happy birthday to me, me, me.........!!!!

thursday 8 march 2007

27 today! Here I am opening my cards in the morning and eating my birthday carrot cake....'happy 27th to me!'.....




Nick booked for us to go on a wine tour - it was AMAZING! Here I am in the vineyards just outside Stellenbosch at our first wine estate - 'Simonsig' - you may have bought this wine in the super market before - we tried the champagne, and 6 other wines...Lucas, our guide made a huge fuss of me and by 10 AM sure enough I was more than a little bit tipsy...



This is us at Fairview, the second wine estate of the day. Here, the family who own the estate decided to use a play on words when naming their wines....Popular wines are 'Goats do Roam' and 'Bored Doe'....The French weren't very happy about this and tried to sue but the family won...the wine was great and the cheese tasting was even better!


After a traditional South African lunch we went to the third estate, tried 6 more wines, followed by an ice cream then we headed to the last estate (cant remember the names of the last two - funny that!?)....



Lining them up....look, nose, taste, swallow...

a little bit giddy...


So, we then went out in the evening for dinner, more champagne, cocktails with our new friends we'd met on the wine tour then Nick and I ended up in a REALLY cheesy nightclub called 'Cancune', where f0r some reason all the guys were in lycra cycling shorts...

All in all it was a great day...

Soft furnishing and home comforts...

The Flat

Since I last wrote life is good. I recovered from my illness and we moved into a gorgeous flat with a swimming pool. It is a little granny flat next door to its owners, Martin and Charlotte who are the best landlords I've ever known. When we first moved in the place was kitted out with beer in the fridge, olive oil and other essentials for the budget traveller (!) - lots of gorgeous soft furnishings - pictures on the wall - gorgeous cushions...I think i spent the first few days going on about how much i wanted to ship the white leather armchair home...it is really very cool and Charlotte and Martin are trying to get rid of it...i can just picture it in my Manchester or Liverpool penthouse flat (!?) when i return to the UK...here is the object of my affections - its not actually the best picture and doesn't really do it justice but you get the idea.....Nick (who does normally get excited about much) also is very fond of the chair...maybe it has magic magnetic powers...these pics are from around the flat and include Frankie the dog and when Nick's friend Andy and his girlfriend came round for tea...