The Moo's guide to surviving load shedding (with a smile)

Hey everyone

So load shedding.... not the barn kind, the power kind, has SA in a tizz. Here is my handy guide to getting it done with a smile.

Check the schedule

Hey at least there is one. Go have a look, write it down and put it up where everyone in the family can see it. Work on worst case senario and you won't get caught with your pants down (cause thats a totally different way to use the time without power that we WON'T go into now lol)

Plan around the power on/off times:

Charge that laptop, cell phone, whatever needs charging. I keep mine on charge all the time at the moment just in case.

Get up early...or late, depending on your schedule times

Why not? It's summer, its sunny, its hot. When we were kids we couldn't wait to get up and out to play. Work out when you can do stuff that needs power and plan ahead. For example, my power is planned to be out between 10am - 12H30 and 8pm - 10h30pm, so I got up at 6am and got my laundry on, cooked what I needed for later etc. I'l boil a kettle just before 10am and pop that in a flask with milk in another flask and do a spot of vacuuming, . I've also turned my fridge and freezer a bit colder etc.

While the power is out, I'l fold laundry and wipe down tiles etc, wash dishes with water I've just run.

Then I'll head out to enjoy my day. You could take a picnic to the beach, or forest. Take the kids somewhere to explore. Tonight, my laptop is charged with series loaded. We have stocked up on wood and meat so may just watch the beautiful stars that shine without street lights hampering them....or may just go to bed early and get a good nights sleep.

Find a way to make it work. Maybe it will be a positive to remind us to enjoy a simpler, calmer, more connected to people around us, kinda life

Anyway, must lumber to the kitchen and get that kettle boiled, and dish water run. 15 mins to power out.

Have a lovely day

Love all of moooooo

Potbelly pantry in Stellenbosch

Got dragged out the house after 5 days in bed with a strained ligament in my foot, and taken for a bit of fun on crutches in Stellenbosch.

We stopped at this amazing coffee shot and little shop.... This is the baked cheesecake with chocolate cake in meringue...totally delish!

https://plus.google.com/102131520823464855735/about?gl=za&hl=en

A finely tuned event

Happy Thursday all you beautiful people!

This post has taken a few days cause man, what a weekend it was. And what a mission it was to put it all together and put it down on....pc...lol. There was so much great stuff and just so much fun that explaining what you, you silly people that didn't make it, missed at Tuning the Vine 2014.

This past Friday morning, when my alarm went off, my eyes shot open like a kid on Christmas morning. Today was here FINALLY.  Tuning the Vine weekend had arrived. I'm actually not too sure why I was that excited, but something felt different about this festival and the morning at work crept
slowwwwwly towards that magic 12h30 when I got to leave and head off to opening day and the media event that came along with it. I had gotten really lucky when last minute I was invited to the media opening and my boss said YES, go! (love my job)

Tick tock tick tock ........TIME TO GO!!!!

I won't go into the Friday much as that was an amazing wine frazzled hangover inducing wonderland, where new friends were made and old friends caught up, and we all learned things about wine.








The media were spoiled to lunch, wine, a wine tuning with the most wonderful pairings, and lots and lots of wine and bubbly, whiling Friday afternoon away watching the most amazing view







More important was Sunday, when I took my little tasting team along, made up of 2 x wine virgins (Sean and Riaan) and 2 x wine sluts (Kim and Nicole) and me.........of course....lol.

Kim, the Moo (moi of course), Riaan, Sean and Nicole

Tuning the Vine was held at The Lookout, a multi purpose function venue just between the V&A Waterfront and Granger Bay. The set up was clean and easy going, the view was fantastic and the weather just perfect.

What impressed us (and there was a lot that did that!) was just how friendly and helpful everyone was, how organised the event was, how much REALLY good wine was on show and how clean the venue was.
From the moment you walked up to the entrance, you felt welcome. The venue was kept clean by what we surmise were invisible pixies..... cause there were no bins yet whatever you put down just went *poof* and no rubbish.... magic.

The friendly welcome our group got at every wine farm we tried was impressive, but the ones that really stood out were Haute Cabriere ....the wine ladies were the friendlies ever and had us rolling with laughter. We all walked away promising to come visit the farm, and meant it.

Neil Patterson was informative and friendly with wonderful wines, with NO HEADACHE! (yes, it's true. His wines are something special and you need to go make your acquaintance)

Something that we commented on, was the lack of, well how does one say this, crappy wine farms. Look, there is a place for everyone somewhere but when I'm paying R150 to get it, I want to spend my free tasting tickets on good wine. Too many festivals have the big names and then a small group of, and lets be honest here, not so great boutique farms that have ok wines. What we loved was that every single stand we went to (and believe me, we tried em, a lot of em lol) had great wines.

Small or large the wine was quality as were the ciders on show and the non alcoholic stands such as Vigo, a fairly new to SA product from Namibia Breweries.

Outside we had lunch from the food vans, each trying something different. Food was reasonalbly priced and payable in cash. I had a pork belly wrap which was MASSIVE and filling for R50.
We tried some Dutch chocolate coffee from Terbodore, which can only be described as an orgasm in a cup.



The bar in the front section was run by a lad called Owen O'Reilly, Reg Manager of
Barcode mobile Bespoke bar services. What a nice guy with the nicest barmen. And the cocktails....drool....

