A Few Simple Pleasures...

 My husband has a flower contract at his hotel. They keep them supplied with orchards. He found out that once they have finished flowering - the supplier simply throws them away! So DH brings these 'sticks' {for that is what they are once they have finished flowering} home to me. I have been diligently flushing their roots with a good run through of water once a week. The reward is spectacular! This plant arrived in December and finally bloomed in late April - it's still looking great! I really have gained such pleasure watching it return to life ;o)

 My bread-maker *sigh*. I'm not really a kitchen gadget person. I love my food processor - mostly for blending soups and making my pastry dough - and of course my bread-maker. Before we left South Africa I sold my bread-maker as someone told me how cheap kitchen appliances were in England. Well - they are not!!! We went from baking fresh bread every day {pizza dough and cakes too} to mostly buying our bread and very occasionally going through the process of making it myself. Oh how I have missed the once familiar smell of our daily baking loaf while we do our lessons in the morning! But this month, my DH decided to bless me with a bread-maker. Slowly we are building up what we once had.

I have to say that this week I have had a 'I miss Cape Town' week. The clear blue skies, the sunshine, the raw mountains. It does not help that we have had the wettest June on record, that we have had the lowest amount of sunlight hours since 1988, and that July seems to be following the pattern set by June! I know that not every year is like this, I mean this strange weather has all been 'record breaking' stuff - but it sure is proving a toughie for me. I have learnt that when the sun does peek through the clouds - I need to get out there and absorb that essential vitamin D. Yesterday afternoon was such a moment. I grabbed my knitting and sat out in the garden relishing in the warmth and brightness ;o)

Hope you all have a fab Thursday - see you soon :O)