Winding up with Wool

Hello Again,

I know that I have been posting a lot recently, and I will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks, but then I shall sadly be gone again when term starts. I start my studies again on the 21st of July.

What I want to talk about today is Wool or Yarn shops. There are a couple of them available in Cape Town, my favourite one is Mamacos in Bergvliet, but yesterday I was looking for some aran yarn that was a natural blend and was not too expensive. I am making my SO a scarf and he always likes things to be at least partly natural. A quick search on the internet reviled that there are more online yarn shops in South Africa than I thought there were. The one that we have decided to try is called Craft&Yarn. I will write up a review on the site and the yarn when I receive it.

The pattern that I probably will be using is this one from Suzanne Resaul. I found it via a pinterest board.

I try not to do too much haberdashery during my holidays because my passion for it tends to spill over into the term time but I could not help myself this time. My mother came to me a few weeks ago and asked me to teach her to crochet so that she could make herself a beanie, and since that I have been asked to teach someone else to crochet. Because of this I have landed up planning lessons, writing up instructions, and crocheting samples of stitches and stitch variations. One thing naturally lead to another and I landed up offering my SO a scarf for this very cold weather we have been having.

Try to keep warm,
Keeping drinking tea,
Diella

first Thursdays

Hi All,

Last Thursday I went to an evening event called First Thursdays. The first Thursday of every month a bunch of the art galleries in Cape Town city bowl are open until 9pm for working people to be able to go and browse. It really was lovely. I went with my SO and some friends. First we went for supper at Gourmet Boerie, which is a restaurant specialising in boerewors rolls. I had the Herbiworse with Lamb sausage.  It was really yummy.

Then we walked around and looked at the art galleries.. it was really fun and I enjoyed looking at the art. Some of it was a bit ridiculous though, like the green square priced at R4,500!!

Outside one of the galleries we even saw a spray painting artist.

Keep  drinking tea,

Diella

Holiday

Hello All,

You may be wondering what I have been doing with myself this holiday. A bit of this and a bit of that really, but mainly... Diablo III. As soon as my exams were over and I could afford to lose myself to the world of computer games I ordered the expansion pack Reaper of Souls! Unfortunately the Rand had just been affected that week, I could have bought the expansion pack while I was studying but then I would never study. But the week later when I went to buy it it would cost me an extra R200! Luckily Kalahari.com had stock and if I ordered from them the price was still cheaper, only the game needed to be delivered I could not buy the keycode directly from them. So I had to wait. I was very impressed with their delivery speed. (For those not from South Africa, postal services here can be slow.) I ordered it on a Saturday, the Monday was a public holiday so I assumed that they would only post it on the Tuesday but they delivered it on the Tuesday! I finished the new act V that night.

The next day I started a Crusader. I also tried out the Adventure mode a little bit. It has been so much fun. Unfortunately I don't have many friends who play Diablo III so I have been playing on my own but I have still been having a lot of fun.

Okay so now I want to talk a little more about the actual game content and there may be some spoilers. You have been warned. ;) To see the text highlight between the following two stars.

*One of the things that I really like about the expansion is the new in game conversations between your character and your followers. For example there are times when the followers mock computer game conventions. When Myriam comments on your character as been skinny and she says that you do not take care of yourself. Lyndon replies, that he has never seen you eat. I really liked this because I have commonly heard it joked about that you never have to eat or sleep or go to the toilet in these kinds of games. I am not saying that you should, it would just be tedious, but it was funny. 

Another thing that I liked is that the Crusader's responses in conversations tend to be more sarcastic and imply that the player has already played the game and knows what is coming. I found this enjoyable since playing the same acts repeatedly even on different difficulties can get tedious. For example when you find Tyrael is the "star", Tyrael says that he remembers falling and the Crusader responds "Through several floors at least." I found that amusing too.

I really liked Act 5, it lengthened the game a little and although it is quite short the excitement about the game just encouraged me to go and try the Adventure mode. I have not played that much Adventure mode but so far it has been fun. I like that you can just teleport to the different parts of the map, it would be annoying if you had to run all the way there every time even though you weren't playing the campaign. 

