A Beautiful Life

Hello There!

It's time for our monthly collage. It feels as if November just dashed past without any pause. So many things have happened and I am so happy that December down time is approaching!

1. Cocoa did a lot of lazing around in the sun this month! 2. Lee's sister, Danielle celebrated her 21st birthday a month earlier with her friends as people are usually on holiday by the time it's her birthday. 3. Lee's parents finished building yet another beautiful home and I got to photograph it for their company. 4. We socialized unusually much considering how busy we were this past month. 5. I got to photograph Eli & Dodge (The sweetest Great Dane on earth!). 6. Highveld Summers living up to their reputation of very hot days and very rainy afternoons. 7. This little one had his Brit Milah (Bris) at 8 days old - precious and such a special event. 8. I ate the best lasagna I have ever tasted in my life at a very posh restaurant hidden away in a conservation area. 9. We met our little god-daughter called Blossom. She is twenty times more cute in person as she looks in this photo!

Hello Friends!

Spring has sprung and turned into full-on 34 degree Celsius heat. I don't know why, but somehow it feels as if the month of September has just flown past and left me in it's dust.

I was browsing one of my favourite blogs, 'All Things Simple' - by Kim McCrary again this morning and I felt so inspired to copy one of her little concepts which she calls IRL (In Real Life) where she makes a little photo collage and gives a brief explanation of each image. I think this is such a darling way of giving a quick update of what is going on in our lives. Obviously the majority of the images will be coming from my personal Instagram feed which you can follow here or as wends_t if you search users.

Anyhow, here goes! What a darling idea!

Hello Again!

I'm catching up on long overdue posts as you can see!
Here are some of the things that happened in our lives this past week!

This week we celebrated the last of Pesach [Jewish Passover] and that entails not eating any grains. My body feels so much 'cleaner' because I used the opportunity as a detox. These are kneidlach which are a type of dumpling served in chicken soup.

Obviously I broke Pesach with pasta!

I got to spend some time at one of my most FAVE hangouts - Eat Your Heart Out in the maboneng precint in town. Stacey is a darling!

I pulled  out the winter nail colours and HAD to add a little shimmer!

Stacey treated me to her famous shakshouka which is a spicier version of mine.

And...today I got to spend some special time with my dear sister Dani! Isn't she gorge? x wends x

I am a terrible person...for promising to update and never doing so! However, on the bright side...it means that I'm so busy that I don't have time to blog which is something that I actually LOVE!

Needless to say, we've been overwhelmingly busy and I often have to remind myself that Lee and I have the same end goals because our days are lived so separately which is a grave contrast to last year's afternoons filled with laughter and talking about our dreams. 

Lee is working like a slave and learning about different people with different ideas and I am on a mission that I can't even define at school. It just feels like we're so far apart, but when he comes home at night I feel like there was no gap at all and as if everything is okay again. I think it's been such a big re-adjustment for us - this work thing that is...but we're growing, which in the end is all that matters. 

Some very good news is that I'm feeling so much better healthwise. For the past two months I have gravitated between deathly ill and decently healthy far too many times and Lee was so desperate to get me better that he made me promise I'd go to the doctor in a moment of weakness. Anyhow...it's been such a weird illness. I get supreme back ache, extreme nausea and no appetite whatsoever. It's quite scary when you haven't eaten or drank anything for three days and your body starts flashing warning lights. I am still not sure what it is that's caused the sickness, but I strongly suspect a gluten allergy or some type of viral infection. When I stay away from breads and pastas I feel like I can take on the world. When I eat them as I normally would, my body gives in. How am I supposed to give pasta up? I'm the freekin pasta queen!

In general I've been feeling much better and so many people are commenting that I look healthier, seem happier and have lost weight. I think they're all bonkers ofcourse. How can my face look thinner?! But I do have a question for anyone willing to comment - Is it possible for one's stomach to shrink so much that you eat less than half of the portions that you used to? This is a foreign concept to me. 

Last thing on the agenda for today...is my anger management issues.

I know, I am embarrassed to even admit it! I have been feeling these upsurges of anger over the past few months. There are days when my earphones tangling can send me into a rage. But my bog problem is people. I prefer staying away from people because they irritate me more often than not. I get angry at bad service - really angry. So much so that I think it's embarrassing even Lee. I'm writing this here because I think that part of solving the issue is admitting that there is one. I am already so much better - Lee says so. I just try to breathe really deeply and calm myself when I feel a fit of rage coming on. I think I'm just not letting go of stressful situations and that's translated into this anger. Anyhow - it must go! I'll let you know how I do!

That's all for now!

wends x

Hello Friends!

Seperate some rosemary from the wooden stalk and chop it roughly.  Rosemary is a winner with any red meat.

For approximately 300g of minced meat I like to crush 5 cream crackers in a bag until very fine.

Mix the rosemary with the crushed crackers and add the minced meat.

Add salt and black pepper to taste and then add one egg.

Mix the mixture with your hands and then wash them. Wet them with cold water and roll small balls that fit in your palm and put them on a clean plate.

Place the plate with meatballs in the fridge as you prepare the pan. Chop half an onion (dice) and add some fresh, chopped garlic. Add these to a saucepan with some olive oil and brown slightly. Place some pasta of your choice (spaghetti) in a pan and fill with water and prepare as usual.

Place the meatballs one by one into the saucepan with onion mix and brown slightly. Next you can either use a pre-made napoletana sauce or you can make your own. I opted for a pre-made option here as I was short on time. Napoletana sauce is best made with chopped and peeled tomatoes as well as fresh basil when it has cooked to a sauce.

Add the sauce to the meatballs and cook them completely for the remainder of the time IN the sauce.

Serve the meatballs and sauce with spaghetti or a pasta of your choice.

I hope this recipe will be one that you can use with ease to make a great favourite for your family! Enjoy!

wx