We're back! We spent the last month in Cape Town, South Africa. It was amazing. It was the middle of winter but oh look! at the weather! Imagine being stuck in traffic looking at that on the way to work.

I had a birthday while back there too: I'm 30! That happened very suddenly indeed. I  may have brought back an entire stash of yarn, along with a few other treats. We had a birthday tea, a night out at a favourite restaurant, and more than a handful of babysitters.

I've only just unpacked, I have thousands of photographs to sort through, and am still getting used to the idea that it is the hottest July that the UK has had in years. Whoop!

I'm back! Thank you for all of your wonderful messages, thoughtful comments and encouraging emails. I appreciate every single good wish and positive thought. There hasn't been much change in my little cousin's condition, but we are ever-hopeful, and we are all being strong.


It's funny how there really is no place like home. After flying for 12 hours straight, it feels as if you might have visited another world, or at the very least, another time zone. But No: we are only one hour ahead of South Africa here in the UK, and it's all very much the same world I left behind the last time I was there.



I think that sometimes you need a big awful family emergency to really make you stop and think about your priorities.


I have missed my little blog, it's good to be back.

These lovely tea towels arrived all the way from South Africa, thanks to a parcel full of tea love from my dear friend Anne.

The tea towels are made from beautifully printed fabrics by the talented Heather Moore who has a little shop called Skinny LaMinx in my home town. She also has an Etsy shop.

We've been back for a few days now and part of me is really regretting that we didn't have a proper honeymoon break... I'm back at work and all I can think about are the sandy shores of Camps Bay beachfront, the rolling hills of the countryside, and the family and friends we've left behind. Perhaps a little getaway in January is on the cards to appease the homesickness :)

I have so much to tell you! We've just arrived home after the most fabulous holiday in Sunny South Africa where the temperatures soared to a roasty 35'C, where the seas were sparkling in blues and turquoise, and where the food is spectacularly delicious.

And, we went for an event, of course.
















Just married! We went for two long weeks and we spent the first week getting all of our wedding things together, making playlists, getting ID photos for the marriage registry, baking a cake, decorating the cake, getting the table decor organised and ready, arranging flowers, etc. Let's just say, I don't remember much of that week what with all the frantic running around, gluing, sticking, arranging and planning.

















It all turned out rather well, though. We had a small family-sized garden party wedding on the lovely Fynbos Estate in Malmesbury, just outside of Cape Town. It was a windy day but the views, atmosphere and excellent guests all made up for it.

















I particularly love our teapot cake with assorted rose-topped chocolate cupcakes, baked heart sugar cookies and knitted cake toppers. Giddy.

















The venue had some amazing views, and everyone came together to make it a very special day. We dined, danced and enjoyed the gardens with plenty of photographs to remember it by. All of our wonderful friends took photographs so we have a lot to work through; once they're arranged, I'll post some up here and to my Flickr account so you can see more.

















In the meantime, here's a quick glimpse of our wedding party showing off our beautiful shoes. Ha! Back to blogging very soon, promise. x

Okay, I know I've been a very bad foodie blogger by distracting you with photographs from my holiday and pretty pictures of knittery but I have just one more. I'll be good after this, probably.

















How can you not be positively smitten by this heart design? I love the colours, the textures, the attention to detail and best of all: it's entirely hand-made.

My dear friend Anne gave me this beautiful Mielie bag. The brandname is 'Mielie' (which is what South Africans call sweetcorn) and I love the way the texture of the fabric resembles the foodstuffs. Each little tuft of colour there is a wrap of fabric, obtained as a bag of off-cuts from mass-production suppliers who make t-shirts and other items of clothing. The fabric scraps are then upcycled by a group of amazing women into a series of gorgeous designs and usable accessories like bags, cushions and purses.
















Here is my bag/purse on my desk where I am quite obviously supposed to be working but am instead admiring the hard-work and pretty fabrics that went into this design.

















And remember I said it was hand-made? Here ya go: Manyawuza made my little heart bag. Her profile (here) is featured on Mielie's website and because I can't get over how much I love Mielie, their website, their products and their mission, here's a screen shot so you can share in my pretty-website-giddiness.
















So, because I've been asked about it a hundred times already, there ya go. I hold onto my beautiful little bagette (small bag, don't judge my food analogies) and show off how talented South African women are - all for a good cause and excellent accessorising.

Perhaps one of the things I love most about being home is being amongst people who love food. Not just my family, mind you, but South Africans in general. Everything happens around food: we socialise at food events like braais or afternoon teas, we get together for family dinners, and we dine at each other's houses with food that would make Come Dine With Me contestants weep. So, while we're on the topic, I thought I'd show you what I was spoilt with. Oh come on, just a little:

















Delicious Greek baklava dripping in syrupy goodness and flaky phyllo pastry, baked and served by my aunt Robyn.

















