so this is what I've been up to...

 Correct, that is ice. That came out of our HOSE PIPE would you believe it!! This is the coldest place I have ever lived in that is for sure. Can't get over how crazy this is :o

 Our poochies had to come in and hide from the cold. What cuties! Button is such a naughty little puppy- she just chews up everything! From plants to pipes to shoes. What a pain in the butt.

 These choc chip cookies are the shiz niz so let me know if you guys want the recipe. mmm.

 I'm so sorry I didn't take more photos of our sun city- pilansburg trip with my parents! My battery was flat and I couldn't charge it. all i can tell you is that is was out of this world and my dad doing a 360/180 degree flip in one of the slides at the valley of the waves was the funniest thing i've ever seen. If there's one thing my parents are good at, that's making me laugh till I want to bust! You guys are the best.

 Here's our little Lesotho adventure... check out our room isn't it just too cute?! love the fire place. I had the BEST time bonding with my homie Bronnie Brooks (haha still can't get over the awesomeness of that nick name).

 These 'Basoots' (I don't know how to spell it but I'm pretty much 100% sure that that is not right) were the topic of much consternation and fascination due to the fact that they are known to sit and watch you in the privacy of your 'bos kak'. This is unfortunate as there aren't really any bushes in Lesotho. The lates theory is that they think of us whities as a sort of TV in the middle no where. Not really sure if any one's ever asked them what they think.

 The boys caught a few fish here and there, and we managed to eat one. Here's the measuring of the fish against Struan's rod. (pahahaha nice one Bron)

the snow

 The snow was absolutely amazing! It was my first time experiencing proper, deep snow. It got into my boots and it was freezing but it was magical :)

 I couldn't believe how deep it had fallen. Every time I put my foot in the snow and it sank into it I was like " wooow !! " What an experience :) loved it.

 We got stuck a lot.

We were entertained by Charles throwing his dog Olly into the snow. It was hilarious. Every time she landed she basically disappeared into the snow. She is definitely not a fan of the snow.

My colourful Cape Town trip

wow! It has been waaay to long. this is just crazy hey! life has just got so full so fast. getting back to the farm after nearly 2 weeks in the cape has been a bit rough I'm not gonna lie :) I am absolutely pooped from that trip! Now I'm settling in again, getting back into the swing of things and thinking to myself: ' ok, I think I need a break from cape town!' never thought I'd say that! I guess I'm a country mouse deep down hey guys :)



Michelle [and Stef] , your 21st was a great intro to the trip. I had so much fun with you guys! Thanks for taking me into ur lovely digs haha :) ur bf Kyle is a keeper nice one michy! wombat, sam, helen and danno, was so good partying with you and just being silly and immature!! I have missed that :) Hols and Casey, it was really good seeing you guys too! Thanks for organising that lunch my friend :)




Quality time with the fam dam is always a must. thanks guys! and to my handsome little nephew who has just popped into the world [nice one Cand!!] , I cant wait to show you the farm and give you lots of hugs and kisses and tell u stories and give you sweets when mum's not looking [although your gran is already such a master at that haha] etc etc :) Love you lots!






Sofs, well done for hosting such an awesome 21st. It was so great catching up with everyone and bonding etc :) Solly, you are looking too gorgeous at the moment !!! Can't wait to see you all again.






Tegan Leah Catheral, I was so chuffed to be there on your birthday. Me, you, Se, Jos [and who ever else can't remember] under the table at ur mom's was hilarious and only you could create a memory like that!



 Tams and Suz, you two girls are really one in a million! thank you for that wonderful day we spent together. Can't wait to make more memories with you guys. And what a way to end the trip with Lucy's stunning 30th birthday party! Well done Luc, the venue was absolutely stunning, and all the brides looked so beautiful!

mum's visit so far :)

 It's been great having my mum to stay for the next two weeks to help me with my 21st planning! We've been DIYing and arts and crafting, as you can see. So chuffed with how my mosaic table top turned out.








The orange trees in our veggie garden have been giving us yummy oranges to make fresh juice with. We eat home-grown veggies, farm milk and soon enough we'll have our own chickens for eggs :D yay.









And Olly came for a sleep over on Milo's birthday on account of Charles leaving her behind. Here she is making herself at home on my mum's lap! hehe.  Those who know my mum would find this funny, cuz she's not exactly what one would call a dog person.

Salmon roses, my mum and my hubby. What a nice combo!  This was on a Maritzburg shopping day. We've been kitting out the spare rooms. I must take a photo of them to show you guys. The house is coming on so nicely!

catch up on the past 2 months!

 oh my word it has been too long guys! I'm gonna fill you in on what I've been up to since my last post...

so we've discovered the cutest pizza place in Underberg. was really excited to go tonight for half price pizza, but we put a hole in the diesel tank on our way to boot camp this morning. haha. oh well.

Joan's farewell has come and gone. there was much planning and mielie bread making to be done. the farewell was a lot of fun and it was great catching up with all of phillip's cousins.

We haven't done as much fishing as planned, cuz it has been so unbelievably busy! sani2c and exams happens at the same time. it's chaos. But when we do fish it's lovely. peaceful and beautiful.

