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!

Birthday post

The cake is a lie. Well, no. Not really. The cake is on my desk, so sorry for you if you're not in my office today. Sending you a virtual slice!

Floods and such

Joburg's weather has been miserable for the last three days. We all thought summer was on its way in and then this cold front arrived.

To make matters worse, I arrived in the office yesterday morning to find it wet. Very wet. Why? Because the twits in the office next to ours (one of only two offices on the floor to have a kitchen INSIDE their office - the rest of us all share one outside) put the plug in their sink and left the water running for THE WHOLE WEEKEND. Morons.

Of our six rooms, three are soaked. The storeroom was hit worst. And, of course, it's the worst room that could get wet. We've lost some packaging (very expensive to print), but the stock is fine. We've managed to save most of our job bags, and our server miraculaously kept going, despite sitting in two inches of water for two days.

Today is cold, though, and we have to keep the windows open to get rid of the damp-carpet stench that pervades every corner of the office. Blegh!

But... tomorrow is my birthday. Yes, that is a loud and clear statement to be translated as, "Please stop by and say 'Happy' tomorrow, k?"

Oupie and Lilly are up from the coast, so I'll get to see them and the immediate family (very appropriately named, seeing they want everything to happen immediately) for supper.

I've baked two yummy cakes - one for life group this evening and one for the office tomorrow. A coffee sponge cake with butter cream icing, and a marshmallow-frosted devil's food cake. Mmmm... I'm very impressed with myself ;-)

I've tagged the recipe for the marshmallow frosting on at the end, seeing Angel dumped on me for not adding it the last time I mentioned it.

The birthday event on 31 Aug is now a picnic outing (we have realised that you aren't allowed to braai at the dam). I'd love you all to come. Also, please everyone tell Ruby that she MUST come, seeing she's debating it.

Right... I'm off to freeze my butt off (actually, that would be quite useful) in my sopping office. Should be fun.

Marshmallow frosting:
Ingredients:

• 15 ml golden syrup
• 65ml water
• 100g castor sugar
• 2 egg whites

Heat the water, syrup and sugar on the stove. Bring to the boil and allow to boil until it reaches hard-boil stage (if you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a little into cold water to test). In the meantime, beat the egg whites until they form stiff, white peaks. Once the syrup mixture is ready, remove from the heat, and pour into the eggs in a thin, continuous stream while beating. Beat for a further 8 to 10 minutes. Pipe onto cupcakes or cake and decorate with sprinkles or glitter.