First of all, the best reason to own your own business:
(This particular day, Reggie got "employee of the month" and lots of congratulatory pats)
Next: Photos from this past weekend in Groot Marico.
Memoirs, our new favorite bistro (too bad it's 1.5 hours away and only open Fri-Sun):
It was so dark and romantic and lo and behold we were the only ones there! Not because it's a dive, but because there's only like 1200 people in the whole town! It's more of a side-project for a couple of very talented city-slicker foodies who'd had enough of the rat race and decided just to cook out their golden years in a funny town up north.
Saturday it was actually packed, and then Sunday when we were there for cake and coffee we almost didn't get a seat.
The food was:
Steamed leeks wrapped in a crepe and drizzled with hollandaise sauce (starter)
Blue cheese and honey-drizzled walnuts on pear poached in red wine (starter)
Chicken stuffed with herb mousse and coconut+ coriander sauce (main)
Stuffed calamari with fragrant thai rice (main)
Chocolate orange mousse (dessert)
The Mr. reckons this was the best bread he ever had - and that was only on the side.
Our cottage & braai out on the veranda.
The grounds
Fruit trees & grapevines everywhere. I helped myself to grapefruit and oranges.
Probably the only well-known thing about this little hole in the wall town is that it's very much the "Hannibal Missouri" of South Africa, i.e. a very famous folk author lived and loved and wrote all about the place. Rather than Mark Twain, of course, that author was H.C. Bosman.
We took a tour of the Bosman "living museum" led by this quirky old guy called Egbert. He is a true history buff and runs the info centre in town and knows alllllllllll about old man Bosman.
Yes, that is an old ox-wagon.
The tour ended with him reading a few short stories out loud to us. That was definitely the highlight.
(This particular day, Reggie got "employee of the month" and lots of congratulatory pats)
Next: Photos from this past weekend in Groot Marico.
Memoirs, our new favorite bistro (too bad it's 1.5 hours away and only open Fri-Sun):
It was so dark and romantic and lo and behold we were the only ones there! Not because it's a dive, but because there's only like 1200 people in the whole town! It's more of a side-project for a couple of very talented city-slicker foodies who'd had enough of the rat race and decided just to cook out their golden years in a funny town up north.
Saturday it was actually packed, and then Sunday when we were there for cake and coffee we almost didn't get a seat.
The food was:
Steamed leeks wrapped in a crepe and drizzled with hollandaise sauce (starter)
Blue cheese and honey-drizzled walnuts on pear poached in red wine (starter)
Chicken stuffed with herb mousse and coconut+ coriander sauce (main)
Stuffed calamari with fragrant thai rice (main)
Chocolate orange mousse (dessert)
The Mr. reckons this was the best bread he ever had - and that was only on the side.
Our cottage & braai out on the veranda.
The grounds
Fruit trees & grapevines everywhere. I helped myself to grapefruit and oranges.
Probably the only well-known thing about this little hole in the wall town is that it's very much the "Hannibal Missouri" of South Africa, i.e. a very famous folk author lived and loved and wrote all about the place. Rather than Mark Twain, of course, that author was H.C. Bosman.
We took a tour of the Bosman "living museum" led by this quirky old guy called Egbert. He is a true history buff and runs the info centre in town and knows alllllllllll about old man Bosman.
Yes, that is an old ox-wagon.
There was another group on the tour with us - all Afrikaners from some small country town nearby who were also making a weekend out of a trip to G.M. Since G.M. is in the heart of Boer country, the majority of the morning was very light on the English. It was a good chance to give my very rusty Afrikaans a workout though. Try as they may, they just kept forgetting 3 out of the group were foreigners. The Mr. and I coped just fine but I felt a little sorry for the Swiss German girl who was also with us.
The tour ended with him reading a few short stories out loud to us. That was definitely the highlight.
I got my new trombone today. I don't see any beagley bassety's but I suppose his Reggie-ness will suffice. Sniggledy Snoutkus Snortly Snoo.
Pete-us Freakus