Testing testing

This is the first post I am doing off my beautiful shiny iPad!

I was absolutely spoilt by my amazing husband and presented with my black beauty. As we hosted our first ever Christmas yesterday it left me with no time to play with my new toy. Not that I am complaining as it was a wonderful Christmas but I am super excited to have had some time to play today...

I took a walk through my garden and tested my camera and am delighted to report the excellent quality of the camera. 

Have a look!

Looking back on the View

Our end of year party has come and gone and I only have positive things to say about Intaba View and the suppliers that I chose...
 

Intaba View

 

Jacqui and her team did a superb job liasing, setting up and putting up with me and my last minute requests. The set up was done entirely by Intaba View and it was very reasonable. The restaurant is usually filled with small square tables so it was a nice change having the round tables. We were fortunate enough to have a 5 course menu...

 

MENU

PLATED STARTER

Due of Chicken Liver Pate & Smoked Salmon Pate served with an assortment of homemade bread rolls

 

MAIN COURSE

SALAD BAR

Lettuce, onions slices, tomato wedges, cucumber slices, olives, feta, croutons, assorted peppers and a variety of homemade dressings

 

Roast chicken and sage stuffing

Roast leg of Lamb prepared with a fresh rosemary basting

Chicken and Prawn Curry

Vegetable lasagne

 

Savoury Rice

Roast Potatoes

Parsley Butter Potatoes

Creamy spinach & Feta

Cauliflower & Broccoli cheese

 

DESSERT

A trio of Chocolate mousse

Wild Berry Cheesecake

Served with ice cream and/or cream

 

Tea / Coffee (Great coffee I must add!)

 

Cheese Board and an assortment of salty biscuits

(I must be honest I dont remember seeing this...)

 

*************

 

You can find Intaba View at 10 Old Main Road, Drummond.

Make sure to visit their website for more details and specials...they make a superb Sunday Buffet and the view is not too bad too...its magnificent!

www.intabaview.co.za

 

Cake Pops by Zolita

 

I ordered 130 cake pops from Zolitas. Half were vanilla covered in white chocloate and the other half were chocolate dipped in chocloate {yummmmmy} 

This is THE new way to eat cake. Not only is it more fun, it is delishly moist too...

Zolitas is found in the Hillcrest Pick 'n Pay/Christians Centre.

Have a peek at their website www.zolita.co.za

 

 

 

Lily of the Valley

 

Vicky is beyond helpful and an absolute delight to work with. There is no surprise that this florist has been open for well over 20 years now! These photos certainly don't do the flower arrangements justice {just so you know}.

Visit their website www.lilysa.co.za or pop in and meet Vicky at Highland House
25 Highland Road

Hillcrest

At the bottom of Botha's Hill, just off Old Main Road

 



Wild Fig Tree

We are moved! {YAY} but...far from settled. This weekend we took to some local shops to buy some things for our new home.

First stop: Wild Fig Tree

 

  

I love this shop, it is just my taste. The furniture is not

OTT {Over the Top} but not boring either.

My husband and I have similar taste in furniture although I am slightly more adventurous when it comes to colour  while my husband likes the more conservative pieces that one won't tire of easily.

 

You will battle to find much online for the Wild Fig Tree but I can tell you this:

They carry a vast range of desirable items in store that include glassware, kitchen equipment, vases, gifts, home decor and hardwood furniture.

The furniture is apparently imported from Mexico, Turkey, France, Spain, Indonesia, China, Bali and India.
 

 

 

We are the proud new owners of 2x matching mahogany bed side tables. We think these were a bargain at R1895 for the set!

 

You can find Wild Fig Tree at 34 Old Main Road, Hillcrest.

There is plenty of secure parking and a jungle gym for the kiddies to play on if they find furniture shopping boring {bonus}

 

Smallprint

My smallprint charm has arrived. It was actually delivered by Mayurie to my office...now that is service! I promised to share this with you so here it is!

 

The card says

You have received an original piece of smallprint jewellery-a fine silver keepsake made especially for you by someone you love

All together now...ahhh

 

At the back of my charm it has my daughter name and age so I can remember how old she was when we took her fingerprint

 

I LOVE IT

 

 

My Favourites

Some of my favourite stallholders from the Highbury Christmas Fair

I can't wait to receive my daughters fingerprint preserved in a little silver flower. This was an interesting experience as the fingerprint is done into soft silver and then sent off. Apparently delivery takes about 2 weeks. Photos to follow…

Lisa and Mayurie are Hillcrest's closest Smallprint jewellers

Visit their homepage http://www.smallprint.com/lisamay for contact details and more info

Th e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lisa Carmichael is Hillcrest's go to lady for any of your Miglio Jewellery. You can contact her on tcarmichael@telkomsa.net

 

 

 

The Newlands have recently opened this beautiful shop in Kloof. As the name suggest it is a store full of 'All Natural' food and things...this was their first official market!

You can find then at the Fields Shopping Centre or visit http://allnaturalstore.co.za/

 

Rosehip design and manufacture a range of soft furnishings, cushions, lampshades, table linen and shopper bags. The products are made in South Africa by a talented team of seamstresses who take great pride in the product they manufacture. Their stuff is beautiful!! Contact ROSEHIP on 031 764 6167, email gerry@rosehipdesign.co.za or visit www.rosehipdesign.wordpress.com

	

 

 Cinnamon is run by two beautiful young girls who have started their own label and designs. Their clothes are easy to wear feminine pieces. They go to markets such as I <3 Market and Wonder Market and occasionally the Shongweni Farmers Market. Visit their new website www.cinnomonclothing.co.za

 

 

The Treasure Chest is owned and run by Guy Smit who makes upcycled picture frames and furniture that are environmentally friendly. He is always happy to try help and has an absolute passion for what he is doing. Find him on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Treasure-Chest/143157302459484 or contact Guy at smittyguy8@gmail.com or 082 850 3267

Christmas and Halloween

It's been a while since must last update but between work and my personal life things have been busy!

