Easter ~

I just have to post our Happy family Easter Pics. Please please take note of my very special chicken. She has to be the cutest I know. She is so loving and caring. Whenever I have had a dull moment she wonders through the house to look for me and nests under my arms giving comfort. My In laws arrived for the Easter period and I must say sharing time cooking with our 'Gogo'(Grandmother in Zulu)was wonderful. Every meal made was taken under the courtyard tree for dinner. Memories in the making. My Mom knitted these adorable place settings for our Easter morning table. Our computer has been down for weeks so I missed sharing this moment with you... Ps. This does not happen to be a new layout. It just happens to have landed on my lap and I am unable to sort it out, so do excuse the photo arrangment! A happy day to you~

Happy sweet sixteen~!

To my pretty, nail varnishing, music loving, messy room , bouncy, phone obsessed, One Direction crazy 16 year old! Happy sweet 16th to you our Brogs! Love you

Can you be a Mama to a pumpkin~?

And can I call them my babes??? .... Its pumpkin harvest day today and finally the nurturing can end. The large Connecticut, the traditional 'Jack O'lantern pumpkin has been picked. I have risked life and limb for this years harvest. I have run out into our last really bad hail storm to cover each precious one. I have gathered straw on a regular basis to cover them from the Sun. I have chased away colonies of ants that have gathered under them for shade for fear of rotting them. The flat bright deep orange pumpkin is the organic heirloom Rouge Vif D'Etampes. The beautiful flattened Cinderella pumpkin. This very old French heirloom was the most common pumpkin at Paris markets back in the 1880's. I have not seen these in South Africa before and so my excitment which probably won't be yours, has been unbelievable! I also planted other French varieties which came up too. So, for us this year I have decided to store them on our veranda. First of all because they are so deeply golden that they need to remind me of Summer through our Winter months. Secondly, Mr Darcy's almost finished day bed will be arriving soon and I would like to place him right next to the pumpkins for his afternoon siesta's and thirdly, something tells me they might last longer out there.... Always fortunate, always grateful, most blessed in this wannabe French English country style homestead (A person's or family's residence, which comprises the land, house, and outbuildings) A happy day to you X

Its been a while ..So let me start with the GIRLS..

I dont even need to explain as I am sure most of you get to a point in your blogging world that you just cant write another post. I really have just lived life here having had so many unbelieveable days and experiences. I thought for the record I would just block out last year as one of the greatest learning times of my life. Andrew and I were involved in an attempted high jacking around this time last year. It was frightening and we had no idea if we were going to live or not. The months through the year had been tough. A couple of months later my dear Nephew Matthew was shot and murdered. Another blow at facing life head on and moving through intense emotions. So, Its not been easy but life moves on like a powerful ocean , to one day land on the beach as a wave, ready to enjoy sunny days and joy again. Here are my girls Brogan and Olivia. I call it metaphorphosis ~ Does growing up with girls bring an electric energy in your household? Hair, perfume, make up, music and boys...My poor poor Buddie. How he manages I just dont know. A happy day to you~X~

Loving all this Spring~

Experiencing Spring is like experiencing something new, just like opening up a gift . My reaction every year is met with a lighter heart after a cold Winter. Constant excitment when plants I have loved , show themselves to me again...Almost like I forgot they were there. Our orchard fruit trees have so much fruit on them. This year my excitment is seeing loads of cherries growing. My veggies are thriving too. Our haven this spring has been our veranda. I am loving all these geraniums. Mr Darcy and I lounge, sloth, drink coffee, eat and talk for long hours here. Talking of Mr Darcy, I placed some fragrant sweetpeas next to his bed last night, just to give him sweet dreams... I started blogging when little Olivia was four. Look how beautiful this almost 10 year old is. Such a pretty confident free spirited angel. Big sister is holidaying in Mauritius, so little Livy and I have been doing so much together. This very tasty milk tart we baked together. She drew a lovely picture of our family that made me smile. We have been following this little Robin around the garden. Almost ready to be on its own. The garden is full of bird life. Our garden smells so sweet everywhere. So sweet I tell you that yesterday we discovered a 'Winnie the pooh' beehive way up in our courtyard tree. An abundance of bees around all of the time. Luckily this hive flew off too make a hive elsewhere. So Spring has brought renewal. Good happy energy to our home. Cant imagine what Joy Summer will bring~ A happy day to you~