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I am a dedicated wife and mother who never just do as I am told. I prefer to make up my own mind.Not afraid to go upstream.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

A Great Day

Last weekend, South Africa had a lot going on. Saturday was Heritage Day and National Braai Day. This was a lot of fun, but for hubby and me, it was even better, because we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on the same day.

Before I go any further, I know I used a word that only South African citizens will understand. "Braai" is the proudly South African version of a barbecue. Hard to explain, so I'll put some pictures up of our braai. I took some pictures of it on Saturday.  You may be asking why we have Braai Day on Heritage Day and the answer is simple: Braai is a big part of our heritage. It's one of our biggest pastimes on weekends.Friends and families get together, bringing with their favorite drinks and lamb chops; pork chops; steak or chicken and then, of course, no braai is complete without some boerewors (Traditional South African beef sausage). Sometimes we prepare salads to go with the meat, but if we can get away with making all the side dishes on the fire , it's even better.

When I was growing up, my father loved to braai.....A Lot! He would do it at least 3 times a week! We never got tired of it. There's just something about preparing your food on the fire outside underneath the stars. It doesn't have to be glamorous all the time. Actually, it's not glamorous at all. It's a very simplistic way of cooking, but it brings the whole family together around the fire and it gets you talking and concentrating on each other instead of concentrating on watching TV.

Anyways, I'll get back to our weekend now. We decided to go to Langebaan for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. It's a very nice holiday town on the west coast of South Africa.We stayed at the Longacres Lodge and it was perfect. There was a swimming pool; play area for my daughter and big screen facilities where we could watch sport, but we didn't get a chance for the sport! The best part for me was the nice big porch with a very nice built-in braai area. Hubby wanted to take me out for dinner at one of their many restaurants, but we decided that we can't let this great opportunity to braai go to waste, so we decided to have a real special braai with all the trimmings. We bought quite a lot of meat, actually, and marinated it early Saturday morning. With that done, we decided to go down to the beach. We've spent quite a while  on the beach and when we wanted to go home, my daughter kept trying to run off back to the water. It wasn't easy tearing her away from there, so we took her to a nice little restaurant just across the street where we got to spent some more time enjoying the wonderful view while quenching our thirst. It was perfect.

When we got back to the lodge, there was just enough time for a little nap before we started our braai. The people at the lodge was great. Our braai area was fully stocked with chopped wood and everything. So hubby and I had enough time to sit down, me with a glass of wine and hubby with his whiskey, and enjoyed a wonderful evening in each other's company.It was perfect. Great food; great company to end off a very special day. After six years, we know each other so well and our relationship is stronger than ever. He is the man of my dreams and I am lucky to have him in my life.