How do you take your tea?

As someone whose alcohol consumption stretches to the occasional glass of red wine - which somehow never gets finished - my choice of beverage extends to coffee and tea in the main. But not just any coffee or tea. I have to confess quite freely and openly that I always look in the cupboard to see what brand before I say yes to coffee! If it isn't what I was hoping for, then tea is fine, and if you think I'm fussy, then water will also do. But not just any water. It must be straight from the tap - not from the fridge and no ice, thank you. Even better, it can be hot with a slice of lemon!

I've never been much of an imbiber, not through any misguided moral ideas or problems with misbehaviour, but simply because I don't feel the need. I will dance on a table without the aid of Dutch courage and definitely feel fine the next day! But back to the tea...

As a child, I remember putting spoons of tea leaves into the teapot and using a tea strainer to catch them when I poured the tea. These tea leaves were clearly visible and had actual measurements - at least 2mm x 2mm. Since the advent of the tea bag, the producers have got away with murder, or rather, floor sweepings, and the strength of the tea has suffered so much that it is almost impossible to make one decent cup from a teabag, and definitely not share it. The old rule was one for each person and one for the pot. Unless you buy tea of distinction, you need to make that three for the pot. Tea for me is a rich brown obviously tea colour with just a dash of milk.

Coffee has entered the realms of heaven with the Nespresso machine I have been given. Fresh, full-bodied, rich flavour with a teaspoon of cream. Say no more!

Tailing off the holidays

The festive season is receding and the line-up of 'things to do' lessening, and today was most unusual. I felt like doing a bit of housework! Strike while the iron is hot was most appropriate, and the pile on the back of the dining room chair was dealt with in double-quick time before 7.30. Then it was out with the Mr Min and polishing cloth and soon the ornaments (all four of them) had been moved and surfaces sparkled. A few windows got the treatment (let's not get too carried away here) and all the mirrors.The vacuum cleaner roared to life and received a dusting itself; rugs went outside for a beating and all the bedding replaced.

That got me to 9.30 - time to take a walk up to the local superette and deli for a few essentials. I have managed to avoid the mall for days now, as I can get all I need right here in Kommetjie, and at the same time get a cappuccino and a light brunch before returning to the grindstone. The coffee shop was still buzzing with holidaymakers, but slightly less frenetic than last week, and it will be nice when everything is back to normal again. We like a relaxed lifestyle here.

The weather has been variable today - cloudy at first and slightly cool, then becoming humid, then blazing hot under a clear sky, back to clouds, a little light rain (stopped the cricket at Newlands), and then back to sunshine for sunset. Lovely fluffy, puffy clouds streaming over the mountains from the west - a little like an early autumn!

Clovelly days

I do so enjoy small family gatherings on the deck at the family home in Clovelly. Today it was Dad, Mom, the three daughters, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Quite a stretch across the generations. We have been gathering there for nearly 53 years now and all of us have childhood memories of this home and garden that rambles far up the mountainside that are dear to our hearts. What a privileged upbringing we had in the freedom of the mountains, beach and sand dunes nearby, not to mention soccer games in the long summer evenings on the fairways of the Clovelly golf course. It all seems like yesterday, and of course it was!

Today Mom and Dad sat back, well deservedly,  as the younger members of the family took over the duties of braaing and food preparation and clearing up afterwards. We sat in our usual "straight stripe" along the side of the balcony in the shade of the eaves, facing the view up the mountain. This seating arrangement is not just for shade - it enables us all to keep a lookout for birds, and in particular raptors, which wheel around the top of Trappies Kop on the thermals. As avid twitchers, binoculars are whipped out and a frenzy of pointing ensues every time a bird appears above the peak, and today there were plenty of occasions to do so as there were sometimes three or four at a time. I tried to take pictures to help in identification and this is about the best I could do. I think the wing markings are pretty clear in the first photo.

New babies in the family are always the centre of attention and, true to family tradition, the great-grandchildren are being born in three-year gaps, as were all the grandchildren, so that each one gets a good chance at being top dog! Raphaël is the youngest great-grandchild, and Robert, the youngest grandchild, spent some time getting to know his little cousin. It seems that they hit it off, and Raphaël enjoyed a little playtime. He has a powerful grip and loves tactile exploration of the various bits of the face, most notably the nose and lips, and has even yanked off a necklace. He does this with lots of chuckles and a cheery smile and I suspect will steal everybody's hearts in no time, not just their necklaces!

Feasting our way into 2015

I saw the New Year in at the Giggling Gourmet's Cook's Playground in De Waterkant. I was fortunate enough to be able to assist Chef Jenny Morris in adding the final touches to many of the sumptuous dishes she prepared for the guests and was pleased that I watch a lot of the food programmes on TV, enabling me to carry out my duties with a little aplomb. I've always maintained that the finest kitchen tools are our hands, and the sprinkling, scattering and drizzling and subsequent manual tossing was a sensory delight, making me aware once again of how little effort I put into everyday cooking.

