My Beach House

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As mentioned in one of my previous posts I would love to have my own little beach house one day in the future. I love staring at the ocean and just be…not really thinking of anything in particular, or sitting on a patio with a very long book to read.

Here are a few ideas I will keep once the beach house is bought.

As we believe in living a ‘green’ life and giving back to nature what we so generally receive every day it must definitely be a wooden house. I quite like the darker wood against a white sandy beach.

Each living area must definitely  have a view of the ocean. It would even be nice in the winter when the ocean shows its more aggressive side.

An outside shower is a must, as I’m quite OCD and would definitely not tolerate sandy feet in my beach house.

The base colour must be white, as, like the ocean, it makes you feel calm, clean and just let you be.

[Thanks to Pinterest for all you do for the creatives amongst us. All images found through searching the web]

White Beaches and Blue Waters

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There is probably nothing on earth as calming, relaxing, enjoyable, but also fears, angry and dangerous than the big blue ocean we have on our earth.

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We went to the beach yesterday, and once again what a pleasant experience. My children couldn’t get enough, they played, ran and investigate as if it is their first time to the beach, (and we have been to the beach many, many times). I couldn’t get enough looking at their faces and seeing the pure joy they experience playing in the sand, finding new treasures in every tide pool we enter. Yes, we walk into each and every one of them and investigate each corner of the tide pool to find hidden treasures and new and funny creatures.

Thanks to Octonauts, my son knew exactly what each little fish, sea urchin and seaweed are called, and whether it is dangerous or not. For those of you that don’t know Octonauts, it is a kids story about a crew of eight adorable animals who explore the ocean in search of adventure and fun. Through Captain Barnacles, Peso Penguin and Shellinton’s eyes my children are learning all the real facts about the ocean. They learn how to respect it, and they learn all the dangers that also comes with it. If you have time, check it out…..really worth showing it to your kids.

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For me, it is more the calming effect it has on me. I can sit and watch the waves for hours at a time, and just think or not think and just be. My husband cannot do that, so I presume the ocean is not for everyone. Hopefully one day we can have our own little house by the sea. See some pics of how my dream beach house will look like one day. Until then I will settle for travelling and visiting all the most beautiful beaches in the world. According to The Traveler the most beautiful beaches are in Brazil, Bermuda, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Mozambique, to mention just a few, but personally I think we, here in sunny South Africa, also have amazing beaches, I’m just thinking about Jongensfontein, around the corner from us, the West Coast, and not even to mention the East Coast. Personally my all time favourite is Strandfontein, situated on the West Coast. Nothing can top this, probably because this is my childhood holiday destination. We’ve been going there for almost 30 years, and it still has that magic to it, that you wouldn’t get anywhere else…well, that’s how it feels to me.

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The sad part is that not everybody appreciates this big, blue wonder with its white beaches. Not everybody knew how to take care of it and look after it. I’m thinking of all the big ‘companies’ that just leave all their dirt and think the ocean will be happy with us forever. At some stage, maybe not now, it will turn on us humans that cannot take care of it.

So, in this post I’m begging each and every one of you, please look after our oceans, don’t spoil the blue water and don’t throw your waste on the white beaches, because one day it might not be there anymore to enjoy.

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Magazines

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I absolutely love magazines. You can almost say it is my secret little addiction. Some women have a shoe fetish, and some have a handbag fetish, so why can’t I have a magazine fetish?

I love the feeling when I page through a brand new magazine, the smell of the pages and the sheer feeling of excitement just to see what new thing is on the next page. I sometimes just quickly page through a magazine to quickly see what is all the nice things inside and then I leave it for later…when I can sit back, relax with a glass of wine and slowly absorb every single image, text, and page in the magazine.

I love reading the articles and absorb how the author has chosen his / her words to get her message over. I even love it more to look at each image and analyse each piece of it. I even sometimes see a flaw on the image where the stylist missed something, and it makes me feel good about my own home and life. Just to know that magazines can also sometimes get it wrong.

I take such good care of my magazines my children aren’t even allowed to page through them. Each magazine has a special place on my bookshelf and I often go back to previous additions and relive every single emotion as if it is the first time I’m reading it.

I’ve travelled the world through magazines and I’ve become the skinniest woman, cooked the best meals and have the most beautiful home, by just reading. By reading a magazine my imagination just opens like a beautiful flower in spring. It’s funny how just one small image could start a whole new dream, that leads to a new project, that leads to a new corner in your garden, or new table in your home.

Thank you to all publishers out there for the amazing magazines we have!!

Frênds

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What would a woman do without her friends?

I never really had a best friend, I was always a loner and loved it, still do, but now that I’ve turned 40 (yes, it took me 40 years) I get to know the value, joy, love, and laughter there is in having a best friend or three.

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It was really tuff moving to a ‘plattelandse’ small town after growing up and working in the city with its high glass buildings and very important CEO’s. With luxurious shopping malls just around the corner; with all the comforts just a short drive away, but it was such an empty live. There was never time for a quick…or long coffee, and chat with a friend. Your best friends were your colleagues that work with you, and most of the time they didn’t even know where you live or how the inside of your home looks.

It took a while, but now, after we have gotten used to the slow life of the ‘platteland’, we have time to get to know people, the real people, not just the fancy cars, fancy dressed kids and presentations you see at work, but the actual people. You become part of their lives, and things like movie nights, braais that go on till sunrise and long coffee breaks in the afternoon, are what it is all about.

The best part of making and having real friends is the deep conversations. We talk about real problems and also try to solve them. We laugh at one another’s jokes, and silly moments and we appreciate each one’s “funny’s”. We accept the other person exactly how she is because, in the end, we are friends because we are the same. We feel the same about how we raise our children, what kind of food we eat, and how we decorate our homes. Our passions are the same, and we can share our heartache without feeling judged or ashamed.

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Even when we don’t see each other for more than 14 days we still talk as if we spoke yesterday.

That is what friends are for….for fun, laughter, love, and heartache.

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Mother’s Life+

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It is funny  how life changes once you become a mother (by the way, I always hated the word mother, until I became one). I always thought I was made out of steel, and have superpowers that allow me to never get tired, that can do absolutely anything my heart desires (I still believe that), and can have both a family life and successful career all at the same time until my two energetic kids were born.

I was hoping I could do all this by only drinking my 5+ cups of coffee a day…but life throws you different curveballs when you expect it the least. When my little sweetheart daughter was almost two years old I start to realise that 5+ cups of coffee a day and the best superpower you can have, don’t make up for the time you are never home to see your kids grow up into the best version of yourself. I was at the top of my career, loving every moment, but I wasn’t a good mom, so I made the tuff decision and gave up my career to stay at home with my children. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, both giving up my career (believe me, I’m not a very good cook, housekeeper or doing non-intellectual stuff all day) and looking after my children 24/7. For all the would-be, future mothers, the cold hard truth is, that it is hard work looking after your children. Especially, if you are like me an HSP (highly sensitive person), have very bad sensory processing issues and need A LOT of quiet-by-myself-time.

More about these ‘serious stuff’ later.

Now, 7 years later, my lovely, highly intelligent boy is in Gr 1, and almost going to Gr 2. My most beautiful little girl is turning 5 and is the absolute happiest child I’ve ever met. I can say with all my heart it is all worth it. They are the two happiest children in the world because their mom is at home with them every single day.

Below are a few pics just to ‘brag’ about these two happy, lovable children of mine.