 The dogs have got so big. Milo is going to be one on the 31st of May can you believe it? They chew absolutely everything and have wrecked and even eaten many a shoe, food bowl, box of firelighters and much more.

My sister Candice and my beautiful niece Rachel came to stay for a while, which was great. Rachel spent most of the time holding on to her bum and kept expressing fear of being bitten on the bum by Button. We're not sure where she got that idea from!

 The veggie garden is going so well. I can scarcely believe how far we've come and how the farm is becoming my home. being here has taught me how to appreciate relationships and the simple things in life. The things that we often overlook!

And here is the finished product. My next project is the chickens! so excited for that. I have always wanted my own chickens :) I've been trying to convince Phillip that having a pet pig would be the coolest. but unfortunately he is not pro-pig.

My cooking has also come a long way since the first days of farm living :) i now make quesidillas, cinnamon bread, pies, pastas, nasi goring, soups, curries and pastries. yay me!

 Sani2c also came and went can you believe it. All that planning that goes into it can make the mind boggle! Phillip, well done for everything you did I was so impressed. Here he is with Dean Storah (aka The Mayor) on bar duty.

the other mind boggling thing is the amount of food that goes into this event. wow! I have never seen so much food in on place. here is my pasta salad that I was commissioned to make for Sani. It's hard work but great fun.







So that's the short n short of it really :D Since then we've had a trip to Botswana and my 21st is still to come. I'll try not to be so slack with the updates!

lots of love

Rose
xx

Pumped Up Kicks

Pumped Up Kicks

grr ! this is a 'must listen'

Vampire Weekend Walcott

Vampire Weekend Walcott

LOVE it :) :)

good morning Emerald Dale

Waking up here is theraputic. Not every wife is fortunate enough to have breakfast and lunch with their darling hubby. This was our breakfast after bootcamp :) i'd say i've earned my crumpets! By the way guys, I passed my drives on Friday! 4th time lucky :) :) it's about time !! so relieved.

Another theraputic thing I did yesterday was my bath, mask and music combo- which unfortunately ended with me dropping my phone in the bath :) but turns out submerging your wet phone in a jar of rice overnight does wonders! shew :)

witnessing my first calf being born

 The miracle of birth hey guys! This brave mum pushed and pushed, it looked super painful. I don't think women get enough credit for this! I was pretty amazed at how that tiny thing can get up and walk after that birth.

YOU KNOW YOU LIVE ON A FARM WHEN...

your dogs sleep in a tyre.

enough said :)

FRESH PRODUCE

My veggie garden is still thriving, yay! we ate our potatoes and the last of the carrot harvest today. to be honest i'm quite relieved to see the back of those carrots, i think i was starting to turn orange!! still waiting on the chickens. keep watching this space people, i'm on a mission!

love
Rosie
xx

FILLET :)

This is a delicious fillet recepe that I tried for a little dinner we had with some besties (aka lance, struan and parentals haha) last friday. it was so delish! I did the rooibos custard creams for desert. Charles said it was a master chef meal, hehe :) this is the fillet before i put it in the oven in case you're wondering. if anyone wants the recipe let me know!

love
rosie
xx

ROOIBOS CUSTARD CREAMS. you guys have to try this!

 guys, this is so yummy and easy to make. phillip arrived home from work as i was putting them in the oven. he's my guinee pig for all the things i try out in the kitchen!

ok so here's the recipe: (it serves 6)

• preheat oven to 160 C. over a gentle heat, warm 2 cups full-cream milk and 2 rooibos teabags to infuse. remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then remove tea bags.
• whisk together 2 eggs, 1/3 cup castor sugar, a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence. pour the warm milk into the egg mixture and beat well. strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• pour into 200ml capacity glass custard cups or ramekins. place in a roasting tin and pour in hot water halfway up the dishes. bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• allow to cool and refrigerate for 2 hours. dust with icing sugar and cinnamon before serving.

enjoy!
lots of love
Rosie
xx

guess who went furniture shopping :)

 i am in love with my new dressing table! we got it from Palet in Maritzburg for less than 2 grand. so chuffed. our room is slowly starting to look like a room :) we've ordered bedside tables and a head board, now all we need is a cupboard! I also want to put up some stressed-wood frames for our wedding pics on our bedroom wall. and guys, my birthday is in June by the way! hint hint....

Thanks Charles and Luan for our pots, we love them! I can't wait to plant things in them :) These pots are from Highfeild Manufacturing in Maritzburg.

phillip goes for a run

Look how chuffed he looks to be going for a run! I'm so impressed with him, it's the first time that I haven't had to force him to come running with me. It was actually his idea to go for a run this morning! Let's see how long this carries on for :) We're off on our day fishing trip now, lets hope my fly fishing skills have improved... watch this space

love
Rosie
xx

taking the dogs to the vet, FARM STYLE.

A visit to the vet for these farm dogs is far from conventional. Milo has been looking very droopy over the last few days, and the according to the vet, it's from chewing on disgusting things like dead cows! how gross is that. On top of that, on our way home, Milo decided he wanted to see what would happen if he jumped off the back of our bakkie travelling at 60km/h on the dirt road. Lets just say he's learnt his lesson!

While all this was happening, Button sat innocently enjoying her puppy privilege: sitting in the car with us :)