Using a cookery book and following new ideas comes in handy after nearly 40 years of producing meals which are supposed to be appealing, nutritious and delicious. What a burden is placed on the poor housewife who may have no interest in cooking at all - I do believe it is time for all family members to involve themselves in the production of food. Now there's a great New Year's resolution!

It was lucky our revelry was rocking, as over the road was a street party of note, with strobes lighting up the facades of the buildings surrounding the venue and the infectious thumping beat of whatever genre was on the turntables - we only became aware of it when we left just after 2am. Further towards the centre of Cape Town, there was a similar celebration in a square near a city hospital, but that ended at 2.30, no doubt in accordance with some by-law, and peace fell over the City Bowl instantly, allowing residents to visit the Land of Nod, even if only for the brief few hours before sunrise.

On the downside, as we drove through the streets, which were full of pedestrian revellers, it was sad to note how many youngsters were engaged in the sordid side of life from which most of us are protected, and I am sure more than one of us counted our many blessings.

Blessings and abundance

2015 is nearly upon us. We can say goodbye to 2014, an inauspicious year for humankind. 2015 has a good ring to it and I believe will be a great year for us all. We need only adjust our attitude to events and focus on creating a new world rather than concentrating on what is wrong with the old. Begin each day with the intention to be the best person you can be that day, and end with a brief note of what you had to be grateful for on that day. These two simple actions can lead to amazing results in your life and should not be sneered at.

Believe in yourself and take no notice of what other people expect you to be. We are all sent here to fulfil our own purpose, not to be one of a crowd. Don't be afraid to stand out, to speak up for those who cannot, to extend kindness to all you meet. Turn the other cheek, for it is true that a soft answer turneth away wrath, and the strong are those who can forgive and forget.

Use the gifts you have been given for the greater good of the world. Everyone has talents; some do not believe this and so never find out what they are. If you are one of them, service to others is a talent that will lead to all sorts of good things in your life.

Enjoy the simple things - a flock of birds, the wind rustling the leaves, a stunning sunset. But party as well, as life is for living and for enjoyment - the only provisos being respect for yourself first and then for others.

Blessings and abundance to you all in the year ahead! I leave you with a real hallelujah sunset for reflection.

Beating up the bougainvillea

It is said that the best way to get your bougainvillea to flower is to snap off branches and beat around the bush with them. This form of plant abuse apparently brings out the best in it, and the rewards are splendiferous. I remember from my youth that a neighbour in Clovelly got magnificent results from this treatment which we all enjoyed in the view from our lounge (the flowers, not the beating).

I have never had any success with these showy climbers, but every so often try again. When we first moved here, I planted a rampant-growth variety on the south side of the house, where we seldom go, and it is no exaggeration to say that I never ever watered it and definitely didn't feed it, so neglect was the order of the day. It seemed to thrive, as on the rare occasions that I looked in its direction, its growth was both rampant and heading for the top of our double storey. But never once did it flower.

It eventually grew taller than the house and the southeaster gave it a natural beating against the house, causing vast amounts of twigs and even thicker branches to be snapped off. These bear the most vicious thorns and as we have started to use the area in the last few years, and I never wear shoes at home or in the garden, I have done quite a bit of tap-dancing when being spiked by them. The only solution is to wear gardening gloves and pick up every single twig and burn them in the braai - an ongoing task now that the bougainvillea is so huge.

It was only last year that I started to notice the bright pink flowers (bracts) scattered in the garden after a strong wind and a walk up the road revealed that I do in fact, have a magnificent bougainvillea. The only problem is that it has grown completely across a large section of the roof and is invisible to us. At least the neighbours up the road and on the hillside can enjoy it!.

Feasting on red gold

When we first moved to Kommetjie and had a boat, and crayfishing was unrestricted for recreation (I don't recall there being poachers in those days - law enforcement was still effective), we had an unlimited supply of crayfish. The modus operandi was that everyone (friends and local kids) would turn up after work, nets would be filled with bait bags on the trip down to the beach for launching and within about 20 minutes the first nets were laid. It was a smooth operation of note, and the boat was called "Smooth Operator" for good reason.

Within an hour the boat was back, washed off and reversed into the garage, nets rinsed and hung up on the fence to dry for the next day, and bait bags refilled before being put back in the deep freeze. Then it would be time to light the fire in the boma, put on the big pot and cook the catch. I of course played no part in any of this, having two small children to attend to, but I recall that I nearly wore out the stairs carrying trays of food and clearing up afterwards! So I had a purpose after all.

Eventually we sold the boat, crayfishing become severely restricted for the common man, and we didn't miss eating it as we had feasted so often on red gold.  Nowadays, we may go out on someone's boat once or twice a season, or even less, and have started to enjoy crayfish again. It's our son's turn to do the hard work of crewing now, and we just have to dismember the cooked result!

This is all that is left of the legs and body, both of which are filled with the tastiest meat, and the shells were then consigned straight into the soil of the vegetable patch. They make the most wonderful fertiliser and in the old days, truckloads of crayfish bodies were brought over Chapman's Peak drive from Hout Bay to be dug into the soil in Noordhoek by the vegetable farmers. No wonder the ground is so fertile there!