The Christmas Fair went well on the 19th and 20th despite the terrible weather conditions people did come and support the stallholders. There was a great variety of stalls too. In a follow up post I will be listing some of my favourite stallholders.

Trick or Treating at the Heritage Market was a blast even though the weather was less than ideal. Kids will be kids and mine didn't even notice the rain/drizzle/mist and instead says "Mom, Halloween is the best!"

Despite not having a clue as to what Halloween is. To her it was a day to walk around with mom and nana while collecting sweets from various shops all while dressed up as a ghost!

Have a look at some of the photos on the Heritage Market Facebook page here for a giggle

Sorry this isn't the most exciting update but I promise when we move things will shape up! Moving date is set for Sunday the 4th of Novemeber...YIPPEE!!

Driving Drummond

What started as a leisurely drive to nowhere soon resulted in a pit stop in a fantastic little shop called 'Ye Olde Second Hand Shoppe'...what a little treasure! This gem is found next to the dilapidated 1000 Hills Hotel and hosts a variety of gorgeous items from Mahogany sleigh beds to antique beer crates. Go and have a look! It was here where we got directions down to Akimbo...

 

Have a squizz at Akimbo's website http://www.akimbo.co.za/ and then be sure to 'like' their Facebook page for updates. I wasn't armed with my trusty camera and had to opt for the poor quality of photos that my phone produces for this post. These images certainly do not do Akimbo justice!

 

 Venue: We loved it! The grounds are big, certainly a great deal bigger than anything else I have visited. There are a variety of different areas for the children to play; inside, outside and with party 'huts' for hire too. Both inside and outside areas are divided according to ages so for those with small kiddies you don’t have to worry about the bigger kiddies.

Food: It is a basic menu with coffee shop type toasted sandwiches and so on...if you are looking for a big heart meal such as curry or prawns this is not the place to go. We had heavenly toasted sandwiches! Why were they heavenly you ask? For no reason, they added basil pesto to our Mozzarella, Salami and tomato choice. Wow! My husband also treated himself to a slice of carrot cake (his favourite!) and the coffee was great.

Staff: Super friendly and pleasant! Two people in particular stood out to me: our waitress Zama who kept us laughing throughout our visit and the VERY friendly security/car guard.

Contact Akimbo:

031 783 7892 or 083 261 2742
If you have a Blackberry join their group: Pin 28595800
Where one can pop Akimbo a message to see what the weather is like before heading out!

It is not that far...have a look:

40 Meadway Road, Drummond 

From Durban/Hillcrest (quick and easy way): Take the M13/N3 towards Pietermaritzburg, take the Peacevale/Cliffdale offramp and turn right at the stop street. Go under the bridge and follow the road for 1.6 km (do not turn right at 1000 Hills Rd). We are the lime green building on your right.

From Botha's Hill: Go past Pot & Kettle to the old 1000 Hills Hotel, turn left and go over the railway line. Follow 1000 Hills road (keep right) until you get to a T-junction. Turn right, we are the lime green building on your right.

From PMB: Take the Hammersdale offramp and turn left, then immediately right. Follow the road for approx 1.2 km. We are on the left hand side (lime green building).

TGIF

It's Friday after a whole week of miserable Hillcrest weather with a weekend of grotty weather forecast ahead...

Nothing planned for the weekend except to continue packing up our house.

The next two weekends in Hillcrest are looking exciting!

On the 19th and 20th, Highbury is hosting their annual Christmas Fair. Following that I am looking forward to taking my daughter to the Heritage Market's Halloween Hunt. This will be her first experience of Halloween and dressing up in a serious outfit fit for such an occasion. I am debating between a Hawaiian outfit or a sailor (things I already  have...)



 



What a view!

Today I took a drive with one of my colleagues to Intaba View, a new venue just past  the Botha’s Hill/Drummond area.

Wow.

The view is to die for and the staff are so accommodating and helpful. We are planning to have our end of year work function at Intaba and I for one, could not be more excited! I will share pictures and our final menu after the event.

I am also so excited to try out some of the places I saw on the way to Intaba. These include a pancake house, a brewery, an animal farm and a few lunch places too! There is quite a bit to do on the Botha’s Hill side. Who would have thought…

Watch this space.




 

This is me...Living Hillcrest

4 months ago we moved to Hillcrest. Outsiders call the area Hillcrest but from the inside people refer to areas such as Gillitts, Winston Park, Hillcrest Park, Botha’s Hill, Assagay, and so the list goes on...

After some research we 'bought' in Gillitts...long story cut short it was a disaster and so we are now looking forward to moving into our new home in Assagay come November!

EXCITEMENT!

I work in the area, my daughter goes to school in the area and my husband travels into Durban every day. He says he doesn't mind and it seems as though it is what a vast amount of Hillcrest husbands do...

Moving to Hillcrest has been exciting and daunting. We are starting to enjoy exploring the area and what it has to offer in terms of things to do, places to go and things to see. And so the idea to start a blog was born after finding nothing on line that helped me.

Consider this a place to find Hillcrest inspiration