Tough Times Don't Last

Had I known what this year had in store for me, I likely would have gone into hiding, but as the saying goes:

Tough times don't last
But tough people do

Very very true, and we all have that inner strength, you may not believe it but it is sitting deep inside waiting for you to call on it.

I know it's easy to say that when the tide has turned and life becomes smooth sailing, but the one thing I have learned is that having a support system during tough times, is vital. That is when we realize just how important family, loyal friends, and good neighbours are.

Hubby gave me quite a scare as I shared with you recently, but after having a procedure that saved his life, he is back to his old self, which is a huge relief!
Making excuses and doing a self-diagnosis simply is not worth months of not feeling well when a check-up with our general practitioner had him going straight to the hospital where the 'plumbing' to his heart was sorted out in no time and got him on the path to recovery.
I shudder to think what the outcome could have been!

Christmas holidays

Needless to say with all this going on, I simply was not looking forward to a busy holiday season in our BnB, let alone Christmas and all the hype around it.
My Christmas decorations only went up today, very simple and understated, I'm not even putting up a big Christmas tree.

Cottage entrance and little wooden Christmas tree.

Our studio unit has even fewer decorations as it will only accommodate a single guest, an ex-pat from Canada who is here for quite a while to spend Christmas with his family, so there won't be any children in that unit. This kind of booking is great, as it means less work by not having to strip and change everything, especially as our staff will be on leave to spend the holidays with their families.
This year, however, we will have to find temporary staff on odd days when there are same-day check-ins and check-outs, as hubby, despite his protestations, cannot over-exert himself just yet.

Back to the kitchen

I've been making bread for a while now, but only recently started baking treats again and made an old favourite, Oat & Coconut Crunchies with Sunflower Seeds.

I will be making a spicy brandied fruit mince filling tomorrow so the dried fruit can soak up all the spices and brandy, in readiness for fruit mince pies, something I did not make last year, as another wave of Covid hit our shores, so we had a quiet Christmas, just four of us. Mom was not well, and there simply was no time to bake.

A Special Dinner

Our friends whose home was badly damaged during the floods of April, invited us for a delicious dinner - authentic Durban Indian Lamb Curry and one of my favourite desserts, Soji, that I spoke of recently in my post South African cultures: Part 1 - Spice and Chitter-chatter.

We did much chattering that evening.
They are selling their home as is, storm-damaged, as their insurer did not cover their loss in full, and they furthermore cannot face going back there, after that traumatic night when they escaped the massive landslip in the nick of time.
They've made peace with their decision, however, as they were planning on moving to be with their daughter in Ireland, and this will hopefully happen sooner now after the loss of their home.
That is still some time away, as their daughter has only been there for about a year, so needs to be more secure before they can go over.
I'm not looking forward to that day, but as I've learned, seasons come and go, as do friends and family, but we can still keep in touch from afar!

Doughnut Peaches?

My fruits & veggies-on-wheels surprises me with new produce every so often, and these doughnut peaches are a first for me. Shaped like a doughnut with an indentation in the centre, these were fragrant and supersweet, absolutely the best-tasting peaches I've ever had.
Are any of our #hivesouthafrica folk familiar with this fruit?

Summer flowers

The garden is really starting to blossom with all the summer flowers, the bees are bizzily buzzing, which is a good sign as we hardly saw any last summer.

Have a great week further everyone, hope you're taking a break and not getting caught up in all the madness and bizziness of the year-end/ Christmas holidays.