Vintages - What every Guest room needs

Treat your weekend and holiday guests to bedside tables equipped with beautiful, thoughtful accessories, like a carafe of water to quench late-night thirsts; a shallow wicker basket brimming with notepads, pencils, pens, stationery and stamps; and a small vase for flowers - always fragrant, invariably out of season.

Remember to stock your spare room with good books and magazines (biographies, histories, novels, and gardening tomes are always welcomes); a reading lamp with a 40-watt or brighter bulb; an alarm clock with an easy-to-read face and easy-to-set controls; an extra blanket or throw within reach in the middle of the night; plenty of close space, not to mention a dozen empty hangers for guests' clothing.

A perfectly cosy guest room - A mosquito net for peaceful summer sleep, books, cosy scatter cushions, some flowers and a comfortable armchair to while away the hours with an interesting book.

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Spring is at hand

With the smell of spring
there’s new promises that bring
a hope of tomorrow
a new day waiting to be born;
New life at its start
a small beating heart
waiting to carry someone new
through time - joyous, happy,
but also blue

Everything, awaiting, the future’s at hand
what is it holding in for our land?
Politics, sport, the weather report
Time is being counted down
and now, my friend, why the frown?
You will also be one
of the millions to see
Spring’s promises and what it holds
for you and for me
- by Annette Coetzee

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Koebaai aan die winter

'n Laaste koebaai aan die winter wat nou agter die rug is hier in Gauteng - op die oomblik beleef ons hittige somerdae, lente was sommer maar net 'n geruggie wat gou verby gevlieg het. My perskeboom het te midde van al die koue pienk botsels uitgestuur en toe sommer, voordat die bloeisels behoorlik oop was, haar groen blaartjies die somer laat verwelkom.

Ek hou van die winter, maar Lente is eintlik my gunstelingseisoen - heerlike middelmatige dae, groen wat oral in die landskap verskyn en reën wat verligting bring vir al ons fauna en flora.

(Waterverf op Bockingford 300gsm - Maree)

 Ons was hierdie winter nie so gelukkig nie, ons plot het nie die verwoestende veldbrande vrygespring nie en alhoewel ons die nodige voorbereidings getref het, was die gras baie droog en die Augustus winde (eers in September gekom!) het saam gespeel om die vlamme die hele plot vol te blaas. Nou sien ek net uit na die reëns wat maar net nie wil kom nie...

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Yummy ideas for omelettes

Everybody loves an omelette, and it's so easy to make. Cheese and ham remain favourite fillings, but there's so much more you can do to lift this humble egg dish to new egglicious heights.

AMAZING FILLINGS FOR OMELETTES 

Tomato, sweet basil and tzatziki wrapped in prosciutto.
Caramelised onion, brie and spinach
Roast chicken and avocado
Smoked salmon and asparagus
Bacon, mushrooms, onion and cheddar
Smoked ham, cream cheese and rocket
Spinach, ricotta and roasted peppers
Smoked haddock and crême fraïche
Mushrooms and leeks
Chilli, cheese and bacon
Baby spinach and Chavroux

Tips for the perfect omelette:
Always add a few drops of water to the beaten eggs as this will create steam, making the omelette lighter.

Use a non-stick pan and, as the egg cooks, lift up the edges and tilt the pan so that the egg pours underneath and cooks. Beat the eggs moderately and add a dash of milk or cream - about half an eggshell for every two eggs.

Make sure your pan is hot, and don't smother the eggs with too much butter or oil in the pan.

EGGSTRA SPECIAL QUAIL'S EGG OMELETTE

Melt 1 T of butter in a non-stick omelette pan. Remove from heat.
Carefully break 12 - 14 quail eggs into the pan without breaking the yolks.
Place back on heat and cook for two to five minutes.
Carefully slide onto a plate.