I have not got enough Blood shards to really know how the vender works but the two items I have bought have been useless so I need to play around with that a little bit more.*

I will still be playing a lot this holiday so I will post more about Diablo III later in the week as I discover more and play more.

I hope that you enjoyed this post,
Keep drinking tea,
Diella

Baking Butter Biscuits

Baking butter biscuits today! I really love baking but I just don't seem to have time to bake during the term.

These biscuits are lovely and perfect with tea.

here is the recipe:

250g butter
250ml sugar
5ml vanilla essence
3 eggs
250ml cornflour
750ml flour
10ml baking powder
2ml salt

preheat oven to 190°c
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add vanilla essence and eggs.
Sift cornflour, flour, salt and baking powder into the mixture and cut in.
Roll out to 3mm thickness and cut into shapes.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe makes roughly 120 biscuits depending in how thick you make them.

Keep drinking tea,
Diella

Holidays

Hello Everyone,

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am officially on holiday now. :) So I shall be posting more frequently now.

Keep drinking tea
Diella

Relationships: family members, couples, friends and business partners

Without relationship we are alone and the poorer for it. In my last post, the ebb and flow of relationships , I mentioned how we do go through times of closeness and times of needing space. 

I think of a relationship between different members, (be it family, friends, marriage, or partners, male, female, or two or more people), as having a “life” of its own or being another entity. I rather like to think of it as the "in-between-spaces" of my relationships. It adds another dimension to the relationship almost like a third party. If one considers a mathematics concept: two sets: set A and set B have common qualities that attract them together. They still own their own uniqueness and independence (I will discuss this further at another stage) but the common part where the set intersects is where the relationship is formed. In mathematics this is called a sub-section. It is not the sum of the whole we are talking about here, but the intersection. 

This intersection is where the essence and "life blood" of the relationship is found. Often we may feel that for some unknown reason we are comfortable with someone else. We can't put our finger on it but sub-consciously we match the other or connect in some way. Some say it is attraction or chemistry or something from our past that makes us feel familiar. This is where the intersection starts to grow. We feel it internally. It is intrinsic in nature and its identity has unique qualities that have potential, abilities and peculiarities. 

This “life” is also expressed extrinsically and has potential power, possibilities and immense effects, both for good or harm. The way it is expressed extrinsically or outwardly is through our actions, such as body language, words, behaviors, and our general way of life. Body language can be hand movements, the way we hold our torso or slight facial movements, etc. which are read by others receptors as well meaning or harmful or neutral. I think of these as micro-behaviors. Macro-behaviors are actions such as shouting, laughing, physical activities, statements and patterns we develop. Some times it is more difficult for us to know what is meant by micro behaviors than by macro behaviors. Never-the-less we should always check what is meant and not presume we know. Many a situation is derailed by presumption. The effects, potential power and possibilities are the results of our interactions as humans which can be either for good or for harm.  

The energy of this sub-set begins intrinsically between two people and it is up to them how they want this relationship to develop. They share mutual choice in developing the relationship and expressing  it extrinsically. 

 

In the next post I discuss: A relationship has a life of its own.

In the mean time enjoy the ebb and flow in the "in-between-spaces" of your relationships.

A warm smile,

Morag

The ebb and flow in relationship.

In any relationship there is a natural ebb and flow. Topics seem to arise in an unplanned manner. Diella and I have chats at the most interesting times. It has been colder here with the turning of the season and we have recently had a fireplace fitted into our lounge. So we have been drinking hot drinks by the fire. Sometimes we chat and sometimes we don’t. It depends on our mood at the time. Sometimes we’ll even skirt around each other because we sense the other needs some space. Today we were talking about relationships and how they seem to be different for different couples or people.  Over the next few posts I will be having a look at relationships.

They will be:

• ·         Relationships: family members, couples, friends and business partners,  

• ·         A relationship has a life of its own,

• ·         The Balance in marriage and partnership: examining this life together when things go wrong. 

I am sure there will be many more posts about relationships as my passion is about communication and having good relationships.I'll be back soon.

A warm smile,
Morag