Cottage 51 at Kaysers Beach, Eastern Cape – Our Honeymoon Destination

Just 40km West of East London, Eastern Cape you will find the little coastal village of Kayser’s Beach.  This is where Mark and I went on our honeymoon.

We stayed in a self-catering cottage, quaintly named Cottage 51.  The owner of this cottage, Dee, lives on the premises, and in fact, her house is separated from the cottage by a single door.

Mark and I arrived after dark at the cottage, and Dee welcomed us with open arms.  She had stocked the little fridge with a few basics, like milk, butter and some delicious marmalade, not to mention a cookie jar of rusks on the shelf as well as tea, coffee and sugar.  It was so welcoming to sit down to a cup of coffee upon arrival.

Waking up in the morning, Mark and I were welcomed with the beautiful site below from the patio of the master bedroom.

We had heard the ocean during the night, but I had no idea how close we were until that morning.  We were able to walk to the beach (about 500m or less) and often did so twice a day during our stay at Cottage 51.

We had a comfortable stay in the cottage, and found ourselves spending most of the time in the living area of the cottage (when we were not on the beach), and we can safely say we made ourselves quite comfortable in the chairs to the right of the photograph below.

My favourite part about the stay in Cottage 51 was the discovery of a little book in the bathroom called “The Specialist”, a story which I read in one sitting and had me giggling along to the various ideas and comments… the story can be read online here.

 

And this is all I have to say about Cottage 51.  More pictures and details can be found at the following link:  http://www.safarinow.com/go/cottage51

10,000 Reasons, by Matt Redman

Last week I bought the latest Matt Redman album called 10,000 Reasons.  All I can say is that the song that was taken for the title of the album is amazing!  We sing it in church regularly.  So here is the basics of the album:

Artist: Matt Redman

Album Title: 10,000 Reasons

Genre: Christian/Gospel

Track List:

1. We are the Free
2. Here for you
3. Holy
4. 10,000 Reasons (bless the Lord)
5. Fires
6. Never Once
7. Where Would We Be
8. We Could Change The World
9. Magnificent
10. O This God
11. Endless Hallelujah

My favourite 3 songs:

1. 10,000 Reasons
2. Endless Hallelujah
3. Fires

And here is a YouTube video of 10,000 Reasons (my favourite song and the reason I bought the album)

Review: Ubuntu 12.04

Yesterday I bought a laptop.  It came with Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is a really limited version of Windows 7, I couldn't even change the background of my desktop.  I was already planning on putting Ubuntu on the laptop, but I wasn't sure if I was going to dual-boot (run 2 operating systems for those who are not geeks) or remove Windows completely and put Ubuntu only on the system.

Well, when I saw that the supplier had installed Windows 7 Starter without giving me the option of any other Operating System, but also partitioned (separated) the hard drive into 2 parts (one for the OS and one for Data - I hate that).  I decided I was going to run Ubuntu exclusively.

I downloaded the install and a little application to turn my flash drive (pen stick) into an install disk.  Plugged it into my laptop and presto, the PC picked it up and asked me how I wanted to proceed.

I chose the option of completely removing Windows, and the partitions on my hard drive, then I just filled in my information, hit the continue button a few times and within 20 minutes I had a fully functioning Ubuntu notebook.

Setting up my 3G Internet connection was even simpler than it was on Windows.  I didn't have to install any software.  I just plugged in the 3G stick, clicked on the connect option and off I went.

What is more, is that Ubuntu is completely free, and there is so much free software so easily available.  This strongly appeals to my rebel side because I am against any organization which makes me feel as though I have no other option but to buy their product.  I like options.

So go to the Ubuntu website:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Take the tour, and perhaps consider it the next time you buy a PC.  I strongly recommend.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is by far one of my favourite novels.  Set around 1840 (soon after the Jane Austin novels) a person can already see the difference between the generations.

Jane Eyre is an orphan who was first being raised by an Aunt through marriage.  She was ill-treated in the house and often beaten by her cousin.  Jane was then sent to a school where she wasn’t treated much better.  Finally, as an adult she get’s a post as a governess and that is where the love story begins.

The book is an easier read than Jane Austin’s and it has a sense of darkness and mystery to the story.  There are many twists and turns throughout the novel, and the author captured the emotions of the characters beautifully.

If you enjoy romance and mystery, then I strongly recommend this novel.  And what could be better than knowing it is a free download for Kindle from Amazon!