Another of Robyn's signature carrot cakes with cream cheese/lemon frosting and nuts.

















Chocolate Sponge Cake topped with chocolate rolls and white chocolate detail served at High Tea (it's an amazing coffee shop here).

There were cheesecakes and my mom's amazing chiffon cake, birthday cakes and cupcakes, home-baked biscuits and breads and not to mention the Thai Green Curry, Mexican Sweet Potato Crisps, South African burgers, Jamie Oliver's Satay Chicken and Lauriane's home-baked lasagne! There was all of this food happening and I was 9000km away from my kitchen! Ah well - I'm back now, and I'm completely inspired to cook up a storm. I hope you're ready for photographs!

Hello Blogland! I'm back in the land of high-speed internet and long, grey clouds! I missed you all with your cheery comments and visits very much.

I had a wonderful trip home, aside from 'flu and work (of course), I spent a lot of time with my family, we almost sorted out the wedding dress (!) and I have 1,602 photographs to show for it. Of course I'm not going to bog you down with millions of photographs (tempting though it is) so forgive me just a little as I show you a quick view of Cape Town in photos ~ I'll keep it down to a minimum, promise.


Can you believe that I went home in winter? That's winter up there in that photograph by the way - not so bad, hmm? I miss the beaches and surprisingly of all, I miss the mountains. I think that's a Cape Town thing and not a general South Africa thing, but still. This (above and below) is Hout Bay Harbour and Beach where you can sunbathe on the sands, go for a swim in the icy waters, or turn around and enjoy fresh fish (if you like that kind of thing) from one of the many fish-and-chips shops along the harbour-side. I don't eat fish, for the record, but I do like the harbour and I especially like ice cream.






















This is the beach-side restaurant and take-aways Mariner's Wharf - and that's a boat set into the second level of the building overhanging the parking lot rather precariously.

















On this particular day we sat on the rocks and ate ice-creams as we watched the fishing boats and the seals. There were about seven very large seals romping around the boats just in front of us!

















... Even the rocks are pretty. It might just be my nostalgia and my love of colour continuity, but I like 'em.

Further along the coastline, on Milnerton Beach, we were able to watch the sun go down from my aunt's pretty beach-side apartment.

















Isn't that an amazing view? Imagine waking up to that every morning!

If you zip up the mountain you reach UCT (the University of Cape Town) where the views are panoramic and are particularly beautiful in the hazy mornings:

















I popped in to my old haunts to see my dear friends Isa and Shihaam in the English Department, Tanya in the Rare Books Library, and Jessica, my former supervisor for my Honours and MA dissertations. Much sadness that Jessica was out and about being awesome and touring the wide world as an elite academic, but delighted to see everyone else looking so very happy and healthy.

Even further up from here is Rhodes Memorial, and the Rhodes Memorial Tea Garden.

















... and because I can't possibly put a blog post up here on Bakercourt without referring to food, let me show you what we ate at the Rhodes Memorial Tea Garden:






















Food is served on elaborate, elongated platters. This is my Tikka Chicken Sandwich served with chips and salad. Below, my mom's giant scone served with butter, cream and jams.

















I even managed to fit in a visit to the aquarium as part of a baby-sitting excursion.






















Speaking of babysitting and play areas - things are quite different when you're holidaying with two small children. Meal times are different, meal contents are different, and you have to go to places that will entertain the children for long enough so that you can sip your coffee slowly and nibble on a biscuit if you want to. If you don't choose your places properly, you end up chasing the children around and answering a lot of "but what can I doooooooooooo?" questions. So, one of the family's favourite places to have tea (and to play) is the pretty little Millstone Eco Village in Pinelands.






















It's a large area of land made up of a riding school, a play centre, a bakery and coffee shop, a outdoors play area and a school.






















Plus, there are horses.






















Millstone is the coffee shop serving baked goods (like beetroot and chocolate cake) and breakfasts. You sit on old wine crates around wooden tables in a pretty garden while dogs, cats and occasionally miniature pigs come to visit you for snacks. That, in the picture, is a giant treehouse shaped like a ship. That was enormously popular with all the children, and especially Daniel (my half-brother).






















Finally, before you disappear because I'm boring you with photographs of how wonderful my holiday was (*gush*), have a look at the pretty mountains and dam at Worcester Yacht Club:
















Now, this was a cold day. There was snow on the mountains. We wore jumpers and jackets and scarves and boots. The cloud cover was particularly pretty, though, and it seemed to change all the colours of the scenery to make it more brilliant and stand-out-ish. (Yes, 'ishing' is permissible when words fail you.)

















Just look at that sky! Pretty pretty pretty. I could write here!


Further along the dam you come to a pretty open grass area where campers are allowed to set up tents and children run around delightedly. Makes for good photographs, too.






















Here's Emma enjoying the Worcester Yacht Club swings with her polka dot wellies. This picture is pretty much how I feel about my whole trip home - glee!