Reasonably priced and fantastic quality, Nicole, Kim, Riaan and I had one. We all agreed (considering how much we love cocktails) that Owen and his boys did one hell of a job!


I had the Monis Medium Cream Cobbler which was mouthwatering and so refreshing.






And we can't forget the free spray on tattoo's that caused much laughter. Run by two brilliant guys, we giggled and laughed and felt like kids again, each getting a tattoo.
I for some reason, at this point, forgot to take pics of all the tattoo's....must have been the heat, giggle.

I don't know about the others, but I managed to nurse my tattoo until Tuesday night, until sadly having to wash the last of it away. 

 

There was only praise from the wine virgins and wine sluts alike.

Unlike other pretentious festivals that the wine virgins had attended in the past, at this one they didn't feel unwelcome due to their lack of wine knowledge. Both were impressed how the farms tried to teach them a little, in good humor and worked hard to find something they would like. They never felt like the red haired step cousin that was just...there.

From the girls, we loved it! It was easy going with GREAT wines all round. There was a choice of bubbles (all good and a nice choice), deep reds, light whites, and rose' to suit all pallets. We were treated like VIP customers (great customer service ALL round) and didn't find one bad wine anywhere.

ALL 5 of us agreed that we can't wait for next years TtV just to get to go again. Now that's impressive.

Neil Patterson, giving us a tuning:

A massive well done to the organizers on their first TtV. If this is the beginning, next year will be mind blowing. A very very serious achievement for putting on an ,AMAZING day (weekend), we are still talking about how much we enjoyed it.

We got to TtV at 12, when it opened and left well after it closed at 5pm, having sat outside chatting well after 6pm. This had to be the best wine tasting event any of us have been to, and even our 2 wine virgins have nothing but praise. We left at the end of Sunday tipsy, smiling, clutching our free glasses, our bought wine, shoes in hand, and happy memories....

Cheerioooo for now everyone. Enjoy the rest of the pics and seriously, next year make sure you get your butts to Tuning the Vine....or else, I may have to tune YOU, lol. Byeeeee*wave*

xx Moo

  

Time to Tune the Vine

Hey, hey wine lovers

There are some weekends in Cape Town... (honestly, that's most of them) ...but some are just even better than others. You know those ones where you wake up on Friday morning and you feel a buzz that not even a few hours at work can kill?

Well THIS weekend is one of them. Why, I hear you cry, well because my lovelies, this weekend is Tuning the Vine.

Silence....I know you scratching your heads under that rock you live under, cause if you haven't heard of this fab new festival well then, your home most certainly is a rock!

http://www.tuningthevine.co.za/tuning-the-vine/

There is waaaaaaaaaay to much to mention, so click the link above and go see for yourself.

I'm off to the media event this afternoon for TtV (all us cool chicks abbreviate don't you know), to get some early bird scoops of tasty information and treats about the weekend (and refreshments of course)
The festival runs this whole weekend, but personally, this blogger is going to make an afternoon of it on Sunday, along with a merry troupe of tester subjects to give a well rounded (read 6 x drunken giggling) feedback on Monday about this fantastic festival.

So my wine swilling friends, look out for me, I'l have something cow related attached to me and be having a FANTASTIC time.

Taraaaaa for now
Michmoo

So, it's time for one of those life altering moments.... I got on the scale a week ago for the first time in around 8 months. I weighed pretty much what I expected. I know my body and I know when it is under strain. The last year hasn't been easy. Andre went to the States for 3 months, my mom got really sick, he came back to find me almost having a breakdown and her in a care facility for dementia, then came the upheaval between him and I and the marriage counseling and the ultimatum that I could have the bar or him. No contest. Sold the bar at the end of January... but financially the new owner is struggling and we still waiting for the money from the sale to come through....more financial pressure. Then my mom died in May, ten days after I started a new job.

I'm an emotional eater and I'm very emotional......see the problem?

So onto the scale I climbed last Sunday....30kg's overweight. Sure explains the sore everything, heartburn and lack of being able to get into my clothing. I used to horse ride, do various martial arts, go to gym every day and tried to be pretty healthy...no longer the case obviously. Nothing better to wallow with than cheese sandwiches, dark chocolate and red wine.

But...the time has come. The running shoes are at the door and I'm back on weigh-less. It's time to take back my body and get fit. I have a plan (thank GOD lol) and I have a few goals (please God, don't let me die lol)

Dun dun duuuun..... onward and.......um.........downwards.... I guess lol. My primary aim is not weight-loss, but to be fit and strong and healthy, the weight-loss will come with that.

My plan is to run another blog to chart my progress... Cow on the Moove....gettit....lol

Wish me luck

Ahhhhh the written....well typed, word.

Hallo hallo all, I'm finally back on the dusty mortal daily coil of the daywalkers again. After five long years in the night club industry I am back working a day job, with real people who can hold a conversation. And it's a great job. I followed my dream and have gone from freelance copywriting to getting employed as the Editor for a media company. Score!!

This also means I'l be online all the time, so the blogging can resume finally.....YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

It also means I get to make dinner and get back into baking and can immerse myself into food again. Last night was no exception with a rolled pork cheek done with basil, black pepper, lemon juice and mixed herb rub.

And yes, I know, the writing and the pics are rushed today. Give me a chance to get back into the swing of things lol