christmas holidays here we come !

 

tomorrow we leave for Plett with my fam dam for the christmas holidays. so so excited for beach days and family braais. this pic is of a cute santa i bought from Macro in Maritzburg. there's a big christmas special-it was marked down from R100 to R20 !! Get in there if you're keen. I also bought two little penguins wearing santa hats. there's also angels and rain deer. cutest !! I might not be blogging till i get back in Jan. so if you guys don't hear from me till then- have a very merry christmas and a happy new year !!

lots of love

Rosy

xx

my christmas prezzie

how cute is this ? phillip got me a big sunflower to go in my veggie garden as part of my Christmas present! Charles saw it and thought of me. i am honored ! i absolutely love it :) xxx

Solly's beautiful new family :)

Congrats to my special friend Solange and her hubby Wade for their beautiful little girl, Kira. Wishing you guys a blessed life together. You guys are welcome to visit on the farm any time!

poor little zebras :(

Phillip and I were driving back from our Maritzburg trip yesterday when we saw 3 scared zebras on the bridge in the Hella Hella. They've escaped from a game farm that has been taken over BEE style, where the new occupants are shooting out all the beautiful animals like these zebra. This really seems like a story for Carte Blanche. The previous owners are heart broken. :( such a shame.

beautiful day on the farm

What a stunning day! the weather has been so poo and depressing, so last night i prayed: Please can we have a nice sunny day tomorrow! i woke up at 6am and the sun was shining so brightly through the curtains. before phillip left he gave me the biggest squeeze and a kiss :) and i am in such a good mood because the sun is shining and i have sun block on my face. and i love the smell of sun block! it reminds me of the beach, and summer, and family braais, and romance. sigh...

UMHLANGA with case !!

thanks casey, erica, peter, shane, chad and vera for my stay in umhlanga! i had the best time. hooters was hilarious, the beach was so viby and the shopping was amazing! in the pic on the right i'm squeezed in the car with all the ottermans we bought at umhlanga's china town for only R70 each !! bargain :D the collins family have a gorgeous home, thanks for having me!
.

BARRY'S PUB

last night we had such a good time at Barry's Pub in Donnybrook :) I don't think it's actually called Barry's Pub, but it's a pretty awesome name given that it actually is Barry's pub! I recommend this to anyone who is stuck in the middle of nowhere (aka: the donnybrook area) and is looking for a good time! Barry's son michael is an awesome barman, and so is dion- he is a lot of fun!

our new christmas tree

we're going to show our kids this picture, to show how much it's grown! we're hoping to keep our tree for the next 25 years or so :) that's what phillip's parents (charles and luan) have done. their tree is 30 years old!

LEMON TREE

casey is here to visit! exciting :) we went for coffee at lemon tree, underberg on tuesday. it's the cutest little coffee shop that serves treats like big slabs of soft nugar and white hot chocolate. mmm. they also have a little gift shop that stocks awesome recipe books.

beautiful sofia's big day

this past weekend phillip and i flew to cape town to share sofia and matthew wagner's special day. the wedding was on sunday afternoon in the betty's bay botanical gardens. there were picnic blankets with baskets full of delicious food, a giant mini cupcake stand and stunning surroundings. i would definitely recommend getting married here, what a stunning venue! so glad i could be there with you sofs, and had so much fun with my friendies (order from left to right) helen, anja, (me) solly, (sofs), michi, becs and helena.

love,
rosie
xx

last night i baked...

cinnamon and sugar pull apart bread! yum. i was on this awesome website stumbleupon.com when i came across this amazing recipe. perfect for tea time! the smell coming out of that oven was to die for :)

for the dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
For the filling:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

method

1. large mixing bowl: whisk 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt. set aside
2. small saucepan: melt milk and butter until just melted. remove from heat, add water and vanilla. let stand briefly
3. pour milk mixture into dry ingredients, mix with spatula. add eggs. stir. add 3/4 cup flour, stir 2 min. mixture=sticky
4. place dough in large, greased bowl. cover: cling wrap and clean kitchen cloth. place in warm space 1 hour. (double in size).
5. whisk sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. set aside. brown the butter. set aside. grease and flour loaf pan. set aside.
6. deflate risen dough. knead 2 tablespoons flour into dough. cover with kitchen cloth to rest for 5 min. roll out dough into a large rectangle (on lightly floured surface). use pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.
7. slice doughvertically into six strips. stack on top of eachother and slice into 3-6 strips again. (i did 3 cuz i have a small loaf tin). layer the dough squares in a loaf tin.place kitchen cloth over it and leave in warm place 30-45 min to double in size. 
8. place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 176 degrees C. bake loaf 30-35 min. make sure the top is very brown, that's how you know the center is cooked. 
9. serve warm!

ENJOY :)

love,

Rosie
xx

beautiful farm walks and chasing cows out of my garden

i love going for walks with milo. he is always entertaining me. here he's found a water trough to swim in! silly puppy. there's nothing better than going for a long walk with ur earphones in ur ears and trusty pooch by ur side :) this morning he helped me chase some cows out of the garden. thanks puppy!

love,
rosie xx