Day 536 - Caledon

Today we actually got up a little earlier. I won't elaborate exactly how much earlier, but we managed to get out & get something accomplished. 


I did 30 minutes of yoga first thing & Jaco went to get his passport photos taken. By the time he came back, I was nearly ready. I would've been ready a little sooner had I not had complications operating the stick blender Petro gave me for my birthday. Operator error. :o) Whoops. In any case, we were off to Caledon.


Jaco needs a new passport & the office we needed to apply at was in Caledon, about 30 minutes from Hermanus. We took the wrong turn & ended up on a dirt road for 1/2 the drive. It was actually a very pretty drive. We drove past many vineyards, olive groves, sheep farms & gorgeous eucalyptus & cypress trees. It was a wide valley & today was a cloudy day, so the clouds were wrapping & twisting around the mountains as we drove along. 


The passport will take one month & unfortunately we were planning on applying for 2 visas. One for Europe & one for New Zealand. We only have 6 weeks. I don't think that we'll be able to make it fly. Boo. We'll see. We'll try our very best!


When we came back to Hermanus, we stopped in a little section of shops & found some trays to grow sprouts in. I also picked up a pill organizer & then we went to the grocery shop. I'm finding that you need to visit all three or four grocery stores in order to find what you need. One shop has this, the other that, this one cheaper, that one cheaper... It's a bit of a mission to get all that you need!


After our grocery stop(s), we drove down the road to a turn off called 'Kwaaiwater' - crazy water - kw-i-vah-tur. We passed several stunning houses. I picked out a few! We parked by the water & I got out & took some photos. It was a very eery sight. The waves were quite aggressive & the shoreline was very rocky. I watched a lone seagull now & then swoop down along the water, barely missing the waves underneath him. As I walked along the beach, mussel shells crunched under my feet. The mist was heavy & I couldn't see too far out to sea. In fact, the horizon line disappeared not too far in the distance. 


Soon the light had waned & I couldn't take a steady shot, so I returned to the car to find Jaco in agony. He had just downed 1L of juice in the few moments I had been gone & was feeling slightly uncomfortable. Sigh. I'm trying to understand his dietary habits. Give me strength. 


We drove back to the house & had dinner. Marisa called & we're going to make plans to get together sometime next week. I can't wait to see her, as she's engaged now & I'm very excited for her. Petro helped me suss out the stick blender - it's  actually quite powerful! We blended the almond milk & her & Jaco gave it a taste test. Tomorrow we'll have protein shakes! Hooray! 


xxxxMaria

 Wide open views

Open road 

Into the mountains (5 minutes later) 

Sheeps 

 Vineyards

Into the mist 

 Blossoms

 More vineyards

I LOVE cypress trees. Makes me feel like I'm in Italy. 

More vineyards 

Turning colour 

 Oranges on a tree

Beautiful flag! 

Waves & rocks 

Moody 

 Relentless

 Shells

 Weathering the endless waves

 Formations

 Crunch, crunch.

 Eery

 Water, rock, sand, shell, mist

 shells turning to sand

The waves roll in.

Day 260 - Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

Oh boy. Heidi was wide awake at 0630 when Jenn left for work, so that makes me somewhat coherent at 0630. I laid her down on the little mattress beside the couch & she did fall back asleep for an hour or so. Harrison was up at 0730 and him & 'Tina' played quietly (relatively). Pretty soon he asked me to play Bob the Builder (Can we build it? YES WE CAN!). Then it was time to play tug of war with 'Tina'. They ran around & around & around. It was quite entertaining to watch!


After I put Heidi down for a nap, I had a quick shower. I told Harrison to stay upstairs & watch Bob. I heard a bit of banging & when I went upstairs, the sliding screen door was lying against the deck railing. Oh dear. Well, I put it back on the railing & carried on. We put on our hats & sunblock & went outside to play in the back yard. We wrote on the sidewalk with chalk, blew bubbles, dug dirt, 'mowed' the lawn & Harrison drove his red car up & down the sidewalk. Still a wee bit paranoid about my dream from the previous evening, I kept a VERY close eye on Harrison. I had the video monitor with me, so I knew that Heidi was still sound asleep! Phew!


We went inside for some lunch about 1130. Heidi woke up at 1200. I fed her a bottle until 1215 & then Harrison & I went downstairs for his nap. We read a couple of books & then he laid down on the bed, head on the pillow, waiting for me to cover him up with his blanket. After I did, he said, 'Bye!' and that was it! Lights out! What a good boy! I'm lovin' this routine thing! What a great idea!!!


Mama came home shortly after & we chilled out for a bit. Once Harrison was awake, we went to town to order some supper. YUM! We had Vietnamese & it was delicious! I was quite full after only a small portion, but it was fantastic! We looked at some photos afterwards - I am editing Jenn's wedding photos in exchange for some movies. It's a great trade! 


I packed up my things & said farewell to Harrison & Jenn & motored home. Mom was doing a photo shoot at 1930 & I wanted to help. But. By the time I arrived home, I was wiped. I unpacked my things & was headed for bed when Unka Jer showed up! Oh dear. By the time I hit the hay, it was 0200. Yes, a 20 hour day. 


Thank goodness it was a sleeping day tomorrow! I'm wiped... See you tomorrow & NOT EARLY!!! :o)
xxxxxx
Maria & Valentina

Harrison & Upside Down Tina

I tried to get Harrison to stay upside down too, but no luck!

So the other day Mike gave Harrison the bag of Goldfish & he shook the bag. There were Goldfish everywhere! Valentina thoroughly enjoyed the smorgasbord & managed to get her head inside the bag to give it a good lickin'.

Harrison chills out in the van while we wait for supper.