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

My reviews only blog is called In Ashleigh’s Library.  If you want to subscribe to only my entertainment reviews this is the blog to go to.

Maskerade is 18th book in the Discworld series written by Terry Pratchett.

The Blurb (back of the book):

The show must go on, as murder, music and mayhem run riot in the night…

The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork… a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress…

At least, he hopes so.  But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld’s most famous witch, is in the audience.  And she doesn’t hold with that sort of thing.

So there’s going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening’s entertainment with murders you can really hum…)

Prior Reading:

While not necessary, I would recommend reading enough of the prior novels to familiarize yourself with the disc-world.  I would especially recommend Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad so you can familiarize yourself with the characters Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.

Warnings:

I wouldn’t recommend this book for younger readers.  Firstly, there are some skill-fully phrased references of an adult nature.  I would say that if you are old enough to catch it you will be old enough to read it, and it leaves A LOT to the imagination, but the book may result in some awkward questions from those who are not old enough to catch it.  Let’s give it a 16 rating, and an 18 rating in extremely conservative circles.

There are witches involved.  Unlike the Harry Potter witches, these witches tend to natural means to solve the people’s problems.  For example, Granny Weatherwax gave a villager a “potion” for the knots in his back, then clicked his back in one swift manoeuvre and told him to put a pine board under his mattress.  The “potion” was only there because the villager expected to be given a potion for his back.  These witches are able to delve into the occult, but they only do it as a last resort.  I see these witches in the same light as those in Disney Movies.  If you are OK with witches in Disney Movies, these shouldn’t cause any concern, but they are there.

A very brief mention of a “House of Ill Repute” (the authors exact words) were the witches took lodging.

Please keep in mind, while reading the book, it is completely, 100% fantasy, the same way that The Lord of The Rings is fantasy, this is just a whole lot funnier (and shorter).

My Thoughts on the First 70 pages:

• Skill-fully worded adult humour – I laughed more at how skill-fully it was phrased than at the subject.
• Be prepared to learn new words and experience a medium to higher grade British wit.
• This appears to be based on The Phantom of the Opera – in a Discworld way.
• Brilliant character portrayal (and stereotype portrayal).  I can see the characters in my mind as I am reading this.

My Thoughts on the rest of the book:

• Exactly my sort of humour, and I loved reading it.
• Brilliant way of writing, It feels like I was watching a movie in my mind as I read it.  The descriptions are worded wonderfully and in no way boring or drawn out, in fact the descriptions were the humour.
• The story was enjoyable too.

Menu Planning, Shopping and Programming

A few months ago I found a recipe website.  It contains a menu plan for 5 days, and it is a South African website so all the recipes contain ingredients that are supposed to be easy to find in our supermarkets.  I discovered that this is not always the case as I went to Checkers (Langenhoven Park) and couldn’t get some of the products needed for the recipe.  I went to Spar (Langenhoven Park) and found all the ingredients I couldn’t find at Checkers, except one.  That one ingredient is: KNORR Chicken Stock Pot.  Luckily the meal containing that ingredient is only being served on Friday so I’ll check out Pick ‘n’ Pay (Langenhoven Park) this evening for it.  I am a little annoyed that the biggest shop in Langenhoven Park didn’t have everything I was looking for, but the smallest shop had almost everything.

Now the question is, what is the website that contains meal plans for the work week? 

http://www.whatsfordinner.co.za 

I can only say good things about the websites content.  Although from a I.T. point of view there are 2 things I don’t like.

1. I don’t like the way the welcome and logout buttons are situated on the lovely curvy green line.  It messes with the flow and looks sloppy.  I would put them next to the My Profile button above the search bar.

2.  I don’t like the fact that you have to enter your phone number to update your profile.  I would like to make my name and about me public, but I would want my phone number hidden from the public.  It appears as though it is an all or nothing when choosing to make a profile public.

As for the menu plan for my week ahead, it comes directly from the website and here it is:

Tuesday:  Country Sausage Hot Pot

Wednesday: Creamy Sweet Potato and Mushroom Bake

Thursday: Chicken and Veg Pasta

Friday: Prawn, Chicken and Pea Paella

I really enjoy cooking and I’m so happy when I am in a kitchen, but only as a necessity and hobby, I don’t think I would enjoy it as much if I was there all day.