SPICY POTATO OMELETTE

Category : Vegetarian / Quick / Breakfast
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Oil, for frying
3 free-range eggs
1 small tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1 potato, boiled, diced and lightly fried
1/2 t ground turmeric
1 t masala
1 small chilli, thinly sliced into rings
1 spring onion, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

Cooking instructions:
Heat the oil in a pan. Mix all the remaining ingredients, then pour into the hot pan.
Stir gently, then cook until set.

Cook’s note: For added flavour and texture, add small blocks of Indian paneer, feta cheese or chopped bacon bits. Serve with chopped coriander or chives and chapatis. 

Recipes from Woolworths TasteMag

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This too shall pass

For you, Liz.

If I can endure for this minute
whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be

If I can remain calm and quiet
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me,
when everyone else seems to doubt me,

If I can but keep on believing
what I know in my heart to be true,
that darkness will fade with the morning
and that this will pass away, too

Then nothing in life can defeat me
for as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
for I know God will break all of the chains

That are binding me tight in the darkness
and trying to fill me with fear

For there is no night without dawning.

- by Helen Steiner Rice

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Aeonium

Aeonium are without a doubt, some of the most beautiful and sought after additions to succulent collections. They reward our efforts with gorgeous spoon shaped foliage in shades of burgundy and green, sometimes variegated with splashes of palest gold.

Aeonium are native to the Canary Islands and North Africa, so you may be able to guess their preferred conditions – warm, or even hot would be the key word.

The name means ‘evergreen’ so this is a plant that never loses its leaves – until after it blooms that is, when the flowering rosette dies.

Aeonium grow best where minimum temperatures are about 4 degrees Celsius; they can’t take any frost, so a sheltered or indoors environment only for this plant. It requires good ventilation, and bright light – full sun is fine, or partial shade. They prefer a little more moisture in the soil than many other succulent plants. Water as soon as the soil is dry, but don’t allow it to dry too much.

Some Aeonium will form a fairly tall stand of rosettes of green, dark burgundy or variegated foliage each on the top of a slender stalk. The leaves are spoon-shaped, sometimes glossy, and occasionally matte.
They can reach a height of a meter (3’), or less than 15cm (5"), depending on the variety. Other species and varieties are suitable for mixed planters and succulent crafts as they tend to be more compact.

Easy to propagate, just remove a rosette with a piece of stem and allow to callous overnight and the stem end can be planted into a pot.

 Aeonium at the back with Echeveria glauca in the centre and Senecio vitalis (Blue Chalksticks) and an Echeveria in the front

Aeoniums sharing a pot with a cactus and some Crassula
 

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Die ánderkant van 'n dag

5nm. Somer son en ek sê dankie.

Selfs nou, hier op die ánderkant van 'n dag.

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I love...

I love unmade beds.

I love when people are drunk and crying and cannot be anything but honest in that moment.

I love the look in people’s eyes when they realize they’re in love.

I love the way people look when they first wake up and they’ve forgotten their surroundings.

I love the gasp people take when their favorite character dies.

I love when people close their eyes and drift to somewhere in the clouds.

I fall in love with people and their honest moments all the time.

I fall in love with their breakdowns and their smeared makeup and their daydreams. Honesty is just too beautiful to ever put into words.
— Unknown author

*•.¸♥♥¸.•*

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What every little girl needs

“Now, think of the happiest things. It’s the same as having wings.” 

~Peter Pan

 

Acrylics on Multi-media paper - Maree©

What every girl needs - big or small - a beautiful dreamy dress in the closet, waiting for that special occasion ...

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Little girls are made of daisies and butterflies and soft kitty cat purrs 

And all the precious memories of times that once were. 

Little girls are made of angel's wings and giggles and a firefly's glow 

And all the happy feelings, deep inside, that we all know. 

Little girls are made of cinnamon and bubbles and fancy white pearls 

And snowflakes and rainbows and ballerina twirls. 

Little girls are made of sunshine and cupcakes and fresh morning dew, 

And these are the reasons, little one, why everyone loves you. 

Author: Karen Barnes 

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