Memorial Weekend

And I'm back in the deluge that is Joburg. I gather it stopped rainy briefly this weekend ... but it has certainly been back in full force since yesterday afternoon! I adore the rain, but this is getting a little much now o_0 Apparently it is the wettest March in 14 years!

At least I got a bit of a break during my long weekend in Cape Town ;) On Thursday evening we had dinner at Rocomama's. Poor them, just before our order came out, they lost power (just their side of the street, which must be very frustrating) and had to close their kitchen. The Trucker and I ate by candlelight and headed home quickly.

I got a very marginal lie in on Friday morning because we had to leave for the airport at 7am (worried about the traffic in this weather!). But we had some breakfast at Lanseria before I flew which was nice :)

It was a very crowded flight. Bloody cyclists o_0

And then I landed in beautiful sun & blue skies. Mom collected me and we headed straight to my gran's (her mom ... my only remaining grandparent). Was good to get to see her for a bit. She'll be 90 in August. Yoh. Looking forward to another Family Long Weekend then :)

She was quite chuffed to be ahead of me in Downton Abbey. Haha. After that we did a little shopping and then headed home for the rest of the afternoon. And I managed to catch 27 Dresses on DSTv :)

Mom & I had dinner at Simon's with Dad & his Girlf (using a few of their Cape Town Entertainer vouchers). But I wouldn't recommend it. We heard the prawns were really good so Mom and I ordered that for mains. And I tried their interesting sounding Calamari starter (with chili and orange).

There was nothing technically wrong with the food, but it was very meh. None of it left me wanting to go back or rave about it to anyone at all. And I would sorta have expected that from a Constantia restaurant like this one.



But it was still a nice evening, spending time with the family.

On Saturday morning we left home at 9:30am to collect The Peeb & Doc and head to Montagu, to Dad's Brother's house. Dad collected my other aunt and cousin from the airport en route.

We arrived in Montagu in time for an awesome spread of lunch and just sat around and caught up with each other. We realised we haven't seen my cousin since her dad's funeral (in 2006)!

After lunch we planted a tree with Ed's ashes and Dad said a few words. We'd been telling a few stories all afternoon. But, I realised, there really weren't that many. He wasn't the story-telling sort and really rather kept to himself. So we relied mostly on what we remembered about him. Mom had made a batch of Ed's Ginger Biscuits for the weekend. Yum.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in much the same way. We took a little stroll around the town, the other's checked into Squirrel's (Mom & I were staying at my uncle's house).

In the evening we went to dinner at The Docks. Was kinda entertaining since we had to order in the afternoon as a table of more than 8 (to ensure all our food came at the same time). I shared their crumbed camembert with mom. Which was delish! And then had a Seafood Platter for mains (Calamari, Fish & Prawns). Yawn. I guess I was trying to get in all my seafood eating while away without The Trucker (he doesn't eat seafood, except sushi & prawns, really). But none of it was really spectacular.

The evening dragged on and we were all exhausted by the time we left.

Was up at 8am the next morning, had a quick shower and headed to Squirrel's for one of their delish breakfast omlettes with the family staying there. We hung around at my Uncle's house till about 14h30 and then all packed up to head back. My aunt & cousin were flying out that evening.

Did I mention that I seemed to bring the rain with me? On Saturday when we woke up at Mom's house, it was all overcast and drizzly. And then now on Sunday in Montagu it was super overcast with expected rain ... and we drove thru rain on the way home! It must be me o_0

Mom and I had a quiet evening at home. I watched a documentary on the Titanic Aftermath and then we watched Knocked Up. What happened to Katherine Heigl? Haven't seen her in anything recently ...

Monday was lazy. Another beautiful day. And we left for the airport at 10am. Was fantastic to see The Trucker when I landed. I missed him this weekend. Had a nice afternoon catching up with him, the Gypsy Cat and The Bundles &lt3 We made some Mac n Cheese (our post-America Melrose Cheese way) and The Trucker made Salted Caramel Frozen Yogurt for dessert - amazing! It was a perfect evening.

Ooh ooh, and The Trucker put the rest of the shower up while I was away :) The main bathroom is *nearly* 100%. Still need the towel rails up and to figure out our cupboard plan for there o_0

Damn, so not ready to be back at work!