Friday 14 August 2009

Catch-up time

Technical issues drive me mental. On Tues, we had no power at the office. That screwed up our internet (always does), so we had no email or web access for most of Wed. Thankfully, we seem to be up and running today. Yesterday I had to have my car windscreen replaced, so it's been an annoying week.


Luckily the long weekend turned out to be a good break, although sleeping on new beds and lots of driving meant we were both tired at the end of it and felt like we needed a day just to recover.


Contrary to what everyone seemed to think when I mentioned KZN, we were not in Durban or on the coast. My grandparents live in the sleepy town of Howick, which is about an hour and a half's drive away from the sea, in the Natal Midlands.


We spent a lovely day having a braai and picnic with the grandparents on Saturday at Midmar Dam. On Sunday we headed through to The Pavilion for me to make my annual stop at Oh La La and then went down to the beachfront for a bit of a walk.

We went to Mini Town (sadly not as awesome as I remember it being as a kid), ate yummy Milky Lane ice-cream and admired the sand sculptures on the beach before heading back to Howick.

We left at 5.30am on Monday morning and were back in Gauteng before 11am, which gave us time to snooze, chill and then work a bit.

This weekend, our house is being invaded by students so TSC and his team can start their big project - building a concrete boat. Should be interesting!

I also need to get seriously stuck into the garden (am replanting at the front of the house and replacing bits of our watering system at the back) and find a good cake recipe. It's my birthday next week Thursday and I'll need to top last year's chocolate devil's food cake with marshmallow frosting ;-)

Right now, I'm off to catch up on some blog reading. Have a great Friday!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was also in this midlands for the long weekend! stayed in Dargle. How hot was Saturday?!?! I swear I got heat stroke driving to all the stops along the midlands meander and exploring.

Discovered a french bakery in Howick, you must go there next time!!! at the greendale or green something centre on the main road. Wow his tarts look delicious, definitely trying one next time, his baguette was really good.

ooh la la :/ sad memories...but anyways! used to shop there when it opened, got cheap tops which was awesome but then they'd change size after washing, how's their stuff now?

po said...

That sounds like a lot of driving, all the way to Durban beach and back! Sounds really good though.

Slyde said...

ive gotta do some garden work this weekend too. I really dont like it :(

Hayley said...

Oh i love the midlands, so beautiful.
Also, havent been to mini town since we were kids.
Sounds like you had a good time though.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, it sounds very country (I only say this because I decided to annoy myself and read Wuthering Heights for the third time because I can never read it properly because it annoys me) and your blog reminds me of how it feels the quiet of the places where city folk are not in power.

But it still sounds oddly restful... Like you could get a lot of thinking and reading done.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Me

Patchwork said...

I love Howick. Camped a lot around there a long time ago.

Cam said...

Mini Town....what happened to Mini Town???

Helen said...

I love Howick! And mini-town always rocked when I was little, I will have to avoid going there again and being disappointed (kind of like watching the A-team)

AngelConradie said...

My aunt lives on a farm in the Dargle valley outside Howick!