushi and it was tasty but oh so messy as the prawns were unpeeled and in a sauce. You ended up covered in prawny sauce. NSFW.

After work on Friday I stopped by my Chiro Kevin for a treatment. My back has improved so much since I started using the insoles in my shoes. It has made my knee pain virtually disappear unless it rains, then my knees act as a barometer.

Lily and Josh came down on Friday so it was lovely having that energy in the house again when I got home. Josh has stayed on this week as his project in Simon’s Town finally seems to be moving along. As our big annual Halloween party was this weekend Caitlin also came to stay on Saturday night.

On Saturday Lily and Norm had errands to run and Josh went quad biking. I just relaxed in preparation for a night of dancing and fun. Lily did my hair and Caitlin did my make up so I was the first one ready.

We booked an Uber to take us to the party and there were already a few people there when we arrived. Everyone started arriving quite quickly after we did and we ordered platters for each of the tables. We ordered 5 platters but as we were seated on a long table none of the food made it to our end so we ordered 2 more platters of food as a few latecomers had also missed the food. However the waiter put our 2nd platter at the same end as the 1st platter and so we ended up not getting any food from that one either! I nibbled a bit here and there but did not want to be drinking copious amounts on an empty stomach.

The DJ was asked to make sure he had music from all decades to go with the theme of Past, Present and Future and he delivered on that front and from the point of the platters getting cleared he got us all up and dancing and many of us barely sat down all night!

I love it when the music crosses generations and appeals to all – we had everyone dancing with everyone else, all the attendees mixed together very well.

I dressed as post-apocalyptic, Caitlin & Wes dressed as 1950’s and Lily and Josh as 1920’s.

Everyone wanted my goggles on for the pics. I could see absolutely nothing with them on.

We managed to round up the entire family for a shot. Norm was a knight but he forgot his helmet at home. Oops.

The kids invited their friends as well so we had all ages there.

My friends Jesse and Neyo both looked amazing and I was so happy to have them make the party for the first time.

We had most of the regular crowd there, Karen and Scott have only missed one of our parties. They both always make such an effort at dressing up.

I loved this pic, it really shows Karen’s zest for life. She is such a happy soul.

Retha invited a few friends to keep her occupied but we managed to have a wee boogy or 2.

1920’s was the most popular time period and we had a bevvy of beautiful flappers.

Everyone seemed to have such fun, I know that I did. The beauty of having it at Spiro’s is that we have no clean up, we just stumble home and wake to a clean tidy house. If you want a brilliant party venue then this is the one for you! The staff are amazing, you can book a DJ through the venue and they do really tasty food.

Every year we lose something and this year was no exception. When we got home we realised we had somehow lost one of the house remotes. This has access to our gate, our house alarm and our garage (which has direct access into the house) so we were all in a panic. We were hoping it was left at Spiro’s but Josh went down and the staff remembered giving it to Caitlin. Oops. It took a few days but eventually Josh got hold of the Uber driver who told him he had it! What a relief. Josh popped over to meet him on Monday and collected it.

It was after 2am when I finally went to bed. We all felt a bit fragile when we woke on Sunday. Lily had to drive back to Mossel Bay but Caitlin Norm and I went out for lunch and to attend a few show houses.

We popped into Bootlegger’s coffee shop in High Constantia. I had the divine Caesar salad and it was as yummy as last time, maybe better as the egg was softer.

We saw 6 houses and 2 of them were really lovely. I could move right into them and be happy. But we do not want to offer on anything until we get an offer on our house.

It was a sunny hot day so when we got home we sat outside and Norm cleaned the pool with help from Nav and Panda.

We had a quiet evening and relaxed as it was back to work the following day.

On Monday I was facilitating a workshop at my client and I was not on top form. I was still a bit fuzzy and knackered. Age, booze and dancing all night can lead to 3 days of down time at my age.

On Tuesday I again had nothing to take for lunch and so I ordered sushi from Sakura.

• 1 X Salmon Roses @ R64.00
• 1 X Open Prawn Tempura @ R48.50
• 1 X Golden Rolls @ R39.00
• 1 X Spring Rolls (2pcs) @ R17.00
  • Vegetarian (R0.00)

It was really tasty and reinforced my decision not to stray from them when I order from my client offices.

There was plenty of chaos at the offices all week with the lectures suspended due to the #FeesMustFall protests. We are pretty safe at our office but it is very unsettling.

There is another march planned for tomorrow. I hope our country finds peace and balance.

I cooked dinner last night as Norm did a shop. Food prices are ridiculous at the moment, I do not know how some people survive financially. Last night I cooked pork chops with roasted butternut and steamed broccoli. I also made a pasta sauce for tonight which I will serve over low carb noodles as I am trying to get back onto eating low carb.

The rest of this month is a bit mad, we are seeing Cat Stevens and John Legend, we are going on a long weekend away and we have our show house on this Sunday. Wish us luck with our house sale and in return I will wish you every happiness possible.

Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxox